11/09/2009 Political Affairs and Democracy
We must resist attempts to exploit problems in fields governed by our fundamental principles and values or to relativise them according to their political expediency, and show political courage in criticising actions that are incompatible with the Council of Europe’s principles and values. This was the conclusion of the Political Affairs Committee in the draft resolution it adopted in Paris on the basis of the report by Jean-Claude Mignon (France, EPPE/CD), which will be debated in plenary on Thursday 1 October. Other challenges facing the organisation, and to which the report endeavours to respond, are the low level of participation by foreign affairs ministers in the Committee of Ministers sessions, the zero-growth of the Council of Europe’s budget, the reluctance to sign and ratify the organisation’s legal instruments and the attempts to downplay the importance of independent monitoring mechanisms.