Report

On 22 and 23 February 2007, a Canadian delegation participated at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Winter Meeting.  Members of the delegation were Senator Jerahmiel Grafstein (Delegation Head and OSCE Treasurer), Senator Jean-Claude Rivest, Roy Cullen, Francine Lalonde and David Tilson.  The delegation was accompanied by Denis Robert (Delegation Secretary) and Jean-Rodrigue Paré (Advisor).

 

OVERVIEW OF THE OSCE

Created in 1975 as the “Conference on Security and Co‑operation in Europe” (CSCE), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) received its current name at the Budapest Summit in December 1994.  The OSCE participating countries, currently 56 in number, are “all the European states, the United States and Canada.”⁽¹⁾  A further 11 countries from the Mediterranean area and Asia joined as observers under the title “Partners for Cooperation.”  The organization is defined as a primary instrument for early warning, conflict prevention and crisis management.  It is also recognized as a regional arrangement under Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, which requires that participating United Nations Member States “make every effort to achieve pacific settlement of local disputes through such regional arrangements or by such regional agencies before referring them to the Security Council.”⁽²⁾  However, the OSCE is not an international organization in the strict sense of international law, in that its resolutions are not legally binding on the signatory countries.

 

The OSCE’s 2007 budget is €168.2 million, of which nearly 75% is dedicated to field operations in 16 countries.  The OSCE employs approximately 3,500 individuals, of whom about 500 work in its various institutions and 3,000 are assigned to field missions.  One-quarter of the OSCE employees are seconded by the participating countries.

 

A.        An Inclusive, Global and Cooperative Approach to Security

The OSCE’s unique character derives from its composition, by which the United States and Canada participate as full members in an organization that addresses European issues.  The OSCE favours inclusive dialogue over selective admission.  This enables it to keep communication channels open on key security issues between Western democracies and countries with less exemplary democratic records.  It also promotes exchanges between the European Union and Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) that are not members of the Council of Europe.  Whereas the foremost goal of the Council of Europe is to harmonize democratic practices among its member states, the OSCE aims to foster the development of an expansive, conflict-free geographic area – from Vancouver to Vladivostok – regardless of the participating countries’ democratic status.

 

The OSCE’s resolutions and activities stem from an originating concept of global security that extends beyond the political-military model.  In the Charter for European Security, adopted at the November 1999 Istanbul Summit, the heads of state and of government of the participating countries agreed to “address the human, economic, political and military dimensions of security as an integral whole.”⁽³⁾  All forms of peaceful cooperation between the participating countries are considered as having the potential to reduce the risks of conflict in the region.  The OSCE’s cooperative approach is confirmed by the fact that all 56 states have equal status.  Decisions are made by consensus rather than majority vote. ⁽⁴⁾

 

B.        Operational Capacities

After the end of the Cold War, the OSCE developed its institutions and operational capacities in response to particular and often urgent needs, and not as a long-term strategic plan.  The 1990 Charter of Paris for a New Europe laid the foundations for the OSCE’s institutional framework.

 

Field activities account for almost 75% of the OSCE budget.  The fact that it has no missions in Western Europe or North America is a point frequently raised by the Commonwealth of Independent States to argue that, although it claims to be cooperative and egalitarian, the OSCE applies a double standard in its relations with the participating countries.  The OSCE’s reply is that its operations stem from commitments made in a consensual manner and at the invitation of the countries themselves.  The six OSCE missions in southeast Europe account for half of the organization’s budget.  At €35.2 million in 2007, the budget for the Kosovo mission alone is roughly equivalent to the allocation for the OSCE Secretariat (€30.9 million).

 

The OSCE is led by a rotating “chairman-in-office” selected to serve a one-year term from among the foreign ministers of the participating countries.  As the organization’s senior diplomat, the chairman-in-office is supported by the Secretariat and its secretary general.  Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Angel Moratinos, is the OSCE Chairman-in-Office for 2007.  France’s Marc Perrin de Brichambaut has served as OSCE Secretary General since June 2005.

 

C.        The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

Created by the OSCE (at that time the CSCE) under the 1990 Charter of Paris for a New Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) held its first Annual Meeting in Budapest in July 1992, and its Secretariat began operations at Copenhagen in January 1993.  The PA is an independent, separately funded organization that plays an advisory role in the OSCE’s activities.  Over 300 parliamentarians appointed by their respective parliaments meet several times a year to debate a number of OSCE matters.  The parliamentarians prepare declarations and reports and issue recommendations for their own governments, parliaments and civilians concerning the OSCE’s three spheres of action.  The PA plays a key role in observing elections in the OSCE member states and regularly dispatches parliamentary delegations on field missions.

 

The PA convenes at an Annual Meeting in July, a Fall Meeting in November, a Winter Meeting in February, and every two years at an Economic Forum in May.  At the Annual Meeting, the Assembly adopts a final declaration and a number of resolutions in a plenary session.  The Assembly elects 11 parliamentarians to the Bureau of the Assembly (comprised of a president, 9 vice-presidents and a treasurer), as well as a chair, vice-chair and rapporteur for each of the three general committees.  Together, the Bureau members, general committee chairs and the heads of the participating state delegations make up the Standing Committee.  At the Annual Meeting, decisions are made by majority vote, whereas the Standing Committee applies the “consensus minus one” rule, except in the appointment of the secretary general, which requires a majority vote.  The PA’s 2006‑2007 budget is €2.56 million, of which Canada has contributed €141,699.

 

Göran Lennmarker (Sweden) has been president of the PA since July 2006, succeeding Alcee L. Hastings (United States).  Spencer Oliver (United States) has served as secretary general since January 1993.  The Canadian Senator Jerahmiel Grafstein has acted as treasurer since July 2004.  Senator Consiglio Di Nino has led the Canadian delegation since February 2005.

 

2007 OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY WINTER MEETING

On 22 and 23 February, over 250 parliamentarians from the OSCE participating countries and representatives from the “Partners for Cooperation” met in Vienna.  The program comprised the meeting of the Standing Committee, made up of the heads of the delegations in attendance, an opening plenary session and a closing plenary session that brought together the three general commissions, separate meetings for the three commissions, and a special debate on energy security in the OSCE region in response to issues raised at last year’s G8 Summit at St. Petersburg.

 

A.        Standing Committee

At the meeting of the Standing Committee, the Bureau members, the three general committee chairs and the delegation heads heard the following presentations:

 

• President Lennmarker began with a review of his presidential priorities:  strengthening the PA’s role in ongoing OSCE activities; mediation of ongoing conflicts; human rights promotion; the battle against refugee trafficking; election observations; and, lastly, Central Asia and the key issue of Kazakhstan’s bid for OSCE presidency in 2009, which he supported.  The Committee also approved the choice of Kazakhstan to host the July 2008 PA Annual Meeting.  He then summarized his presentation at the OSCE Ministerial Council at Brussels in December 2006; his visits; and the outcomes of the election observation mission to Serbia, which he headed.

 

• The PA Treasurer, Canadian Senator Jerahmiel Grafstein, presented a very positive financial report and announced that he had achieved his objective of ensuring that the organization has financial reserves equivalent to an annual budget for expenditures.  He emphasized the qualities of the PA Internet site and invited the participants to link their parliamentary sites to that of the PA.

 

• Secretary General Spencer Oliver presented a report on activities, highlighting the Secretariat’s efforts in the election observation missions and the positive reactions to the newsletter News from Copenhagen.  He also presented the plans for the Sixteenth Annual Meeting to be held in July at Kiev, Ukraine.

 

• President Lennmarker presented his report on the election observation mission in Serbia.  The mission had uncovered tensions between the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the PA as to their respective roles in releasing the mission outcomes.  The Committee members supported the President’s call for a meeting between the ODIHR Director, the PA President and the OSCE Chairman-in-Office to find common ground between the ODIHR’s position on the need for expertise and the PA’s case for political legitimacy.

 

• Uta Zapf (Germany), Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Belarus, announced the upcoming seminar on the European Neighbourhood Policy.

 

B.        First Joint Session of the General Committees

At the opening plenary session, the PA heard the following presentations:

 

• President Lennmarker welcomed the participants and noted that it was the largest attendance yet at a winter PA meeting.  He underscored the growing importance of parliamentary diplomacy in the international arena and applauded the substantial contributions of the OSCE’s PA to the election observation missions and its additional support for governmental conflict resolution efforts.

 

• Barbara Prammer, President of the Austrian Parliament, commended the reforms undertaken to make the OSCE more effective.  She praised the OSCE’s democratization programs and hoped that the parliamentarians’ oversight role would be strengthened through greater collaboration with the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and the International Ombudsman Institute, whose head office is currently at the University of Alberta.  She also supported the OSCE’s efforts to promote gender equality and to combat human trafficking.

 

• Josep Borrell Fontelles, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, spoke on behalf of Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miguel Angel Moratinos.  He stressed the need for parliamentarians to become involved in supranational initiatives, and expressed his particular support for the PA resolutions on reinforcing the field missions and on cooperating with more international organizations.  He reminded the parliamentarians of the need for patience:  the development of democratic institutions and cultures must be viewed from a long-term perspective.

 

• Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, OSCE Secretary General, spoke of 2006 as a year of consolidation in the wake of problems encountered by the organization in 2005.  He informed the participants that a results-based budget approach had been implemented and a new decision-making process adopted.  The PA had launched several initiatives to address the priorities adopted by the Ministerial Council at Brussels in December 2006, including human trafficking and the battle against organized crime.  Pursuant to the conflict arising from the Serbian elections, the Secretary General reaffirmed his intention to apply fully the terms of the Cooperation Agreement entered into between the ODIHR and the PA on election observation missions.  He noted that the many challenges facing the OSCE were external, and hoped that the threatened tensions around Kosovo’s status would not undermine the many years of effort by the international community.  In his opinion, the OSCE mirrors the region’s security climate, and its internal tensions reflect actual threats that must be acknowledged.  Therefore, the doubts about the OSCE’s role that have been expressed by some of the participating states should not be taken lightly, since they bring into question the common values underpinning the OSCE.

 

C.        General Committee on Political Affairs and Security

Chair: Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco)

 

Vice-Chair:    Hans Raidel (Germany)

 

Rapporteur:   Kristian Pihl Lorentzen (Denmark)

 

The Committee Vice-Chair began by presenting a follow-up report on the resolutions adopted by the PA and gave an overview of future OSCE actions on armament control, anti-terrorism and the battle against human trafficking.  He asked the PA to attend government meetings where decisions liable to have an impact on the PA’s work would be made.

 

Mr. Lorentzen then outlined his report to be presented at Kiev.  It would cover two main subjects:  energy security, particularly the potential for greater cooperation between producer and consumer states, and Belarus.  To address these, Mr. Lorentzen has been invited to join the Ad Hoc Working Group on Belarus.  The Kosovo situation will continue to be closely monitored.

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Ambassador Rolf Ekeus, then presented an activities report of his office.  He reviewed the findings of his report on integration and diversity policies presented at the PA Annual Meeting at Brussels in July 2006.

 

Ambassador Werner Wnendt, Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, informed the Committee on the situation that has prevailed since the UN’s Special Envoy for Kosovo filed his report.  He stated that the OSCE mission would continue to play a key role, and that this would become even more important should no agreement be reached.  Once the United Nations has adopted a resolution on the status of Kosovo, the OSCE mission will again be autonomous, having fulfilled its mandate under the UN.

 

D.        General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment

Chair: Leonid Ivanchenko (Russia)

 

Vice-Chair:    Petros Efthymiou (Greece)

 

Rapporteur:   Roland Blum (France)

 

The Committee Chair presented a report on his participation at the OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum, which dealt with soil degradation and contamination as well as drinking water management.

 

The Vice-Chair presented his follow-up report on the resolutions adopted at Brussels in 2006 and reviewed the attendant actions taken by the OSCE, particularly those bearing on energy security, illicit air transport of small arms, and the monitoring of social development measures.  The Committee Rapporteur then presented his plans to deliver a report on the economic consequences of migrations.

 

The Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities,
Bernard Snoy, presented his report on activities in 2006, which included efforts toward trade facilitation in landlocked countries.  He informed the participants that the issue of environmental security would be taken up at the ministerial council to be held in Madrid in November 2007.

 

E.        General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions

Chair: Anne-Marie Lizin (Belgium)

 

Vice-Chair:    Cecilia Wigström (Sweden)

 

Rapporteur:   Jesús López-Mendel (Spain)

 

After the Chair presented the agenda, the Vice-Chair presented her follow-up report on the resolutions adopted at the 2006 Annual Meeting in Brussels.  She noted the remarkable progress made to date on the PA’s recommendations for combating anti-Semitism and intolerance.  She reiterated the importance of ensuring that the PA continue to fulfil its role in the election observation missions in compliance with the 1997 Cooperation Agreement signed with ODIHR.  With respect to the fight against child exploitation and human trafficking, Eva Biaudet, OSCE Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, was invited to give a presentation at the 2007 Annual Meeting at Kiev.

 

The Committee Rapporteur presented an overview of a report to be submitted at the upcoming Annual Meeting.  Notably, it deals with the connection between the humanitarian values underpinning the OSCE framework and the security of the populations of the participating countries.  He also made the connection between fundamental freedoms and the battle against terrorism.

 

The OSCE Representative for Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, addressed the Committee on the development of standards to facilitate journalist accreditation.  He also recalled the violent acts against journalists in the past year.  He expressed his concern that many journalists have been prosecuted for revealing state secrets and stated his intention to pursue his efforts to decriminalize defamatory libel in several OSCE countries.

 

Christian Strohal, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented various activities of his organization that are less visible than those concerning election observation: notably, support for legislative development to combat terrorism and promote good governance.  In view of the controversy surrounding the PA–ODIHR collaboration on the election observation mission in Serbia, Mr. Strohal urged that a methodology to support the work of the observation mission be established and that the complementary roles of the PA and ODIHR be clarified.

 

F.         Special International Debate:  Energy Security within the OSCE Region

The debate was opened by President Lennmarker.  The key issue was the use of energy resources as diplomatic weapons.  The pressure exerted by Russia on its neighbours and the consequences of that pressure for the stability of the European energy supply was clearly the matter at hand, despite the neutral references to the situations of producer, transporter and consumer states.  Connections were also made between the development of alternative fossil energies, environmental protection and energy independence from producer countries.

 

G.        Closing Plenary Session

At the closing plenary session the parliamentarians heard the following presentations:

 

• The OSCE Special Representative on Gender Issues, Tone Tingsgaard (Sweden), invited the participants to become actively involved by joining her informal network.  She was unable to note any significant progress on the issue of women’s representation within the OSCE either on the ministerial side or in the PA’s delegations.

 

• The three chairs summarized the work of their respective committees.

 

• Finally, President Lennmarker concluded the Winter Meeting by inviting the parliamentarians to the upcoming Economic Meeting in Andorra in May and to the Annual Meeting at Kiev in July 2007.

 

H.        Participation of the Canadian Delegation

            1.         Standing Committee

 

Senator Grafstein, Treasurer and Head of the Canadian Delegation in the absence of Senator Di Nino, was the only Canadian delegate authorized to participate at the meeting of the Standing Committee.  Senator Grafstein was commended by the participants for his excellent management of the OSCE’s finances.  His mandate ends in July.

 

            2.         Closing Plenary Session

 

Senator Grafstein, in the capacity of Treasurer of the Parliamentary Assembly, presented the organization’s budget report.

 

            3.         General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment

 

Senator Grafstein recommended that a working group be set up on conciliation between economic growth and agricultural land development.  The recommendation noted the phenomenon of agricultural land prices, which are rising faster than residential land prices in major North American cities because of increased bio-fuel production.

 

            4.         International Special Debate on Energy Security

 

A presentation by Member of Parliament Roy Cullen on the need to maintain a balance between a secure energy supply and responsible environmental management was well received (see Appendix 3).

            5.         Bilateral Meetings

 

Senator Grafstein attended two parallel meetings on the OSCE’s Mediterranean dimension.  He was invited to participate at a round-table discussion by the countries in the region, to include Libya, subsequent to the discussions begun at the 2006 Autumn Meeting in Malta.

 

Respectfully submitted,