Part I General Aspects, 5 Budget and Financing

Subject(s):

Democracy — Responsibility of international organizations — Rule of law

This chapter examines the financial provisions of the Council of Europe (CoE), which can be found in Chapter VII of the CoE Statute. The basic principles enshrined in Articles 38 and 39 CoE Statute are that each Member State bears the expenses of its own representation in the Council’s statutory bodies (Article 38 (a) CoE Statute). Articles 38 and 39 CoE Statute are also concretised and supplemented by various internal acts of the organisation. The most important provisions relating to budgetary matters are laid down in the Financial Regulations. The Regulations deal in detail with the preparation and the approval and utilisation of the Programme and Budget, with internal reporting, external auditing, accounting, and much more. Most importantly, Article 25 of the Financial Regulations provides for a Budget Committee, which examines the draft budget and submits its comments to the Committee of Ministers (CM).