/pub/history/military/a-weu/documents File: 1390crpp.fin Document 1390 8th November 1993 Revision and interpretation of the Rules of Procedure: enlargement of WEU I. Creation of an associate member status ________ REPORT (1) submitted on behalf of the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges (2) by Lord Finsberg, Rapporteur ______ TABLE OF CONTENTS DRAFT DECISION on the revision of the Charter and Rules of Procedure of the Assembly with a view to the creation of a status of associate member EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM submitted by Lord Finsberg, Rapporteur I. Introduction II. The status of associate member in the WEU Assembly APPENDICES I. Order 85 on the enlargement of WEU II. Written Question 300 ----------- Draft Decision ============== on the revision of the Charter and Rules of Procedure of the Assembly with a view to the creation of a status of associate member The Assembly, DECIDES I. To revise the Charter of the Assembly as follows: 1. After the first paragraph of the preamble, ending "5th July 1955", add a second paragraph as follows: "In application of the decisions taken by the high contracting parties to the modified Brussels Treaty set out in the Petersberg declaration of 19th June 1992 and in the 'Document on associate membership of WEU of the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Turkey', signed in Rome on 20th November 1992;" 2. At the end of Article II, add a new paragraph (c) as follows: "(c) The Assembly shall admit delegations of Representatives and Substitutes from the parliaments of each associate member state of WEU and grant them prerogatives appropriate to the participation of those states in the activities of WEU." 3. Replace paragraph (a) of Article VI by the following text: "(a) Ministers who are members of the Council, other Ministers of member states and Ministers of associate member states of WEU may be present at all sittings of the Assembly. Ministers of member states may be heard by the Assembly at their own request and ministers of member or associate member states at the Assembly's request." 4. Replace the first sentence of paragraph (a) of Article VII by the following sentence: "The Assembly shall set up a Presidential Committee which shall consist of the President of the Assembly, who shall be Chairman ex officio, his predecessors as long as they remain representatives or substitutes of the Assembly without interruption, the Vice-Presidents, the chairmen of committees and one member appointed by each political group and by each delegation of an associate member state of WEU." II. To revise the Rules of Procedure as follows: 1. Replace the first sentence of paragraph 1 of Rule 14 on the Presidential Committee by the following sentence: "The Presidential Committee shall consist of the President of the Assembly, who shall be Chairman ex officio, his predecessors as long as they remain representatives or substitutes of the Assembly without interruption, the Vice-Presidents, the chairmen of committees and one member appointed by each political group and by each delegation of associate member states." 2. After paragraph 2 of Rule 15, add a new paragraph 3 as follows: "3. Delegations of associate members shall participate and have voting rights in the Standing Committee provided for in Rule 15 in accordance with the prerogatives deriving from their status. The number of seats allocated to associate members shall be as follows: Iceland: 1 Norway: 2 Turkey: 3 Renumber subsequent paragraphs accordingly. 3. After Rule 16, add a new rule on the status of representatives of associate members of WEU in the Assembly, as follows: "Associate members 1. Associate member countries of WEU shall be represented at sessions of the Assembly by a delegation of members from their national parliaments whose number shall be equal to that provided for in Article 26 of the Statute of the Council of Europe, i.e.: Iceland: 3 Norway: 5 Turkey: 12 These representatives shall be called 'associate members of the WEU Assembly'. 2. The Rules of Procedure of the Assembly shall apply to the delegations of associate member countries of WEU, with the exception of the following rules and paragraphs: (a) Paragraph 1 of Rule 6 on the ratification of credentials shall not apply to the representatives of associate member states. (b) Rule 10 on the election of the Bureau shall not apply to the representatives of associate member states. (c) Rule 21 on the languages of the Assembly shall not apply to the official languages of associate member states. (d) Rule 29 on the debate on the annual report of the Council of Western European Union shall not apply to the representatives of associate member states. (e) Rules 30 on motions, 31 on amendments, 32 on the right to speak, 33 on procedural motions, 34 on the organisation of debates, paragraph 2 of Rule 35 on methods of voting, 36 on majorities and 42 on procedure in committees shall apply to the representatives of associate member states only in respect of debates in which they participate. (f) Paragraph 4 of Rule 35 on methods of voting shall not apply to the representatives of associate member states. (g) Rule 48 concerning the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly shall not apply to associate member states. (h) By a vote by absolute majority of the representatives of the modified Brussels Treaty powers, the Assembly may suspend immediately the application of some or all of the provisions governing the status of associate member of the Assembly immediately in respect of representatives of states whose actions cease to conform to the general aims laid down in the preamble to the modified Brussels Treaty." 4. Former Rule 17 becomes Rule 18 and subsequent rules are renumbered accordingly. 5. At the end of Rule 37 on the quorum, add a new paragraph 4 as follows: "4. In all cases, the quorum shall be calculated in accordance with the number of representatives and substitutes authorised to take part in the vote." 6. In paragraph 2 of Rule 40 on the appointment of committees, insert "Iceland 1, Norway 2, Turkey 4" for the composition of the first and second of the permanent committees and "Iceland 1, Norway 2, Turkey 3" for the composition of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth of the permanent committees. III. These amendments shall be included in the Charter and Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of Western European Union as soon as the document on associate members of WEU, signed on 20th November 1992, comes into force. ----------- Explanatory Memorandum ====================== (submitted by Lord Finsberg, Rapporteur) I. Introduction ------------ The mandate of the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges in regard to the status of countries becoming associate members of WEU was defined in paragraph 1 (a) of Order 85 (see Appendix I), adopted by the Standing Committee on 19th April 1993, as follows: "The Assembly, ...... 1. INVITES its Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges: (a) to examine the creation of a specific 'associate member' status for representatives of associate member states which will give full participation and voting rights in committees and the right to participate in the plenary sessions of the Assembly with membership of delegations on the same basis as the present Council of Europe arrangements." It emerges from this mandate that: (i) the Assembly wishes to grant "special status" to the representatives of states becoming "associate members" of WEU, i.e. not to grant them the general status of representatives of member states; (ii) the Assembly intends them to participate "fully" in Assembly sessions and committee meetings with, in particular, the right to vote, which means that it is not considering having them enjoy all the other rights granted to members of the Assembly, particularly that of participating in the bureaux of the Assembly and its committees; (iii) the Assembly considers that these states, which are not signatories of the modified Brussels Treaty, are not bound by Article IX of the treaty, and this conforms with the indications given by the Council on the prerogatives of associate member states in its reply to Written Question 300 (see Appendix II). Consequently, their parliaments may constitute their delegations "in accordance with the same criteria as representatives to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe", i.e. delegations do not necessarily have to be identical with their countries' delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. These three considerations were taken by the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges as the basis for seeking to define a status allowing the representatives of associate member countries to participate fully in the Assembly, taking into account the nature and extent of their commitments to WEU as defined in the Petersberg declaration and in the "Document on associate membership of WEU of the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Turkey", signed on 20th November 1992, and as set out in the Council's reply to Written Question 300. It will be recalled that the Assembly's wish was that Greece and Turkey should be admitted simultaneously as full members. This view was not shared by the Council of Ministers, thus giving rise to some unnecessary complications. From a juridical standpoint, it is the document on associate members that determines their status in WEU. This text has neither the form of a treaty nor that of a convention or protocol as defined in the Vienna Convention on treaty law. Certain signatory states (Turkey, Germany) have nevertheless decided to submit it to ratification by their parliamentary bodies. On the other hand, it seems unlikely that all the signatory states will do likewise, thus leading to ambiguity about the nature and significance of this document and about the will of the governments. According to the document signed in Rome on 20th December 1992, associate member states of WEU are in no way parties to WEU's constituent act, the modified Brussels Treaty. The document does not say that they subscribe to the aims assigned to WEU in the preamble to the modified Brussels Treaty or certain articles of that treaty, particularly its Article IX. The Council confirmed this interpretation in its reply to Written Question 300. This fact being established, it limits the implications of the will the Assembly might have had to grant representatives of associate members identical rights to those of representatives of the modified Brussels Treaty powers. II. The status of associate member in the WEU Assembly -------------------------------------------------- In view of the above considerations, the proposals set out below on the status of delegations of associate member countries in the Assembly follow up Order 85 as far as this is possible. Since associate members are not parties to the WEU constituent act nor, consequently, to the juridical basis of its Assembly, their representatives do not have the right to approve or disapprove the annual report of the Council. This competence is set out expressis verbis in Article IX of the modified Brussels Treaty, whose content is not binding on associate members. In any event, as the Council said in its reply to Written Question 300, representatives of governments of associate member countries participate neither in the drafting nor in the adoption of the annual report of the Council. If a decision were taken to grant parliamentary delegations of those states the right to vote on the annual report of the Council, Article IX would then have to be interpreted contra legem. In accordance with Order 85, the status of associate member provides for associate member states to be represented in Assembly bodies and participate fully in its activities on a basis equivalent to that of member countries. Granting the right to vote to members of parliamentary delegations from associate member states implies that they may be appointed rapporteurs in all committees, including the Standing Committee, which, under Rule 15 of the Rules of Procedure, ensures the continuity of the Assembly's action between sessions. Hence the status of delegations of associate member countries includes, for their members, the right to speak, the right to table amendments, the right to vote and the right to present documents in accordance with the provisions applying to representatives of member countries of WEU. However, the fact that delegations of associate member countries are not entitled to participate in votes in the Assembly and its committees on certain points rules out the election of their members to the bureaux of the Assembly and its committees since the President and Vice-Presidents of the Assembly and the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of committees have to preside over discussions that may relate to matters outside their purview. It seems desirable, however, for these delegations to be represented in the Presidential Committee, in view of their active participation in the work of the Assembly, but they may be represented only under a special provision of the Rules of Procedure relating to them. For the same reasons, associate member countries are not entitled to participate in the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly or in the appointment of its members. This provision corresponds with practice in the WEU Council. Finally, associate members have not entered into the juridical undertakings vis-a-vis the aims of the modified Brussels Treaty that bind the signatory countries except insofar as these correspond to the aims of the Washington Treaty and insofar as they are, by the document of 20th November 1992, bound by the modified Brussels Treaty. The Assembly should therefore reserve the right to suspend the application of certain provisions contained in the status of associate member or even to suspend application of that status in its entirety, for example in the case of an associate member no longer fulfilling the conditions essential for its participation in the activities of the WEU Assembly. Unlike the Council of Europe, the Assembly is not empowered to exclude or suspend the participation of delegations of member countries from its work. It may only recommend that the Council denounce the application of the modified Brussels Treaty where they are concerned. However, such exclusion or suspension would follow automatically in the event of exclusion or suspension being pronounced by the Council of Europe because of the lack of valid credentials. This is not so for delegations of associate member states since there is no juridical text linking their participation in the WEU Assembly with their membership of the Council of Europe. The WEU Assembly should therefore have the unfettered right to exclude or suspend them. From these considerations stem the proposed amendments to the Charter and Rules of Procedure of the Assembly. These amendments seek to lay down a principle according to which the Rules of Procedure are applicable to delegations of associate member states of WEU and to specify cases in which derogations from this principle are necessary and to draw the consequences of this principle and these derogations for the functioning of the Assembly. --------------------- (1) 1. Adopted unanimously by the committee. (2) 2. Members of the committee: Mr. Thompson (Chairman); MM. Amaral, Ferrarini (Vice-Chairmen); Mrs. Aguiar, MM. Battistuzzi, Bolinaga (Alternate: Grau I Buldu), Mrs. Brasseur, MM. Couveinhes, Cuco, Deniau, Dicks, Lord Finsberg (Alternate: Godman), MM. Hughes, Junghanns, Le Jeune, van der Maelen, Mignon, Ottenbourgh, Sainz Garcia (Alternate: Mrs. Sanchez de Miguel), Scheer, von Schmude, Mrs. Soutendijk van Appeldoorn, Mr. Stoffelen, Mrs. Terborg, MM. Trabacchini, Visibelli. ------- A French version of this report may be obtained upon request. For information, please contact: Yves ROBINS, Press Counsellor _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ | ASSEMBLY OF WESTERN EUROPEAN UNION _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ | 43, avenue du President Wilson _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ | F-75775 Paris cedex 16 France _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ | Tel 331-47235432; Fax 331-47204543 _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/ | E-mail: 100315.240@Compuserve.com