Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers

Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers: Armenia succeeds Andorra

Strasbourg, 16 May 2013 - The 123rd session of the Committee of Ministers was held today in Strasbourg with Gilbert Saboya Sunyé, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Andorra, in the Chair. At the end of the meeting, the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers was passed by Andorra to Armenia.

The Ministers' discussions chiefly revolved around a report by the Secretary General on strengthening the impact of the actions undertaken by the Council of Europe concerning democracy, human rights and rule of law. They encouraged the Secretary General to continue his efforts to optimise the functioning and co-ordination of the Organisation's monitoring mechanisms while taking care that better use was made of the conclusions drawn from the monitoring actions. For that purpose, the Ministers invited the Secretary General to present them regularly with a situation report on democracy, human rights and rule of law in Europe founded on the conclusions of the monitoring mechanisms, accompanied by definite proposals for action.

Co-operation with the European Union and Council of Europe policy towards neighbouring regions were also on the meeting agenda.

During the session, the Committee of Ministers also adopted Protocol No. 15 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The Protocol will be opened for signature by member states on 24 June 2013.

Armenia will chair the Committee of Ministers for the next six months.

Back 06.12.2012 - Social rights in Europe

On 6 December, S.E.M. Francesc Camp Torres, Minister of Tourism and Environment of Andorra, participated in a Seminar on the "European Social Charter and the discretion of States", which was organised under the auspices of the Andorran Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. The seminar addressed issues concerning the discretion of States in the implementation of the social rights laid down by the European Social Charter. The Minister welcomed the theme of the seminar, considering it particularly pertinent in these times of economic crisis where governments find themselves in a difficult position with regard to maintaining their social policies on restricted resources. He also recalled the potential risks emerging from the current political and economical climate, in particular the rise of extremism and intolerance, and the priority of the Andorran Chairmanship to promote education in the field of human rights and democratic citizenship to temper these trends.