Special Representative
To:
PA President
and
PA Secretary General
PC Brief Week 28, 2014
This week saw a high number of conferences and other events in addition to the regular meet-
ings of the Permanent Council (PC), the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom), the Advisory
Committee on Management and Finance (ACMF), the Economic and Environmental Commit-
tee, the Human Dimension Committee and other informal meetings such as the Working
Group on the Legal Status of the OSCE. The conferences included the Third Annual Discus-
sion on the Implementation of the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security
(FSC), an OSCE-UN Conference on Strengthening OSCE-UN Co-operation on Security Sec-
tor Reform (SSR), Capital-level Meeting of the 1039 Informal Working Group (Cyber Security),
Security Day on Enhancing Security through Water Diplomacy: The Role of the OSCE and a
two-day Gender Equality Review Conference. The latter was attended by three PA members:
Margareta Cederfelt, Sweden, Gordana Comic, Serbia, and Arta Dade, Albania, all of whom
made presentations. In addition, many more MPs participated. There was also a Commemora-
tive Event for the 20
th
Anniversary of the Code of Conduct.
The PC decided the Agenda and Organizational Modalities of the 2014 OSCE Mediterranean
Conference, which will be held 27 and 28 of October in Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on
the issue of “Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons and Fight Against Terrorism in
the Mediterranean Region”. The highlight of the PC, which again lasted until the evening due
to a long discussion about the report by the High Commissioner on National Minorities and an
even longer one about issues related to Ukraine, was the address by Dutch Foreign Minister
Frans Timmermans. His address was assessed as one of the best ever at the PC; it combined
a firm stance on principles and commitments with language that was credible because it was
neither patronizing nor triumphant, as opposed to what is heard every week in this round. I
briefed the PC about the outcome of the PA’s Annual Session in Baku.
I also familiarized the participants of the OSCE-UN Conference on Strengthening OSCE-UN
Co-operation on SSR about the PA’s work on Security Sector Governance, and I gave the
Implementation Meeting on the Code of Conduct an overview over the PA’s Baku recommen-
dations on the Democratic Oversight over the Public and Private Security Sectors. The latter
event turned into another controversial discussion about Ukraine, despite its commemorative
nature on the 20
th
anniversary of the Code, while the SSR conference lacked real interest from
OSCE delegations. In terms of participation, the same applies to the Conference on Water
Management, despite a very informative presentation by Prince El Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan
and the significance some Permanent Representatives attach to the issue. In contrast, the
Gender Conference turned out to be a very lively event with intensive discussions.
The Working Group on Legal Personality of the OSCE once more ended without tangible re-
sults; the US continues to be fundamentally opposed to a constituent document, while Russia
makes this a prerequisite for consensus on the draft Convention on Legal Personality, Privi-
leges and Immunities. Several delegates again reminded the group of the 1993 Rome Com-
mitment to give the OSCE an appropriate legal status through their national legislation, a
commitment that has only been implemented by less than a quarter of the participating States.
Andreas
Nothelle
,
Ambassador
July 11, 2014
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