10/11/2026 Monitoring
Human rights and democracy monitors from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), ending a three-day visit to the Netherlands, have hailed the “clear willingness of all the stakeholders they met to co-operate with the Council of Europe to further entrench the rule of law, human rights and democratic institutions, and to implement the few legislative and administrative adjustments necessary to this end”.
A “periodic review” aims to assess how far a country meets its Council of Europe obligations and commitments, and applies in turn to all member states that are not already under a full monitoring procedure or engaged in post-monitoring dialogue.
PACE monitoring co-rapporteurs Titus Corlatean (Romania, SOC) and Petri Honkonen (Finland, ALDE) visited The Hague from 2 to 4 November 2026, when they met with a wide range of political leaders as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps, the judiciary, the civil service and civil society.
Discussions focused on the de jure and de facto independence of the judiciary; safeguards for the integrity of parliamentarians and those holding senior executive positions; the regulation and oversight of the funding of political parties and election campaigns; the fight against discrimination, racism and anti-Semitism, as well as against the spread of hate speech – particularly online – directed at political leaders and against ethnic, religious and sexual minorities; and pluralism in traditional and online media.
Particular attention was paid to legislative initiatives currently being drafted or under parliamentary scrutiny, aimed at addressing the recommendations of the Venice Commission, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The final “periodic review” report is due to be discussed by the plenary Assembly in April next year.