OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier at the OSCE PA Standing Committee on 4 October.COPENHAGEN, 6 October 2014 – Addressing the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Standing Committee, consisting of heads of national delegations and elected members of the Bureau, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier on October 4 presented a detailed description of the proposed OSCE Budget for 2015. Following the presentation, the Secretary General fielded questions from the parliamentarians.

In his briefing, Zannier noted that the 2015 Unified Budget Proposal comprises an increase of 1.9 million euros – or 1.4 per cent – from 2014, but that in real terms it reflects a reduction when taking into account inflation adjustments. He explained that the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna and Institutions increase by 3.1 million euros – or 5.1 per cent – is partly offset by a decrease in field operations of 1.1 million euros, or 1.4 per cent.

He further noted that discussions on budget cycle reform are ongoing in the framework of Helsinki +40 with the focus moving to a biennial cycle.

The OSCE PA’s Treasurer, Roberto Battelli of Slovenia, inquired about the future of possible field presences in Belarus, Georgia and Mongolia. The PA’s Special Representative on the OSCE Budget, Petur Blondal of Iceland, criticized the negative trend of concentrating resources in the Vienna-based administration at the expense of field operations.

Blondal also pointed out that OSCE parliamentarians have frequently adopted resolutions calling for the Assembly to approve the OSCE budget for the sake of transparency and accountability to the taxpayers, and asked for the Secretary General’s views on enhancing parliamentary oversight in the OSCE.

To Battelli, Zannier replied that the consensus rule is the obstacle to opening field presences in Belarus, Georgia and Mongolia, and regarding PA oversight of the budget, he said that this is an issue for parliamentarians to discuss directly with their own governments. He suggested that the framework of the Helsinki +40 process could provide an opportunity to do so.