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22 September 1995
Doc. 7373
REPORT
on the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference
of the European Union
(Rapporteur: Mr MASSERET,
France, Socialist Group)
Summary
The Intergovernmental Conference of 1996 (IGC) will significantly affect not only the European Union but the whole of Europe.
As a pan-European structure, the Council of Europe should contribute to the debate.
Governments of member states of the European Union should take account of the 'acquis' of the Council of Europe and its contribution to preparing central and east European countries for Union membership. For these reasons, Article 230 of the Treaty of Rome should be revised.
The Assembly proposes to strengthen its relations with the European Parliament.
The Committee of Ministers should open the way for the Community to accede to the Convention on Human Rights, the Cultural Convention and the revised Social Charter.
I. Draft recommendation
1. The Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) of the European Union, which is to be held in 1996, will have to take some important decisions for the revision of the Treaty on European Union.
2. A reflection group was set up on 2 June 1995 to prepare for this conference.
3. Three objectives are on its agenda: to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the European Union, to make the Union's policies more consistent and to prepare for enlargement of the Union to include the countries which have applied for membership.
4. The reflection group is to submit its conclusions in December 1995 at the meeting of the European Council in Madrid.
5. The decisions taken on these matters will have implications for the other European institutions. It is therefore proper for the Council of Europe to make its position known straight away, in order to make its contribution to the preparations for the IGC.
6. Relations between the European Union and the Council of Europe are based upon Article 230 of the Treaty of Rome and on the institutional Arrangement concluded on 16 June 1987. These provisions should be revised, in particular in the light of the Council of Europe's significant contribution to preparing central and east European countries for Union membership.
7. There is regular co-operation in several sectors of activity, and the European Community has also acceded to seven Council of Europe conventions.
8. Co-operation on assistance to the countries of central and eastern Europe, to which the Community makes a large contribution, began recently.
9. At this stage, it would be appropriate to take the opportunity of the 1996 Inter-Governmental Conference to put practical and more rapidly achievable proposals to the European Union.
10. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers.
i. propose a revision of Article 230 of the Treaty of Rome, so that the European Community recognises therein the Council of Europe's achievements and role in respect of the definition of the rule of law and the monitoring of legal and democratic standards of the pan-European society, and inclusion of membership of the Council of Europe as a condition for accession to the European Union;
ii. draw the attention of their governments (in particular those of the European Union member states) to:
a. the considerable 'acquis' of the Council of Europe in the fields covered by the European Union's Third Pillar (Justice and Home Affairs), as well as in the sphere of culture, education and science;
b. the democratic 'oversight' that is being exercised in these areas by the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly;
c. the already supranational character of the European Convention on Human Rights;
iii. propose to the European Union the establishment of appropriate links between its own 'political dialogue', and the Common Foreign and Security Policy, including co-operation at secretariat level;"
iv. invite the European Commission to open a delegation in Strasbourg with the Council of Europe to ensure the regular follow-up of co-operation;
v. define the modalities of enabling the European Commission to participate on a regular basis in the work of the Ministers' Deputies, and to be associated with their work on questions of mutual interest;
vi. confirm the practice according to which the President of the European Commission, or his representatives of a senior level, are invited to participate in meetings of the Committee of Ministers at ministerial level;
vii. strengthen and diversify the co-operation set up by joint programmes with the European Community on assistance to the countries of central and eastern Europe;
viii. prepare additional protocols to the European Convention on Human Rights and to the European Cultural Convention allowing the Community to accede;
ix. invite the European Community to accede to the revised Social Charter, the "Transfrontier Television" Convention and all the treaties which allow it to accede.
II. Draft resolution
1. The European Community and the Council of Europe have the common task to set out guidelines for European construction, which is achieved as much by intergovernmental co-operation as by integration.
2. The European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe are the European institutions, elected by universal suffrage, which are best placed to meet the democratic demands of the people of Europe.
3. In the framework of its considerations on the future institutions of Europe, the Assembly should rapidly prepare and present to the Intergovernmental Conference the case for becoming, in due course, the second Chamber of the European Union.
4. The Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament have regular contacts thanks to meetings between delegations of their respective Bureaux, the most recent one having taken place on 6 April 1995.
5. Also certain committees of the Parliamentary Assembly and European Parliament hold joint meetings - in particular on agriculture, social, health and family affairs, science and technology. Moreover, there are regular consultations between the Committees dealing with legal questions, human rights, public freedoms, culture, environment, local authorities, migrations, demography and refugees.
6. The Assembly welcomes the regularity and the quality of European Parliament reports underlining the need to increasing co-operation with our Assembly - the most recent leading to the resolution of 15 December 1993.
7. Moreover, by its Resolution of 30 November 1994, the European Parliament asked that states joining the European Union should already be member states of the Council of Europe.
8. The Parliamentary Assembly and European Parliament are both elected by universal suffrage and guarantee democratic principles in Europe. This should facilitate the strengthening of their co-operation.
9. For these reasons, the Parliamentary Assembly proposes to the European Parliament that both bodies
i. address to each other an annual report on their activities;
ii. arrange for joint committee meetings as well as hearings and conferences on subjects of common interest;
iii. arrange for more reciprocal invitations to Rapporteurs on questions of common interest;
iv. agree to a common position on the participation of their Presidents in the present quadripartite meetings, attended on behalf of the Community by the Chairman-in-Office of the Council of Ministers and the President of the Commission and on behalf of the Council of Europe by the Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General;
v. intensify co-operation by giving a regular and practical character to the meetings of delegations of their Bureaux, which should have a genuine mandate as regards questions to be discussed and the nature of decisions to be taken.
10. The Assembly calls on the governments of the European Union's member states to examine, at the Intergovernmental Conference, ways and means of improving co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Union, so that the two institutions take one another's work into due account in order to avoid duplication of work. The Union should adhere to as many Council of Europe conventions as possible, and participate in relevant Partial Agreements.
11. Before embarking on new activities, the European Union should examine whether these activities can be better pursued within the Council of Europe, wherever appropriate with the support and co-operation of the Union.
III. Explanatory memorandum
by the Rapporteur
CONTENTS
Paragraphs
I. Introduction 1 - 13
II. The 1996 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) 14 - 28
III. Existing co-operation between the Council of Europe and European Union
A. Inter-institution co-operation 29 - 35
B. Sectoral co-operation 36 - 55
C. Assistance to the countries of central and eastern Europe 56 - 60
IV. The outlook for the future 61 - 65
V. Proposals 66
A. Inter-institution co-operation 67 - 72
B. Co-operation between the Parliamentary Assembly
and European Parliament 73 - 77
C. Accession to Conventions and Charters 78 - 86
D. Increasing assistance for the countries of
central and eastern Europe 87 - 89
Annexes:
Annex 1 List of Conventions to which the Community has become a party
Annex 2 List of conventions containing a provision allowing
for accession by the Community
I. Introduction
1. The Treaty of Maastricht establishing the European Union provided for its own revision in 1996 by an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC).
2. It is claimed that the future of Europe is on the agenda. While it is clear that the IGC is a matter for the European Union, it is also perfectly understood that the future of Europe is a matter for all Europeans, and particularly for our Assembly, which is the only pan-European parliamentary assembly. Furthermore, in the light of the tasks of the Council of Europe, as reiterated and emphasised by the Heads of State of Government of the member states when they met in Vienna on 8 and 9 October 1993, it would have been inconceivable for our Assembly to fail to make on its own thoughts known.
3. It is not our aim to take decisions for the European Union, nor do we intend to reply on behalf of the negotiators, who will have to come up with completely new formulae to reconcile highly disparate positions about awkward subjects: multi-speed Europe, Europe with a "hard core", Europe "à la carte".
4. Precise answers will have to be given to the many questions arising: how to strengthen the Union's foreign and security policy in view of what is happening in Bosnia and Croatia? How is deepening to be reconciled ed with widening? How are the efficiency, democratic nature and transparency of the institutions to be increased? How is a European democracy closer to citizens to be constructed? How are the justified demands of national parliaments to be met? How are powers to be divided between the European Parliament, Commission and Council? How are decisions to be taken to avoid jamming Europe's cumbersome administrative machine?
5. Over and above these questions, however, it is our political duty to provide Europe with security on three fronts: the military, the democratic and the economic and social. This threefold demand constitutes a sizeable challenge. A challenge which justifies our discussing what might and what should be stronger, pragmatic and intelligent co-operation between the European Union and Council of Europe. Nobody can really believe that the institutional instruments set up in Europe following World War II are about to be absorbed and dissapear. The time has not come, even supposing that it will come one day.
6. The European Union and Council of Europe are thus required to act together in the service of Europe, each in its own field. Our thoughts should centre on the requisite co-operation, spontaneous, intelligent and lucid. Thoughts which we will have to persuade our governments to share, such is the extent to which they, poorly advised or strangely short-sighted, display a disturbing sensitivity on the subject. A proper understanding of the way in which the Council of Europe's role has developed over the years leads to the path of co-operation. The historical conditions prevailing when the Council of Europe was set up have changed drastically. The Cold War era is past. At the same time, and in extraordinary circumstances, the Council of Europe's reputation and usefulness have grown. This development has given the lie in the clearest fashion to the belief that an instrument of the Cold War had no future. In fact, the collapse of the totalitarian regimes of Central and Eastern Europe gave the Council of Europe a pan-European dimension.
7. Along the path to pluralist democracy, the states, nations, countries recovering their political sovereignty found the Council of Europe, and particularly our Assembly. Very quickly, the Council of Europe became the essential partner, irreplaceable and indispensable, of democratic security. As the facts changed, our Assembly carried out intelligent and pragmatic internal reforms, inter alia introducing special guest status. The Council of Europe has demonstrated its adaptability in the service of democratic efficiency in Europe.
8. The Vienna Summit of 8 and 9 October 1993 confirmed the Council of Europe's role, outlining the new approach which it is the task of Europeans better to put into practice. It may be stated without any fear of contradiction that the Council of Europe has become the democratic crucible for forging for creating the new European society. It is a role which will long be to the fore, so fragile a structure is. It needs defending and promoting every single day.
9. In the field of democracy, the Council of Europe has demonstrated its relevance and its savoir-faire: protection of human rights, fundamental freedoms, functioning of institutions, adapting of appropriate legal instruments, plans of action against racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance, equal rights for men and women, electronic democracy, national minorities, bioethics, etc.
10. Over and above what has already been done, there is now a genuine democratic European civilisation emerging which guarantees the safety of persons and property, pluralist political democracy and social and cultural progress, centred on common values. The Council of Europe is the only pan-European instrument which leaves each state and every national parliament free to select ways and means of finding their place in this movement, built around legal and cultural frameworks drawn up jointly with the members of national parliaments. In the same way as human rights are based on the trinity of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, the future of Europe will be constructed on the foundation of Peace, Democracy and Progress. The Council of Europe, and more particularly its Parliamentary Assembly, should be the forum for discussion and preparation of the content of the legal and political instruments which will create a European democratic area.
11. So it is history which has given the Council of Europe its real political dimension. And it is the history which is in the making which is paving the way ahead. However, it is also history which has given it the European Union as a partner. A partner which must also serve the interests of European citizens. The partnership needs to be based on intelligent and pragmatic co-operation, without ulterior motives, for it is neither the existence of both institutions nor the supremacy of one over the other which is at issue.
12. The first part of this report describes the machinery of the IGC and the matters which are to be dealt with by the negotiators. Part two describes existing co-operation, how it works and what it has achieved so far in practice. A third part will outline some more innovative and less comfortable proposals. Being more innovative these suggestions are at the moment more awkward, more difficult to implement. They might even be described as Utopian. But history, after all, shows that Utopianism is frequently necessary if ideas are to progress. Thus the question of transforming our Assembly into the second chamber of the Union will be broached. This suggestion is bound to offend some of us and, even more so, a good many others outside our Assembly. It will be followed by another suggestion that the Council of Europe be transformed into an organisation of (the United) European Nations.
13. Lastly, part four will refer to the co-operation which should take place, both through necessity and in order to achieve efficiency. A specific section will cast light on the new co-operation which should be set up between the European Parliament and our Assembly. We will come closest to shouldering our responsibilities if we consider a huge range of proposals and suggestions. Our greatest enemy in the debate which is beginning is ultra-conservatism. The arch conservatives are frequently the diplomats who advise heads of state and of government. Our prime duty is to restore to elected political representatives their area of responsibility. They carry out their political role on behalf of citizens and peoples, who expect responses appropriate to the circumstances.
II. The 1996 Intergovernmental Conference (IGC)
14. The Treaty signed by the twelve member states of the European Community in Maastricht on 7 February 1992 established the European Union (EU).
15. When it came into force in November 1993, the Treaty on European Union (TEU) gave the Union an original architecture based on three pillars. The first pillar includes the European Community as defined by the Treaties of Rome, the Single European Act and the amendments made by the Maastricht Treaty. This first pillar also encompasses Economic and Monetary Union. The powers of the European Commission are limited to the first pillar, covering the various Community policies. The second and third pillars relate to intergovernmental fields added by the TEU, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and co-operation on Justice and Home Affairs (JHA). For the first time, a Community treaty covers fields of action not derived through the traditional Community method, but from intergovernmental co-operation.
16. The TEU, in Article N, paragraph 2, provides for an inter-governmental conference to be held in 1996, to be attended by the member states of the Union, in order to revise some of its provisions. These amendments relate to Articles 189b, J.4, J.6 and J.10 and final declarations Nos. 1 and 16 of the TEU.
17. The Corfu European Council of 24 and 25 June 1994 set up a "Reflection Group" comprising representatives of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs, one representative of the President of the Commission and two representatives of the European Parliament. Its task is to examine and prepare ideas relating to the provisions of which revision is provided for under the Treaty, as well as other possible improvements, in a spirit of democracy and openness. The Corfu European Council also asked the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament to submit a report on the functioning of the Maastricht Treaty, as an initial contribution to the work of this Reflection Group.
18. The group began its work on 2 June 1995 at Messina, in Italy, where the preparatory conference on the Treaties of Rome had taken place in 1956. Mr Westendorp, Spanish State Secretary for the European Communities, was asked to chair its meetings. He is to forward the conclusions of the Reflection Group to the European Council to be held in Madrid in December 1995.
19. The themes selected by the group cover each of the three challenges which the European Union will have to take up for the future. The first is the strengthening of the Union's democratic legitimacy in the eyes of citizens. To some extent, ways of achieving this have already been sketched out: an increase in the transparency of the Union's operation, particularly its decision-taking process; the strengthening of the powers of the European Parliament, the members of which are elected on the basis of universal suffrage; greater participation by national parliaments and more participation by citizens through the extension of European citizenship. The second major challenge is the consistency of the Union's policies. New thought will have to be given to the "pillar" structure of the Union, which is an attempt to combine integration and co-operation; the policy of economic and social cohesion must be reinforced; the division of legal powers between the Commission and the justice and home affairs pillar will have to be redefined, and, lastly, the CFSP must be consolidated, particularly through a change in its decision-making procedures and a re-evaluation of the role of the Western European Union (WEU). The third challenge is that of expanding to take in the countries of central and eastern Europe, and well as the Baltic States, Cyprus and Malta. Negotiations on accession are due to open six months after the end of the IGC, which will have had the task of laying down the criteria for this new enlargement. What is more, the working method to be adopted following this enlargement remains to be defined. A choice will have to be made between simultaneous integration of all the states of the new Union and the setting up of a group of states which would be more rapidly integrated.
20. The Council of Europe is duty-bound to intervene in this debate, which will alter the facts of the European scenario as a whole. There are already several reasons for doing so.
21. First of all, the Council of Europe undeniably has a record of achievement on matters of concern to the European Union today. This report gives it the opportunity to specify those fields where its achievements could usefully be drawn upon by the Community institutions.
22. First and foremost, where enlargement is concerned, the Council of Europe has sound experience since it passed from 10 founder members in 1949, via 23 in 1989 to 36 members today. It is the only organisation which currently has the capacity to accommodate all the countries of central and eastern Europe, including Russia, in a pan-European political structure. The heads of state and government of Europe confirmed this role when, at the Vienna Summit of October 1993, they stated that "The Council of Europe is the pre-eminent European political institution capable of welcoming, on an equal footing and in permanent structures, the democracies of Europe freed from communist oppression. For that reason the accession of those countries to the Council of Europe is a central factor in the process of European construction based on our Organisation's values".
23. Furthermore, the fifteen EU member states and the states which have applied for membership in the next round of enlargement are all members of the Council of Europe, within which links have already been forged. The simultaneous participation of these states in both organisations should convince us that there is no competition between them, and it is clear instead that the organisations complement each other and must co-operate more. What is more, the Council of Europe makes it easier for the countries of central and eastern Europe to join the European Union by bringing their legislation into line with that of the Union.
24. Secondly, the Council of Europe has experience useful to the Union in the joint management of co-operation and integration. While the Union has been trying since the TEU came into force to operate both methods simultaneously, by reconciling the three pillars, the Council of Europe has long taken the view that the two are indissociable, compatible and necessary to the progress of European construction. As Mr Tarschys, Secretary General, said in his speech in Frankfurt in March 1995, there is no need to choose between integration and co-operation, as both paths converge.
25.. Thirdly, the Council of Europe has sound experience of "variable geometry", meaning participation to different degrees by member states in the organisation's activities. The Council of Europe's 157 conventions are not, in fact, signed or ratified by the same number of states, but this does not entail a blockage in the system similar to the one now occurring in respect of the TEU Social Protocol, which the United Kingdom was unwilling to sign. Such management would be beneficial to the Union in the framework of its discussions on differentiated integration, a hard core, a multi-speed Europe, etc.
26. Fourthly, the Council of Europe has a significant record of achievement in the legal sphere, from which it would like the European Community to benefit. The 157 Conventions and Charters already in place bear witness to its dynamic role in the structuring of Europe through law. Thus Europe's legal system would benefit from closer co-operation in the legal sphere, particularly if the Community acceded to some of these Conventions.
27. Finally, the Council of Europe wishes the European Union to derive benefit from its achievements as its contribution to a response to the democratic deficit from which the Union suffers. The Council of Europe represents the forum for European democracies, involving participation by members of national parliaments and having a very substantial system of Conventions, Charters and legal standards. The IGC should be able to benefit from these achievements in the parliamentary and legal spheres in order to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the European Union.
28. Furthermore, the Council of Europe must take part in the debate opened by the forthcoming IGC, since the latter will alter, and in fact extend, the scope of the Union's powers. Thus the Council of Europe must be vigilant, to prevent the increasing occurrence of duplication and overlapping of powers in certain fields, such as culture and justice.
III. Existing co-operation between the Council of Europe and European Union
A. Inter-institution co-operation
29. This report is based upon a long tradition of co-operation between the European Community, now included in the European Union, and the Council of Europe. In practice, as soon as the European Economic Community were set up by the Treaty of Rome in March 1957, it became apparent that such co-operation was essential to the satisfactory progress of European construction. Article 230 of the Treaty of Rome lays down that "The Community shall establish all suitable co-operation with the Council of Europe". It should be noted that this article has never been amended by any of the subsequent treaties.
30. However, the European Communities having acquired great importance since 1957, particularly through the adoption of the Single European Act of 1987, an exchange of letters took place the same year between the President of the European Commission and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. This exchange with a view to better co-operation led to the conclusion of the Arrangement of 16 June 1987. The idea of interests common to both organisations emerges from this text. Subsequent to the Arrangement, both organisations may invite each other to committee meetings which they are organising on a theme in respect of which they both have powers. In practice, the Commission is now represented on, and takes part in, virtually all meetings of the Council of Europe's steering committees, as well as in meetings of the Ministers' Deputies. In addition, the two organisations send each other their annual reports on their operations, and an annual exchange of views on their co-operation has been started between the Ministers' Deputies and the Secretary General of the Commission.
31. The political declaration issued by the Committee of Ministers on 5 May 1989 strengthens such co-operation, introducing quadripartite meetings, which are meetings in which the Council of Europe is represented by the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers and Secretary General, and the European Union by the President-in-Office of the Council and the President of the Commission. No such meeting took place in 1994, so the French initiative of holding such a meeting on 7 April 1995 must be emphasised.
32. The Council of Europe Summit of Heads of State and Government, which met in Vienna in October 1993, insisted on reaffirming the need for "fuller co-ordination" of activities, stating that "such a partnership in increasingly varied fields of activities reflects the specific and open-ended institutional relationship existing between the two institutions".
33. The European Parliament for its part, following the Dury report on co-operation with the Council of Europe, adopted a resolution on 15 December 1993 which intended to define the new relationship with the Council of Europe. Attention has to be drawn here to the quality and frequency of interaction between the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. Examples are the meeting of delegations of the Bureaux of both assemblies, the most recent of which took place on 6 April 1995, the opposition jointly expressed when Turkish deputies of Kurdish origin were imprisoned, and the meeting of both institutions' committees responsible for agriculture, social, health and family affairs.
34. Attention should also be drawn to the quality and frequency of joint meetings with the European Commission. Examples are, in the field of equality between men and women, the co-operation which exists between Directorates General V and X of the Commission and the Council of Europe's Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men, and the co-operation on demographic issues in former Yugoslavia within the group of experts set up by the Committee of Ministers.
35. Finally, it should be pointed out that the Community is a Contracting Party to seven Council of Europe Conventions. More details may be found in the list appended to the report (Annex 1).
B. Sectoral co-operation
36. Co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Community, and subsequently the European Union, is sectoral, meaning that it is focused on certain activities. Several fields may be quoted as examples. As this report cannot be as full as the Secretariat's half-yearly report, we have selected the most significant to illustrate this co-operation. We shall draw attention, to both the plus and the minus points.
- Human Rights and fundamental freedoms
37. The defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms is the essence of the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights,which entered into force in 1951 established the most developped system in the world. Since then, new rights have been added, and Protocol 11, once entered into force, will assure a better functioning through the merger ofthe Court and Commission of Human Rights. The European Community, for its part, as a community governed by the rule of law, also demonstrates its attachment to fundamental freedoms. Articles 119, 6 and 48 bear witness to this. Furthermore, on 5 April 1977, the European Parliament, Council of Ministers and Commission issued a joint declaration on the importance of fundamental rights to European identity and civilisation.
38. Co-operation relating to human rights and fundamental freedoms occurs in three fields in particular: the protection of national minorities, the establishment of social rights and the combating of racism and xenophobia. It should be noted, for example, that Commission observers took part in the preparation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, of November 1994. Nevertheless, the Parliamentary Assembly regrets the fact that this co-operation was not deepened on the occasion of the conclusion of the Stability Pact, signed in March 1995 under the direction of the European Union. It would have been preferable for the Union to ask the Council of Europe to implement the Pact, rather than the new Organisation for Co-operation and Security in Europe.
39. Where social rights are concerned, the virtually total absence of co-operation has to be highlighted. While the Council of Europe drew up the European Social Charter in 1961, and is in the process of preparing a major revision of it, the Community, for its part, is introducing different Community standards. There is already a perceptible risk of dual standardization, in respect of, for example, work by young people. Harmonisation of social standards and rights must be carried out, in order to provide coherent social coverage in Europe. A proposal along these lines will be made below (para. 83).
40. Both organisations are combating racism and xenophobia. Closer co-operation must be set up, however, between the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (CRI) set up at the Vienna Summit and the EU's Consultative Commission on Racism and Xenophobia, formed in Corfu in June 1994. For an area so important to European civilisation, we feel that it is essential for us to combine our efforts rather than increasing the amount of duplication
41. Co-operation on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms remains tentative and discreet for the moment. But the crux of the problem is elsewhere. Attempts at co-operation regularly founder on a central issue: Community accession to the European Convention on Human Rights. Since Resolution 745, of 1981, the Council of Europe has been inviting the Community to accede to the Convention. Laterly, this invitation was reiterated in a Recommendation on the Vienna Summit, which was not followed up. The legal experts provide plenty of fuel for the debate, which is the mythical monster standing in the way of co-operation between the two organisations. This question must be resolved without further delay, if the intention really is to guarantee complete protection for human rights in Europe.
42. The European Parliament is the Community institution which is readiest to support this position, since it has adopted various texts along these lines since the resolution of 27 April 1977 and reaffirmed this position in June 1995 prior to the European Council in Cannes. Furthermore, the Council of Ministers of the EU, on 19 April 1994, requested an opinion from the Court of Justice of the European Communities (CJEC) on the compatibility of such accession with the various Community treaties. This opinion has not yet been delivered. It should also be noted that drafts of a Community Constitution, in which fundamental rights are covered in the preamble, are under study following a resolution adopted by the European Parliament in February 1994 and taken up again in September the same year by the Council of Ministers of Justice. The final item in this survey of Community plans relating to human rights legislation is the older plan for a declaration on fundamental rights and freedoms also proposed by the European Parliament in April 1989.
43. This question is crucial to our organisation's future and to the protection of human rights in Europe. A proposal with a view to progress in this area will be made below (para 82).
- Media
44. The media field is one where co-operation between the Community and Council of Europe is highly active. Many joint meetings are held on a regular basis. In particular, the Commission has taken part in the meetings of the Steering Committee on the Mass Media relating to strategic options for strengthening the European programme industry (December 1994) and media concentration and political pluralism (September 1994) and in meetings to prepare for the fourth European Ministerial Conference on Mass Media Policy, which took place in Prague in December 1994. All of these meetings and the sustained links with the officials of Directorates General X of the European Commission make effective co-ordination possible in this sector.
45. However, one problem must be raised here. The Council of Europe has adopted the "Transfrontier Television" Convention, and the Community is currently preparing to revise its "Television without Frontiers" directive. The Council of Europe must be very vigilant while this revision is in progress, making sure that the new directive fits in with the Convention. Dual legislation for this still fragile sector would, in our view, be bad for its development. A proposal will be made below (para 85).
46. Furthermore, in order to make such harmonious development possible and to support the European audiovisual industry, co-operation between the Council of Europe's Eurimages programme and the Community's Media programme should be reinforced.
- Education and culture
47. In respect of areas relating to education and culture, some forms of co-operation have been set up between the Council of Europe and the Community since the TEU gave the latter powers on these matters. Incidentally, it is our view that culture ought not to have been included in the Community's field, since it lends itself more readily to intergovernmental co-operation. The experience and achievements of the Council of Europe are the clearest illustration of this.
48. Among other examples of this effective co-operation, we might quote the preparation of a common European framework for language learning and teaching and the active co-operation between the EU's Network of the National Academic Recognition Information Centres (NARIC) and the European Network of National Information Centres on Academic Recognition and Mobility (ENIRC). In addition, an effective partnership has been set up for the enhancement of cultural tourist sites and the translation of literary works. In this context a decisive role was played by the European Cultural Convention, some of the signatories of which, without being members of the EU, have been able to receive financial support from the Commission to carry out such translations. A proposal will be made below with a view to strengthening the role of the European Cultural Convention as a basis for such co-operation (para 84).
- Health
49. Where health is concerned, the co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Community is a perfect illustration of an intelligent and effective agreement. A good number of examples already exist, including the raising of awareness of medical problems among young people, organ transplants, blood transfusions, etc. Furthermore, in the bioethics field, the Commission takes part in the work of the Steering Committee dealing with bioethics issues.
50. The most eloquent example of the smooth co-operation which exists between the two organisations is that of the European Pharmacopoeia. Although it has powers in the health field, the Community, on 21 June 1994, acceded to the European Pharmacopoeia Convention, so it now takes part in the work of the Pharmacopoeia, the aim of which is to adopt monographs for medicaments common to all signatory countries. This accession, which came into force in September 1994, henceforth makes it possible to give a complete guarantee of the uniformity of European standards in relation to the manufacture of medicaments. The final element of Community participation in the Pharmacopoeia was put in place on 5 December 1994, when a special account was opened to fund activities of common interest to the Commission and Council of Europe, thus consolidating the work done hitherto. These funds, to which the Commission contributed Ecu 750,000 in 1994, will mainly be used to speed up the harmonisation of national texts.
- The Congress of Local Authorities and the Committee of the Regions
51. The Council of Europe and European Community have established co-operation on local and regional questions between, on the one hand, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) and, on the other hand, the EU's Committee of the Regions, set up under the TEU. Noteworthy are the intelligence and spirit of openness of those in charge of this new structure, who have decided to link some of their work and activities to those of the Congress. Meetings between the two Presidents are planned.
52. Some joint work has already been done, especially at meetings of groups of experts on the environment, minority languages and local democracy. In addition, the Chamber of Regions of the Congress requested the opinion of the Committee of the Regions prior to adopting the final draft of the European Charter of Mountain Regions in June 1995. Lastly, it should be noted that co-operation is to be set up on preparations for the fourth Conference of Mediterranean Regions, scheduled to take place in Cyprus at the end of 1995, and for the fifth Conference, to be held in Languedoc-Roussillon (France) en 1997.
- Legal co-operation
53. The legal sphere is one of the most active fields of co-operation between the Council of Europe and European Union. It already covers a good number of sectors : public international law, administrative law, data protection, the movement of persons in Europe, asylum and refugees, protection of animals, crime problems, etc. This co-operation is based first and foremost on the shared attachment of both organisations to the principles of the rule of law, an attachment which made it possible to hold the 12th inter-service meeting, between the Commission and the Council of Europe's Directorate of Legal Affairs. Legal co-operation has also been strengthened through the effective medium of the European Committee on Legal Co-operation.
54. However, there is a need for such co-operation to be strengthened in all areas relating to crime and drug trafficking. The Pompidou Group is a highly efficient structure in this field. It nevertheless has to be regretted that its work was mentioned neither by the Berlin Declaration of September 1994, although this involved all 15 member States of the Union and the states which have applied for membership, nor by the European Parliament Resolution of 15 June 1995 which proposes an EU action plan for combating drugs over the period 1995-1999.
55. Greater co-operation is also desirable in respect of judicial and home affairs, which constitute the third pillar of the European Union, and these are fields in which the Council of Europe already has a great deal of experience. The chosen working method for this pillar being intergovernmental co-operation, concerted action would be even easier.
C. Assistance to the countries of central and eastern Europe
56. We must now refer to another area of co-operation between the Council of Europe and the Community, namely assistance to the countries of central and eastern Europe. This new form of co-operation is based on the setting up of several joint programmes with a view to safeguarding democratic security in these countries through the development of appropriate legal systems.
57. The two first programmes, concluded in 1993 and 1994, concern Albania. They are intended to develop confidence in the authority and legitimacy of the new Albanian state. To this end, three specific fields of assistance were defined: the establishment of a basic legal framework involving the drafting of new legal codes, a reform of the Ministry responsible for justice and the training of the judiciary in order to ensure that the law is properly applied, and, lastly, a guarantee that fundamental rights will be observed. Both programmes have a budget of around Ecu 900,000 but it has to be pointed out that in each case the contribution of the Community's PHARE programme is around Ecu 750,000.
58. The third programme, concluded in 1994, is for the three Baltic States. Initially planned to last one year, it was renewed for 1995. Its purpose is to help with the reform of local government and the legal system. Its budget totals Ecu 1,140,000, and the Community's PHARE programme contributes Ecu 950,000.
59. Other joint programmes are now being prepared. One has reached a very advanced stage, and this relates to the integration of non-citizens in Estonia and Latvia. The Commission has already released Ecu 300,000 to finance it. Similar programmes could cover Ukraine and Russia. These programmes as a whole are intended to consolidate existing programmes, namely PHARE and TACIS for the European Union, and Demosthenes-bis, LODE and THEMIS for the Council of Europe.
60. Lastly, attention should be drawn to a very important action setting a precedent for the future of such co-operation. Before allocating assistance to Croatia under the PHARE programme, the European Commission took account of the opinion of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the human rights situation in the country. This inter-institution co-operation with a view to making the award of financial assistance conditional upon respect for human rights in the requesting country will be the subject of a proposal below (paras 89 and 76).
IV. The outlook for the future
61. This report ought to mention the proposals made on the possible links in the future between the European Union and Parliamentary Assembly, first, then those on the possible accession of the Community to the Statute of the Council of Europe and, finally, on the future role of the Council of Europe.
62. Relations between the European Union and the Assembly were the subject of a proposal which provided a great stimulus for reflection about the architecture of Europea and was put forward by Mr Seitlinger in January 19951. In the face of the democratic deficit which the European Union now suffers, as well as of the institutional problem posed by national parliaments' participation in the Community decision-making process, Mr Seitlinger proposed that the Parliamentary Assembly, limited to representatives of the European Union member states, should constitute a second legislative chamber alongside the European Parliament. This has been referred to as a European Senate, and would ensure a better balance in Community legislative power and give a new voice to members of national parliaments. This idea has been debated, inter alia in the French Senate, and has been the subject of Lord Finsberg's reflection during a question to the government in the House of Lords2. It is an idea to which we should give some thought in the context of the Community's democratic deficit.
63. Moreover, an already old proposal concerns another possible linkage between the Council of Europe and the European Community, namely the accession of the Community to the Statute of the Council of Europe. Order 426 (1985) suggested that this possibility be examined. Since then, the issue was not pursued. Sincfe all members of the European Union are already members of the Council of Europe, this matter should be taken up again, especially since the Council of Europe has established itself as the only paneuropean institution. The idea was in fact again put forward by Commissioner Van Den Broek during the Vienna Summit in 1993.
64. A third proposal which must also be mentioned is the idea that the Council of Europe possibly be transformed into an organisation of the European United Nations. This plan, which can only be considered over the longer term, has to be viewed in the context of a regionalisation of United Nations structures. Thus the Council of Europe would become the UN's European pillar, with the task of promoting the values enshrined in the San Francisco Charter, the 50th anniversary of which we are celebrating this year, and which contains humanist principles largely coinciding with those of our organisation. This new international role would bear witness to the fully Europe-wide dimension of the Council of Europe and would given even more scope to its mission to protect human rights.
65. These three proposals, intended to point the way ahead in our thinking about the Council of Europe's task in the 21st century, must be taken into account in our Assembly. It nevertheless has to be recognised that they are too radical to be applicable in the present state of relations.
V. Proposals
66. The time has therefore come for us to put forward practical proposals to the institutions of the Community, with a view to further progress in this co-operation. Some of these proposals are directly associated with the 1996 institutional review, including the revision of Article 230, which defines the general framework such co-operation.
A. Inter-institution co-operation
67. In order to strengthen co-operation between the Council of Europe and the Community, the first step should be to carry on with some existing elements. To begin with, the regular holding should be guarenteed of the quadripartite meetings between the President in office of the Council of Ministers and the President of the Commission on the part of the Union, and the Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General on behalf of the Council of Europe. Furthermore, it would be desirable if these meetings were enlarged to include the Presidents of the Assembly and of the European Parliament. Finally, as regards our institution, the follow-up to these meetings should be assured through a report by the Secretary General to the Assembly.
68. The annual meeting between the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the Commissioner responsible for relations with the countries of central and eastern Europe, like the meeting between the same Commissioner and the Ministers' Deputies, did not take place in 1994. This is a matter of much regret, since such meetings offered an opportunity, at the highest level, to take stock of co-operation and to outline ways of strengthening it.
69. Relations with the European Commission need quite particular strengthening. The Arrangement of 16 June 1987 must be updated to include the new forms of co-operation which have been established. In addition, since the Commission already takes part in meetings of almost all of the Council of Europe's steering committees, the Parliamentary Assembly would like to see the Secretariat invited to a broader range of meetings by the Commission. It is already invited in the fields of the media, social affairs, education, training, equality between women and men, public health and sport. The Secretariat could, for example, also take part in meetings relating to cultural and judicial affairs.
70. In order to preserve the spirit of reciprocity essential to smooth co-operation, the Council of Europe should encourage the Commission to set up a delegation to the Council of Europe, which it expressed the desire to do on 1 December 1994. As soon as possible thereafter, this first step should be backed up by an invitation to participate to the debates of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. In our view these two proposals seem to be the most appropriate in the context of the current institutional situation. They do not, however, mean that it will be impossible in the near future for the Community to be allowed to accede to the Statute of the Council of Europe, a hypothesis raised by Commissioner Van den Broek at the Vienna Summit.
71. Finally, in accordance with Art.N which defines the modalities for the revision of the community treaties, and on the occassion of the IGC, the Assembly would like to suggest that the Community, on the occasion of the IGC, revise Article 230, which lays down the framework for co-operation between the two. This article, drafted for the 1957 Treaty of Rome, no longer reflects the actual state of current relations between the two organisations. The Council of Europe therefore ventures to make a proposal for this article to be revised as described below.
a. The Community/Union may establish any necessary co-operation with the Council of Europe.
b. The Community recognises the Council of Europe's achievements in the fields of culture, education, law and democracy.
c. The Community recognises that the protection of human rights as well as the definition and monitoring of democratic norms is a matter within the specific competence of the Council of Europe and of the European Court of Human Rights
d. The Community regards membership of the Council of Europe as an essential condition for accession to the European Union.
72. All these points are fundamental. We should, however, like to point out that the European Parliament has adopted a resolution also proposing to link membership of the Council of Europe with accession to the European Union3.
B. Co-operation with the European Parliament
73. A specific proposal is needed in respect of co-operation with the European Parliament, since the latter, just like the Council of Europe Assembly, comprises elected members of parliament. The family link between the two institutions should help them to come closer together and to establish more active co-operation.
74. First and foremost, it would be appropriate to resume the European Parliament's annual reports on co-operation between the two institutions. Such reports will supplement those drawn up by the Council of Europe Secretariat, casting a different light on the co-operation, and therefore having a stimulating effect. It would also be helpful if the two Assemblies would exchange activity reports.
75. Furthermore, encouragement ought to be given to joint meetings between the committees of the Parliamentary Assembly and those of the European Parliament, at least of those which deal with matters of comon interest. Such meetings would add another dimension to the joint work between the steering committee of the Council of Europe and the European Commission. These Committes could also hold hearings and common meetings on matters of common interest, such as the media and the fight against drugs. It would also be desirable to develop mutual invitations to Rapporteurs at Comittee level, as has already been done in the past.
76. The Assembly proposes further to improve the meetings of delegations of the bureaux. A precise mandate on the questions to be discussed and the nature of the decisions that can be taken should be extended to the delegations. Moreover, these meetings could be the vehicle through which the Parliamentary Assembly would advise Community bodies, via the European Parliament, of its opinion on the human rights situation in applicant countries and in countries already benefiting from the PHARE and TACIS programmes. Thus the precedent set when the Commission took account of our Assembly's opinion in granting Croatia the benefit of the PHARE programme would be followed in the framework of the joint committee with the European Parliament. This would make stronger monitoring of the human rights situation in the countries of central and eastern Europe possible.
77. Finally, the Assembly proposes to the European parliament to agree to a common position in order to enable the Presidents of both assemblies to participate in the quadripartite meetings in which , on behalf of the Community, the President-in-Office of the Council and the President of the Commission, and on behalf of the Council of Europe, the Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General participate.
C. Accessions to Council of Europe Conventions and Charters
78. The Assembly considers the accession of the Community to conventions and Charters of the Council of Europe an essential means to guarentee a more effective co-operation. The existence of specific provisions in a number of these instruments would ebable such accessions to take place rapidly (see Annex 2).
79. First of all, the Assembly considers the accession by the Community to the European Convention on Human Rights essential4. The IGC, defined by Art.N of the TUE which also regulates the revision of the treaties, would be an opportunity to reach an agreement on this principle. Such accession has not yet been made possible, doubtless as a result of obstacles raised on each occasion by the Council of Ministers and the Court of Justice in Luxembourg. The Commission itself actually drafted a memoranum on 4 April 1979 recognising the necessity of accession and issued a communication on 19 November 1990 concerning accession, while the European Parliament has regularly, since 1979, adopted resolutions along these lines. In addition, the Single European Act of February 1986 refers in its preamble to the fundamental rights guarenteed by the Convention.
80. The institutional obstacle on the Community must be removed, so as to guarantee full human rights protection on the territory of the EU's 15 member states. Such accession would also remedy two current flaws in the European system for human rights protection. The first of these defects is that it is impossible today for the European Court of Human Rights to bring proceedings against the Community, leaving a legal vacuum. Now that Community law is playing an ever greater part in the everyday life of Europeans, it inevitably affects their fundamental rights as protected by the Convention. At the moment, such rights are not entirely covered by the Strasbourg Court, since the Community is not a party to the Convention.5
81. Secondly, certain cases are decided both by the Court of Justice of the European Community in Luxembourg and by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Their differing powers and approaches lead them to hand down different, and even divergent, judgments. This dual jurisdiction problem arising in human rights cases is a formidable one, since, for as long as the Community has not acceded to the Convention, both courts remain legally equivalent. Thus a dual jurisdiction is created, neither having supreme arbitration over the other.6
82. Consequently, we again invite the Community to accede to this Convention, so as to guarantee that Community legislation, which is increasingly playing a part in national law, does not jeopardise the protection of human rights in Europe. A report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (Rapporteur Ms Wohlwend, Liechtenstein) concerning technical arrangements for such accession will appear shortly.
83. Furthermore, the Assembly believes that it would be desirable for the Community to accede to the revised European Social Charter following its adoption by the Committee of Ministers, which will have confirmed the possibility of such accession by retaining Article L (part IV) of the draft revised Charter. The Single European Act also refers to the rights guarenteed by the Social Charter. Accession by the Community would strengthen the system of social rights in Europe and would avoid the differences in jurisdiction of which we have already given examples (para 39).
84. The Parliamentary Assembly, subsequent to Recommendations 850, 940, 995 and, most recently, 1193, reiterates its desire for the European Community to accede to the European Cultural Convention. Thus a coherent common framework would be provided for cultural activities in Europe. This is all the more desirable for the fact that a precedent has been set through the allocation of Community funds for literary translations to states which are not members of the EU but have ratified the Convention.
85. The Parliamentary Assembly believes that the Community should accede to the "Transfrontier" Convention, in order to ensure harmonious development of the European audiovisual industry and to avoid duplication between the Council of Europe and the Community. Such accession would be welcome within the framework of the revision in progress of the Community's "Television without Frontiers" directive.
86. Finally, it would be desirable for the Community to accede to all the Conventions in respect of which provision has been made for accession (annex 2).
D. Increasing assistance for the countries of central and eastern Europe
87. Assistance to the countries of central and eastern Europe is the most recent form of co-operation between the Community and the Council of Europe. Such co-operation must therefore be continued and strengthened.
88. Draft joint programmes are currently being drawn up for Russia and Ukraine inter alia. This would obviously lead to an increase in the budgetary contributions allocated to these programmes.
89. Furthermore, the precedent set when Croatia was admitted to the PHARE programme, to which we have already referred (para 60), ought to be institutionalised. This is vital if the intention is to set up a genuine human rights monitoring system in the countries which have just joined or will soon be joining the Council of Europe. This monitoring system, which could be co-ordinated where the Parliamentary Assembly and European Parliament are concerned by the meeting of delegations of the bureaux should relate to the PHARE programme, for the countries of central and eastern Europe, but also to the TACIS programme relating to Russia. Such co-operation would enhance European solidarity as a value common to both organisations and would put to good use both the Council of Europe's experience relating to human rights and the rule of law and the Community's capacity for action.
Annex 1
List of conventions to which the Community has become a party
- European Agreement on the exchange of therapeutic substabces of human origin (STE No 26)
- Agreement of the temporary importation, free of duty, of medical, surgical and laboratory equipment for use on free loan in hospitals ans other medical institutions for purposes of diagnosis or treatment (STE No 33)
- European Agreement on the exchanges of blood-grouping reagents (STE No 39)
- European Agreement on the exchange of tissue-typing reagents (STE No 84)
- European Convention for the protection of animals kept for farming purposes
(STE No 87)
- Convention on the conservation of european wildlife and natural habitats (STE No 104)
- Convention on the elaboration of a european pharmacopeia (STE No 50)
Annex 2
List of conventions containing a provision allowing
for accession by the Community
- European Convention for the protection of vertebrate animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes (STE No 123)
- European Convention for the protection of animals during international transport
(STE No 65)
- Protocol of amendment to the European Convention for the protection of animals kept for farming purposes (STE No 145)
- European Convention relating to questions on copyright law and neighbouring rights in the framework of transfrontier broadcasting by satellite (STE No 153)
- European Convention for the protection of animals for slaughter (STE No 102)
- European Convention on transfrontier television (STE No 132)
- Convention on civil liability for damage resulting from activities dangerous for the environment (STE No 150)
- Convention for the protection of the architectural heritage of Europe (STE No 121)
- Convention on insider trading (STE No 130)
- European Conventionon the general equivalence of periods of university studies
(STE No 138)
- European Convention on cinematographic co-production (STE No 147)
Reporting committee: Political Affairs Committee.
Budgetary implications: to be assessed by the Committee on the Budget and the Intergovernmental Work Programme.
Reference to committee: See Recommendation 1267 (1995).
Draft recommendation unanimously adopted by the committee on 18 September 1995.
Draft resolution adopted by the committee on 18 September 1995 by 22 votes to 3 and 0 abstentions.
Members of the committee: Mr Kelchtermans (Chairman), Lord Finsberg (Vice-Chairman, MM. Bàrsony (Vice-Chairman), Alvarez-Cascos, Antretter, Mrs Baarveld-Schlaman, Mr Baumel, Mrs Belohorska, MM. Bergqvist, Bernardini, Björck, Bloetzer, Bokov, Büchel, Bühler, Cerqueda Pascuet, Eörsi, Fassino, Galanos (Alternate: Christodoulides), Gjellerod, Gotzev, Gricius, Güner, Hardy, Irmer (Alternate: Feldmann), Iwinski, Kalus (Alternate: Trojan), Kaspereit, Kirsteins (Alternate: Pantelejevs), La Loggia (Alternate: Arata), Mrs Lentz-Cornette, MM. van der Linden, Machete, Martins, Masseret, Mimaroglu, Mitchell, Mühlemann, Paasilinna, Pahor, Mrs Papandreou, MM. Pavlidis, Pozzo, de Puig (Alternate: Mrs Fernandez Ramiro), Radulescu Botica, Mrs Ragnarsdottir, MM.. Schieder, Schwimmer, Seeuws, Severin, Sir Dudley Smith (Alternate: Atkinson), Mr Spacek, Mrs Suchocka, MM. Thoresen, Mrs Veidemann, Vella, N..... (Albania), N..... (Moldova).
NB. The names of those members who took part in the meeting are printed in italics.
Secretaries to the committee: Mr Hartland, Mr Kleijssen et Ms Chatzivassiliou.
1 1Speech made by Mr Seitlinger at the Conference on relations between the European Parliament and national parliaments, organised by European Policy Forum. Work of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on European construction in Brussels in 1992 and in Paris in 1993, and preparations for the March 1996 Inter-Parliamentary conference.
2 2Lord Finsberg asked the British Government about this proposal in the House of Lords on 19 May 1995.
3 3European Parliament Resolution adopted on 30 November 1994.
4 4The Parliamentary Assembly underlined the necessity of such an accession in its Resolution 745 adopted on 29 January 1981.
5 5An example which may be cited is application No. 13258/87 of 9 February 1990. Since the Community is not a Party to the Convention, the Human Rights Commission was unable to make a ruling in the case of CM & Co v. Germany in which some German wine-growers had been fined in pursuance of a Community directive, but this was inconsistent with Article 6 of the Convention. This example shows that the Community's legal requirements may prove to be partly incompatible with the provisions of the Convention, particularly where secondary Community law is introduced into national law.
6 6It will be noted that there are contradictions relating to the interpretation of Article 8 of the Convention on the protection of the home. The European Court of Human Rights has taken the view in two judgements, ECHR, 30/3/89, CHAPPEL v United Kingdom, Series A, No.152-A, and ECHR, 16/12/92, NIEMIETZ v Germany, Series A, No.251-B, that this right is limited to the home. In contrast, the Court of Justice of the European Communities has ruled that this right also extends to business premises, CJEC, 21/9/89, HOECHST, Nos. 46/87 and 227/88, Reports, p.2859