27/04/2010 Session
Reforming the Council of Europe would make it ''more politically relevant and influential,'' Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has declared. The organisation would focus ''on what we can do best, in areas where we can make a real impact'' he told the Parliamentary Assembly on 27 April.
The Secretary General urged greater coordination and cooperation on all parts of the Organisation as vital to ensuring that new dividing lines in Europe did not emerge. A failure to reform could impede the''main goal'' of the European Union’s accession to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. This could lead to the development of separate case law and standards in Europe.