Brussels, 14/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - Belgium took over the reins of the Council of Europe from Azerbaijan on Thursday 13 November.
To mark the occasion, Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland travelled to Brussels where he met Belgian Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Reynders, EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and Commission first Vice-President Frans Timmermans. Jagland and Timmermans discussed the human rights and democracy situations in Europe along with the rule of law mechanism being prepared by the Commission and the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the two men say in a press release. The EU is currently awaiting an opinion from the Court of Justice of the EU on the compatibility of accession with the EU treaties.
With accession to the ECHR, the EU will become part of the Convention's system of protection of fundamental rights. This means that, in addition to the protection of these rights by EU law and by the Court of Justice, the EU will be required to comply with the ECHR and will be subject to the external oversight of the European Court of Human Rights, says the Council of Europe on its site. Timmermans has said that accession to the ECHR is one of his priorities in office. During his visit, Jagland was also due to meet Neighbourhood Policy and Accession Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn. (SP)