Report - Colloquium om "The Future of the OSCE"

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PARI I \MENTARY ASSEMBLY
OSCE's parlamentariske Forsamling
(2. samling)
OSCE alm. del - Bilag 95
Offentligt
Ai SWISSFOUNDATION
FORWORLDAFFAIRS
REPORT
Colloquium on
"The Future of the OSCE"
A Joint Project
of
the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
and
the Swiss Institute for World Affairs
Washington, 5-6 June 2005
Offentligt
OSCE Alm.del - Bilag 95
OSCE's parlamentariske Forsamling 2004-05 (2. samling)
This report has been agreed by President of the OSCE PA,
Congressman Alcee L. Hastings and the Swiss Foundation Chairman,
Ambassador Edouard Brunner. It has been drafted by Ambassador
G&ard Stoudmann, Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy
and Spencer Oliver, Secretary General of the OSCE PA who served as
co-Rapporteurs during the Colloquium. They were assisted by Nicolas
Kaczorowski, Deputy to Ambassador Stoudmann and Tina Schøn
from the International Secretariat of the OSCE PA. The Report is a
synopsis of views expressed at the Colloquium as seen by the
Rapporteurs, and it also takes into consideration opinions expressed
in the written contributions which were submitted to the project. The
Report has been reviewed by the participants at the Colloquium who
agree with the content. The written contributions are attached to the
Report.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The OSCE is facing serious difficulties as well as challenges to its purpose
and political relevancy. Participants and contributors to the Colloquium
unanimously agreed that the OSCE is still a valuable and relevant
international organization that should continue to play a critical role in
promoting stability and security in Europe. The political commitments
made in the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris as well as in other
CSCE/OSCE documents are of great value. They should be preserved and
upheld by the Participating States.
It was also agreed that the crisis of the OSCE is first and foremost political.
The structural reform in and by itself will not solve the political problems
that only participating States can address. The governments of the 55
OSCE states should reconfirm their commitment to a useful, credible and
professional OSCE that serves the interest of all. They should also commit
themselves, at the highest political levels, to the full implementation of all
of their OSCE commitments and to future improvements in the structures
and procedures of the Organization.
It was also agreed that:
1. The strengthening of OSCE activities in the field of security,
economy and environment should not be done at the expense of the
human dimension or to the detriment of basic OSCE values and
principles. The security dimension should be expanded by further
elaborating the Code of Conduct on politico-military aspects of
security and increasing the role of the Forum for Security Co-
operation.
2. Election observation is one of the most politically relevant and
visible aspects of the Organization. The independence of these
missions must be protected and efforts should focus on expanding
electoral standards without weakening existing commitments. It is
recommended that ODIHR and the OSCE PA increase their co-
operation in order to maintain and ensure the independence of the
OSCE election observation that has been recently eroded. Finally,
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election assessments could be expanded further in Western
democracies. Double standards in electoral observations should be
avoided.
3. The role of the OSCE Secretary General should be strengthened in
the political, budgetary and administrative spheres. The Secretary
General, as well as and in consultation with the Chairman-in-Office,
should be able to speak for the Organization and to make policy
pronouncements as well as appropriate criticisms when OSCE
commitments are not observed.
4. The OSCE should improve its ability to make timely decisions
through adjusting its decision-making procedure. The consensus
rules could be modified for decisions related to personnel, budget
and administration.
5. Transparency and accountability can be improved by requiring that
a country which blocks or holds up consensus must do so openly
and be prepared to defend such position publicly.
6. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly could approve the budget and
confirm the Secretary General once nominated, by an absolute or
weighted majority vote and after appropriate consultations.
7. The budget must be adopted in a timely fashion and be
commensurate to OSCE political objectives. A multi-year financial
plan should be established in order to pursue longer term
strategies.
8. Structural reform is needed to improve the functioning of the
Organization: 1) Enhancing the analytical capabilities of the
Secretariat by the creation of an Analysis and Prospective Unit; 2)
Building permanent lessons learned capabilities by setting up a best
Practices Unit; and 3) developing a truly operational civilian rapid
reaction capability to intervene at time of crisis.
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9. Professional standards should be raised in all OSCE structures. In
order to attract and retain performing staff, fixed term limits on
duration of service should be eliminated. At the same time,
reliance on seconded personnel should be reduced. However, when
seconded personnel are assigned, Governments should ensure that
such assignment is for a substantial period of time -- at least one or
two years.
1O.The OSCE needs to increase its network capabilities and reinforce
its strategic co-operation with the EU, NATO, and the UN by
opening liaison offices in Brussels and NewYork City.
The OSCE could export its comprehensive security concept,
expertise such as election observation and assistance and share its
values and experience beyond the OSCE area.
ADDRESSING THE POLITICAL CHALLENGES FIRST
At a time when the OSCE's purposefulness and political relevance are
challenged and put into question, the participants in the colloquium
unanimously agreed that with its unique composition and comprehensive
security concept as well as its crisis prevention and management
capacities, the OSCE still has the potential and has a relevant role to play
in a Europe facing new security challenges. In recent years, the OSCE has
encountered serious problems and has entered into a critical situation that
requires high-level attention by the participating States.
The problems are first and foremost of a political nature and should find
political responses at the outset. Structural reforms are certainly needed,
but the essential problem lies elsewhere. Putting the emphasis on these
can only blur the issue and confuse the priorities. Only then does it make
sense to proceed with structural reforms. Ifparticipating States decide to
support the OSCE in its objectives, they need to commit resilience, will
and resources in politically revitalizing the Organization before they
undertake the structural reform. The OSCE's ability to reform will
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ultimately depend on how much Participating States are committed to and
interested in the Organization's potential.
The OSCE today is in a complex situation. With successive EU and NATO
enlargements, there is a tendency at the political level to devote less
attention to the OSCE which has increasingly disappeared from public
view. In many countries, the OSCE is rarely placed high on political
agendas in Capitals. The fact that the OSCE Ministerial Council Meetings
are attended at an increasingly lower political level is a sign of this
diminishing political interest. These elements all point to the reduced
political relevance of the OSCE. Political issues relevant to its mandate and
geographical areas are barely addressed seriously any more at the
Permanent Council.
The culture of informal discussions and consultations, which once was
necessary to build up consensus and formal decisions has been eroded.
Broad consultations should be carried out on current political issues. The
EU countries in the OSCE arduously negotiate issues among themselves
before they disclose their common position to non-EU countries. Once a
compromise in the EU has been found, there is very little scope for
negotiations, which contributes to the shrinking importance of the OSCE
as a political platform. Therefore, rebalancing the decision making process
and making it more transparent and inclusive is a necessity.
Rebalance the OSCE Multidimensional Approach
The three dimensions of the OSCE have constituted the early and
innovative recognition of the inseparable link between security,
development and democracy that ensures stability. The OSCE
comprehensive security concept is still current and very relevant for
addressing the challenges of the XXI century. The expansion of security
related activitiesshould not be done to the detriment of the importance of
the human dimension. Within the security dimension, actions should be
taken increase the role of the Forum for Security and Co-operation, to
involve the OSCE in security sector governance, by inter alia elaborating
the code ofconduct on politico-military aspects ofsecurity.
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Maintain the OSCE Lead on ElectoralActivities
Election observation is recognized as the remaining most politically
relevant and visible activity of the OSCE. This must remain so and the
OSCE should not relinquish its leading comparative advantage in this
field. The involvement of the Parliamentary Assembly is critical to
maintain the visibility and independence of OSCE election observation.
Agreement was found on the need to complement the existing election
standards and to continue to improve election observation, which should
in no way result in a watered-down version ofexisting standards.
As previously indicated, it is recommended that ODIHR and the OSCE PA
increase their co-operation in order to maintain and ensure the
independence of the OSCE election observation that has been recently
eroded. Finally, election assessments could be expanded further in
Western democracies. Double standards in electoral observations should
be avoided.
DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE OSCE
Strengthening the role of the OSCE Secretary General
It has been agreed that the present status quo is not sustainable and it
would be in the interest of the organization and the Chairman-in-Office
itself to benefit from a strengthened role of the Secretary General. There is
no contradiction or conflict of interest between a reinforced role for the
Secretary General and the overall responsibilities of the Chairmanship. A
Chairman-in-Office rotating annually means ever changing directions, lack
of political continuity and difficulty to define a long-term, coherent and
sustainable priorities. The aims and role of the OSCE Secretary General
should:
1- Ensure better political continuity from one chairmanship to
another;
2- Define long term priorities, thus improving the OSCE credibility;
3- Serve as the focal point for the Organization;
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4- Increasing his/her decision making power in personnel and
administrative issues;
5- Speak for the Organization and making political pronouncements;
6- Take political initiatives;
7- Propose priorities for resource allocation (financial, human and
administrative) and other activities in particular present a multi-
year financial plan; and
8- Ensure that budget is adopted in a timely fashion and human and
financial means be commensurate to the political objectives of the
Organization. A slight increase in the OSCE budget will greatly
boost its effectiveness.
Permanent Council Procedures: Transparencyand
Accountability in the Decision-making
Achieving consensus within the OSCE has become increasingly difficult.
Protracted negotiations on relatively minor issues have hampered the
effectiveness of the Organization and have, at times, led to paralysis. It is
recognized that the consensus rule for decisions related to budget,
personnel appointments and general administrative issues should be
modified.
Furthermore, the decision making process has to become more
transparent. A country should only be able to block the consensus openly
and publicly. Debates should be more open and transparent and not
limited to issues where a consensus exists but should extend to
contentious matters where consensus is lacking. Informal consultations
and generally better information sharing are critical to improve
accountability, transparency and visibility ofthe Organization.
Strengthened Role of the OSCE PA
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly remains an essential player because
it is by essence more independent and can takepolitical initiative. The PA
should be more closely associated to the OSCE decision shaping and
making processes as is the case for the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council ofEurope. The OSCE PA should approve the budget of the OSCE
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and confirm the OSCE Secretary General after the nomination. This
would ensure the independence and legitimacy of the OSCE Secretary
General, and reinforce his/her position.
Furthermore, in thefield of conflict prevention and crisis management,
the OSCE PA should take more political initiative such as organizing "fact
finding missions", facilitating negotiations. These initiatives could be
public or confidential assimilated to silent diplomacy and carried out
alone or in co-operation with other parliamentary actors (European
Parliament, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe). Such
initiatives would substantially increase the political credibility and
visibility of the Organization.
INSTITUTIONAL REFORM
Structural adjustments
To regain political credibility, the OSCE has to act as an effective crisis
management and conflict prevention/resolution body. The OSCE needs
effective early warning and an ability to carry out swift follow-up action.
To this end, three concrete measures are recommended:
1- Enhancing the analytical capabilities in the Secretariat by the
creation of an Analysis and Prospective Unit. It will process and
analyze the wealth of information that the OSCE collects in the field
and through its network of institutions and missions. This
instrument would be essential to set up credible early warning and
conflict prevention mechanisms.
2- Establishing a Best Practices Unit in the Secretariat will provide
the OSCE with a permanent lessons learned capability. This unit
will inter alia formulate recommendations aiming at improving the
functioning, effectiveness and work of field missions. It will also
analyze working methods of other organizations and will seek to
adapt and apply them to the OSCE, when and where appropriate.
And,
3- Developing a civilian rapid reaction capability that could be
deployed in time of crisis to supplement the work offield missions.
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These teams would provide the OSCE with the opportunity to react
swiftly to an unfolding crisis, assess the situation and the needs, and
make policy recommendations to the OSCE executive bodies for
future actions. These civilian experts could be recruited on an ad-
hoc basis.
Increased co-operation with other international organizations
The OSCE should further develop its network capabilities which are
currently too dependent on personal individual contacts. Permanent
channels of communications must be opened and strategic co-operation
with the EU, NATO and the UN must be established through the creation
of liaison offices in Brussels and New York City. Carefully selected liaison
personnel would have a multiplier effect on networking, working contacts,
and on guaranteeing prime access to strategic thinking and planned
operations from other organizations. This would improve the OSCE's
ability to respond adequately and swiftly.
OSCE Field Presences
The OSCE field presences offer significant comparative advantages.
However, current weaknesses and grievances from the field, institutions
and participating States indicate:
1) deficient recruitment procedures;
2) in some cases, insufficient professionalism;
3) a lack of adequate human and financial resources; and
4) a too often lack of clear political guidance and of coherent priorities.
Consequently, it is recommended that:
i) clear political guidance be regularly updated and reviewed;
ii) interaction and support from the Chairmanship, the Secretariat
and field missions be revisited with the aim of improving the
political and administrative functioning of missions;
iii) Micromanagement from Vienna be avoided; and
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iv) Geographic and substantive priorities established for field
missions be periodically reviewed.
Professionalism
The OSCE counts good professionals. The problem is that the Organization
is not able to retain them or attracted experienced senior staff due to
restrictive staff rules that limit the maximum duration of employment to
seven years. These rules have become counter productive. The OSCE loses
not only experience and know-how, but it also lacks the continuity needed
for the successful implementation of programs on the ground. The OSCE
competes directly with other career-based international organizations e.g.
the European Commission, the UN, NATO and Council of Europe, for
experienced trained staff. Addressing this problem is essential to improve
the quality and credibility of the work of OSCE. The OSCE needs to keep
efficient employees for as long as desirable in order not to lose experience,
institutional memory and valuable networks. To that effect, the OSCE
employment rules should be revised. This can be done by eliminating
maximum time limits while maintainingfixed term contracts subject to
periodical, in-depth review ofperformance. Such system would allowfull
flexibility as well aspreserve the best OSCEprofessionalstaff.
Despite its financial advantages, the secondment system has shown its
inherent weaknesses, such as the uneven quality of the recruited staff and
the lack of transparency in the recruitment process. The Organization has
little control over who is recruited through this system, and the quality
control is less effective than for contracted personnel. Secondment is a
factor that contributes to diminished effectiveness and credibility of the
Organization. However, secondment in its current form and under specific
circumstances is still useful since it confers flexibility to quickly deploy
large scale and temporary missions such as military observers, but it
should not be used to fill the Organization's core positions that require
continuity. It is recommended to review the OSCE secondment system,
usingfor instance the UNsystem, whereby employees have a contractual
relationship with the Organization.
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Additional recommendations include: 1) reducing reliance on seconded
personnel in core positions in thefield; 2) requestingparticipating States
to second personnelfor no less than one year at a time; 3) empowering
regional experts, and 4)pursuing efforts on training. There is an urgent
need to reform the OSCE recruitment policy in order to enhance the level
of continuity among the staff in the field and within institutions, and to
guarantee highest possible professional standards.
Expanding Out-of-Area Activities
On the one hand, the OSCE specific expertise such as election observation
and assistance could be used out-of-area directly or indirectly where it can
contribute positively to the stabilization of an area. On the other hand, the
OSCE should consider exporting its model of comprehensive and
cooperative security to partner countries and beyond (Middle East, Africa,
etc). There is a growing interest in the Organization from areas outside
the OSCE. This opportunity should be seized to share OSCE values and
experience. The OSCE should stand ready to provide assistance with
regard to crisis in other areas. This "out-of-area"policy could be endorsed
at the next Ministerial Council. Ifapproved, appropriate resourcesshould
be allocated to credibly implement thispolicy.
Increased visibility
The OSCE is not attractive for the media and will never be , unless it
regains political credibility and is perceived as a relevant security actor.
Therefore the issue of visibility is very much limited to the further political
role of the Organization and cannot be fixed technically.
It is recommended to improve co-ordination and cross fertilization
between the various media units in the Organization, in particular between
the Chairmanship and the Secretariat.
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