Assembly/AU/Dec.597(XXVI)
Page 1
DECISION ON STREAMLINING OF THE AFRICAN UNION SUMMITS AND
THE WORKING METHODS OF THE AFRICAN UNION
The Assembly,
1.
2.
TAKES NOTE of
i)
the Report of the Commission on the Comparative Study on the Working
Methods of the African Union (AU) and the Streamlining of the AU
Summits and REQUESTS Member States and the Commission to
implement the recommendations agreed to by the Assembly; as well as
ii)
the outcomes of the Retreat of the Executive Council held in Mekelle,
Ethiopia on 24 and 25 January 2016 on the implementation of Agenda
2063;
DECIDES to:
i)
Revise and review the Constitutive Act of the African Union for it to be an
effective legal instrument to accelerate, facilitate and deepen the efficiency
and the integration process on the continent;
ii)
Call on all Member States to expedite signature and ratification of the
Protocol to the Constitutive Act of the African Union relating to the PanAfrican Parliament and the Protocol on Amendments to the Protocol on the
Statute of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights, to further deepen
integration on the continent;
iii)
Subject the items proposed by Member States to due process of prior
analysis of policy, legal, financial and structural implications by the
Commission before being submitted to Policy Organs and they should only
relate to the Theme of the Year. The Commission should continue to
exercise its responsibility to initiate the Agenda of the Policy Organs in
particular taking into consideration the related legal, structural and financial
implications;
iv)
Dissolve the Ministerial Drafting Committee as currently constituted in view
of the fact that the AU has since improved its decision making process with
the Commission proposing draft decisions which are considered by the
PRC, before submission to the Assembly through the Executive Council;
v)
Expedite the work of the PRC Subcommittee on Rules, Standards and
Credentials to incorporate into the revised Rules of Procedure the decisions
of the Assembly on the Streamlining of Summits and Working Methods of
the African Union ;