Committee of Ministers

Comité des Ministres

Strasbourg, 6 November 1998                                                                                      Restricted

CM(98)187 Addendum 1

For consideration at the 650th meeting

of the Ministers’ Deputies

(24-26 November 1998, A level, item 4.1)

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

AGAINST RACISM AND INTOLERANCE

(ECRI)

__________

Document on the practical implementation

of ECRI’s intensified programme of activities

Introduction

1.                  At its 14th meeting (3-6 March 1998) ECRI adopted and transmitted to the Committee of Ministers proposals concerning the strengthening of its activities in the framework of the follow up to the Second Summit of Heads of State and Government of Council of Europe Member States.  The proposals are contained in Appendix I to document CRI (98) 19.

2.                  Beginning in 1999, ECRI proposes implementing a three-fold action plan to strengthen its activities:

-           country-by-country approach: development by ECRI of a follow-up (monitoring) process of its suggestions for combating racism and intolerance in the various member States and more in-depth analysis of specific issues in given countries;

-                      activities on general themes: development of policy recommendations and guidelines on general themes of particular importance to combating racism and intolerance, and operational activities on these subjects;

-                      ECRI and civil society:  communication of the anti-racist message of the Council of Europe to the general public and information and awareness-raising activities on questions related to combating racism and intolerance.

3.         This document contains practical proposals for the way in which ECRI will conduct its future work with regard to each of the three pillars in the action plan for intensifying ECRI’s activities, as described in Appendix I of CRI (98) 19.

                       

I.                   COUNTRY-BY-COUNTRY APPROACH

1)                  Summary of work envisaged

4.         Beginning in January 1999, ECRI will implement the second stage in its country-by-country (CBC) work.  This will combine the follow-up to proposals made in the CBC reports which have been transmitted to governments and made public, up-dating the specific information in these reports as well as their contents generally, together with a more in-depth analysis of issues of particular interest.

5.         The second stage will take place over four years and cover all member States of the Council of Europe, with the aim of producing a minimum of some ten individual CBC reports annually. In the case of the future accession of other States to the Council of Europe during this second stage, the timetable of country-by-country work will be adjusted as and when necessary in order to cover any new member States.

2)                  Working methods

a.                  CBC working groups

6.         ECRI will form 10 CBC working groups each comprising four members.  Each working group will be responsible for the analysis of questions relating to racism and intolerance in four member States of the Council of Europe and will have to present each year to ECRI’s plenary a draft preliminary CBC report.  The composition of the working groups and the countries they will cover can be found in the appendix.

b.                  Contact visits

7.         To obtain as detailed and complete a view as possible of the situation concerning racism and intolerance in a given country, a contact visit will in principle be organised for the relevant rapporteur, one or two members of the group concerned and possibly a member of the Bureau, accompanied by the Secretariat. The national member may also be involved.

8.         These contact visits will provide the occasion to meet officials in the various ministries and national administrations responsible for matters covered by ECRI’s mandate.  They will also provide the opportunity to meet on a confidential basis, among others, representatives of NGOs active in the field and various other relevant parties in the implementation of ECRI’s work.

c.                   National liaison officer

9.         The national liaison officer (NLO) who has been designated by each government and is based in the relevant country, will ensure continued dialogue between ECRI and the relevant national authorities.

10.       The NLO will be the recipient, for the government, of questions put forward by the CBC working group concerning the follow-up to suggestions contained in the first CBC report.

11.       The NLO will also be the national correspondent, on the part of the government, for the CBC working group and the Secretariat in the preparation and conduct of the contact visit to the country concerned.  The Permanent Representations of the countries in question will be kept informed of the contacts established with respective NLOs and will receive a copy of all correspondence sent to NLOs by the Secretariat.

12.       The NLO will be sent the draft confidential report on his/her country put together by ECRI and will be able to make brief observations on its contents.  If so desired, the NLO could request the inclusion, if need be, of those observations in a separate appendix to ECRI’s final report.

d.                  Adoption of reports

13.       Draft preliminary reports will be prepared by the rapporteurs and co-rapporteurs, aided by the Secretariat.  These will be submitted to ECRI in plenary session for discussion and finalisation.  They will then be sent on a confidential basis to the Permanent Representation and to the NLO of the country concerned (see point b, paragraph 10 above) before their final adoption.

14.       In accordance with ECRI’s country-by-country procedure, as adopted by the Ministers’ Deputies (598th meeting, 1-3 July 1997), ECRI’s country-by-country reports, once the final text is adopted in plenary, will be transmitted by ECRI to the government of the countries concerned through the Committee of Ministers.  The reports will be made public two months after their transmission to the government concerned, unless the government is expressly against this.

3)                  Schedule

15.       Given ECRI’s aim to cover the forty member States of the Council of Europe over a period of four years, ECRI’s CBC work will be conducted following the draft schedule below:

1999

            Belgium

            Bulgaria

            Czech Republic

            France

            Greece

            Hungary

            Norway

            Poland

            Slovakia

-           Switzerland

2000

            Austria

            Croatia

            Cyprus

            Denmark

            Germany

            Netherlands

            Russian Federation

            "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"

            Turkey

            United Kingdom

2001

            Albania

            Estonia

            Finland

            Ireland

            Italy

            Latvia

            Malta

            Portugal

            Romania

            Ukraine

2002

            Andorra

            Iceland

            Liechtenstein

            Lithuania

            Luxembourg

            Moldova

            San Marino

            Slovenia

            Spain

            Sweden

II.                ACTIVITIES ON GENERAL THEMES

-                      Summary of work envisaged

16.       ECRI will develop its work on policy recommendations and guidelines on those general themes which have a particular importance for combating racism and intolerance and will undertake operational activities on these subjects.

                        Themes such as the role of national specialised bodies in combating racism and intolerance; national surveys on the experience of victims of racism and discrimination; anti-Semitism; the problem of the dissemination of racist material via the Internet; the participation of NGOs in the fight against racism; good practices in combating racism and intolerance, among others, will be taken up by ECRI under this area of activity.

-                      Working methods

                        The following working methods will be used:

-                      Collection and dissemination of good practices: publication of at least two collections of good practices annually in accordance with a list of topics established by ECRI.

-                      Drafting new general policy recommendations.

-                      Organising workshops in member States on the implementation of ECRI’s general policy recommendations.

-                      Follow up to work on the broadening of the non-discrimination clause (Article 14) of the European Convention on Human Rights through participation of an ECRI member in the work being undertaken on this by DH-DEV and the CDDH.

-                      Thematic meetings and consultation sessions with NGOs active in combating racism and intolerance, and participation in events organised by NGOs.

III        ECRI and civil society

-                      Summary of work envisaged

-                      This area comprises activities aiming to communicate in the most efficient way possible to the general public the anti-racist message of the Council of Europe, to make better known ECRI’s work in appropriate circles at international, national and local levels, and to conduct information and awareness-raising activities related to combating racism and intolerance.

-                      Working methods

-                      The following working methods will be employed:

-                      Using the media to promote ECRI’s work in civil society.

-                      Organising information sessions in member States (in co-operation with national partners).

-                      Regular production of an information bulletin;  information for specific target-sectors;  using specialised address lists.

-                      Developing the web site “Combating racism and intolerance”.

-                      Information activities on ECRI’s activities oriented towards political circles (especially parliamentarians).

-                      ECRI will strengthen the relations it has already established with different bodies of the Council of Europe involved in the area of work it covers and will also pursue the most efficient co-operation feasible with all other international and European organisations active in the field of combating racism and intolerance.

APPENDIX

COMPOSITION OF CBC WORKING GROUPS

AND COUNTRIES COVERED

Group CBC 1

Composition

Mrs F. BIGI (San Marino)

Mr A.V. CIOBANU-DORDEA (Romania)

Mr N. FRANGAKIS (Greece)

Mr J. VOYAME (Switzerland)

Countries covered

            Poland

            Austria

            Finland

            Lithuania

Group CBC 2

Composition

Mr F. FERREIRA RAMOS (Portugal)

Mr J. LEMAN (Belgium)

Mr P. UNGARI (Italy)

Mrs M. VALDES-BOULOUQUE (France)

Countries covered

            Norway

            Cyprus

            Romania

            Luxembourg

Group CBC 3

Composition

Mr L. KOULICHEV (Bulgaria)

Mr Roger LINSTER (Luxembourg)

Ms P. QUILLACQ (Andorra)

Mr V. VOLCINSCHI (Moldova)

Countries covered

            Belgium

            Croatia

            Portugal

            Iceland

Group CBC 4

Composition

Mr P. DREFVELIN (Norway)

Mr J. KALTENBACH (Hungary)

Mrs R. MARJAŠA (Latvia)

Mrs Maja SERŠIĆ (Croatia)

Countries covered

            France

            Denmark

            Ukraine

            Liechtenstein

Group CBC 5

Composition

Mr H. BRUNHART (Liechtenstein)

Mr G. MUSCAT-AZZOPARDI (Malta)

Mrs A. PUHAR (Slovenia)

Mr W. MIJNSSEN (Netherlands)

Countries covered

            Bulgaria

            Turkey

            Ireland

            Spain

Group CBC 6

Composition

Mr T CALVO BUEZAS (Spain)

Mrs E. GORGIEVA ("the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia")

Mr G. KUT (Turkey)

Mr V. YARMOLENKO (Lithuania)

Countries covered

            Czech Republic

            Germany

            Italy

            Sweden

Group CBC 7

Composition

Mr R. KRPAĆ (Czech Republic)

Mr O SEMENENKO (Ukraine)

Mr A. SICINSKI (Poland)

Mrs E. SMITH-ASMUSSEN (Denmark)

Countries covered

            Switzerland

            United Kingdom

            Estonia

            Slovenia

Group CBC 8

Composition

Mrs A. SHEHU (Albania)

Mrs H. VOELSKOW-THIES (Germany))

Mr B. KRISTJÁNSSON (Iceland)

Mr A. VLADYCHENKO (Russian Federation)

Countries covered

            Hungary

            Netherlands

            Malta

            San Marino

Group CBC 9

Composition

Mrs M. CLERIDES-TSIAPPAS (Cyprus)

Mr S. KARNER (Austria)

Mrs A. LEPIK (Estonia)

Ms Helen LÖÖW (Sweden)

Countries covered

            Slovakia

            "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"

            Albania

            Andorra

Group CBC 10

Composition

Mr M. HEAD (United Kingdom)

Mrs K. LIEBKIND (Finland)

Mr R. LINSTER (Luxembourg)

Mr J. ŠVEC (Slovakia)

Countries covered

            Greece

            Russian Federation

            Latvia

            Moldova