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Opinion 284 (2013) Final version
Budgets and priorities of the Council of Europe for the biennium 2014-2015
1. The economic and financial crisis
which several member States are currently experiencing poses a threat
to the democratic stability of the European continent. The Parliamentary
Assembly considers that the Council of Europe has the means necessary
to preserve and strengthen this stability in Europe. It must be borne
in mind that, at this time of crisis, member States need to work
together and pool their efforts in order to preserve the democratic
stability of the European continent and help those countries where
tensions are strongest.
2. At a time when member States are having to accept deficit-reducing
policies, the Council of Europe must strive to make savings and
manage its resources better. The Assembly thus formally recognises
the wish of a majority of member States that the Council of Europe,
for the first time since its foundation in 1949, adopt a nominally
zero-growth budget for the biennium 2014-2015.
3. The Assembly, mindful of the difficulties which such a decision
must inevitably create during the preparation of the Council of
Europe’s budget for 2014 and 2015, agrees to a cut in its appropriations
for the next two-year cycle and refers for further details to its Resolution 1935 (2013) on
the expenditure of the Parliamentary Assembly for the biennium 2014-2015.
4. However, the Assembly regrets that the Secretary General of
the Council of Europe submitted his priorities for the biennium
2014-2015 late – on 22 April 2013 – leaving the Assembly’s general
rapporteur on the budget insufficient time to prepare a detailed
opinion on the budget and the programme of the Council of Europe
for 2014 and 2015 in addition to the expenditure of the Assembly.
5. The Assembly nevertheless believes that the Council of Europe
should not be weakened by a punishing budgetary policy which might
lead it to make choices that are harmful to its medium- and long-term
statutory functions.
6. The Assembly recognises that the decision of the Committee
of Ministers to introduce a biennial programme and budget represents
progress, but finds it unfortunate that the Committee of Ministers
did not follow through and take the logical step of abolishing the
principle of yearly budgets. The fact is that the Council of Europe
is still governed by the principle of an annual budget, even though
it has a biennial perspective.
7. Under these circumstances, the Assembly once again calls,
as it has repeatedly done in previous budgetary opinions, for a
change to Article 70 of the Council of Europe’s Financial Regulations
so that any surplus left over at the end of the year can remain
available to the Organisation and be placed in a reserve account.
The Council of Europe is not like a commercial business whose year-end
profits have to be redistributed to the member States.
8. The Assembly endorses the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe’s choice to focus the Organisation’s action on the three
pillars of its operations, namely human rights, the rule of law
and democracy, and to treat them on an equal footing. This equal
treatment must, however, take account of the specific features of
the human rights and democracy pillars, which include statutory
bodies and bodies established under conventions (European Court
of Human Rights, Parliamentary Assembly and Congress of Local and
Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe).
9. The Assembly would like, as soon as possible, to have a full
report on the three years of reforms, the purpose of which was to
revitalise and give new political impetus to the Council of Europe.
10. As far as the Organisation’s structures are concerned, the
Assembly fully supports the strengthening of the Council of Europe’s
operating capacity on the ground, notably through the implementation
of targeted programmes of co-operation with member States and countries
in the Organisation’s neighbouring regions.
11. The Assembly wants Council of Europe field offices to do more
than simply manage co-operation programmes financed by the European
Union – they should continue to be points of contact for the organisation of
the Council of Europe’s other operations in the countries concerned.
12. Given the difficulties of the current budgetary situation,
the Assembly feels that a review should be conducted on whether
or not it is appropriate to retain the Council of Europe’s offices
in Geneva, Vienna and Warsaw, since these have no direct role in
implementing the Organisation’s co-operation programmes or other operations.
13. Regarding priorities for 2014 and 2015, the Assembly notes
the Secretary General of the Council of Europe’s strategy choices
for the following priority areas, all of which are also covered
by the work programme and reports being drafted within the Assembly
for 2014 and 2015:
13.1. the fight
against corruption;
13.2. the fight against intolerance and hate speech;
13.3. protection of minorities and vulnerable groups;
13.4. consolidation of the Council of Europe’s legal area.
14. The Assembly is in favour of finding synergies within the
Council of Europe, provided they are consistent with the statutory
rules of the Organisation. Following this line of thought, it believes
that activities on democratic governance at local and regional levels
might be grouped together under the authority of the Congress of
Local and Regional Authorities, whose members are closely involved
in developing standards for local and regional democracy.
15. On the matter of elections and given the importance of the
Assembly’s role through its election observation and monitoring
missions, the Assembly suggests that there should be enhanced co-operation between
the Assembly and the European Commission for Democracy through Law
(Venice Commission) and, on the other hand, the other Council of
Europe structures which operate in the area of election assistance.
The Assembly is grateful to the Venice Commission and its experts
for the excellent co-operation forged on the ground during the observation
of parliamentary or presidential elections in member States.
16. The Assembly is gratified by the success of the first World
Forum for Democracy, held in Strasbourg in October 2012, as advocated
in its Opinion 259 (2006) on
the budgets of the Council of Europe for the financial year 2007
and its Recommendation
1886 (2009) on the future of the Council of Europe in
the light of its 60 years of experience. It would like this initiative
to be a permanent fixture and for Strasbourg to be recognised as
the “Davos” of democracy.
17. On the matter of human rights, the Assembly supports the initiatives
for implementing the measures set out in the Brighton Declaration
following the High-level Conference on the Future of the European
Court of Human Rights (April 2012). It highlights in particular
the launch in March 2013 of the European programme of Human Rights
Education for Legal Professionals (the HELP Programme).
18. The Assembly considers that priority must also continue to
be given to measures to counter violence against women, as well
as to the protection of children against exploitation and sexual
abuse, measures to which the Assembly is strongly committed.
19. Regarding the fight against corruption and crime, the Assembly
wants special attention to be paid to measures to combat counterfeiting
of medical products. It will support the initiatives taken with
a view to signature and ratification of the Council of Europe Convention
on Counterfeiting of Medical Products and Similar Crimes involving
Threats to Public Health (Medicrime Convention, CETS No. 211), together
with all measures which may be taken to combat trafficking in human
organs, as well as other forms of corruption, such as match-fixing;
these are issues that have been addressed by the Assembly.
20. For many years, the Council of Europe has enjoyed constant
support from the European Union for its various co-operation programmes
(amounting to 25 million euros a year), together with voluntary
contributions from member States (in addition to obligatory contributions)
which are estimated at 10 to 12 million euros a year. The Assembly
calls on the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to negotiate
a partnership with the European Union for the establishment of a
stable, sustainable system for financing joint programmes, as previously
called for in Assembly Opinion
281 (2011) on budgets and priorities of the Council of
Europe for the financial years 2012-2013, and urges for a parliamentary
dimension to be included in new joint programmes.
21. Furthermore, given that a sizeable part of the Council of
Europe’s activity may be regarded as official development aid, the
Assembly supports the initiative taken by the Deputy Secretary General
of the Council of Europe in starting talks with the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to pave the way
for the Council of Europe to apply for inclusion on the OECD’s list
of organisations eligible for official development assistance (ODA).
It is instructing its Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy
to support this initiative in its report on the OECD’s activities.
22. In this context, the Assembly calls on the Secretary General
of the Council of Europe to reinforce the existing in-house fundraising
structure within the Council of Europe Secretariat and make it more
professional, as previously suggested in its Opinion 281 (2011), or, alternatively,
to consider outsourcing fundraising.
23. On the matter of staffing policy generally, the Assembly questions
the justification of recent measures by the Committee of Ministers
which appear to be dictated by one imperative only: the need to
cut costs, at the risk of making the Council of Europe less attractive
than other international organisations.
24. The Assembly recommends that the Secretary General and the
Committee of Ministers put in place a contractual policy which will
enable the Council of Europe to attract, train and retain the most
competent individuals, so that the Organisation has the staff it
needs to meet its current and future requirements, bearing in mind
the need to safeguard the Organisation’s institutional memory and
taking into account the location of its headquarters.
25. The Assembly also asks the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe to ensure that all bodies of the Secretariat General properly
apply Article 12 of the Statute of the Council of Europe (ETS No. 1),
which says that “the official languages of the Council of Europe
are French and English”. The Assembly cannot allow the quality of
communication of the Organisation to become a collateral victim
of a policy of budgetary austerity.
26. Finally, the Assembly takes note of the decision taken to
stop inviting journalists from different European countries during
its part-sessions.