Götköping's Northern Council Meeting

[Jydsken-Østveg]

Rilke-Schrödinger chuckled, "We're more than willing to sign with out you." He mumbled to his other aid who passed a note to the Batavians reading,

Should the charter not be signed before the end of this day, Mr. Rilke-Schrödinger will end this summit and table it for an infinite hiatus.​

OOC {
Roughly 24hrs RL.
}

 

[Batavië]

'Please see Article Iv, paragraph IV for the written addition. This is the final charter unless there are objections, of which I sincerely hope there are none more.'

The Treaty of Götköping

CHARTER OF THE NORTHERN COUNCIL

Signed this day _ July 2010​

The governments of the undersigned countries agree to form an organisation dedicated to the gradual integration and cooperation of their region on the economic, social, cultural, educational and governmental levels. They understand that the key to a prosperous future for their citizens and subjects is better serviced and preserved when high levels of cooperation between their international neighbours is vigorously sought after. The governments of: De Republiek van Batavië, Republik Tyskreich, Königeriket Arendäl, Skånskige Statsunionen and Éireann are the founding members of this organisation.


Article I: Membership

i. Membership includes the four founding members and any country that is either invited to join the Northern Council (hereby known as 'NC') or applies and is accepted.

ii. Membership grants full voting rights in NC affairs and full access to agreements passed by the council. In order to be considered for full membership, prospective members must have significant tracts of sovereign territory north of the Belmontien city of Paris, west of the Wieser city of Augsburg and east of the maritime boundary between the Great and Green Seas.

iii. Membership is deliberated by the Great Council.


Article II: Structure

i. The Great Council acts as the chief non-legislative decision making body of the NC. Member countries choose their own methods to appoint a member of the Great Council. Each permanent member country is afforded one (1) permanent representative to the Great Council, officially referred to as a High Representative. The Great Council's primary actions are deliberations of membership applications and invitations and running the daily administrative business of the NC in an orderly and internationally cooperative manner. The Great Council also meets during times of emergency to discuss collective actions concerning the NC, if any at all are to be taken.

ii. The chief legislative body of the NC is the Northern Parliament. The Northern Parliament is composed of elected officials that represent constituents from their home countries and branches of their local political parties. These officials are referred to officially as Members of Northern Parliament or MNPs. Each permanent member country is afforded a certain number of MNPs based on their population size, but the total number of MNPs shall not exceed two hundred and twenty five (225).

iii. Acts of the Council are documents (bills) drafted and passed by the Northern Parliament. Once passed by Northern Parliament they are sent to the Great Council for assent. In order for the Great Council to bar passage of an Act of the Council, a unanimous decision must be made. Acts are primarily drafted to bring forth the principle goals of the Northern Council.

iv. Acts of the Council, once passed by the Northern Parliament and after receiving assent from the Great Council, must be ratified by the legislatures of permanent members in order to take affect.

v. The guiding leader of the NC is the Secretary-General, who is nominated by the parties of the Northern Parliament and elected by the MNPs in a simple majority vote. The Secretary-General does not represent any government or country, only the interests of the Northern Council. The Secretary-General's term is three (3) months with no term limitations.


Article III: Headquarters

i. The headquarters of the Northern Council will be located in the city of Hilversum, Batavië.

ii. The primary building is located on the outskirts of the city and within walking distance of city bus and tram lines. As part of its commitment to hosting the Northern Council, the federal government of Batavië will invest in constructing a state of the art high-speed rail link to the international airport outside Vlaanderen to service diplomats and bureaucrats. Similar investments will also be made to provide city services in the form of housing, groceries etcetera.

iii. Other buildings and offices of the Northern Council may be located elsewhere in other permanent member countries. The Great Council primarily sits at headquarters in Hilversum but may convene elsewhere in times of emergency. The Northern Parliament must always meet in its chambers in Hilversum in order to conduct official parliamentary business and pass Acts of the Council.

iv. An independent security force, funded through the annual Northern Council budget, will consist of an internationally composed group of highly trained security officials whose primary goal is to protect the facilities of the Northern Council globally and the employees and guests of said facilities. The working language of this Northern Council Guard will be German as a widely spoken and influential language.


Article IV: Official Languages

i. In order to control costs of interpreting and translations the Northern Council will have a set number of official languages. All documents must be reproduced in all of these official languages and all committees, sessions of the Northern Parliament and the Great Council and video and webcasts must have live interpretation services for all of these official languages.

ii. The official languages are listed henceforth: Dutch (Vlaams), English, Gaelic, German, Norsk (Aren & Tysk), and Swedish (Skånsk).

iii. To control costs of interpretations and translations, further additions to the list of official languages is strongly discouraged even with further expansion of permanent member states.

iv. The Royal Scanian Translation Institute will provide translations into French and, if requested, any other official language with cost bourne by Skåne.


Article V: Finances

i. The Northern Council is funded by an annual budget drafted and passed by the Northern Parliament every fiscal year.

ii. The annual budget approved by the Northern Parliament is funded from the governments of the permanent and partial member countries.

iii. A tax drafted by the Northern Parliament to help fund all or part of the annual budget may be introduced if so desired but cannot appear in the form of an income based tax, but rather a sales or other type of tax.


Article VI: Amendments

i. Any amendments made to this charter must be approved by a two thirds majority of the Northern Parliament and the Great Council.

 

[Jydsken-Østveg]

"While Article IV, clause four is a solid clause we again feel it lacks flexibility and calls for French in name. Again, we see no problem with the original private clause and are curious why it cannot be accepted and implemented in the same manner in which the recently written Article IV, clause four has been? Perhaps because it was written by our delegation? At this rate that seems to be the biggest problem, and if this is the case our nation has little reason to continue with this venture. So we'd like to know otherwise why our call for the private option was rejected? For the sake of good will, we'll edit our clause and present it again here,"

To control costs of interpretations and translations further additions to the list of official languages is strongly discouraged even with further expansion of permanent member states. The Northern Council offers services in seven languages which may be chosen by any future states to act as their mode of operation. Expansion nation states are however allowed to maintain their own privately financed and maintained translation services that are accepted as legitimate bodies housed at the Northern Council. Translations produced will not be officially approved translations for the Northern Council until they achieve official status with the stamp of approval of the Great Council.​

 

[Batavië]

'The Tyskreicher proposal is on the floor and I would like to know if there are any objections. For the sake of time, ladies and gentlemen, I implore all of you to accept this and move on so we can sign. If need be we can readdress this issue at a later time, nothing is set in stone. What is more important is ensuring the greater success of this organisation. I must say that I am disappointed with all parties for their unwillingness to compromise.'

 

[Jydsken-Østveg]

"Our delegations feels that we've been quite accommodating. We've played with various different possible solutions and time after time, we're finding that the private option makes the most sense. We'd like to know why anything less than an open free for all of languages proposed by the Celts is impossible? Where is Celtic compromise? Again, fail this, we're more than willing to promote a Northern Council sans the Gaelic language. In fact, we'd be willing to include French officially if Gaelic is removed. Another potential compromise from our delegation..."

 

[Éireann]

"The Skånskige proposal is acceptable and as the Charter reflects that change, I am authorized to sign it."

 

[Batavië]

'Clarification is needed. Does your delegation approve of the latest version of the charter as posted or with the proposal from Tyskreich?'

 

[Jydsken-Østveg]

"Our delegation refuses to sign and demands the removal of the Gaelic language for any possible Tysken signature. This demand is based upon the lack of class and complete and utter disregard shown by the Eireannic delegation in these proceedings."

 

[Batavië]

'While I agree that more compromise from certain member would be appreciated and is certainly warranted, the demand for the removal of the Gaelic language is out of order. That is a language of a founding member.'

A note was passed to the Eireann delegation:

I can understand your frustration, but for the sake of the entire organisation and not just egos, can we approve of the clause that includes private funding for other languages, but removes French in particular?

 

[Jydsken-Østveg]

Rilke-Schrödinger stood up, "Then perhaps a certain member should act with more class and a better sense of what goes on in this world. There are two options for our signature. Our private option or the aforementioned option combined with the removal of Gaelic. We will not compromise any further nor concede on either of the points of these two options. This meeting is dreadfully close to ending without a Tyskreich signature."

 

[Éireann]

O'Donell nearly laughs out loud when hearing the Tyskreich talk about class. 'The Tyskreich doesn't even know what class is', O'Donell thinks to himself and gets ready to give Rilke-Schrödinger a lesson when a note is handed to him.

Reading the note passed to him by Van Vliet, O'Donell frowns as he mulls over it for a moment. Looking at the Tyskreich then over at the Batavië, he takes a pad of paper and writes his own note. Folding it, O'Donell hands it to his aide to take to the Foreign Minister Van Vliet.

Mr. Van Vliet, though I am of the opinion that the Tyskreich are an uncompromising lot, you seem to feel that this organization could not survive without them, so with that in consideration, I will compromise even further and agree to the "private option" but only as a favor to you and your government.​

Waiting for the note to be delivered and read, O'Donell rises.

"Mr. Van Vliet, as it is the only way to get the Tyskreich Republic to sign the charter, the Kingdom of Éireann will go with the private option."



The official stylization for Éireann would be Rioghacht Éireann

 

[Batavië]

Van Vliet scribbled a note back, feeling sorry for his neighbours. Truthfully he was equally, if not more annoyed with the Tyskreicher Chancellor, but he wouldn't dare confront them about it now. Once the charter was signed, disagreements would be plentiful, but they would work together through and through.

I appreciate so very much your favour and I apologise for the behviour of this meeting. I promise you that this organisation will bring plenty of benefits to make it all worthwhile.

With that taken care of, he presented the latest version, and hopefully last, of the treaty.

'Ladies and gentlemen, please let this be the final version. See the Article on languages, last paragraph for the controversial section. If this is all in order, let us sign, go home, rest, and tomorrow start the work of this organisation.'

The Treaty of Götköping

CHARTER OF THE NORTHERN COUNCIL

Signed this day 8. July 2010​

The governments of the undersigned countries agree to form an organisation dedicated to the gradual integration and cooperation of their region on the economic, social, cultural, educational and governmental levels. They understand that the key to a prosperous future for their citizens and subjects is better serviced and preserved when high levels of cooperation between their international neighbours is vigorously sought after. The governments of: De Republiek van Batavië, Republik Tyskreich, Königeriket Arendäl, Skånskige Statsunionen and Rioghacht Éireann are the founding members of this organisation.


Article I: Membership

i. Membership includes the four founding members and any country that is either invited to join the Northern Council (hereby known as 'NC') or applies and is accepted.

ii. Membership grants full voting rights in NC affairs and full access to agreements passed by the council. In order to be considered for full membership, prospective members must have significant tracts of sovereign territory north of the Belmontien city of Paris, west of the Wieser city of Augsburg and east of the maritime boundary between the Great and Green Seas.

iii. Membership is deliberated by the Great Council.


Article II: Structure

i. The Great Council acts as the chief non-legislative decision making body of the NC. Member countries choose their own methods to appoint a member of the Great Council. Each permanent member country is afforded one (1) permanent representative to the Great Council, officially referred to as a High Representative. The Great Council's primary actions are deliberations of membership applications and invitations and running the daily administrative business of the NC in an orderly and internationally cooperative manner. The Great Council also meets during times of emergency to discuss collective actions concerning the NC, if any at all are to be taken.

ii. The chief legislative body of the NC is the Northern Parliament. The Northern Parliament is composed of elected officials that represent constituents from their home countries and branches of their local political parties. These officials are referred to officially as Members of Northern Parliament or MNPs. Each permanent member country is afforded a certain number of MNPs based on their population size, but the total number of MNPs shall not exceed two hundred and twenty five (225).

iii. Acts of the Council are documents (bills) drafted and passed by the Northern Parliament. Once passed by Northern Parliament they are sent to the Great Council for assent. In order for the Great Council to bar passage of an Act of the Council, a unanimous decision must be made. Acts are primarily drafted to bring forth the principle goals of the Northern Council.

iv. Acts of the Council, once passed by the Northern Parliament and after receiving assent from the Great Council, must be ratified by the legislatures of permanent members in order to take affect.

v. The guiding leader of the NC is the Secretary-General, who is nominated by the parties of the Northern Parliament and elected by the MNPs in a simple majority vote. The Secretary-General does not represent any government or country, only the interests of the Northern Council. The Secretary-General's term is three (3) months with no term limitations.


Article III: Headquarters

i. The headquarters of the Northern Council will be located in the city of Hilversum, Batavië.

ii. The primary building is located on the outskirts of the city and within walking distance of city bus and tram lines. As part of its commitment to hosting the Northern Council, the federal government of Batavië will invest in constructing a state of the art high-speed rail link to the international airport outside Vlaanderen to service diplomats and bureaucrats. Similar investments will also be made to provide city services in the form of housing, groceries etcetera.

iii. Other buildings and offices of the Northern Council may be located elsewhere in other permanent member countries. The Great Council primarily sits at headquarters in Hilversum but may convene elsewhere in times of emergency. The Northern Parliament must always meet in its chambers in Hilversum in order to conduct official parliamentary business and pass Acts of the Council.

iv. An independent security force, funded through the annual Northern Council budget, will consist of an internationally composed group of highly trained security officials whose primary goal is to protect the facilities of the Northern Council globally and the employees and guests of said facilities. The working language of this Northern Council Guard will be German as a widely spoken and influential language.


Article IV: Official Languages

i. In order to control costs of interpreting and translations the Northern Council will have a set number of official languages. All documents must be reproduced in all of these official languages and all committees, sessions of the Northern Parliament and the Great Council and video and webcasts must have live interpretation services for all of these official languages.

ii. The official languages are listed henceforth: Dutch (Vlaams), English, Gaelic, German, Norsk (Aren & Tysk), and Swedish (Skånsk).

iii. To control costs of interpretations and translations, further additions to the list of official languages is strongly discouraged even with further expansion of permanent member states.

iv. The Northern Council offers services in six official languages, which may be chosen by any future member states to act as their mode of operation. Expansion states are, however, allowed to maintain their own privately financed and maintained translation services that are accepted as legitimate bodies housed at the Northern Council. Translations produced will not be officially approved translations for the Northern Council until they achieve official status with the stamp of approval of the Great Council.


Article V: Finances

i. The Northern Council is funded by an annual budget drafted and passed by the Northern Parliament every fiscal year.

ii. The annual budget approved by the Northern Parliament is funded from the governments of the permanent and partial member countries.

iii. A tax drafted by the Northern Parliament to help fund all or part of the annual budget may be introduced if so desired but cannot appear in the form of an income based tax, but rather a sales or other type of tax.


Article VI: Amendments

i. Any amendments made to this charter must be approved by a two thirds majority of the Northern Parliament and the Great Council.

 

[Jydsken-Østveg]

Rilke-Schrödinger sat down. He was confused, perplexed even. He fully expected to be walking out the door and yet he had gotten what he wanted. Obviously the magic work of Van Vliet, because the Celts were not only and uncompromising bunch they seemed to always believe they were in the right. A terrible trait and he only wished his father had shot more of them during the Great War. Although perhaps the Great War was where their animosity stemmed from in the first place. He rubbed both of his eyes, in all honesty he was sure that the Celts would attempt to exert payback sometime. Surely a problem for the future. He looked around, "Can some one pass me a pen?"

 

[Batavië]

Van Vliet was so relieved he didn't bother hiding it. With a smile he removed his favourite and personal fountain pen, a gift he received when last visiting Arendaal. He stood, walked over to the Tyskreicher Chancellor and placed it before him and the charter.

President Joost van Randburg also stood and decided that he would use the same pen. The leaders in the room gathered around to sign, passing the pen between them.

Van Vliet had used quite a few political bargaining points today, but he knew it was well worth it. His clever diplomacy had once again paid off. Only one man in the world could work for both an oppressive communist regime one day and a staunchly capitalist one the next.

'Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to congratulate all of you for making this day such an historic one for Northern Europe and all of our peoples. I hope that the members of the Great Council are chosen soon and that Northern Parliament elections will soon after be organised. I hope to meet these new regional diplomats in Hilversum very soon. We are on the way to a better Northern Europe, a better future.'

The press came in to take pictures and footage of the smiles and shaking hands, even though there were still a few back room differences that would take time to work out.

OOC: ok, now it is time for all of us to pester kapi and xenn to give us a private forum so that we can start RPing this baby and implement our new ideas.