06/09/2011 Political Affairs and Democracy
Strasbourg, 06.09.2011 - In a debate today in Caserta, Italy, on the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on the Council of Europe, based on a report by Kerstin Lundgren (Sweden, ALDE), the Political Affairs Committee argued that the partnership between the EU and the Council of Europe should lead to a common space for human rights protection across the continent in the interest of all European people.
In a draft resolution and recommendation also adopted today, the committee calls on the Committee of Ministers to strengthen the Council of Europe's role as "the benchmark for human rights, rule of law and democracy in Europe" and to ensure that this role is fully recognised by all EU institutions.
The Council of Europe should also emphasise its advisory role and expertise in the context of the EU's neighbourhood policies, particularly with countries that are full Council of Europe member states or belong to its neighbourhood. Members particularly made the point that recent events throughout the Southern Mediterranean have created new opportunities for co-operation between the two organisations.
The Political Affairs Committee asks all European parliaments and governments to take the necessary measures to ensure the rapid conclusion of the Accession Agreement of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and to facilitate EU accession to other key Council of Europe conventions, monitoring mechanisms and bodies to ensure consistency of standards and of the monitoring of their implementation by the member states.
Moreover, PACE wants improved co-operation with the European Parliament, which has become co-legislator, together with the EU Council, in a number of key policy areas falling within the Council of Europe’s remit. PACE can also contribute to the effective strengthening of relations between the European Parliament and the national parliaments of EU member states, as a body bringing together members of all these parliaments.
Finally, notes Ms Lundgren, "the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the on-going reshaping of the European architecture give fresh topicality to the perspective of EU accession to the Council of Europe Statute, already recommended in 2006 by the Juncker report on Council of Europe - European Union: ‘A sole ambition for the European continent’. The time is now ripe, she concludes, to give serious consideration to this prospect.
The report will be considered by PACE at its October part-session in Strasbourg.