Rapporteur:
Dr Herwig van STAA (Austria, L)
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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
INTRODUCTION
At the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Congress on 15 November 2002, Ambassador Roland Wegener (Germany), in his capacity of Chair of the Working Group GT-Ref.Inst (Ad hoc Working Party on Institutional Reforms of the Ministers' Deputies), took up the invitation of the President of the CLRAE to present the current state of the Deputies’ discussions on the prospects for a third Council of Europe Summit.
In the discussion following that presentation, the President, Dr van Staa, stressed the importance attached by the Congress to the holding of such a Summit and its desire to support this initiative by providing a contribution on the subjects falling within its competence.
In this connection, the Congress decided, on 16 December 2002, to prepare a report and a draft recommendation on the subject and appointed President van Staa rapporteur. The Congress’ report was to provide a tangible contribution to the ongoing discussions in the Parliamentary Assembly and the Ministers' Deputies on this matter, and express the Congress’ support, specifying the themes that it would like to see addressed at the Summit.
The report was prepared in conjunction with the Presidents of the two Chambers: Mr Halvdan Skard (Norway, L) and Mr Giovanni Di Stasi (Italy, R). It was then examined and approved on 7 February 2003 by the Bureau, which authorised its forwarding to all the members of the Congress, in accordance with the rules, before being submitted for examination and vote at the Standing Committee meeting on 21 March 2003.
Previous Summits
The idea of organising a third Council of Europe Summit was put forward in summer 2000, but discussions on the subject intensified in 2002, particularly following the adoption in June 2002 of Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1568 on the future of co-operation between European institutions.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe is himself firmly in favour of this proposal.
To date, the governments of two countries, namely Romania and Poland, have already expressed their willingness to organise the Summit.
It should be remembered that unlike other international organisations the Council of Europe does not hold Summits of Heads of State and Government of its member states at regular intervals. The first Council of Europe Summit was held in Vienna on 10 October 1993 and the second in Strasbourg on 10 and 11 October 1997. Nevertheless there is no intention of institutionalising these summits.
The two Summits saw the adoption of conventions, declarations and specific action plans to guide the Organisation’s work over the ensuing years. It was also at the Vienna Summit that the decision was taken "to approve the principle of creating a consultative organ genuinely representing both local and regional authorities in Europe", in other words the Congress. It was at these summits too that a Single Court was established for the application of the European Convention on Human Rights, the function of Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights was created, the Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities was adopted and a programme and major campaign of action against racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance were launched.
The President of the CLRAE was invited to the 2nd Summit in Strasbourg, where he was able to take the floor.
In the Strasbourg Declaration the Heads of State and Government also acknowledged the fundamental role of the institutions of local democracy in the preservation of stability in Europe, and supported "the efforts of the Council of Europe and of local, regional and national authorities to improve the quality of life in disadvantaged areas: urban and industrialised". A detailed action plan was appended to the Declaration, specifying the action to be taken in preparing the 50th anniversary of the Council of Europe as well as over the ensuing years.
So both these Summits were major events that enabled the Heads of State and Government to forcefully redirect or consolidate the Organisation’s work. In addition, such events provide a great opportunity to raise the Organisation's profile.
The specific European context of the third Summit
As the Parliamentary Assembly has pointed out, Europe has reached a political turning-point, given that the European Union is on the verge of enlargement and is drawing up a Convention on the future of Europe, and the Council of Europe has now virtually completed its own enlargement1. Moreover, the European Union and OSCE Summits are scheduled for autumn 2003 and spring 2004 respectively.
The point of a third Summit is therefore to position the Council of Europe in relation to this historic turning point, with a view to consolidating the Council's acquis and role and also reinforcing its co-ordination and co-operation with the other major European organisations.
At the 111th Session of the Committee of Ministers on 6 and 7 November 2002, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs drew on a report prepared by their Deputies to examine the proposal to organise a third Summit, and indicated their agreement on its importance in the context of an evolving European architecture. They instructed their Deputies to continue their reflections on the various aspects with a view to defining their position on its theme and its organisational arrangements, at their next Session in May 2003.
Future priorities for the Council of Europe
The changing face of European construction necessitates a redefinition and repositioning of the Council of Europe with regard to its fundamental objectives, taking account of its own evolution and the other institutional partners in Europe. The enlargement of the European Union and its development in particular are prompting a review of its powers, which has obvious repercussions for our own Organisation's activities.
The Secretary General had already launched the debate in 2001 by adopting priorities for the years 2001-2005. Those priorities formed the basis for the two integrated projects launched by the Secretary General to cover the three years from 2002 to 2004:
- making democratic institutions work;
- responses to violence in everyday life in a democratic society.
It should be stressed that the CLRAE is making a major contribution to both these projects and is very effectively co-operating with the Organisation’s other sectors in this context (eg European Conference of Mayors against Terrorism (Luxembourg, 20 and 21 September 2002), Conference on Local Partnerships for the Prevention and Combat of Violence at School (Strasbourg, 2-4 December 2002), and revision of the Charter on Youth Participation in Municipal and Regional Life).
Moreover, the CLRAE would in general like to see the approach pursuing a number of cross-sectoral projects on clearly identified priority themes continued in the coming years, because this raises the profile of these activities, increases project efficiency and facilitates long-term planning.
CONCLUSIONS
The principle, date and themes of a third Summit will be decided on at the Committee of Ministers meeting on 14 and 15 May 2003.
The CLRAE contribution to the Deputies’ preparatory discussions for those decisions and the themes to be included in the Summit are set out in a draft Recommendation to the Committee of Ministers, pertaining to the report and to be submitted for examination and vote by the Standing Committee on 21 March 2003.
The draft Recommendation expresses both backing for the holding of a summit and suggestions for themes to be addressed and initiatives for possible inclusion in any detailed action plan adopted.
Finally, the Congress stands ready to pursue dialogue with the Committee of Ministers and the Assembly on this matter and to streamline and supplement its proposals in due course in the light of the guidelines and priorities set for the Summit.
In this connection, if the Assembly's proposal (set out in Recommendation 1578 (2002)) "to hold a colloquy to identify new perspectives reflecting the issues involved in the building of a united Europe, in the light of the aims pursued so far by the Council of Europe" is acted upon, the CLRAE would be happy to take part.
1 See Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1578 (2002) and the report prepared by Mr Prišacaru on "the Council of Europe and the new issues involved in building Europe" and Resolution 1314 (2003) and the report drawn up by Mr Pangalos on "the contribution of the Council of Europe to the Constitution-making process of the European Union".