Information Documents
SG/Com(2019)1338                                                              27 February 2019[1]

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Dialogue with the Secretary General

and the Deputy Secretary General

at the 1338th meeting of the

Ministers’ Deputies (27 February 2019)

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Dialogue with the Secretary General

1.          Events outside Strasbourg

Working visit to Stockholm (Sweden), 21 February

-       Mr Stefan Löfven, Prime Minister

-       Ms Margot Wallström, Minister for Foreign Affairs

Working Visit to Helsinki (Finland), 26 February

-       High Level Conference: Governing the Game Changer – Impacts of artificial intelligence development on human rights, democracy and the rule of law

-       Mr Timo Soini, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers

Dialogue with the Deputy Secretary General

1.         Meetings in Strasbourg

Meeting with Ms Yoko Hayashi, 6 February

Three weeks ago, I welcomed the initiative of the Consulate General of Japan, Permanent Observer to the Council of Europe to organise, in close co-operation with the Council of Europe, a series of international human rights law lectures by Japanese scholars and experts. On the occasion of her lecture on “Gender based violence against women: Japanese judicial decisions and international human rights law”, I met with Ms Yoko Hayashi, former member of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

We discussed different avenues as to how the Council of Europe and Japan could bring the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (“Istanbul Convention”) to the Asian platforms and the role the Asian Pacific Forum could play to this effect.

Mr Moez Chakchouk, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, UNESCO, 7 February

On 7 February I met with Mr Moez Chakchouk, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information of UNESCO, prior to his participation in the Committee of Ministers’ annual exchange of views on the United Nations (human rights questions) with experts from capitals. We reviewed the range of areas of
co-operation between the Council of Europe and UNESCO, notably education, culture, heritage, the fight against terrorism, youth, sport, bioethics, media/internet and the fight against discrimination. Artificial intelligence was discussed more extensively, in particular the need for further co-operation taking into account the specificities and added value of each of our organisations. Mr Chakchouk had additional consultations with DGI and DGII on the same day.

Rencontre avec M. Alain Lamassoure, Député, Parlement Européen, 8 février

Le 8 février, j’ai rencontré M. Alain Lamassoure, membre du Parlement européen et ancien ministre, qui a été chargé par le Premier Ministre français Édouard Philippe de préparer une étude de faisabilité d’un observatoire européen de l'enseignement de l'histoire dans les États membres du Conseil de l’Europe. Le Premier Ministre a demandé à M. Lamassoure d’effectuer cette tâche dans le cadre de la préparation de la future présidence française du Comité des Ministres et de lui présenter son rapport d’ici à la fin du mois d’avril de cette année.

Le mandat confié à M. Lamassoure par le Premier Ministre reflète clairement la reconnaissance de l’importance cruciale de l’enseignement de l’histoire et de l’éducation à la culture démocratique. La connaissance de l’histoire est essentielle pour la compréhension de la démocratie et des droits de l’homme, et plus particulièrement de l’importance des institutions créées pour les promouvoir et les défendre. Sans contexte historique, nos citoyens ne peuvent pas comprendre pourquoi la démocratie et les droits de l’homme sont fondamentaux et ce qui se passe lorsqu’il n’y a plus de démocratie et plus de droits de l’homme. Dans cette perspective, j’ai salué chaleureusement l’initiative et la mission de M. Lamassoure. Compte tenu de l’importance cruciale de l’enseignement de l’histoire ainsi que des activités qui y sont étroitement liées sur la mémoire de l’Holocauste pour la mission du Conseil de l’Europe, le Comité directeur pour les politiques et pratiques éducatives (CDPPE) a entamé une réflexion sur la manière de relancer et revitaliser ce travail en dépit, ou peut-être à cause, des enjeux difficiles auxquels sont confrontés le Conseil de l’Europe et nos institutions de défense des droits de l’homme et de la démocratie. Il a donc été suggéré que M. Lamassoure assiste à la prochaine réunion du CDPPE en mars et tienne un échange de vues à ce propos. Je suis certaine que la Représentation permanente française nous tiendra informés des progrès et des résultats de la mission de M. Lamassoure, notamment de tout événement qu’elle pourrait envisager d’organiser pendant sa future présidence.

Meeting with the newly elected President and the Secretary General of the European Youth Forum, 12 February

On 12 February, I met with Ms Carina Autengruber, newly elected President of the European Youth Forum and Ms Anna Widegren, its Secretary General. The European Youth Forum is the biggest platform for youth organisations in Europe, representing more than 50 million young Europeans, and a long-standing partner of the Council of Europe. Its General Assembly elects 20 of the 30 members of the Advisory Council on Youth, young people directly involved in the work of our Organisation.

We had a lively exchange on the importance of the Council of Europe for young people, during which the delegation underlined the relevance of our youth sector’s instruments, notably the European Youth Foundation and the European Youth Centres. The Youth Forum’s President praised our unique system of
co-management through which young people get direct access to the Organisation, its values, institutions and activities.

I was informed of the results of a study carried out by the European Youth Forum on ‘The shrinking space for civil society and its impacts on young people and their organisations’. This study gives reasons for concern. Open civic spaces serve as unique starting points for young individuals from diverse backgrounds to fully participate in public life.

The commitment of the young people I met reminded me once again that many young people’s apprenticeship of democracy and human rights starts with the Council of Europe, in our youth sector, as well as through youth participation in the work of the Congress, the Parliamentary Assembly and in the INGO Conference. 

In reply to their question on budgetary cuts, I reassured the representatives of the European Youth Forum that, even in the current difficult financial situation, the Council of Europe will remain key in involving young people in the spreading of human rights and democratic values.

Meeting with Professor Timothy Snyder, Professor of History at Yale University, 21 February

I was happy to meet Professor Snyder in my office after his contribution to our latest Democratic Security Debate.  Our conversation included a discussion of the importance of holocaust memory and teaching, a subject on which the Professor is a published expert and our Organisation is experienced.  Professor Snyder stressed that people must be taught why the holocaust happened, and expressed his view that those causes are once again close at hand in modern Europe.

We also discussed the importance of history teaching more generally.  Professor Snyder suggested that history is often too focused on a specific national narrative and that the absence of a sense of common history in Europe is a problem.  He also pointed out that after 70 years, European institutions like ours need to tell their story, relating it to the present and projecting it into the future. I suggested that we may wish to consult him on the Organisation’s future work on history teaching.

Finally, we discussed some of the root causes of modern populism, including diminishing incomes and inequality.

2.         Events in Strasbourg

ODGP Open Day, 8 February

On Friday 8 February, I opened the fourth Open Day of the Office of the Directorate General of Programmes (ODGP). I was pleased to see that a large number of representatives of delegations, including many of you, as well as staff, took part in the event.

Let me underline that your active participation in the work of our Organisation and your efforts in your capitals have greatly contributed so that in 2018, a total of €58 million of contributions were received, of which more than 29 million came from the EU and around 27 million from member and observer states.  Voluntary financial support has more than doubled since the Secretary General’s focus on co-ordination and coherent implementation within the Organisation and the creation of ODGP in 2011.

As usual, the Open Day provided an informal and lively opportunity to get more familiar with the way in which the Council of Europe co-ordinates its co-operation and technical assistance, and how OGDP puts this into practice. In my speech,
I highlighted facts and figures, results and perspectives. It is available on my website.

2.    Events outside Strasbourg

Celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Bucharest Cybercrime Programme
(C-PROC) Office and Opening of the Conference on Criminal Justice in Cyberspace, Bucharest (Romania), 25-26 February

On Tuesday 26 February I participated in the Conference on Criminal Justice in Cyberspace organised in Bucharest by the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in co-operation with the Council of Europe. The Romanian Minister of Justice also participated, along with representatives and cybercrime experts from Parties to the Budapest Convention, EU member states and institutions, Eastern Partnership countries and service providers from the private sector.

The primary aim of this Conference was to add impetus to specific solutions currently being developed by the Council of Europe and the European Union, that is, a second Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime by the Council of Europe, and a Regulation and Directive on electronic evidence by the European Union. I underlined that both initiatives need to be well co-ordinated and that the future Protocol to the Budapest Convention needs to benefit and work for all (currently 62) Parties to this treaty. On the evening before the Conference, I took part in a ceremony to mark the fifth anniversary of our Cybercrime Programme Office in Bucharest (C-PROC). During these five years, the Office supported more than 600 activities in all regions of the world, involving more than 120 countries. All projects managed by this Office are co-funded by the EU and other Parties to the Budapest Convention. I thanked them all for this fruitful co-operation, with a particular mention of Romania which was at the origin of the Office.

In the sidelines of the Conference I had a bilateral meeting with the Romanian Minister of Justice, Mr Tudorel Toader, both in his national and EU Council Chairmanship capacity. Besides cybercrime matters, we discussed: the judiciary in the light of Venice Commission opinions and GRECO recommendations; the penitentiary in the light of ECtHR judgments (including the issue of remedies for inadequate conditions of detention) and co-operation with the CPT; the Istanbul and Macolin Conventions; and the question of the legal representation for persons with mental disabilities (execution of ECtHR judgment).

3.    Signatures and Ratifications

Montenegro ratified the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs (CETS No. 216), 5 February.

Turkey ratified the European Convention for the Protection of Animals during International Transport (Revised) (ETS No. 193), 7 February.

The United Kingdom signed the Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production (revised) (CETS No. 220), 7 February.

The Netherlands accepted Protocol No. 16 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (CETS No. 214), 12 February.

Argentina acceded to the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (ETS No. 108) and to the Protocol amending the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (CETS No. 223), 25 February.