Wallonia and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation wanted to include five high-priority themes on the agenda for the Belgian presidency of the Council of Europe:

  • culture
  • the rights of the child
  • education
  • social cohesion
  • youth

Culture: The 13th Meeting of Experts of the Council of Europe will be meeting in Brussels on 4 and 5 December at the former Royal Stables. Culture and democracy will be the themes on the agenda, in particular the impact of culture on democracy and the identification of the indicators of well-being that are generated by culture. Aside from the Meeting of Experts, a public forum will also be organised for 100 to 120 people.

The rights of the child: A European conference on the best interests of the child: a dialogue between theory and practice. This conference will take place from 9 to 11 December in Brussels, in the context of the 25th anniversary of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, and aims to improve the application of the concept of "best interests of the child" in family matters.

This conference is being organised in partnership with the Flemish Community and the FPS Justice, and with the support of the CoE.

Education: An informal meeting of the Steering Committee for Educational Policy and Practice (CDPPE) will be held on 18 December 2014 in Brussels. In this context, on 19 December, the 60th anniversary of the European Cultural Convention will be officially celebrated at Egmont Palace. This event, organised by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the Flemish Community, aims to reaffirm the importance of education in the CoE’s work programme.

Social cohesion: The 8th European Conference of Ministers Responsible for Migration Affairs, which was held in Kiev in September 2008, led to a commitment to improve the reintegration of migrants returning to their countries of origin. Wishing to give further guidance to Member States in this area, in March or April 2015 Wallonia will be organizing, in Namur, a seminar entitled "From reception policy to integration policy".

The focus will be on two areas: the situation of unaccompanied foreign minors, and preventing the risk of vulnerability on the part of elderly migrants.

Youth: An international conference on the second European Youth Employment Convention is being organised by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation in partnership with the Flemish and German-speaking Communities. This conference will be held from 27 to 30 April 2015 in Brussels. The aim is to provide an opportunity to take stock of youth work since 2010 and to put the focus on social inclusion, the diversity of youth employment, and the access of young people to their rights. The conference will close with the adoption by the Ministers of the three Communities of a policy declaration on youth employment.