Doc.GA22/REP/9BSEC/MFA/03 THE TWENTY SECOND PLENARY SESSION OF THE PABSEC GENERAL ASSEMBLY The Ninth Meeting of the Council of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the BSEC Member-States Baku, 31 October 2003 The Ninth Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs was held in Baku on 31 October 2003. The PABSEC was represented by Mr. Asaf Hajiyev, Head of the PABSEC Azerbaijani Delegation, Mr. Shaidtin Aliyev, Chairman of the PABSEC Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee and the PABSEC Secretary General. The Meeting was chaired by Mr. Vilayat Guliyev, the BSEC Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He informed the Meeting on the decisions adopted by the Council at in camera consultations prior to the 9th meeting of the Council which took decision on all debatable issues. He also informed that Azerbaijan will assume the next six months’ term Chairmanship in the BSEC. The Ministers and the Heads of the delegations marked the importance of the day due to the inauguration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and congratulated the whole Azerbaijani people with the event. In the general statements they noted the determination towards further enhancement of the scope of the multilateral cooperation with a view of newly established Project Development Fund and strengthening the relations with the European Union within the context of the EU enlargement towards the Black Sea region. At the same time, all the speakers noted the constructive role of the Parliamentary Assembly in deepening cooperation in the region and the efforts by the Assembly and its President for expanding cooperation with other regional organizations and particularly with the European Parliament. In his speech the Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs underlined that the term Chairmanship of Bulgaria in OSCE, commitments by Bulgaria for accession to the EU and the forthcoming NATO membership overloading the agenda of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria were the reasons preventing Bulgaria from assuming the BSEC Chairmanship. Mr. Aliyev in his speech congratulated the Azerbaijani BSEC Chairmanship with the successful term and the immense work done with a view of pragmatic and innovative approach for more flexible and efficient multilateral cooperation between and among the BSEC countries. He underlined the efforts by the Assembly through its activities as a forum of inter-parliamentary dialogue vis-à-vis the contemporary challenges. He noted the appreciation by PABSEC towards the special emphasis put by the BSEC within past six months’ time upon the cooperation in the fields of energy, transport, combating crime, visa facilitation, emergency assistance, etc. On behalf of the Assembly he expressed particular thanks to the BSEC for elaboration of the important legal instruments – already signed Host Country Agreement and the Protocol Concerning Privileges and Immunities of the PABSEC opened for the signatures. At the same time, he noted the importance of strengthening cooperation between the PABSEC and the European Parliament with a view to developing bilateral relations at a time when the European Union undergoes further enlargement involving some BSEC member states and when the BSEC is placing relations with the European Union among its high priorities. The secretaries general of the BSEC Business Council, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank and the Director of the International Center for Black Sea Studies informed the Council on the activities carried out during the past six months’ period and spoke about the future plans and activities. In their presentations the observer countries - Republic of Austria and the State of Israel - noted the role of the BSEC in the region. The guests from the European Commission and the BSEC-URTA informed about the cooperation with the BSEC and expressed hope for further cooperation in organizing various joint projects. PABSEC-BSEC interaction. The Council of Ministers adopted important Resolutions and Recommendations concerning the BSEC-PABSEC Interaction, which stands as follows: “ I. RESOLUTIONS: Protocol concerning the Privileges and Immunities of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) 22. The Council welcomed the finalization of the Protocol Concerning the Privileges and Immunities of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) and decided to open it for signature by the BSEC Member States. III. RECOMMENDATIONS: BSEC-PABSEC INTERACTION PABSEC recommendations 52. The Council took note of the following PABSEC Recommendations: - Recommendation 68/2003 on “Cooperation in the Field of Energy”; - Recommendation 69/2003 on “Cooperation among the PABSEC Member- Countries in Strengthening Good Governance”; - Recommendation 70/2003 on “Role of Culture in the Development of the BSEC Region”; - Recommendation 71/2003 on “Black Sea Informational Alliance”. 53. The Council welcomed the cooperation between the PABSEC and the European Parliament, which has been impressively upgraded recently and expressed the hope that it will promote the BSEC-EU cooperation as well. ” The Council also adopted the following Resolutions, Decisions and Recommendations: I. RESOLUTIONS Review of the State of Affairs Regarding the Project Development Fund - the Council commended the start of operations of the BSEC Project Development Fund and expressed its confidence that it will initiate the transformation of the BSEC into a 2 project-oriented Organization. The Council welcomed the transfer of 30,000 USD each by Romania, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Turkey to the account of the Project Development Fund, as well as the amount of 1,000 USD contributed by the BSEC Business Council and noted that with previous contribution of the Hellenic Republic the current amount reached 121,000 USD. The Council encouraged the other Member States to transfer their voluntary contributions at their earliest convenience. The Council welcomed the first Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Fund on 14-15 July 2003 and took note of the consensus reached regarding the necessity to improve and streamline the regulatory framework of the Project Development Fund. Strengthening the institutional capacity of the BSEC in line with the Provisions of the BSEC Decennial Summit and the BSEC Economic Agenda - the Council decided to launch a general discussion on the issue and instructed the Working Group on Organizational Matters to elaborate on the issue and submit its proposals to the Committee of Senior Officials. Appointment of the Deputy Secretary General to the BSEC PERMIS – this issue turned to be most complicated for taking a decision. Following the inconclusive vote at the Meeting of the Senior Officials and the insistent stand by the Russian delegation at the informal consultations preceding the Meeting of the Council of Ministers the whole chapter with ten paragraphs envisaging the amendments to the Rules of Procedure, the Staff Regulations and the Job Descriptions changing procedures for appointments in the BSEC PERMIS of the personnel under the D and P categories were excluded from the resolutions of the 9th Council of Ministers. Following the termination of office of the present Deputy Secretary General on 31 October 2003 the post remained vacant. The issue was decided to be taken up again in the future. The institution of Country-Coordinator – the Council appointed the Russian Federation as Country-Coordinator to the Working Group on Health Care and Pharmaceutics and to the Working Group on Trade and Economic Development for the period October 2003-September 2005. The Council called upon the Member States to mobilize their relevant national authorities in order to submit their candidacies for the Working Groups on Cooperation in Science and Technology and on Exchange of Statistical Data and Economic Information at the next Meeting. Observer Status - the Council discussed the issue regarding the Observer Status in BSEC and decided that further consideration of the criteria for observer status is required. The Council took note of the recent application for Observer Status in BSEC of the Republic of Lithuania. The Council renewed observer status for Arab Republic of Egypt, the State of Israel and the Slovak Republic for another period of two years and invited all the Observer States to intensify their participation in the BSEC activities with a view to enhancing cooperation capacity. Relations with Third Parties - the Council decided to renew for the Union of Road Transport Associations in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Region (BSEC- URTA) its status of sectoral dialogue partnership in the BSEC for another period of two years. Cooperation with international organizations and regional groupings - the Council noted with appreciation the BSEC-UN FAO cooperation especially in course of the successive implementation of the Project on “Institutional Strengthening to 3 Facilitate Intra- and Interregional Agricultural Trade among BSEC Member States” and instructed the Working Group on Agriculture and Agro-industry to discuss the final document of the Project - recommendations to the Governments with a view to present a relevant consolidated document to the Meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of the BSEC Member States to be organized in due course. The Council took note of the information on cooperation with the World Bank with due regard to the “Preliminary Draft Memorandum of Understanding Between the Organization