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A. Draft resolution
(open)
Report | Doc. 15675 | 05 January 2023
Building the Open Council of Europe Academic Networks (OCEAN)
Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media
Summary
Universities and research institutes can play an important role in upholding Council of Europe values, facilitating the implementation of Council of Europe conventions and building greater unity between all member States, with positive repercussions on European democratic institutions and societies. The report discusses the work and high potential of the OCEAN project and related academic networks.
Governments and parliaments can greatly benefit from the co-operation of scholars to revise their legislation in the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, and to ensure higher compliance with these core values. The full implementation of principles and standards enshrined in the Council of Europe convention system requires resources, strengths and talents of all sectors of civil society, including scholars, scientists, schools, students, regional and local authorities, social workers as well as non-governmental organisations. The OCEAN project will help in bringing these stakeholders together, reinforcing their co-operation and impact of their action.
The report makes recommendations that are key to the project’s success, in particular the provision of adequate funding, including via voluntary contributions by member States as well as the European Union. National parliamentarians are also invited to raise awareness on this initiative among universities and research institutes, encouraging them to support the creation of national thematic academic networks, under the OCEAN umbrella, and to join them.
A. Draft resolution 
(open)1. The globalisation of research
and innovation has intensified over the last decade, particularly
in terms of collaborative research, technology development and mobility
of researchers.
2. The Parliamentary Assembly firmly believes that universities
and research institutes have a key role to play in addressing Europe’s
challenges, such as upholding the primacy of the rule of law, the
fight against corruption, the promotion of social rights, the end
of gender-based violence, the need to address climate change, the
challenges of biomedicine and the integration of migrants.
3. The full implementation of the values and standards enshrined
in the Council of Europe convention system requires resources, strengths
and talents of all sectors of civil society, including scholars,
scientists, schools, students, regional and local authorities, social
workers as well as non-governmental organisations.
4. Apathy and disenchantment with these values and the rise of
populism, nationalism and new ideas of what constitutes “the people”
and “the elites” create social conflicts and continue to challenge
the realisation of human rights in all European societies.
5. The Assembly is convinced that the impact and visibility of
the Council of Europe must first and foremost be measured on the
ground. Only the wide sharing of common values by society can guarantee
the effective implementation of Council of Europe standards. Researchers,
students, social workers, and local authorities in various sectors
can further embrace our shared values which in turn have an impact
on their work and daily lives. Everyone contributes because everyone
benefits from the standards developed by the Council of Europe.
6. The Assembly notes that European universities and research
institutes are hitherto still a largely untapped resource for the
promotion of the Council of Europe convention system. They remain
the drivers of innovation and creative thinking and can be considered
a universal heritage; they produce skilled human capital, including
the next generation of European policy makers, facilitate policy
discussions and drive change.
7. Universities have the potential of strengthening their role
as human rights, democracy and rule of law incubators and of creating
a fertile ground to support the implementation of the European Convention
on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) and all other Council of Europe conventions.
Their capacity of mobilising the collective intelligence of civil
society at all levels should be reinforced.
8. The Assembly therefore welcomes the Open Council of Europe
Academic Networks (OCEAN) initiative which aims at strengthening
co-operation between the Council of Europe and universities and
research institutions in a mutually enriching interaction.
9. It wishes to praise the work of two existing networks which
are already working on key priorities, namely the Academic Network
on the European Social Charter and Social Rights (ANESC), set up
in 2006 at Council of Europe level, and the Italian “Universities
in network against gender violence” (UN.I.RE) network, set up in 2019
and entirely funded by the Italian Government. These can serve as
a model for future thematic networks working on other Council of
Europe conventions, such as the Convention for the Protection of
Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application
of Biology and Medicine (ETS No. 164, Oviedo Convention) and the
Conventions under the Enlarged Agreement on the Group of States
against Corruption (GRECO).
10. In the light of the above, the Assembly calls on all Council
of Europe member States to:
10.1. recognise
the role universities and research institutes have, and should be
able to play, in upholding Council of Europe values and entrenching
them in the social fabric, and in facilitating the implementation
of Council of Europe conventions and building greater unity between
all member States;
10.2. raise awareness among universities and research institutes
about the OCEAN initiative, via Ministries of Universities and Research,
with a view to setting up national thematic networks, supported by
an appropriate legal structure, or joining existing ones;
10.3. provide adequate financial support to such networks and
encourage universities and research institutes to make available
funds that are earmarked for the professional travel of academic
staff and to the contribution of their expertise and work time;
10.4. consider making voluntary contributions to support the
OCEAN initiative at European level, following the example of the
Italian Government, with a view to strengthening expertise and capacity building,
and contributing to the exchange of information, data, researchers,
curricula and experiences at European and international level, also
through international conferences, joint degrees, PhDs. or other research
programmes;
10.5. in line with Resolution
2352 and Recommendation
2189 (2020) “Threats to academic freedom and autonomy of higher
education institutions in Europe”, pay special attention to integrate
the assessment of academic freedom into the OCEAN initiative, providing
a framework for regular evaluation and dialogue;
10.6. closely co-ordinate with the European Higher Education
Area (EHEA) members, also in the framework of its Task Force on
Enhancing Knowledge Sharing in the EHEA community.
11. The Assembly also calls on the European Union to consider
supporting financially the OCEAN initiative thereby sending a strong
political signal, in particular with regard to the conventions which
it has signed.
12. The Assembly stresses that parliamentarians may benefit from
the expertise of the academia when it comes to scrutinise draft
legislation against Council of Europe convention standards and oversee
their governments’ action in the implementation of the judgements
of the European Court of Human Rights. Therefore, the Assembly also
encourages national parliaments of all Council of Europe member
States to:
12.1. contribute to the
efforts to recruit universities, research institutes and individual
academics, who are already providing expertise to relevant parliamentary
committees;
12.2. organise parliamentary hearings with the participation
of representatives of the academic world and relevant Council of
Europe experts to encourage the creation of national thematic academic networks,
under the OCEAN umbrella.
B. Explanatory memorandum by Ms Marta Grande, rapporteur
(open)1. Introduction
1. In 2018, Mr Michele Nicoletti,
Professor of political philosophy at the University of Trento and
at that time President of the Parliamentary Assembly, advanced the
idea of setting up academic networks at a European level. Based
on this idea, the Council of Europe launched the initiative of Open
Council of Europe Academic Networks (OCEAN), which aims at strengthening
co-operation between the Council of Europe with universities and
research institutions in a mutually enriching interaction.
2. In December 2020, Professor Nicoletti presented a feasibility
study which outlines the project’s objectives and benefits for the
Organisation and its member States, and discusses the environment,
risk assessment, and project funding and sustainability. He introduced
this project to our committee at a hearing on 21 April 2021; the
motion for a resolution (Doc. 15299) of June 2021, the origin of the present report, stemmed
from this hearing
3. After my appointment as rapporteur on 29 September 2021, the
committee held hearings on 4 March 2022, in Paris, with the participation
of Dr Chantal Cutajar from the University of Strasbourg, Member
of the OCEAN Advisory Board, and on 10 May 2022 in Rome, with the
participation of Ms Maria Cristina Messa, Minister of University
and Research, Italy, Professor Nicoletti, Professor Marina Calloni,
co-ordinator of the UN.I.RE network (Universities in network against
gender violence), Italy, and Professor Giovanni Guiglia, General
Coordinator of the ANESC network (Academic Network on the European
Social Charter and Social Rights). The committee also had the opportunity
to further exchange with Professor Nicoletti on 11 October 2022,
in Strasbourg. I am grateful to all these experts for their contributions,
on which my report also builds.
2. The concept: Council of Europe-academia enhanced synergy
4. Culture, education and research
play a significant role in strengthening the European construction
and its underpinning of pan-European values and standards. The United
Nations (UN) has also created a network of universities, the UN
Academic Impact (UNAI), to support and contribute to the implementation
of UN goals, including the promotion and protection of human rights,
access to education, sustainability and conflict resolution.
5. In 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron relaunched a post-war
idea of founding a European university. The European Commission
rapidly launched the European Universities Initiative, dedicating
a budget of €287 million to establishing nearly 40 European university
networks, with the goal of enhancing “the quality, inclusion, digitalisation
and attractiveness of European higher education” and of serving
as a mechanism to tackle challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic
and climate change.
6. The Council of Europe OCEAN project is designed to be an additional
tool to support the implementation of Council of Europe conventions
at national and European levels. The aim is to develop exchanges
in various fields of academic life, so that universities and research
institutes in the 46 member States can provide input and ideas to
the Organisation for the implementation, revision, further development
and dissemination of its conventions.
7. As stressed by Professor Nicoletti when speaking before our
committee, the relationship between, on the one hand, human rights
and, on the other hand, science and education is essential for tackling
the challenges of climate change, data protection and artificial
intelligence, and many others.
8. European values are not only a matter of conventions, regulations
and institutions, but also of culture, ideals and convictions. This
is particularly true in times of crisis and must be nourished also
within universities which are the cradle of education and training
of future generations. Europe was not a creation of the 20th century
but of the Middle Ages when scholars shared the same language and
culture in a network of ancient universities. Only nationalism was
able to weaken these ties, that were fortunately strengthened again after
the Second World War. To implement and revise legal instruments
in the field of human rights, governments needed the co-operation
of scholars. The Council of Europe also needs to strengthen partnerships
with young generations, who are ready to play an active role in
defending our shared values.
9. All universities in the 46 Council of Europe member States
would be invited to join the project, with a view to setting up
systematic co-operation among universities, especially through young
scholars. This could improve the visibility of the Council of Europe,
and its conventions could be analysed in universities, providing the
Organisation with improved access to research data and academic
studies.
10. Other benefits for the Organisation include: better domestic
implementation of and higher compliance with the conventions; improved
access to comparative multi-disciplinary research; collection of
best practices; a growing pool of experts on specific conventions;
academic think tanks for further development of legal instruments
and practices; academic legal monitoring of trends in the development
of national and international legislation; observatories of national
legislation; national hubs co-ordinating national thematic networks; compilation
of annual reports, databases and state-of-the-art research and the
introduction of conventions into university curricula.
11. For their part, universities can organise joint courses, PhD
scholarships, PhD best dissertation awards or book series, master’s
programmes, research project consortia, joint training programmes
for academics or professionals, summer schools and offer a truly
European curriculum in line with the values and standards upheld
by the Council of Europe. Young scholars can devote dissertations
to the Council of Europe’s conventions and thus, by contributing
to a growing scholarship body, assume full ownership of the principles and
standards of Council of Europe conventions.
12. At the first stage, co-operation agreements will be concluded
with academic partners (universities, research institutes etc.).
These will determine the scope of the co-operation, the partners’
tasks and logistics, the financial input, etc.
13. On 6 July 2022, an online conference on the Istanbul Convention
tried to sound out the possibilities of founding OCEAN networks.
On 1 September 2022, French anti-corruption specialists met under
the OCEAN umbrella to discuss the possibility of founding an OCEAN
anti-corruption network in France.
14. The project will initially focus on establishing networks
related to three Council of Europe conventions: a) the Council of
Europe on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic
violence (CETS No. 210, Istanbul Convention); b) the Conventions
under the Enlarged Agreement on the Group of States against Corruption
(GRECO) and c) the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of
Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine
(ETS No. 164, Oviedo Convention).
14.1. An
Italian national and European network on the Istanbul Convention
as a model network has already been established and is currently
under expansion. Other, similar national networks are in the process
of being founded in France, Spain, Türkiye, with the prospect of
establishing also a regional Eastern European network.
14.2. Furthermore, a French network on the Conventions under
the Enlarged Agreement on the GRECO met on 26-27 November 2022,
in Strasbourg, to conclude the formal foundation of a national network
under OCEAN.
15. The project will be funded through voluntary contributions
from member States, the European Union, and possibly also by private
actors as well as to some degree, from the ordinary budget of the
Council of Europe.
16. OCEAN is currently seeking financial support, mostly via voluntary
contributions, and the Italian Government has been the most supportive
so far. Türkiye and the United Kingdom have also expressed interest
in the project. In addition, universities and co-operating partners
will be asked to use resources already available to them.
17. Recent events highlight a demand from universities, research
institutes and individual academics to set up further national networks,
under the project umbrella, which should by supported by our governments.
18. Another important objective is to support universities and
young students from countries which are suffering aggressions and
violations of human rights such as Ukraine.
3. Existing networks and OCEAN’s potential for further development
19. Prior to OCEAN, the following
networks have been established over the years, in the context of
the work of the Council of Europe:
19.1. The Academic Network on the European Social Charter and
Social Rights (ANESC) was established by the Secretariat of the
European Social Charter in 2006 as a non-profit association of academics. It consists of almost 200 members
from 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland,
Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Switzerland,
Türkiye and Hungary. It is divided into 9 national sections: Belgium,
France, Greece, Ireland/United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Portugal,
Romania and Türkiye. The network contributes to the promotion of
social rights from a European perspective via education and training,
research, legal expertise and contributions to national and international
judicial procedures, mostly in an amicus
curiae capacity.
It consists of almost 200 members
from 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland,
Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Switzerland,
Türkiye and Hungary. It is divided into 9 national sections: Belgium,
France, Greece, Ireland/United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Portugal,
Romania and Türkiye. The network contributes to the promotion of
social rights from a European perspective via education and training,
research, legal expertise and contributions to national and international
judicial procedures, mostly in an amicus
curiae capacity.19.2. At national level, UN.I.RE (Università
in rete contro la violenza di genere, Universities in
network against gender-based violence) is an Italian network of ten universities
whose objective is to contribute to the implementation of the Istanbul
Convention. This initiative stemmed from the universities’ co-operation
with our Assembly for the establishment of a prize for the best
degree or doctoral thesis on violence against women, and was funded
by the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Department
of Equal Opportunities. It is now open to all Italian universities,
research centres and researchers interested in the topic; its activities
include training, research, data collection and raising awareness
of society with a view to affirming a culture of respect for gender
identities. UN.I.RE is entirely funded by the Italian Government.
Universities were able to offer training for students as future professionals
in the fight against gender-based violence, in co-operation with
local authorities, associations, health and legal professionals
as well as national and international institutions.
is an Italian network of ten universities
whose objective is to contribute to the implementation of the Istanbul
Convention. This initiative stemmed from the universities’ co-operation
with our Assembly for the establishment of a prize for the best
degree or doctoral thesis on violence against women, and was funded
by the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers, Department
of Equal Opportunities. It is now open to all Italian universities,
research centres and researchers interested in the topic; its activities
include training, research, data collection and raising awareness
of society with a view to affirming a culture of respect for gender
identities. UN.I.RE is entirely funded by the Italian Government.
Universities were able to offer training for students as future professionals
in the fight against gender-based violence, in co-operation with
local authorities, associations, health and legal professionals
as well as national and international institutions.20. The OCEAN network was officially launched as a European network
on the occasion of a conference organised jointly by UN.I.RE and
OCEAN in Rome on 10 May 2022, with the participation of the Italian
Ministry of Universities and the Italian Ministry of Culture.
21. On the same day, Professor Calloni and Professor Guiglia spoke
in great detail at our committee meeting in Rome about their experience
and lessons learnt, highlighting the positive impact of the networks’
activities on public policies as well as on international co-operation.
22. Professor Guiglia also pointed to a greater awareness of the
national courts about social rights and an increased involvement
of all domestic and international jurisdictions to promote the implementation
of the European Social Charter (ETS No. 35) in all contracting States.
He stressed that a greater involvement of academic networks would
require a legal structure and appropriate political and financial
support.
23. The impact of networks’ activities on national jurisdictions
and policies also highlights the need to ensure academic freedom
and autonomy of higher education in Europe, which was the focus
of Assembly Resolution 2352 and Recommendation
2189 (2020).
24. The Council of Europe is very active in this area, also in
the framework of the Council of Europe Reference Framework of Competences
for Democratic Culture, the project on the democratic mission of
higher education and its contribution to the further development
of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which is mapping the de facto and de
jure state of academic freedom within the EHEA.
25. In my view, this is an important aspect to consider when setting
up or expanding existing academic networks under the OCEAN umbrella,
in particular in those countries ranking low in the Academic Freedom Index
(AFI), where the academic community is not free to engage in research,
teaching, learning and communication with society without fear of
reprisal.
26. The EHEA also set up a Task Force on Enhancing Knowledge Sharing
in the EHEA community, following the Rome Communiqué commitment
to building a more closely connected and sustainable higher education
community, which fosters inclusion, communication, co-operation,
and solidarity that are essential for the relevance and excellence
of the future of EHEA. The OCEAN project can be a valuable contribution
to these efforts and the Council of Europe should closely co-ordinate
with EHEA members.
27. Additional academic networks may be established over the years
to focus on key areas of interest for the Organisation, such as
the protection of minority rights and children rights, the need
to tackle climate change and the protection of the rule of law.
28. The Council of Europe is currently setting up a dedicated
website to recruit universities, research institutes and individual
academics. A book series related to Council of Europe conventions
is also about to be launched. National parliaments could also contribute
to this effort, in particular in the framework of relevant parliamentary
committees, which may have already established contacts with the
academic world.
29. According to OCEAN’s feasibility study, some sectors within
the Organisation also stand out in terms of the scope of academic
co-operation and have the potential to be included in the future
OCEAN system, as the project and networks expand and integrate more
conventions.
30. The most widely used tool to disseminate in-depth knowledge
about Council of Europe Conventions is Human Rights Education for
Legal Professionals (HELP), providing online courses primarily targeted
to non-academic practitioners, along with a multitude of publications
and information documents and tools. Prompted by Assembly Resolution 2039 (2004) “The European Convention on Human Rights: the need to
reinforce the training of legal professionals”, HELP started small
in 2005 and has developed into a fully-fledged programme, enhancing
the capacity of judges, lawyers and prosecutors in all 46 member
States and beyond. This also provides an excellent model for OCEAN’s
potential and future developments.
31. The committee’s debate also underlined the need to pay special
attention to the commercialisation of higher education. Co-operation
between universities and public institutions is helpful to maintain
knowledge and science as public goods. However, private actors could
also be involved in a mutually enriching interaction.
4. Concluding remarks and recommendations
32. The globalisation of research
and innovation has intensified over the last decade, particularly
in terms of collaborative research, technology development and mobility
of researchers. Universities have a key role to play in addressing
Europe’s challenges, such as upholding primacy of the rule of law,
the fight against corruption, the need to address climate change
and the integration of migrants.
33. All of these are also key areas for the Council of Europe,
both at the intergovernmental level and through parliamentary diplomacy,
and require the resources, strengths and talents of civil society,
scholars, scientists, and students, as well as non-governmental
organisations.
34. Many success stories of the Council of Europe, such as the
European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission),
Eurimages, the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS), the European
Pharmacopoeia, are all based on joint projects and partial agreements
in which everyone contributes because everyone benefits. The focus
is on the prevention of violations of the convention system, rather
than punishment.
35. The full implementation of the Council of Europe’s values
and standards enshrined in the convention system requires the involvement
of all sectors of civil society. The impact and visibility of our
Organisation must be first and foremost measured on the ground.
Only when these values are entrenched in the social fabric can the
effective implementation of Council of Europe standards be guaranteed.
36. Citizens, non-governmental organisations, local authorities,
schools and universities can make a difference in a society in which
human rights and democracy prevail. Researchers, students, social
workers, and local authorities in various sectors can further embrace
the values of the conventions because these in turn have an impact
on their work and daily lives. Everyone contributes because everyone
benefits from the standards developed by the Council of Europe.
37. European universities and research institutions are hitherto
still a largely untapped resource regarding the promotion of the
conventions system. They remain the drivers of innovation and creative
thinking and can be considered a universal heritage; they produce
skilled human capital, including the next generation of European
policy makers, facilitate policy discussions and drive change. They
truly have the potential to become human rights, democracy and rule
of law incubators and create a fertile ground to support the implementation of
the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) and all other
Council of Europe conventions.
38. In the words of Professor Nicoletti, “the Council of Europe
suffers from a lack of recognition and deserves to be better known”.
Council of Europe conventions’ capacity to mobilise the collective
intelligence of civil society at all levels should be reinforced.
39. The OCEAN network is meant to bring together all academia
in Europe to rethink the meaning of being European and the values
upon which Europe stands, in a continent shaken by the war in Ukraine.
40. Global and European networks of universities, research institutes,
and individual academics co-operating with international and European
organisations, have started to flourish over the last decade. These networks
can better achieve the scale and synergies needed to tackle European
challenges and make Europe a continent where democracy, human rights
and the rule of law prevail.
41. At Council of Europe level, the existing ANESC and UN.I.RE
networks are already working on key priorities, namely the need
to combat gender-based violence and strengthen social rights in
Europe. Those networks can serve as a model for future thematic
networks working on other Council of Europe conventions.
42. Current and future university networks would greatly benefit
from the involvement of policy makers at local, regional, national
and international levels, depending on the issue discussed. This
would create better synergies between research and policy making
and facilitate the implementation of the convention system from the
bottom up.
43. Parliamentarians may benefit from the expertise of the academia
in scrutinising legislation against Council of Europe convention
standards and oversee their governments’ action in the implementation
of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
44. Thanks to the contacts members of parliament may already have
with the academic world, the relevant parliamentary committees in
all 46 parliaments should also bring their contribution to the current
efforts to recruit universities, research institutes and individual
academics, which will be facilitated by the OCEAN project website,
which is currently being set up.
45. As stressed by the representatives of existing networks, greater
involvement of academic networks requires a legal structure and
appropriate political and financial support. Our Assembly should
call on all Council of Europe member States as well as the European
Union to consider supporting the OCEAN project and send a strong
political signal, in particular regarding the conventions which
the EU itself has signed, such as the Istanbul Convention.
46. The Assembly should also invite Council of Europe member States
to closely co-ordinate with the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)
members, also in the framework of its Task Force on Enhancing Knowledge
Sharing in the EHEA community.
47. In line with Resolution
2352 and Recommendation
2189 (2020) “Threats to academic freedom and autonomy of higher
education institutions in Europe”, special attention should be paid
to integrate the assessment of academic freedom into the preparatory
and implementation phases of OCEAN networks, providing a framework
for regular evaluation and dialogue on the situation of each partner.
48. At the committee hearing in Rome, Professor Nicoletti proposed
that the Council of Europe launches its own Conference on the future
of Europe, such as the one recently organised by the European Union,
and invited universities and research centres to consider the future
of greater Europe and of the whole Organisation. In his view, students,
professors and researchers can become the best allies and ambassadors of
the Council of Europe.
49. For several years, the Assembly has consistently called for
the organisation of a 4th Summit, which has been repeated in a number
of texts adopted since the outbreak of the large-scale aggression
against Ukraine, in particular Opinion 300 (2022) “Consequences of the Russian Federation's aggression
against Ukraine” of 15 March 2022 and Resolution 2433 (2022) and Recommendation
2228 (2022) “Consequences of the Russian Federation's continued
aggression against Ukraine: role and response of the Council of
Europe” of 27 April 2022.
50. In its Ministerial Conference in Torino, on 20 May 2022, the
Committee of Ministers “invited the Secretary General to set up
a High-level Reflection Group to consider the Council of Europe’s
responses to new realities and challenges and to start reporting
back to its Deputies at the earliest possible opportunity and no
later than the handover meeting between the Irish and Icelandic
Chairmanships”. The Ministers decided to review the Council
of Europe’s priorities in the light of the new reality and to consider
the desirability of a 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government
of the Council of Europe, as recommended by the Assembly in a number
of texts adopted since the outbreak of the large-scale aggression
against Ukraine which started on 23 February 2022.
The Ministers decided to review the Council
of Europe’s priorities in the light of the new reality and to consider
the desirability of a 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government
of the Council of Europe, as recommended by the Assembly in a number
of texts adopted since the outbreak of the large-scale aggression
against Ukraine which started on 23 February 2022.51. On 24 June 2022, the Bureau of the Assembly decided to set
up an ad hoc Committee on
the 4th Summit of Council of Europe Heads of State and Government, and the Committee on Political Affairs
and Democracy is preparing a report on The
Reykjavik Summit of the Council of Europe: United around values
in the face of extraordinary challenges. On 7 November
2022, the Committee of Ministers formally decided to hold a 4th Summit
on 16-17 May 2023 in Reykjavik, Iceland.
and the Committee on Political Affairs
and Democracy is preparing a report on The
Reykjavik Summit of the Council of Europe: United around values
in the face of extraordinary challenges. On 7 November
2022, the Committee of Ministers formally decided to hold a 4th Summit
on 16-17 May 2023 in Reykjavik, Iceland.52. This may offer our Assembly the opportunity to call for the
reaffirmation of member States’ commitment to the centrality of
the Council of Europe convention system, and to encourage the Council
of Europe to further integrate and support independent national
actors, such as research institutes and universities, under the OCEAN
umbrella, with a view to facilitating the implementation of Council
of Europe conventions and building greater unity between Council
of Europe member States.