1041st meeting of the Committee of Ministers – 19 November 2008

On 19 November 2008, the Committee of Ministers pursued its discussions on the consequences of the conflict in Georgia on the basis of the draft action plan proposed by the Swedish Chairmanship. It agreed to come back to this item on 24 November 2008.

The Chairman of the Committee’s Rapporteur Group on Democracy reported on a recent visit by a delegation of the Group to Bosnia and Herzegovina (27-31 October 2008). He indicated that the delegation had the opportunity to review extensively different questions which were at the core of the commitments entered into by Bosnia and Herzegovina upon its accession to the Council of Europe. These include constitutional reform, the reform of the education system, the protection of human rights and those of minorities, the situation of refugees and IDPs, as well as the prosecution of war crimes. The Chairman of the Group also reported on an exchange of views held with the Head of UNMIK and the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

The Committee of Ministers considered the follow-up to the Quadripartite meeting between the Council of Europe and the European Union held in Brussels on 10 November 2008 at the invitation of the French EU Presidency. In this context, it noted that the participants at the meeting had called for a swift and unconditional adoption of the Action Plan prepared by the Swedish Chairmanship, following the recent conflict in Georgia.

Co-operation with the European Union was also at the centre of an exchange of views with Mr Jacques Barrot, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security. Both sides stressed the need for enhanced co-operation within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding concluded last year between the two organisations. Among the priority fields in this respect were mentioned human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular children’s rights, the fight against trafficking in human beings, cybercrime and terrorism.

Following the report given by the Chair of their Liaison Committee with the European Court of Human Rights at their last meeting, the Committee agreed that it was urgent to adopt measures to enable the Court to increase its case-processing capacity. They accordingly mandated the Steering Committee on Human Rights and the Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law to give an opinion on the advisability and modalities of inviting the Court to put into practice certain procedures which are already envisaged, in particular single-judge and committee procedures.

At the initiative of the Swedish Chairmanship, the Committee held a thematic exchange of views on the youth policy of the Council of Europe. In the light of the views expressed, it took note of an information document on Council of Europe action in this field and of the Final Declaration of the 8th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth, held in Kyiv, Ukraine, on 10 and 11 October 2008. The Committee underlined the importance of the new Strategy on Youth (Agenda 2020), as set out in the final Declaration, and agreed to resume consideration of a draft Resolution on the youth policy of the Council of Europe elaborated on this basis, at its meeting next week.

Finally, the Committee decided that the Partnership Agreement between the Council of Europe and the European Roma and Travellers Forum would be renewed for 2009.