Organization Rules

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TITLE I – GENERAL PRINCIPLES

ARTICLE 1 – DESIGNATION

  1. CALRE stands for “Conference of the Regional Legislative Assemblies of the European Union”. The Presidents represent their assemblies. The Conference is formed for an unlimited period.
  2. Since the founding Declaration of Oviedo in 1997 the CALRE’s mission is to go in depth in the democratic and participative principles within the framework of the EU, to defend the values and principles of regional democracy, and to reinforce links among Regional Legislative Assemblies.
  3. CALRE pledges to:
    1. Cherish the respect and consolidation of the subsidiarity principle in the European Union;
    2. Work towards the strengthening of the relations with other European organizations, particularly the European Committee of the Regions, including REGLEG;
    3. Increase and improve the relations with the European Parliament, analysing possible ways of relation and referencing the existing relation framework with the State Parliaments.
  4. The Conference complies with the principles established in the Council of Europe’s Convention of Madrid of 1980 (STE n° 106) and its First, Second and Third Protocol.

ARTICLE 2 – OBJECTIVES

  1. CALRE makes a contribution to the democratic participation of Regional Legislative Assemblies within the framework of the European Union, and by strengthening the relations between the regional assemblies, in particular by exchanging good practices.
  2. CALRE supports the activities of cross-border cooperation of its associates.
  3. CALRE coordinates its members in their participation in institution-building projects organized by third parties.
  4. CALRE fully respects the principle of the autonomy of each Assembly.
  5. Membership and participation are voluntary.

ARTICLE 3 – MEMBERSHIP

  1. The Regional Assemblies with legislative powers belonging to one of the European Union Member-States can become a member of the Conference.
  2. The Standing Committee decides upon new membership requests.

ARTICLE 4 – LANGUAGES

  1. The official languages used in the meetings and conferences of CALRE are the ones of the attending regions. Simultaneous interpretation into the languages other than English and the one of the Presidency are provided according to article 5, number 3.
  2. The CALRE working documents, written in the language of the proposing region, are accompanied by the corresponding translation in English.
  3. The publication of the Annual Declaration of the Plenary Assembly and other CALRE documents must be done in all the relevant languages for CALRE regions. To this end, part from the versions in the language of the CALRE Presidency and in English, each national delegation commits itself to provide the corresponding translation into their language within a period of 30 days of the receipt.

ARTICLE 5 – ORGANISATION AND ATTRIBUTION OF EXPENSES

  1. The Assembly holding the Presidency of CALRE is responsible for the logistical and technical organisation of the meetings of the Standing Committee and the Plenary Assembly of CALRE, including simultaneous interpretation into the official languages of CALRE and other languages, according to number 3 of this article.
  2. Travel and accommodation expenses for attending CALRE’s meetings are paid by the participating delegations.
  3. The Region that wishes simultaneous interpretation into the language of its country must communicate when registering to the Presidency, who may charge it to the requesting Region.
  4. To participate in the Plenary Assembly, each Regional Assembly must pay a registration fee to the Assembly holding the Presidency (including the President and the collaborators), whose amount is set by the Standing Committee.
  5. Each Regional Assembly will appoint a contact person for CALRE, responsible for the dialogue between the Regional Assembly and the General Secretariat/the Presidency of CALRE.

TITLE II- THE BODIES OF THE CALRE

CHAPTER I – GENERAL ARRANGEMENT

ARTICLE 6 – THE BODIES OF THE CALRE

  1. The bodies of CALRE are the President, the Vice-President, the Standing Committee and the Plenary Assembly.
  2. The Secretary General and the Working Groups are subsidiary bodies.

CHAPTER II – PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT

ARTICLE 7 – PRESIDENT

  1. The President is the representative of CALRE. He/she chairs CALRE’s meetings and has the power to make all necessary decisions concerning the implementation of the decisions made by the Conference’s bodies.
  2. The President is ex officio entitled to represent CALRE in its name and on its behalf. However, he/she can delegate his/her representation to any other President of CALRE, through a written document, properly signed and dated.
  3. The President can delegate his/her duties to the Vice-President.
  4. The President that leads the Conference determines the dates in which the meetings of the Standing Committee and the Plenary Assembly will take place.

ARTICLE 8 – ELECTION

  1. The President of CALRE is elected by the majority attending the Plenary Assembly.
  2. Any President of a Regional Legislative Assembly can apply, through written request, addressed to the President, which must include a working programme.
  3. The applications can be submitted until the last Standing Committee meeting before the Plenary Assembly.

ARTICLE 9 – DURATION OF THE MANDATE OF THE PRESIDENT

  1. The mandate begins on 1st January and expires on 31st December of the same year; the mandate may be extended for a second year at the request of the President and with the approval of the Plenary Assembly.
  2. From the election of the new President until 1st January, and with the intention of ensuring effective continuity, the outgoing President will assist the new President as far as possible in relation to any issue related to the takeover at CALRE, providing all the necessary information to his/ her successor.
  3. The new President is elected every year at the Plenary Assembly, where a ceremony of transfer of Presidency will take place, although the mandate will begin on 1st January of the upcoming year.
  4. If the mandate of the President of the Regional Assembly that organises the Conference expires, his/her successor in the Regional Assembly shall take his/her place.

ARTICLE 10 – TASKS OF THE PRESIDENT

  1. The President of CALRE has the following duties:
    1. Represent CALRE in the relations with the institutions of the European Union, as well as with the rest of European regional associations and international associations of regional legislative powers, in the name and by order of CALRE;
    2. Attend the activities of the European Committee of the Regions and, particularly, in the Interregional group of Regions with legislative powers, as far as possible;
    3. Present the minutes of the previous meeting at every meeting of the Standing Committee and Plenary Assembly.
  2. To ensure effective continuity, the outgoing President has the duty to provide all the necessary information to his/her successor.

ARTICLE 11 – VICE-PRESIDENT

  1. The former President acts as Vice-President the year after his/her mandate.
  2. The Vice-President whose mandate as regional President expires for any reason is replaced by his/her successor in the Legislative Assembly of origin.

CHAPTER III – STANDING COMMITTEE

ARTICLE 12 – COMPOSITION and REPRESENTATION

  1. The Standing Committee is formed by the President of the Conference, the Vice-President, one President per State, a delegation per member state and the Chairmen of the Working Groups.
  2. Each Member State is responsible for nominating their representatives to the Standing Committee and informs CALRE on an annual basis. In those States in which the number of Regional Legislative Assemblies is less than or equal to three, the designated President may delegate the representation to another member of the Regional Legislative Assembly of origin or a component of another regional Legislative Assembly of the same State.
  3. The Presidents can be accompanied by one or more technicians, that assist them in the meetings.

ARTICLE 13 – MEETINGS

  1. The Standing Committee meets regularly three times a year and one of the meetings is held at the headquarters of the Parliament that holds the Presidency of CALRE. The other two meetings shall be held preferably in Brussels, at the headquarters of the European Committee of the Regions.
  2. The first Standing Committee meeting will be held preferably in January each year.
  3. The Standing Committee holds a meeting before the Plenary Assembly. During this meeting, the Standing Committee decides about accepting emergency amendments, the duration of the speeches, the time for the debate and final details necessary to make sure the Plenary Assembly takes its natural course.
  4. Meetings may be held in person or remotely, provided they are secured by electronic means, considering also telephone, and audiovisual, the identity of those involved, the content of their statements, the time when these are produced, as well as the interactivity and intercommunication between them in real time and the availability of the media during the session.
  5. In case of hindrance of the effective members of the Standing Committee, these can only be represented by other Deputies of their own Parliament. The technicians of the Parliaments can attend the meeting, without voting rights.

ARTICLE 14 – TASKS

The Standing Committee is entitled to:

  1. Debate and approve the minutes of the previous meeting;
  2. Set the agenda for the Plenary Assembly;
  3. Set the agenda for the next meeting of the Standing Committee;
  4. Propose the creation of new Working Groups, defining their scope and duration, which cannot exceed the period of two years;
  5. Appoint speakers to develop, present, and discuss reports and appoint others to act as panel chairmen;
  6. Resolve any institutional or representative matter of public or community importance which must be decided on a collegiate basis;
  7. Set the registration fee for the Plenary Assembly;
  8. Comment on other matters of CALRE’s interest.

ARTICLE 15 – FUNCTIONING

  1. Considering the matters on the agenda for the Standing Committee, the following principles should be taken into account:
    1. The President must send the documents that are going to be discussed to all the members, at least 30 days before the meeting;
    2. The members can present amendments to the documents, which must be sent to the President at least 15 days in advance;
    3. The President must inform all the members about any proposal of amendment seven days before the meeting;
    4. Urgent amendments, duly justified, must be submitted no later than 48 hours prior to the meeting;
    5. The submitted documents must be sent to the Presidency of CALRE in one of CALRE’s official languages, according to article 4, number 1;
    6. The coordinators of the working groups will be summoned to the meetings of the Standing Committee, at which they will be able to speak but will not have voting rights.
  2. Without prejudice of using other means of communication, when necessary, the documents are sent by e-mail.

ARTICLE 16 – DISCUSSION AND VOTE

  1. The debate and vote of the amendments are subject to the following order:
    1. Presentation;
    2. Debate;
    3. Voting.
  2. The President must set the time for the debate of the amendments.
  3. The President must decide the voting order of the amendments.
  4. The President must set an interval for the presentation of transactional amendments, giving the opportunity to explain their content, the motive and to justify them.
  5. The amendment can be withdrawn by the proponent.
  6. The approval of the amendments is by simple majority, excepting for the amendments to the CALRE Rules, which must be approved by consensus.
  7. The declarations and official announcements on behalf of CALRE and CALRE’s rules will be approved by consensus by those attending the Standing Committee with the right to vote. Abstentions do not affect the consensus. The final approval of CALRE’s rules is the responsibility of the Plenary Assembly, in compliance with numbers 6 and 7 of Article 21.

CHAPTER IV – THE PLENARY ASSEMBLY

ARTICLE 17 – COMPOSITION

  1. The Plenary Assembly is made up of all the Presidents of the Assemblies.
  2. The Plenary Assembly is attended by the Presidents of the Assemblies registered for the purpose.

ARTICLE 18 – MEETINGS

  1. The Plenary Assembly meets once a year during the last four months of the year.
  2. If the President is unable to attend the meeting, he/she may be represented only by other Deputies of his/her Assembly. The technicians of the Parliaments can attend the meeting, without voting rights.
  3. The President of CALRE may invite experts or speakers for specific matters, who will not have the right to vote and will only intervene at the request of the President.

ARTICLE 19 – TASKS

The Plenary Assembly of CALRE is entitled to:

  1. Debate and approve the minutes of the previous Plenary Assembly;
  2. Discuss and take note of the reports presented by the coordinators of the Working Groups;
    Approve the establishment and dissolution of the Working Groups;
  3. Debate and approve the annual declaration and its amendments;
  4. Debate and approve the amendments to the Rules;
  5. Elect the new President, investing him/her power during the session of the electoral act, although the mandate will begin on 1st January of the upcoming year.
  6. Debate and approve other matters presented to the Plenary Assembly including resolutions and communiqués on behalf of CALRE.

ARTICLE 20 – FUNCTIONING

  1. Considering the topics, the wording of the final declaration draft and the wording of other documents, which are presented during the Plenary Assembly, the following principles must be taken into account:
    1. The President must send the draft of the annual declaration and of other documents to all the members at least 30 days before the meeting;
    2. The members can present amendments to the draft of the annual declaration and to other documents, which must be sent to the President, at least, 15 days in advance.
    3. The President must inform all the members regarding any proposed amendments at least seven days before the Plenary Assembly;
    4. The urgent amendments, duly justified, can be submitted up to 48 hours before the opening of the Plenary Assembly. The treatment of those amendments in the Plenary Assembly requires the approval of the Standing Committee.
  2. Without prejudice of using other means of communication when necessary, speeches and amendments should be sent preferably by e-mail.

ARTICLE 21 – DISCUSSION AND VOTING

  1. The Presidency presents the annual declaration in the Plenary Assembly, as well as other documents that are part of the agenda.
  2. The debate and voting of the amendments are subject to the following order:
    1. Presentation;
    2. Debate;
    3. Voting.
  3. The President must set the appointed time for the discussion of the amendments.
  4. The President must decide the voting order of the amendments.
  5. The President must introduce an interval for the presentation of transactional amendments, allowing the opportunity to explain the content, the motive and the justification.
  6. The approval of the amendments is by simple majority, excepting for the amendments to the CALRE Rules, which must be approved by consensus.
  7. The approval of the CALRE’s annual declaration, CALRE’s Rules as well as the declarations and statements in the name of CALRE is made by consensus of the participants. Abstentions do not affect the consensus.

ARTICLE 22 – REVOCATION OF AMENDMENTS

  1. The amendment can be revoked by the tenderer during the debate.
  2. The President can adopt the revoked amendments and put them to the vote at the Plenary Assembly.

ARTICLE 23 – INTERVENTION LIST

  1. The Presidents who are attending the Plenary Assembly that want to speak about the topics in discussion must inform the President of CALRE.
  2. The required participation will take place according to the order of the request.

ARTICLE 24 – APPENDIX OF THE ANNUAL DECLARATION OF THE CONFERENCE

  1. If a member wishes to take into account a topic for the annual Declaration that is not included in the agenda of the Plenary Assembly, he/she must inform the President 7 days prior to its opening.
  2. The Standing Committee has to reconsider the relevance of the case and has to approve its admission into the business of the Conference.
  3. The intervention takes place when discussion and voting on the items on the agenda has concluded. The intervention must be in writing and is included in the appendix to the annual Declaration.

ARTICLE 25 – EXECUTION

  1. After the end of the Plenary Assembly, the President must send the approved documents to all its members as well as to all the interested parties and institutions.
  2. The President of CALRE must work with the European Union to ensure that the content of the documents is put into practice.

 

TITLE III – SUBSIDIARY BODIES

ARTICLE 26 – THE GENERAL SECRETARIAT

  1. The Standing Committee is assisted in performing its tasks by a General Secretariat that consists of a representative, appointed by each member of the Committee. The President appoints the Secretary General for the duration of his/her mandate.
  2. The Assemblies concerned shall propose projects or initiatives to the Standing Committee – which can adjust the CALRE annual action plan accordingly – including by making the technical means available and by providing for the active participation of the Secretary General, which will be supported by the Assemblies concerned.

ARTICLE 27- WORKING GROUPS

  1. The Plenary Assembly can establish working groups on the motion of the Standing Committee. It may also approve the establishment of working groups between CALRE and other associations and/or institutions, aimed at the deepening and exchange of issues of common interest.
  2. Apart from the standing Working Groups on subsidiarity and gender equality, the subjects of the Working Groups are determined annually by the Plenary Assembly at the proposal of the Standing Committee. Their term may not exceed two years, which could be extended if is agreed. The coordinators will be renovated or confirmed annually.
  3. The conclusions of the Working Groups will be published, after being presented to the Plenary Assembly, and will be sent to all CALRE members.
  4. The coordinators of the Working Groups will be summoned to the meetings of the Standing Committee, in which they will be able to participate without voting rights.
  5. All operating expenses of the working group are the responsibility of the Assembly that coordinates it. Travel and accommodation expenses caused by attending the meetings of the working groups will be borne by the participating delegations.
  6. The establishment of the Working Groups approved in the Plenary Assembly will be effective when the participation of at least Parliaments of three different countries is confirmed.
  7. Whenever possible, the meetings of the Working Groups are held in the same place and on the same date of the meetings of the Standing Committee, the possibility remains to hold a meeting of the Working Group in the office of the rotating coordinator of the Working Group.
  8. Meetings may be held in person or remotely, provided they are secured by electronic means, considering also telephone, and audiovisual, the identity of those involved, the content of their statements, the time when these are produced, as well as the interactivity and intercommunication between them in real time and the availability of the media during the session.

TITLE IV – FINAL DISPOSITIONS

ARTICLE 28 – THE CALRE WEB PORTAL

  1. The website of CALRE is the official means of communication and transmission of information, not only to its members but also to other European institutions and organizations.
  2. The President of CALRE is responsible for managing the website, and for the information that is published in it.

ARTICLE 29 – LOGO/SYMBOL

The logo is made up of 54 blue stars which are partly superimposed over the word CALRE and surrounded by a yellow line.

ARTICLE 30 – INTERPRETATION AND INCLUSION OF GAPS

The President of CALRE is responsible for interpreting this regulation if questions concerning the way that a session is conducted arise.

 

 

 

 Azores, Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, 21 November 2018

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