Having pledged to draw consequences rapidly and at all levels from the conclusions of the expert group on allegations of corruption within it in favour of Azerbaijan, allegations that are now revealed beyond question as fact, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution setting out areas for action to tighten up its internal rules and restore its credibility, by a huge majority (123 votes to 9 with 10 abstentions), on Thursday 26 April (see EUROPE 12007).
The text calls for a deepening of the regulatory framework for the appointment of the members of certain committees, such as the monitoring committee and the rules of procedure committee, plus the ad hoc election observation committees, and the updating of the appointment procedures for rapporteurs and committee voting.
Extra protection for whistleblowers within the Council of Europe is also called for.
Sanctions. In an explanatory statement, the resolution also refers to possible sanctions against current and former members upon whom the report of the independent group of investigation cast doubt, including both those whose behaviour was felt to run counter to ethical standards or the code of conduct and those who declined to work with the group of investigation. In particular, this concerns Pedro Agramunt of Spain, former chair of the European People's Party group and former PACE President.
These sanctions will be decided upon following an adversarial process conducted by the rules of procedure committee, which began its hearings on Wednesday 25 April.
Following the presentation of the expert group's report on Sunday 22 April, the Bureau of PACE had already decided to deny access to the Council of Europe to three former members: Eduard Lintner (CSU) and Karin Strenz (CDU) of Germany and Steg Goris (VLD) of Belgium. It asked current members to “suspend themselves” until such time as the rules of procedure committee has ruled on their fate.
In parallel to these proceedings, a copy of the report has been sent to each of the 47 national parliaments, inviting them to take the required measures concerning their members under fire and calling on them to report on the matter by the end of this year.
The text states that the fundamental aim is to restore the assembly in the full credibility of its political dimension and to make this crisis into a “catharsis”, according to wording repeated during a debate at which “zero tolerance to corruption” was called for. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)