Information policy of the Council of Europe

Recommendation 767 (1975)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 3 October 197S (13th Sitting) (see Doc. 3647, report of the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations). Text adopted by the Assembly on 3 October 1975 (13th Sitting).

The Assembly,

1. Recalling its Resolution 581 (1975), on the Round Table with Speakers (Presidents) of national parliaments, in which it declared its intention, inter alia, "to contribute to the elaboration of an effective public relations policy for the Council of Europe" ;

2. Bearing in mind the report (Doc. 3647) presented by its Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations as instructed by the Assembly in the above-mentioned resolution ;

3. Convinced that an effective information policy must above all take full account of the specific characteristics of the organisation and of the existence of other European organisations pursuing similar aims, notably the European Communities ;

4. Aware that the Council of Europe must project a more distinct image if it is to achieve the impact on the public consciousness upon which the fulfilment of its vocation depends ;

5. Convinced that the decision progressively to concentrate the organisation's limited resources on areas where its authority is widely recognised, such as the defence of democracy and human rights, will facilitate the task of focusing public attention on the Council's work ;

6. Recalling Resolution (74) 4 of the Committee of Ministers on the future role of the Council of Europe, which defined the fields of activity of the organisation as :

safeguard and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms ;

social and socio-economic problems ;

educational and cultural co-operation ;

questions relating to youth ;

protection and promotion of public health ;

protection of nature and the management of natural resources, the man-made environment and regional planning ;

local authorities, matters relating to regional and municipal co-operation ;

co-operation in the legal field ;

7. Believing that increased efforts in the information and public relations field are essential both on the part of the national delegations, political groups and committees of the Assembly on the one hand, and of the Committee of Ministers and the governmental expert committees responsible to it, on the other hand,

8. Declares its intention to organise its own work so as to take greater account of press, information and public relations considerations, on the lines proposed in the report of the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations, and reflected in Order No. 354 ;

9. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers take into account the proposals put forward in the report, in particular :

a At international level :

a by assuming a more political role, which is a precondition for arousing public interest, and is also in accordance with its own Resolution (74) 4, on the future role of the Council of Europe, particularly by acting as a link between the nine member states of EEC and the other nine member states ;

b by providing the Directorate of Press and Information, which serves both organs of the Council of Europe, with the means necessary to perform its important task, and particularly the means to reach the news media in the major news centres ;

c in pursuance of its own decision "to examine the possibilities of strengthening the current co-operation" between the Council's two organs, to engage in a meaningful and constructive dialogue with the Assembly on all policy matters, including the information and public relations policy of the organisation ;

b At national level :

a by examining the possibility of holding one of its two ministerial meetings each year in the capital of a different member country, in order to increase the potential impact of the Council's activities on national information media ;

b by members of the Committee of Ministers and their Permanent Representatives systematically exploiting opportunities to promote the Council of Europe in their own countries, for example by explaining their decisions to parliament and press, and by taking part in informal meetings (such as the proposed meetings in certain capitals between parliamentarians and members of the Council of Europe expert committees on the one hand and representatives of the mass media on the other).