Nyhedsbrev fra Ambassadør Andreas Nothelle, uge 28 og 29, 2016

Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 28, 2016
This week, there were meetings of the PC, the FSC, the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom), the
Advisory Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF), and the topical committees, as well as
several other informal meetings. There was also a Conflict Cycle Roundtable Discussion on Building
Confidence – Dealing with the Past: Long Term Strategies for Sustainable Peace, and I participated
in a Conference sponsored by the German Chairmanship “Between Aspirations and Realities:
Strengthening the Legal Framework of the OSCE” of the Max Planck Society in Berlin.
The PC adopted the agenda and modalities of the 2016 Mediterranean Conference in Vienna
(October 5/6) and the Dates and Agenda of the 2016 Economic and Environmental Dimension
Implementation Meeting (October 17/18). The FSC decided on the date of the 2016 Meeting of the
Heads of Verification Centers (December 13).
Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz presented the Austrian intentions for their OSCE
Chairmanship in 2017. Although it did not contain any surprising novelties, it was followed by a long
debate, which in parts was a duplication of the debate on the crisis in and around Ukraine which
followed under Current Issues, but also showed that the strong focus of the presentation on
combating terrorism was appreciated by several delegations. The address was followed by a report
of the OSCE Mission to Skopje, at the occasion of which Amb. Suomalainen also mentioned the
upcoming OSCE PA Session there and the good cooperation of the mission with us.
The conference in Berlin surprised with two presentations by academics that called for a strengthen-
ing of democratic representation in the OSCE. They analyzed the OSCE's practice of "informal norm
setting" leading to the creation of "soft law" and the lack of transparency and accountability. Belgian
Prof. Jan Wouters deplored the lack of oversight competencies of the OSCE PA, suggesting
compensating this deficiency by a close and formalized cooperation of national parliaments. A
senior official of the OSCE Secretariat described the situation as "the PA operating in a small grey
zone of a bigger grey zone called OSCE". In my statement I concurred - among other points - with
the opinion expressed by the President of the OSCE Court of Arbitration and Reconciliation that,
although a statutory instrument might be desirable in order to remove the grey zones, such a legal
document would have to ensure that it does not prevent a future strengthening of the Court's - and
the PA's roles.
The comprehensive presentations on the contributions of the OSCE to preventing and overcoming
conflicts during the Roundtable Discussion (with – among others, former Finnish Foreign Minister
Tuomioja and former Amb. William Hill) gave another opportunity to refer to the PA's capacities and
the potential contribution of its members in that regard.
Francesco Pagani briefed the Secretariat about the outcome of the Tbilisi Annual Session during a
meeting of the Policy Group.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
July 15, 2016
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2015-16
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 43
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Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 29, 2016
This week, there were two meetings of the Permanent Council (PC) as well as meetings of the Forum for
Security Cooperation (FSC), Contact Group Meeting with Asian Partners for Co-operation, the Preparatory
Committee (PrepCom), the Advisory Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF), and the Human
Dimension Committee, as well as several other informal meetings.
The week was very much a demonstration of PA cooperation with the governmental side of the organization.
The Chairman of the PA’s Ad Hoc Migration Committee, Filippo Lombardi, briefed the Special PC on Migration
about the activities of this committee. I did the usual comprehensive briefing for delegations about the results
of the Annual Session and made an official statement in the PC about it. We also had our first coordination
meeting with the Director of the Office of the OSCE Secretary General and staff, which in future is to be held
on a bi-monthly basis.
The PC adopted a decision recommending that the Ministers give the 2018 OSCE Chairmanship to Italy. It
also amended the OSCE Staff Regulations and decided on the Theme (“Greening the Economy”), Agenda
and Modalities for the 2017 25th Economic and Environmental Forum to be held from September 13-15 – this
year’s is from September 14-16). The PC also held a long debate about Gender issues and, under Current
Issues, extensively debated the crisis in and around Ukraine and the situation in Turkey.
Due to objections from the Russian delegation, the German Chairmanship had to remove the agenda item
“Briefing by the Special Representative of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on the Twenty-fifth Annual
Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly” from the agenda of the PC. A separate agenda item would be
the appropriate place for a briefing about the principal Annual Meeting of the OSCE’s Parliamentary
Dimension. It would also be in line with the precedent from the first year of my presentations here in Vienna
under the then Dutch OSCE Chairmanship. Only when the PA is mentioned explicitly on the agenda is it of
organizational relevance. Other Chairmanships referred me to “Any Other Business”, an item under which
delegations privately inform about events that have taken place outside of the OSCE, without these events
appearing on the agenda and becoming a point of reference for delegations. In the end, the Chairmanship
gave me the floor under "Current Issues". As stated in last week’s conference on the OSCE’s legal framework,
and as we keep hearing from individuals in the OSCE executive structures, the fact that the PA is an
autonomous but integral part of the OSCE (“autonomous OSCE BODY” = OSCE Rules of Procedure) is still
far from being accepted by everybody.
As to the substance of the PA recommendations, Ukraine and Georgia (two weeks ago) have extensively
referred to them. In the PC, Russia criticized that the Ukrainian delegation made use of this and also deplored
that the PA discussions are becoming more divisive, instead of genuine inclusive dialogue. Other than that, I
have had very little feedback, with two exceptions: friend of the 2015 Panel of Eminent Persons’ Report are
happy that the PA took it up in a resolution, and the OSCE Secretariat is enquiring what some of the PA
decisions mean in practice.
As usual in summer, a high number of Permanent Representatives, among them several who have had a
considerable influence of the work of the OSCE, leave Vienna to be replaced by others. Also, Austria has
presented a new Permanent Representative and its Chairmanship team for 2017.
Andreas Nothelle
Ambassador
July 22, 2016
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2015-16
OSCE Alm.del Bilag 43
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