OSCE Headquarters in Vienna. Resolution includes calls for open meetings, reform of consensus rule
COPENHAGEN, 20 June 2013 (FRE | RUS | TR) - In a bid to increase the transparency of the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Belgian MP François-Xavier de Donnea has proposed a package of reforms that would include a first-ever professional external audit of the OSCE.
The resolution introduced by the head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Ad Hoc Committee on Transparency and Reform, will be voted on at the Parliamentary Assembly's Annual Session that opens 29 June in Istanbul. Members of parliament from across the OSCE region will debate, offer amendments and vote on the measure, which seeks to strengthen the OSCE by increasing the transparency and efficiency of the organization.
Under the measure, the Parliamentary Assembly would pay for an audit of the OSCE, which has an annual budget of EUR 144.8 million, funded by taxpayers from across the 57 member states.
"The OSCE has been instrumental in promoting transparency and accountability across its region, but those same principles should be upheld in Vienna, as well," said de Donnea. "This resolution calls for the reforms needed at the OSCE, including the needed parliamentary oversight of the executive branch of the OSCE."
The item recommends that the proceedings of the Permanent Council, the OSCE's regular meetings in Vienna, to be open to the public and streamed live on the Internet. It also proposes modifying the the consensus rule for decisions related to personnel, budget and administration. De Donnea drafted the resolution after two meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee which took place in February and April this year and in which these matters were extensively discussed.
Parliamentarians from across the 57 OSCE countries will vote on the resolution and declaration in Istanbul. Resolutions and the final declaration adopted in Istanbul help shape OSCE and national policy.
The Annual Session, including committee debates and votes, are open to the press and public.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 57 countries spanning, Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international co-operation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.
