Second Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, 10-11 October 1997)
Recommendation 1352
(1998)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 27 January 1998 (3rd Sitting) (see Doc. 7968, report of the Political Affairs Committee, rapporteur: Mr Martínez). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 January 1998 (3rd Sitting).
- Thesaurus
1. The 2nd Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe, held in Strasbourg from 10 to 11 October 1997, brought together the highest political representatives of the Council’s forty member states and of four states which have requested membership.
2. The summit originated in an initiative launched by the President of the Assembly in March 1996, and was made possible by the French President’s willingness to host the event.
3. The Assembly welcomes the results of the summit. The Final Declaration and the Action Plan, which reflect most of the Assembly’s proposals, reaffirm the Council of Europe’s fundamental values and its specific role, confirm member states’ determination to comply with their commitments and obligations, and set fresh priorities and tasks.
4. The Assembly considers that, besides the Action Plan, the Final Declaration also constitutes a series of formal undertakings, to which a follow-up must be given.
5. Certain decisions taken at the summit require action at national level, others need to be implemented by the Organisation itself, while some are to be put into effect in partnership with other international and non-governmental organisations. The ultimate success of the summit will depend on the implementation of the decisions taken. Adequate funding will be indispensable.
6. The Assembly considers it encouraging that the summit has already led to certain concrete measures. It welcomes, as first steps in the implementation of the Action Plan, the adoption by the Committee of Ministers, on 6 November 1997, of the Additional Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and the Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine, on the Prohibition of Cloning Human Beings, as well as twenty guiding principles to be applied in national legislations for the fight against corruption.
7. The Assembly welcomes the Committee of Ministers’ decision to set up a follow-up committee on the second summit and a "committee of wise persons" to prepare proposals for structural reform. It notes the subsequent setting up of the Ad hoc Working Party (GT-SUIVI) to supervise both the follow-up to the Final Declaration and the implementation of the Action Plan. It considers it a positive development that this working party will be open to participation by the Assembly.
8. The Assembly considers that the implementation of the measures suggested in the Action Plan also needs the support of European public opinion, which requires a broad awareness of the principles of the Council of Europe and the goals of its second summit. A personality, well known by the public for his/her successful work in his/her field of activity corresponding to the items of the Action Plan, would be able to draw the attention of Europe’s citizens to the Council of Europe’s aims and efforts.
9. Important additional proposals, not contained in the final texts, were made at the summit. These include several issues already proposed by the Assembly, notably the call for new legal instruments, such as a European convention on refugees and asylum seekers, as well as a call for further analysis of the respective roles of the Council of Europe and the OSCE. These proposals should also be considered in the context of the follow-up to be given.
10. The Assembly considers that national parliaments should receive precise information, debate the decisions taken at the summit and actively contribute to their implementation. It therefore calls on all national delegations to initiate the holding of a debate on follow-up to the summit in their own parliaments.
11. The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
11.1 enable the Assembly to participate fully in the work of the Ad hoc Working Party on the follow-up to the summit (GT-SUIVI);
11.2 ensure that the Committee of Wise Persons on structural reform take due account of the Assembly’s proposals in this field;
11.3 take into account the additional proposals made by the heads of state and government in the follow-up to be given to the summit;
11.4 nominate, in co-ordination with the Assembly, outstanding personalities, each representing a particular issue all over Europe and each of them identifiable by European citizens with success in a certain field of interest;
11.5 make available the necessary funds to enable the Council of Europe to implement, in a responsible way, the tasks and priorities set by the summit.
