Speech by President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 24.1.2001
Closer cooperation in Europe and the organisations involved
The Council of Europe has great importance as an organisation that is uniting the whole of our continent and removing dividing lines from within it. Respect for human rights and promoting pluralistic democracy and the rule of law are important in their own right, but they are also an indispensable part of this process of integration. When the Cold War ended, new states with a commitment to democracy came into being in our continent. Supporting their development has been an especially demanding task, but also a rewarding one.
I want to congratulate all of us who have been involved in taking up the challenge of rapid enlargement, even if I am well aware that there are problems, also ones to be dealt with during this session. Meeting the requirements of membership and above all upholding and further developing them are difficult processes both with respect to their contents and politically. It is absolutely right to demand that member states genuinely respect democracy and human rights. It is also wise to see correctly-pitched interim goals and to encourage and support member states in their efforts to achieve them. Without the Council of Europe's courageous work, the integration of our continent would have taken place at a much slower pace and been less stable.
Cooperation between the states of Europe is continuing to broaden and deepen. Both the European Union and NATO are still in the process of enlarging. In addition to that, the EU is currently implementing difficult integration-related decisions. The decisions already made, not to mention the visions of the future, will require a strong democratic structure in the states involved. The closer our cooperation is, the more we shall be exposed to the weaknesses of each individual state and of the international cooperative systems that we have created. The same phenomenon is also visible globally. Nevertheless, the advantages of a world of open cooperation greatly outweigh its risks. It will pay to take the challenge up once again.
Several organisations are contributing to the development of European integration. Multilateralism is a good thing also on the European level, but it presupposes co-ordination. I can tell you in the light of my own experience that cooperation between the Council of Europe, the European Union and the OSCE is a lot better today that it was ten years ago. Similar efforts in the cause of peace, human rights and democracy in the western Balkans and Caucasus regions provide good examples of this. However, there is still room for improvement in co-ordination of functions. Non-governmental organisations should be drawn into this work more than has been the case to date.
Something that we must likewise do better in every member state is ensure that the national delegations to various organisations strengthen cooperation between themselves. Failures in communication can occur between officials working with, for example, the EU and the Council of Europe or the OSCE. Nor do members of the same legislative assembly or government always adequately coordinate their actions within different organisations. A fact that further underlines the need for co-ordination is that European organisations receive their funding from largely the same sources.
European actors have a very similar perception of security risks. The general perception is that the biggest risks stem from shortcomings in democracy and failures in implementing the rule of law and especially human rights. It is essential that practical implementation of political rights and of economic, social and cultural rights extends also to minorities. It is a difficult way of preventing crises, but also the most effective, one that appeals most to all, and it is even the least expensive.
In crisis management we need more effective cooperation between European states as well as between international organisations. Such steps, which are taken to improve crisis management, are welcome, but the emphasis should lie on the prevention of crises and on ensuring flexible cooperation between military and civilian crisis management. Unfortunately armed forces seem to be needed in stopping and preventing violence, but no society can depend on them indefinitely. Resolving conflicts and building societies require both the means that civilian crisis management provides and a functioning civil administration. In this work, the Council of Europe is irreplaceable.
Free and fair elections and equal political rights are hallmarks of democracy. In addition to them, every democratic system should respect all human rights, civil and political as well as economic social and cultural rights. Inequality and exclusion undermine confidence in the ability of the system to function and reduce willingness to participate in public decision-making.
Representative democracy gives the majority a right to make decisions that apply to all. Along with this right comes a responsibility to protect the status of minorities. The majority must also take into account that every state is obligated to guarantee that the rights of minorities are implemented without discrimination. It is of utmost importance that members of minorities participate in decision-making processes.
In all European countries, discrimination still exists in many different forms. Often, it is directed against members of minorities. Last year, both the Council of Europe and the European Union made pioneering progress on the normative side to strengthen non-discrimination. I believe that the stronger anti-discrimination rules now approved will in time lead to a better human-rights situation for European minorities. But prohibitions are not enough on their own; we must also bring positive measures to bear in order to lessen inequality.
The Roma are a real pan-European minority. In no country are they the majority, nor are they often seen in key tasks or influential professions. That is why there are very few voices to speak for them. It is really high time for us to take up the Roma cause vigorously. It is a genuine touchstone for human-rights policy in an integrating Europe. The problem will not be solved through mass-emigration nor even assimilation. Our goal must be that their human rights including minority rights are implemented in every European country.
Both private and official bodies are guilty of discriminating against the Roma. They are very commonly discriminated against when they seek housing or work. Many of them have had to experience violence because of their ethnic origin. It is very important that both the police and the courts take a very serious view of these cases. Inequality in the educational system threatens to sow the seeds of today's problems in the next generation as well. It is excellent that several countries have revised their legislation in this respect. But international agreements oblige governments also to be active in promoting non-discriminatory implementation of human rights.
Minorities must be guaranteed the opportunity to participate, on different levels of administration, in decision making that concerns them. In many countries, advisory bodies with members representing both minorities and administrations, have proved to be an effective way of getting the views of minorities across to decision makers. This I can confirm on the basis of personal experience, because we in Finland have advisory bodies of this kind to deal with questions concerning both our Roma and our Sámi minorities.
The Sámi Council, created in 1956, is nowadays a joint representative body for the Sámi of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. It is appointed by the Sámi Conference, which meets every four years. In the three Nordic countries where they live - Norway, Sweden and Finland - the Sámi have their own assemblies, the members of which are elected on a system of proportional representation.
The Sámi population's experience of its regional representative body has been positive. It makes interaction within the minority closer and ensures that the interests of this minority are safeguarded more effectively in all of the states in the region. It quickly brings the best ideas and practices to the awareness of decision makers in all of the countries involved.
I know that work to improve the status of Roma is being done within the Council of Europe. The OSCE has likewise stepped up its efforts The Helsinki summit in 1999 gave new emphasis to this issue within the EU. But we must further strengthen our cooperation if we are to achieve results.
I propose that serious consideration be given to a need to create for the Roma some kind of consultative assembly to represent them on the pan-European level.
I have spoken at length about the rights of minorities, because this is a problematic field even in the developed democracies. Sometimes, however, also majorities find it difficult to obtain equal rights. Women and girls constitute 52 per cent of the total population of Europe. These 380 million people are very commonly the target of discrimination.
It will soon be 95 years since Finnish women became the first in the world to attain full political rights. Women won 19 of the 200 seats when the first parliament was elected under the new system in 1907. However it was not until last year a woman was elected President. The pace of development varies from country to country, but we can probably agree that in most cases it is agonisingly slow.
Today, most European women enjoy equality before the law where their civil and political rights are concerned. Unfortunately, equality on the statute books has not been followed by equality in practice. Equal pay has fled like a mirage from those that aspire to it and in all member states remains far from having been implemented. Throughout Europe, women are the victims of violence, also within the family I am sorry to say. My own Finland is no exception. Europe has seen an alarming increase in trafficking in women, which demeans human dignity. The Council of Europe's work to wipe out this evil trade deserves the support of all of us.
I want to urge the Council of Europe to be bolder in highlighting gender equality. It would be very natural for the Council to redress shortcomings in the status of women in the formerly communist countries, where for historical reasons the ideal of equality was often without real meaning. This is a task of central, essential importance in order to consolidate democracy and therefore also in preparing applicant countries for EU membership. Nor should we blind ourselves to shortcomings in older member states. Sufficient resources must be made available for gender-equality work if results are to be achieved.
I congratulate the Parliamentary Assembly for having in 1998 established its Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men and preserved its independence at a time when other committees had been disbanded. It is gratifying that also men are interested in working for equality and are seeking a new male role. I want to give you my full support. Nevertheless, let us not forget that for a long time to come achieving a situation of equality in practice will still require that improving the status of women remains in the focus of work for equality.
All of us receive in childhood an immeasurably valuable gift in the form of one or several mother tongues. Our mother tongue is the key to the development of our personality and thinking, and the foundation on which this development takes place. It is only by learning one's mother tongue early and well that a good ability to learn also in later life can be ensured.
Europe is a hatchery for a great diversity of cultural languages. It is a continent that has succeeded especially well in cherishing the idea of having one's own written language, which is an important means of preserving national, regional and minority cultures. It is good that we nowadays have the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the specific purpose of which is to promote linguistic diversity. I sincerely hope that states will accede to the Charter as soon as possible. Let us also hope that measures to implement it are planned with a view to strengthen the position of the languages that they are meant to help.
As a country where several small languages are spoken, Finland has a special interest in preserving Europe's richly-diverse linguistic heritage. A growing and internationalising flood of communications has created a new situation for small languages. Nevertheless, their importance for the personal development of individuals and in shaping both local and national cultures has not changed. Finland has strengthened her laws protecting minority languages and is working to ensure that they are passed on to posterity. Finnish and Swedish are themselves quite small languages on the European scale of things and we consider it important to be able to promote their vitality.
I am very pleased to see that, in the European Year of Languages 2001, Latvia has made linguistic diversity a central theme in the programme for her Presidency. I congratulate Latvia on her decision to arrange a conference dedicated to small languages in the Europe of the 21st century and hope her Presidency will bring added weight to this important matter.