Strengthening the role of the Council of Europe as a cornerstone of the European political architecture
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text
adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of
the Assembly, on 25 November 2022 (see Doc. 15651, report of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy,
rapporteur: Ms Laima Liucija Andrikienė).
1. Over the course of more than seventy
years, the Council of Europe has become the largest European treaty-based
organisation, promoting unity within diversity and achieving remarkable
progress in promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law
through its standard-setting, monitoring and co-operation activities.
2. The notion of a Europe without dividing lines, at the heart
of the Organisation’s pan-European project, has suffered an unprecedented
setback as a result of the Russian Federation’s unlawful, unprovoked
and unjustifiable aggression against Ukraine, which started in 2014
and developed into a large-scale invasion in 2022, with the illegal
occupation and attempted annexation of swathes of Ukrainian territory.
3. This war of aggression, which is based on the imperialistic,
anti-European and anti-humanistic ideology of the “Russian world”,
comes on the heels of other challenges to democracy and security
in Europe, such as democratic backsliding, populism, organised disinformation
and, as a consequence, a lack of trust in democratic institutions.
4. The values, principles and standards of the Council of Europe
are more relevant than ever in a historic context where they are
openly challenged. Recalling
Resolution
2433 (2022) “Consequences of the Russian Federation’s
continued aggression against Ukraine: role and response of the Council
of Europe” and
Resolution
2444 (2022) “Recent challenges to security in Europe:
what role for the Council of Europe?”, the Parliamentary Assembly
reiterates that Council of Europe member States should recommit
to its values, principles and standards at the highest political
level. They should also give the Organisation the political, legal, technical
and financial wherewithal to carry out effectively its mandate and
have leverage on its member States, with a view to preventing a
repetition of similar major infringements of international law and
threats to peace and security.
5. To play a key role as a political community and to act effectively
as the guardian of shared European values, principles and standards,
the Council of Europe must strengthen its position as a cornerstone
of the European multilateral architecture.
6. With regard to its thematic focus, the Council of Europe plays
a pivotal role in the core domains of the rule of law, democracy
and human rights, and should remain the international standard setter
on these themes for member States. In this respect, the effective
implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No.
5) must remain the top priority for the Organisation.
7. The institutional set-up of the Council of Europe is a unique
strength. Further development of a regular, meaningful and effective
“trialogue” between the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary
Assembly and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe is important
for elevating the strategic relevance and effectiveness of the Organisation.
Stronger and more structured co-ordination between the monitoring
activities of the various Council of Europe bodies is also needed.
The Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
of the Council of Europe should explore new ways of collaborating
and contributing to enhancing the Council of Europe’s overall impact
in its member States. The seminal work of numerous specialised bodies, such
as that of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice
Commission), should continue to be used as a reference to guide
reforms.
8. In advancing in these aspects, the Council of Europe should
also attempt to be closer to the people, to strengthen the role
and meaningful participation of civil society and national human
rights institutions in its work and to mainstream the youth dimension.
9. When considering the Council of Europe’s role in the European
political architecture, the Assembly emphasises the need to advance
co-operation and synergies with other European and international institutions.
10. In line with
Resolution
2430 (2022) “Beyond the Lisbon Treaty: strengthening
the strategic partnership between the Council of Europe and the
European Union”, the Assembly reiterates its call for a renewed
impetus towards the strengthening of this strategic partnership.
In this regard, the European Union’s accession to the European Convention
on Human Rights should remain a priority, while greater convergence
should be sought between the two organisations with a view to promoting
common values and global governance.
11. While the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) is currently facing a serious challenge, with a decision-making
process based on consensus and Belarus and the Russian Federation among
its participating States, it remains an important partner for the
Council of Europe, with strong complementarities related to the
human dimension, democratic security and conflict prevention and
resolution.
12. The Council of Europe and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) should actively pursue their already fruitful
co-operation on promoting social and economic progress, with the Assembly
playing an active role in furthering this partnership and providing
a common parliamentary forum.
13. While the focus of its mandate is on Europe, over the years
the Council of Europe has progressively expanded its external relations,
a policy to which the Assembly has made a major contribution. Referring
to its
Resolution 2271
(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”, the
Assembly reiterates that the Council of Europe should aim to forge
stronger co-operation with the United Nations system.
14. Further, the Council of Europe should support a comprehensive
approach to accountability for the Russian Federation. It should
play a role to ensure that perpetrators of war crimes and crimes
against humanity, and possible genocide, along with the perpetrators
of the crime of aggression, namely the political and military leadership
of the Russian Federation, will be held to account. The Assembly
recalls its
Resolution 2436
(2022) “The Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine:
ensuring accountability for serious violations of international
humanitarian law and other international crimes” and reiterates
its support for the establishment of a special international tribunal
for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
15. In light of these considerations, the Assembly calls on Council
of Europe member States to:
15.1 give
fresh impetus and political support to the Council of Europe as
a cornerstone of the European multilateral architecture, and reaffirm
its central role as the guardian of human rights, democracy and
rule of law in Europe and as a platform for political dialogue,
diplomacy and international co-operation;
15.2 support the organisation of a fourth summit of heads of
state and government of the Council of Europe in order to reinforce
the Organisation’s status as an unparalleled pan-European project,
adapt its priorities to the new political and security situation
and clarify its role in the overall European political architecture;
15.3 support the further development of Council of Europe work
in the area of democratic security, as well as the development of
an effective response to the most urgent threats to democratic practices, including
by considering the adoption of new binding instruments and recommendations;
15.4 provide political support to the European Union’s accession
to the European Convention on Human Rights;
15.5 support the International Criminal Court Prosecutor in
his task of investigating and prosecuting suspected perpetrators
of war crimes, crimes against humanity and, possibly, genocide,
by providing political support and adequate human and financial
resources and by making available any evidence in their possession;
15.6 urgently set up a special international tribunal to investigate
and prosecute the crime of aggression allegedly committed by the
political and military leadership of the Russian Federation in Ukraine,
with support to be provided by the Council of Europe, the European
Union and other international organisations;
15.7 consider new initiatives to support Russian human rights
defenders, democratic forces, free media and independent civil society
that respect the values and principles of the Council of Europe, including
the territorial integrity of sovereign member States;
15.8 support Belarusian human rights defenders, democratic
forces, free media and independent civil society that respect the
values and principles of the Council of Europe, including the territorial
integrity of sovereign member States;
15.9 support and contribute to establishing a system of accountability
for the crimes and human rights violations committed by the current
Belarusian regime against the Belarusian people.
16. The Assembly calls on the European Union to:
16.1 consistently take into account
the Council of Europe’s role in standard setting in the areas of democracy,
human rights and the rule of law; to promote these standards as
appropriate and to participate constructively in intergovernmental
negotiations at the Council of Europe on the development of new
standards;
16.2 consistently take into account the Council of Europe’s
role as the benchmark for democracy, human rights and the rule of
law in Europe while preparing and implementing initiatives in these
fields;
16.3 intensify political dialogue with the Council of Europe
in the area of the rule of law and make greater use of the Council
of Europe’s expertise, benchmarking and findings in the context
of the wide range of existing European Union mechanisms and tools
regarding the rule of law;
16.4 pursue with resolve the negotiations aimed at achieving
the accession of the European Union to the European Convention on
Human Rights;
16.5 examine, in consultation with the Council of Europe, the
possibility for the European Union to accede to other key Council
of Europe conventions which tackle the major challenges facing European societies,
including the European Social Charter (revised) (ETS No. 163);
16.6 engage in a dialogue with the Council of Europe with a
view to maximising synergies and complementarities between the Council
of Europe and the newly established European Political Community.
17. As regards its own activities, the Assembly should:
17.1 enhance co-operation on soft
security matters, confidence building and conflict prevention with other
international parliamentary assemblies, including the European Parliament,
the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO) Parliamentary Assembly;
17.2 consider evaluating its co-operation agreements with various
international parliamentary assemblies or organisations with a view
to possibly updating them and enhancing their effectiveness;
17.3 in the context of the Council of Europe’s overall reflection
on monitoring, review its procedure relating to the monitoring of
obligations and commitments by member States;
17.4 consider what role it could play in the Council of Europe’s
response to the most urgent threats to democracy and democratic
security, including by providing political support and generating
new ideas for the development of new binding instruments and recommendations.
