13/12/2012 Political Affairs and Democracy
Strasbourg, 13.12.2012 – The human rights and democratic values at the heart of the European project represent “supra-national” common interests which all states must respect, PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon has said, opening a major conference today in Turin on human rights and foreign policy.
The conference, organised by PACE in co-operation with the Italian Senate’s Human Rights Committee and the Italian Chamber of Deputies, brings together over 100 participants.
Mr Mignon said that it was necessary to find synergies between European institutions specialising in human rights in order to promote these values on the international scene. Close co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Union, in particular, would be necessary, he said.
In this context, the President also held a first meeting with Stavros Lambrinidis, the EU’s Special Representative for Human Rights.