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UK: House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee: Democracy Denied: Appointment of the UK’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

19 May 2016

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"We do not accept this Government Response, which fails to address the importance of democracy in appointing the UK’s Delegation to the Council of Europe. This is democracy denied. We call upon the Government to amend its process from Prime Ministerial announcement of a list of names decided in concert with party leaders, to free, fair and open election of the Commons element of a delegation by the whole House of Commons. If the House agrees to the principle of the change we propose, the Procedure Committee could consider how this reform should be implemented.

At the same time, we suggest that the Procedure Committee should consider whether the other delegations sent by Parliament to international assemblies, namely the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly and the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, should also be appointed by free, fair and open elections. We ask that the Government reconsider its response to our Report and produce a further response."

See the full text: Democracy Denied: Appointment of the UK’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report of Session 2015–16 Ninth Report of Session 2015–16 (pdf)

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