Newsroom
Serzh Sargsyan: ‘A 4th Summit for a stronger and more inclusive Europe’
“Democracy constantly requires attention, review, and advancement. Along the lines of this logic, we undertook a constitutional reform process in Armenia, which received wide-ranging support of the Council of Europe, in particular from the Venice Commission,” said Serzh Sargsyan, President of...
European Committee of Social Rights: annual conclusions for 2017
ECSR finds 175 violations related to health, social security and social protection in 33 countries in 2017
PACE calls for an independent outside body to assess football governance
The Parliamentary Assembly has called on the EU to consider setting up an independent “observatory” to assess governance in football, following a series of scandals in the sport. Such a body would be entrusted with assessing governance at FIFA, UEFA and other football governing bodies, including...
Danish Chairmanship affirms its support in a difficult context
“The Danish Chairmanship intends to work closely with both the Assembly and the Secretary General at a time when our Organisation is facing several major challenges,” said Anders Samuelsen, Minister for Foreign Aaffairs of Denmark and Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, speaking before the...
Crown Princess of Denmark: we cannot take our human rights for granted
The protection of human rights cannot be taken for granted, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark told the Assembly today, stressing the need for the principles and values underlying them to be passed on to new generations. “Although human rights are inherent to us all, they are also fragile… we must...
Secretary General to PACE: member states have equal obligations and equal rights
Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has called on the Organisation’s member states to recommit themselves to fulfill their obligations and cooperate in good faith with the Council’s statutory bodies. He said “equal obligations – equal rights” was the only concept that would keep...
Michele Nicoletti from Italy elected new PACE President
Michele Nicoletti (Italy, SOC) was today elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Taking over from Stella Kyriakides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), he is the 31st President of the Assembly since 1949 and the second Italian to hold this office. There was only one...
Safety of Journalists' Platform: a grim record in 2017
Partners alert about grim record in 2017 and urge to investigate Daphne Caruana's murder
Parliamentary Assembly Winter Session: 22-26 January 2018
The Presidents of Armenia and Austria, as well as the Prime Minister and the Crown Princess of Denmark, are among VIPs to address the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which takes place in Strasbourg from 22 to 26 January 2018. The Assembly is also due...
Romania: little progress in corruption prevention in respect of MPs, judges and prosecutors
In a report published today, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body (GRECO) concludes that Romania has made very limited progress to implement its recommendations to prevent and combat corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. (report in French and Romanian)...
The right of older persons to dignity and autonomy in care
“Older persons have exactly the same rights as everyone else, but when it comes to the implementation of these rights, they face a number of specific challenges”, says Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in his latest Human Rights Comment published today. “For...
European Roma Rights Centre receives Raoul Wallenberg Prize for combating racism, rights abuse
The Budapest-based organisation European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) has received today the Raoul Wallenberg Prize of the Council of Europe for successfully challenging discrimination, anti-Romani racism and rights abuses of Roma through innovative litigation, evidence based research and policy...
Study finds that intercultural cities have higher well-being and citizen satisfaction
Since 2008, the Council of Europe, through its flagship programme Intercultural Cities, has supported more than 120 local authorities in Europe and around the world, in designing and implementing inclusive policies and strategies for migrant and refugee integration according to the Intercultural...
Raoul Wallenberg Prize award ceremony
On Wednesday, Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland will award the Council of Europe Raoul Wallenberg Prize for extraordinary humanitarian achievements. The award ceremony will take place at the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg at 1.pm on 17 January (Ante-Room of the Committee of Ministers). 17...
FIFA and the Council of Europe to promote human rights
FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland met in Strasbourg today to discuss how to better promote human rights in sport. The meeting followed an exchange of views between the FIFA President at the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers....
Spain: limited progress in measures to tackle corruption in respect of MPs, judges and prosecutors
The Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body GRECO today published a report assessing Spain’s compliance with its recommendations to prevent and combat corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. Four years after the adoption of the Fourth round evaluation report in...
Secretary General Jagland urges Bucharest to rethink reform of the judiciary
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has today sent a letter to the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, urging the authorities to seek the expertise of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission (European Commission for Democracy through Law) regarding the legislative reforms on the judiciary...
Armenia: Council of Europe anti-corruption body issues a new compliance report
The Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) has published today a new report assessing the implementation by Armenia of its earlier recommendations on preventing corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. GRECO concludes...
Gender equality in employment is still a distant promise in Europe
End-of-the-year statement by Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks
