The Council of Europe and the European neighbourhood policy of the European Union

Doc. 10535
29 April 2005

The Council of Europe and the European neighbourhood policy of the European Union

Motion for a recommendation
presented by Mr Van den Brande and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1. The European Union (EU), after its enlargement in May 2004, decided to strengthen its relations with countries in its immediate neighbourhood which were not involved in an accession or pre-accession process in order to share with them the benefits of EU enlargement.

2. The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which resulted from this decision illustrates the high priority that the EU gives to its future relations with its neighbours.

3. Among the countries covered by the ENP (Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine), five are member states of the Council of Europe.

4. Through the ENP, the EU seeks to create a “ring of friends”, to prevent the emergence of new dividing lines and to promote common values.

5. The promotion of respect for human rights, the rule of law and parliamentary democracy are some of the main aims of the Council of Europe which, since 1989, has contributed to building a Europe without dividing lines.

6. The Assembly considers that the EU should make full use of the achievements, programmes and expertise of the Council of Europe when drawing up its action plans for the Council of Europe member states benefiting from the ENP.

7. Therefore, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers engage in a dialogue with the EU in order to discuss the role that the Council of Europe could play as an ideal place to promote and implement the ENP.

Signed ¹:

Van den BRANDE, Luc, Belgium, EPP/CD
ATEŞ, Abdülkadir, Turkey, SOC
CUBREACOV, Vlad, Moldova, EPP/CD
ČURDOVÁ, Anna, Czech Republic, SOC
de PUIG, Lluís Maria, Spain, SOC
EINARSSON, Mats, Sweden, UEL
EÖRSI, Mátyás, Hungary, LDR
GLESENER, Marcel, Luxembourg, EPP/CD
MARGELOV, Mikhail, Russia, EDG
TOSHEV, Latchezar, Bulgaria, EPP/CD

¹     SOC: Socialist Group
      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party
      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group
      EDG: European Democratic Group
      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left
      NR: not registered in a group