The Secretary General of the Council of Europe outlines the progressive accession of the European Union to the European Convention of Human Rights, it may still take a while
1950-2010: sixty years of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Europe. This year we celebrate the 60th birthday of the European Convention on Human Rights and we look forward to a Europe without dividing lines.

Accession by the European Union to the Human Rights Convention, envisaged under Article 6 of the Lisbon Treaty, will bring everyone – including the EU institutions, into the same system of legally-binding standards and under the jurisdiction of the same court.

The European Union is a global player. With its huge political and economic clout, it will continue to take the leading role in this process. EU accession to the Council of Europe Convention will in no way diminish its relevance and influence. On the contrary, by accepting to submit the work of its institutions to the same rules and scrutiny that apply to 47 countries in Europe, it will gain in both legitimacy and in its powers of persuasion.

Greater unity is the central aim of the European project. Peace, democracy and stability, are keywords to foster integration that are not protected and promoted through military means alone. The Council of Europe's work to defend common European values through standard-setting and monitoring of obligations is free from economic, military and geostrategic considerations. At the Council of Europe, we provide the fundamental framework that has made it possible for the Europe as we know it to develop and prosper. Europe will be able to endure the recent turmoil and uncertainty, because we continue systematically to deepen our democratic security through the compliance of 47 member states to democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

We are about to see the creation of a safe haven for the protection of fundamental rights stretching from Lisbon to Baku and from la Valletta, over Brussels to Vladivostok: A new continent-wide zone of dialogue, co-operation and interaction in the areas of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

A recent European Parliament Resolution (Ramon Jauregui Atondo, rapporteur) echoes Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov in recognising the significance of the entire system of protection of human rights, as developed and codified in numerous documents and bodies of the Council of Europe. Lavrov specifically asked for the parties of the Corfu Process to work within the pan-European structure and monitoring mechanisms developed by the Council of Europe, which hosts the European Court of Human Rights.

The Court deals with individual complaints about human rights violations, but it is for the Council of Europe as a whole to transform the case law on individual cases into systemic and general measures for the prevention of human rights violations in all member states.

This is an important point to bear in mind when we think of the EU accession to the Convention. To make it meaningful, functional and effective it cannot be restricted to membership in the Court. It must include a closer and more integrated relationship with all relevant parts of the Council of Europe.
The EU and the Council of Europe are currently kicking off joint talks. A process of such political and legal significance is bound to be challenging. But I am sure that with a broad outlook and a positive and creative approach, we will find the most effective solutions to the technical and legal questions raised by the accession: One Europe without dividing lines in the framework of fundamental values. I feel privileged and honoured to be able to contribute to a development of such extraordinary relevance for the European project.

Thorbjorn Jagland is the Secretary General of the Council of Europe