Lars

Løkke Rasmussen

Prime Minister of Denmark

Speech made to the Assembly

Wednesday, 24 January 2018

All speechesQuestions and answers

Mr President, Mr Secretary General, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I am honoured to stand here today in the heart of Europe and in the halls of the Parliamentary Assembly, as many leaders of Europe have done before me. Almost 70 years ago, 10 nations took the first step to form the Council of Europe. Denmark was one of them. Since then, both Europe and the Council of Europe have come a long way.

Today, 47 member States constitute one of the most important institutions created in Europe since the Second World War. For decades, the Council of Europe has protected and promoted the core values of Europe – human rights, democracy and the rule of law – with great success. The Europe of today is a better Europe – much better. None of us is able to predict the future, but we are obliged to learn from the past.

Throughout its history, Europe has been the cradle of democracy and a centre of enlightenment. But as we all know, it has not always been a continent of peace and freedom. In fact, no continent on earth has produced as much conflict, suppression and man-made devastation within the last 2 000 years as Europe. Yet, on the ashes of the Second World War, true leaders and visionaries wanted to ensure that the darkness of war and prosecution would never again haunt Europe; and, to uphold the peace, the European Convention on Human Rights was born.

The Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights are true jewels. It is our job to make them shine.

Today, the principles of the Convention still constitute the moral and legal guidelines of our European family. The standards of human rights are higher than in any other region of the world. We continue to pursue even better protection of the rule of law standards – standards against which we measure the success of our societies. We must cherish this legacy given to us by the leaders of the past, but we are also obligated to future-proof the solutions of the past and make sure that they fit the challenges of our time.

My ambition is clear. I want to hand over an even better Europe to my children and grandchildren – a Europe where democracy, human rights and the rule of law are upheld as the core values and guiding principles for our everyday life; where no one is exposed to torture or degrading treatment; where prejudice does not taint human relations; where equal opportunities for women and men flourish; and where our children are raised to become the democratic citizens of tomorrow. This requires international co-operation and binding legal rules based on the broad support, ownership and commitment of member States and the people of Europe.

Denmark is – and always has been – a strong supporter of the European human rights system. This is the exact reason why the main priority of the Danish chairmanship will be the continued reform of the European human rights system. An effective human rights system is a benefit for all of Europe. That is why we need an ongoing, honest and open debate about how we ensure the relevance and effective functioning of the Convention system, building on the successes we have achieved and confronting new challenges as they arise. And there are challenges, right now and when looking into the future.

First, there is the significant challenge of inadequate national implementation, particularly in relation to serious, systemic and structural human rights problems in some States. Let me give an example that has given rise to a heated discussion in Denmark. In recent years the Court has clearly identified the problems that several member States face in their prison systems. It has also advised what measures are necessary to solve them. Yet the problems remain in several countries. This is unacceptable not only to the people who are serving their sentences in those prisons, but also to the countries that actually do live up to the minimum standards under the Convention. It is simply not fair that countries such as Denmark end up housing foreign criminals because of the poor prison conditions in their home countries.

Secondly, there is a challenge concerning the interpretation of the Convention. The question has been asked as to whether the Court goes too far in its interpretation and leaves too little room to the national democracies. It is no secret that we have had such discussions in Denmark too. We have seen cases where it has been considered a violation of the right to family life when hard-core foreign criminals are deported to their home countries – decisions that I honestly cannot understand and that do not resonate with the general public’s understanding of human rights.

Questions related to the Court’s jurisdiction and authority are sometimes perceived as an unpatriotic swipe at human rights and the Strasbourg Court. That could not be more wrong; it is quite the contrary. If we care about human rights and preserving the authority of the Court, we must also be able to discuss the difficult questions, openly and honestly. If not, we risk losing public support for human rights and – this is important – we risk losing support more broadly for international co-operation, which would be one of the biggest failures that our generation could produce.

Thirdly, the challenge of the Court’s caseload remains a serious problem. Today, applicants with potentially well-founded complaints regarding serious violations of human rights have to wait for years for their case to be resolved. This is unacceptable.

We have to deal with these challenges together. Together we must remain committed to continuously improving the Convention system, and to taking the necessary steps to ensure its relevance and effective functioning. We need a system that is tougher on countries that do not fulfil their human rights obligations. At the same time, we need a system that does not interfere too much in countries that take human rights seriously. There are indications that the Court is moving in the right direction, and that is very positive. We must support and encourage this development. Important results have been achieved: the efficiency of the Court has been improved; the need for more effective implementation has been emphasised; and, above all, the principle of subsidiarity has been strengthened.

In order to ensure the continued positive developments, in April Denmark will host a conference for ministers in Copenhagen to adopt a political declaration that gives new impetus to the ongoing reform of the Convention system. The process started in Interlaken in 2010 and has continued in İzmir, Brighton and Brussels, and it provides an important opportunity for member States to set the future direction towards a more effective, focused and balanced Convention system – a vision that I fully support. The Convention system was never intended to replace our national institutions in the first place, or to act as a court of fourth instance. Not only is it practically impossible for 47 judges in Strasbourg to handle appeal cases from more than 800 million people; it also risks making the Convention system less relevant, instead of making it an embedded part of our national systems. The system should empower national authorities to do their job.

We should not forget that the member States are the primary protectors of Convention rights. In doing so, they should be given reasonable room for manoeuvre – a margin of appreciation – subject, of course, to the supervision of the Court. This constitutes the concept of shared responsibility. With Protocol No. 15, subsidiarity will move into the text of the European Convention on Human Rights itself. This signals an important step forward towards a better balance between the national and European levels of the Convention system. A key priority for our chairmanship is to ensure that Protocol No. 15 comes into effect. Since we initiated our campaign, eight member States have ratified, but six have not. We encourage those remaining member States to follow suit.

I see absolutely no contradiction between believing passionately that human rights are important and at the same time believing that some decisions that relate to human rights are more appropriately decided at national level. The way forward is to reform in order to preserve, while maintaining focus on the core pillars of the Organisation: human rights, democracy and the rule of law. For a system of shared responsibility to work, there must be an ongoing dialogue between member States and the Court. No one has an interest in a Convention system that is perceived as out of sync by member States or the broader public. This requires an effort from all sides. The Court must listen to member States and their concerns, but as member States we must also communicate more clearly and directly with the Court, explaining our concerns and positions, including on sensitive and difficult issues. Ladies and gentlemen, we hope for the support of all relevant actors in the Council, including the Parliamentary Assembly, in addressing these important issues.

Seventy-one years ago, the late Prime Minister Winston Churchill expressed a great vision. He said that “we must recreate the European family in a regional structure… and the first practical step will be to form a Council of Europe.” That vision became reality. Churchill and his fellow European leaders wanted to reform Europe and make it shine in order to replace darkness with light. They succeeded. Today we need to ask ourselves how we can ensure that the universal rights of the past will continue to be our guidelines in the future. History has taught us that the best way forward is an open-minded and constructive dialogue on the challenges we face and an ambition to make progress. With necessary and clever reforms, we can strike the right balance, and by doing so we will enhance the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights are true jewels. It is our job to make them shine.

Our vision is clear. The tracks have already been laid out and now we must move forward. We hope for your support in doing so. Thank you very much for your attention.