The Council of Europe and the Eastern Partnership of the European Union
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text adopted by the
Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 9 March
2012 (see Doc. 12871,
report of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, rapporteur:
Mr von Sydow).
- Thesaurus
1. The Parliamentary Assembly takes
note of the recent developments in the Eastern Partnership, a political
initiative by the European Union aimed at building a comprehensive
partnership with six post-Soviet States (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) based on mutual interests
and joint commitments to the fundamental values of democracy, the
rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the
principles of market economy, sustainable development and good governance.
2. The Assembly refers to its
Resolution 1812 (2011) and
Recommendation 1971 (2011)
on the impact of the Eastern Partnership of the European Union on
governance and economic development in eastern Europe, and reiterates
that five of the six partner countries are fully fledged members
of the Council of Europe and are therefore bound by general obligations
and specific commitments as regards the fundamental principles of democracy,
respect for human rights and the rule of law entered into upon their
accession to the Council of Europe.
3. As the degree of the European Union’s partnership with the
partner countries is conditional upon their progress on the path
of democratic reform, the Assembly believes that the Eastern Partnership
is a welcome co-operation framework in so far as it may encourage
and contribute to political, institutional and legal reforms in
the partner countries, thus helping them to meet their statutory
obligations and commitments stemming from their Council of Europe
membership, for the benefit of their populations.
4. The Assembly shares the view of the Committee of Ministers,
expressed in its reply to
Recommendation 1971 (2011),
that “the Council of Europe’s role in the implementation of the
Eastern Partnership … should be seen in the wider framework of the
ongoing strengthening of the partnership between the Council of
Europe and the European Union, which is built on the Memorandum
of Understanding of 2007 between the two organisations and on the
relevant provisions of the European Union Lisbon Treaty”.
5. Recalling its
Resolution
1836 (2011) on the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the
Council of Europe, the Assembly stresses once more that the role
of the Council of Europe, as defined in the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding,
as “the benchmark for human rights, the rule of law and democracy
in Europe” should be further enhanced, fully reaffirmed and effectively
recognised by all European Union institutions, including in the Eastern
Partnership framework. In this respect, the Assembly:
5.1 firmly believes that the best
way for the Eastern Partnership countries to make progress in the fields
of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law, thus
achieving the political goals of the Eastern Partnership, is to
comply fully with their statutory obligations and specific commitments undertaken
in the framework of their Council of Europe membership;
5.2 welcomes the understanding, which seems to prevail at
the working level of the Eastern Partnership process, that the criteria
to assess progress of the partner countries in these areas are those of
the Council of Europe, and that no new additional benchmarks are
needed;
5.3 deems it essential that the findings and recommendations
of the Council of Europe monitoring mechanisms, including the monitoring
procedure of the Assembly, form the basis of the assessment of the
progress achieved by the partner countries in the field of reforms
regarding democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law;
5.4 recalls in this context that “The Stockholm Programme
– An open and secure Europe serving and protecting citizens” of
the European Union provides that “duplication with other evaluation
mechanisms should be avoided, but synergies and co-operation should
be sought, in particular with the work of the Council of Europe”.
6. Against this background, the Assembly can only regret that
the Council of Europe standard-setting, advisory and monitoring
roles are not appropriately reflected in the basic political documents
of the Eastern Partnership and in public statements on the partnership.
It deems it necessary to make the Council of Europe contribution
to the Eastern Partnership more visible and duly acknowledged. It
further regrets that the Council of Europe was not associated in
any form with the recent Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw.
7. As regards the implementation of the Eastern Partnership,
the Assembly welcomes the contribution of the Council of Europe
to both bilateral and multilateral work carried out in particular
in the framework of Platform 1 on Democracy, Good Governance and
Stability, where four areas of co-operation (electoral standards, support
to the judiciary, the fight against corruption and the fight against
cybercrime) are defined as priorities. It further welcomes the agreement
between the Council of Europe and the European Commission on the
€4 million financial facility instrument to enable the Organisation
to implement concrete activities in these priority areas.
8. The Assembly welcomes the fact that the Eastern Partnership
seeks to develop broader links between societies and populations,
including at parliamentary, local and civil society levels, and
calls for effective synergies between these initiatives and similar
activities carried out in the Council of Europe. It welcomes the ongoing
co-operation between the Council of Europe Conference of International
Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) and the Civil Society Forum
established within the framework of the Eastern Partnership.
9. In particular, the Assembly takes note of the establishment
of the EU-Neighbourhood-East Parliamentary Assembly (Euronest) aimed
at supporting, promoting and consolidating the Eastern Partnership process
at parliamentary level. It stands ready to develop contacts with
Euronest so as to seek synergies and complementarity as well as
to avoid overlap and conflicting messages.
10. The Assembly takes note that Belarus participates in a limited
manner in the Eastern Partnership process, and that its parliament
has not been allowed to sit in the Euronest. It refers to its previous
resolutions on Belarus and reiterates its demands to the authorities
of that country to engage in a democratisation process and ensure
the respect of human rights and the rule of law in accordance with
Belarus’ political commitments as a participating State of the Organization
for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
11. The Assembly calls on the Council of Europe member States
participating in the Eastern Partnership to:
11.1 make full use, in the framework of the Eastern Partnership
and other bilateral and multilateral co-operation projects, of their
capacity as members of the Council of Europe, and of all the instruments
and tools at their disposal in our Organisation in order to make
progress on reforms;
11.2 consider their co-operation with the European Union through
the Eastern Partnership as an additional tool to ensure compliance
with their commitments and obligations undertaken in the framework
of their Council of Europe membership.
12. The Assembly calls on the parliaments of the Council of Europe
member States that take part in the Eastern Partnership, when participating
in Euronest, to ensure synergy, co-ordination and continuity with
the work carried out at the Assembly, including by appointing to
their delegations members of parliament who sit in the Assembly,
or who have previously been members of it.
13. The Assembly calls on the European Union, its member States
and the organs of the Eastern Partnership to:
13.1 make systematically an explicit reference to the Council
of Europe membership of five of the six partner countries, as well
as to their ensuing obligations;
13.2 acknowledge and make more visible, in political documents
and public statements on the Eastern Partnership, the standard-setting,
advisory and monitoring roles of the Council of Europe, as well
as its operational capabilities involved in the implementation of
the partnership;
13.3 refer explicitly to, and to take fully into account, the
findings of the Council of Europe monitoring mechanisms, including
the monitoring procedure of the Assembly.
14. The Assembly resolves to step up its contacts with the European
Parliament in line with its
Resolution 1836 (2011),
also with a view to its possible future involvement in Euronest.
