The Council of Europe and the Convention on the Future of Europe

Recommendation 1613 (2003)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 26 June 2003 (22th Sitting) (see Doc.9846, report of the Political Affairs Committee, rapporteur: Mr Pangalos; and Doc. 9849, opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, rapporteur: Mr Spindelegger; and Doc. 9850, opinion of the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, rapporteur: Mrs Err). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26 June 2003 (22th Sitting).

Thesaurus

1. The Parliamentary Assembly recalls its Resolution 1339 (2003) on the Council of Europe and the Convention on the Future of Europe.

2. The Assembly believes that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe should firmly promote accession by the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and, to that end, should commence negotiations as soon as possible with the relevant European Union bodies in order to draft the legal instruments permitting this accession.

3. The Assembly considers that it would be desirable to increase the European Union’s institutional presence in the Council of Europe, which would create closer links between the two institutions.

4. 4. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

4.1 promote vigorously the accession of the European Union to the ECHR and issue, as soon as possible, a clear invitation to the European Union to accede to the ECHR and its protocols, accompanied by an offer to negotiate with the competent bodies of the Union in order to draft the relevant legal instruments permitting such an accession;

4.2 in order to maintain the principle of Europe without dividing lines in the cultural field, take the necessary steps for the European Union to become party to the European Cultural Convention at an appropriate moment, such as the fiftieth anniversary of the convention in 2004, or at the next Council of Europe summit;

4.3 prepare as soon as possible a statutory resolution enabling the European Union to acquire association status with the Council of Europe;

4.4 adopt at its next meeting at ministerial level a declaration on the Council of Europe’s role in the building of Europe and transmit it to the Intergovernmental Conference.