Strengthening relations between the Council of Europe and Latin America
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 10 April 2025 (17th sitting) (see Doc. 16129, report of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy,
rapporteur: Mr Antonio Gutiérrez Limones). Text
adopted by the Assembly on 10 April 2025 (17th sitting).See
also Recommendation 2296
(2025).
1. Europe and Latin America share
multidimensional ties: the Parliamentary Assembly, in its
Resolution 390 (1968) “Relations
with Latin America”, already recalled that “the many bonds linking
Europe and Latin America are not simply the result of the economic
realities of the modern world, but also of their heritage of civilisation”.
Indeed, their cultures, politics and economies are deeply intertwined,
and the links forged during more than five centuries of common history
have facilitated the exchange of ideas, traditions and values across
the Atlantic Ocean.
2. With some exceptions, countries and organisations in the Latin
American region share the same fundamental values that lie at the
heart of the Council of Europe: the universality of human rights,
the irreplaceable nature of democracy and the primacy of the rule
of law over the rule of might.
3. The Council of Europe has already institutionalised relations
and established contacts with several regional organisations and
institutions in Latin America:
3.1 a
co-operation agreement was signed in 2008 between the Assembly and
the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (Parlatino);
3.2 a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Council
of Europe and the Organization of American States (OAS) in 2011;
3.3 the European Court of Human Rights, together with the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the African Court on Human
and Peoples’ Rights, adopted the Declaration of San José in 2018, which
establishes the Permanent Forum of Institutional Dialogue;
3.4 dialogue and co-operation activities have been developed
with the Ibero-American system and its sectoral organisations.
4. The Council of Europe has always supported the cause of freedom,
democracy and the rule of law in Latin America. In 2024, it awarded
the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize to María Corina Machado.
5. The Council of Europe also has bilateral relations with a
number of Latin American countries. Mexico is the country with the
strongest ties with the Organisation, considering that, since 1999,
it enjoys observer status with the Council of Europe, and the Mexican
Congress enjoys observer status with the Assembly. Other Latin American
countries co-operate with the Council of Europe, for example through
the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission):
since 2002, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Peru have joined the Venice
Commission as members, and Argentina and Uruguay as observers.
6. The existing links between Europe and Latin America are particularly
relevant in the current volatile and uncertain geopolitical context.
The rules-based international order is under attack and, at the
same time, the global challenges requiring a common international
response based on multilateralism and co-operation are growing:
geopolitical conflicts and threats to international security, climate
change and environmental degradation, energy transition and the
management of relevant natural resources, mass migrations, health risks
and the use of artificial intelligence.
7. As in some member States of the Council of Europe, democracy
in Latin America suffers from the threat of polarisation, radicalism
and foreign interference.
8. The Assembly considers that it is more important than ever
for Europe to strengthen its ties with regions that share its values.
The Latin American region should be considered as a natural ally.
While the existing partnerships with multilateral organisations
and countries in Latin America should be strengthened, the Council of
Europe should also seek to develop dialogue and new forms of co-operation
in the region.
9. The Assembly recalls that, in the Reykjavik Declaration, the
Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe committed
to strengthening the role of the Organisation in global governance
by enhancing its external dimension, through a new engagement based
on its core values with democracies in the world. They also underlined
the need to promote increased ratification of Council of Europe
conventions that are open to non-member States, extending the outreach
of the Organisation to non-member countries also through the active
contribution of observer States, and they called for more political
dialogue with other international organisations.
10. The Assembly pays tribute to the important contributions made
by the observer delegation of the Mexican Congress to the work of
the Assembly and to the role played by Mexico as a State that has
observer status with the Council of Europe for more than twenty-five
years. It therefore invites Mexico and its Congress to continue
to promote the work and standards of the Council of Europe, and
to serve as an inspiration for other countries and their national
assemblies in the Latin America region that might be interested
in strengthening their relations with the Organisation.
11. In line with these considerations, and building on
Resolution 2581 (2025) “The
need for a renewed rules-based international order”, the Assembly
calls on Council of Europe member States and observer States to:
11.1 strengthen their relations with
relevant multilateral organisations in Latin America, in particular
the OAS and the Ibero-American system, through high-level meetings,
sectoral agreements, technical co-operation activities, exchange
of expertise and joint events, with a view to:
11.1.1 upholding
multilateralism and the respect for international law;
11.1.2 promoting and protecting human rights;
11.1.3 countering the backsliding of democracy;
11.1.4 promoting the principles of the rule of law;
11.1.5 addressing the impact of pollution, climate change and
loss of biodiversity;
11.1.6 addressing the impact of new technologies and artificial
intelligence;
11.2 engage in a dialogue with Latin American States, to promote
Council of Europe standards and technical expertise and to encourage
their accession to the enlarged agreements, enlarged partial agreements
and conventions that are open to non-member States of the Council
of Europe, such as the Council of Europe Framework Convention on
Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule
of Law (CETS No. 225), the Venice Commission and the Council of
Europe International Co-operation Group on Drugs and Addictions
(Pompidou Group).
12. The Assembly welcomes the fruitful collaboration of the European
Court of Human Rights with its regional counterparts, the Inter-American
Court of Human Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples’
Rights, and encourages them to further strengthen their joint efforts,
in particular with regard to the promotion of their regional instruments,
the sharing of their jurisprudence with national courts and the
available mechanisms for monitoring the enforcement of judgments.
13. Convinced of the importance of interparliamentary dialogue
and diplomacy in building bridges across continents, ensuring the
cross-fertilisation of ideas and protecting and strengthening democracy,
human rights and the rule of law, the Assembly resolves to:
13.1 revive the co-operation agreement
signed with the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament in 2008
and contribute to its implementation, by:
13.1.1 inviting
the President of the Parlatino, at appropriate intervals, to attend
and address the Assembly’s plenary during its part-sessions;
13.1.2 inviting a delegation from the Parlatino to attend the
Assembly’s part-sessions, conferences and other events, whenever
appropriate, and organising joint ad hoc meetings on matters of
common interest;
13.1.3 exchanging official documentation and putting its expertise
on parliamentary practice and procedure at the disposal of the Parlatino
and its members;
13.2 enter into a dialogue with the ParlAmericas, the independent
network comprised of national legislatures of the member States
of the OAS, to assess possible areas of collaboration on matters
of common interest.
14. The Assembly encourages national parliaments from the Latin
American region to explore the strengthening of their relations
with the Assembly, with a view to submitting a request for observer
status with the Assembly.
15. With regard to the general outreach of the Council of Europe
in the Latin American region, the Assembly recognises the value
of having available updated texts and information regarding the
Organisation translated into Spanish and recommends that this effort
be continued whenever possible.
