Rapporteurs for the Bureau
The Baroness Farrington, United Kingdom
Mr Alain Chénard, France

SUMMARY

At the beginning of each plenary session the Bureau has to present a report on the verification of the credentials of the new members of the CLRAE. Numerous changes have been made this year. In most cases they are due to individual resignations or the holding of local and regional elections. In other cases, the changes have no justification and appear to be dictated by internal political conflict. As far as the latter changes are concerned, the Bureau proposes not to validate the credentials of the new delegates. This report considers all the changes submitted, country by country. It also includes an analysis of Resolution 29 (1996), on the verification of credentials, adopted by the Bureau last year.

INTRODUCTION

The national delegations were renewed last year and their members hold a term of office lasting two years, ie until the next plenary session. This year, in theory, the Congress should be required only to note a limited number of changes. However, this is not the case. The Rapporteurs have had to consider serious political problems in the case of two delegations (Ukraine and Bulgaria). Furthermore, the appointment of the Romanian delegation has been challenged.

In view of the problems encountered, the Rapporteurs would like to make the following points:

1) It is necessary to ensure the continuity of the work of the CLRAE. As two years is already a short period, representatives must be replaced before the end of their two-year term of office only in the cases expressly provided for in Article 2.5 of the CLRAE Charter, namely:

- death;
- resignation;
- loss of mandate by representatives elected to local or regional authorities or those 'directly responsible' to an elected local or regional body;

2) The CLRAE is not the Parliamentary Assembly. The fact that a new majority is elected to the Parliament of a member country does not justify changes in the membership of that country's delegation to the CLRAE, unless local or regional elections were held at the same time.

3) Each national delegation must be able to manage itself autonomously until its renewal, every two years. To this end, the delegations elect their Chairman and appoint a Secretary. The central Government must not decide which members shall be entitled to attend the plenary session. A member wishing to attend the plenary session always has the right to do so. In the event of disagreement, it is for the Bureau to settle the matter.

4) Reasons must be given for any change in the membership of a delegation before the end of its two-year mandate, so that the Bureau may appreciate the validity of that change.

FOLLOW-UP TO RESOLUTION 29 (1996)

Last year, the CLRAE expressed a number of wishes as regards the official procedures for appointing certain national delegations. Some questions remain open.

Albania

Albania has not yet informed the CLRAE of an official procedure for appointing its delegation. The previous Albanian government appointed a delegation several months ago (before riots broke out) but the appointment was tainted by several flaws, including the absence of any procedure, prompting the Bureau to ask the Albanian authorities to re-examine the matter. Consequently, this country still has no national delegation to the CLRAE.

Austria

The CLRAE indicated its disagreement with the appointment by Austria of a regional elected representative to the Chamber of Local Authorities in respect of his title of President of the National Association of Local Authorities. It requested the Austrian authorities to review that representative's assignment to this Chamber and to modify the procedure in consequence, to avoid a recurrence of the problem in future. However, this representative is still designated to represent his country in the Chamber of Local Authorities for the time being and the procedure remains unchanged.

Italy

The Italian Government has provided further information as regards the official appointment procedure, as requested by the Congress. However, the Bureau has indicated its decision to no longer accept the appointment of "Difensori Civici" (regional ombudsmen) from the next session onwards.

Moldova

The Bureau has received further information on the political balance of this delegation and expressed its satisfaction. (also see above)

Portugal

Last year, the CLRAE asked the Portuguese Government to revise its appointment procedure, as that procedure still made it possible to appoint regional officials ('regional co-ordination commissioners'), which is not permitted by the Congress. The Government has still not changed the procedure. However, all the members appointed under it hold mandates complying with the CLRAE Charter.

Slovenia

Last year, the CLRAE requested further information concerning the appointment of Slovenian members of the Chamber of Regions. Subsequently, as Slovenia envisaged the possibility of regionalisation, the Bureau decided to postpone its examination of the question for one year (ie until now). The Permanent Delegation of Slovenia recently informed the CLRAE that a draft law on regionalisation was in preparation and that the Council of Europe would be consulted on it. In other words, the transition is still ongoing.

United Kingdom

Last year, the CLRAE reminded the British Government of the need to revise its appointment procedure, particularly as regards the criteria for appointing the members of the two Chambers. The new Government has indicated that it would favour organising referenda on self-government in Scotland and Wales, suggesting that a degree of regionalisation might take place in that country.

VERIFICATION OF THE CREDENTIALS OF THE REPRESENTATIVES

Austria

One representative from the Chamber of Local Authorities and one substitute from the Chamber of Regions have been replaced.

Bulgaria

Following the victory of the Union of Democratic Forces in Bulgaria, the new Government has appointed three new members belonging to that party. They replace two members of the opposition and one from the Popular Union who have not resigned from the delegation. These appointments clearly alter the political balance of the delegation. Yet the last elections took place in October 1995.

Cyprus

The delegation has been renewed following recent local elections.

Greece

A new substitute has been appointed following the resignation of a representative.

Latvia

Two new members have been appointed following recent local elections.

Lithuania

The delegation has been renewed following recent local elections.

Moldova

The CLRAE had rejected the appointment of Mr Cozari, a local elected representative, to the Chamber of Regions. He is replaced by a new representative who holds an electoral mandate in a 'rayon' (district), like the other Moldovan members of the Chamber of Regions.

Portugal

One representative and one substitute assigned to the Chamber of Local Authorities have been replaced.

Romania

The last local elections in Romania took place shortly before the 3rd Plenary Session. For this reason, the old delegation had its mandate renewed for three months. The delegation is being renewed in phases, and this has taken longer than planned.

In view of these problems, the Romanian Government resulting from the last elections wished to make improvements to the official appointment procedure. The new procedure was approved by the Bureau.

A new delegation was then appointed in accordance with the new procedure. The Bureau has approved the mandates of the new members appointed.

Mr Simirad, a former member of the CLRAE no longer in the new delegation, has lodged a complaint. He accuses the Government of: (a) giving inaccurate information concerning the political affiliation of the delegation's members, (b) appointing a political and geographically unbalanced delegation, (c) giving too many seats to the party in power.

The Rapporteurs requested official explanations from the Romanian Government, which they obtained immediately from the Vice-Prime Minister, Mr Remus Oris. The Rapporteurs consider that his reply (see appendix 1) is detailed and convincing.

An analysis of the delegation's political balance carried out by the Secretariat shows that Mr Simirad's party is any but under-represented (see appendix 2). The party formerly in power is less strongly represented than the party now in power, despite the near-equal election scores obtained by the two (some 26% of the vote each). However, at the time of publishing this document, the party formerly in power has made no complaint in this connection. Moreover, associations have been consulted.

San Marino

A substitute has been replaced.

Switzerland

A member having lost their electoral mandate has been replaced.

"The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"

The delegation has been renewed following recent local elections.

Ukraine

The Presidential "Foundation" for local self-government, responsible for co-ordinating the Ukrainian delegation, has sent a list of the members participating in the 4th Plenary Session to the Secretariat. Mr Kossakivsky, appointed representative last year, is not on that list. However, he has stated that he will attend. In its correspondence with the CLRAE Secretariat, the "Foundation" finally explained that Mr Kossakivsky was no longer a member of the delegation because the President of the Republic had decreed it. However, there was no reason to replace Mr Kossakivsky before the end of his two-year term of office. He still sits on Kiev Municipal Council. The last local elections were held in 1994 and the next ones will take place in 1998. The Rapporteurs wish to recognise Mr Kossakivsky's capacity as representative until the next renewal of the Ukrainian delegation, which is to be made before the 1998 Session. In this respect, he must be able to attend the 1997 session if he so wishes. They would also point out that it is not for the central Government but for the delegation itself to decide which representatives must travel to Strasbourg for CLRAE sessions.

SPECIAL GUESTS

Armenia

This new special guest has established an official appointment procedure for the time being which is rather concise. Furthermore, two town hall officials have been appointed to the Chamber of Regions, a move which has been rejected. The two local elected representatives appointed could be accepted by the Congress. However, they are members of the same party.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Local elections might be held in Bosnia-Herzegovina in September 1997. The present local authorities were elected several years ago, and their term of office was extended as an exceptional measure because of the war.

The Secretary General recently invited the authorities of Bosnia-Herzegovina to revise the membership of the delegation and also the procedure for appointing it, in the interests of compliance with the Dayton Agreements.

The new delegation is more representative of Bosnia-Herzegovina than its predecessor. However, the mandates of certain members might well result from exceptional measures because of the war. The Rapporteurs propose that the delegation be approved only for this session and that it be renewed (in compliance with a revised appointment procedure) as soon as elections are held.