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Recommendation 1975 (2011) Final version
Living together in 21st-century Europe: follow-up to the report of the Group of Eminent Persons of the Council of Europe
1. The Parliamentary Assembly takes
note of the Group of Eminent Persons’ report “Living together – Combining
diversity and freedom in 21st-century Europe”, presented on 11 May
2011, on the occasion of the 121st session of the Committee of Ministers
in Istanbul. The Assembly expects that the report will give a fresh impetus
to, and generate a higher political commitment for, a range of current
and future Council of Europe activities, against the backdrop of
the Organisation’s reform process.
2. The analysis of the Group of Eminent Persons provides a basis
for further reflection on Europe’s future which should involve politicians,
non-governmental organisations (NGOs), trade unions, youth organisations and
academics, as well as representatives of religions, the media and
local authorities from different backgrounds and countries. On several
issues, the group’s findings corroborate positions already taken
by the Assembly, while in some cases suggesting different ways of
achieving similar goals. The challenge has been, and still is, to
ensure implementation in a situation which the group correctly refers
to as a “crisis of leadership”.
3. For its part, the Assembly is ready and willing to contribute
to the changes which are needed to ensure greater cohesion in European
societies, so that everyone may fully benefit from living together.
It therefore wishes to share with the Committee of Ministers its
own reflections on the matter and propose concrete ways of implementation
of the proposals within the remit of its competences and priorities.
4. Europe is multicultural and European peoples have proved their
capacity to live together in diversity and build together their
common future. Although multiculturalism is facing increasing difficulties
at national level in various European countries, the Assembly firmly
believes that assimilation is not an alternative. The response to
these difficulties is an intercultural approach which implies an
active interaction among the culturally different groups within
society in order to develop the best model of living together. The
strengthening of common European values and identity should be promoted
in a way which does not eliminate the different cultures of specific
groups, but preserves and incorporates their specificities in the
common European framework. This process can be endangered by growing
populist, xenophobic and identity politics and similar such rhetoric coined
for short-term electoral purposes, and the Assembly therefore calls
on member states to develop policies to prevent such negative practices.
5. Respect of one’s own culture helps to understand the culture
of others and accept differences as normal and enriching. Apart
from respect for the law as an important part of the democratic
culture, other cultural elements should also be taken into account.
6. People coming lawfully to live in a country should not be
expected to leave elements of their identity (faith, language, culture,
etc.) behind. However, they are expected to show willingness to
integrate into the society of their new country, by not only learning
its language, but also gaining knowledge and understanding of the
local culture, and they must respect democracy, human rights, including
the rights of women, and the rule of law. The communities of origin
should not ostracise those who choose to change their faith or culture.
7. As the Assembly has stressed time and again, education is
the main tool – but not the only one – against misleading information
and stereotypes about specific groups. Moreover, education is indispensable
to individual and societal welfare and cultural development, without
which democracy, human rights and the rule of law would lose their
foundations. The capacity to be open to and value diversity is highly
dependent on quality education. An emphasis on teacher training
should be added to the specific recommendations of the Group of
Eminent Persons in this area. The work of the Council of Europe
in areas such as education for democratic citizenship or history
teaching should be enhanced.
8. In this context, the Assembly recalls the 1999 Committee of
Ministers Declaration and Programme on education for democratic
citizenship, based on the rights and responsibilities of citizens,
and believes that their implementation could substantially contribute
to the development of a European spirit within society. It thus urges
member states to strengthen the implementation of the 1999 programme,
as well as the more recent Council of Europe Charter on Education
for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education, adopted by the
Committee of Ministers in 2010, taking concrete steps adapted to
their local specificities.
9. The Assembly recalls its Resolution 1754 (2010) on the fight
against extremism: achievements, deficiencies and failures, in which
it “regrets that the challenge of establishing a more ethical attitude
in politics, when dealing with issues related to race, ethnic and
national origin, and religion, is still to be met”. Elected representatives
have a special responsibility to change the situation both as individuals
and as members of the bodies to which they are elected, be it at
local, regional, national or international level. The Assembly reiterates that
politicians have a special responsibility to eliminate from political
discourse negative stereotyping or the stigmatising of any ethnic,
minority or migrant group, be they present or not within the borders
of their states. They should promote a message of non-discrimination,
tolerance and respect for people from different backgrounds.
10. The Assembly regrets that, as stated in several passages of
the report of the Group of Eminent Persons, women from minority
groups are particularly affected by marginalisation. This situation
must be addressed as a priority, not only to ensure gender equality
but also to strengthen women’s potential to act as a bridge between
their communities and society at large, by educating children in
a culture of diversity and dialogue and helping them reconcile multiple
identities.
11. The Assembly wishes to stress the need to focus on youth and
implement youth rights as an investment in Europe’s cohesion and
future. Youth policies should be at the core of member states’ strategies
aimed at building up “living together” societies. In this respect,
national authorities should adopt specific measures to encourage
youth participation in economic and democratic life, and offer all
young people equal opportunities to contribute to the development
and well-being of their societies. In addition, more attention should
be paid to the potential of sport as a powerful tool to further
intercultural dialogue and living together among young people.
12. The Assembly also stresses the central role the media can
play in strengthening democracy, the respect of fundamental rights
and the development of culture. It believes that the Council of
Europe should strengthen its relations with the media world.
13. The Assembly considers that an important role can and should
be played by the European Centre for Global Interdependence and
Solidarity (North-South Centre); appropriate means should be given
to it in order to develop a specific comprehensive “living together”
programme, including the educational, intercultural and youth policy
dimensions, to support development in non-member countries of the
Mediterranean region.
14. The Assembly, prompted by the relevant proposals and recommendations
made by the Group of Eminent Persons, resolves, for its part, to:
14.1. initiate its own reflection
on ways to encourage politicians and elected representatives at
all levels to speak out on the challenges raised at present by the
threats to the European project and solidarity;
14.2. pursue reflection on the proposal for an annual forum
against extremism, while keeping in mind the necessity for the Assembly
to maintain its capacity for rapid reaction in the face of new disturbing developments;
14.3. consider organising jointly with the European Commission
against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), and in co-operation with
all relevant sectors of the Organisation and, possibly, the European Parliament,
a conference to take stock of best practices and shortcomings in
the implementation by member states of the 2003 Charter of European
Political Parties for a Non-Racist Society, as well as the 2005
Declaration on the use of racist, antisemitic and xenophobic elements
in political discourse and the earlier Committee of Ministers Recommendation
No. R (97) 20 on “hate speech”;
14.4. consider organising an Assembly campaign to promote the
European Convention on Nationality (ETS No. 166) and the Convention
on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level
(ETS No. 144);
14.5. address the issue of ageing societies in Europe, inter alia through appropriate family
support policies;
14.6. address the democratic deficit resulting from the lack
of democratic participation of migrants, Roma and other groups susceptible
to marginalisation.
15. Recalling that in Recommendations
1927 (2010) on Islam, Islamism and Islamophobia in Europe, 1933 (2010) on the
fight against extremism: achievements, deficiencies and failures,
and 1962 (2011) on
the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue, the Assembly
addressed a number of concrete proposals to the Committee of Ministers
with respect to the fight against extremism and the promotion of
intercultural dialogue calling for “a new culture of living together”,
it urges the Committee of Ministers to consider those proposals also
in the light of the recommendations of the Group of Eminent Persons.
16. The Assembly further recommends that the Committee of Ministers,
in implementing the recommendations of the Group of Eminent Persons,
give priority to the following issues:
16.1. promote further the European Convention on Nationality
and the Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public
Life at Local Level;
16.2. consider launching a major campaign on “living together”,
along the lines of the two “All Different – All Equal” campaigns;
16.3. explore the possibility of enhancing the role of the Council
of Europe Development Bank in integration projects in member states;
16.4. call on member states to build cultural bridges by encouraging
their citizens to familiarise themselves with and respect the culture,
language, traditions and history of immigrant groups;
16.5. consider the development of guidelines addressing both
the rights and responsibilities of migrants and the links between
them through, as a minimum, a code of good practice on living together, possibly
leading at some stage in the future to a framework convention;
16.6. take urgent measures to implement Assembly Recommendation 1963 (2011) on
combating poverty, to improve access for people experiencing poverty,
in particular from migrant and minority communities, to all human
rights (civil, political, economic, social and cultural);
16.7. examine the steps needed to guarantee the basic rights
of irregular migrants and their children, recognising that many
of these people are exploited and cannot or will not be returned
to their countries of origin;
16.8. reinforce all its programmes aimed at assisting member
states in the design of sound educational policies and the proper
implementation of the right to education, with no discrimination,
in particular as regards people from disadvantaged, minority or
migrant backgrounds, in order to combat the educational and cultural
divide in our societies;
16.9. enhance the work of the Council of Europe in the areas
of education for democratic citizenship based on the rights and
responsibilities of citizens, which should include education in
multiculturalism, and history teaching with a special emphasis on
teacher training;
16.10. establish pilot projects on intercultural dialogue with
local authorities, schools and higher education institutions and
media in member states, including, where possible, a multilateral
dimension in such pilot schemes;
16.11. call on representatives of religions to contribute, when
appropriate, to the debates on common values, common heritage, protection
of religious freedom, respect for human rights and democratic citizenship
and the fight against terrorism, xenophobia and intolerance;
16.12. create a regular process to assess the development of
intercultural dialogue in member states, including a thematic European
forum on intercultural dialogue to be organised periodically;
16.13. have regular contacts with the main European media networks,
with a view to further implementing the Council of Europe recommendations
on training, ethics and content production issues;
16.14. fully integrate gender mainstreaming in the implementation
of the recommendations of the Group of Eminent Persons;
16.15. propose positive measures to member states to avoid the
risk of women from minority groups being subjected to double discrimination
– compared to men and compared to other women – and to promote their
active participation in social, economic and political life;
16.16. promote the signature and ratification of the Council
of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against
Women and Domestic Violence (CETS No. 210).
17. The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers, in
implementing the recommendations of the Group of Eminent Persons,
take specific measures to ensure the protection of those who are
particularly vulnerable or at risk of exclusion and marginalisation,
enabling them to live in dignity. In this connection, the Assembly
stresses that everyone is entitled to respect for social rights,
and these cannot be denied. The Council of Europe, in its Committee
of Ministers Recommendation No. R (2000) 3 on the right to the satisfaction of
basic material needs of persons in situations of extreme hardship,
stressed that this right should contain as a minimum the right to
food, clothing, shelter and basic medical care.
18. The Group of Eminent Persons proposes to appoint a high-level
special representative mandated to bring the content of the report
to the attention of political leaders and monitor its implementation.
In this respect, the Assembly recalls that, in its Recommendation 1928 (2010) on
democracy in Europe: crisis and perspectives, it proposed that “a
high-profile personality, a sort of a delegate for democracy, [be
entrusted with the task of] … disseminating, on a permanent basis,
the Council of Europe’s message on democracy-related issues of major
current interest”. The Assembly believes that the two proposals
are not mutually exclusive and that a possible way forward would
be for one and the same person to embrace both the actions proposed
by the group and those proposed by the Assembly and invites the
Committee of Ministers to examine this proposal.
19. The Group of Eminent Persons proposes to offer a special status
in the Council of Europe to countries of the southern and eastern
Mediterranean shores and of Central Asia. The Assembly recalls its
status of “Partner for Democracy” for parliaments of countries in
neighbouring regions and its Resolution
1818 (2011) on the request for Partner for Democracy
status with the Parliamentary Assembly submitted by the Parliament of
Morocco and Resolution
1819 (2011) on the situation in Tunisia. In view of recent
developments on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean,
the Assembly wholeheartedly supports ways of bringing countries
from that region closer to the Council of Europe.
20. The Assembly resolves to pursue its reflection on this matter, inter alia by organising a conference, involving
the Secretary General, representatives of the Committee of Ministers
and of the Group of Eminent Persons, the rapporteur and other members
of its Political Affairs Committee, as well as the rapporteurs of
the other committees seized for opinion, in order to deepen and
enlarge the debate related to the development of our multicultural
societies. Following this conference, an action-based agenda for
the Council of Europe should be set during a ministerial session,
and this should feed into any future Council of Europe summit of
heads of state and government.