US Congressman Steny Hoyer leads Parliamentary Committee on Oversight and Accountability in the OSCE

COPENHAGEN, 11 October 2001 (OSCE) - The President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Adrian Severin, has appointed U.S. Congressman Steny Hoyer as Chair of the Assembly`s Ad Hoc Committee on furthering oversight and accountability in the OSCE. Vice-Presidents Rita Süssmuth, MP (Germany), and Bruce George, MP (United Kingdom), were appointed to serve as Vice-Chairs of the oversight Committee. Other members include Vice-President Ahmet Tan, MP (Turkey), Vice-President Claude Estier, MP (France) and Urban Ahlin, MP (Sweden).

The oversight Committee was established by the Standing Committee of Heads of Delegations during the 10th Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly last July in Paris, to monitor the implementation of the Resolution on oversight and accountability in the OSCE unanimously adopted during the Paris Session as well as a resolution directed toward eliminating the democratic deficit in the OSCE, adopted during the Assembly Session in St. Petersburg in 1999.

With regard to the democratic deficit, the St. Petersburg Resolution noted that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe possesses wide powers and obligations in the decision-making of the Council of Europe, such as giving its opinion to the Committee of Ministers and electing the Secretary General, the Deputy Secretary General and the Judges of the European Court of Human Rights. The St. Petersburg Resolution furthermore noted that the European Parliament possesses wide powers and obligations in the decision-making of the European Union, such as approving the annual budget, endorsement of the nominations of the European Commission and the oversight of the Commission´s activities.

According to the St. Petersburg Resolution democratic oversight and accountability are essential elements of transparency, credibility and efficiency and that the existence of a democratic deficit in international organizations affects the overall image of parliamentarians at both the national and international levels. The St. Petersburg Resolution furthermore proposed that the Secretary General of the OSCE be approved by a majority vote of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The Resolution on oversight and accountability adopted in Paris contains the proposal that as long as the OSCE complies with the strict consensus rule it must not be possible to participate in the decision-making process secretly and that objections to any proposal must be made known to any interested OSCE participating State or OSCE Institution. The Resolution furthermore calls for the reports of external and internal auditors of the OSCE to be made available to the Parliamentary Assembly in a timely manner.

The work of the Committee will be supported by the Assembly's International Secretariat under direct supervision of Secretary General Spencer Oliver, Programme Officer Tina Schon, as well as by the Research Staff of the International Secretariat.