WINTER SESSION

STANDING COMMITTEE

CONF/SC(2016)SYN1

List of decisions taken at the meeting held on Tuesday 26 January 2016

at the Agora, Strasbourg,

1.         Opening of the meeting by Anna Rurka, Chair of the Conference of INGOs:

·       Anna Rurka welcomed all of the Standing Committee and said she hoped that they would continue to work together in 2016 to develop the Conference. She thanked all members of the secretariat for their collaboration. Three vice‑presidents had apologised for their absence and two honorary presidents were unable to attend for various reasons. Gérard Greneron had left the Standing Committee for professional reasons.

2.         Agenda: for adoption

·       The agenda was adopted after an item on the current situation in the Secretariat had been added.

3.         Appointment of the meeting rapporteur

·       Jean-Michel Caudron was appointed rapporteur.

4.         Current situation in the Secretariat

Eladio Fernandez-Galiano, Head of the Democratic Initiatives Department of the Council of Europe, explained that, despite the Council of Europe’s restricted budget, the budget line for the funding of the activities of the Conference of INGOs remained stable on account of the its new activities and, above all, the fact that its political line was recognised by the Secretary General and the Committee of Ministers. The activities of the Civil Society Division were increasing.

We are endeavouring to ensure that the Conference’s progress report is once again included in overall report of the Council of Europe (in the manner in which that was done until 2011) as a separate section and not mentioned in the DG II report).

5.         Presentation of the meeting of the Conference of INGOs on 29 January

·       Activity Report 2015:

All of the members thought that the report was excellent and that it put the Conference’s policy, which was based on the general principles of the Council of Europe, into perspective. The reports by the three thematic committees (with precisions as to thework done by the committees’ working groups) and the Gender Equality Expert would be appended to the general report and their respective chairs would inform the Secretariat of any elements to be added to the report (a number of these reports had arrived too late to be taken into account in the drafting of the general report).

The English version would be available in time for the Friday plenary session of the Conference.

On this basis, the Conference’s activity report was adopted.

·       Texts for adoption:

o   The Conference’s draft Communication Charter was approved.

o   The roadmap for the Conference’s work in the youth field, presented by Anne Kraus, was approved. It would be added to the Conference’s Action Plan.

o  

·       Exchanges of views with the Secretary General and the permanent representatives:

The President of the Conference suggested that they should focus on political issues and not merely on technical issues concerning the Council of Europe.

6.         Main points concerning the revision of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference of INGOs

The text will be submitted to a lawyer in time for the summer session of the Conference.

Only one rule seemed to be lacking agreement:

·       The number of terms of office that members of the Bureau could serve:

o   either 3 years (one term of office) as rapporteur and 3 years as vice-president (one term of office);

o   or 9 years (2 terms of office as rapporteur and one as vice-president or 1 term of office as rapporteur and 2 as vice-president);

o   or 12 years (2 term of offices as rapporteur and two as vice-president).

Note should be taken of the following votes:

·       Members who are elected to the Standing Committee on behalf of their OING represent  the Standing Committee (adopted with 2 abstentions),

·       Two consecutive terms of office are possible as president, irrespective of the post previously held,

·         The honorary  presidents of the Conference are systematically invited to the meetings of  the Standing Committee, with a consultative vote (adopted with 3 abstentions),

·       The Chair of the Expert Council expressed his surprise that he was not entitled to vote. This was because of the manner in which the Chair of the Council was appointed: he or she was chosen by the President of the Conference of INGOs and this choice was approved by the Conference. However, in order to have voting rights, it was necessary to be elected by the Conference by means of a ballot – this applied to the members of the Standing Committee, who had voting rights. The legal department of the Council of Europe, which had drawn up the terms of reference of the Expert Council, would be consulted as to whether the manner of choosing the chair of the Expert Council met the same criteria.

·       It was not possible to systematically replace a vice-chair of a thematic committee who resigned during his/her term of office (adoption with 3 abstentions and one vote against),

·       In order to apply for a position on the Bureau, candidates should, in addition to their letter of  motivation, propose a programme of actions (unanimously adopted). The Verifications Committee would make the necessary changes to the application form.

7.         Information on the revision of Resolution (2003)8 on participatory status

The drafting of the new resolution was almost complete as a result of the close collaboration between Jean Bernard Marie, the Civil Society Division and the Council of Europe’s legal department.

In this updated version, the role of the Conference of INGOs would be strengthened, and the admission criteria and the rights and responsibilities of the INGOs clarified.

The 9 remaining items on the agenda were deferred to the meeting of the Standing Committee on 28 January as there was not enough time to address them.