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Doc. 9143
26 June 2001
Honouring of obligations and commitments by Ukraine
Recommendation 1513 (2001)
Reply from the Committee of Ministers
adopted at the 758th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (21 and 25 June 2001)
1. The Committee of Ministers wishes to inform the Assembly that, at its 754th meeting, in order inter alia to prepare a full reply to Parliamentary Assembly’s Recommendation 1513 (2001) on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Ukraine, it adopted the following decisions:
“The Deputies
in the light of the Secretary General’s proposals concerning Ukraine following the Ministers’ informal meeting on 10 May 2001 and Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1513 (2001) and consequently requesting the Secretary General to make contacts, collect information and furnish advice;
taking into account the letter of the Foreign Minister of Ukraine to the Secretary General of 28 May 2001 (attached),
1. recalled their decision to implement an Action Plan on the Media (adopted at their 750th meeting, 18 and 23 April 2001) and stressed, in particular, the need for voluntary contributions and budget allocations starting from the year 2002 to facilitate the implementation of the Plan;
2. decided to ask the Secretary General to send, at the earliest opportunity, a Secretariat mission with a view to assisting the Ukrainian authorities to fulfil their remaining commitments and to providing relevant information to the Committee of Ministers;
3. encouraged the Secretary General to co-sponsor, with the Ukrainian authorities, a high level conference, with the participation of the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe, in order to take stock, discuss and help accelerate reform in Ukraine in the light of the implementation of commitments;
4. invited the Secretariat, in close co-operation with their Ukrainian partners, to step up specific co-operation programmes to assist civil society as well as political parties and to search for additional resources (including financial ones) for this purpose;
5. decided to resume examination of this issue following receipt of the report of the Secretariat mission to Ukraine at their 762nd meeting (5 September 2001)’.
2. The Committee of Ministers wishes also to recall the Conclusions of the Chair following the 108th Ministerial Session, as far as Ukraine is concerned:
“The Ministers[,] bearing in mind Recommendation 1513 on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Ukraine adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly on 26 April 2001, and in the light of the information given by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on the developments in his country, called for a substantial increase in co-operation between the Council of Europe and Ukraine. Rapid implementation of the action plan concerning the media should, in particular, permit the improvement of the legislative framework in conformity with Council of Europe standards and foster the development of free, independent and pluralist media”.
3. As regards, more specifically, sub-paragraph 10 (iii) of Assembly Recommendation 1513 (2001) and the implementation of the Action Plan on the Media - proposed by the Secretariat in reply to Assembly Recommendation 1497 (2001) on freedom of expression and functioning of parliamentary democracy in Ukraine - the Committee of Ministers is already in a position to inform the Assembly of the following:
i. Following letters addressed by the Secretary General to all Ministries of Foreign Affairs of member states and observer states asking them to examine the possibility of making voluntary contributions for the early implementation of the Action Plan, several delegations have indicated that they would consider a positive response to this appeal. For the time being, four delegations have promised such voluntary contributions.
ii. In parallel, discussions have been undertaken with the European Commission with a view to concluding a Joint Programme for the full implementation of the Action Plan. At the meeting of senior European Commission and Council of Europe officials in Brussels on 14 June 2001, the possibility of launching a new joint programme for Ukraine was discussed in connection with the joint Declaration on partnership and co-operation between the two institutions. This programme might cover questions relating, for example, to the rule of law, independence of the courts and prison conditions. It might also cover some of the co-operation activities on freedom of information included in the Action Plan for the media in Ukraine.
4. The Committee of Ministers intends to adopt its final reply to Recommendation 1513 (2001) before the September 2001 part-Session of the Assembly on the basis inter alia of the results of the Secretariat mission to Ukraine.”
Appendix
