Strengthening relations between the Council of Europe and Latin America

Motion for a recommendation | Doc. 15448 | 31 January 2022

Signatories:

Mr Antonio GUTIÉRREZ LIMONES, Spain, SOC ; Ms Nerea AHEDO, Spain, ALDE ; Ms Petra BAYR, Austria, SOC ; Mr Fourat BEN CHIKHA, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Margreet De BOER, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Ahmet Ünal ÇEVİKÖZ, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Irakli CHIKOVANI, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Carlos Alberto GONÇALVES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Lord Leslie GRIFFITHS, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Domagoj HAJDUKOVIĆ, Croatia, SOC ; Ms Carmen LEYTE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Sir Tony LLOYD, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Pere LÓPEZ, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Max LUCKS, Germany, SOC ; Mr Gianni MARILOTTI, Italy, SOC ; Ms María Valentina MARTÍNEZ FERRO, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Luz MARTINEZ SEIJO, Spain, SOC ; Mr Julian PAHLKE, Germany, SOC ; Ms Filiz POLAT, Germany, SOC ; Ms Tabea RÖSSNER, Germany, SOC ; Ms Selin SAYEK BÖKE, Turkey, SOC

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

Europe and Latin America have deep historical, political, cultural and economic ties. They also cherish common values including respect for human rights and democracy.

The Council of Europe has relations with Latin America at multiple levels.

The Parliamentary Assembly and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino) signed a co-operation agreement in 2008, aimed at establishing political dialogue, with a view to promoting the principles of parliamentary democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

In 2002, Brazil, Chile, Costa-Rica, Mexico and Peru joined the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission) as full members and Argentina and Uruguay as observer States. The Venice Commission has developed a wide range of activities with these countries in fields such as democratic transition, constitution-building and electoral legislation. It signed a co-operation agreement with the Organisation of American States (OAS) in 2020.

The European Court of Human Rights built a solid dialogue with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) and there is potential for co-operation in the field of social rights, as the IACHR is competent to hear cases of alleged violation of rights in respect of trade unions and education, like the collective complaint procedure before the European Committee of Social Rights.

There is also a memorandum of understanding between the Council of Europe and the OAS.

In Resolution 2369 (2021) on the strategic priorities for the Council of Europe, the Assembly stressed the need to achieve better synergy with other international organisations. Supporting this idea, the Committee of Ministers agreed, in May 2021, to further enhance co-operation between the Council of Europe and other international organisations.

In view of these elements, the Council of Europe should strengthen its relations with Latin America with a view to reinforcing multilateral co-operation based on common rules and values. The Assembly should propose appropriate modalities to achieve this goal.