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 21.03.2013 - Committee of Ministers' Chairman addresses the Congress

21.03.2013 - Speaking before the Congress of Local and Regional authorities today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Andorra Gilbert Saboya Sunyé, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, underlined the importance for political representatives to demonstrate through vigilance and focused action that they are equal to the challenges facing them. He stressed that this was all the more important in times of crisis and called for particular attention to be given to the protection of democratic processes and social cohesion in the knowledge that these both can be victims of the negative consequences of the economic climate.

In this respect, the Minister highlighted the importance of education for democratic citizenship and human rights - one of the Chairmanship's priorities, of fighting inequalities and exclusion as well as of promoting ethics and combating corruption.

Speech