11 February 1999

No. 99/46

Reference documents

- CM(99)4

The Deputies are invited to examine, with a view to its adoption, the convention mentioned herein, giving particular attention to Articles 17 and 19.

At its October 1998 meeting, the CDEJ carried out a final revision of the draft Convention on the Promotion of a Transnational Long-Term Voluntary Service for Young People. Various states had submitted a number of amendments to the text, all of which were examined and either accepted or rejected. Only one question remained pending, following a proposal for an amendment presented by France, namely the competence of the European Community with regard to accession to a Council of Europe convention.

The country concerned had proposed amendments to paragraph 1 of Article 17 and to paragraph 2 of Article 19.

Article 17, paragraph 1 was drafted as follows:

"After the entry into force of this Convention, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, after consulting the Parties to the Convention, may invite any State which is not referred to in Article 16, paragraph 1, as well as the European Community to accede to this Convention by a decision taken by the majority provided for in Article 20.d of the Statute of the Council of Europe and by the unanimous vote of the representatives of the Contracting States entitled to sit on the Committee."

France had proposed the following wording (see CM(99)4 p.11):

Similarly, with regard to Article 19, paragraph 2, drafted as follows (see CM(99)4 p.12):

France had proposed the following amended version:

In its explanatory document on these amendments (CDEJ(98)14 dated 24 September 1998), the Secretariat had pointed out that the question raised in paragraph 1 of Article 17 came within the Community sphere of competence and that paragraph 2 of Article 19 was a standard text proposed by the Community itself and incorporated in other conventions.

When these amendments were submitted at the meeting on 14-16 October 1998, they were withdrawn by the French representative mainly on the grounds that there had been a confusion between the wording of Article 17, paragraph 1 and a provision concerning UNESCO (in connection with a DECS convention) and not the European Community, and that the standard text for paragraph 2 of Article 19 was acceptable. Nonetheless, the representative of Denmark had considered that the amendments submitted by France were justified, that they represented an adequate interpretation of the Community treaty and that they should be maintained. This Danish proposal was never submitted in writing and was only raised orally during the meeting of the CDEJ (14-16 October 1998). For its part, the CDEJ considered that it could not settle this matter which came under the responsibility of the Committee of Ministers and therefore decided to submit it to the latter body.

The legal department of the European Commission responded by sending the DAJ a memorandum on Article 17, paragraph 1, pointing out that the wording of this article only existed in connection with the DECS convention and concerned UNESCO and that it was not admissible because:

1. one international organisation could not regulate the internal decision-making process of another international organisation;

2. the proposed amendment conflicted with the rules of procedure of the Community;

3. a decision by the Community regarding this situation should be based on Article 126 in conjunction with Article 228 of the Treaty establishing the Communities.

Lastly, a representative of the European Commission present at the Deputies 652^nd meeting (15 December 1998, B level) asked the Committee of Ministers to withdraw both amendments.

Now the Deputies are invited to decide upon the wording of the amended version of the above-mentioned articles in CM(99)4. Article 17 is in square brackets. Article 19 follows the original version, i.e. a standard text proposed by the European Community.

Item 8.1

(CM(99)4)

The Deputies adopted the Convention on the Promotion of a Transnational Long-Term Voluntary Service for Young People as set out in document CM(99)4 [revised].