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 17.01.2013 - Gilbert Saboya Sunyé, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Andorra and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe visits Brussels

17.01.2013 - Today, during his working visit to Brussels, Mr Gilbert Saboya Sunyé, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Andorra and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, presented the priorities of the Andorran chairmanship to members of the Brussels-based diplomatic corps, EU officials, NGOs and thinktanks.

The event took place in the Council of Europe Liaison Office with the European Union and was opened by Ambassador Torbjørn Frøysnes, head of the office. In his speech, Minister Saboya gave a detailed overview of the priorities of Andorra's chairmanship , namely education for democratic citizenship and Human Rights and the Council of Europe youth policies.

Minister Saboya expressed the will of Andorra to promote the visibility of the European Convention on Human Rights to the civil society. He also underlined the importance of developing fruitful co-operation between the Council of Europe and the European Union.

Minister Saboya Sunyé's intervention