Newsroom
Anti-racism commission issues new reports on Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Italy, Lithuania and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published today several country reports. In Azerbaijan, against the background of the general attitude of openness towards many historical minorities, some positive legal developments and the authorities’ efforts in integrating...
Secretary General welcomes the adoption of Norwegian law on legal gender recognition
Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland made the following statement following the adoption of a new law on legal gender recognition in Norway: “Yesterday the Norwegian Parliament adopted a new law on legal gender recognition based on self-determination. Norway becomes the fourth Council of Europe...
Committee of Ministers examines implementation of human rights judgments
The representatives of the 47 member States of the Council of Europe will examine the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights between 7 and 9 June 2016. This supervisory role of the Committee of Ministers is provided for under Article 46 of the European Convention on...
Statement of Secretary General Jagland on the terrorist attack in Istanbul today
"Again a deadly attack in Istanbul has killed and injured so many innocent people in the nation's largest city. I am devastated by the news and cannot but repeat that these ruthless attacks are attacks on our values - on us all. I express my deepest sympathy and condolences to the families, the...
Torture survivors have the right to redress and rehabilitation
Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks publishes his latest Human rights Comment
Secretary General meets Georgian President
On 6 June 2016, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland met in Strasbourg Giorgi Margvelashvili, President of Georgia. The meeting focused on the situation in the country in the run-up to the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 2016; amendments to the Georgian law...
Conclusions of an expert dialogue between the Polish Government and the Council of Europe
Within the framework of an expert dialogue with the Polish authorities the Council of Europe entrusted Ms Eve Salomon, legal expert on media related law and regulation, and Mr Jean-François Furnémont, Partner at Wagner-Hatfield consultancy and former Chair of EPRA (European platform of regulatory...
Security and safety in stadiums: Council of Europe launches a new convention
In the run-up to the EURO 2016 football tournament, the Council of Europe is kicking off a new international convention aimed at ensuring that football matches and other sports events take place in a secure, safe environment where everyone feels welcome. The convention, which the governments are...
Action against corruption: France could do better
In a report on corruption prevention in respect of parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors published today, the GRECO, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body, concludes that France has only implemented two of the eleven recommendations made in 2013. In its conclusions, GRECO lists a number...
Jagland: Ukraine’s Constitutional amendments a major step towards European standards
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland today welcomed the adoption by Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada of the amendments to the Constitution regarding the Judiciary: “I welcome the adoption today by the Verkhovna Rada of amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine related to the...
Deputy Secretary General opens Sports’ Conference in Vienna
Deputy Secretary General Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni opened today the EPAS (Council of Europe’s Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport) annual conference in Vienna, together with Austrian Minister of Defence and Sport Hans Peter Doskozil. The event focused on how sport can be used as a tool to...
Council of Europe calls on Liechtenstein to ratify the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption
Group of States against Corruption also calls on the country to make political funding transparent
GRECO publishes its annual report
The Chair of the Council of Europe´s anti-corruption body GRECO, Marin Mrčela, has stressed the need for mobilising policy-makers to address the shortcomings identified in the prevention of corruption prevention in respect of parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors. In its annual report,...
Secretary General concerned about Internet censorship
Rules for blocking and removal of illegal content must be transparent and proportionate
Nationalism “surge” has negative impact on minorities in Croatia
Although progress also noted in new Council of Europe report
European countries have to prioritise migrant integration
“In the wake of the arrival of over one million people seeking protection in recent months, European countries share the common, pressing need to get integration right” said Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, while releasing a report on migrant integration. “After...
Pedro Agramunt: "Greece needs our full support"
“The Greek authorities must cope with a disproportionate share of Europe’s responsibility to care for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers,” said Pedro Agramunt, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today, leading a delegation visiting both Athens and Lesvos on...
Secretary General’s Special Representative on migration and refugees visits Turkey
The Secretary General’s Special Representative on migration and refugees, Ambassador Tomáš Boček, is conducting a fact-finding mission to Turkey from 30 May to 4 June 2016 to assess the situation of refugees and migrants and identify areas where the Council of Europe could be of concrete...
Statement by the Secretary General on reforms in Ukraine
Secretary General Jagland reiterates that the Council of Europe is on the side of Ukraine and its people, as the country take steps to put in place a fully independent, efficient and professional judicial system. ”As we reach the midterm of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine, I take...
Growing anti-immigrant sentiment and Islamophobia among key 2015 trends
The ongoing migration crisis and the terror attacks were the key factors that influenced public debate and policies in Europe in 2015, said the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) in its annual report published today. With Europe is witnessing an unprecedentedly high number...
