12 The Stability Pact for South-Eastern
Europe
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14921/06
COM(06) 656
| Council Decision on the re-appointment of the Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe
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| Legal base | Article 14 TEU; unanimity
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| Document originated | 31 October 2006
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| Deposited in Parliament | 13 November 2006
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| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 22 November 2006
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | 13-14 November 2006 General Affairs and External Relations Council
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
12.1 The Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe was set up in
1999 following a German-led conference in Cologne. The conference
identified the need for a co-ordinating body to help the countries
of south-eastern Europe recognise their responsibility to work
with the International Community to develop a shared strategy
for stability and growth in the region and to co-operate with
each other and major donors to implement this strategy.
12.2 The Stability Pact's members consist of international
donor countries, including EU Member States, USA, Canada, Japan,
Russia and Turkey; representatives of the United Nations, the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, NATO, the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International
Financial Institutions (including the World Bank, the International
Monetary Fund and the European Investment Bank). The Stability
Pact works under the auspices of the Organisation for Security
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
12.3 To help realise it objectives, the Stability
Pact set up a Regional Table to review progress and provide appropriate
guidance. The Regional Table is chaired by the Special Co-ordinator,
who is appointed by the European Union after consultation with
the OSCE and other participants. The Regional Table ensures co-ordination
through dividing its activities into three working tables which
focus on:
- Working Table I: democratisation
and human rights;
- Working Table II: economic reconstruction, development
and co-operation; and
- Working Table III: Security issues.
The Stability Pact is currently working on 25 initiatives
across the three working tables.
12.4 In his helpful 22 November 2006 Explanatory
Memorandum, the Minister for Europe at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (Mr Geoffrey Hoon) recalls that the Stability Pact was
always meant to be a temporary organisation; since 1999 some of
its recipient countries (most recently Bulgaria and Romania) have
now become donor countries and the situation in the Western Balkans
"has moved towards becoming more stable". In 2005 the
Stability Pact therefore set up a Senior Review Group to look
at whether the time was right for the countries of south-eastern
Europe to take the lead in promoting regional co-operation themselves
and for the Stability Pact to withdraw, which has now recommended
that the remaining Stability Pact initiatives should be reduced
to six priorities — Economic and Social Development, Infrastructure,
Justice and Home Affairs, Security Co-operation, Building Human
Capital and Parliamentary co-operation — and "folded
in to the work of the South East Europe Co-operation Process"
(the established local co-operation body, owned and run by the
countries of the region). This transition, he says, should be
complete by 2008.
12.5 The Review Group's report also recommended the
creation of a Regional Co-operation Council, to be chaired by
a Secretary General designated by the region and heading a small
secretariat staffed from the region (replacing the current Stability
Pact secretariat).
12.6 The existing Stability Pact secretariat based
in Brussels currently costs approximately €6 million per
annum — €2 million contribution from the European Commission
and €4 million of International Community funding. This latter
is currently through staff secondments, but in future would need
to be through monetary donations. The Minster says that it is
estimated that the new Regional Co-operation Council secretariat
will cost approximately €3 million per annum of which regional
countries have already pledged €1m, and that the Stability
Pact is now approaching the Commission and International Community
for the balance.
The Council Decision
12.7 The current Special Representative, Dr Erhard
Busek (a former Vice Chancellor of Austria) has held the position
since January 2002. The Council Decision would renew Dr Busek's
mandate for a further period of one year, from 1 January 2007.
The Government's view
12.8 The Minister welcomes the Senior Review Group's
report, agreeing that the Stability Pact's remaining initiatives
should be streamlined and folded into the on-going work of the
South East Europe Co-operation Council. He believes that an organisation
owned and run by countries from the region is a more appropriate
body to deliver regional co-operation initiatives, and that it
is right that these countries should take on more responsibility
to deliver this co-operation by themselves.
12.9 The Minister also supports the creation of a
Regional Co-operation Council that will provide the South East
Europe Co-operation Council with additional capacity to administer
the remaining Stability Pact initiatives, and considers it right
"that the good work of the Stability Pact is sustained".
12.10 To oversee the Stability Pact's transition
and ensure that their remaining initiatives are transferred to
the South East Europe Co-operation Council in a sustainable and
managed way, he agrees that the Special Co-ordinator's mandate
is renewed for a further period of one year from 1 January 2007.
12.11 The cost to the European Community budget of
renewing Dr Busek's mandate would be €232,000.
12.12 The Minister notes that it was agreed with
both us and our House of Lords counterpart Committee last year
that such re-appointments were procedural matters and that the
documents fell into one of the categories which need not be deposited
for scrutiny, and that this Explanatory Memorandum has been submitted
at our request.
Conclusions
12.13 We did so, not because we had any wish to
add unnecessarily to the scrutiny process, nor any questions concerning
the renewal of Dr Busek's mandate, but because the Stability Pact
process had reached a stage at which — given the interest
in the enlargement process generally and the centrality of the
Balkans therein — we felt that an exposition for the benefit
of the House would be timely.
12.14 We are grateful to the Minister for an Explanatory
Memorandum which does just that, and clear the document.
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