The Council of Europe and the EU strengthening their cooperation
Press release 361/2005
17 November, 2005
The development of the Council of Europe in accordance with the policies laid down by the Council Summit as well as closer cooperation with the EU were the main topics on the agenda of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers meeting held in Strasbourg. In the meeting, held on 16-17 November, Finland was represented by Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Markus Lyra, from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The Council of Europe Summit was held last May. The Summit defined an action plan for the next few years confirming human rights, democracy and the rule of law as the basic missions of the organisation.
In his speech, Under-Secretary of State Lyra underscored the Summit decisions that were the most important for Finland. They concern the European Court of Human Rights, the status of the Commissioner for Human Rights, equality between the sexes, as well as rights of children and minorities.
"There is no real democracy if both sexes are not allowed equal participation in the public life. The Council of Europe plays an important role in promoting equality and women’s rights. Next year, the Council of Europe will organise a campaign combating violence against women, including domestic violence. The initiative was made by Finland. The intention is to make clear that, besides being a crime, violence is also a violation of human rights. Planning of the campaign has started rapidly," Lyra commended.
He was also satisfied that the organisation is strengthening its work for children’s rights. In this work, particular attention should be paid to children suffering from discrimination for several reasons, like the children of the Roma.
Lyra reminded that Finland also considers it important that the organisation make its activities more open and efficient. This goal became one of the resolutions made in the Summit on the initiative of Finland, the other Nordic Countries and the Baltic Countries.
The handling of cases in the European Court of Human Rights is seriously backlogged. An 11-member group of experts was recently appointed to contemplate its reform. One of the members is Jacob Söderman from Finland. The group will file its final report in 2007.
In connection with the Committee of Ministers Meeting, Secretary-General of the Council of Europe had invited Prime Minister of Luxembourg Jean-Claude Juncker as his guest. The Summit had asked him to draft a report about strengthening the cooperation between the Council of Europe and the EU. Juncker’s report handles the special areas of expertise, division of tasks, and forms of cooperation between the Council of Europe and the EU. The goal is to put the strengths of each organisation to better use and, at the same time, avoid duplicating the efforts.
The Council of Europe is an inter-governmental political organisation with promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law as its main tasks. The organisation has 46 member states. In the Strasbourg meeting, the chairmanship of the Council of Europe was handed over from Portugal to Romania.
Additional information: Director Johanna Suurpää, Unit for Human Rights Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 40 724 0287