Foreign Ministers of the 47-member states of the Council of Europe met in Helsinki, Finland, on 16 and 17 May 2019, in the context of the 70th anniversary of the creation of the Council of Europe.

At the end of the ministerial session chaired by the Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Timo SOINI, Finland, handed over the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers to France, following which the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Amélie DE MONTCHALIN, presented the priorities of her country's Presidency.

The main goals of the French Presidency are to preserve and strengthen the European system of human rights protection, to strive towards a Europe that brings people closer together and fosters unity, and to promote equality and a culture of “living together” as well as ensuring the Council of Europe adapts to the times and addresses the new challenges surrounding human rights and the rule of law; in particular digital technology issues and artificial intelligence.

The Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe passed from France to Georgia , at a meeting at the organisation’s Strasbourg headquarters on 27 November 2019. France’s Secretary of State in charge of European Affairs Amélie de Montchalin gave an overview of her country’s achievements.

NEWS

Back Monitoring, one of the Council of Europe’s assets

Monitoring, one of the Council of Europe’s assets

The Foreign Ministers who met at the Ministerial Summit in Helsinki, Finland, on 17 May 2019, underlined in their final declaration that: “The Organisation’s strength is the periodic and thorough assessment of all member States, in line with established legal criteria. The Committee of Ministers, its intergovernmental organ, the Parliamentary Assembly, a unique pan-European forum for interparliamentary dialogue and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities carry out monitoring functions and act as guardians of human rights and democracy in their areas of competence. We also highly value the role of the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Venice Commission as well as other independent bodies. We recognise the valuable contribution of each of these bodies and mechanisms in upholding our common legal standards.”

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is the assembly responsible for ensuring the application of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. This international convention guarantees the proper functioning of local democracy in Europe and commits the 47 Council of Europe member States, all of which have ratified it, to respect its principles.

 

Ministerial Summit Helsinki, Finland 17 May 2019
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PRIORITIES
FRENCH DELEGATION

French delegation 

The French delegation to the Congress comprises 18 representatives and 18 substitutes.
The head of the delegation is Mr Jean-Louis TESTUD.

CONGRESS ADOPTED TEXT

Local and regional democracy in France

Contact

Institutional Communication Unit
Dmitri MARCHENKOV