Ministers' Deputies
CM Documents

CM/AS(2001)Rec1394 10 September 2001
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750 Meeting, 18 & 23 April 2001
1 General questions

1.7 “Europe, a continental project”
Reply to Recommendation 1394 (1999) of the Parliamentary Assembly

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At their 750^th meeting (18 & 23 April 2001), the Deputies adopted the following reply to Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1394 (1999) on “Europe, a continental project”:

 

“1.       The Committee of Ministers took note with great interest of Recommendation 1394 on “Europe: a continental design”.  It noted that the Recommendation was adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly on 26 January 1999 after a keynote debate on the theme “A project for Greater Europe” which – in addition to Recommendation 1394 – led to the adoption of Opinion no.208 (“Building Greater Europe without dividing lines” – Report of the Committee of Wise Persons) and Resolutions 1177 (on “Building Greater Europe without dividing lines” – Report of the Committee of Wise Persons) and 1178 (on a “European political project”).

 

2.         When examining Recommendation 1394, the Committee of Ministers bore in mind all of the aforementioned texts as well as the three reports which were presented to the Assembly on this occasion.  It noted that the import of these texts reflected the ambition and commitment of the Parliamentary Assembly in respect of European construction in general and the Council of Europe in particular.  The Committee of Ministers shares this ambition and commitment.  It is aware, like the Assembly, that the rediscovered unity of the continent can only be sustained and developed if it is incorporated into a coherent political project in which the efforts of various organisations working in Europe are mutually strengthened in the pursuit of the objectives of European construction as a whole.

 

3.         The Committee of Ministers bore in mind the proposals made by the Assembly in Recommendation 1394 in the context of the discussion it held on the redefinition of the Council of Europe's priorities and the reform of its organisation.  This discussion, which followed up on the Strasbourg Summit and took place in the framework of the 50^th anniversary of the Council of Europe, led inter alia:

 

- to the redefinition of the Council of Europe's political priorities in the “Budapest Declaration – For a Greater Europe without dividing lines” (7 May 1999), which follows in the same lines as the Final Declarations of the Vienna Summit (8-9 October 1993) and the Strasbourg Summit (10-11 October 1997);

 

- to the adoption, at the same session of the Committee of Ministers in Budapest, of a strategic plan for the Organisation;

 

- to the implementation, following the adoption of the final report of the Committee of Wise Persons, of a structural reform process for the Council of Europe, which was launched in May 1999 and has been going on since then (the Assembly being regularly informed, by the Secretary General and/or the Committee of Ministers, of the developments taking place).

 

4.         Furthermore, the Committee of Ministers gave particular consideration to the proposals specifically directed to it in paragraph 11 of Recommendation 1394, in the context of two ad hoc working parties established to examine the follow-up to be given to the Committee of Wise Persons' Final Report (GT-SAGES) and the proposals for institutional reform submitted by the Italian chair (GT-REF.INST). To date, these discussions have resulted in the following conclusions:

 

i. The Committee of Ministers fully shares the Parliamentary Assembly's view that the Council of Europe's role should not be reduced to that of an antechamber of the European Union. Indeed, the governments of the member States clearly affirmed in the Vienna Summit Declaration (and reaffirmed in the Budapest Declaration) the Council of Europe's role as “the pre-eminent political institution capable of bringing together, on an equal footing and in permanent structures, all the countries of Greater Europe”. However, the Committee of Ministers is unable to go as far as stating that the Council can be considered as “a forum capable of meeting the global challenges of the third millennium”: it points out that, under the terms of its Statute, the Council of Europe's aim is to achieve unity of the European continent on the basis of values shared by its member States, and that its principal means of action to this end remains intergovernmental co-operation. Moreover, the Committee of Ministers wishes to reaffirm the major importance it attaches to the complementary functions and co-ordination of efforts between the Council of Europe and its main partners in the European context (particularly the European Union and the OSCE) or in a wider context (the UN and its specialised agencies);

 

ii. the Committee of Ministers took note with great interest of the Parliamentary Assembly's proposal to “foster the idea of a third summit of heads of state” and the reasoning behind it. It examined this part of Recommendation 1394 in the context of the Italian Chair's proposal to organise a Third Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe in 2002, and agreed with the Assembly that such a Summit, should it be held, should take account of the basic historical fact represented by the short- and medium-term enlargement of the European Union, together with its consequences for the European political project in general and for the Council of Europe in particular. The idea of strengthening political dialogue within the Council of Europe, particularly between member states and non-member states of the European Union, was also favourably received; however, the proposal to draft a European institutional charter based on the Council of Europe's basic texts, in co-operation with the European Union, was not supported. Bearing in mind its preliminary views on possible items on the agenda of a potential future Summit, the Committee of Ministers emphasised the importance of the Vienna and Strasbourg Summits for the Council of Europe, and took the view that the decision to organise another such meeting at the highest political level should not be subject to an institutional rationale. Such a decision should be taken if the European political situation and the Council of Europe's potential role in it led to the conclusion that a Third Summit would be, if not the sole, then at least the best way to achieve a clearly defined political objective;

 

iii.       without going as far as wishing “to make the Council of Europe a think-tank for a continent seeking a social model based on a European institutional charter”, the Committee of Ministers shares to a large extent the views expressed by the Assembly in this sub-paragraph, particularly as concerns the need to promote increased participation by local and regional authorities, NGOs and civil society in European co-operation. It was in this spirit that the Committee of Ministers adopted, on 15 March 2000, Statutory Resolution (2000)1 on the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, which paves the way for increased involvement by those political representatives who are closest to citizens in the co-operation structures set up within the Council of Europe. With regard to the emphasis placed by the Parliamentary Assembly on “the quality of life, the introduction of a right to a healthy environment and of a code of conduct for businesses and the adoption of a global strategy for European spatial development”, the Committee of Ministers shares these concerns but can only support Council of Europe action in this respect within the limits of the Council's sphere of competence and actual capabilities, and bearing in mind the priorities already identified;

 

iv.        with regard to the Assembly's proposal to prepare an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights on the subject of social rights, the Committee of Ministers examined this point with particular attention. It refers the Assembly to the joint reply that it adopted on 18 April 2001 to Recommendations 1354 (1999) on the future of the European Social Charter and 1415 (1999) on an Additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights concerning fundamental social rights;

 

v.         the Committee of Ministers bore in mind the Parliamentary Assembly's proposals on Council of Europe reforms and the enhancement of its resources during the discussions leading to the decisions adopted in Budapest and during the implementation phase of the process of reforming the Council of Europe's structures. It reminds the Parliamentary Assembly of the replies given, within the framework of the work conducted by GT‑SAGES, to the proposals concerning budgetary autonomy for the Parliamentary Assembly and use of the majority voting system within the Committee of Ministers[1]. It also points out that the Secretary General already enjoys considerable powers to act on his own initiative when urgent situations arise that threaten compliance with the values defended by the Council of Europe, particularly with regard to the European Convention of Human Rights and the Committee of Ministers Declaration on compliance with commitments accepted by member States, and that other bodies of the Organisation – in particular the Commissioner for Human Rights – have also shown, in the recent period, their capacity to act in such situations. Furthermore, it underlines that the Parliamentary Assembly – in its own right, or via certain of its members – has demonstrated the importance of its political influence and capability in the favourable outcome of recent cases concerning the monitoring of decisions taken by the European Convention of Human Rights' supervision bodies. Finally, the Committee of Ministers fully addressed the Assembly's wish to develop “a spirit of openness and democratic transparency at all levels of the Organisation” by identifying (in Resolution (2000)2 of 11 April 2000) and implementing, through its Rapporteur on information policy and in co-operation with the Parliamentary Assembly, the European Court of Human Rights and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, a new information strategy for the Council of Europe, based on the principles of transparency, a decentralised approach and maximum use of the potential of the new information technologies.”