1. European
Landscape Convention – a unique and innovative treaty
1. During its 15 years of existence,
the European Landscape Convention (ETS No. 176) has contributed
to the inclusion of the consideration of landscapes, both natural
and man-made, in member States’ global and local policies, making
them aware of their various implications for a society’s cultural
identity and heritage. On a local scale, urban planning measures
and decisions can no longer be implemented without acknowledging the
changes they will bring to landscapes: the quality of landscapes
has been proven to be intrinsically linked to human well-being and
quality of life.
2. Indeed, the European Landscape Convention is a unique treaty
in that it covers all aspects of landscape policy and the entire
territory of signatory States. Moreover, democracy is an essential
component of this text, which enhances the participation of the
general public, in particular at the local level. Seen as innovative
and complete, the European Landscape Convention has already been
a great success within the borders of the Council of Europe area:
38 member States have ratified it, while Iceland and Malta have
signed it but have yet to ratify it. Seven countries have not yet
signed the convention: Albania, Austria, Estonia, Germany, Liechtenstein,
Monaco and the Russian Federation.
3. Overall, given the great success of the convention within
the Council of Europe, it comes as no surprise that non-European
States, notably those from South Mediterranean countries, have expressed
their interest in joining this treaty. Some other countries such
as Australia and Latin American countries have also participated in
various workshops on the implementation of the convention and may
eventually consider accession.
2. The promotion of transfrontier co-operation
4. The European Landscape Convention
particularly stresses and promotes international co-operation. Indeed,
its Article 7 states that “Parties undertake to co-operate in the
consideration of the landscape dimension of international policies
and programmes, and to recommend, where relevant, the inclusion
in them of landscape considerations”. Moreover, Article 9 provides
that “[t]he Parties shall encourage transfrontier co-operation on
local and regional level and, wherever necessary, prepare and implement
joint landscape programmes”. It proposes guidelines for further
international policies on landscape management and as such, is of
some influence in overall international policies dealing with regional
planning, environment and sustainable development in general. Furthermore,
parties to the convention can make use of the dedicated Information
System with its glossary as a platform for sharing knowledge of
landscapes and landscape policies.
5. One may conclude that transfrontier co-operation in landscape
and environmental matters is already enshrined in the spirit of
the European Landscape Convention, whose general goal is to foster
a common international strategy. The opening of this text for signature
by non-European States therefore seems to be a natural development.
This step is also in line with the neighbourhood policy of the Council
of Europe, whose policies are influenced by developments taking
place outside Europe. Given that non-European States have expressed
their interest in joining the European Landscape Convention, enabling
these accessions will reinforce international dialogue and co-operation
in both landscape management and sustainable development issues.
The draft protocol is the logical answer to all these challenges.
6. Over the years, examples of successful transfrontier co-operation
in the framework of the European Landscape Convention abound across
Europe. They mainly concern joint projects for ecotourism, landscape conservation,
restoration and development through protected areas or parks, protection
against floods, sustainable forest and land management and tackling
the cross-border impact of pollution, as well as pilot activities
for improving the integrity of transboundary watersheds and ecosystems.
7. In this context, the Mediterranean region abounds with both
challenges and opportunities, notably for strengthening ties between
the northern (Council of Europe area) and southern (Council of Europe neighbourhood
area) shores. I would thus like to highlight the example of co-operation
on landscape matters between Andalusia and Morocco, which could
inspire the creation of similar programmes following the accession
of countries from Europe’s southern neighbourhood to the Landscape
Convention as will be enabled by the amending protocol.
3. Procedure
regarding the preparation of the protocol
8. According to its terms of reference,
the Steering Committee for Culture,
Heritage and Landscape (CDCPP) was given the responsibility of monitoring
the European Landscape Convention. Therefore, the CDCPP considered
the possibility of drafting a Protocol enabling non-European States
to accede to the European Landscape Convention, a procedure already
in place for some other conventions that it supervises, such as
the European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological
Heritage (Revised) (ETS No. 143).
To this end, it submitted a draft
amending protocol to the Committee of Ministers.
9. At its 1238th meeting on 14 October 2015, the Committee of
Ministers (Ministers’ Deputies) invited the Parliamentary Assembly
to provide it with an opinion on the draft protocol amending the
European Landscape Convention (“draft protocol”) as soon as possible;
as a result, the Assembly decided to deal with this matter urgently.
On 27 November 2015, the request of the Committee of Ministers was
referred to report to the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and
Sustainable Development, which appointed me as rapporteur.
4. Comments
on the draft protocol amending the European Landscape Convention
10. Without a doubt, the European
Landscape Convention is a very comprehensive treaty dealing with
all aspects of the landscape, from ordinary areas to sites of outstanding
beauty. Moreover, as a Council of Europe treaty, it also aims to
spread certain values and to promote democracy. It therefore provides
for the involvement of citizens and establishes a bottom-up approach
to landscape management. States acceding to the Treaty undertake
to “establish procedures for the participation of the general public,
local and regional authorities, and other parties with an interest
in the definition and implementation of the landscape policies”
(Article 5.
11. To date, 159 of the 219 Council of Europe treaties are open
to non-European States. A treaty such as the European Landscape
Convention follows global developments and is a solid legal instrument
for spreading common European principles of landscape management
to other areas, particularly immediate neighbourhoods such as the
southern Mediterranean countries, with whom the Council of Europe
is working more and more closely each year.
12. The European Landscape Convention has been drafted in a way
that promotes international co-operation in landscape matters. It
follows that, in substance, the draft protocol only provides for
an enlargement of Article 14, already allowing the European Union
and European non-member States to accede to the convention. It does
not bring any other substantial changes, apart from widening the
geographical scope of the Landscape Award.
13. However, I am surprised that no changes have been considered
regarding the title. In my view, this could mislead and dissuade
non-European countries from joining the convention, even though
they will be given the possibility to do so. The Committee of Ministers
could therefore consider adjusting the title of the convention and
give more visibility to the Council of Europe by replacing the word
“European” with the “Council of Europe”: “Council of Europe Landscape
Convention”.
14. Moreover, for the sake of coherence in legal terms used and
procedure referred to in both Articles 7 and 8 of the draft protocol,
it would be appropriate, in Article 8.a,
to replace the words “acceptance, approval or accession” with the
words “acceptance or approval” and to delete the sentence below
which starts with the words “In witness whereof …”. This proposal
is made further to consultations with the Council of Europe’s Treaty
Office.
5. Conclusion
and recommendation
15. In conclusion, I strongly support
the revisions introduced by the draft protocol and recommend that
the Assembly endorse this text with a small adjustment concerning
a technical modification in the title of the convention as proposed
above. This would strengthen the convention’s international scope
and would facilitate its promotion. Moreover, the Assembly should
ask the Committee of Ministers to ensure a rapid adoption of the amending
protocol with a view to giving access to the European Landscape
Convention to a wider circle of countries.