Intended as a progress report, the report on the strategic partnership between the European Union and the Council of Europe has taken on a crucial dimension in the context of the war in Ukraine.
This issue was palpable during the debates held on the morning of Tuesday 26 April at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and resulted in the adoption of a Resolution calling for this partnership to be strengthened in terms of political dialogue, synergies and technical consultation with the Council of Europe on issues of democratic security and the rule of law, while avoiding duplication of activities and the emergence of diverging legal standards.
The purpose of this to promote peace and stability in Europe and multilateralism in the world.
The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 made the European Union a “key player” in the areas that are at the heart of the Council of Europe’s mandate, stressed rapporteur Titus Corlăţean (Romania, SOC), adding that “only synergy can prevent overlapping competences”.
On the rule of law, he welcomed the Council of Europe’s involvement in the EU’s annual report on this issue. In the field of human rights, he stressed that the EU’s legal personality enabled it to adhere to the Council of Europe conventions.
This last point was discussed at length, particularly with regard to the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights.
“Negotiations have resumed”, Frédérique Berrod, who teaches EU law at Sciences Po Strasbourg, told EUROPE. “Pressure from the European Parliament is strong and accession is a priority of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union. It would indeed strengthen the partnership between the two organisations, but the legal architecture that would allow it has not yet been decided”.
At the end of the debates, Titus Corlăţean confirmed that he had “seen changes” in his talks with the European Commission and Parliament after the war in Ukraine began. “There is a real desire to avoid duplication, to make concrete proposals that take into account the achievements and interests of both the Union and the Council of Europe”.
This is with a view to involving the EU in a future and still hypothetical fourth Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe.
And one regret: the lack of involvement of the oldest European organisation in the work of the Conference on the Future of Europe launched by the EU.
Link to the Resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/1d8 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)