Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) | ||||
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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, in French: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, OCDE) is an international economic organisation of 31 countries. It defines itself as a forum of countries committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a setting to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identifying good practices, and co-ordinating domestic and international policies of its members.
The OECD originated in 1948 as the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), led by Robert Marjolin of France, to help administer the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II. Later, its membership was extended to non-European states. In 1961, it was reformed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development by the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Most OECD members are high-income economies with a high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.
The OECD's headquarters are at the Château de la Muette in Paris, France.
Two large lots were sold to Baron Henri James de Rothschild, who built a new château in 1921 and 1922 as his Paris residence to a 19th century design by Lucien Hesse. By the beginning of World War II, the old château had been completely demolished and replaced by mansions.
The new château was appropriated by the German Army during the Second World War, and it was taken over by the United States Army after the liberation of France. In 1949, it became the headquarters of the Organization for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) set up under the Marshall Plan to help administer funds provided by the United States to promote post-war recovery and to encourage European economic cooperation. The OEEC developed into the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1961, with the new Château de la Muette as its headquarters.
The Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), was formed in 1948 to administer American and Canadian aid in the framework of the Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of Europe after World War II.[1] It started its operations on 16 April 1948. Since 1949, it was headquartered in the Chateau de la Muette in Paris, France. After the Marshall Plan's ending, the OEEC focused on economic questions.[2]
In the 1950s the OEEC provided the framework for negotiations aimed at determining conditions for setting up a European Free Trade Area, to bring the European Economic Community of the six and the other OEEC members together on a multilateral basis. In 1958, a European Nuclear Energy Agency was set up under the OEEC.
The OECD's structure revolves around three major bodies:
- The OECD member countries, each represented by a delegation led by an ambassador. Together, they form the OECD Council. Member countries acts through the meetings.
- The OECD Secretariat, led by the Secretary-General (currently Angel Gurria). The Secretariat is organised in directorates. There are some 2,500 agents in the OECD Secretariat.
- The OECD committees, one for each work area of the OECD. Committee members are typically subject-matter experts from member and non-member countries. The committees commission all the work on each theme (publications, task forces, conferences, and so on). The committee members then relay the conclusions to their capitals.
[edit] Meetings
Delegates from the member countries attend committees' and other meetings, principally organised by the secretariat. Former Deputy-Secretary General Pierre Vinde estimated in 1997 that the cost borne by the member countries, such as sending their officials to OECD meetings and maintaining permanent delegations, is equivalent to the cost of running the secretariat.[16] This ratio is unique among inter-governmental organisations. In other words, the OECD is more a persistent forum or network of officials and experts than an administration.
Noteworthy meetings include:
- The yearly Ministerial Council Meeting, with the Ministers of Economy of all member countries and the candidates for enhanced engagement among the countries.
- The annual OECD Forum, which brings together leaders from business, government, labour, civil society and international organisations. This takes the form of conferences and discussions and is open to public participation.
- Thematic Ministerial Meetings, held among Ministers of a given domain (ie. all Ministers of Labour, all Ministers of Environment, etc.).
- The bi-annual World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge and Policies, which does not usually take place in the OECD. This series of meetings has the ambition to measure and foster progress in societies.
[edit] Secretariat
Exchanges between OECD governments flow from information and analysis provided by the OECD Secretariat. The secretariat collects data, monitors trends, and analyses and forecasts economic developments. It also researches social changes or evolving patterns in trade, environment, education, agriculture, technology, taxation and other areas.
The secretariat is organised in Directorates:
- Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development
- Centre for Tax Policy and Administration
- Development Co-operation Directorate
- Directorate for Education
- Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs
- Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs
- Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry
- Economics Department
- Environment Directorate
- Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate
- Statistics Directorate
- Trade and Agriculture Directorate
- General Secretariat
- Executive Directorate
- Public Affairs and Communication Directorate
The work of the secretariat is financed from the OECD's annual budget, currently around USD $510 million (EUR 342.9 million). The budget is funded by the member countries based on a formula related to the size of each member's gross national product.[17] The largest contributor is the United States, which contributes about one quarter of the budget, followed by Japan with 16%, Germany with 9% and the U.K. and France with 7%. The OECD governing council sets the budget and scope of work on a two-yearly basis.
As an international organisation the terms of employment of the OECD Secretariat staff are not governed by the laws of the country in which their offices are located. Agreements with the host country safeguard the organisation's impartiality with regard to the host and member countries. Hiring and firing practices, working hours and environment, holiday time, pension plans, health insurance and life insurance, salaries, expatriation benefits and general conditions of employment are managed according to rules and regulations associated with the OECD. In order to maintain working conditions which are similar to similarly structured organisations, the OECD participates as an independent organisation in the system of co-ordinated European organisations, whose other members include NATO, the Western European Union and the European Patent Organisation.
[edit] Secretaries General
- 1948–1955:
Robert Marjolin - 1955–1960: René Sergent
- 1960–1969:
Thorkil Kristensen - 1969–1984:
Emiel van Lennep - 1984–1994: Jean-Claude Paye
- 1994:
Staffan Sohlman (interim) - 1994–1996: Jean-Claude Paye
- 1996–2006:
Don Johnston - 2006– :
José Ángel Gurría
[edit] Committees
Representatives of the 30 OECD member countries and a number of observer countries meet in specialised committees on specific policy areas, such as economics, trade, science, employment, education or financial markets. There are about 200 committees, working groups and expert groups. Committees discuss policies and review progress in the given policy area.[18]
[edit] Special bodies
- Africa Partnership Forum
- Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC)
- OECD Development Centre
- International Transport Forum (ITF) – formally known as the European Conference of Ministers of Transport
- International Energy Agency
- Nuclear Energy Agency
- Partnership for Democratic Governance (PDG)
- Sahel and West Africa Club
- Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC)
[edit] Member countries
There are currently 31 members of the OECD, and the number is expected to increase to 34 after Estonia, Israel and Slovenia join the organisation. Of these 34, Chile, Mexico, Poland and Turkey (marked with *) are described as upper middle-income economies by the World Bank. The remaining members are described as high-income economies.[19][20]
Founding members of OEEC (1948):
Admitted later to OEEC (listed chronologically with year of admission):
Admitted when reformed as OECD (1961)
Admitted later to OECD (listed chronologically with year of admission):
Japan (1964)
Finland (1969)
Australia (1971)
New Zealand (1973)- Mexico* (1994)
Czech Republic (1995)
Hungary (1996)
Poland* (1996)
Republic of Korea (1996)
Slovakia (2000)
Chile* (2010)
The European Commission participates in the work of the OECD alongside the EU Member States.[21]
On May 10, 2010, Estonia, Israel and Slovenia were invited to join the OECD.[7]
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