Following the successful election of a new PAP Bureau, attention is turning to outstanding Executive Council decisions adopted in 2023, 2025 and 2026 calling for restoration of the Pan-African Parliament's budget, staffing, critical budget lines, parliamentary infrastructure and institutional capacity. Observers argue that consistent implementation of all Executive Council decisions is essential to strengthening PAP's effectiveness and financial sustainability.
The successful election of the Seventh Bureau of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) has renewed attention to a broader question confronting the African Union: the full implementation of Executive Council decisions relating to the Parliament's institutional effectiveness.
While the African Union Commission's insistence on compliance with Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec.1288(XLVI) culminated in the election of a new Bureau on 30 April 2026, three successive Executive Council decisions adopted in 2023, 2025 and 2026 have also called for the restoration of PAP's budgetary capacity, recruitment of critical staff, modernization of parliamentary infrastructure and review of Members' support mechanisms. As calls grow for the implementation of these outstanding directives, the debate has shifted from elections to the broader question of institutional strengthening and the equal application of Executive Council decisions across the African Union system.
For many observers, the election represented far more than a routine leadership transition. It demonstrated the determination of the African Union Commission to ensure compliance with Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec.1288(XLVI), adopted in February 2025. Throughout the process, the Commission consistently emphasized that decisions of the Executive Council are binding on all organs, agencies and institutions of the African Union and must therefore be faithfully implemented.
That position deserves recognition and commendation. As a rules-based organization, the effectiveness of the African Union depends not merely on the adoption of decisions but on their consistent implementation. A Union in which decisions are selectively applied risks undermining the principles of accountability, predictability, legal certainty and institutional coherence upon which continental governance is founded. The Commission's insistence on implementing the relevant provisions of EX.CL/Dec.1288(XLVI) therefore reaffirmed an important principle: Executive Council decisions are not advisory recommendations but binding directives that must guide the conduct of all Union organs and institutions.
However, the successful implementation of paragraph 5 of EX.CL/Dec.1288(XLVI) now brings into sharper focus a broader question of institutional consistency. If the decision's provisions relating to the election of the PAP Bureau warranted urgent attention and implementation, should not the remaining substantive provisions of the same decision and indeed related directives contained in subsequent Executive Council decisions, receive the same level of commitment and urgency?
The principle at stake is straightforward. Consistency, good governance and the equal application of Executive Council decisions require that all operative provisions of a decision be treated with equal seriousness. Selective implementation of one provision while others remain outstanding creates an appearance of unequal enforcement and risks weakening confidence in the Union's decision-making framework. The debate, therefore, is no longer whether Executive Council decisions should be implemented; the Commission has already answered that question. The issue now is whether implementation will be comprehensive, even-handed and extended to the outstanding measures aimed at restoring the operational capacity, institutional effectiveness and financial sustainability of the Pan-African Parliament.
The Principle of Equal Application of Executive Council Decisions
At the heart of this discussion lies a fundamental governance principle. The authority of Executive Council decisions derives not from the convenience of particular provisions but from the collective authority of Member States acting through the policy organs of the Union. Once adopted, a decision constitutes a single legal and political instrument whose provisions are intended to be implemented as a coherent whole.
No paragraph is inherently more binding than another, and no provision should be treated as mandatory while others are regarded as optional. To do otherwise creates a hierarchy of compliance that has no basis in the decisions themselves. The credibility of the African Union's governance architecture depends on the perception that all institutions are held to the same standards.
The African Union Commission's insistence on compliance with paragraph 5 therefore provides an opportunity to reaffirm a broader principle: every component of Executive Council decisions deserves implementation.
The Executive Council Has Repeatedly Spoken—The Time for Implementation Is Now
The call for the restoration of the Pan-African Parliament's operational capacity is neither new nor solely a demand originating from the Parliament itself. It is a position that has been repeatedly endorsed by the African Union's highest policy organs over several years.
In February 2023, through Decision EX.CL/Dec.1198(XLII), the Executive Council requested the Permanent Representatives' Committee (PRC), through the relevant Sub-Committee, to reconsider the Parliament's budget in order to enable it to effectively fulfil its mandate. When many of the concerns identified in that decision remained unresolved, the Council returned to the matter in February 2025 through Decision EX.CL/Dec.1288(XLVI), directing renewed attention to PAP's budgetary allocations, recruitment needs, digitization requirements, institutional governance and Members' emoluments.
Recognizing that these challenges continued to impede the Parliament's effectiveness, the Executive Council revisited the issue once again during its Forty-Eighth Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa in February 2026. Through Decision EX.CL/Dec.1323(XLVIII), the Council requested the African Union Commission to work jointly with PAP and submit proposals to restore thirteen critical budget lines removed since 2019, authorize the filling of twenty-five critical vacant positions, and develop a phased recruitment plan covering the years 2026 to 2028.
Most significantly, the Executive Council urged the Commission and the relevant PRC Sub-Committees to regularize PAP's budget so that the Parliament would once again receive its full budget as existed prior to 2019. This represents perhaps the strongest policy statement yet issued by the Executive Council on the question of PAP's institutional sustainability and reflects a clear recognition by Member States that the Parliament cannot effectively fulfil its mandate while operating under prolonged financial constraints, staffing shortages and diminished institutional capacity.
The Unfinished Business of Paragraph 8
The concerns reflected in paragraph 8 of EX.CL/Dec.1288(XLVI) did not arise in isolation. As demonstrated by Decision EX.CL/Dec.1323(XLVIII), Member States continue to regard the restoration of PAP's operational capacity, staffing and budgetary resources as an urgent institutional priority. Paragraph 8 therefore forms part of a broader and continuing policy framework aimed at strengthening the Parliament and enabling it to effectively fulfil its continental mandate.
Recognizing the operational challenges confronting PAP, the Executive Council requested the PRC, through the relevant Sub-Committee, to reconsider both the 2026 Budget of the Parliament and a 2025 Supplementary Budget. It specifically highlighted the need to support the recruitment of senior management personnel, parliamentary and language services staff, digitization of the Parliamentary Chamber, improved institutional governance and enhanced operational effectiveness.
These priorities go directly to the Parliament's ability to function as an effective continental institution. A Parliament cannot adequately discharge its responsibilities without qualified staff, modern infrastructure, effective language services and stable administrative leadership. The Executive Council recognized these realities and issued clear directives accordingly.
The recurrence of these concerns across Executive Council Decisions EX.CL/Dec.1198(XLII), EX.CL/Dec.1288(XLVI) and EX.CL/Dec.1323(XLVIII) demonstrates a continuing recognition by Member States that PAP's institutional effectiveness remains constrained by unresolved financial, staffing and operational deficiencies. The implementation of paragraph 8 is therefore not merely about complying with a single outstanding directive, but about fulfilling a broader and longstanding commitment to restore the Parliament's operational capacity and effectiveness.
Restoring the Operational Capacity of the Parliament
At its core, the debate is about the institutional effectiveness of the Pan-African Parliament. The PAP Protocol envisages a Parliament capable of serving as a representative forum for the peoples of Africa and contributing meaningfully to the realization of the African Union's objectives. Achieving this vision requires more than political commitment; it requires adequate financial resources, qualified personnel, modern infrastructure and institutional stability.
A Parliament burdened by critical staff shortages, vacant management positions, inadequate language services and limited technological capacity will inevitably struggle to operate at its full potential, regardless of the dedication of its Members. The repeated interventions of the Executive Council therefore reflect a recognition that strengthening PAP's operational capacity is essential to strengthening its ability to effectively discharge the mandate entrusted to it under the Protocol.
The Importance of Paragraph 9
Budget restoration, staff recruitment and institutional modernization are only part of the Executive Council's broader vision for strengthening the Parliament. Equally important is the question of Members' emoluments and support mechanisms, which the Council addressed in paragraph 9 of Decision EX.CL/Dec.1288(XLVI).
The Executive Council requested the PRC, through the relevant Sub-Committee, to review Decision EX.CL/Dec.1057(XXXV) concerning the harmonization of allowances and benefits in order to restore the emoluments of Members of the Pan-African Parliament.
This issue is often misunderstood as a question of financial privilege. In reality, it concerns the practical ability of Members to discharge continental parliamentary responsibilities. Article 10 of the PAP Protocol provides that: "The Pan-African Parliamentarians shall be paid an allowance to meet expenses in the discharge of their duties."
The Protocol therefore treats allowances not as discretionary benefits but as a mechanism that enables Members to perform their functions effectively. The Executive Council's decision to revisit the issue reflects an understanding that parliamentary effectiveness is closely linked to the institutional support available to Members.
Beyond Elections: Completing the Executive Council's Vision for PAP
The election of the Seventh Bureau represented an important milestone in the implementation of Executive Council decisions. However, the broader vision articulated by the Executive Council extends far beyond electoral processes.
The Council's repeated decisions demonstrate a clear desire to see a Pan-African Parliament that is properly staffed, adequately funded, institutionally stable, technologically modern and capable of effectively discharging its mandate on behalf of the peoples of Africa.
Indeed, the Executive Council's February 2026 decision leaves little room for doubt regarding the policy direction envisaged by Member States. The restoration of the thirteen critical budget lines removed since 2019, the recruitment of twenty-five critical staff positions, and the regularization of PAP's budget to pre-2019 levels are no longer merely proposals; they are explicit directives of the Union's policy organs awaiting implementation.
The implementation of the outstanding provisions of Decisions EX.CL/Dec.1198(XLII), EX.CL/Dec.1288(XLVI) and EX.CL/Dec.1323(XLVIII) would therefore not merely satisfy administrative obligations. It would constitute a significant step toward restoring the Parliament to the level of operational effectiveness envisioned by the African Union's policy organs and ensuring that the institution is equipped to play its full role in advancing Agenda 2063 and the continental integration project.
A Respectful Call for Comprehensive Implementation
As the Seventh Bureau begins its work, the African Union Commission, the Permanent Representatives' Committee and the relevant PRC Sub-Committees have an opportunity to demonstrate that the principle of compliance applies equally to all Executive Council decisions. Having rightly insisted on the implementation of paragraph 5 of EX.CL/Dec.1288(XLVI), attention should now turn to the outstanding provisions of Decisions EX.CL/Dec.1198(XLII), EX.CL/Dec.1288(XLVI) and EX.CL/Dec.1323(XLVIII).
Such action would not only reaffirm the Union's commitment to good governance, institutional fairness and the rule-based functioning of its organs; it would also provide the Pan-African Parliament with the resources, personnel and operational capacity necessary to effectively serve the peoples of Africa.
If Executive Council decisions are mandatory, they are mandatory in their entirety. The successful implementation of PAP elections should therefore be viewed not as the end of the process, but as the beginning of a broader effort to restore the Parliament's effectiveness and strengthen its contribution to the African Union project. The credibility of the Union's governance framework, and the future effectiveness of its continental Parliament, demand nothing less.
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