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The standing committee may only meet outside ordinary (administrative or budget) sessions and if authorised to do so by Congress. Whenever a session is adjourned, proposals for such meetings are made to the members.
Only country laws and budget decisions are exempt from such authorisations.
Once a year, during the sitting to elect its executive committee, Congress elects a standing committee, commonly known in French as the CP, from among its ranks by highest-average proportional representation based on member groups. This is a kind of “mini-congress” that meets outside Congress’s ordinary and extraordinary sessions.
The standing committee is made up of 11 members.
Section 29 of the standing orders requires candidate lists to be submitted to the Clerk of Congress twenty-four hours prior to voting. They must be signed by the candidates.
Based on the provisions of the Organic Act, only member groups are entitled to submit lists.
The standing committee elects its chair, deputy chair and secretary by absolute majority.
At each vote, if the positions are not filled by absolute majority after the first two rounds, a third round is held requiring only a simple majority.
It meets during congressional recess.
Section 80 of the Organic Act requires the standing committee to deal with matters referred to it by Congress based on the authority delegated to it by a majority of Congress members. It cannot discuss country bills or any bills involving amendments to the budget or taxation or that are referred to in sections 26 (devolution of powers) or 27 (setting up an independent administrative authority) of the Organic Act, or that involve the administrative account.
The standing committee quorum is a majority of members, ie six.
