Parliamentary Assembly
Assemblée parlementaire

Doc. 10903
20 April 2006

The Head of State as a democratic institution

Motion for a resolution
presented by Mr Platvoet and others

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

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe considers that:

The democratic functioning of the institutions of the member states is one of the main principles of the Council of Europe.

Therefore the Council of Europe has paid much attention in the past to the functioning of the different institutions as well as having made proposals to improve the democratic functioning of these institutions.

The Head of State is undoubtedly an important institution within every state; and the member states of the Council of Europe do have a great variety of ways in which the institution of the Head of State functions within the rule of law and democratic standards.

Most of the member states by far, (35) are a republic with a president, who is chosen by the population or by the parliament; a minority of the member states (11) is a constitutional monarchy, where the function of the Head of State is hereditary.

The different forms of the way the institution of a head of state is established and the different ways they are embedded in the laws and constitution of each member state have also a meaning for the democratic functioning of the institution ‘Head of States’.

It is recommended to make a survey of the political position of the institution ‘Head of States’ in the member states of the Council of Europe, from which we can be inspired to learn from each other.

Signed 1:

PLATVOET, Leo, Netherlands, UEL
ATEŞ, Abdülkadir, Turkey, SOC
BIBERAJ, Aleksander, Albania, EPP/CD
DZEMBRITZKI, Detlef, Germany, SOC
EINARSSON, Mats, Sweden, UEL
ETHERINGTON, Bill, United Kingdom, SOC
FLYNN, Paul, United Kingdom, SOC
GROSS, Andreas, Switzerland, SOC
KOX, Tiny, Netherlands, UEL
ĜSTERGAARD, Morten, Denmark, ADLE
ÖZAL, İbrahim, Turkey, EPP/CD
PANGALOS, Theodoros, Greece, SOC
PERNASKA, Lajla, Albania, EPP/CD

1     SOC: Socialist Group
       EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party
       ALDE: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
       EDG: European Democratic Group
       UEL: Group of the Unified European Left
       NR: not registered in a group