Referat fra Bureaumødet i OSCE PA vedr. vintermødet i Wien i forhold til udfordringer med COVID-19

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PROVISIONAL RULES FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS/ONLINE MEETINGS DURING THE
CURRENT COVID19 PANDEMIC:
Article 1
Definitions; applicability of the existing OSCE PA Rules of Procedure
a. The current OSCE PA Rules of Procedure apply mutatis mutandis to these emergency
provisions, provided they do not contradict the purpose of the following simplified
procedures.
b. Definitions:
• “Consensus Principle” refers to decision-making without a formal vote (no counting of
for/against/abstentions). A consensus decision will be considered adopted if there is no
objection raised.
• “Silence Procedure” refers to a written form of decision-making by consensus. A subsidiary
body proposes a decision to the main body in writing, setting a deadline. If – within the
deadline – nobody objects, the decision will be considered as adopted.
Article 2
Meetings
a. In principle, Assembly meetings as places for parliamentary interaction require the
physical presence of members. Exceptionally, in a large-scale international emergency
situation which prevents a significant number of members from travelling to the venue of
a statutory meeting and/or prevents the host country from organizing the statutory meeting
because of official security measures, the Standing Committee can declare an Emergency
Situation by a consensus-minus one-decision of its members taken through the Silence
Procedure. Once the decision is taken, the following rules apply to meetings of the bodies
of the Assembly.
b. Exceptional Session:
aa. An Annual Session that had to be cancelled shall be scheduled as an exceptional
in-person meeting as soon as the obstacle for a physical meeting has been removed
and based on the host Parliament's confirmation of its capacity to adapt in due time
to all aspects deriving from this rescheduling, unless the next regular Annual
Session is to take place less than six months after the removal of the obstacle.
bb. If such a Session cannot be held as an in-person meeting within six months after
the decision it shall take place as a remote Session consisting of meetings of the
Standing Committee, the three General Committees and one Plenary Session. The
Agenda of the remote Session will consist of reports, topical debates and elections
of Assembly and Committee Officers. Other decisions shall be limited to
administrative issues and Questions of Urgency (Rule 26) with the following
modification of Rule 26 Paragraph 1 Al. 2: Such questions of urgency must be
pertinent to the OSCE process and relate to an event which has taken place or
come to public knowledge less than twenty-four days before the date for which
the regular Annual Session was scheduled or during the time of the emergency.
c. Other meetings of the Standing Committee outside the Annual Session: The Bureau
shall decide whether the Standing Committee can meet online in a video-conference.
d. Bureau: If the Bureau is prevented from meeting physically because of the emergency, it
may meet online at any time and take decisions through a show of hands. The same applies
to the Bureaus of the General Committees.
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2020-21
OSCE Alm.del - Bilag 12
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e. Other online events: In order to ensure the continuation of the inter-parliamentary
dialogue, the Bureau may organize online events. These events shall not adopt political
resolutions.
Article 3
Emergency Leadership and Internal Elections
a. If an Assembly Officer or the Officer of a General Committee has reached the end of
his/her term while the Assembly is prevented from meeting, the Standing Committee shall
have to decide whether and for which period of time elected Officers remain in place as
acting Officers until the following Annual Session. The Standing Committee may also
decide to replace Assembly or Committee Officers by appointing other members as
Officers ad interim for the same period of time. In case of a vacancy in a Committee
Bureau, the President may appoint a Vice President to take care of the vacant Committee
Office; Rule 36 Paragraph 5 Al. 7 does not apply.
b. Elections for all vacant positions that would have been up for election/re-election during
the regular Annual Session will be held during the exceptional Session. The period from
this election to the next Annual Session will not be counted for the maximum term of any
Assembly office.
c. Any electronic election procedure shall be subject to safeguards which allow for
appropriate legitimation and provide the possibility for audit, while preserving the secrecy
of the vote.
Article 4
Emergency Decision-Making and Voting other than Elections
a. Decisions shall be taken by the majorities provided for by the existing Rules of Procedure.
b. The Silence Procedure is used where consensus (-Minus One) rules apply.
c. Rule 34 (Quorum) applies. Electronic voting has to ensure that members from all
participating States can participate during local daytime.
d. Where the above emergency Rules provide for decision-making through a voting
procedure, voting can take place by electronic means that are safe, allow for appropriate
legitimation and provide a potential for audit.
e. Upon request by ten percent of the members of the respective body, decisions taken
through an emergency procedure require confirmation at the next in-person meeting of
the same body.


The Secretary General
To:
OSCE PA Standing Committee
Copenhagen, 9 December 2020
Dear Members of the Standing Committee,
I am writing to inform you about the operational measures the Bureau has decided upon at the online
meeting on 2 December in response to COVID-19 related challenges.
Firstly, concerning the upcoming OSCE PA Winter Meeting scheduled from 24-26 February 2021,
the Bureau has unanimously decided that the meeting will be held in a full online format. This
decision was taken after careful consideration of current travel limitations and health concerns, and
particular in view of the impossibility to assess how severely the pandemic will continue to affect
our activities in the near future. The online 2021 Winter Meeting will encompass all regular
meetings of the Standing Committee, three General Committees and a Joint Session.
Secondly, the Bureau has endorsed a set of provisional emergency rules (please see attached) that,
if approved by the Standing Committee, would apply in the unfortunate event of the 2021 OSCE
PA Annual Session in Bucharest not taking place in a conventional format, but rather as a
remote/virtual session should COVID-19 restrictions continue to prevent physical meetings.
The adoption of the emergency provisions is indispensable for the continuation of our work in the
current crisis, specifically as it relates to the election of officers of the Assembly. In this regard,
please rest assured that the International Secretariat is assessing the most secure remote
conferencing options to ensure the conduct of a safe and effective voting method should the 2021
Annual Session end up being held in virtual modality.
Furthermore, I would also like to inform you about the recently launched OSCE PA initiative
entitled “OSCE Call for Action: Reaffirming a Common Purpose”, aiming to stimulate the work of
the OSCE and increase high-level political attention to the organization by participating States,
particularly in light of the unprecedented leadership crisis the OSCE faced. The PA’s Call for
Action, endorsed by 52 OSCE Chairpersons-in-Office, Presidents of the OSCE PA, Secretaries
General and other Heads of Institutions of the OSCE, was presented at a side event organized by
the Assembly on the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council on 3 December, which featured
participation of more than 100 parliamentarians and diplomats.
OSCEs Parlamentariske Forsamling 2020-21
OSCE Alm.del - Bilag 12
Offentligt
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Tordenskjoldsgade 1, 1055 Copenhagen K., Denmark
Phone: +45 33 37 80 40 - Fax: +45 33 37 80 30 - osce@oscepa.dk - www.oscepa.org
On a concluding note, I would like to thank you for your understanding, flexibility and support
regarding the alternative working methods the International Secretariat has progressively
implemented throughout the year given the challenges we are currently facing. Needless to stay, I
am looking forward to the day we can fully resume our activities and meet in-person. In the
meantime, I wish you and your families a happy holiday season and most importantly good health.
Yours sincerely,
Secretary General