13 December 1993

Doc. 6975

1403-9/12/93-1-E

REPORT

on the enlargement of the Council of Europe

(Rapporteur: Mr REDDEMANN,

Germany, Group of the European People's Party)

Summary

      Time has come for the Council of Europe to set limits to its enlargement.

      As the boundaries of Europe have not yet been comprehensively defined under international law, the Council of Europe should, in principle, base itself on the generally accepted geographical limits of Europe.

      Only states whose territory lies wholly or partly in Europe, and whose culture is closely linked with European culture should be able to request membership of the organisation.

I. Draft recommendation

1.       The Council of Europe is an organisation of sovereign states striving to achieve close co-operation on the basis of democratic constitutions and the European Convention on Human Rights.

2.       Membership of the Council of Europe is in principle open only to states whose national territory lies wholly or partly in Europe and whose culture is closely linked with the European culture.

3.       The boundaries of Europe have not yet been comprehensively defined under international law. The Council of Europe therefore should, in principle, base itself on the generally accepted geographical limits of Europe, according to which the Caucasus is part of Asia.

4.       Accordingly, within their internationally recognised borders, all member states of the Council of Europe, on 1 December 1993, are European: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

5.       The states whose legislative assemblies enjoy special guest status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe are also considered as European, as defined in paragraph 3 above. These states, on 1 December 1993, are: Albania, Belarus, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Latvia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine.

6.       The possibility of membership is open to the republics of the former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia which currently have no formal status with the Council of Europe because of their involvement in armed conflicts: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.

7.       This possibility of membership is also open to the Principality of Andorra.

8.       Countries bordering directly on Council of Europe member states should be able to apply for the status appropriate in each case with the Parliamentary Assembly if they so wish. This applies in particular to the Caucasian republics and the states on the eastern and southern shores of the Mediterranean.

9.       Even after internationally recognised declarations of sovereignty, any non-European parts of member states which break away from the latter should only be able to apply to participate as observers in the Parliamentary Assembly's work.

10.       Delegations to the Parliamentary Assembly should comprise a minimum of two and a maximum of eighteen members.

11.       The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers define the limits of the enlargement of the Council of Europe taking into account the above-mentioned principles.

II. Explanatory memorandum

by Mr REDDEMANN

1.       The Rapporteur considers that the information report on the enlargement of the Council of Europe (Doc. 6629) which was debated by the Assembly in Budapest on 30 June 1992, still provides a valid basis for discussion on the limits of the organisation. It should be remembered that Appendices I, II and III to this report respectively contain the conclusions of the Bureau of the Assembly, the Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries and the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on the enlargement of the Council of Europe.

2.       As regards the geographical limits of Europe, the Rapporteur accepts those adopted by European geographers and set out in most of European encyclopedias, such as the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1984 edition) which reads:

      "As to the territorial limits of Europe, while these seem clear on its three seaward flanks, they have been uncertain and hence much debated on the east, where the continent merges, without sundering physical limits, with parts of western Asia. Even to the north and west, many island groups — Svalbard (Spitsbergen), the British Isles, the Faeroes, Iceland, and the Madeira and Canary islands — that are European by culture are included in the continent, although Greenland is conventionally allocated to North America. Further, the Mediterranean coast lands of northern Africa and southwest Asia also exhibit some European physical and cultural affinities, and Turkey and Cyprus, while geologically Asian, possess elements of European culture and may, perhaps, be regarded as parts of Europe. Eastward limits, now adopted by European (including Soviet) geographers, assign the Caucasus to Asia and are taken to run southward along the eastern foot of the Urals, and then across the Mugodzhar Hills (Mugodzharskiye Gory), along the Emba River (Vaike Emajogi), and along the northern shore of the Caspian Sea. West of the Caspian, the European limit follows the Kumo-Manych Depression (Kumo-Manychskaya Vpadina) and the Kerch Strait (Kerchensky Proliv) to the Black Sea."

      Reporting committee: Political Affairs Committee.

      Budgetary implications for the Assembly: none.

      Reference to committee: standing mandate (see Doc. 6629).

      Draft recommendation unanimously adopted by the committee on 3 December 1993.

      Members of the committee: MM. Reddemann (Chairman), Sir Dudley Smith (Vice-Chairman), Mrs Baarveld-Schlaman (Vice-Chairperson), MM. Agnelli, Alvarez-Cascos (Alternate: Fabra), Andreotti, Antretter, Baumel, Bernardini, Björn Bjarnason, Bokov, Bratinka, Cimoszwicz, Efraimoglou, Espersen, Lord Finsberg, MM. Flückiger, Fogas, Galanos (Alternate: Hadjidemetriou), Gricius, Mrs Haller, Mrs Halonen, MM. Hardy (Alternate: Banks), Hellström, Irmer, Mrs Janu, MM. Kalus, Kaspereit, Kelam, Kelchtermans, Kenneally, König, Mrs Lentz-Cornette, MM. van der Linden, Machete, Martins, Maruflu, Masseret, Mimaroglu, Oehry, Pahor, Pangalos, Panov, Psaila Savona, de Puig, Schieder (Alternate: Mrs Hawlicek), Seeuws, Mrs Suchocka, MM. Szent-Ivanyi, Tarschys, Thoresen (Alternate: Berg), Trabacchini, N... (Alternate: Radulescu Botica).

      N.B. The names of those members who took part in the meeting are printed in italics.

      Secretaries to the committee: Mr Sorinas, Mr Kleijssen and Mrs Kleinsorge.