The Assembly's vision on the strategic priorities for the Council of Europe
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 20 April 2021 (10th sitting) (see Doc. 15252, report of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy,
rapporteur: Mr Tiny Kox). Text adopted
by the Assembly on 20 April 2021 (11th sitting).See
also Recommendation 2199
(2021).
1. The Council of Europe’s aim is
“to achieve a greater unity between its members for the purpose
of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are
their common heritage and facilitating their economic and social
progress” (Article 1.a of
the Statute of the Council of Europe, 1949, ETS No. 1).
2. In the course of seven decades, the Council of Europe has
become Europe’s largest treaty-based organisation, in which all
European States (except for Belarus and the Holy See) are represented.
All member States have committed themselves to the European Convention
on Human Rights (ETS No. 5, “the Convention”), thus contributing
to a greater unity as formulated in Article 1 of the Statute. Over
220 Council of Europe conventions have been concluded during the
past seven decades within the scope of Article 1 of the Statute,
to the benefit of member States and citizens, including the European
Social Charter (ETS No. 35). This unique, legally binding convention
system must be further promoted and enhanced as the best basis for democratic
public legal order in Europe, now and in the future. The European
Court of Human Rights was created “[t]o ensure the observance of
the engagements undertaken by the High Contracting Parties in the Convention
and the Protocols thereto” (Article 19 of the Convention) and several
other mechanisms have been set up to monitor the implementation
of commitments made under the conventions as well as to identify
priority areas for action.
3. All member States are obliged to be represented in both statutory
organs of the Organisation – the Committee of Ministers and the
Parliamentary Assembly – to discuss “questions of common concern”
and develop “agreements and common action” in the further realisation
of the aim of the Organisation, as formulated in Article 1 of the
Statute. Consequently, the Assembly deems that it is its duty to
contribute to the ongoing reflection on the Council of Europe’s
strategic priorities for the coming years, so as to enable it to
play its statutory role fully and to realise the potential of Europe’s
oldest and largest treaty-based organisation.
4. The Assembly refers to its relevant recent work – in particular
Resolution 2277 (2019) “Role
and mission of the Parliamentary Assembly: main challenges for the
future”,
Resolution 2186
(2017) “Call for a Council of Europe summit to reaffirm
European unity and to defend and promote democratic security in
Europe” and
Recommendation
2114 (2017) “Defending the
acquis of
the Council of Europe: preserving 65 years of successful intergovernmental
co-operation” – based on wide consultation with national delegations
and in which strategic priorities for the Assembly, in particular,
as well as for the Council of Europe in general, were identified.
5. The Assembly also takes into account the political guidance
delivered by the Heads of State and Government of the Council of
Europe at the 3rd Summit (Warsaw, May 2005), the policy decisions
by the Committee of Ministers at its 129th session in Helsinki (May
2019) and the Athens Declaration by the Committee of Ministers Chairmanship
(November 2020).
6. The Assembly particularly welcomes the reaffirmed commitment
to unity in Europe and to greater solidarity among nations, as well
as the unwavering commitment to the principles of the rule of law
and the enjoyment, by all persons within member States’ jurisdiction,
of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as stated in the Athens
Declaration.
7. The Council of Europe’s overall priorities are to remain the
pillar of democratic security, the guarantor of human rights and
rule of law, as well as a platform for genuine multilateralism in
Europe and to preserve and reaffirm its own identity as an independent
forum for a comprehensive and inclusive political dialogue and co-operation.
Effective and sustainable co-operation with other multilateral organisations,
both in Europe and around the world, should be further developed,
thus strengthening the role of the Council of Europe as a cornerstone
of European political architecture.
8. Human rights must remain at the very core of the Council of
Europe’s strategic framework, with the implementation of the Convention
in all member States as its top priority. To support member States
in doing so, the Organisation must prioritise its implementation
programmes and bring together experience and promising practice.
The authority of the European Court of Human Rights must be upheld
by all member States and by the Council of Europe as a whole, and
its effectiveness must be further improved, notably by enhancing the
execution of its judgments by all member States. This is particularly
vital in times of crisis, such as pandemics.
9. The accession of the European Union to the Convention is a
strategic priority. It will strengthen the credibility of the European
Union and the relevance of the Council of Europe and the Convention
for all European Union citizens and member States.
10. Echoing the decisions of the Committee of Ministers’ session
in Helsinki in May 2019, the Assembly highlights the need to put
stronger emphasis on the protection of social and economic rights
in the work of the Council of Europe.
11. The Assembly further joins the Committee of Ministers in calling
on member States that have not yet done so to consider signing and/or
ratifying the revised European Social Charter (ETS No. 163) and
its Additional Protocol Providing for a System of Collective Complaints
(ETS No. 158), as well as the Protocol amending the European Social
Charter (ETS No. 142, Turin Protocol). It also considers it of great
importance to promote the European Union’s accession to the European
Social Charter system.
12. The Council of Europe must prioritise achieving genuine equality,
inclusion and respect for human dignity. It must continue to champion
equality and eliminate discrimination based on racism, antisemitism,
neo-Nazism, xenophobia, Islamophobia or any other grounds. It possesses
ground-breaking standards and tools to do so, notably through the
Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence
against Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210) – which is the
gold standard in this field – the Council of Europe Convention on
Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (CETS No. 197), its standards
in the area of non-discrimination and support for minority groups,
combined with independent monitoring bodies and multidisciplinary
expert committees to translate these standards into national policies.
The Organisation’s position as a unique leader in this area at the
global level must be further reinforced. In this respect, the Assembly
strongly regrets any attempts to weaken the international framework
to protect human rights that has been put in place by the Council
of Europe’s conventions.
13. The Organisation’s role in building a Europe for and with
children must be reinforced, notably by ensuring the best interests
of the child, with a special focus on providing for all our children
a life free from violence, particularly through the Council of Europe
Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and
Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201).
14. The Council of Europe has to address existing and emerging
threats to democratic societies and democratic security, by promoting
a contemporary and holistic vision of human rights, including new
generation rights such as the right to a safe, healthy and sustainable
environment, and by assessing the impact of the inherent relationship
between human rights and development. As a recognised international
standard-setter in the field of human rights protection, the Council
of Europe should focus on devising common replies and establishing
new standards to protect human rights vis-à-vis new and evolving
challenges.
15. Increasing challenges to freedom of expression and freedom
of assembly need to be addressed with firm action, as without this,
meaningful dialogue, including with those who disagree, is not possible.
16. In this context, the Assembly stresses the strategic importance
of providing adequate responses to challenges related to the emergence
of new technologies, in particular artificial intelligence (AI),
so as to enhance its contribution to progress in our societies but
also to prevent the potential negative and amplifying impact that
the use of AI may have on human rights, the rule of law and democracy.
It refers to its relevant resolutions and recommendations adopted
in October 2020 –
Resolution
2341 (2020) and
Recommendation 2181
(2020) “Need for democratic governance of artificial
intelligence”;
Resolution
2342 (2020) and
Recommendation
2182 (2020) “Justice by algorithm – The role of artificial
intelligence in policing and criminal justice systems”;
Resolution 2343 (2020) and
Recommendation 2183 (2020) “Preventing
discrimination caused by the use of artificial intelligence”;
Resolution 2344 (2020) and
Recommendation 2184 (2020) “The brain-computer
interface: new rights or new threats to fundamental freedoms?”;
Recommendation 2185 (2020) “Artificial
intelligence in health care: medical, legal and ethical challenges
ahead”;
Resolution 2345
(2020) and
Recommendation
2186 (2020) “Artificial intelligence and labour markets:
friend or foe?”;
Resolution
2346 (2020) and
Recommendation
2187 (2020) “Legal aspects of ‘autonomous’ vehicles”
– and reiterates its view that the Council of Europe is in a strategic
position to provide the necessary guidance and support, in close
co-operation with other European and international institutions
and organisations, to create a global regulatory framework for AI.
17. The Assembly is aware of the threat to the democratic principles
of the Council of Europe posed by global information technology
companies, which often neglect the right of citizens to access and
disseminate legal information in favour of their market policies,
and expresses readiness to discuss convention mechanisms to counter
such approaches.
18. The Assembly supports the conclusion in the Athens Declaration
that life and well-being on our planet are contingent on humanity’s
collective capacity to guarantee both human rights and a healthy
environment for future generations. It welcomes the signing of the
2015 Paris Agreement by Parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change, including all 47 member States, thus
committing themselves to strengthening the global response to the
threat of climate change which puts at risk the exercise of human rights.
It deems it of high importance to work towards new legal instruments
aimed at ensuring the right to a safe, healthy and sustainable environment
for present and future generations, and making this a legal obligation.
19. The Assembly further reiterates its firm support to achieving
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as set out in the United
Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and welcomes the important
contribution by the Council of Europe to that end, including by
the Assembly and national parliaments. Referring to its relevant
texts –
Resolution 2271
(2019) and
Recommendation
2150 (2019) “Strengthening co-operation with the United
Nations in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”
and
Resolution 2272 (2019) “Implementation
of the Sustainable Development Goals: synergy needed on the part
of all stakeholders, from parliaments to local authorities” – it
points to the need for the United Nations and the Council of Europe
to enhance their co-operation, within their respective mandates,
to accelerate the pace of the implementation of the SDGs towards
fulfilling the 2030 Agenda.
20. The Assembly fully shares the priority of the German Presidency
of the Committee of Ministers as regards the need to bring the Organisation
closer to the people. In this context, it strongly supports the Committee
of Ministers’ decision to examine further options for strengthening
the role and meaningful participation of civil society organisations
and national human rights institutions in the Organisation. It also believes
that specific emphasis should be placed on engaging in a meaningful
way with young people and children.
21. The Council of Europe must also – in line with Article 1 of
the Statute – continue to keep high on its strategic agenda the
search for common responses to societal problems that challenge
the rule of law, notably corruption, money laundering, terrorism
and violent extremism, by means of effective implementation of relevant
legal instruments and mechanisms or by establishing new ones if
appropriate. Furthermore, the Assembly stresses the need to ensure
proper protection for parliamentarians and journalists.
22. The Assembly reiterates its call, backed by the Committee
of Ministers at its session in Helsinki (May 2019), for a stronger
and more structured co-ordination between the monitoring activities
of the Assembly, the Committee of Ministers, the Secretary General
and the Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as of the various
specialised monitoring and advisory bodies and mechanisms of the
Organisation, without prejudice to their independence. More broadly,
the Assembly considers that it would be beneficial to examine more
efficient ways of co-ordinating monitoring activities with other
international organisations, including the United Nations, in order
to achieve better synergy, avoid unnecessary duplication and alleviate
the reporting burden for member States. It stands ready to engage
in a constructive institutional dialogue on this matter and will evaluate
its own monitoring activities.
23. The Assembly highlights the importance of consolidating the
role of the Council of Europe as a pillar of co-operative regional
order in Europe, promoting the outreach of its legal instruments
beyond European borders and enhancing partnerships with States and
organisations in both its geographical neighbourhood and within
close political proximity.
24. The role of the Assembly in promoting the key Council of Europe
conventions and the Organisation’s core values, as well as in supporting
their effective implementation in Council of Europe member States,
must be better recognised and further enhanced. Furthermore, local
and regional authorities and civil society organisations play an
important role in translating international commitments into reality
for everyone. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and
the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations of
the Council of Europe need to be further strengthened and supported.
25. The Assembly sees it as a strategic priority to carry out
its work independently but, where possible, in effective complementarity
with the activities of the Committee of Ministers and the intergovernmental
branch of the Organisation, to increase the impact of each other’s
action. The further development of a regular, meaningful and effective
“trialogue” between the Committee of Ministers, the Secretary General
and the Assembly should be considered as a means of ensuring the
strategic relevance of the Organisation. Recommendations of the
Assembly to the Committee of Ministers need to be addressed in a
transparent and meaningful way.
26. The Assembly underlines the importance of the new complementary
joint procedure, which it adopted in January 2021, enabling the
Council of Europe’s statutory organs to take action together in
case of a blatant violation by a member State of its obligations
under the Statute.
27. The Assembly considers it necessary to make more visible the
meaning of Council of Europe membership, in terms of advantages
for a given member State and all its citizens, and that of obligations
of all member States. Protecting and promoting the rule of law,
human rights and democracy are clearly to the advantage of all member
States and their citizens.
28. The Assembly reiterates its call on the governments of member
States to consider all options to guarantee the financial sustainability
of the Organisation so as to enable it to remain fully effective
and politically relevant. It welcomes the commitment of member States
to the “zero real growth” policy for the current biennium – even
if this does not imply “growth”, but reiterates its long-standing
position that member States should invest more in democratic security,
as embodied by the Council of Europe, and therefore ensure better
funding for the Organisation.
29. The Assembly expresses support for a future-oriented four-year
strategic outlook as proposed by the Secretary General of the Council
of Europe, which should allow a prospective approach in programming
the Organisation’s activities while providing necessary flexibility
to adapt to new emerging challenges.
30. The Assembly resolves to continue its strategic reflection
on the future of the Council of Europe and the ways to further increase
its political relevance and prominent position as a leading European
political institution.
