APPENDIX I: Regulations on staff participation
Part I: General meeting of staff
Article 3 – Membership, elections, Rules of Procedure
Article 4 – General attributions
Article 5 – Matters within the competence of the Secretary General
Article 6 – Regulations within the competence of the Committee of Ministers
Article 7 – Relations with the Committee of Ministers
These Regulations, issued in accordance with Articles 6 to 9 of the Staff Regulations, concern the attributions and functioning of the General Meeting of Staff, the Staff Committee and the Joint Committee.
Part I: General meeting of staff
1. The General Meeting of staff shall be the organ in which all staff members may express their opinions on their conditions of employment and work. It shall also be the organ in which all retired staff members may express their opinions on the conditions that concern them. It shall meet at least once a year in ordinary session, and must be convened in extraordinary session if fifty active and/or retired staff members so request in writing, stating their reasons.
2. The General Meeting shall elect its own Chair and adopt its own Rules of Procedure.
Article 3 – Membership, elections, Rules of Procedure[2]
1. The Staff Committee shall comprise members whose term of office shall be two years.These members shall be elected within two electoral colleges, the first representing active staff members, the second representing retired staff members. Those members elected within the second college shall not constitute more than 10% of the total number of members of the Staff Committee.
2. All members of the staff of the Council of Europe shall be entitled to vote. They constitute the first electoral college. All members of the staff in post for at least six months shall be entitled to stand for election.
3. All retired staff members of the Council of Europe shall be entitled to vote and to stand for election. They constitute the second electoral college.
4. The Staff Committee shall be elected by secret ballot. Elections within each electoral college shall be valid only if a majority of the staff entitled to vote within each college takes part.
5. Other conditions for election to the Staff Committee and its composition shall be laid down by the General Meeting of staff.
6. The Staff Committee shall adopt its own Rules of Procedure.
Article 4 – General attributions
1. The Staff Committee shall represent the general interests of the staff and contribute to the smooth running of the Council by providing the staff with a channel for the expression of their opinions. It may also defend the interests of retired staff and other beneficiaries of the Pension Scheme.
2. The committee shall be responsible for organising elections of staff representatives to those bodies of the Council where provision is made for such representation, unless it is expressly provided that the said representatives shall be appointed directly by the committee.
3. The committee shall participate in the management and supervision of social welfare bodies set up by the Council in the interests of its staff. It may, with the consent of the Secretary General, set up such welfare services.
Article 5 – Matters within the competence of the Secretary General
1. The Staff Committee shall bring to the notice of the Secretary General any difficulty having general implications that concerns the interpretation and application of the Staff Regulations. It may be consulted on any difficulties of this kind.
2. The Staff Committee may propose to the Secretary General any draft implementing provisions relating to the Staff Regulations, as well as any measures of a general nature to be taken by him or her concerning the staff.
3. The Secretary General shall consult the Staff Committee on any draft provision for the implementation of the Staff Regulations. He or she may consult it on any other measure of a general kind concerning the staff.
Article 6 – Regulations within the competence of the Committee of Ministers[3]
1. The Secretary General and the Staff Committee shall consult each other on any draft that either intends to submit to the Committee of Ministers on matters which come within the competence of the Committee of Ministers under Article 16 of the Statute of the Council of Europe and which relate to:
· alteration or amendment of the Staff Regulations,
· alteration, amendment or adoption of other regulations concerning the staff.
2. The Secretary General shall keep the Staff Committee informed of any proceedings before the Committee of Ministers in pursuance of Article 16 of the Statute of the Council of Europe which relate to the matters referred to in paragraph 1 above.
3. The Staff Committee will be consulted on all proposals regarding general guidelines for staff policy.
Article 7 – Relations with the Committee of Ministers
1. The Staff Committee may communicate to the Committee of Ministers any proposal on the matters referred to in Article 6, paragraph 1.
2. The Committee of Ministers may consult the Staff Committee in the most appropriate manner in any proceedings relating to the matters referred to in Article 6, paragraph 1.
3. Any written communication or written consultation between the Committee of Ministers and the Staff Committee shall take place through the Secretary General. Oral consultations shall be held in his or her presence.
4. Documents drafted by the Staff Committee for the Committee of Ministers shall be transmitted by the Secretary General within one week of his or her receiving them.
1. The Joint Committee shall consist of:
· the Chair, appointed each year by the Secretary General,
· members and substitutes, appointed each year simultaneously and in equal numbers by the Secretary General and by the Staff Committee.
2. A substitute shall sit on the Joint Committee only in the absence of a member.
The Joint Committee may be consulted by the Secretary General or by the Staff Committee on questions of a general nature which either of them sees fit to submit to it. It shall also give its opinion on measures for the termination of service within the meaning of the regulations on indemnity for loss of job (Appendix VI).
1. The Joint Committee shall meet at the request of the Secretary General or of the Staff Committee.
2. The proceedings of the Joint Committee shall be valid only if all members or, in their absence, substitutes are present.
3. The Chair of the Joint Committee shall not vote except on questions of procedure.
4. The opinion of the committee shall be communicated in writing to the Secretary General and the Staff Committee.
5. Any member of the Joint Committee may require that his or her views shall be recorded in the said opinion.
The Secretary General or the Committee of Ministers, as the case may be, shall lay down the time-limits within which the Staff Committee or the Joint Committee must deliver opinions requested of them, which shall be not less than fifteen working days. The time-limit may, however, be shortened by mutual agreement. If no opinion has been delivered within the period laid down, the Secretary General or the Committee of Ministers, as the case may be, shall proceed.