Select Committee on European Scrutiny Second Report


12 The Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe

(27998)

14921/06

COM(06) 656

Council Decision on the re-appointment of the Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe

Legal baseArticle 14 TEU; unanimity
Document originated31 October 2006
Deposited in Parliament13 November 2006
DepartmentForeign and Commonwealth Office
Basis of considerationEM of 22 November 2006
Previous Committee ReportNone
To be discussed in Council13-14 November 2006 General Affairs and External Relations Council
Committee's assessmentPolitically important
Committee's decisionCleared

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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Prepared 11 December 2006