Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Founder States (1961)   Other Member States
Secretariat		Paris, France
Membership		34 states, 20 founder states (1961)
Leaders
-	Secretary General	José Ángel Gurría
Establishment
-	as the OEEC1	16 April 1948
-	reformed as the OECD	30 September 1961
Website www.oecd.org
1	Organisation for European Economic Co-operation.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, French: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, OCDE) is an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum of countries committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices, and co-ordinate 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 "very 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.

History[link]

Organisation for European Economic Co-operation[link]

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 has been headquartered in the Chateau de la Muette in Paris, France. After the Marshall Plan ended, the OEEC focused on economic issues.^[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.

Foundation of the OECD[link]

Following the 1957 Rome Treaties to launch the European Economic Community, the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development was drawn up to reform the OEEC. The Convention was signed in December 1960 and the OECD officially superseded the OEEC in September 1961. It consisted of the European founder countries of the OEEC plus the United States and Canada, with Japan joining three years later. The official founding members are the Republic of Austria, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Dominion of Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark, the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Greece, the Republic of Iceland, the Republic of Ireland, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Norway, the Portuguese Republic, Spain, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Swiss Confederation, the Turkish Republic, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America. During the next 12 years Japan, Finland, Australia, and New Zealand also joined the organisation. Yugoslavia had observer status in the organisation starting with the establishment of the OECD until its dissolution.^[3]

More than just increasing its internal structure, OECD progressively created agencies: the OECD Development Centre (1961), International Energy Agency (IEA, 1974), and Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering.

Unlike the organizations of the United Nations system, OECD uses the spelling "organisation" with an "s" in its name rather than "organization" (see -ise/-ize).

Enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe[link]

In 1989, after the political changes in Central and Eastern Europe, the OECD started to assist these countries to prepare market economy reforms. In 1990, the Centre for Co-operation with European Economies in Transition (now succeeded by the Centre for Cooperation with Non-Members) was established, and in 1991, the Programme "Partners in Transition" was launched for the cooperation with Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.^[3][4] This programme also included a membership option for these countries.^[4] As a result of this, in 1994–2000 Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia as well as Mexico and the Republic of Korea became members of the organisation.

Reform and further enlargement[link]

In the 1990s, a number of European countries, now members of the European Union, expressed their willingness to join the organisation. In 1995, Cyprus applied for membership, but, according to the Cypriot government, it was vetoed by Turkey.^[5] In 1996, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania signed a Joint Declaration expressing willingness to become full members of the OECD.^[6] Slovenia also applied for membership that same year.^[7] In 2005 Malta applied to join the organization.^[8]

In 2003, the OECD established a working group headed by Japan's Ambassador to the OECD Seiichiro Noboru to work out a strategy for the enlargement and co-operation with non-members. The working group proposed that the selection of candidate countries to be based on four criteria: "like-mindedness", "significant player", "mutual benefit" and "global considerations". The working group's recommendations were presented at the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting on 13 and 14 May 2004. Based on these recommendations work, the meeting adopted an agreement on operationalisation of the proposed guidelines and on the drafting of a list of countries suitable as potential candidates for membership.^[3] As a result of this work, on 16 May 2007, the OECD Ministerial Council decided to open accession discussions with Chile, Estonia, Israel, Russia and Slovenia and to strengthen co-operation with Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa through a process of enhanced engagement.^[9] Chile, Slovenia, Israel and Estonia all became members in 2010.^[10][11]

In 2011 President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia express the country's willingness to join the organization during a speech at the OECD headquarters.^[12]

Objectives and activities[link]

One of a number of posters created by the Economic Cooperation Administration to promote the Marshall Plan in Europe

Aim[link]

The OECD defines itself as a forum of countries committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a setting to compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices, and co-ordinate domestic and international policies.^[13] Its mandate covers economic, environmental, and social issues. It acts by peer pressure to improve policy and implement "soft law"—non-binding instruments that can occasionally lead to binding treaties. In this work, the OECD cooperates with businesses, trade unions and other representatives of civil society. Collaboration at the OECD regarding taxation, for example, has fostered the growth of a global web of bilateral tax treaties.

The OECD promotes policies designed:

• to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in Member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy;
• to contribute to sound economic expansion in Member as well as nonmember countries in the process of economic development; and
• to contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, nondiscriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations.

International investments and multinational enterprises[link]

Between 1995 and 1998, the OECD designed the Multilateral Agreement on Investment, which was abandoned because of a widespread criticism from civil society groups and developing countries. In 1976, the OECD adopted the Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises, which was rewritten and annexed by the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in 2000.

Among other areas, the OECD has taken a role in co-ordinating international action on corruption and bribery, creating the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, which came into effect in February 1999. It has been ratified by thirty-eight countries.^[14]

The OECD has also constituted an anti-spam task force, which submitted a detailed report, with several background papers on spam problems in developing countries, best practices for ISPs, e-mail marketers, etc., appended. It works on the information economy^[15] and the future of the Internet economy.^[16]

PISA[link]

The OECD publishes the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is an assessment that allows for a comparison of educational performances between countries.

Taxation[link]

The OECD publishes and updates a model tax convention that serves as a template for bilateral negotiations regarding tax coordination and cooperation. This model is accompanied by a set of commentaries that reflect OECD-level interpretation of the content of the model convention provisions. In general, this model allocates the primary right to tax to the country from which capital investment originates (i.e., the home, or resident country) rather than the country in which the investment is made (the host, or source country). As a result, it is most effective as between two countries with reciprocal investment flows (such as among the OECD member countries), but can be very unbalanced when one of the signatory countries is economically weaker than the other (such as between OECD and non-OECD pairings).

Since 1998, the OECD has led a charge against harmful tax practices, principally targeting the activities of tax havens (while principally accepting the policies of its member countries, which would tend to encourage tax competition). These efforts have been met with mixed reaction: The primary objection is the sanctity of tax policy as a matter of sovereign entitlement.^[17] The OECD maintains a 'blacklist' of countries it considers uncooperative in the drive for transparency of tax affairs and the effective exchange of information, officially called "The List of Uncooperative Tax Havens".^[18] In May 2009, all remaining countries were removed from the list.^[19]

On 22 October 2008, at an OECD meeting in Paris, 17 countries led by France and Germany decided to draw up a new blacklist of tax havens. The OECD has been asked to investigate around 40 new tax havens in the world where undeclared revenue is hidden and that host many of the non-regulated hedge funds that have come under fire during the 2008 financial crisis. Germany, France, and other countries called on the OECD to specifically add Switzerland to a blacklist of countries that encourage tax fraud.^[20]

Publishing[link]

The OECD publishes books, reports, statistics, working papers and reference materials. All titles and databases published since 1998 can be accessed via OECD iLibrary.

The OECD Library & Archives collection dates from 1947, including records from the Committee for European Economic Co-operation (CEEC) and the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC), predecessors of today's OECD. External researchers can consult OECD publications and archival material on the OECD premises by appointment: www.oecd.org/libraryandarchives.

Books[link]

The OECD releases between 300 and 500 books each year. Most books are published in English and French. The OECD flagship titles include:

• The OECD Economic Outlook, published twice a year. It contains forecast and analysis of the economic situation of the OECD member countries.
• The Main Economic Indicators, published monthly. It contains a large selection of timely statistical indicators.
• The OECD Factbook, published yearly and available online, as an iPhone app and in print. The Factbook contains more than 100 economic, environmental and social indicators, each presented with a clear definition, tables and graphs. It is freely accessible online and delivers all the data in Excel format via Statlinks.
• OECD Observer, an award-winning magazine with six issues a year. News, analysis, commentaries and data on global economic, social and environmental challenges. Contains book reviews and special section listing the latest OECD books, plus ordering information.
• The OECD Communications Outlook and OECD Information Technology Outlook, which rotate every year. They contain forecasts and analysis of the communications and information technology industries in OECD member countries and non-member economies.
• In 2007 the OECD published Human Capital: How what you know shapes your life, the first book in the OECD Insights series. This series uses OECD analysis and data to introduce important social and economic issues to non-specialist readers. Other books in the series cover sustainable development, international trade and international migration.

All OECD books are available on the OECD iLibrary, the online bookshop or OECD Library & Archives.

Statistics[link]

The OECD is known as a statistical agency, as it publishes comparable statistics on a wide number of subjects.

OECD statistics are available in several forms:

• as interactive databases on iLibrary together with key comparative and country tables,
• as static files or dynamic database views on the OECD Statistics portal,
• as StatLinks (in most OECD books, there is a URL that links to the underlying data).

Working papers[link]

There are 15 working papers series published by the various directorates of the OECD Secretariat. They are available on iLibrary, as well as on many specialised portals.

Reference works[link]

The OECD is responsible for the OECD Guidelines for the Testing of Chemicals, a continuously updated document that is a de facto standard (i.e., soft law).

It has published the OECD Environmental Outlook to 2030, which shows that tackling the key environmental problems we face today—including climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, and the health impacts of pollution—is both achievable and affordable.

Structure[link]

The OECD's structure consists of three main elements:

• The OECD member countries, each represented by a delegation led by an ambassador. Together, they form the OECD Council. Member countries act collectively through Council (and its Standing Committees) to provide direction and guidance to the work of Organization.
• The OECD Substantive Committees, one for each work area of the OECD, plus their variety of subsidiary bodies. Committee members are typically subject-matter experts from member and non-member governments. The Committees oversee all the work on each theme (publications, task forces, conferences, and so on). Committee members then relay the conclusions to their capitals.
• The OECD Secretariat, led by the Secretary-General (currently Angel Gurria), provides support to Standing and Substantive Committees. It is organized in Directorates, which include about 2,500 staff.

Meetings[link]

Delegates from the member countries attend committees' and other meetings. 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.^[21] 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.

Secretariat[link]

Exchanges between OECD governments benefit from the information, analysis, and preparation of the OECD Secretariat. The secretariat collects data, monitors trends, and analyses and forecasts economic developments. Under the direction and guidance of member governments, 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^[when?] around US$510 million or €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.^[22] 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 that 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.

Secretaries-General[link]

• 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

Committees[link]

Representatives of the 34 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.^[23]

Special bodies[link]

• Africa Partnership Forum
• Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC)
• Development Assistance Committee
• 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)

Member countries[link]

Current members[link]

There are currently 34 members of the OECD.

Country	Membership[24]	Geographic location	Notes
Australia	01971-06-077 June 1971	Oceania
Austria	01961-09-2929 September 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Belgium	01961-09-1313 September 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Canada	01961-04-1010 April 1961	North America
Chile	02010-05-077 May 2010	South America
Czech Republic	01995-12-2121 December 1995	Europe
Denmark	01961-05-3030 May 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Estonia	02010-12-099 December 2010	Europe
Finland	01969-01-2828 January 1969	Europe
France	01961-08-077 August 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Germany	01961-09-2727 September 1961	Europe	Joined OEEC in 1949 (West Germany).[26] Previously represented by the Trizone.[25]
Greece	01961-09-2727 September 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Hungary	01996-05-077 May 1996	Europe
Iceland	01961-06-055 June 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Ireland	01961-08-1717 August 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Israel	02010-09-077 September 2010	Asia
Italy	01962-03-2929 March 1962	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Japan	01964-04-2828 April 1964	Asia
South Korea	01996-12-1212 December 1996	Asia
Luxembourg	01961-12-077 December 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Mexico	01994-05-1818 May 1994	North America
Netherlands	01961-11-1313 November 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
New Zealand	01973-05-2929 May 1973	Oceania
Norway	01961-07-044 July 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Poland	01996-11-2222 November 1996	Europe
Portugal	01961-08-044 August 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Slovakia	02000-12-1414 December 2000	Europe
Slovenia	02010-07-2121 July 2010	Europe
Spain	01961-08-033 August 1961	Europe	Joined OEEC in 1958.[27]
Sweden	01961-09-2828 September 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Switzerland	01961-09-2828 September 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
Turkey	01961-08-022 August 1961	Eurasia	OEEC member.[25]
United Kingdom	01961-05-022 May 1961	Europe	OEEC member.[25]
United States	01961-04-1212 April 1961	North America

The European Commission participates in the work of the OECD alongside the EU Member States.^[28]

Former members[link]

•  Free Territory of Trieste (Zone A) (until 1954).^[25]

Invited countries[link]

•  Russia: In May 2007 the OECD decided to open accession negotiations with Russia.^[9]

Relations with non-members[link]

  OECD members

  Accession candidate countries

  Enhanced engagement countries

Currently, 25 non-members participate as regular observers or full participants in OECD Committees. About 50 non-members are engaged in OECD working parties, schemes or programmes. The OECD conducts a policy dialogue and capacity building activities with non-members (Country Programmes, Regional Approaches and Global Forums) to share their views on best policy practices and to bear on OECD's policy debate. The OECD's Centre for Co-operation with Non-Members develops and oversees the strategic orientations of the relations with non-members.

On 16 May 2007, the OECD Ministerial Council decided to strengthen OECD's co-operation with Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa, through a process of enhanced engagement.^[9]

The OECD explores the possibilities for enhanced co-operation with selected countries and regions of strategic interest to the OECD, giving priority to South East Asia with a view to identifying countries for possible membership.

Criticism[link]

The OECD has been criticised by several civil society groups and developing countries. The main criticism has been the narrowness of the OECD because of its limited membership to a select few rich nations.^[29] In 1997–1998, the draft Multilateral Agreement on Investment was heavily criticized by several non-governmental organisations and developing countries. Many critics argued that the agreement would threaten protection of human rights, labor and environmental standards, and the least developed countries. A particular concern was that the MAI would result in a 'race to the bottom' among countries willing to lower their labor and environmental standards to attract foreign investment. Also the OECD's actions against harmful tax practices has raised criticism. The primary objection is the sanctity of tax policy as a matter of sovereign entitlement.^[17]

Indicators[link]

The following table shows various data for OECD member states, including area, population, economic output and income inequality, as well as various indices, including human development, viability of the state, perception of corruption, economic freedom, state of peace, freedom of the press and democratic level.

Country	Area[30] (km²)	Population[30] 2010	GDP (PPP)[30] (Intl. $) 2010	GDP (PPP) per capita[30] (Intl. $) 2010	HDI[31] 2011	FSI[32] 2011	CPI[33] 2011	IEF[34] 2011	GPI[35] 2011	WPFI[36] 2011/2012	DI[37] 2011	Income inequality[30] 1993-2009 (latest available)
Australia	7,741,220	22,299,000	850,921,670,835	38,160	0.929	28.1	8.8	82.5	1.455	4.00	9.22	35.2
Austria	83,870	8,390,000	335,651,908,177	40,006	0.885	27.3	7.8	71.9	1.337	-8.00	8.49	29.2
Belgium	30,530	10,896,000	410,028,052,709	37,631	0.886	34.1	7.5	70.2	1.413	-2.00	8.05	33.0
Canada	9,984,670	34,126,000	1,332,626,009,839	39,050	0.908	27.7	8.7	80.8	1.355	-5.67	9.08	32.6
Chile	756,090	17,113,688	270,041,323,664	15,779	0.805	40.7	7.2	77.4	1.710	29.00	7.54	52.1
Czech Republic	78,870	10,520,000	257,928,339,127	24,518	0.865	42.4	4.4	70.4	1.320	-5.00	8.19	25.8
Denmark	43,090	5,547,000	222,781,886,776	40,163	0.895	23.8	9.4	78.6	1.289	-5.67	9.52	24.7
Estonia	45,230	1,340,000	27,688,998,902	20,663	0.835	49.3	6.4	75.2	1.798	-9.00	7.61	36.0
Finland	338,420	5,364,000	195,638,761,225	36,473	0.882	19.7	9.4	74.0	1.352	-10.00	9.06	26.9
France	549,190	64,895,000	2,214,424,844,973	34,123	0.884	34.0	7.0	64.6	1.697	9.50	7.77	32.7
Germany	357,120	81,777,000	3,058,645,251,108	37,402	0.905	33.9	8.0	71.8	1.416	-3.00	8.34	28.3
Greece	131,960	11,316,000	321,469,098,066	28,408	0.861	47.4	3.4	60.3	1.947	24.00	7.65	34.3
Hungary	93,030	10,000,000	205,454,014,567	20,545	0.816	48.7	4.6	66.6	1.495	10.00	7.04	31.2
Iceland	103,000	318,000	11,334,228,026	35,642	0.898	30.1	8.3	68.2	1.148	-7.00	9.65	N/A
Ireland	70,280	4,475,000	181,077,867,866	40,464	0.908	25.3	7.5	78.7	1.370	-4.00	8.56	34.3
Israel	22,070	7,624,000	217,843,073,595	28,573	0.888	N/Aa	5.8	68.5	2.901	31.25	7.53	39.2
Italy	301,340	60,483,000	1,932,684,377,298	31,954	0.874	45.8	3.9	60.3	1.775	19.67	7.74	36.0
Japan	377,940	127,451,000	4,299,287,787,846	33,733	0.901	31.0	8.0	72.8	1.287	-1.00	8.08	24.9
Korea, South South Korea	99,900	48,875,000	1,422,314,851,971	29,101	0.897	38.8	5.4	69.8	1.829	12.67	8.06	N/A
Luxembourg	2,590	507,000	43,665,012,298	86,124	0.867	26.1	8.5	76.2	1.341c	-7.00	8.88	30.8
Mexico	1,964,380	113,423,000	1,651,879,443,740	14,564	0.770	75.1	3.0	67.8	2.362	72.67	6.93	48.3
Netherlands	41,540	16,616,000	700,605,399,392	42,165	0.910	28.3	8.9	74.7	1.628	-9.00	8.99	30.9
New Zealand	267,710	4,368,000	129,006,762,969	29,535	0.908	24.8	9.5	82.3	1.279	-5.33	9.26	36.2
Norway	323,780	4,889,000	279,801,821,220	57,231	0.943	20.4	9.0	70.3	1.356	-10.00	9.80	25.8
Poland	312,680	38,184,000	759,271,825,466	19,885	0.813	46.8	5.5	64.1	1.545	-0.67	7.12	34.1
Portugal	92,090	10,638,000	270,370,552,557	25,416	0.809	32.3	6.1	64.0	1.453	5.33	7.81	38.5
Slovakia	49,040	5,430,000	126,534,384,733	23,303	0.834	47.1	4.0	69.5	1.576	0.00	7.35	N/A
Slovenia	20,270	2,049,000	55,169,755,734	26,925	0.884	35.5	5.9	64.6	1.358	9.14	7.76	31.2
Spain	505,370	46,071,000	1,484,884,850,942	32,230	0.878	43.1	6.2	70.2	1.641	9.75	8.02	34.7
Sweden	450,300	9,378,000	365,968,702,539	39,024	0.904	22.8	9.3	71.9	1.401	-5.50	9.50	25.0
Switzerland	41,280	7,826,000	363,005,021,856	46,384	0.903	23.2	8.8	81.9	1.421	-6.20	9.09	33.7
Turkey	783,560	72,752,000	1,141,250,450,911	15,687	0.699	74.9	4.2	64.2	2.411	70.00	5.72	39.0
United Kingdom	243,610	62,232,000	2,220,823,584,121	35,686	0.863	34.1	7.8	74.5	1.631	2.00	8.16	36.0
United States	9,831,510	309,349,000	14,586,736,313,339	47,153	0.910	34.8	7.1	77.8	2.063	14.00	8.11	40.8
zzzOECDb	36,137,530	1,236,521,688	41,946,816,228,388	33,923	0.871	36.3	6.9	71.7	1.607	6.44	8.23	33.6
Country	Area (km²)	Population 2010	GDP (PPP) (Intl. $) 2010	GDP (PPP) per capita (Intl. $) 2010	HDI 2011	FSI 2011	CPI 2011	IEF 2011	GPI 2011	WPFI 2011/2012	DI 2011	Income inequality 1993-2009 (latest available)

^a The FSI index supplies no figure for Israel, but rather supplies a figure (84.4) for "Israel/West Bank".
^b OECD total used for indicators 1 through 3; OECD weighted average used for indicator 4; OECD unweighted average used for indicators 5 through 12.
^c Data are for 2010.
Note: The colors indicate the country's global position in the respective indicator. For example, a green cell indicates that the country is ranked in the upper 25% of the list (including all countries with available data).

See also[link]

• Competition regulator
• Developed Country
• Frascati Manual
• German Marshall Fund
• Good Laboratory Practice
• Gulf Co-operation Council
• International organisations in Europe
• OECD Better Life Index
• Official statistics
• OSCE countries statistics
• SourceOECD
• Transfer pricing
  

References[link]

External links[link]

• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• OECD iLibrary - OECD's portal for books, reports, statistics, working papers and journals
• International Futures Programme
• OECD Forum
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Video clips[link]

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Cooperation and Development (Arabic: إشراك وتطوير‎, Hebrew: שיתוף ופיתוח‎, Shituf VePituah) was a short-lived political party in Israel.

History[link]

Cooperation and Development was established on 5 July 1966 during the sixth Knesset, when two of the three Israeli Arab parties, Cooperation and Brotherhood and Progress and Development, merged.^[1] Both parties had had two seats, meaning the new union had four, which were taken by Seif-El-Din El-Zubi, Jabr Muadi, Elias Nakhleh and Diyab Obeid.

Both parties had been part of Levi Eshkol's coalition government, as they were associated with the Alignment, and the new party assumed their place as a coalition member.

However, on 1 January 1967, the party split into the original factions. Later during the Knesset session both parties split again, as Muadi broke away from Cooperation and Brotherhood to form the Druze Party, whilst Nakhleh broke away from Progress and Development to form the Jewish-Arab Brotherhood. However, by the 1969 elections, Muadi had joined Progress and Development, whilst Nakhleh had become a member of Cooperation and Brotherhood, the two effectively swapping parties.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Cooperation and Development Knesset website

v t e Parliamentary political parties in Israel Kadima Likud Yisrael Beiteinu Shas Labor Independence United Torah Judaism Agudat Yisrael Degel HaTorah United Arab List-Ta'al National Union Eretz Yisrael Shelanu Moledet Hatikva Tkuma Hadash Maki Meretz The Jewish Home Balad Whole Nation Portal:Politics List of political parties Politics of Israel

Yves Leterme
Prime Minister of Belgium
In office 25 November 2009 – 6 December 2011
Monarch	Albert II
Deputy	Didier Reynders
Preceded by	Herman Van Rompuy
Succeeded by	Elio Di Rupo
In office 20 March 2008 – 30 December 2008
Monarch	Albert II
Deputy	Didier Reynders
Preceded by	Guy Verhofstadt
Succeeded by	Herman Van Rompuy
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 17 July 2009 – 25 November 2009
Prime Minister	Herman Van Rompuy
Preceded by	Karel De Gucht
Succeeded by	Steven Vanackere
Minister-President of Flanders
In office 20 July 2004 – 28 June 2007
Preceded by	Bart Somers
Succeeded by	Kris Peeters
Personal details
Born	(1960-10-06) 6 October 1960 (age 51) Wervik, Belgium
Political party	Christian Democratic and Flemish
Spouse(s)	Sofie Haesen
Alma mater	Catholic University of Leuven Ghent University
Religion	Roman Catholic

Yves Camille Désiré Leterme (Dutch pronunciation: [iːf ləˈtɛrmə]; born 6 October 1960) is a Flemish Belgian politician, a leader of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V), and was the 48th Prime Minister of Belgium.

Leterme was the Prime Minister of Belgium from March 2008 to December 2008. He has been Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget, Institutional Reforms, Transport and the North Sea in the Belgian federal government. He is a former Minister-President of Flanders and Flemish Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Despite his French name, Leterme is Flemish. He is fluent in Dutch, French and English.

On 14 July 2008, facing the imminent failure to meet a self imposed deadline to enact "constitutional reform" consisting of further devolution of powers to the nation's three linguistic communities, Leterme tendered his resignation to King Albert II, the head of state. On 17 July, King Albert, after holding a flurry of consultations with leaders of political parties, labor unions, and the employers' association, rejected Leterme's resignation. Instead, the king appointed a three person commission of representatives of the linguistic communities to investigate how to restart the reform process. The commission was to report to the king by 31 July 2008.^[1]

On 19 December 2008 he offered his resignation to King Albert II after a crisis surrounding the sale of Fortis to BNP Paribas.^[2] On 22 December 2008 King Albert II accepted his resignation, along with that of his entire government. He remained Prime Minister until 30 December, when Herman Van Rompuy was appointed as his successor.^[3] On 24 November 2009, it was announced that Leterme would once again become Prime Minister, succeeding Van Rompuy, who had been selected to become the first President of the European Council.^[4]

On 22 April 2010 he once again offered his resignation to King Albert II after a key Flemish party, the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, withdrew its support for the coalition government.^[5] An election followed in June, resulting in protracted attempts to negotiate a governing coalition. Leterme has remained as caretaker Prime Minister, but on September 13, 2011 announced that he would leave the post by the end of the year to take up the position of deputy secretary-general at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.^[6] On December 6, 2011 Leterme was finally succeeded as Prime Minister by Elio Di Rupo, ending the longest run of a caretaker government in the developed world. The following day he was appointed to the honorary title of Minister of State.

Early life[link]

Leterme was born in the city of Wervik in the province of West Flanders. He is half-Walloon, and grew up fluently bilingual. He studied law at the Catholic University of Leuven where he received a LL.B. degree in 1981. He then studied at Ghent University where he subsequently obtained a B.Sc. degree in Political Science (1983), a LL.M. degree (1984), and a MPA degree in 1985.

Career[link]

Before entering national politics, Leterme served as an auditor at the country's Court of Audit (Dutch: Rekenhof, French: Cour des Comptes). He then became adjunct and then national secretary of the Christian People's Party until he resigned to become a civil servant with the European Union. In 1997 he went on indefinite leave from that position when he was appointed Member of the Belgian Parliament. He has been a member of the city council of Ypres since 1995. He served as alderman of Ypres from 1995 to 2001.

He was appointed to the House of Representatives in 1997, elected in 1999 and 2003. After the defeat of the CD&V in the general elections of 2003, he succeeded Stefaan De Clerck as party chairman. In 2004 Yves Leterme became Minister-President of the Flemish government. Flanders has fared well during his term in office. Yves Leterme took a pragmatic course of increasing the economic dynamic and social wellbeing in Flanders. He has made the Flemish government into the ‘investment government’, focusing the investments on the infrastructure and logistics with respect to both the business climate and social wellbeing (notably Flanders Port Area, homes for the elderly, child care, and immigrant integration). In order to accelerate investment he has successfully encouraged the use of the PPP structures. Additionally, Yves Leterme’s government implemented rigorous budgeting – his government started with a sizeable implicit debt in Flanders which has been reduced to zero as the result of his policies.^[7]

In the elections held on 10 June 2007, Leterme received 796,521 personal votes, leading his party to a landslide victory. This was the second highest amount of personal votes ever in Belgium’s national elections. On 21 December 2007, he became Vice-Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Budget, Transport, Institutional Reform and the North Sea. On 23 March, Leterme received confidence of the chamber as Prime Minister.

Controversies[link]

Many French-speaking journalists take offence at Leterme's political opinions on the (in Flanders) widely supported demand for more Flemish autonomy. They consistently decry him for making what they say are provocative or erroneous statements.

During an interview with the French newspaper Libération in August 2006, Leterme, who is himself bilingual with a French-speaking father (as well as having a French name), made a remark about the overall failure and refusal of French-speaking inhabitants to learn and use Dutch in certain municipalities, more specifically in municipalities with language facilities.

Most prominent Francophone politicians such as Elio Di Rupo^[10] and Isabelle Durant along with some Flemish politicians such as Pascal Smet and Guy Vanhengel^[11] objected to this remark. In the Flemish daily De Standaard of 28 August Leterme explained his words: "I am allowed to ask myself the question whether the lack of knowledge of Dutch is a matter of not wanting or not being able to."^[12]

A news report produced by the Belgian Francophone television company RTBF alleged that Leterme said in the Flemish parliament: "I don't need the King".^[13][14] According to Flemish newspapers, this sentence was taken out of context, because Leterme was talking about the creation of Flemish statutes (decrees): legislation approved by the Flemish parliament, unlike federal legislation, does not need the king's signature in order to become law. The Flemish Minister-President signs the decrees himself.^[15]

On one occasion, Leterme quipped that the only things common to all Belgians are "the King, the football team, some beers...".^{[citation needed]} Upon being asked by a television journalist to name which event is commemorated by Belgium's national day (21 July), Leterme wrongly replied that it was the proclamation of the constitution, when the correct answer is the coronation of the country's first King, Leopold I of Belgium. Subsequently, he was asked if he knew the French version of the Belgian national anthem, whereupon he began to sing the Marseillaise, the French national anthem, instead of the Brabançonne.^[16][17][18]

Leterme caused controversy again in a December 2007 interview with the Concentra newspapers by denouncing the RTBF for having its own political agenda, being a propagandist for CDH politician Joëlle Milquet and being a relic of the past. Leterme further compared the broadcaster to Radio Mille Collines, which was a Rwandan propaganda outlet against the Tutsis during the Rwandan Genocide, though he later mentioned he had only quoted what was said in political circles.^[19]

2007 general elections[link]

On 6 May 2007, he officially launched his candidacy for the general election on 10 June 2007, leading his party's list of candidates.^[20] On election day, he received about 800,000 preferential votes, which is the second largest number of votes ever gained in the history of Belgian elections. This was one of the greatest monster tallies in recent Belgian history (the previous comparable score was obtained by Leo Tindemans).

Based on this personal tally, on the successful tally of his party, and on the general election tallies which saw progress for most parties making the strongest demands for greater Flemish autonomy, such as CD&V, New-Flemish Alliance and the new Lijst Dedecker LDD), status quo for the left-wing Greens, and regression for the far right Vlaams Belang and parties making only modest demands for greater Flemish autonomy, such as OpenVLD and Socialist Party - Different. Leterme as formateur convened the negotiations to form a coalition government, negotiations which would turn out to be protracted and initially lead to a stalemate.

2007–2008 political stalemate[link]

Yves Leterme was the favourite to become the next Prime Minister of Belgium following the 2007 General Election.^[21] From 16 July to 23 August 2007, Leterme led the formal coalition talks into forming a new government. But the negotiations failed over constitutional reform and on 23 August he resigned as formateur.^[22]

On 29 September, Herman Van Rompuy, "explorer" in the coalition seeking process, presented his final report to the King. Later that day, King Albert II again appointed Leterme as formateur.^[23] On 7 November, his party took the initiative and got the Flemish representatives to vote on the most crucial aspect of the negotiations, the splitting of the electoral region of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde, a measure strongly opposed by the Francophone community.

Leterme again offered his resignation to the King on 1 December, after coalition talks failed to reach an agreement on several issues.^[24]

An interim government under Guy Verhofstadt was sworn in on 21 December 2007. In it, Leterme became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Budget, Institutional Reform, and Transport. He was anticipated to become Prime Minister in a new government in March 2008.^[25]

Belgium's political uncertainty further deepened when Yves Leterme was hospitalised on 14 February 2008.^[26][27] Rumours that he was suffering from hepatitis were formally denied by a spokesman,^[28][29] and it was later disclosed that he had suffered internal bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract. His duties as Minister for Budget and Institutional Reform were temporarily taken over by Jo Vandeurzen (CD&V), the Minister for Justice.^[30]

First premiership[link]

On 18 March 2008, an agreement between five parties on the formation of the new government was announced.^[31] Leterme was sworn in as Prime Minister on 20 March,^[32] and his government was approved by the Chamber of Representatives on 22 March, with 97 votes in favour, 48 against, and one abstaining.^[33]

For Leterme, priority issues were still further devolution of power to Belgium's regions, which would require amending the national constitution, and resolving dissatisfaction with the administrative status of the districts of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde. He set a deadline of 15 July 2008 to accomplish these goals. The deadline was not met. On 15 July 2008, King Albert II issued a communiqué that Leterme had offered his resignation to the king, and that the king was reserving his decision on whether to accept the resignation.^[34] The next day, the king held consultations with the leaders of political parties, the employers' association, and trades unions. By the end of the day, it was still not resolved whether Leterme would actually be departing from the prime ministership.^[35] Leterme declared, "It appears that the [language] communities' conflicting visions of how to give a new equilibrium to our state have become incompatible . . . state reform remains essential".^[36]

Fortis and fall of government[link]

Along with his counterparts in the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Leterme decided to nationalize ailing financial-services company Fortis. The company was split and the Belgian government sold the Belgian part to French bank BNP Paribas. The shareholders, who were not consulted in the sale, sued the Belgian state. Although at first the government won, on appeal the Court of Appeal reversed the judgement of the lower court and ordered the freezing of the sale. Following the verdict, First President Ghislain Londers of the Court of Cassation indicated that government officials had tried to influence the judges.^[37] Leterme tendered his resignation and that of his government on 19 December 2008, which was accepted by King Albert II on 22 December.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Second Premiership[link]

With the 17 July 2009 government reshuffle, Leterme succeeded Karel De Gucht, who became European Commissioner, as the minister of foreign affairs in the Van Rompuy I Government. Following Van Rompuy's assignation as president of the European Council, Leterme once again became Prime Minister of Belgium. His place as Minister of Foreign Affairs was taken by Steven Vanackere.

In complicated negotiations regarding the bilingual electoral unit Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde surrounding Belgian capital Brussels a deadline set by government party Open VLD was not met. Following the departure on 22 April 2010 of this party from the government Leterme had to offer the resignation of his government once again. On 26 April the resignation was accepted by the King after the appointed mediator Didier Reynders failed in his task and a general election was held in June 2010. Due to the longitivity of the negotiations for the government formation, Leterme headed a caretaker government for 589 days--the longest-such run for a developed country--until Elio di Rupo was finally appointed prime minister in December 2011.^[38]

Foreign relations[link]

Lebanon[link]

On 29 November 2008, President of Lebanon Michel Sleiman discussed with visiting Prime Minister Leterme the Lebanese domestic situation and its foreign relations, particularly its relations with Syria.^[39]

Vietnam[link]

Yves Leterme started a two-day visit to Vietnam Tuesday 11 August 2009 to boost bilateral and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries. It was his first official visit to Vietnam since Leterme took up his post as foreign minister the previous month.^[40] Leterme met with Vietnamese officials to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation in several sectors including politics, economics, and trade and investment, as well as discussed regional and global issues that are of interest to both sides. Vietnam is currently the only Asian country receiving preferential development aid from the Belgian government for the 2007-2010 period, in the amount of 32 million euro (US$45 million). In 2008, two-way trade reached nearly $1.4 billion and Belgium is now Vietnam's fourth largest export market among EU countries.^[41]

Private life and hobbies[link]

This section requires expansion.

Yves Leterme is known to be very fond of goats. He breeds goats in his private time in the small farm where he lives. In November 2010 the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad had some more news about Yves' favorite animals: two of his favorite goats, named Trudy and Vicky, were to appear in a play by the local theatre society of Ypres. The play is called 'Island of the goats'. In an interview Yves called goats "The poor man's cow."^[42]

References[link]