Doc. 8175

16 July 1998

Relations with the European Union (follow-up to the European Union's Amsterdam Summit)

Reply to Recommendation 1365 (1998)

from the Committee of Ministers

adopted on 2 July 1998 at the 638^th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies

1.       The Committee of Ministers has noted with great interest the proposals contained in Recommendation 1365 (1998) of the Parliamentary Assembly. It has brought them to the attention of the Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission. Like the Assembly the Committee of Ministers considers that the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty which is in the process of ratification by the member States of the European Union, will call for a review of several aspects of the relations between the Council of Europe and the European Union. The relationship between the Council of Europe and the European Union is already one of the subjects examined in the follow-up to the Second Council of Europe Summit. Recommendation 1365 will be taken into account in that context by the Committee of Ministers and its subsidiary bodies. It is also in the file of the Committee of Wise Persons.

2.       At this stage the Committee of Ministers would like to limit its reply to the specific recommendations addressed to it by the Assembly.

3.       The Committee of Ministers notes that a number of Council of Europe conventions and agreements provide for accession by the European Community in accordance with the procedures laid down in each instrument (see the appended list of conventions and agreements). It is for the European Community to decide when it wishes to take advantage of the possibility of accession. The question of accession to these instruments is regularly examined in the meetings held between the legal services of the European Commission and the Council of Europe. Several options have been put forward concerning Community (or Union) accession to the European Convention on Human Rights at the time of the Intergovernmental Conference of the European Union which preceded the adoption of the Amsterdam Treaty, none of which has been pursued further. On 28 March 1996 the Court of Justice of the European Communities had adopted an opinion according to which the Treaty provisions do not provide the competence for such accession.

4.       The Committee of Ministers welcomes the growing co-operation between the European Union and the Council of Europe in the fields of justice and home affairs. Particular attention has been given to Council of Europe Conventions on co-operation in criminal matters and the Octopus programme on the fight against corruption and organised crime. The same goes for the activities of the Council of Europe in the field of the rule of law, notably following the Noordwijk Conference on the Rule of Law (23-24 June 1997).

5.       As pointed out by the Assembly the European Union has not at present legal personality nor will it acquire such personality under the Amsterdam Treaty signed on 2 October 1997. The question of Union accession to Council of Europe Conventions does therefore not arise at this stage.

6.       The framework for the quadripartite meetings, with the participation of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Commission, on the one hand, and the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, on the other hand, was created by the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers of 5 May 1989 (paragraph 8) and the Decision of the Council of Europe Communities of 20 March 1989. So far eleven such meetings have been held. These meetings have focused on the intergovernmental activities of the Council of Europe and co-operation with the European Union in particular the European Commission. The Committee of Ministers warmly welcomes the strengthening of co-operation between the Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament in recent years. There is therefore ample scope for exchanges of views and co-operation between the two parliamentary bodies in accordance with the modalities and procedures agreed by them. All suggestions from the Assembly as to the agenda or the follow-up to quadripartite meetings will be examined in a positive spirit by the Committee of Ministers. A decision on directly involving the President of the Assembly and the President of the European Parliament could only be taken in consultation with the competent bodies of the European Union.

7.       As regards participation in the European Conference the Committee of Ministers recalls that the circle of participating States was fixed by the European Council in Luxembourg in December 1997 in the context of the launching of the enlargement process and by the Council of the European Union in February 1998. No provision was made for the participation of the Council of Europe or any other international organisation. The question of Council of Europe participation in the Conference was raised by the Secretary General at the 10th quadripartite meeting in Brussels on 15 September 1997 but was not pursued further by the European Union side for institutional and formal reasons.

Appendix

Treaty Office       Date of Edition: 08/06/98

EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

1)       Conventions to which the Community is a Party

      a)       by signature

26       European Agreement on the Exchange of Therapeutic Substances of Human Origin (1959) as completed by its Additional Protocol (ETS No. 109)

33       Agreement on the Temporary Importation, Free of Duty, of Medical, Surgical and Laboratory Equipment for Use on Free Loan in Hospitals and other Medical Institutions for Purposes of Diagnosis or Treatment (1960) as completed by its Additional Protocol (ETS No. 110)

39       European Agreement on the Exchange of Blood-grouping Reagents (1962) as completed by its Additional Protocol (ETS No. 111)

84       European Agreement on the Exchange of Tissue-typing Reagents (1974) as completed by its Additional Protocol (ETS No. 89)

      b)       by signature followed by acceptance

87       European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes (1976)

104       Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (1979)

123       European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes (1986)

      c)       by accession

50       Convention on the Elaboration of a European Pharmacopoeia (1964) as amended by its Protocol (ETS No. 134)

2)       Conventions which the Community has signed but not yet ratified, accepted or approved

153       European Convention relating to Questions on Copyright Law and Neighbouring Rights in the Framework of Transfrontier Broadcasting by Satellite (1994)

3)       Conventions to which the Community may become a Party

a)       by signature

65       European Convention for the Protection of Animals during International Transport (1968) as completed by its Additional Protocol (ETS No. 103)

145       Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes (1992)

      b)       by signature followed by ratification, acceptance or approval

102       European Convention for the Protection of Animals for Slaughter (1979)

132       European Convention on Transfrontier Television (1989)

150       Convention on Civil Liability for Damage Resulting from Activities Dangerous to the Environment (1993)

164       Convention on Human Rights and Biomedecine (1997)

165       Convention on Human Rights and Biomedecine (1997)

168       Protocol to ETS 164 on the prohibition of cloning human beings (1998)

[170       Protocol to ETS 123 on the Protection of Animals used for Experimental and Scientific Purposes (opening for signature 22/06/98)]

      c)       by accession (at the invitation of the Committee of Ministers)

121       Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe (1985)

130       Convention on Insider Trading (1989) as completed by its Protocol (ETS No. 133)

138       European Convention on the General Equivalence of Periods of University Study (1990)

143       Convention for the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (revised) (1992)

147       European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production (1992)

4)       Conventions to which the Community may be invited to accede after their entry into force

139       European Code of Social Security (revised) (1990)

160       European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights (1996)

165       Recognition Qualifications Higher Education in European Region (1997).