DECISION ON THE REPORT OF THE JOINT-SITTING OF THE MINISTERIAL
COMMITTEE ON SCALE OF ASSESSMENT AND CONTRIBUTIONS AND THE
COMMITTEE OF FIFTEEN MINISTERS OF FINANCE (F15)
The Executive Council,
1. TAKES NOTE of Report of the Joint sitting the Ministerial Committee on Scale of Assessment and Contributions and the committee of fifteen Ministers of Finance (F15).
2. COMMENDS Member States for contributing 90% of the funds assessed to them (US$222,967,420) in 2020 towards the Union regular budget.
3. ALSO COMMENDS 55 Member States for contributing US$204,876,199 to the AU Peace Fund since 2017 which demonstrates the high level of commitment by the Union to fully operationalise the Fund.
4. FURTHER COMMENDS Member States that are up-to-date in the payment of their contributions, including those that have made advance payments towards the 2022 budget, and URGES Member States that have not yet done so to pay their assessed contributions in fulfilment of their financial obligations to the Union.
5. RECALLS Decision EX.CL/Dec. 1101 (XXXVII) of October 2020 in which the
Executive Council decided to impose sanctions on Member States, in line with paragraph 3(c) of the November 2018 Assembly Decision
Ext/Assembly/AU/Dec.3(XI).
6. DECIDES to lift with immediate effect the sanctions previously imposed on the Republic of Nigeria, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Mozambique, Republic of Mauritania, Republic of Djibouti, Republic of the Gambia, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Niger, Republic of Tanzania, Republic of Guinea Bissau, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Republic of Benin, Republic of Cameroon’ the Republic of Senegal, Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of eSwatini’ Republic of Comoros as well as Central African Republic.
7. COMMENDS the Republic of Somalia, Republic of Seychelles and Republic of Burundi for agreeing with the Commission the Payment Plans to clear the arrears as soon as possible, within four (4) years from the adoption of the Decision EX.CL/Dec. 1071 (XXXV). RECOMMENDS to the Assembly for endorsement the said Payment Plans.
8. REQUESTS the Ministerial Committee on Scale of Assessment and Contributions jointly sitting with the Committee of Fifteen Ministers of Finance (F15) to regularly update the Executive Council on the implementation of Payment Plans.
9. TAKES NOTE of the request from the Republic of Sudan on the need to review its assessed contribution and REQUESTS the Commission to consult with the Republic of Sudan based on the current Scale of Assessment to agree on a Payment plan to clear the arrears as soon possible, within four (4) years from the adoption of this Decision.
10. RECALLS Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.605(XXVII) in which, among others, decided: that the Peace Fund shall be endowed from the 0.2% levy, referred to in paragraph 6(a) above, with an amount of United States Dollars Three Hundred Twenty Five (USD325) million in 2017, rising to Four hundred (400) million in 2020. This total amount shall be raised from equal contributions from each of the five (5) AU Regions as defined in the relevant instruments.
11. FURTHER RECALLS Decision EX.CL/Dec. 1100(XXXVII) on the Report of the AU High Representative for Financing the Union and the Peace Fund on the regional consultations on the Scale of Assessment for Member States contributions to the Peace Fund, in which the Executive Council took note of the reservation placed by the following Countries: Arab Republic of Egypt, the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Republic of Tunisia, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and the State of Libya to endorse the report and recommendation of the AU High Representative to continue to use the scale of assessment for the regular budget to assess Member State contributions to the AU Peace Fund in line with the general consensus.
12. MANDATES the Commission to continue bilateral consultations with countries according to reservations on Decision EX.CL/Dec.1100(XXXVII) on the use of scale of assessment for the regular budget to assess Member States to the AU Peace Fund with a view to arriving at the appropriate mechanism for assessing the Peace Fund as long as it does not affect the consensus already agreed on the matter and the reservations made thereof.
13. RECALLS Decision EX.CL/Dec. 1101 (XXXVII) in which the Ministerial Committee on Scale of Assessment and Contributions Sitting Jointly with the Committee of Fifteen Ministers of Finance (F15) was requested to revisit the targets set in Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.578(XXV) and provide recommendations at the next Ordinary Session of the Executive Council in February 2021.
14. DECIDES to endorse the recommendations of the joint sitting of Ministerial Committee on Scale of Assessment and Contributions and Committee of Fifteen Ministers of Finance as follows:
i) maintain the targets set in Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.578(XXV) of achieving the following:
a) 100% of the Union’s Operational budget;
b) 75% of Union’s Program budget;
c) 25% of Union’s Peace support operations budget
ii) Extend the period for attaining the targets by four more years to 2025.