The Congress, bearing in mind the proposal of the Bureau,

1. Having regard to Recommendation 56 (1999) on the Statutory Reinforcement and the Revision of the Congress Charter,

2. Having regard to Recommendation 1409 (1999) and Resolution 1188 (1999) of the Parliamentary Assembly on possible modifications to and updating of the Charter of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE),

3. Having regard to the report of the Committee of Wise Persons (November 1998), and in particular paragraph 53,

4. Considering the adoption by the Ministers’ Deputies, on 15 March 2000, of Statutory Resolution (2000) 1 on the CLRAE and of the CLRAE Charter and in particular Article 15 of the latter,

adopts hereto the procedure for the election of the Chief Executive of the CLRAE, as set out in the Appendix.

APPENDIX

Procedure for the election of the Chief Executive of the CLRAE

1. Vacancy notice

The post of Chief Executive shall be advertised by means of a Vacancy Notice under an external recruitment procedure, prepared by the Secretary General and specifying the requisite qualifications.

2. Submission of applications

a. Candidates shall be free to submit their applications directly.

b. Applications must reach the Secretary General of the Council of Europe by the closing date specified in the Vacancy Notice.

3. Preliminary consideration of applications

a. Applications forwarded by the closing date shall undergo an initial examination by the Secretary General in the light of the requirements stated in the Vacancy Notice.

b. Within a fortnight after the closing date specified in the Vacancy Notice, the Secretary General shall transmit to the President of the Congress the list of candidatures received, indicating the ineligible candidates (list A) and the candidates meeting the requirements as stated in the Vacancy Notice (list B).

4. Nomination of candidates

a. The President of the Congress and the Presidents of each Chamber shall meet in order to:

i. examine the list of candidatures transmitted by the Secretary General. Some candidates may be asked to attend an interview;

ii. draw up from the list of candidates deemed eligible by the Secretary General a short list of not more than five names for submission to the vote of the Congress.

In drawing up the short list, the President of the Congress and the Presidents of the Chambers shall have particular regard to the following requirements:

i. Recruitment of persons of the highest competence, integrity and aptitude for the post to be filled.

ii. Necessity, under the Council of Europe's equal opportunities policy, of consistently ensuring parity in the numbers of men and women employed in each category and grade.

iii. Need for equitable geographical distribution of vacancies among nationals of member states. This Secretariat appointment shall not be considered the prerogative of any one member state.

iv. Need to take into account the qualifications and experience of persons already serving with the Council of Europe in order to offer members of the Secretariat reasonable promotion prospects.

b. The President of the Congress and the Presidents of the Chambers shall report to the Bureau of the Congress, which shall take the decision to transmit the final list of candidates to the members of the Congress.

c. The final list and the Curriculum Vitaes of the short-listed candidates shall be transmitted to the members of the Congress not later than one week before the Session during which the election is to be held.

5. Procedure in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe

a. The Congress shall conduct the election.

b. Voting shall be conducted by secret ballot. Two tellers chosen by lot shall count the votes cast.

c. If, after the first ballot, no candidate has obtained an absolute majority of the votes cast by representatives appointed to the Congress, the candidate who gains a relative majority of the votes cast in the second ballot shall be declared elected. In the event of a tie, the female candidate, if any, and otherwise the candidate who is senior in age, shall be declared elected.

6. Term of office

a. The Chief Executive shall be elected for a term of five years and may be re-elected.

b. The Chief Executive's term of office shall terminate when he/she reaches the age limit of that of officials of the Council of Europe, 65 years.