Election of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Doc. 10197
4 June 2004
Communication
Committee of Ministers
Letter from the Chairman of the Ministers' Deputies to the President of the Assembly, dated 19 May 2004
Mr President,
I have the honour to refer to the procedure for the election of the Secretary General and to inform you that the Ministers’ Deputies today adopted Resolution Res(2004)4 containing the list of candidates for the post of Secretary General drawn up by the Committee of Ministers. A copy of the Resolution is enclosed.
Yours sincerely,
Signed:
Torbj�rn FR�YSNES
Chairman of the Ministers’ Deputies
Resolution Res(2004)4
on the appointment to the post of Secretary General
(Adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 19 May 2004
at the 884th meeting of the Ministers' Deputies)
The Committee of Ministers, under the terms of Article 36.b of the Statute of the Council of Europe,
Having regard to the Rules of Procedure for appointment to the posts of Secretary General, Deputy Secretary General and Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly having the rank of Deputy Secretary General;
Having examined the three candidatures presented by the Governments of Austria, Estonia and the United Kingdom;
Having interviewed the three candidates;
Having consulted the representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly in the Joint Committee;
Decides to transmit to the Parliamentary Assembly, for appointment to the post of Secretary General, with effect from 1 September 2004, the following candidatures, listed in alphabetical order, with the names of the sponsoring governments in brackets:
| Mr Terry DAVIS | (United Kingdom) |
| Ms Kristiina OJULAND | (Estonia) |
| Mr Walter SCHWIMMER | (Austria). |
CURRICULUM VITAE
Born 16 June 1942 in Vienna, Austria
Married to Martina Pucher-Schwimmer
Two sons
Education
University of Vienna
Law Faculty, doctorate in law, 1964
Post-graduate studies in social and labour law
Professional career
Union of Private Employees, Law Department, 1964
Austrian Federation of Workers and Employees:
Head of Social Affairs Department, 1971
Head of Political Office, 1976
Vienna Health Insurance Fund:
Head of Department for Fees, Insurance and Audit, 1979
Deputy Director General, 1984, (3 800 employees)
Political career
Member of the Austrian Parliament (Nationalrat) from 1971 to 1999, Vice-Chairman of the parliamentary group of the Austrian People's Party from 1986 to 1994, Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Social Affairs from 1978 to 1989, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Health from 1989 to 1994, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Justice in 1995, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Housing and Construction from 1995 to 1999.
Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Union friendship group Austria-Israel of the Austrian Parliament from 1976 to 1999, Member of the National Board of the Austria-Israel Association from 1973 to 1999, Vice-President from 1977 to 1981, Acting President (after the assassination of the former President, Heinz Nittel) from 1981 to 1982 and President from 1982 to August 1999.
Council of Europe: Member of the Austrian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly since 1991. Chairman of the Group of the European People's Party-Christian Democrats since 1996, Member of the Bureau, President of the Sub-Committee on International Economic Relations, Vice-President of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, Rapporteur on various issues including monitoring of member states (Romania, Slovakia, Turkey), Vice-President of the Assembly in 1996, elected Secretary General June 1999.
Lectures/publications
Lectures on various issues - social, health, housing, general political affairs - in Austria and abroad: France, Germany, CzechRepublic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, UK, USA (before taking office as Secretary General of the Council of Europe):
Christian Unions in Austria, Europa-Verlag, 1975
The Social Consequences of Inflation, Verlag Orac, 1988
A Union Makes History: 100 Years of the Christian Social Workers’ Union, Verlag Holzhausen, 1994.
Numerous articles on issues concerning social, health, housing and general political affairs.
Der Traum Europa, Springer Verlag 2003.
As Secretary General of the Council of Europe: lectures at Moscow State Institute University for International Relations (MGIMO) Moscow (The Russian Federation); The Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Boston (USA); European University, Madrid and Ateneo Cientifico Literario y Artistico de Madrid in Madrid (Spain); Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung in Berlin (Germany); European Forum Alpbach at different venues in Austria; Lumsa University, Rome (Italy); National Institute for Research Advancement (Japan); Shanghai Institute for International Affairs (China); Crans Montana Forum (Switzerland); Universit� Robert Schuman (Strasbourg); “La Sapienza” University, Rome (Italy).
Decorations
Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver with Star for services to the Republic of Austria; Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for services to the Republic of Austria; Grand Medal in Silver for Meritorious Service to the Province of Vienna; Leopold Kunschak Special Prize (1975) Austria; Grand Cross of the Star of Romania (2001); Peter the Great International Prize (2002) Russian Federation; “The Person of the Year” award (2002, Ukraine); 3rd Class Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas; French Legion of Honour (2003); Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of St. Agatha (San Marino 2003); European “Pro Humanitate Award” – European Foundation for Culture, Germany; Medal of the Institute of European Integration, Moscow; Order of the Aztec Eagle, Mexico.
Memberships
Austrian Scientific Council for Work Relations, Vienna; Sigmund Freud Society, Vienna; Society for Social Policy and Social Reform, Vienna; Dr. Karl-Kummer Institut, Vienna; Christian Social Workers’ Union, Vienna.
Hobbies
Books, history, stamps, art
Working languages
German, English, French