Ministers' Deputies
CM Documents



685 Meeting, 20 [- 21] October 1999
2 Political questions

2.3 Relations between the Council of Europe and the European Union
a. Report by the Secretary General for the period January-July 1999

CM(99)139 28 September 1999

1. In pursuance of paragraph 7 of Resolution (89) 40, adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 5 May 1989, the Secretary General submits to the Committee of Ministers an annual report on the implementation of the Arrangement reached by means of an exchange of letters on 16 June 1987 between the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the President of the European Commission. In response to the wish expressed by the Ministers’ Deputies at their 432^nd meeting, the Secretariat undertook to provide more frequent information on developments in the relations with the Community. The report for 1999 will therefore be presented in two parts with this one covering the first seven months. The last five months of 1998 were dealt with in the previous report (CM(99)32).

The present report is divided into six sections. The first section contains a few observations on some of the major developments in the Council of Europe and the European Union, which have a direct bearing on the relations between the two institutions. The following sections describe in greater detail the more technical aspects of the relations between the Council and the European Union. Relations between the Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament will be dealt with in section C and relations between the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the EU institutions in section D of the report.

3. The Political Declaration of the Committee of Ministers of 5 May 1989 and the 1987 Arrangement between the Council of Europe and the European Community still remain the basis and the framework for the development of the extensive cooperation which takes place on a day-to-day basis between the two institutions. Following the conclusion of the supplementary exchange of letters of 5 November 1996 between the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the President of the European Commission, the Ministers’ Deputies fixed in December 1996 the modalities for the practical implementation of this exchange of letters. The Commission has subsequently participated in the meetings of the Ministers’ Deputies and in all subsidiary groups in which it has an interest on the basis of communication of relevant agendas.

4. In its report on "Building Greater Europe without dividing lines", presented on 4 November 1998 to the Committee of Ministers, the Committee of Wise Persons submitted the proposal to conclude a framework agreement between the European Community and the Council of Europe in order to ensure appropriate management of the existing cooperation and to increase effectiveness in the formulation and implementation of new joint projects. The Ministers’ Deputies are at present considering the implementation of this recommendation (see further under para. 14 below).

5. Mr A. Viñas, the senior official responsible for relations with the Council of Europe, represented the Commission at the 104^th session of the Committee of Ministers on 7 May 1999 in Budapest. He also represented Mr. H. van den Broek, prevented at the last moment from attending, at the official ceremony on 6 May marking the 50^th Anniversary of the Council of Europe and made a statement in his name. On behalf of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Mr. G. Verheugen, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, also made a statement. In the Budapest Declaration "For a Greater Europe without dividing lines", adopted by the Committee of Ministers, Ministers agreed to continue their shared commitment to democracy and the rule of law by developing the existing partnership between the Council of Europe and other organisations, in particular the European Union and the OSCE.

6. On the occasion of the 50^th Anniversary, the Presidency issued a declaration on 5 May 1999 on behalf of the European Union. The text of this declaration is reproduced in Appendix I to this report.

7. On 6 May 1999, in Budapest, Mr. Viñas also took part in a meeting with the Chairman of the Ministers' Deputies and the Chairman of the Rapporteur Group on Relations with the European Union (GR-EU) and senior Secretariat officials to discuss relations between the Council of Europe and the European Commission and the prospects for further cooperation.

8. The practice of Quadripartite meetings between the Council of Europe and the European Community was established by the Political Declaration of 5 May 1989 and the decision of the Council of the European Communities on 20 March 1989. The 13^th European Union / Council of Europe Quadripartite meeting was held in Strasbourg on 10 February 1999 at the invitation of Presidency of the Council of Europe side, by Ambassador J. Perenyi, representing Mr J. Martonyi, Mr. D. Tarschys, Secretary General, and on the European Union side by Mr. G. Verheugen, President of the Council of the European Union, Minister of State, German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mr. H. van den Broek, member of the European Commission. The agenda included:

1. Exchange of views on topical questions:

- Work Programme of the Presidency of the Council of the EU on Human Rights

- 50^th Anniversary of the Council of Europe

- Implementation of the Action Plan adopted by the Council of Europe Summit in the light of the Report of the Wise Persons

- Relations between the European Community and the Council of Europe Social Development Fund

- Doping in Sports.

2. Exchange of information on the situation in the following countries:

- Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/Kosovo

- Bosnia and Herzegovina

- Croatia

- Albania

- Moldova.

9. The press communiqué approved by the participants appears in Appendix II; the follow-up to the Quadripartite meeting was discussed at the Deputies' February meeting.

10. The Rapporteur Group on relations between the Council of Europe and the European Union (GR-EU), set up by the Ministers’ Deputies, met on four occasions during the period in order to prepare the Deputies’ discussions on matters relating to the EU, notably the Quadripartite meeting. The Chairman of GR-EU, Mr S. Lundbo, Permanent Representative of Norway also attended, as in the past, the Quadripartite meeting on 10 February 1999.

11. Senior officials from the Council of Europe and the Commission held a number of meetings during the period. Such meetings dealt with specific areas (e.g. legal affairs, social affairs, youth and education) and will be referred to below under the fields concerned.

12. On various occasions the two senior officials designated to oversee cooperation under the 1987 Arrangement, i.e. the Director of Political Affairs for the Council of Europe and Mr. A. Viñas for the Commission, met in Strasbourg or Brussels. In particular they discussed the follow-up to the Summit as well as joint programmes between the Council of Europe and the Commission and ways and means to develop cooperation in a spirit of genuine partnership. Particular reference should be made to a meeting in Brussels on 18 March 1999 with the participation of a number of senior officials from both sides.

13. As in the past, the Council of Europe Secretariat has been invited to a number of meetings organised by the European Union. In particular, the Commission has invited the Secretariat to meetings on media questions, social affairs, education and training, equality and legal affairs. Details are set out in the second part of this report. For its part, the Commission has sent officials to attend numerous meetings of Council of Europe steering committees, committees of experts and conferences. In this way information has been given to the bodies concerned and to the Secretariat on work in progress in the Community in the areas concerned. In some cases the Commission has also presented written reports on relevant Community activities. This has been supplemented by a steady two-way flow of information and documentation either directly or through the Liaison Office in Brussels. The Brussels Office has also represented the Secretariat at a large number of meetings and maintained day-to-day contacts with a wide range of departments in the Commission and other European Union institutions.

14. As the drafting of this bi-annual report coincided with his taking office, the Secretary General underlines his intention to increase cooperation with the European Union, in many ways the Council of Europe’s natural partner. He recalls that relations between the Council of Europe and the European Union is one of the subjects examined in the follow-up to the Second Council of Europe Summit. The European Union side confirmed at the 12^th Quadripartite meeting on 7 October 1998 their willingness to contribute to the implementation of the Action Plan adopted by the Summit. The Committee of Wise Persons put forward a number of proposals concerning these relations in their final report, which was submitted to the Committee of Ministers in November 1998. In particular they proposed the conclusion of the framework agreement with the European Commission. At the 13^th Quadripartite meeting on 10 February 1999 the Council of Europe side pointed out that closer cooperation could be achieved through such a framework agreement or by a more informal approach, for example by a declaration by the parties concerned. The EU representatives declared their willingness to examine the Council of Europe's suggestions. Discussions between the Secretariat and the European Commission continued on the basis of a draft text drawn up by the Secretariat but were suspended as a result of the resignation of the European Commission. The Secretary General hopes that these discussions shall quickly be resumed once the new Commission has taken office.

15. The Quadripartite meeting on 10 February 1999 also provided yet another opportunity to take stock of the joint programmes for cooperation with regard to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the prospects of new joint programmes. The communiqué on the meeting included a list of joint programmes decided on recently or under consideration. The present report sets out further details in chapter A.II. below and in Appendix III.

16. The Secretary General welcomes that the Council of Europe Secretariat has continued to be invited, on an ad hoc basis, to a limited number of meetings of the relevant Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Working Groups of the Council of the European Union dealing with matters of common concern. In particular, the Secretariat has taken part in discussions relating to Albania and to the situation in Kosovo and in South-Eastern Europe. This practice could no doubt be extended to the mutual benefit of both sides.

17. The Secretary General expresses once more his particular satisfaction with the contacts which have been established with regard to matters covered by Title VI of the Treaty on European Union (cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs) in addition to cooperation with the European Commission. A fifth meeting was held on 17 May 1999 with representatives of the Troika (i.e. now the current Presidency, the next Presidency and the EU Council Secretariat) of the competent Committees in the EU Council. After the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, the so-called K 4 Committee has ceased to exist (although many of the functions have been taken over by the new Art. 36 Committee). The previous four meetings were held with representatives of the K 4 Committee. These meetings have demonstrated the interface between activities and instruments of the Council of Europe and the efforts of preparing the associated countries for their accession to the European Union. It may be recalled in this context that the mechanism for collective evaluation of the enactment and implementation by the applicant countries of the EU acquis in the field of justice and home affairs, adopted by the EU Council on 29 June 1998, indicates that the evaluation will be based on information provided by member States, the Commission and the Council of Europe.

18. The practice of an informal dialogue with the competent committees of the Council of the European Union in the fields of education and culture is now firmly established. This indicates that both sides find such meetings to be in their mutual interest. They can undoubtedly serve as a model for further meetings in other areas. Thus it would be helpful if similar procedures were applied e.g. to youth questions. In this connection the Secretary General is happy to note the progress recently made in relations with the Commission in the youth field. He also emphasises the importance of pursuing the cooperation in the sports field (see further under para. 89 below) particularly as regards doping.

As regards the fight against racism and xenophobia, it is recalled that the Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia in Vienna, set up by the European Union, began its operation in January 1998 with the participation of the representative appointed by the Council of Europe to the Management Board. The text of the formal Agreement between the Council of Europe and the European Community concerning cooperation with the Centre was referred by the EU Council to the European Parliament for an opinion, which it rendered in November 1998. The Council approved the text on 21 December 1998. Following approval also by the Committee of Ministers in January 1999, the text was signed on 10 February 1999. This was the first time a formal agreement based on Art. 228 of the EC Treaty has been concluded between the Council of Europe and the European Community.

20. At the Quadripartite meeting on 10 February 1999 there was a discussion concerning an initiative announced by the German Presidency on the drawing up of a Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This initiative resulted in a decision adopted by the European Council in Cologne on 3-4 June 1999. The modalities for drawing up such a Charter are still being examined by the Council of the European Union. In view of the central role played by the European Convention on Human Rights in this area, the Secretary General stresses the interest of the Council of Europe being associated in an appropriate manner with the preparation of such a Charter. He will raise the matter at the Quadripartite meeting on 6 October 1999.

21. Finally it may be once again observed that, in pursuance of the supplementing exchange of letters of 5 November 1996, the Commission has endeavoured to be present at a large number of the meetings of the Ministers’ Deputies and its relevant subsidiary bodies. In the absence of a permanent presence of the Commission in Strasbourg, the latter, however, seems to experience some difficulties in sending officials from Brussels to participate in all such meetings where participation would have been helpful.

II. Joint Programmes (see table in Appendix III)

22. On 6 October 1998 the Secretary General of the Council of Europe signed a covenant for joint priority activities with the European Commission for Albania for an amount of 280,000 € to be financed by the European Commission. This signature was followed in January 1999 with the signature by the Council of Europe and the European Commission of an additional Covenant on a third Joint Programme for Albania. Under this contract, the European Commission will contribute 1,000.000 € out of the total estimated cost of 1,348,000 €. With this signature the Joint Programme cooperation for Albania, advancing legal system reform and human rights, continues on a very ambitious scale over the next two years.

23. Implementation of a second Joint Programme to strengthen the federal structure, introduce human rights protection mechanisms and legal system reform in the Russian Federation, operational since February 1997, continued in all the areas throughout the present reporting period. At the end of 1998 the Programme was extended by an addendum to the covenant till end of December 1999. The Programme’s total cost is 2,551,000 € of which the Commission is contributing up to a maximum of 1,182,000 €. A covenant concerning the 3^rd Programme has been signed in December 1998. This contract will remain valid till the end of June 2000. The total estimated cost of the Programme is 2,454,790 €, of which the Commission would contribute 1,250,300 €. A Steering Committee meeting to define the future priority areas and to adjust the currently running Programmes to the present needs was held in Moscow in July 1999.

24. Implementation of the Joint Programme between the European Commission and the Council of Europe for Ukraine continued in all areas in the first half of 1999. The two Covenants, under which the Joint Programme is implemented, provide financing of 1,693,000 € for the activities, of which 922,000 € to be contributed by the Commission. A meeting of the Steering Committee for the Programme was held on 13 April 1999 in Strasbourg with the participation of the representatives of the European Commission, the Council of Europe and high-ranking government officials of Ukraine. The meeting reviewed the implementation of the programme so far and charted the course for future activities. Particular attention was paid at the meeting to the measures to be initiated to assist Ukraine in the fulfilment of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Recommendation N°1395 (1999)).

25. Implementation of the Joint Programme between the European Commission and the Council of Europe for legal reform and the promotion of independent media in Moldova continued in all areas in the first half of 1999. The validity of the Covenant establishing the Joint Programme for Moldova was extended until 31 December 1999. The contract provides financing of 286,000 € for the activities, of which 148,000 € to be contributed by the Commission.

26. A Covenant establishing a Joint Programme for the legal system reform, reinforcement of human rights and the promotion of independent media in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia was signed at the end of December 1998. This contract will remain valid till the end of June 2000. It provides financing of 573,000 € for the activities, shared equally between the Council of Europe and the European Commission. The implementation of activities provided for in this Covenant started in all three countries in the course of the first half of 1999.

27. A Covenant establishing a second Joint Programme for "Minorities in Europe" was signed at the end of December 1998. This contract will remain valid for one and a half-year and it will provide financing of 615,000 € for the activities, shared equally between the Council of Europe and the European Commission. On 15-16 March 1999, the Sixth Meeting of Governmental Offices for National Minorities was held in Strasbourg. The meeting was used to review the priorities and the schedule for implementation of the activities covered by the Programme.

28. The Covenant extending the Octopus project (Octopus II) was signed in December 1998. This two-year project will provide financing of 2,455,000 € for the activities, of which 1,534,000 € to be contributed by the Commission. Implementation of this programme started in earnest in the first half of 1999.

29. Implementation of the Joint Programme between the Council of Europe and the European Commission to foster the development of independent and multi-disciplinary ethics committees to review biomedical research in Central and Eastern European countries (DEBRA Project) continued in the first half of 1999. This contract, which will remain valid until the end of 1999, provides financing of 296,000 € for the activities, shared equally between the Council of Europe and the European Commission.

30. The Commission of the European Communities was represented at the following meetings:

- 46^th meeting of the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH, 22-25 June 1999);

- 25^th meeting of the Committee of Experts for the Development of Human Rights (DH-DEV, 18-21 May 1999).

2. European Social Charter

31. The Revised Social Charter entered into force on 1 July 1999. It is ratified by France, Italy, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden. Other ratifications will follow in 1999.

32. It is recalled that all member countries of the European Union are Contracting Parties to the Charter or the Revised Charter and that all the countries included in the initial enlargement have either already ratified (Cyprus, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia), or signed the Charter and/or the Revised Charter (Estonia, Czech Republic). In the regular reports on progress towards accession to the European Union, the European Commission reviews the Human Rights treaties ratified by each candidate country and, in this connection, takes into account ratification of the European Social Charter.

33. The Chair of the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG) and the Secretariat of the Section on Equality between women and men played an active role in the Conference "Violence against women: measures towards combating (domestic) violence against women within the European Union", organised by the German Presidency of the EU and the European Commission in Cologne from 28 to 30 March 1999.

34. A representative of the European Commission attended the 18^th meeting of the CDEG, held in Strasbourg on 21-23 April 1999.

35. Representatives of the Council of Europe’s Equality Section and Brussels Office took part in the meeting of the Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for women and men (ACEO) of the European Commission held in Brussels on 8 June 1999. One of the items discussed was the contribution of the Council of Europe and the European Commission to the Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Beijing Conference Review of the Special Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, to be held in January 2000. Both institutions have been asked to provide background documents for the meeting and they will remain in close contact to prepare their input and avoid any duplication.

36. The European Commission has been following closely the work of the Council of Europe in the field of trafficking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation and was represented at the 3^rd and final meeting of the multisectoral group on this subject. The group has been responsible for preparing a draft recommendation from the Committee of Ministers to member States on action against trafficking.

37. The Secretariat of the Equality Section had a meeting with the Task Force "Cooperation on justice and home affairs" in Brussels on 8 June 1999 to present the Council of Europe’s information campaign on the risks of trafficking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Albania and discuss possibilities for future cooperation in this field.

38. On 10 February 1999, the European Community and the Council of Europe signed in Strasbourg an Agreement for the purpose of establishing close cooperation between the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia and the Council of Europe.

39. At its 18^th plenary meeting (3-5 February 1999), ECRI adopted a document containing practical proposals for cooperation with the Monitoring Centre and asked its Chair to send these proposals to the Chair of the Management Board of the Monitoring Centre.

40. A joint meeting between ECRI’s Bureau and the Executive Bureau of the Monitoring Centre took place on 3^rd June 1999 in Paris and elaborated various joint proposals for practical cooperation. At its 19^th plenary meeting (15-18 June 1999), ECRI instructed its Bureau and Secretariat to implement these proposals and to move forward in co-operating with the Monitoring Centre in the areas determined by the joint meeting.

41. The European Commission (Mr Rob Cornelissen, Head of Unit at DGV) participated to the 19^th plenary meeting of ECRI.

42. A representative of the European Commission attended the 3^rd meeting of the Committee of Experts on Issues relating to the Protection of National Minorities (DH-MIN, 17-19 March 1999).

43. The Joint Programme between the European Commission and the Council of Europe entitled "National Minorities in Europe", signed at the end of December 1998 for a period of eighteen months, entered into force at the beginning of this year. Following the decision to make the Joint Programme available to all the member States of the Council of Europe as well as to the candidate states for accession, representatives of 26 European countries participated at the 6^th meeting of the Governmental Offices for National Minorities which was held in Strasbourg on 15 and 16 March 1999. The European Commission was unable to send a representative at this meeting.

44. The representative of the European Commission in Zagreb met the participants of the multilateral seminar on "The role of Non-Governmental Minority Associations in the Exercise of Minority Rights", held in Croatia on 10 and 11 June 1999 in connection with the Joint Programme.

45. In the period covered by this report no official cooperation activities between the new permanent European Court of Human Rights and the European Union took place. The Court is, however, in contact with the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg with a view of organising mutual information visits.

46. It should further be mentioned that in a judgement of 18 February 1999 (MATTHEWS v. UK) the Court applied Art. 3 of Protocol No. 1 (right to free elections) with respect to elections for the European Parliament.

47. The Court of First Instance of the European Communities examined the relevance of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the applicability of Art. 8 of the Convention with regard to legal persons since the Court of Justice had given judgements in similar cases.

48. The European Commission is actively involved in the work carried out by the Council of Europe in the media field, in particular as regards new communications technologies, the protection of copyright and neighbouring rights and the preparation of a draft European Convention on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access, which is aimed at supplementing at the pan-European level an EU Directive dealing with the same matter.

49. During the reference period, the European Commission was represented at the following meetings:

- Steering Committee on the Mass Media (CDMM, 15-18 June 1999);

- Group of Specialists on new communications technologies (MM-S-NT, 2-4 February, 10-12 May 1999);

- Group of Specialists on the protection of rights holders in the media sector (MM-S-PR, 3-4 March 1999);

- Group of Specialists on media in a pan-European perspective (MM-S-EP, 17-19 March 1999);

- Group of Specialists on media law and human rights (MM-S-HR, 17-19 February, 28-30 April 1999);

- Group of Specialists on media pluralism (MM-S-PL, 24-26 February, 23-25 June 1999);

- Group of Specialists on the legal protection of services based on, or consisting of, conditional access (MM-S-CA, 27-29 January, 7-9 April 1999);

- Group of Specialists on the assessment of digital developments in the media field (MM-S-AD, 10-12 February, 21-23 April 1999);

- Standing Committee on Transfrontier Television (T-TT, 22-23 March 1999).

50. The Secretariat of the Council of Europe attended the 8^th (4 February 1999) and 9^th (11 June 1999) meetings of the Contact Committee of the revised "Television without frontiers" Directive convened by the European Commission.

51. The European Commission was represented at the following meetings:

- 2^nd meeting of the European Committee for Social Cohesion (CDCS, Strasbourg, 24-26 March 1999);

- 1^st meeting of the Committee of experts for coordination in the social security field (CS-CR, Strasbourg, 13-15 April 1999);

- Regional Conference on European coordination on social security (Sofia, 28-29 June 1999) where the representative of the European Commission presented the Regulation (CEE) N^o 1408/71 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons, to self-employed persons and to members of their families moving within the Community. The Conference was organised within the framework of the ADACS Programme.

52. The European Commission declined the invitations to a number of Council of Europe meetings.

53. The Council of Europe has been represented to the following meetings organised by the European Commission:

- 1^st meeting of the "Mutual Information System on Social Protection in the Central and Eastern European Countries" (MISSCEEC, Prague, 3-5 March 1999);

- Round Table Conference "Towards a Europe for all: How should the Community support member States to promote social inclusion?" (Brussels, 6-7 May 1999);

- 2^nd meeting of the "Mutual Information System of Social Protection in Central and Eastern European Countries" (MISSCEEC, Helsinki, 31 May-1 June 1999).

54. An inter-secretariat cooperation programme between the Council of Europe, the European Commission (EUROSTAT) and the United Nations (the Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva and the Statistical Division in New York) aims to co-ordinate and simplify demographic data collection. In 1999, Eurostat and the Council of Europe – Population Section – have carried out a joint data collection effort on the evolution of key demographic indicators and have published them in the joint publication "Statistics in focus: Population and social conditions".

55. The Council of Europe and the European Commission are actively co-operating in the preparation of the programme "Albania 2001 Census".

56. The European Commission was invited to meetings of the following committees:

- Group of specialists on trends in mortality and differential mortality (PO-S-MT, 3-5 May 1999). Not represented.

- Group of specialists on the demographic characteristics of immigrant populations in Europe (PO-S-MIG, 19-21 May 1999). Represented.

- European Population Committee (CDPO, 2-4 June 1999). Represented.

57. The European Commission and the Secretariat General of the Council of the European Union were represented at the last meeting of the European Committee on Migration (CDMG, 26-28 May 1999).

58. The European Commission (DG 1A) was represented at the 7^th meeting of the Specialist Group on Roma/Gypsies (MG-S-ROM, 29-30 March 1999).

59. A meeting with the coordinator for Roma/Gypsies and relevant European Commission officials was organised in Brussels on 19 April 1999 where cooperation in this field was defined.

60. The possibility of the European Community's accession to the Council of Europe Social Development Fund was raised at the 13^th Quadripartite meeting, which was held in Strasbourg on 10 February 1999, by both the Council of Europe's representatives and the European Union's representatives. The parties concerned are in favour of accession, in principle. The European Union's representatives pointed out that the outcome would depend, in particular, on the positions of the three EU member states not members of the Fund, namely Austria, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Following that statement, the German Presidency assigned itself the task of sounding out the governments of the above-mentioned states, with a view to the next Quadripartite meeting. In June the German authorities announced that no objections had been raised by the governments.

61. The Social Development Fund was represented at the first donor conference for Kosovo (Brussels, 28 July 1999), which was co-chaired by the European Commission and the World Bank.

1. Education

62. The Commission was represented at the symposium on "Information technologies in schools: reasons and strategies for investment" which took place in Jurmala (Latvia) from 8 to 10 July 1999.

63. The trilateral Conference on "Training Strategies for Education for Democratic Citizenship" (Warsaw, 4-8 December 1999) is a common initiative by the project on Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) of the Council of Europe, the European Commission (DG XXII) and UNESCO. The main organisation lies with the Council of Europe; UNESCO and DGXXII will contribute financially and in terms of content. The participants of the conference will be practitioners, decision-makers, community development workers and representatives of youth organisations, NGOs, associations and enterprises.

64. The objectives of the conference are to:

- strengthen the partnership between the three organisations and the participants of the conference,

- elaborate a clear strategy for training for education for democratic citizenship,

- define and analyse the strategies and methodology of training for education for democratic citizenship,

- identify problem areas,

- inform about the Council of Europe "Education for Democratic Citizenship" (EDC) project, the new European Union programmes and UNESCO activities in the field.

65. A member of the Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) project group participated in the seminar "The European Experience based on the CONFINTEA Agenda", which was organised by DGXXII (Brussels, 3 June 1999). This seminar on adult education was a European follow-up to UNESCO’s global conference on adult education (CONFINTEA) in 1997. The EDC project group representative presented the origin and current activities of the EDC project, its links with adult education and connections with the UNESCO Action Plan and the cooperation with the European Union.

66. The European Commission participated in the Conference of the sites of citizenship of the EDC project (Santander, Spain, 3-5 June 1999). A representative of DG XXII presented the cooperation between the section on education for democratic citizenship and DG XXII and gave an overview of the new Commission programmes in education, training and youth (starting in 2000).

67. The Council of Europe and the European Commission (DG IA) co-operate in the three-year training programme EDES (Education for Democracy and European Studies in Eastern and Central Europe) which started in spring 1999. It aims at supporting civic education, furthering European studies and generally strengthening civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. The programme was developed by the German Institute for Distance Education, the State Institute for Political Education, Baden-Württemberg, and the Council of Europe. It is set out as a joint Council of Europe-European Union training programme (involving also local authorities and NGOs) for Croatia, Lithuania, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Ukraine. A financial contribution from DG IA has been requested.

68. The European Commission (DG XXII, DG IA) and the Council of Europe are co-operating within the framework of the "Graz Process" (Educational Cooperation for Peace, Stability and Democracy in Southeast Europe). Both organisations are represented on the Graz Process Task Force, together with UNESCO-Cepes, the Royaumont Process, the Austrian, Bulgarian, German and Finnish Ministries of Education and the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research. During the last Task Force meeting (12 July 1999) DG IA announced that 80,000 € had been committed under their OBNOVA programme for the SEE-ECC feasibility study. DG XXII stated that their point of reference was the Budapest Declaration in which the « Graz process » is mentioned as one of the existing important initiatives worth supporting and expanding. DG XXII would promote a more active cooperation with the Council of Europe in the future.

69. The European Commission is cooperating in the piloting of the "Common European Framework of reference for language learning, teaching and assessment" developed by the CDCC Modern Languages Project in Strasbourg. The Framework is being used as a basis for the Commission's DIALANG Project (Internet based self-assessment testing currently under development). The Commission is examining the possibility of cooperation concerning the Council of Europe's proposal for a European Year of Languages in 2001.

70. An Inter-secretariat meeting was held in Brussels to discuss the European Year of Languages in February 1999. A representative of DG XXII attended the enlarged Modern Languages Project Group meeting on preliminary preparations for the Year (Strasbourg, 7-8 July 1999).

71. The Joint Programme between the Council of Europe and the European Commission for "Assistance with the Integration of Populations of Foreign Origin in Estonia and Latvia" was concluded in December 1998. Follow-up activities have been carried out with the assistance of voluntary contributions.

72. The European Commission participated in the 1999 plenary session of the Higher Education and Research Committee (Strasbourg, 16-18 March). The European Commission representative was among the speakers at the roundtable debate on the new role and functions of the teacher in the information society.

73. The 6^th annual joint meeting of the ENIC and NARIC Networks was held in Vilnius on 13-15 June 1999. The Networks considered several major issues, including the Sorbonne Declaration and its follow up at the Bologna meeting; the recognition of refugee qualifications, with special emphasis on the crisis in South East Europe; a declaration on recognition and mobility aspects of the crisis in South East Europe and the progress of the Working Party on Transnational Qualifications.

74. The ENIC Bureau and the NARIC Advisory Board held joint meetings in Brussels on 25 February and in Vilnius on 12 June 1999, on the eve of the annual joint meeting of the ENIC and NARIC Networks (see above).

75. The pilot project on the revised Diploma Supplement was completed in 1998 and is now in the dissemination phase. The revised Supplement is available in a variety of languages on the Internet and will also be disseminated in more traditional ways. The project was undertaken jointly by the Council of Europe, the European Commission and UNESCO and involved some 35 higher education institutions in both member states of the European Union and in other States Party to the European Cultural Convention.

76. The joint management and updating of the European Education Thesaurus continued in the first half of 1999. The Thesaurus Bureau met in Brussels in June 1999.

77. The Culture Committee (CC-CULT) co-operates with the European Union in the framework of the "New information technologies" project.

78. The DG XIII MEDICI network, based at the Politecnico of Milano (Italy), offers a series of services to its members, cultural institutions and cultural industries: information on the technology and system developments in the field of multimedia access to culture; templates for contractual agreements for multimedia cultural projects; quality assessment methods for cultural multimedia products and services; special conditions from hardware and software package suppliers; information on EU and other funding sources.

79. The partnership between MEDICI and the "New information technologies" project, is intended to strengthen the participation of South-Eastern European members in the network and to facilitate their participation, through the new technologies, in the arena of European cultural cooperation.

4. Cultural Heritage

a. "Europe, a common heritage" Campaign

80. A Council of Europe/European Union joint programme will be launched in the framework of the "Europe, a common heritage" Campaign. In this context, the arrangement between the Council of Europe and the European Union establishes a precedent as the first agreement to be signed between the Council of Europe and DG X.

81. In this context, and at the invitation of the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union, an informal meeting took place between the Cultural Affairs Committee of the European Union and representatives of the Council of Europe (Brussels, 20 April 1999).

82. A conference on the conservation of heritage and employment was organised by the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the framework of the preparations for the "Europe, a common heritage" Campaign (Berlin, 15-16 April 1999).

83. Cooperation with the European Commission (DG XXII) in the field of European Heritage Classes and Education which started in 1996 with the joint organisation of an international seminar on this item, should this year take shape with the setting up of a Working Group on Heritage Education common to the Council of Europe and to the European Union. The first meeting of this group would take place on 24-25 September 1999 at Santiago de Compostela, on the occasion of a three-day meeting for teachers and students having participated in heritage education activities subsidised within the programme Socrates/Comenius. This meeting should enable the tasks of this joint group and its way of functioning to be clearly defined.

84. The 1999 European Heritage Days will gather together 46 European countries and was launched in Glasgow (United Kingdom) on 4 September 1999. Since 1991, this Council of Europe initiative has received the support of the European Commission (DG X).

85. The cooperation during the first part of 1999 between the Council of Europe and the European Commission, consisted in the implementation by the European Foundation for Heritage Skills (FEMP) of different activities, supported by several programmes of the European Commission.

86. A presentation folder of the Heritage Information Network (HEREIN) has been produced. National structures are presently set up. The progress of this activity has been presented to the CC-PAT during its 14^th Plenary session (Strasbourg, 15-17 February 1999). A training session in multimedia techniques open to the members of the network has been organised in Paris from 25 to 29 January 1999. Three working groups have been set up and met in London (February 1999), Paris (March 1999) and Seville (June 1999). These activities have been organised by the "Associates of the FEMP" and the project obtained the financial support of the "Telematics Applications Programme" of the European Commission (DG XIII) for the setting of a European databank on the Internet.

87. During Spring 1999, the launching of the SALAMBÔ project (Skills development in the heritage related decorative arts) has been followed by the organisation of three missions of the FEMP Secretariat in Marocco, Tunisia and Syria and the setting up of an introductory conference held in Tunis, 3-5 June 1999. Following this Conference, the members of the Euro-Mediterranean network from 13 countries, charged FEMP with collecting complementary information. The main work run by FEMP concerned the modules A, B and C and surveys on training potential, current conservation practices and definitions of professional profiles in decorative arts skills and crafts. This project is financed by the Euromed programme (MEDA) of the European Union.

88. The FEMP Secretariat contributed to the launching of the PISA project (Integrated programming in archaeological sites), which first working session has been organised in Mainz (Germany) on 12 April 1999. This project is supported by the Euromed programme (MEDA) of the European Union.

89. The Secretary General was present at the informal meeting of EU Sports Ministers, convened by the German Presidency, at Paderborn (31 May-2 June 1999). The main subjects discussed were : Doping, Sport and Employment, Media coverage of sports for disabled people and Sport in the EU. The action undertaken by the CDDS in favour of refugees from Kosovo was also supported.

90. DG X was present at the 22^nd meeting of the CDDS in March. The Secretariat (together with the Chair of the Monitoring Group) was invited to the first European Conference on Sport, organised by the European Commission, and held at Olympia in May, where the themes were Doping, Sport and Television, and Sport in Society.

The main field of cooperation during this period has been in the field of doping. Following the common position adopted by the EU Sports Ministers and the Parties to the Anti-Doping Convention at the World Conference on Doping in Sport (Lausanne, 2-4 February 1999), the two organisations have continued to speak "with one voice" in the negotiations with the International Olympic Committee for the setting un of an International Anti-Doping Agency.

As wished by the Deputies (CM/Del/Dec/667/7.1, April 7-9), the European Commission and the Secretariat have been present at each organisation’s meetings (EU expert group on doping, Brussels, 19 February, 19 March, 25 June 1999, to all of which the Chair of the Monitoring Group has also been invited ; extraordinary meeting of the Monitoring Group, Strasbourg 25 March 1999) in order to concert the Council of Europe’s concerns with those of the Commission. They have supported each other’s proposals at the meetings of the working group for the Agency at Lausanne (3 May, 8 June, 6 and 27 July 1999) and have contributed a joint draft Mission Statement for the proposed Agency.

93. The European Commission is a Member of the European Audiovisual Observatory since its beginning in 1992. The Commission is represented in the governing bodies of the Observatory through a representative of the DG X. Since June 1997, DG X has a liaison officer to the Observatory.

94. As a Member of the Observatory, the European Commission has a seat in the Executive Council. Furthermore, as specified in Article 14 of the Rules of Procedure of the Executive Council, the representative of the European Commission is a permanent member of the Bureau of the Executive Council. In these capacities, the Commission has, during the first six months of 1999, participated in meetings of the Bureau on 30 April and the Executive Council on 28 May. The Commission has furthermore participated in the meeting of the Financial Committee on 4 February 1999.

95. Being also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Observatory, the European Commission (DG X) has participated in the meeting of the Advisory Committee on 4 June 1999. As a member of the Editorial Board of the Observatory’s legal review IRIS, the Commission was invited, but did not attend, the meeting of the Board on 3 June 1999.

96. Through his membership, by personal appointment  ^{footnote 1} of the Executive Council, the European Commission’s representative in the Executive Council has furthermore participated in the annual financial and operative review of the Observatory, made by the Audit Committee on 13-14 April 1999.

97. Following the decision on legal bases of the European Court of Justice of 12 May 1998 (case C106/96) the European Commission has been pursuing the aim of putting the European Community’s participation in the European Audiovisual Observatory on a secure Community legal footing.

98. The original notion of including the Observatory in a Draft EU Council Decision on a statistical infra-structure for the audiovisual sector was defeated in the meeting of the EU Council’s Audiovisual Working Party on 17 December 1998. However, during consultations conducted by the Culture Committee of the European Parliament in Brussels on 18 January 1999, the European Commission confirmed to Parliament that a salutatory mention of the Observatory would be inserted in the Draft Council Decision on the statistical infra-structure for the audiovisual sector (see para. 99 below) contained in document SEC (1998) 1325 and that, furthermore, a second, separate, Council Decision on the Community participation in the European Audiovisual Observatory (see para. 101 and 102 below) had been drafted and was now circulating among the relevant European Union bodies.

99. The EU Council Decision (1999/297/CE) establishing a Community statistical infrastructure relating to the industry and the markets of the audiovisual and related sectors was adopted on 26 April 1999 ^{footnote 2} . The Decision is directly aimed at enlarging the work of EUROSTAT in this sector. The salutations of the Decision contains a reference to the Observatory with the stipulation that complementarity must be ensured between the work of the Observatory and that of EUROSTAT.

100. To implement the co-ordination of collection of statistical data on the European audiovisual industry, and to take measures to avoid duplication of efforts, the European Audiovisual Observatory and EUROSTAT met on 26 March 1999 for the first of a planned series of bi-annual meetings to assure complementarity of actions. The meeting was a direct follow-up to the agreement reached on 15 September 1998 between the Observatory, EUROSTAT and DG X.

101. On 11 March 1999 the European Commission officially put forward a Draft EU Council Decision concerning Community Participation in the European Audiovisual Observatory (COM(1999) 111 final). The stated aim of the Draft Decision is to "[i]n complementarity with … [the EUROSTAT Decision] … [to provide for] collecting and processing of information on legal and economic matters in the audiovisual field, and on audiovisual programmes, and making them available to the professionals, by and through the European Audiovisual Observatory". The Draft Decision is proposed on the basis of Article 130 (3) of the Treaty of Rome.

102. The Draft Decision on Community participation in the Observatory has since been under review in the Audiovisual Working Party of the EU Council of Ministers. Due to opposition from one Member State, agreement on the Draft Decision has so far not been reached. The reserve of this State concerns the practice of "double payment" of contributions by EU Members of the Observatory – once through their direct membership, and a second time through their national contributions to the EU budget.

103. The European Commission is one of the six major contributors to the budget of the Observatory, paying 12,25% of the approved annual contributions. In the meeting of the Bureau of the Executive Council on 30 April 1999, the European Commission announced that, due to the delay in the passing of the Draft Council Decision on Community participation in the Observatory, a legal basis for authorising the payment of the Commission’s 1999 contribution to the Observatory does not exist.

104. The European Commission will consequently not be paying its contribution to the Observatory before the Draft Council Decision contained in document COM(1999) 111 is formally adopted through a co-decision procedure with the European Parliament. The most optimistic current timetable places such adoption in mid-November 1999. Should the Draft Council Decision not be adopted before the end of the financial year 1999, the contribution of 200,000 € will be lost altogether.

105. These events place the European Audiovisual Observatory in an extremely difficult financial predicament at present. Strict austerity measures have been introduced, with the aim of safeguarding the core activities of the Observatory.

For the European Centre for Modern Languages (ECML) the cooperation within the European Union during the reference period was centred on Linguanet. The ECML continued its cooperation with CILT (Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research) and several other European partners in a European Commission sponsored project which aims to develop a Virtual Resource Centre on the teaching and learning of foreign languages (Lingu@NET-EUROPA). Principal activities in the first semester of 1999 have been the initial development of a prototype site with an interface in five languages. The site (www.linguanet-europa.org) has annotated links to some 250 resources and is currently undergoing evaluation, before further modifications are introduced in the autumn 1999.

107. The main aim of the cooperation agreement between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the youth field has been to provide a framework for the joint development and funding of new European Youth Worker training initiatives. These initiatives are three-fold: the organisation of training courses, the pooling and networking of trainers and the production of educational publications.

108. Two contracts (covenants) have been established so far: one for the period between November 1998 and April 1999 (extended to July 1999) and a second for the period from April 1999 to June 2000. Both covenants have been considered as experimental, with a view to preparing a larger covenant, which would be established alongside the larger Community Action Programme for Youth of the European Commission, as of the year 2000.

109. Almost daily contacts by telephone, fax and e-mail have been made between the Youth Directorate and DG XXII to manage the implementation of the Covenants.

110. A meeting to develop the future perspectives of the partnership was held in Brussels on 22 March 1999 with the Youth Director, Head of Division and Head of Section of the Youth Directorate of the Council of Europe and the Head of Unit and Staff of European Commission’s DG XXII.

111. A Consultative meeting "Needs Assessment and Vision Building Seminar" was held in Strasbourg on 26-28 April 1999, involving a wide spectrum of partners from both institutions to discuss the future cooperation perspectives.

112. A joint meeting between the Youth Directorate and DG XXII was held on 28 June 1999 in Brussels at which the external evaluator of the partnership agreement was present, with a view to carrying out an evaluation based on a set of specific criteria developed by both institutions.

113. The Technical Working Party is composed of both Secretariats of the European Commission and of the Council of Europe and representatives of the statutory bodies of the Youth Directorate and the European Youth Forum is invited as observer. Technical Working Party meetings were held on 11-12 January, 10-11 March, 8 April and 1-2 June 1999.

114. The first covenant foresaw the gathering of educational materials in view of the publication of a new set of educational publications (called ‘educational binders’). The educational binders will cover different aspects of training and document the theoretical background, methodological aspects, practical exercises, course models and specific issues.

115. A first Editorial Committee meeting to look at the general outline and scope of the binders took place on 29-30 March 1999. Three expert meetings on Educational Binders have already taken place:

- Methodologies in Language learning (London, 20-21 April 1999);

- Intercultural learning (Strasbourg, 21-22 June 1999);

- Project management (Strasbourg, 24-25 June 1999).

116. Each group is composed of experts appointed by both institutions. The experts have already worked on the outline of the subject binders and have begun to produce materials.

117. The Editorial Committee for the production of a joint magazine "Coyote" had its meetings on 1-2 March 1999 and on 17-18 June 1999 in Brussels. The Coyote magazine is intended to serve as an instrument for youth worker trainers to share information and to enhance the visibility of the partnership programme. An experimental issue was published in July 1999.

118. Preparatory and evaluation meetings and some courses of the joint training courses have already taken place:

- Training course for Roma Youth Leaders (2-14 March 1999): Preparatory Meetings (Strasbourg, 7-9 January, 1 March 1999); Evaluation Meeting (Strasbourg, 1-2 April 1999); A report has been produced and published in July 1999.

- Training course on Project Management and Trans-National Voluntary Service (7-14 March 1999):          Preparatory Meeting (Strasbourg, 19-20 February 1999); Evaluation Meeting (Budapest, 21-22 July 1999).

- Training course on Intercultural Learning and Conflict Management (3-13 June 1999): Preparatory Meetings (Strasbourg, 14-15 April 1999, 11-12 May 1999).

- Training course on Organisational Management: Preparatory Meeting (Strasbourg, 9-10 June 1999).

- Training course on Establishing Quality Standards for Youth Information: Clarification meeting on the joint programme between the European Commission, ERYICA and the Youth Directorate (Brussels, 28 June 1999).

- Training course on Training for Trainers: Preparatory Meeting (Budapest, 5-6 June 1999).

119. Participation of Youth Directorate staff on 16-17 April 1999 in Vienna at the Working Seminar for National Agencies of the Youth for Europe Programme on "Training for European Youth Projects".

Participation of Youth Directorate staff on 21 June 1999 in Brussels at the Youth for Europe Committee Meeting of the European Union, which is in charge of the Youth for Europe Programme.

121. The Secretariat of the Council of Europe, the WHO and the European Commission are regularly holding informal talks on a tripartite agreement on health with a view to establishing a solid basis for cooperation between the three organisations. Meetings have been going on since 1998. Three meetings have been hold in the first half of 1999, on 14 January, 18 February and 15 April 1999.

122. The three parties have identified a number of issues which could be the subject of a joint study and are currently carrying out an enquiry amongst their member States on essential drugs with a view to starting a common project.

123. The European Commission was represented at the meeting of European Health Committee (CDSP) held on 29-30 June 1999.

Since 1991, the Council of Europe has run an education for health programme in schools together with the European Commission and the WHO (Europe). The aim is to create a network of schools across Europe to promote health amongst young people. Over 30 countries have joined the network and have chosen the schools in their countries which will participate in the programme. Every country has a national co-ordinator to follow the programme at national level. The 4^th meeting of national co-ordinators was held in Lisbon, Portugal, on 26-29 May 1999.

125. The European Commission was represented at the:

- 1^st meeting of the working party on xenotransplantations (19-21 April 1999);

- 1^st meeting of the Group of specialists on quality assurance for organs and tissues (25- 26 March 1999)

126. The European Commission was represented at the 22^nd meeting of the Select Committee experts on Quality Assurance in Blood Transfusion Services.

d. Conference of European Ministers of Health

127. The European Commission was represented at the 6^th Conference of European Ministers of Health held in Athens on 22-23 April 1999 on the theme "Ageing in the XXI^st century : the need for a balanced approach towards health ageing".

2. Partial Agreement in the Social and Public Health field

128. The Commission of the European Communities was represented at the following meetings:

- Ad hoc Group for printing inks (9 March 1999);

- Ad hoc Group for coatings (10-11 March 1999);

- Ad hoc Group for recycled fibres (15-17 March 1999);

- Ad hoc Group for test methods (18-19 March 1999);

- Committee of experts on flavouring substances (12-16 April 1999);

- Committee of experts on materials coming into contact with food (25-28 May 1999);

- 26^th meeting of the Committee of experts on medicines subject to prescription;

- 31^st meeting of the Committee of experts on cosmetic products.

129. The Council of Europe was represented at the:

- Scientific Committee for Food of the European Union (25 March 1999);

- Working Group on Good Manufacturing Practice of cosmetic products.

130. The European Commission declined the invitation to a number of Council of Europe meetings.

131. The Commission of the European Communities was represented at the following meetings:

- 6^th session of the Working Group on legislation against discrimination of persons with disabilities (P-RR-LADI, Strasbourg, 3-5 March 1999);

- 1^st meeting of the Working Group on violence against, and ill-treatment as well as abuse of people with disabilities (P-RR-VIA, Strasbourg, 22-24 March 1999);

- 5^th meeting of the Working Group on employment strategies for people with disabilities (P-RR-SEH, Strasbourg, 15-17 March 1999);

- 4^th session of the Working Group on the assessment of person-related criteria for allowances and personal assistance for people with disabilities (P-RR-ECA, Strasbourg, 26-28 April 1999);

- 2^nd session of the Committee of experts on the impact of new technologies on the quality of life of persons with disabilities (P-RR-NTH, Strasbourg, 17-19 May 1999);

- 22^nd session of the Committee on the Rehabilitation and Integration of People with disabilities (CD-P-RR, Strasbourg, 9-11 June 1999).

132. The Council of Europe was represented as an observer at the winter meeting of the High Level Group on Disability at DG V of the Commission of the European Communities (Brussels, 28 January 1999).

133. The European Community acceded to the Convention on the Elaboration of a European Pharmacopoeia on 22 September 1994. The European Commission participates regularly in the sessions of the European Pharmacopoeia Commission, and the Technical Secretariat of the European Pharmacopoeia Commission is represented by the Director or a scientific officer as observer and scientific advisor at all meetings of specific working parties organised by the European Commission, notably the Pharmaceutical Committee on Medicines for Human Use and the Pharmaceutical Committee on Medicines for Veterinary Use, as well as the Inspection Working Party. In addition, close collaboration has been developed with the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA), set up in 1995 in London by a Community regulation.

134. In recent months the Secretariat has participated in the following meetings:

- Herbal Medicinal Products (CPMP, 18-19 January 1999, 31 May-1 June 1999);

- Immunological Working Party (CVMP, 14-15 February 1999, 9-10 May 1999);

- "Biotech" working party (CPMP, 15-18 February 1999, 15-16 March 1999, 10-12 May 1999, 15-16 June 1999, 19-21 July 1999);

- Pharmaceutical Committee (15-16 April 1999);

- Quality working party CPMP/CVMP (20-22 January 1999, 10-11 June 1999).

135. The Secretariat participates in the international studies on harmonisation set up by the European Union with the United States and Japan within the framework of the cycle of ICH conferences (International Conference on Harmonisation of licensing dossiers for medicines for human use). The work on quality and biologicals has continued following the ICH4 conference held in July 1997 in Brussels, notably the joint preparation of a guideline on specifications for pharmaceutical substances and preparations. To facilitate the harmonisation of the Pharmacopoeias in this area, the EDQM participated in the following meetings organised with the licensing authorities of the USA, Japan and the European Union (EMEA):

- Quality Working Party ICH (Brussels, 7-11 March 1999);

- Pharmacopoeial Discussion Group (Tokyo, 19-21 April 1999).

136. The contract on biological standardisation signed between the European Community and the Council of Europe, and initiated in 1992, is being carried out satisfactorily, notably the distribution of European working standards adopted within the framework of this programme and studies now being carried out to validate an alternative method to replace challenge tests in animals for several vaccines for human and veterinary use. An international conference on the quality of biologicals has been organised by the European Department for the Quality of Medicines with the participation of the licensing authorities of the United States and Japan in Strasbourg from 27-29 September 1999.

137. The meetings and work of the European network of official medicines control laboratories are continuing: a newsletter is published quarterly; collaborative proficiency studies have been extended to the biological area; collaborative studies on "Market Surveillance" were organised. Specific meetings were held on the following subjects:

- Quality assurance system - Annual meeting on 23-24 June 1999. The creation of an internal audit system for the network is now also being studied;

- Batch release procedure for biologicals (vaccines, blood products) - Annual meetings: 26-27 April: human vaccines / 28-29 April: blood products. Over fifteen guidelines specific to each vaccine or product were adopted after the public enquiry in 1998.

138. A prospective phase meeting in the area of veterinary vaccines was organised in Brussels on 5 May 1999 with the services of the Commission (DG III).

139. As requested by the European Commission, a list of standard terms for pharmaceutical forms, routes of administration of medicines and their packaging was established in all the languages of the Community and in other European languages in 1996. This document is regularly supplemented and up-dated. A new edition including translations into 17 European languages will be issued in the 2^nd half of 1999.

140. The draft Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Pompidou Group and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction has been approved by the PG Permanent Correspondents and the EMCDDA Management Board. It will be signed on 28 September 1999.

141. Representatives of the Pompidou Group's epidemiology working group and of the EMCDDA have completed preparation of a common treatment demand reporting protocol for use in data collection by the networks of the two organisations.

142. The Pompidou Group participated as observers in the meetings of the EMCDDA Management Board on 14-15 January and 30 June-2 July 1999.

143. The European Union was represented at the:

- Seminar on Road traffic and illicit drugs (19-21 April 1999, Commission, EMCDDA);

- 43^rd meeting of Permanent Correspondents (28-30 April 1999, Commission, EMCDDA);

- Meeting of the Group of experts on epidemiology of drug problems (7-8 June 1999, EMCDDA);

The Management committee of the Demand reduction staff training programme (16 July 1999, Commission).

a. Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy

144. A representative from the European Commission (DG XI) participated in the 3^rd meeting of the Council for the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy (STRA-CO) on 20-21 April 1999, in Geneva.

145. The European Commission (DG XI) attended the following meetings :

- Group of experts on conservation of plants (Strasbourg, 22-23 March 1999),

- Group of experts on conservation of birds (Strasbourg, 18-19 May 1999).

146. The European Commission regularly invites the Council of Europe as an observer to the Scientific Working Group of the Habitats Directive.

147. At the committee's meeting in Paris on 21 and 22 June 1999, at the European Space Agency headquarters, the European Commission was represented by Mr E. Schulte, Administrator in DG XI. The specific programmes under the Agreement were discussed: the FORM-OSE training programme, the STRIM programme on space technologies for risk management, and the EDRIM telecommunications programme.

b. FORM-OSE Programme: training programme at university level

148. Cooperation was initiated with DG XXII to set up a network of universities, firms and public institutions interested in launching a scheme concerning European Masters' degrees and plans for a European Doctorate in the field of space sciences and technologies applied to risk management.

149. Cooperation with the DG of the JRC, particularly the Space Applications Institute, is in full swing, in the form, for example, of a project concerning the assessment of damage caused by forest fires, and schemes concerning flood surveillance.

d. EDRIM Programme (Electronic Discussion for Risk Management): use of new communication and information technologies for risk management

150. A project was presented to DG XIII concerning the use of new communications and information technologies as decision-making and co-operation aids in risk management: the EDRIM Programme. It was selected by DG XIII for its TEN-Telecom TI-2.5 programme and negotiations are currently under way with a view to its implementation as of 1 November 1999.

The European Commission is invited to participate in all meetings of the Steering Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) and its subordinate committees. In the first semester of 1999, the Commission was represented at the CDLR meeting, from 31 May to 3 June 1999.

152. A representative of the European Commission made a speech entitled "Key elements to consider in formulating a policy on the future external borders of the EU after the first enlargement" at the International Conference on Transfrontier Cooperation between local and regional authorities in the Baltic region at the turn of the century held in Svetlogorsk (Kaliningrad) on 25-25 March 1999.

153. The 18^th inter-services meeting in the legal field between the European Commission and the Council of Europe was held in Strasbourg, on 10 February 1999, during which were discussed the follow-up to the Second Summit of Heads of State and Government (Strasbourg, 10-11 October 1997), in particular in the following fields of activities : new technologies, sexual exploitation of children, bioethics and biotechnology, corruption, money laundering and organised crime, cybercrime; legal cooperation programmes for the development and consolidation of democratic stability, as well as common legal current events, especially relating to the enlargement of the European Union, to the Council of Europe’s legal Conventions, to the Agreement between the European Community and our Organisation concerning racism and intolerance.

154. An exchange of views between the Troika (representatives of the competent committees of senior officials in the fields of justice and home affairs) of the Council of the European Union and a delegation from the Council of Europe took place on 17 May 1999 in Brussels. Matters of common concern were discussed, in particular work being carried out in the field of asylum and refugees, organised crime, trafficking in children, corruption, cybercrime, mutual assistance in criminal matters.

155. The European Commission was represented at the meeting of the European Committee on Legal Cooperation (CDCJ) which took place from 18 to 21 May 1999.

156. The European Union has continued its active participation in the work of the Steering Committee on Bioethics (CDBI).

157. The European Commission is an observer to the meetings of the Working Parties on Biomedical Research (CDBI-CO-GT2), on the Protection of Human embryo and foetus (CDBI-CO-GT3) and on Human Genetics (CDBI-CO-GT4).

158. The European Commission is also an observer to the meetings of the new Working Party on Xenotransplantation (CDBI/CDSP-XENO), which began its work in April 1999.

159. The European Commission has granted financial support for the Council of Europe’s activities of bilateral cooperation relating to the ethical review of biomedical research (DEBRA) which assist Central and Eastern European Countries in the setting up and development of independent and multidisciplinary ethics committees for the review of biomedical research.

160. A Conference on ethical issues arising from the application of Biotechnology was held from 16 to 19 May 1999 in Oviedo (Spain) in cooperation with the European Commission.

161. The CAHDI (ad hoc Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law) held its 17^th meeting in Vienna, 8-9 March 1999. The European Commission was represented by a staff member of DG IA.

162. The European Commission was represented at the second meeting of the Working Party on delivery of court and other legal services to the citizen through the use of new technologies (CJ-IT GT XI), held in Strasbourg on 2 and 3 March 1999.

163. As in the past, the Secretariat General of the Council of Europe (Directorate of Legal Affairs) was represented at the meeting of the Working Party on legal data processing of the Council of the European Union, held in Brussels on 10 and 11 May 1999.

164. The Commission was represented at the CAHAR’s (ad hoc Committee of Experts on Legal Aspects of Territorial Asylum, Refugees and Stateless persons) 47^th plenary session on 24-26 March 1999.

165. The European Commission actively participated in the preparation and adoption of the Guidelines on the protection of privacy on the Internet (Recommendation N^o R (99) 5) adopted by the Ministers’ Deputies on 5 February 1999, and of the amendments to the Convention for the protection of individuals with regard to automatic processing of personal data (ETS N^o 108) allowing the European Community to accede to the Convention, adopted by the Ministers’ Deputies on 15 June 1999.

166. The European Commission participated actively, through its representative, in the preparation of the draft additional protocol to Convention 108 on supervisory authorities and on transfrontier flows of data. This draft takes due account of Community Directive 95/46/EC. At its last meeting, 16-18 June 1999, the T-PD provisionally adopted this text and is awaiting the opinion of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

167. All member countries of the European Union are parties to Convention 108. The European Commission takes account of ratification or not of the convention by candidates for accession. This is also done in order to assess the level of protection offered by a third state to the Union in the question of transborder flows of data.

168. On 26 May 1999, the Secretariat General of the Council of Europe was invited to take part in the meeting of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE), with a view to preparing its Opinion N^o 13 on ethics questions relating to health in the information society, in particular in the light of Recommendation N^o R (97) 5 on the protection of medical data. The opinion was adopted by the EGE on 30 July 1999.

169. The European Community is Party to the Convention and participates very actively in the work of the Standing Committee of the Convention (T-AP). 

170. On 26 June 1998, the European Council agreed on a general farm animal welfare directive. The provisions of this directive cover the principles of the Convention.

171. The European Commission and the Secretariat of the European Council were represented at the 37^th meeting of the T-AP (22-25 June 1999).

172. The European Community approved the Convention on 30 April 1998. In accordance with Article 34 paragraph 1 of the Convention, it made a reservation on Article 28 paragraph 1 concerning the requirements to communicate statistical data provided in the Convention.

173. The European Community, represented at the level of the Commission, participates very actively in the preparation of the next Multilateral Consultation of the Parties to the Convention.

174. All Members States of the European Union have ratified the Convention. Discussions on legal questions are in process between the European Commission and the competent authorities with a view to signing the Convention by the European Community.

175. The Community was represented at Commission level at the last meeting of the Working Party for the preparation of the Multilateral Consultation of the Parties to the Convention (19-22 January 1999).

176. The European Commission and the Council of the European Union are regularly invited to participate in the meetings of the Committee of experts on efficiency of justice (CJ-EJ) and its Working Party (CJ-EJ-GT). The Secretariat of the Council of the European Union attended the last meeting of the CJ-EJ (Strasbourg, 28-30 June 1999) and of the CJ-EJ-GT (Strasbourg, 30 June-2 July 1999). The European Commission was not represented at these meetings, but has attended previous meetings.

177. In November 1998, the Council of Europe and the European Commission signed an agreement to continue their joint initiative concerning the fight against corruption and organised crime in countries in transition (Octopus II Programme).

178. The purpose of this programme is to strengthen and develop the legislation of participating countries ^{footnote 3} , the competence and co-ordination of law enforcement agencies, preventive measures, crime control policies and international cooperation regarding the fight against corruption and organised crime. Moreover, the Octopus II programme is intended as an important element of the preparation for accession for the ten Eastern and Central European countries having applied for EU membership. The activities within the programme will be implemented over a period of two years (1999-2000).

179. The covenant signed in November 1998 provides financing of 2,455,000 €, of which 1,534,000 € are contributed by the Commission. The implementation of the Second Joint Programme on "The fight against corruption and organised crime in States in transition" (Octopus II Programme) started in the first half of 1999 with the holding of an Opening Conference (Strasbourg, 4-5 February), a Seminar on the enhancement of investigative means (Strasbourg, 21-23 April), Study visits on prevention of juvenile delinquency (France and Ireland, 17-21 May, Spain, 24-28 May, Sweden, 31 May-4 June), a Seminar on interagency cooperation and setting up of specialised units (Tallinn, 14-16 June) and Study visits for prosecutors on investigative means (Italy, 7-12 June, France, 21-25 June, Austria and Denmark, 28 June-2 July).

180. The European Commission and/or the Secretariat of the Council of the European Union were represented at the:

- Committee of Experts on Criminal Law and Criminological Aspects of Organised Crime (PC-CO, 15-17 February 1999);

Committee of Experts on the Operation of European Conventions in the Penal Field (PC-OC, 22-25 February 1999);

Committee of Experts on the Role of the Public Prosecution in the Criminal Justice System (PC-PR, 28-30 April 1999);

- Committee of Experts on Crime in Cyberspace (PC-CY, 25-27 May 1999);

- European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC, 7-11 June 1999);

- Select Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures (PC-R-EV, 14-18 June 1999);

- Multidisciplinary Group on Corruption (GMC, 24-26 February 1999, 23-25 June 1999);

- Working Group on Civil Law Aspects of Corruption (GMCC, 23 February 1999);

- Opening Conference (OCTOPUS II, 4-5 February 1999);

- Seminar on the enhancement of investigative means (OCTOPUS II, 21-23 April 1999).

11. Corruption

181. The Programme of Action against Corruption, as elaborated by the Multidisciplinary Group on Corruption (GMC), was adopted by the Committee of Ministers in November 1996. This Programme involves the drafting of several international instruments to fight corruption. The European Commission participates actively in the work of the GMC.

182. In September 1998, the GMC submitted to the Committee of Ministers for adoption the draft Criminal law Convention on corruption. The Convention was adopted at the 103^rd Session of the Committee of Ministers (Strasbourg, 4 November 1998), which set at 27 January 1999 the date for its opening for signature. Article 33 of the Convention refers to the procedure for the accession of the European Community.

183. On 5 May 1998, the agreement establishing the "Group of States against corruption – GRECO" was formally adopted. This agreement sets up an international monitoring mechanism responsible for ensuring respect of undertakings resulting from the international instruments relating to the fight against corruption concluded within the Council of Europe. Article 5 of this agreement provides for the possibility of the European Community’s participation in GRECO.

184. Moreover, the Council of Europe’s Multidisciplinary Group on Corruption (GMC) and the European Union have been actively co-operating in the elaboration of the Civil Law Convention on Corruption, which is to be examined, with a view to its adoption, by the Committee of Ministers in September 1999 and should be open to signature at the 105^th Session of the Committee of Ministers in November 1999.

185. The Civil Law Convention will be open for signature not only by the member States of the Council of Europe and by those non-member States that have participated in its elaboration, but also by the European Community (EC), in particular in the light of the latter’s recently acquired competence, under the Amsterdam Treaty, on questions relating to the international cooperation in civil matters.

186. Furthermore, in accordance with paragraphs 3 and 4 of Article 15 of the Convention, its ratification by the European Community would imply (if it is not yet a member at that time), the automatic membership of the EC of the "Group of States against Corruption-GRECO", the body which is entrusted with the task of monitoring the proper implementation of the Convention (as well as of the other international legal instruments adopted in pursuance of the Programme of Action against Corruption).

187. As regards the relationship between certain provisions of the Civil Law Convention and Community Law, the drafting of Article 19 of the Council of Europe Convention makes it clear that Parties may submit themselves, without prejudice to the objectives and principles of this Convention, to rules on this matter within the framework of a special system which is binding at the moment of the adoption of the Civil Law Convention. This special regime applies to the European Community and to its member States, as well as to future member States from the date of their accession to the European Union. Furthermore, paragraph 3 of Article 19 safeguards the continued application of agreements, treaties or relations relating to subjects which are dealt with in the present Convention, for instance in the European Community or in the Nordic cooperation.

The European Commission participated at the III^rd European Conference of specialised services in the fight against corruption (Madrid, October 1998), organised by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice of Spain. This Conference examined the problem of the illegal financing of political parties.

189. The European Commission was represented at the 38^th and 39^th Plenary meetings of the Venice Commission (22-23 March and 18-19 June 1999 respectively).

190. During its 37^th Plenary Meeting the Commission had adopted the report on "Constitutional Law and European Integration". At its 38^th Plenary Meeting the Commission decided to append to the above-mentioned report the summary of the replies to the questionnaire which highlight the salient points of the relationship between Community law and domestic constitutional law. The Commission also took note of the replies to the revised version of the questionnaire from non-member States of the European Union.

191. In addition, at its 38^th Plenary Meeting, the Commission held an exchange of views with Mr Angel Viñas, Director of DG IA of the European Commission, on future cooperation between the Venice Commission and the European Union. Mr Viñas thought that a framework for future cooperation between the Venice Commission and the European Commission should be established as quickly as possible so that work on specific projects could begin before the end of the year.

192. In accordance with the decisions taken at the meeting of the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament and of the Parliamentary Assembly held on 19 November 1998, the Office of the Clerk of the Assembly and the Secretariat of the European Parliament continued to implement the cooperation agreement in particular by following each other activities and exchanging information.

193. Because of the fifth direct elections to the European Parliament, the committees of the two institutions had fewer occasions for contacts and cooperation.

194. A significant increase is to be noted for the references in the texts adopted by the EP and the PACE to their respective activities.

195. On 26 January 1999, on the basis of a report submitted by the Political Affairs Committee (Rapporteur: Mr Schieder), the Parliamentary Assembly adopted Opinion N° 208 (1999) and Resolution 1177 (1999), on the report of the Committee of Wise Persons, "Building greater Europe without dividing lines" in which it considers that the European Union is the natural partner of the Council of Europe, as both share the same values and is of the opinion that, consequently cooperation and complementary roles between the two bodies should be strengthened.

196. Its recommends that the Committee of Ministers conclude a framework agreement with the European Union. It resolves to strengthen its cooperation with the European Parliament and to ensure optimal contributions from related financial assistance programmes of the European Union to facilitate the honouring by member States of their obligations and commitments.

197. In its various recommendations on the crisis in Kosovo and the situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Recommendations 1397 (1999), 1403 (1999) and 1414 (1999)), the Assembly encouraged several times close cooperation between the Council of Europe and the European Union in the search of a political solution to the conflict in Kosovo and then in the reconstruction of the country.

198. The Committee on Economic Affairs and Development at its meeting in Strasbourg from 25 to 27 January 1999 held an exchange of views on the activities of the European Investment Bank (EIB) with the Bank's President, Sir Brian Unwin, and agreed to pursue relations, especially in view of the EIB increasing activities in non-EU Council of Europe member States.

199. The Committee on Science and Technology was represented in the Scientific and Technological Options Assessment panel of the European Parliament (STOA) and it has had regular contacts with the European Parliamentary Technology Assessment Network (EPTA).

200. Members of the Committee on Science and Technology of PACE and of the Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy of the European Parliament regularly participate in the activities organised by the European Energy Foundation (EEF).

201. On 26 January 1999, the Assembly adopted Recommendation 1394 (1999) on "Europe: a continental design" on the basis of the report submitted by the Committee on parliamentary and public relations. Aware of the difficulties encountered by the European Union in its enlargement process, the Assembly proposed to make the Council of Europe a place of political dialogue for member States of the European Union and for the Council of Europe member States which are not members of the European Union, in the context of the Summit of Heads of State and Government. Moreover the Assembly proposed the drafting of an European institutional Charter to which the European Union would be associated to ensure the development of Europe in which the enlargement of the European Union is a coherent process of evolution, within a single frame of reference .

- Recommendation 1394 (1999): Europe: a continental design

- Recommendation 1397 (1999): Crisis in Kosovo and situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

- Recommendation 1398 (1999): Situation of children in Albania

- Recommendation 1401 (1999): Education in the responsibilities of the individual

- Recommendation 1403 (1999): Crisis in Kosovo and situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

- Recommendation 1407 (1999): Media and democratic culture

- Recommendation 1410 (1999): Links between Europeans living abroad and their countries of origin

- Recommendation 1414 (1999): Crisis in Kosovo and situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

- Recommendation 1417 (1999): Dioxin crisis and food safety

- Resolution 1177 (1999): Building greater Europe without dividing lines

- Resolution 1178 (1999): a European political project

- Resolution 1180 (1999): Economic situation in the Russian Federal and Ukraine

- Resolution 1181 (1999): North-South development cooperation in the twenty-first century: a contribution to the Council of Europe's second Campaign on Global Interdependence and Solidarity - Europe against poverty and social exclusion

- Resolution 1183(1999): Situation in the Middle East: Israeli-Palestinian dimension

- Resolution 1184 (1999): Need for intensified economic cooperation among the countries of south-eastern Europe

- Resolution 1186 (1999) : European transport policies

- Resolution 1190 (1999): Environment protection as a provider of employment

- Resolution 1191(1999): Information society and a digital world

- Resolution 1192 (1999): Activities of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and transition in central and eastern Europe

- Resolution 1193 (1999) on second-chance schools - or how to combat unemployment and exclusion by means of education and training .

- Resolution on racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism and on further steps to combat racial discrimination

- Resolution on urgent measures to be taken against doping in sport

- Resolution on the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on "The European Union and the external dimension of human rights policy: from Rome to Maastricht and beyond"

- Resolution on human rights in the world in 1997 and 1998 and European Union human rights policy

- Resolution on the communication from the Commission "An action plan against racism"

- Resolution on the arrest of Mr Öcalan and the need for a political solution to the Kurdish question

- Resolution on the situation and role of artists in the European Union

- Resolution on a youth policy for Europe

- Resolution on support for the peace process in the Caucasus

- Resolution on the European Union’s priorities for the 55^th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights

- Resolution of the European Parliament on the regular report from the Commission on Slovenia’s progress towards accession to the European Union

- Resolution on the death sentence on Mr Öcalan and the future of the Kurdish question in Turkey.

V. Questions in the Parliamentary Assembly

202. After the communication from the Committee of Ministers to the Assembly presented by Mr Jànos Martonyi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Hungary and Chairman-in-office of the Committee of Ministers on 27 January 1999, the Minister answered the following questions :

- Mr Lotz (Hungary): What does the Council of Europe wish to do for strengthening the Council’s relation to the European Union and the European Parliament, especially during the Hungarian Chairmanship, and how can the Council of Europe promote the progress of enlargement of the European Union in the direction of Central and Eastern Europe.

- Mrs Durrieu (France): Whether the Committee of Ministers has adopted the report of the Committee of Wise Persons and whether the conclusions constitute the absolute limits of the Council of Europe reform ; How does the Committee of Ministers interpret the "statutory resolution" that is expected to define a new relationship between itself and the Parliamentary Assembly? How does it interpret the framework for closer consultation with NGOs, the "exchange of letters" and the "framework agreement" with the European Union; the "memorandum of general understanding" to be concluded with the OSCE; and finally a "specific agreement" to be concluded with all the international organisations involved in monitoring elections "in order to ensure consistent evaluation of their results". Does that rule out clarification of the respective powers and responsibilities.

203. After the communication from the Committee of Ministers to the Assembly presented by Mr Halldor Asgrimsson, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Iceland and Chairman-in-office of the Committee of Ministers on 23 June 1999, the Minister answered the following questions :

- Mrs Durrieu (France): Noting that the implementation of the Stability Pact for south-eastern Europe is being addressed by three working tables devoted respectively to security, the economy, and democracy and human rights, whether he has taken any steps to ensure that the Council of Europe chairs the working table responsible for democracy and human rights, with the OSCE looking after security and the European Union the economic questions; and if he has, whether he will inform the Parliamentary Assembly of the results of his approaches.

- Mr Iwinski (Poland): Noting the priority for the Icelandic chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to use the Nordic chairmanships of our organisation, the European Union (Finland) and the OSCE (Norway) to further improve cooperation between these bodies, how he intends to achieve closer cooperation between these organisations.

- Lord Judd (United Kingdom): What consideration the Council of Ministers has been given to the future role of the Council of Europe in the light of the likely realignment of relationships between the Western European Union and the European Union.

- Ms Gelderblom-Lankhout (Netherlands): Whether the Committee of Ministers has had an opportunity to discuss the question of the proposal of a Charter for human rights for the European Union and what is its opinion on the possible consequences of such a Charter for the system of protection of human rights of the Council of Europe.

D.  CONGRESS OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES OF EUROPE

I. Contacts with the Committee of the Regions of the European Union

204. Whilst the CLRAE and the Committee of the Regions share approximately 75 members, they pursue their privileged contacts via the specific group attended by, in particular, the President of the Congress and the Presidents of both Chambers or their representatives. During the first half of 1999, the Group met at the end of March in Paris together with six members of the Committee of the Regions.

205. A good part of its discussions focussed on the issue of the future enlargement of the European Union and contacts with applicant countries, as well as their respective situations of local and regional democracy. It was decided that the Congress would prepare reports on the situation of local and regional democracy for all applicant countries before they enter the European Union. For its part, the Committee of the Regions invites the Congress to send a representative to meetings it organises with applicant countries with a view to informing local and regional authorities from these countries before their entry.

206. In addition, the CLRAE and the Committee of the Regions decided that, for a number of issues, joint interest called for privileged contacts between specialised committees and working groups as well as for bilateral invitations to a number of conferences organised by the Committee of the Regions or the CLRAE during 1999.

207. Members of the Committee of the Regions expressed their strong interest in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and it was decided to distribute the text of this Convention to all the members of the Committee of the Regions.

208. In view of the shared interest in the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), the CLRAE agreed to forward to the Committee of the Regions for information its Opinion which mainly focuses on the situation of non-member countries of the European Union (member States of the Council of Europe) as regards the ESDP.

209. The next meeting of the working group will be held this autumn.

210. In addition, the Congress took part in a meeting organised by the European Commission upon Mr van den Broek’s initiative concerning the respect of political commitments by applicant states for accession to the European Union (Brussels, 6 July 1999). The CLRAE was therefore able to present and forward complete documentation in the field of local and regional democracy via its monitoring reports or reports dealing with the observation of local and/or regional elections in the countries concerned.

211. Some 300 elected representatives and experts from towns and regions and representatives from business and industry in 25 countries took part in the 6^th Economic Forum of the Regions of Europe, organised by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, the Ministry for Justice and European Affairs of the Land of Thuringia, and the Foundation for the Economy and Sustainable Development of the Regions of Europe, which was held in Weimar (Germany) on 3-4 May 1999.

212. Regional development and cultural policies of local and regional authorities were the main subjects of the Forum discussions.

213. Ms Irma Pelponen, Chairwoman of the Committee for Cultural Affairs of the Committee of Regions of the European Union spoke in the working group "Culture 2000 – a European concept for the regions?".

214. DG XVI was particularly well represented: Ms Elisabeth Helander, Director, presented a statement on "Culture and European Regional Policy" and Mr Gilles Gantelet spoke in the framework of the roundtable "Culture and Economy - Partners with Perspectives ?".

215. Furthermore, the European Union contributed to the general organisation with an exhibition of DG XVI on "Culture: Richness of the Regions".

216. The European Commission contributes financially to the activities of the European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity (North-South Centre) with the amount, in 1999, of 500,000 €. The Interdependent, the North-South Centre’s monthly newsletter, as well as number of programme activities of the Centre, are partially financed by this contribution.

217. In the framework of better coordination between the North-South Centre and the European Commission, Ambassador Kirkpatrick, member of the Executive Council of the North-South Centre and Chairman of the Working Group on the Mediterranean, met with Mr. Enrico Cioffi, Director General of DG IB, on 4 March 1999, on the subject of the Centre’s Mediterranean projects and possibility of future collaboration. During the period of the report, a North-South Centre member of staff collaborated closely with the Council of Europe’s Liaison Office in Brussels with the aim of reinforcing the North-South Centre’s relations with the European Commission, especially with DG VIII and DG XXII.

218. Moreover, the North-South Centre is part of Euforic’s (European Forum for International Cooperation) Board of Directors and is one of its founding members. Euforic is an organisation funded in part by the European Commission (DG VIII), which provides on-line service on international cooperation.

219. The North-South Centre published at the end of June 1999 the "Intercultural Dialogue: Basis for an Euro-Mediterranean Partnership". It is a report based on the Conference organised by the North-South Centre in the framework of the 2^nd Euromed Civil Forum, held in Malta in April 1997. This Conference was partially funded by the European Commission (DG IB).

220. The European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) established in 1977 aims to promote the exchange of information among parliaments and to establish close cooperation for documentation purposes between parliamentary libraries and research departments, including access to Community and national databases.

221. The ECPRD is at present co-directed by Mr D. Toornstra from the European Parliament and Mr W. Sawicki from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

222. As a follow up of the participation in the seminar on electronic parliamentary libraries organised by the ECPRD, on 6 November 1998 in Prague, the presentation of the Council of Europe as well as the other papers were transited into the web of the Czech Parliamentary library in March 1999 and can be seen on the address:

http://www.psp.cz/kps/knih/ecprd/program.htm

223. EUROLIB is a cooperation group established on the initiative of the European Parliament in 1988. The objective of EUROLIB is to facilitate appropriate cooperation between the libraries and library-related services of European institutions.

224. SEDDOC organised the assembly meeting in Strasbourg with participation of 23 EU institutions and three observers from ELVIL (Virtual Library of European Legislation) and the Harvard Law School. The agenda comprised the formal business, information by the institutions, special presentation of ELVIL on Virtual Library of European Legislation and demonstrations and presentations by the Council of Europe on the PRIDE (production and Retrieval of Information by Electronics), HUDDOC (Human Rights Case Law) and EDN (European Database Network) projects.

225. The presentations have risen high interest especially in possible exchange of information and experience in using and developing the digital document management products such as PRIDE. Some further discussions and meetings were held in this sense with representatives from OPOCE (Office for EU Official Publications), EIPA (European Institute of Public Administration) and CEDEFOP (European Centre for Development of Vocational Training).

226. The experience and the results of the Council of Europe work in conversion "Dublin Core Metadata - USMARC, in particular with regard to the electronic version of the COE Official Gazette" was appreciated and utilised by CEDEFOP in creation of their own model of meta-data structure.

227. The OPOCE representatives were mainly interested in the experience with digital document management through PRIDE, the data structure for bibliographic records and the standards used for meta-data processing.

228. The EUROLIB mission statement and the rolling program for 1999-2000 has been approved. Apart from other things it includes also a task to explore the ways in which Eurolib may become recognised as a privileged purchaser by suppliers of information as well as building on the EUROLIB/EUR-OP partnership and the possibility of downloading library notices from EUR-OP database.

229. The information on EUROLIB activities, its members and the newsletter are available on address:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg10/libraries/eurolib/eurolib_en.htm

230. The collaboration of the Council of Europe within this group will continue as it enables co-ordination of some activities, exchange of experiences in information service provision and management as well as negotiating advantageous terms in areas of the exchange of information between the European institutions.

231. To enable efficient use of resources after the move of the EP, the negotiations with the EP resulted in carrying out the agreement concerning the use of the micro-collection, the availability of the EU Official Journal and the co-ordination of the maintenance of the micro-media equipment.

232. For getting better overview of the availability of resources, and access to them, one of SEDDOC staff members (managing the EU collection of the Central library) visited the Documentation Centre of the European Parliament in Brussels.

233. Since the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg in July 1999, the PDC (Parliamentary Documentation Centre) has had a small-scale electronic annexe in Strasbourg, very close to the Parliament's new hemicycle (IPE IV).

234. The cooperation established within the Infodoc Section between documentalists and their counterparts at the PDC in Luxembourg and Brussels and/or Strasbourg will continue.

235. The Council of Europe receives free of charge (on the basis of an exchange of documents) the collections of documents of various European Union institutions, in either paper or microfiche form:

- the paper versions in French and English are archived (other language versions are distributed to staff in accordance with their specific interests);

- microfiche archives of the Official Journal in the 12 official languages used from 1952 to the present are made available for independent consultation.

236. The collection is composed of:

- official publications (Official Journal, newsletters, treaties, etc);

- publications for general readership;

- documentary publications;

- periodicals and series;

- statistics;

- parliamentary session documents.

237. It is also possible to have online access to the community databases on the Web and CD-ROM: CELEX, SCAD, EUROPA, EUROPARL, etc.

13^th Quadripartite Meeting
Council of Europe/ Europan Union

(Strasbourg, 10 February 1999)

APPENDIX II

Joint Programmes Council of Europe - European Commission

(currently running programmes)
As of June 1999

1. This representative was elected as member of the Audit Committee when serving as a national representative on the Executive Council, but has since been transferred to the DG X as a national expert, while retaining his personal appointment to the Audit Committee.

2. Official Journal of the European Communities, L 117, 5 May 1999.

3. Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" and Ukraine.