The need for a renewed rules-based international order

Recommendation 2288 (2025)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 28 January 2025 (3rd sitting) (see Doc. 16087, report of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, rapporteur: Ms Dora Bakoyannis). Text adopted by the Assembly on 28 January 2025 (3rd sitting).

1. The Parliamentary Assembly draws the Committee of Ministers’ attention to its Resolution 2581 (2025) “The need for a renewed rules-based international order”, in which it takes stock of the current challenges to the rules-based international order as established following the Second World War. The shift towards multipolarity, with groups of countries coalescing around diverging approaches and visions as regards values, systems of governance and the international order itself, is accompanied by a rapid rise in authoritarianism, nationalism, isolationism, unilateralism and pure power politics. This phenomenon has been underscored by the Russian Federation’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine, which constitutes a grave and blatant violation of the rules-based international order. The world is currently facing the highest number of conflicts since the end of the Second World War, and the United Nations Security Council is struggling to fulfil its primary responsibility of ensuring the maintenance of international peace and security due to the irreconcilable positions and interests of its permanent members.

2. This context of global instability and insecurity is all the more worrying as, in addition to the maintenance of international peace, the world faces a number of other distinct and interrelated challenges that can only be addressed through concerted action, ranging from climate change and environmental degradation to mass migration, growing inequalities, global health risks, food and energy crises, terrorism and violent extremism, the rise of artificial intelligence and its impact on all aspects of society, and the risks of space exploration.

3. The Assembly strongly supports the renewal of the multilateral system of global governance, which should continue to be based on respect for international law and the principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter. Co-operation among international organisations sharing these universal values and principles will be essential to safeguard multilateralism and ensure that the momentous challenges ahead can be addressed for the benefit of humanity.

4. Founded in 1949 as a peace project, the Council of Europe has made an outstanding contribution to strengthening rules-based multilateralism by promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and contributing to the creation of a single European legal space, through the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) and its interpretation by the European Court of Human Rights, and more than 200 other conventions. By strengthening democratic standards, the protection of human rights and respect for the rule of law, the Council of Europe contributes to democratic security and the promotion of international peace within the meaning of the United Nations Charter.

5. For these reasons, the Assembly makes a resolute call for strengthening the partnership between the Council of Europe and the United Nations, in line with the position taken by the Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe at their 4th Summit in Reykjavik in 2023, when they committed to “strengthening the role of the Council of Europe in the evolving European multilateral architecture and in global governance by enhancing its external dimension, through its liaison offices and through a new engagement based on its core values with democracies in the world and its southern neighbourhood”.

6. The Assembly refers to its Recommendation 1367 (1998) “Reform of the United Nations”, in which it had already recommended that the Committee of Ministers “recognise that the Council of Europe is a regional organisation within the meaning of Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, on the basis of its contribution to democratic security in Europe, and the observer status it enjoys in the United Nations General Assembly” and “examine practical possibilities for the Council of Europe, including the Parliamentary Assembly, to be effectively present at the United Nations General Assembly’s sessions in New York”. In the current international context, these recommendations become even more relevant.

7. In light of the above, the Assembly calls upon the Committee of Ministers to:

7.1 take appropriate steps to seek recognition of the Council of Europe as a regional organisation within the meaning of Article 52, Chapter VIII, of the United Nations Charter, in view of the role played by the Council of Europe in ensuring democratic security;

7.2 strengthen co-operation between the relevant Council of Europe and United Nations bodies, in particular as regards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and their respective work in the field of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, as well as issues such as environmental protection, the benefits and risks of new technologies and artificial intelligence, and the role of youth and gender equality;

7.3 consider updating the 1971 Arrangements on Co-operation and Liaison between the secretariats of the Council of Europe and the United Nations to better reflect the potential areas of synergy and co-operation between the two organisations in the face of current challenges.

8. Finally, the Assembly reiterates its Recommendations 1659 (2004) “Strengthening of the United Nations” and 2150 (2019) “Strengthening co-operation with the United Nations in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in which it invited the Committee of Ministers to find modalities for establishing a Council of Europe representation at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. It therefore strongly supports the proposal of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to establish a liaison office of the Council of Europe at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and urges the Committee of Ministers to take the necessary steps in this direction without delay.