DECISION ON THE REPORT OF THE JOINT-SITTING OF THE MINISTERIAL
COMMITTEE ON SCALE OF ASSESSMENT AND CONTRIBUTIONS AND THE
COMMITTEE OF F15 - Doc. EX.CL/1295(XXXIX)
The Executive Council,
1. TAKES NOTE of 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);
2. COMMENDS Member States for contributing US$147,095,060 equivalent to 72% of the $203,500,000 assessed for the 2021 Regular Budget;
3. ALSO COMMENDS Member States for contributing US$231,929,759 to the AU Peace Fund since 2017, which continues to demonstrate the high level of commitment by the Union to fully operationalize the Fund;
4. RECALLS Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec.1100(XXXVII) of October 2020 which took note of the September 2020 Report on the outcome of the Regional Consultations for Member States’ contributions to the AU Peace Fund undertaken by the AU High Representative on Financing of the Union and the Peace Fund and decided to endorse the report and recommendation to continue to use the scale of assessment for the regular budget to assess Member States’ contributions to the AU Peace Fund in line with the general consensus;
5. ALSO RECALLS Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec.1119(XXXVIII) of February 2021 which mandated the Commission to continue bilateral consultations with countries according to the 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 and DIRECTS the Commission and URGES Member States to finalize the aforementioned consultations before the next ordinary session of the Executive Council in February 2022;
6. 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.
7. RECALLS Decision Ext/Assembly/AU/Dec.3(XI) of November 2018, in which the Assembly decided to strengthen the Union’s sanctions regime for non-payment of contributions and also decided that it may consider requests in writing from Member States experiencing force majeure circumstances making them temporarily unable to pay their assessed contributions;
8. ALSO RECALLS Decision EX.CL/Dec. 1071 (XXXV) of July 2019 in which the Executive Council considered the security and political situation of Somalia and Libya and withheld the imposition of sanctions for non-payment of contributions, and which requested the Commission to consult with the two countries to agree on a repayment plan to clear the arrears within four (4) years from the adoption of the Decision;
9. FURTHER RECALLS Decision Assembly/AU/Dec752(XXXIII) of February 2020 which took note of the requests from Seychelles and Burundi and the challenges faced in meeting their annual contributions to the Union, and the request to the Commission to engage with Member States facing difficulties paying their contributions to the Union and those in arrears for two (2) or more years in order to agree on the payment plan for clearing their arrears.
10. RECALLS EX.CL/Dec.1119(XXXVIII) of February 2021 which took note of the request from the Republic of Sudan on the need to review its assessed contribution and requested 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 the Decision.
11. ALSO RECALLS Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.802(XXXIV) of February 2021 which endorsed the payment plans for the Republic of Somalia, Republic of Seychelles and Republic of Burundi to clear their arrears.
12. COMMENDS the Republic of Somalia, Republic of Seychelles and Republic of Burundi for the progress made to clear their arrears in accordance with the endorsed payment plans.
13. URGES the State of Libya and the Republic of The Sudan to conclude the engagements with the Commission to agree on their respective payment plans for settling their arrears and report back to the Executive Council in February 2022.
14. DECIDES to impose cautionary sanctions on the following Member States that have not settled at least 50% of their 2021 assessed contributions:
Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, South Sudan, Congo, Benin, Guinea, Lesotho, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe.
15. DIRECTS the Commission, supported by the Experts of the Committee of Fifteen Ministers of Finance (F15), to expedite the process of developing the new scale of assessment to be applied for the period 2023-2025 and present proposals for consideration and adoption by the Policy Organs in February 2022.