Strasbourg, 25 September 2014

CDDECS-BU(2014)RAP 1

 

 

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR SOCIAL COHESION,

HUMAN DIGNITY AND EQUALITY

(CDDECS)

 

BUREAU

 

MEETING REPORT

1ST MEETING

 

4 June 2014

 

 

THE 1ST MEETING OF THE CDDECS BUREAU

(4 June 2014)

 

1. Introduction

1. The newly elected CDDECS Bureau held its 1st introductory meeting in Strasbourg, on 4 June 2014 in connection with the 1st meeting of the CDDECS with Ms Carlien SCHEELE (NL) as Chair. The list of participants appears in Appendix I.

 

2. The meeting had three objectives: to discuss and agree on the duties and working methods of the Bureau; to discuss the CDDECS’ “Draft Work Programme 2014-2015”; and to agree on the dates of the forthcoming Bureau and CDDECS meetings.

 

2. The Bureau and its working methods

 

Resources

3. The Bureau took noted that the budget for the mandate period of 2014-2015 will allow annually 2 plenary meetings of 3 days each and 3 bureau meetings, 2 days each.

 

Working methods

4. The Bureau discussed its possible working methods. The bureau agreed on the usefulness to hold the Bureau meetings in between the plenary meetings and on the importance to co-operate with CDDECS’ subordinate bodies. The drafting of the texts and documents should be entrusted to the secretariat or outside consultants/experts, and that the Bureau would be provided with the possibility to comment before transmitting documents to the plenary. It was agreed that for the sake of efficiency the Bureau uses electronic working methods between the meetings, as necessary.

 

5. The Bureau also exchanged views on working methods of the CDDECS. Suggestions included preparing collections of recommendations on various specific groups/issues, sharing good practices and experience, lessons learnt and peer review on various issues.

 

3. The draft Work Program 2014-2015 for CDDECS

 

Reorganisation of the Directorate

6. The Director of Human Dignity and Equality, Ms. RUOTANEN explained to the Bureau the recent changes in the secretariat structures leading to the creation of the Directorates in 1 January 2014, as well as the background for the setting up of the CDDECS by the Committee of Ministers. The one important factor for the reorganisation was to enhance synergies between the monitoring mechanisms in the fields of human dignity and non-discrimination and the Council of Europe in those areas.

 

7. The CDDECS was created to provide the 47 member states with a forum to address the issues of social cohesion, human dignity and anti-discrimination. Keeping this in mind, as well as the Terms of Reference, CDDECS should promote the implementation of the standards, aim at widening the scope of their application and organise round-table discussions on issues of relevance to the society without duplicating work of other bodies. It needs to set realistic, achievable and practical goals for its work so it can present tangible results by the end of 2015 when its present Terms of Reference come to an end. Also, the goals should be limited to areas where the Council of Europe has an added value to work in, where it can make a difference, and where  other entities were  not directly involved in to avoid duplication

 

Draft Work program

8. The Bureau examined the draft work programme 2014-2015, prepared by the secretariat based on the panel discussions earlier in the day. As the Human Rights Commissioner of the CoE stated at the opening of the CDDECS meeting the main goal of the CDDECS work should be to increase the coherence of the societies. This, he listed, is made of three entities: equality and non-discrimination, participation and representation, and intercultural contact, co-operation and competencies. The Secretariat had reflected this in the draft Work Programme that it had prepared for the Bureau.

 

9. It was noted that the draft did not reflect enough the issues related to social cohesion. Also other socially relevant issues, such as austerity measures and their effects were considered in need of more visibility on the agenda. Work on stereotypes was considered important. Peer review, data collection and other technical solutions to give instruments and their monitoring more visibility were discussed. The short time available until the end of the mandate was also taken into consideration, although a wide scope of things was in general wanted for the work programme, according to the wide mandate of the CDDECS.

 

10. The Bureau instructed the secretariat to further work on the draft to reflect the discussions and the Terms of Reference more closely. It was agreed that the draft work program is sent in the evening to the Chair of the CDDECS for comments, before distribution in the plenary the following day, 5 June.

 

11. Following time line was agreed: after the plenary discussions the secretariat will edit the draft and send it latest on 16 June 2014 to CDDECs members for written comments, deadline on 30 June 2014. After finalising the text the secretariat will send the document by 15 July 2014 to the members, with ad referendum deadline on 5 September 2014.

 

4. The calendar of meetings

 

Bureau meetings

12. The Bureau decided to hold its next meeting on 25 - 26 September 2014 in Paris.

 

Plenary meetings

13. The Bureau decided that the CDDECS meeting should be held on 18-20 November 2014.

Appendix I