Newsroom
Germany: anti-torture committee calls on authorities to ensure better treatment of foreign nationals being removed by air
The monitoring of a return flight of Afghan nationals from Munich to Kabul (Afghanistan) on 14 August 2018 is the subject of a new report published today by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) (see the executive...
Cultural Routes: Carlos V European Award ceremony
The European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation delivered today, on the occasion of Europe Day, the "Carlos V European Award" to the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme. His Majesty the King of Spain presented the prize to the Council of Europe´s Secretary General...
The European Union and the Council of Europe to strengthen their support for good governance in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood
The European Union and Council of Europe are extending the Partnership for Good Governance programme to help strengthen human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. The second phase of the programme (worth €17.5 million...
Secretary General Jagland: statement on Turkish Supreme Election Council’s decision on re-run of local elections in Istanbul
“With regard to the Turkish Supreme Election Council’s decision on a re-run of the local elections in Istanbul, I refer to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the only international body who had been invited to observe the local elections on 31 March. We...
Secretary General Jagland meets President Emmanuel Macron
Secretary General Jagland today met with President Emmanuel Macron for an exchange on the current challenges facing the organisation ahead of the French presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which begins on 17 May. Addressing the press alongside President Macron,...
70th Anniversary of the Council of Europe
Joint statement by Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly Liliane Maury Pasquier and the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers Timo Soini
Sweden needs to raise awareness in the government and in the police about conflicts of interest and “friendship corruption”
In an evaluation report published today, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) called for further measures to prevent corruption in Sweden in respect of persons entrusted with top executive functions, including ministers, state secretaries and senior political...
2019 Theme: Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in Times of Disinformation
World Press Freedom Day – 3 May 2019
Statement by Timo Soini, Chair of the Committee of Ministers
Genuine political commitment needed to protect press freedom
“The state of journalists’ freedom and safety in Europe has reached an alarming point. The killing of journalist Lyra McKee and the violence and intimidations against journalists covering demonstrations in several European countries are the most recent examples which show that press freedom in...
Freedom of expression: report assesses the situation in 2018
A report, published today on the eve of World Press Freedom Day by the Council of Europe´s Information Society Department, maps out the major threats to freedom of expression in Europe in 2018 and the actions that governments should carry out to counter them as a matter of priority. The report...
Anders Knape meets President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko
Congress President Anders Knape met President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on 29 April 2019, in Minsk. Welcoming the interest of the Belarusian authorities to improve local self-government, President Knape underlined the Congress readiness to support the current process in this...
Police should improve interviewing practices to prevent ill-treatment, says anti-torture committee
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) today stressed the need for police forces in Europe to improve the way suspects are interviewed when carrying out criminal investigations. In its annual report, the CPT indicates that in...
Two Western Balkan countries still struggle with migration flows but face different challenges
Commending Bosnia and Herzegovina in its effort to provide shelter and basic services to the high number of arrivals of migrants and refugees, the Secretary General’s Special Representative on migration and refugees Tomáš Boček, stressed in a report published today, that access to asylum...
Young refugees should receive additional temporary support after the age of 18, recommends the Committee of Ministers
Recommendation of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to member states
Open day 5 May 2019: visit the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights
To mark the 70th anniversary of the Council of Europe and the 60th anniversary of the European Court of Human Rights, come and visit two distinctive buildings on an open day to be held on Sunday 5 May from 10 am to 6 pm. This open day will be an opportunity to learn about how the rights and...
Responses to prison overcrowding in Europe
High-Level Conference in Strasbourg
European human rights moot court competition
Students from University of Oxford (United Kingdom) were declared winners of the seventh edition of the European Moot Court Competition in English on the European Convention on Human Rights, after beating a team from the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridshi" (Bulgaria) in the final round. The...
Secretary General Jagland’s meeting with Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Secretary General Jagland today met with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. They discussed the increasing cooperation between the Council of Europe...
Secretary General: Decision by Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Board (YSK) to bar elected candidates from taking office raises questions of rule of law
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has written to the President of the Supreme Electoral Board of Turkey, Mr Sadi Güven Letter
Georgia: Venice Commission publishes urgent opinion on the nomination of Supreme Court judges
The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission has just issued an “urgent opinion” for Georgia on the selection and appointment of Supreme Court judges, as requested last month by the Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia. Text of the Urgent Opinion
Le comité anti-torture publie un rapport sur l’Andorre
Le Comité européen pour la prévention de la torture et des peines ou traitements inhumains ou dégradants (CPT) du Conseil de l'Europe a publié un rapport sur sa visite en Andorre en 2018, ainsi que la réponse des autorités andorranes. (Voir également le résumé du rapport). La visite a permis au...
Integration policies should not pursue migration-control goals
The Special Representative of the Secretary General on migration and refugees Tomáš Boček has published an Issue Paper on human rights aspects of immigrant and refugee integration policies based on a comparative assessment of 11 Council of Europe member states. The Issue Paper focuses on specific...
Congress calls on Turkey to respect the voters decision in the 31 March local elections
Reacting to reports from Turkey about elected representatives in the south-east of the country not having been appointed mayors despite their victory in the 31 March local elections, Anders Knape, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, stressed the...
PACE urges international action against money-laundering "laundromats"
PACE has expressed its deep concern at the extent of money laundering in Council of Europe member States, notably the recent examples known as the “Global Laundromat”, the “Azerbaijani Laundromat” and the “Troika Laundromat”, and has urged improved national mechanisms and international...
Nikol Pashinyan: "Armenia is today unequivocally a democratic country"
“Armenia is today unequivocally a democratic country with absolute freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, and our government is continuing to enhance respect for human rights,” said Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, addressing the Assembly today. “We have managed to root out...
PACE proposes new "joint reaction procedure" when a state violates its statutory obligations
PACE has proposed a “joint reaction procedure” involving both of the Council of Europe’s statutory bodies, and the Secretary General, in cases where a member State violates its statutory obligations or does not respect fundamental principles and values. In a resolution and recommendation based on...
Prime Minister Bakhtadze hails Georgia’s progress as a "country on the rise"
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, addressing the Assembly today in Strasbourg, hailed the progress Georgia has made in the 20 years since it joined the Council of Europe, citing constitutional reform, a more independent judiciary, and greater oversight of human rights. He thanked the...
PACE calls to stop sexism and sexual harassment in parliaments
The Assembly today called for a series of measures aimed at stopping sexism and sexual harassment in politics, including in parliaments. These recommendations are addressed to national parliaments, but also to political parties and governments. They focus on raising awareness of this phenomenon...
Secretary General Jagland: Council of Europe ordinary budget should come from member states, not the EU
In his last appearance before the Parliamentary Assembly prior to the election of his successor in June, Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland faced several questions concerning the organisation’s budgetary crisis, caused by the Russian Federation’s non-payment of contributions for nearly two...
Addressing the Council of Europe crisis requires constructiveness from all parties, says Timo Soini
“Finding a solution to the current political and institutional crisis would require close co-operation with all member States and both statutory bodies – the Parliamentary Assembly and the Committee of Ministers. It is time to start consolidating the different views into one,” said Timo Soini,...
Commissioner Mijatović highlights main human rights challenges in Europe
Today the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, presented her first annual activity report in a debate before the Parliamentary Assembly of the organisation. While the report covers a variety of the most pressing human rights issues in the Council of Europe member...
Europe’s "common home" must be maintained and continue to wield influence, says PACE President
In her opening speech at the PACE Spring Session, the President today reiterated the importance of preserving “the common home which provides a place to live for 830 million people and is governed by a common legal framework that protects the individual against arbitrary decisions and...
Strengthening civil society participation in protecting children against sexual exploitation and abuse
Further strengthening co-operation between the Council of Europe and civil society actors to prevent and protect children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, online and offline, is the goal of the international conference taking place from 8 to 9 April 2019 at the European Youth Centre of...
International Roma Day (8 April 2019)
Statement by Timo Soini, President of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Assembly President calls on for increased cooperation with the Congress
"Each institution has its own role and its own prerogatives but we are each and every one of us working towards the same objective: to continue the construction of a common area for the protection of democracy, the rule of law and human rights", said the President of the Parliamentary Assembly,...
Serbia: minority language education should be strengthened
Today, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe published a new report on the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) in the Republic of Serbia and the recommendations to the Serbian authorities. The Charter applies to Albanian, Bosnian,...
Ready for future challenges: Thorbjørn Jagland urges member states to reinforce the Council of Europe
In his last annual report after ten years as Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland has urged the Council of Europe’s 47 member states to reinforce the organisation, to make sure that it is properly financed and to develop new legal standards on emerging challenges to human rights and democracy....
Alternatives to the detention of migrants: how we can make it work
A variety of concrete examples and practices of alternatives to the detention of migrants from different corners of Europe were presented to some 200 participants at an International conference on Effective Alternatives to the Detention of Migrants, organised jointly by the Council of Europe, the...
Implementing ECHR judgments: 10-year reform process brings clear results
Reforms to ensure the long-term effectiveness of the European Convention on Human Rights have clearly improved the implementation of judgments from the European court in Strasbourg, according to the latest annual report from the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. The report states that...
European states must demonstrate resolve for lasting and concrete change for Roma people
“On 8 April, we will celebrate International Roma Day. This is a day to celebrate Roma culture and Roma contributions to European societies, and the cultural diversity of Europe. The 8th of April, which commemorates the first World Romani Congress held in London in April 1971, should also be a...
Norway: a role model for preventing corruption in parliament and among judges and prosecutors
The Council of Europe anti-corruption body (GRECO) published today its Fourth Evaluation Round Report on Norway concerning corruption prevention in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. GRECO concludes that Norway has implemented satisfactorily, or dealt with in a satisfactory...
Corruption in the Maltese government and police: more robust and effective action needed
In an evaluation report published today, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) assesses the effectiveness of the framework in place in Malta to prevent corruption amongst persons with top executive functions (ministers and other senior government officials) and the...
Poland: relatively alarming developments for local and regional democracy
The situation of local and regional democracy in Poland has changed significantly over the past years: formerly one of the “top ten” countries in the EU, in terms of the level of local autonomy, Poland now shows “alarming trends”. These are among the key findings of the report and recommendation...
Future of the Council of Europe – restoring confidence in democratic institutions from the local level up
In our response to the current democratic crisis, local institutions have a strategic role in restoring the links between citizens and the institutions which represent them. This is the Congress members’ message to the foreign ministers of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, who are to...
Council of Europe and European Commission strengthen their co-operation to support reforms in the Member States
Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Deputy Secretary General of the Council and Maarten Verwey, Director-General of the European Commission's Structural Reform Support Service announced today a new co-operation framework to provide support to a number of EU and Council of Europe member states under the...
Fighting nepotism through clear and transparent recruitment procedures
Against a background of diminished public trust in public authorities, fighting nepotism and ensuring impartial recruitment procedures are fundamental requirements. The report adopted on this subject by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on 2 April 2019 is...
Morocco – first “Partner for local democracy”
In a resolution adopted today by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the Kingdom of Morocco was granted the status of “Partner for local democracy” with this assembly of local and regional elected representatives from the Organisation’s 47 member states. This...
Europe’s rate of imprisonment falls, according to Council of Europe survey
The overall imprisonment rate in Europe fell by 6.6% between 2016 and 2018 - from 109.7 to 102.5 inmates per 100,000 inhabitants- according to the Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics for 2018 (SPACE), published today (see also the key findings). This decrease continues a trend that started...
Local elections in Turkey
Congress observer delegation calls on Turkey to seize the opportunity to continue normalisation and enhance local democracy
36th Congress session: "Mayors safeguarding democracy"
The members of the Congress of local and regional authorities will meet from 2 to 4 April 2019 in Strasbourg, at their 36th session, with "Mayors safeguarding democracy" as this year's theme. A debate will be held on this topic, with the participants including Ignacio Sanchez Amor, Spanish...
