Decision-making in the OSCE

A bell, a gavel and a sign reading Chairman-in-Office on a white conference table.

OSCE decisions or declarations must be adopted by all 57 participating States. This consensus principle applies in all four OSCE decision-making bodies. However, there are a few exceptions.

A bell, a gavel and a sign reading Chairman-in-Office on a white conference table.

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Participating States

Consensus and exceptions

All 57 participating States participate in OSCE decision-making bodies on an equal footing, a rule that was codified in the Rules of Procedure adopted at the 2006 Brussels Ministerial Council meeting.

“Consensus shall be understood to mean the absence of any objection expressed by a participating State to the adoption of the decision in question. Any texts which have been adopted by a decision-making body by consensus shall have a politically binding character for all the participating States or reflect the agreed views of all the participating States."

Decisions are either adopted at meetings of decision-making bodies or through the application of a ‘silence procedure’, in which a decision is adopted if no objections are made before a set deadline. However, also the application of this silence procedure must be agreed upon by the consensus of all States.

Exceptions

There can be two exceptions. First of all, a ‘consensus minus one’ may be applied in cases of a State’s "clear, gross and uncorrected violation" of CSCECSCE
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe commitments, leading to decisions taken without the consent of that State. This exception was invoked in July 1992 to suspend Yugoslavia from the CSCE.

Secondly, the Ministerial Council can instruct two participating States that are in dispute to seek conciliation, regardless of whether or not the participating States object to this decision. This ‘consensus minus two’ option, a modification of the Valletta Mechanism, has never been put into practice.

The Valletta Mechanism

This Mechanism, created at a meeting of experts in Valletta from 15 January to 8 February 1991 and adopted by the first CSCE Council of Ministers in June of that year, formalized the fifth principle of the Helsinki Final Act, which established the use of peaceful means to settle disputes so they do not threaten international peace and security.

OSCE Mechanisms and Procedures

Another exception concerns the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE-related Court of Conciliation and Arbitration. While the former is an autonomous body that does not adhere to the consensus rule and takes its decisions by majority vote of its full membership, the signatory States of the latter take decisions by majority of voting parties present.

Decision-making bodies

There are four OSCE decision-making bodies with clearly delineated, distinct mandates.

Summit

Meetings of the Heads of State or Government of OSCE participating States are called Summits. They are the highest-level decision-making body of the Organization and set its priorities for several years. They occur at irregular intervals.

Summit

Ministerial Council

In years without a Summit meeting, the Organization’s participating States meet at the level of foreign ministers. This forum is called the Ministerial Council. The Ministerial Council is the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE.

Ministerial Council

Permanent Council

Meeting on a weekly basis, the Permanent Council is the principal decision-making body for regular political consultations and for governing the day-to-day operational work of the OSCE.

Permanent Council

Forum for Security Co-operation

Military security and stability in the OSCE region are the central concern of the Forum for Security Co-operation, an autonomous decision-making body in which the OSCE participating States meet on a weekly basis.

Forum for Security Co-operation