24/6/2013 - revised

Opening statement

by Mr Jean-Claude Mignon

President of the Parliamentary Assembly

Third part of the 2013 ordinary session

(24 – 28 June 2013)

(strasbourg, monday 24 june 2013, 11.30 am)

Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you once more to Strasbourg. Our debates will again focus on the issue of respect for our values and standards. With 47 members, including all the European States, we are truly able to address this question from a pan-European standpoint. At the same time, the problems we are facing are so complex that they require a joint, co-ordinated response by all the European players, in particular the Council of Europe and the European Union. Our two organisations – the essential pillars of the European project – must speak with one voice when it comes to respect for standards in the fields of democracy, human rights and the rule of law!

Since a rapprochement between the Council of Europe and the European Union is one of the priorities of my term of office, I am very pleased to see the tangible progress we have made in co-ordinating our political messages. I am regularly in contact with Stefan Füle, the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, who addressed the Assembly in January, and we have established very positive relations with our European Parliament colleagues. I regret that the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, was obliged to cancel his planned visit to Strasbourg during this part-session. I nonetheless hope that we will rapidly reach agreement on a future date for this visit. Moreover, next week I have been invited to a meeting with the European Parliament's Democracy Support and Election Co-ordination Group, at the instigation of Mr Brok and Ms Joly, the Group's Co-Chairs, so as to discuss the joint initiatives we could take at the parliamentary level.

There are indeed many challenges that we must take up together, and I wish to share with you some ideas for concrete ways of intensifying our co-operation.

Firstly, it is a question of working together to accompany democratic reforms throughout Europe. By way of illustration, I can cite three significant examples:

The first concerns five member States of our Organisation – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine – which are taking an active part in the Eastern Partnership of the European Union and are engaged in negotiations on association agreements with the EU. In this context the Eastern Partnership summit, to be held in Vilnius this autumn, will be an important step in materialising these countries' European perspective. It is our responsibility to provide them with political support and expertise with a view to stepping up reforms and accelerating the finalisation of the association agreements.

The second example concerns Georgia and Azerbaijan, which will both be holding autumn presidential elections that will constitute a litmus test for their democratic institutions. During my recent visits to Baku and Tbilisi I called on the authorities, and all political forces, to ensure that these elections take place in a pluralist context meeting international standards. Today, just a few months before the elections, I consider that the Council of Europe and the European Union must make a united effort to intensify our co-operation with these two countries, particularly through the joint programmes, thereby permitting them to prepare for the elections under good conditions.

The third example concerns South-East Europe, a region where our joint action is equally essential. During my recent official visit to "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", I commended the work being done by our European Union colleagues – in particular Commissioner Füle, the European Parliament Rapporteur, Mr Howitt, and the former European Parliament President, Mr Buzek – which has permitted the conclusion of an agreement between majority and opposition parties following the events which took place in December 2012. At the same time, it is essential to enhance the reform efforts in this country, especially as regards the functioning of parliamentary democracy, so as to prevent similar incidents in future. In this connection, I hope that Mr Walter's excellent report on the post-monitoring dialogue with Skopje will provide a solid political foundation for launching new joint co-operation programmes with the European Union, so as to support this country in its European integration process.

Dear colleagues,

During the last part-session our Monitoring Committee declared itself in favour of opening a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary. This proposal is not without its detractors within the Assembly, and at its meeting in Yerevan the Bureau came out against opening such a procedure. We have to discuss this matter in plenary session, and the Assembly will be examining a draft resolution concerning this request tomorrow afternoon.

I consider that this debate is crucial for our Assembly, especially as we are all by and large in agreement regarding certain constitutional and legislative changes recently adopted in Hungary, which are raising concerns in terms of respect for our standards, as confirmed by a number of opinions issued by the Venice Commission on the subject. We now have to react to this situation in the most appropriate manner, conducting a constructive dialogue with the authorities so that they bring their legislation and practice into line with our standards.

More generally, I am convinced that our Assembly's monitoring procedure is a proven means of action. The quality of the Monitoring Committee's reports is acknowledged by all our partners and member States. At the same time, I am sure we can further improve this instrument and make it more dynamic, so as to provide all our member States with the support best suited to the reforms they are pursuing.

No one is perfect! We have to help one another and learn from each other so we can move forward better together. This is, to my mind, the philosophy of the Assembly's monitoring procedure. We will moreover have an opportunity to discuss this informally at the meeting of the Chairs of the national delegations, who have made many proposals in this area, which I look forward to discussing with them and with the Chair of the Monitoring Committee, who will make an introductory statement.

Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues,

I wish to conclude by saying how pleased I am that the work of our Assembly attracts a lot of interest in our member States and the partner countries. During this part-session we will be welcoming the Speaker of the Parliament of Armenia – the country currently chairing the Committee of Ministers – and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Morocco.

I also welcome the participation of a representative of the French government – Ms Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, my country's Minister for Women's Rights – in the debate on tackling discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity to be held on Thursday.

Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for your attention and wish you an excellent session.