Resolution CM/Res(2016)3
Participatory status for international non-governmental organisations with the Council of Europe
(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 6 July 2016
at the 1262ndmeeting of the Ministers' Deputies)
The Committee of Ministers,
Recalling the Council of Europe’s statutory aim to achieve a closer unity between its members for the purpose of safeguarding and realising the ideals and principles which are their common heritage, and facilitating their economic and social progress;
Considering that the achievement of this goal and the fulfilment of these missions cannot be realised without constant sensitivity to public opinion and to the driving forces in European society, which are constantly evolving;
Considering that the existence of an active civil society and its non-governmental organisations (hereafter NGOs), which are a vital component of European society, is an important and indispensable element of democracy;
Recalling that the existence and functioning of free and independent NGOs is an important part of the exercise of the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, of assembly and of association, protected by the European Convention on Human Rights;
Considering the essential role of counterbalance played by NGOs in a pluralist democracy to intensify the active participation of all in conducting public affairs and to promote responsible democratic citizenship based on human rights and equality between women and men;
Convinced that initiatives, ideas and suggestions emanating from civil society can be considered as a true expression of persons living in the member States of the Council of Europe;
Considering that the system of co-operation introduced by consultative status in 1952 and, since 2003, by participatory status, largely permitted the development and strengthening of co-operation between the Council of Europe and the voluntary sector, giving positive and particularly encouraging results for both parties;
Considering that it is indispensable that the rules governing the relations between the Council of Europe and NGOs evolve to reflect the active participation of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) in the Organisation’s policy and programme of activities, and to facilitate INGO participation and access to such bodies as the intergovernmental committees and other subsidiary bodies of the Committee of Ministers and the monitoring bodies of Council of Europe treaties in accordance with the texts in force. This participation will allow the INGOs to continue to draw the Council of Europe’s attention to the effects of changes in European societies and the problems facing them;
Noting that the development and reinforcement of this co-operation between INGOs and the Committee of Ministers and its subsidiary bodies, as well as with the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, has led to the “Quadrilogue” which is, within the Council of Europe, an expression of democratic pluralism and an essential element for the further development of an inclusive Europe;
Wishing, through the present rules, to reflect the active and constructive role of NGOs, and to clarify, facilitate and intensify the co-operation between the Council of Europe and the INGOs, in particular underlining its participatory character;
Recognising the important role of the Conference of INGOs as the representative body of all of the INGOs enjoying participatory status with the Council of Europe,
Hereby decides to adopt the rules for participatory status appended to this resolution which replace the rules established by Resolution Res(2003)8.
Appendix to Resolution CM/Res(2016)3
Rules for participatory status for INGOs at the Council of Europe
1. The Council of Europe may establish working relations with INGOs by granting them participatory status if they fulfil all the conditions set out below.
Conditions to be met by INGOs
2. Participatory status may be granted by the Council of Europe to INGOs:
a. which respect and defend the values and principles of the Council of Europe;
b. which are able, through their work, to support the achievement of that closer unity mentioned in Article 1 of the Council of Europe’s Statute;
c. which are created on the basis of a constitutive act adopted according to democratic principles;
d. which have a democratic structure and governance;
e. which are particularly representative in the field(s) of their competence, fields of action shared by the Council of Europe;
f. which are represented at European level, that is to say which have members in at least five member States of the Council of Europe;
g. which were created and have implemented activities at least two years before the moment of applying for participatory status;
h. which already have working relations with the Council of Europe;
i. which are capable of contributing to and participating actively in Council of Europe deliberations and activities;
j. which are able to make known the work of the Council of Europe to society.
Modalities of participation
3. The INGOs enjoying participatory status:
a. may address memoranda to the Secretary General;
b. shall have access to the agenda and public documents of the Parliamentary Assembly in order to facilitate their attendance at public sittings of the Parliamentary Assembly;
c. are invited to the public sittings of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and to contribute to its work according to its rules;
d. are invited to attend seminars, conferences, colloquies of interest to their work according to the applicable Council of Europe rules;
e. may be invited to contribute individually or through the Conference of INGOs to the work of intergovernmental committees in accordance with the terms of Committee of Ministers’ Resolution CM/Res(2011)24;
f. may be invited to provide, through their specific activity or experience, expert advice on Council of Europe policies, programmes and actions;
g. may request to be registered on the list of INGOs entitled to lodge collective complaints in the framework of the Additional Protocol to the European Social Charter which foresees a system of collective complaints (Article 1b);
h. are invited to co-operate closely with the Commissioner for Human Rights, notably by communicating to him any information that they deem to be useful for his mission of promoting respect for human rights;
i. may be consulted by the Secretary General, in writing or by means of a hearing, on questions of mutual interest.
4. The INGOs enjoying participatory status shall undertake to:
a. promote the respect of the Council of Europe’s conventions and legal instruments in the member States;
b. contribute to the implementation of Council of Europe standards and policies in collaboration with local, regional and national NGOs;
c. participate actively in the sessions and the work of the Conference of INGOs;
d. keep themselves regularly informed of Council of Europe activities and developments in standards;
e. furnish, either spontaneously or at the request of the Council of Europe’s different bodies, information, documents or opinions relating to their own field(s) of competence on matters which are under consideration or which could be addressed by the Council of Europe;
f. give maximum publicity to the initiatives and achievements of the Council of Europe in their own field(s) of competence;
g. disseminate information on Council of Europe standards, instruments and activities, to their members, on a regular basis, and ensure that they too work actively to fulfil the requirements of the participatory status;
h. submit every four years a report to the Secretary General which should specify:
- their participation in the work of the various Council of Europe bodies, the capacity in which they attended and their contribution;
- their attendance at events organised by the Council of Europe, the capacity in which they attended, the contribution they made and any follow-up action;
- their participation at and contributions to the sessions and the work of the Conference of INGOs;
- any events which they themselves have organised, in particular those dealing with the promotion of the Council of Europe’s aims, values and legal instruments;
- any action they have undertaken with a view to ensuring respect of Council of Europe standards and to publicising its work.
Procedure for the granting of participatory status
5. An INGO wishing to obtain participatory status shall submit a request to the Secretary General which must contain the following documents, in French or English, preferably in both of these official languages of the Council of Europe:
a. the INGO’s statute;
b. a list of its member organisations with a French or English translation of the title of these organisations as well as an approximate number of members in the different countries;
c. an activity and a financial report covering the previous two years;
d. a declaration to the effect that it accepts the principles set out in the Statute and other basic texts of the Council of Europe;
e. the official application form on which it states clearly:
- why it is applying for participatory status with the Council of Europe;
- how it considers it will be able to contribute to and participate in the activities of the Council of Europe as set out in its current programme of activities;
- in what way it feels able to make such a contribution (studies, reports, previous work in the field concerned, expertise of its members in the area concerned, etc.);
- what working relations have already been established with the Council of Europe departments;
- by what means and to which audience it would publicise the work of the Council of Europe.
6. The Secretary General will communicate the names of the INGOs to which he or she intends to grant or refuse participatory status to the Standing Committee of the Conference of INGOs for its opinion. The Standing Committee’s opinion must be expressed within 30 calendar days of the Secretary General’s communication.
7. The decision to grant participatory status to an INGO shall be taken by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe based on the criteria mentioned above.
8. The decision of the Secretary General will be communicated for tacit approval to the Committee of Ministers, to the Parliamentary Assembly and to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. This decision will be accompanied by the names of the INGOs concerned, those items from the relevant files which are necessary for the assessment of each case, the Secretary General’s reasons for suggesting they be granted or refused participatory status, as well as any comments received from the Standing Committee. In the absence of any objection founded on the conditions set out in the paragraph below, the decision of the Secretary General will enter into force 60 calendar days after the date of the Secretary General’s communication.
9. During the 60 calendar day period mentioned in the paragraph above, a member of the Committee of Ministers, or ten members of the Parliamentary Assembly from five different national delegations, or ten members of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe from five different national delegations, may request that an examination be made of the file of any applicant INGO. In the former case, the examination shall be made and the decision to grant participatory status shall be taken by the Committee of Ministers. In the latter case, the Committee of Ministers shall defer its decision until it has received a recommendation from the Parliamentary Assembly or the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities acting on a report from their competent committees.
Procedure for the withdrawal of participatory status
10. The Secretary General may withdraw participatory status from an INGO if, in his or her opinion:
a. it has failed to comply with its obligations under the rules set out in paragraphs 2 and 4 above;
b. it has taken any action which is not in keeping with participatory status and the values and standards of the Council of Europe;
c. it no longer has any activity included in the Council of Europe's programme of activities.
11. The Secretary General shall review periodically the list of INGOs with participatory status. The review shall be based on the report submitted by the INGOs every four years or, in the case of paragraphs 10.a and 10.b, on the basis of an ad hoc report requested by the Secretary General.
12. He/she shall first inform the INGO in question of his or her intention to withdraw its participatory status in order to give it an opportunity to present its observations within 30 calendar days.
13. The Secretary General will communicate the names of the INGOs from which he or she intends to withdraw participatory status to the Standing Committee of the Conference of INGOs for its opinion. The Standing Committee’s opinion must be expressed within 30 calendar days of the Secretary General’s communication.
14. The withdrawal of participatory status from an INGO is the subject of a reasoned decision by the Secretary General.
15. The decision of the Secretary General will be communicated for tacit approval to the Committee of Ministers, to the Parliamentary Assembly and to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. This decision will be accompanied by the names of the INGOs concerned and his or her reasons for suggesting the withdrawal of participatory status, as well as any comments received from the Standing Committee. In the absence of any objection founded on the conditions described in the paragraph below, the decision of the Secretary General will enter into force 60 calendar days after the date of the Secretary General’s communication.
16. During the 60 calendar day period mentioned in the paragraph above, a member of the Committee of Ministers, or ten members of the Parliamentary Assembly from five different national delegations, or ten members of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe from five different national delegations, may request that an examination be made of the file of each INGO whose name has been communicated to them. In the former case, the examination shall be made and the decision to withdraw participatory status shall be taken by the Committee of Ministers. In the latter, the Committee of Ministers shall defer its decision until it has received a recommendation from the Parliamentary Assembly or the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities acting on a report from their competent committees.
Sundry provisions
17. The procedure described above shall not restrict the right of the Council of Europe bodies to initiate any action concerning other NGOs in pursuance of their respective rules of procedure.
It should also not prevent the Secretariat of the Council of Europe from considering practical co-operation on an ad hoc basis with other NGOs in any field of mutual interest.
18. An INGO whose application for participatory status has been refused or which has lost it may submit a fresh application after a period of two years following the date of the aforementioned decision.
19. The present rules will enter into force following their adoption by the Committee of Ministers and will apply to all INGOs which have obtained participatory status on the basis of Resolution Res(2003)8.
20. The INGOs enjoying participatory status will be required to submit their first report four years after the entry into force of these rules.