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2 March 1993
Doc. 6786
6786.
1403-24/2/93-5-E
REPORT
on the application of the Republic of Slovenia for membership
of the Council of Europe
(Rapporteur: Mr BAUMEL,
France, RPR)
Summary
In December 1991, a year after the referendum on independence which was supported by more than 88% of the voters, the Slovenian Parliament adopted a new constitution which enshrined the democratic nature of Slovenia, recognised the rights and fundamental freedoms of its citizens and laid down the principle of the separation of the legislative, executive and judiciary powers.
The presidential and parliamentary elections in December 1992 have provided Slovenia with a democratically elected government and a pluralist system of political representation.
Slovenia now seems to meet the essential conditions for accession to the Council of Europe. In its opinion, the Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers invite the Republic of Slovenia to become a member of the Organisation.
I. Draft opinion
1. The Assembly has received from the Committee of Ministers a request for an opinion on the accession of Slovenia to the Council of Europe (Doc. 6588), in pursuance of Statutory Resolution (51) 30 A adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 3 May 1951.
2. It observes that democratic parliamentary elections held by universal, free and secret ballot took place on 6 December 1992 and were monitored by an ad hoc committee of the Assembly.
3. The Assembly welcomes the European commitment expressed by representatives of the Slovenian parliament's political groups during the meeting held in Ljubljana from 10 to 12 September 1992 with the Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries.
4. The Assembly appreciates the contribution made by Slovenia to the work of the Council of Europe, both at parliamentary level since its parliament obtained special guest status on 3 February 1992 and at intergovernmental level following its accession to several European conventions, including the European Cultural Convention on 2 July 1992.
5. It attaches great importance to the commitment expressed by the Slovenian authorities to sign and ratify the European Convention on Human Rights and to recognise both the right of individual application to the European Commission of Human Rights (Article 25 of the Convention) and the compulsory jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (Article 46).
6. The Assembly considers that the Republic of Slovenia is able and willing:
i. to fulfil the provisions of Article 3 of the Statute, which stipulates that "Every member of the Council of Europe must accept the principles of the rule of law and of the enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms";
ii. to collaborate sincerely and effectively in the realisation of the aims of the Council of Europe as specified in Chapter I of its Statute, thereby fulfilling the conditions for accession to the Council of Europe as laid down in Article 4 of the Statute.
7. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers, at its next meeting:
i. invite the Republic of Slovenia to become a member of the Council of Europe;
ii. allocate three seats to Slovenia in the Parliamentary Assembly.
II. Explanatory memorandum
by Mr BAUMEL
Contents
Paragraphs
I. Introduction 1 - 2
II. Relations between the Assembly and Slovenia 3 - 9
III. Short historical overview 10 - 16
IV. The path to independence 17 - 27
V. Questions relating to human rights 28 - 33
VI. Other questions 34 - 36
VII. Conclusions 37 - 39
I. Introduction
1. On 27 June 1991 the Slovenian Parliament promulgated a Basic Constitutional Charter declaring the Republic of Slovenia to be an independent, sovereign state. The declaration was a logical consequence of the referendum a few months earlier, in December 1990, which had given the Slovenes the opportunity to vote for their country's independence from the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).
2. On 29 January 1992 the Slovenian Government sent a letter to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe expressing Slovenia's wish to be invited to join the organisation and declaring its readiness to respect the principles stated in Article 3 of the Statute. On 26 March 1992 the Ministers' Deputies adopted Resolution (92) 4 on Slovenia, inviting the Parliamentary Assembly to express its opinion on this request for accession (see Doc 6588). The Assembly referred this request to the Political Affairs Committee and, for an opinion, to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and to the Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries.
II. Relations between the Assembly and Slovenia
3. On 3 February 1992, following up the request made by Mr Bučar, President of the Slovenian Parliament, the enlarged Bureau of the Assembly granted special guest status to this parliament. So a Slovenian parliamentary delegation, comprising three members, was able to attend the February 1992 part-session of the Assembly.
4. From 24 to 26 April 1992 the Sub-Committee on the Architectural and Artistic Heritage (of the Committee on Culture and Education), which the rapporteur is privileged to chair, met in Ljubljana.
5. On 11 and 12 September 1992 the Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries also met in Ljubljana. The committee had discussions with, inter alia, Mr Kučan, President of the Republic, Mr Bučar, President of the Slovenian Parliament, Mr Drnovšek, Prime Minister, Mr Rupel, Minister for Foreign Affairs, several other ministers and representatives of various political parties, national minorities and non-governmental organisations. All those who participated in the discussions with the committee demonstrated their commitment to Europe and their wish to see Slovenia become a full member of the Council of Europe.
6. 15 September 1992 was the date of publication of the report on the legislation of the Republic of Slovenia prepared by Mr Matscher, a judge at the European Court of Human Rights, and Sir Basil Hall, a member of the European Commission of Human Rights. Their document had been drawn up at the request of the Bureau of the Assembly, in accordance with the practice adopted for the examination of requests for accession.
7. On 6 October 1992 Mr Drnovšek, Prime Minister of Slovenia, addressed the Assembly. He retraced his country's path to independence, explained the political, legal and economic changes under way, put the Slovenian viewpoint on the conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina and reaffirmed his country's wish to become a member of the Council of Europe.
8. From 1 to 3 November 1992 Mr Martínez, President of the Assembly, made an official visit to Slovenia, where he met the President of the Republic, Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Justice, the President of the Slovenian Parliament and other members of the parliament. He also saw Mr Jamrek, President of the Constitutional Court, and Archbishop Šuštar of Ljubljana. Mr Martínez broached with them subjects including the complementary roles of the European institutions, the Council of Europe's priorities, its enlargement, Slovenia's request for accession and the preparations for the summit of Heads of State and of Government of the Council of Europe to be held in Vienna on 8 and 9 October 1993.
9. Taking up an invitation from the President of the Slovenian Parliament, the Bureau of the Assembly decided on 4 November 1992 to send an ad hoc committee to observe the presidential and parliamentary elections in Slovenia, which took place on 6 December 1992. On that occasion, the Bureau for the first time authorised the rapporteurs of the committees to which Slovenia's application for membership had been referred to join the ad hoc committee.
III. Short historical overview
10. In the sixth century Slavonic tribes settled in the regions south of the Danube between Vienna and Linz, in an area stretching as far as present-day Slovenia. These tribes, in order to defend themselves against attacks from the north and north-east, came together early in the seventh century to set up the Slavonic Principality of Karantanija, centred on the region of Klagenfurt.
11. In the eighth century, in consequence of alliances with the Franks and Bavarians, the Principality became an integral part of the Frankish empire. Christianity arrived, and society came to be based on the feudal system. In the twelfth century the Germanic empire, taking over from Charlemagne's former empire, took control of Slovenia. Its rule continued until the early nineteenth century, although a few regions bordering on Hungary and Italy were briefly under Hungarian or Venetian control. For four years from 1809, following the war between France and Austria, Slovenia was among the Illyrian Provinces which were part of the French empire.
12. From 1813 to 1918 Slovenian territory was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire. A new era in Slovenian history began in 1848, when Slovenian intellectuals, inspired by the example of other European countries, published a political manifesto asking for the unification, within a single administratively and politically independent territory, of those Austrian provinces in which the Slovenian population lived. Their demand went unanswered. Around the turn of the century the Slovenian nationalist movement, like its Czech counterpart, gradually gained in strength, and it undertook to preserve Slovenian culture and language in the face of a rising tide of Germanisation. It rapidly became clear, however, that it would be difficult to obtain independence for Slovenia within the Austro-Hungarian empire, so the Slovenian nationalists turned to other Slavonic peoples, the Croats and the Serbs.
13. So at the end of World War I, when the Austro-Hungarian empire was broken up, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was proclaimed on 24 October 1918, subsequently renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. Despite the aspirations of the different nations making up the kingdom, the centralist model of government was imposed. It nevertheless has to be acknowledged that Slovenia successfully set up a Slovenian university and developed its own cultural and educational institutions during this period.
14. In 1941, during World War II, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded by the German Army. Southern Slovenia was subsequently occupied by Italy, the centre and north by Germany and the east by Hungary. During the occupation the Slovenian language was prohibited, and large numbers of Slovene nationalists were imprisoned and executed. The rapidly organised resistance movement joined forces with Tito's army of Yugoslav partisans, fighting alongside it until the end of the war.
15. In 1945 Slovenia became one of the constituent republics of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), the state created by Tito. When the Communist Party took power it pursued a policy of nationalisation, introduced a centralised planned economy and kept society under strict political control. It has to be recognised, however, that Slovenia enjoyed a certain amount of cultural and administrative independence in this period. The effect of the dispute between Tito and Stalin in 1948 was to move Yugoslavia closer to the western countries. The various reforms accomplished by the federal Yugoslav authorities in the sixties and seventies highlighted the contradictions between even limited economic openness and a political authority incapable of change.
16. In the ten years after Tito's death in 1980, Slovenian society moved further and further along the path to independence. Despite the pressure brought to bear by the central Yugoslav authorities, Slovenia managed to affirm its national identity. It developed a sense of belonging to Central Europe, and Slovenes viewed the Balkans and Eastern Europe as geographical regions increasingly politically remote from their country.
IV. The path to independence
17. As already stated, the eighties - especially the latter part - first saw the emergence of many democratic and reformist forces in Slovenia. Even inside the Communist Party, a new generation of leaders started to advocate institutional and political reforms. A very important part was played during this period by intellectuals, artists and writers, whose commitment to Slovenian culture hastened the growth of Slovenes' political consciousness and awareness of their national identity. In the summer of 1988 the trial of some journalists charged with divulging military information provoked large, peaceful demonstrations at which Slovenes voiced their demands for Slovenian independence, democracy, political pluralism and the holding of free elections.
18. The Slovenian Assembly adopted an amendment of the republic's constitution in 1989, laying the necessary foundations for Slovenia to become a sovereign state. The first multi-party elections since the end of the last world war were called in January 1990. On 20 January that year, at the 14th extraordinary congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the Slovenian delegation left the meeting when its reformist proposals were rejected. A few weeks later, in March, the Slovenian Assembly adopted another amendment of the republic's constitution, strengthening its own powers and smoothing the transition to democracy.
19. The April 1990 elections set the seal on the victory of the advocates of Slovenian independence. The "Demos" coalition, comprising the Christian Democratic Party, the Peasants' Union, the Democratic Alliance, the Liberal Party and the League of Social Democrats, took 126 of the 240 seats in parliament. The other seats were shared between the Party of Democratic Renewal (the former communists), the Liberal Democratic Party, the Socialist Party and independents. Mr Kučan, standing for the Party of Democratic Renewal, was elected President of the Republic, and Mr Peterle, a member of the Christian Democratic Party, was appointed to head the government.
20. The new parliament's first act was to adopt a declaration of sovereignty, after which it altered the political, economic and judicial systems as appropriate to the new situation. In the meantime the legislation and constitution of the Yugoslav Federation continued to apply only if they did not run counter to Slovenia's new constitutional order. Subsequent events showed Belgrade's reaction to the Slovenian Government's desire to restructure the federal Yugoslav state to be wholly negative.
21. This being so, the referendum of 23 December 1990 on Slovenian independence was simply the logical outcome of the tension between Slovenia and Yugoslavia. More than 88% of the votes cast were in favour of independence. The announcement of the result was followed by a statement from the State Presidency of the SFRY that the independence referendum had been unconstitutional and meant secession by Slovenia. Over the next few days the Slovenian Parliament amended the republic's constitution, transferring from federal to Slovenian organs the enforcement of the rights associated with sovereignty. In March 1991 the Slovenian Parliament opposed the sending of Slovenian conscripts to the federal Yugoslav Army.
22. On 25 June 1991, six months after the referendum, the Slovenian Parliament promulgated the Basic Constitutional Charter, declaring that the Republic of Slovenia was an independent sovereign state, and that the federal Yugoslav constitution no longer applied on the republic's territory.
23. Two days later, on 27 June 1991, on the pretext of protecting Yugoslavia's frontiers, the federal Yugoslav Army moved into Slovenia. Slovenian resistance, particularly by the territorial defence forces, later to become the Slovenian Army, limited the fighting to ten days. Hostilities ceased on 7 July 1991, and Slovenia accepted the moratorium on independence proposed by the European Community. On 7 October it took responsibility for its frontiers and introduced its own currency. The last soldier of the Yugoslav Army left Slovenia on 25 October.
24. A year after the independence referendum, on 23 December 1991, the Slovenian Parliament adopted a new constitution, completing the new republic's legal framework. The democratic nature of Slovenia was enshrined in the constitution, which recognised its citizens' rights and fundamental freedoms and laid down the principle of the separation of the powers of the legislative, executive and judiciary. Unlike the previous constitution of 1974, the new one stipulated that elections would be held to choose ninety members of a National Assembly, elected by direct universal suffrage for a four-year term of office, and forty members of a National Council, twenty-two of whom would be elected directly and eighteen indirectly by the electoral organs. The National Council was required to give the National Assembly its opinion on matters for which the latter was responsible, but was also empowered to ask for legislation to be re-examined by the Assembly prior to promulgation.
25. On 22 May 1992 Slovenia became a member of the United Nations. It has subsequently been recognised by most members of the international community of states, including the members of the Council of Europe.
26. In pursuance of the new constitution, and as stated in paragraph 9, presidential and parliamentary elections took place on 6 December 1992, observed by an ad hoc committee set up by the Bureau. A separate report (Addendum III to Doc. 6724) has been submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly by Mr Probst, rapporteur of the ad hoc committee. This contains details about the electoral law in force and the organisation of the elections, as well as the results. The ad hoc committee unanimously concluded that the elections were free and fair, and took place in a calm and politically mature atmosphere. The turnout of 85,9% demonstrated voters' interest in the election.
27. Mr Kučan, outgoing President of the Republic, was re-elected, receiving 63,9% of the votes cast. The elections were won by the Liberal Democratic Party, with 23,3% of the votes, followed by the Slovenian Christian Democrats, with 14,5%, and the United List, supported by 13,6%. Mr Drnovšek, President of the Liberal Democratic Party, was reappointed Prime Minister.
V. Questions relating to human rights
28. The rapporteur has no intention whatsoever of reiterating in this section the contents of the report on the legislation of the Republic of Slovenia drawn up by Mr Matscher and Sir Basil Hall. He simply wishes to draw attention to some aspects of particular interest to the Assembly. As already stated, Slovenia's new constitution is largely based upon the principles of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms which are the common birthright of Council of Europe member states. The constitution states that national legislation must be in conformity with the universally recognised principles of international law and with the international agreements by which Slovenia is bound. Once Slovenia has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights, the convention will be regarded as an integral part of domestic legislation and will take precedence over ordinary national laws.
29. Slovenia also has a Council of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, set up by a law of March 1990 predating the declaration of independence. The Council's task is to prevent any abuses of official authority, perform a general supervisory role and, at the same time, examine individual complaints. Its functions are thus comparable with those of an ombudsman. However, its conclusions are not legally binding. As an independent body, it has wide powers enabling it to obtain the information it desires. The new constitution provides for the appointment of an ombudsman to be responsible for the protection of human rights, who, once appointed, could take over some or all of the Council's functions.
30. An enabling act of 1991, adopted by the former Slovenian Parliament, stipulated that, until a new law had been promulgated, the procedures laid down in the 1974 constitution were to be applied. The Constitutional Court, comprising nine judges elected by the National Assembly from those nominated by the President of the Republic, is currently spending most of its time examining the compatibility of legislation laid down by the National Assembly with the constitution. It is also, under the new constitution of 1991, empowered to deal with alleged violations of human rights. There is also a Supreme Court, which considers points relating to positive law and procedural rules. Its judges are elected by the National Assembly on the basis of the recommendations of the Judicial Council (comprising six lawyers and six judges). The independence of judicial bodies from the government seems to be guaranteed in Slovenia. The death penalty has been abolished in Slovenia's new institutional order.
31. In accordance with the new constitution, the Italian and Hungarian minorities are entitled to use their national symbols, promote relations with Italian and Hungarian communities outside Slovenia and elect a member of parliament to represent them in the National Assembly. All persons belonging to these minorities are entitled to education and schooling in their mother tongue. Official statistics show the Italian minority to number around 3 000 and the Hungarian between 8 000 and 9 000.
32. The Citizenship Act of 5 June 1991 made it possible for most residents of Slovenia, including approximately 100 000 Serbs and Croats, automatically to acquire Slovenian nationality.
33. Since independence, Slovenia has co-operated very closely with the Council of Europe, not just at parliamentary, but also at intergovernmental level. To date it has acceded to sixteen European Conventions, including the European Cultural Convention. It is consequently playing an active part in the work of several intergovernmental committees.
VI. Other questions
34. The economic reforms carried out in Slovenia over the past ten years have given the country an economic structure broadly comparable with that of most West European countries. In 1991, 75% of firms were in the private sector, 19% in the public sector and 6% were part-private, part-public. Its position as the best-developed republic of former Yugoslavia has enabled Slovenia to cope with the 1991 economic crisis and the loss of markets accompanying independence better than the other former Yugoslavian republics, although unemployment has risen markedly in recent months. It is, however, possible to say that in Slovenia, unlike other countries which have recently become democracies, the consolidation of democracy does not seem to be at risk as a result of the economic crisis.
35. The role of the media in the introduction of democratic reforms to Slovenia during the eighties has been mentioned. The new constitution grants freedom of expression. The Association of Journalists said during the recent election campaign that no major obstacles had been encountered by reporters in the course of their work, although it had been difficult to cover all the parties equally. Parties had nevertheless had access to the media on an equal footing. While some members of the media had devoted more attention to certain candidates than to others, this was simply because those candidates were members of the outgoing government.
36. Slovenia's attainment of independence and the conflicts which broke out in other republics of the SFRY have impeded the development of relations between these new states. As already stated, trade has been adversely affected by war and by the embargo imposed on certain republics of former Yugoslavia by the international community. Slovenia has normal relations with its neighbour, Croatia, and there are no disputes between the two countries over their borders.
VI. Conclusions
37. With its population of two million in an area of just over 20 000 km삲 - half the size of Switzerland - the Republic of Slovenia now has all the hallmarks of an independent state. Its people live within clearly defined boundaries; its frontiers are internationally recognised, and the state of Slovenia effectively has authority over the whole territory. Slovenia is run by a democratically elected government and has a pluralist system of political representation.
38. The rapporteur would also like to point out that all the Slovenes he met, whatever their political leanings, demonstrated their commitment to Europe and were unanimously in favour of Slovenia's accession to the Council of Europe.
39. Slovenia now therefore seems to meet the essential conditions for accession to the Council of Europe. Consequently, the committee could recommend that the Assembly adopt a favourable opinion on its request for accession.
Reporting committee: Political Affairs Committee.
Committees for opinion: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: None.
Reference to committee: Doc. 6588, Reference No. 1782 of 4 May 1992.
Draft opinion: Unanimously adopted by the committee on 4 February 1993.
Members of the committee: MM. Reddemann (Chairman), Sir Dudley Smith (Vice-Chairman), Mrs Baarveld-Schlaman (Vice-Chairperson), MM. Agnelli, Alvarez Cascos (Alternate: de Puig), Andreotti, Antretter, Baumel, Björn Bjarnason, Bokov, Bratinka, Caro, Cimoszewicz, Efraimoglou, Espersen, Lord Finsberg, MM. Fiorini, Flückiger, Galanos, Mrs Haller, Mrs Halonen (Alternate: Rehn), MM. Hardy, Hellström, Irmer, Kelchtermans, König (Alternate: Schwimmer), Mrs Lentz-Cornette, MM. van der Linden, Machete, Martins, Maruflu, Masseret, Mimaroglu, Moya, Oehry, Pangalos, Panov, Psaila Savona, Schieder, Seeuws, Mrs Suchoka, MM. Szent-Ivanyi, Tarschys (Alternate: Granstedt), Thoresen, Trabacchini.
N.B. The names of those members who took part in the meeting are printed in italics.
Secretaries of the committee: MM. Sorinas and Kleijssen.