Democracies facing the Covid-19 pandemic
Recommendation 2179
(2020)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text adopted by the Standing Committee,
acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 13 October 2020 (see Doc. 15157, report
of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, rapporteur:
Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger; see also Doc. 15164, opinion of the Committee
on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States
of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), rapporteur: Ms Yuliya
Lovochkina).
1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers
to its
Resolution 2337
(2020) on democracies facing the Covid-19 pandemic in
which it calls,
inter alia,
on member and observer States to respect the system of democratic checks
and balances and apply a number of principles when facing a public
health emergency and when deciding whether to hold or postpone elections
during such an emergency.
2. In the face of the pandemic, the Assembly considers that the
international context must shift from rivalry among powers to strong
and effective multilateral co-operation beyond partisan divisions.
It also calls on member and observer States to ensure that diagnostic
tools, treatments and vaccines are available and affordable for
everyone, starting with the most vulnerable groups among Europe’s
830 million citizens.
3. The Assembly welcomes the fact that, in the face of the challenges
raised by the pandemic, the Council of Europe bodies and institutions
– in particular, the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers,
and the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission)
– as well as the Secretary General and the Commissioner for Human
Rights have provided timely and adequate support to member States
by sharing with their governments and parliaments tools, standards
and guidelines aimed at ensuring compliance with the principles
of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in their response
to the pandemic.
4. The Assembly welcomes in particular the Secretary General’s
toolkit offering guidance to member States, “Respecting democracy,
rule of law and human rights in the framework of the Covid-19 sanitary
crisis”, as well as the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers
on the Covid-19 pandemic, adopted on 22 April 2020 under the Georgian
presidency. It also fully supports the theme “Protection of human
life and public health in the context of a pandemic – Effectively
responding to a sanitary crisis in full respect for human rights
and the principles of democracy and the rule of law”, which is the
focus of the priorities of the Greek presidency of the Committee
of Ministers, and looks forward to the Athens Declaration to be
adopted on 4 November 2020 at ministerial level.
5. In light of the principles applicable to situations of emergency
drafted by the Venice Commission and on the basis of information,
available on the website of the observatory of such situations in
Venice Commission member States, the Assembly invites the Committee
of Ministers to build on national experiences and good practice
in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic with a view to developing
a checklist of parameters to enable the fullest democratic participation
possible in situations of emergency.
6. Noting that co-operation, co-ordination and exchange of information
and good practice between different tiers of government (national,
regional and local) have proved crucial for the efficiency and effectiveness
of the response by member States to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Assembly
invites the Committee of Ministers to prepare a recommendation with
guidelines on multilevel governance and response to emergencies.
