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 22.04.2013 - “Education, Culture and Youth are part of the essence of the Council of Europe”

22.04.2013 - "Education, culture and youth correspond to the very essence of the Council's role: democracy, rule of law and human rights are not established by decree", highlighted Gilbert Saboya Sunyé, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, while addressing PACE on Monday.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Andorra underlined the chairmanship's main contributions to some of the strategic priorities identified by the Organisation: "living together in harmony in sustainable democratic and culturally diverse societies, focusing our activities on youth, education for democratic citizenship and human rights".

Saboya Sunyé provided as well an up-date on the developments on the agenda of the Committee of Ministers, focusing on the partnership with the European Union for the Neighbourhood policy in the southern shores of the Mediterranean.

Moreover, in the framework of a brief overview of the Andorran initiatives during the semester, the Iberian politician emphasized the role of the campaign Nurturing Human Rights launched to raise awareness on the Convention on Human Rights.

Speech
Video of the speech

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Andorra underlined the chairmanship's main contributions to some of the strategic priorities identified by the Organisation: "living together in harmony in sustainable democratic and culturally diverse societies, focusing our activities on youth, education for democratic citizenship and human rights".

Saboya Sunyé provided as well an up-date on the developments on the agenda of the Committee of Ministers, focusing on the partnership with the European Union for the Neighbourhood policy in the southern shores of the Mediterranean.

Moreover, in the framework of a brief overview of the Andorran initiatives during the semester, the Iberian politician emphasized the role of the campaign Nurturing Human Rights launched to raise awareness on the Convention on Human Rights.

Speech
Video of the speech