Germany joined the Council of EUROPE 70 years ago, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday morning in a video conference at the plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. At the time, it was about “reaching out”, she stressed, noting that the institution had been the “first inter-state organisation” to have welcomed her country “among nations” after the Second World War.
The promise was that of “living together” based on “European values”. Seven decades later, many of these hopes have “been realised”, but now, “ whether within the Council of Europe” or “beyond its borders”, nothing can be taken for granted.
“Turning a blind eye” to violations of fundamental rights would mean accepting that “ the European project is being called into question”, the Chancellor stressed. It is therefore necessary to “work tirelessly” to defend the Rule of law at both a national and international level, a task in which “the Council of Europe can play a decisive role”, she said, while also welcoming the new mechanism put in place to sanction violations of human rights by Member States.
She believes that the European Convention on Human Rights is fundamental and that its effectiveness should be only strengthened by the forthcoming accession of the European Union and the Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women. She also “deeply regrets” the fact that Turkey has withdrawn from it.
"Times have changed, but the Council of Europe’s values have not”, and it has a crucial role to play in addressing new challenges such as those economic and social rights that have been undermined by the Covid-19 pandemic, environmental rights and the development of cyberspace, she explained emphatically. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)