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Resolution 1640 (2008)
Use by Assembly members of their dual parliamentary role – both national and European
1. The Parliamentary Assembly of the
Council of Europe, founded in 1949, is the oldest and largest European
parliamentary institution. It currently brings together 636 members
from national parliaments of 47 countries. The Assembly provides
them with a forum for work and co-operation on human rights, democracy and
the rule of law, which are the core values it strives to defend.
2. The Assembly provides an international and European debating
platform for the member states’ parliamentarians, who come from
diverse cultures and horizons. At the same time, it offers national
parliaments an opportunity to take advantage of its activities in
order to improve the situation in their own countries.
3. The Assembly is convinced that its members’ dual parliamentary
role, national and European, makes it possible, firstly, to heighten
parliamentarians’ awareness of human rights, rule of law and democracy
issues, thereby helping to promote them at national level, and,
secondly, to draw the international community’s attention to problems
that may exist in a member state or a given region. In addition,
the Assembly notes this dual role’s growing usefulness in a world
where European and national issues are increasingly interlinked.
4. It is conscious of the need not to intrude upon the institutional
and constitutional responsibilities of the Assembly and national
parliaments, as well as the need to recognise that members of the
Assembly have additional heavy demands that compete for their time.
5. Nevertheless, the Assembly believes that its work deserves
a higher profile in the member states and their national parliaments
and that the dual role of Assembly members leaves them uniquely
placed to raise the profile of the Assembly in their countries.
6. The Assembly therefore:
6.1. calls
on the Bureau of the Assembly to:
6.1.1. single out a small number of texts, which reflect the
Assembly’s core values, for communication to national parliaments
and to national delegations, in the hope and expectation that national
delegations will determine appropriate follow-up action on such
texts in their national parliaments;
6.1.2. ensure that the effectiveness of such measures is periodically
evaluated to ensure that they are properly targeted by simultaneously
uniting members of the Assembly and attracting domestic support;
6.1.3. review plans to ensure that the Assembly’s desired outcomes
are attainable;
6.2. calls on its committees to:
6.2.1. be concerned, in the context of the preparation of specific
reports, with the views of relevant committees in the national parliaments;
6.2.2. pay due attention to the concerns of national parliaments
regarding possible subjects of debate and reports in the Assembly’s
committees;
6.2.3. monitor closely, in co-operation with the representatives
of national delegations, the follow-up given in the national parliaments,
if any, to adopted texts emanating from the Assembly’s committees;
6.2.4. specifically consider how to engage with members of national
parliaments who are not members of the Assembly when meetings and
other activities of the Assembly are being held in a particular
state;
6.3. calls on its members to:
6.3.1. promote Assembly work and documents based on the core
values of the Council of Europe in their national parliaments;
6.3.2. monitor the implementation in their national parliaments
of texts adopted by the Assembly and take such action as is considered
appropriate to achieve their implementation;
6.3.3. inform relevant committees of the Assembly of topics relevant
to the work of the Assembly that are debated in their national parliaments;
6.4. calls on the national parliaments of the member states
to consider the possibility of:
6.4.1. dealing
with questions raised by the Assembly in their appropriate specialised committees;
6.4.2. initiating a review of their procedures for dealing with
the texts adopted by the Assembly with the aim of identifying appropriate
action;
6.4.3. promoting periodic examination of the state of ratification
of Council of Europe conventions and identifying any necessary national
action;
6.4.4. monitoring the execution of judgments of the European
Court of Human Rights by the national authorities and take all necessary
measures for their rapid and efficient execution;
6.4.5. establishing a mechanism for considering the conformity
of national legislation with the case law of the European Court
of Human Rights;
6.4.6. seeking involvement, at national level, in the preparation
and implementation of the programme of the chairmanship of the Committee
of Ministers when their country holds the chairmanship;
6.4.7. holding an annual debate on the activities of the Council
of Europe if such is not already the case in their national parliament;
6.4.8. systematically drawing up reports on the activities of
the Assembly through the intermediary of the national delegations;
6.4.9. considering how to mark the 60th anniversary of the creation
of the Council of Europe in a significant manner, either by parliamentary
debate or other appropriate means.
7. The Assembly asks the Secretary General to ensure that its
communication methods through electronic means and the Internet
are continually updated using new technological developments with
a view to enhancing the effectiveness of communication about the
work of the Assembly and thus the visibility of the Council of Europe.