Newsroom
The right to affordable housing: Europe’s neglected duty
“Increasingly making the headlines, the scarcity of affordable housing in Europe is a serious and growing problem that pushes an ever-larger number of people into housing insecurity and homelessness.”, says Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in her Human Rights...
Poland: improvements in Roma integration, but increased intolerance against national minorities
A new report on the protection of national minorities in Poland published today, praises improvements in the integration of Roma in education, but points to a persistent climate of intolerance, racism and xenophobia in the country (see also the Polish version of the report). Among the positive...
New youth sector strategy 2030: strengthening democracy through youth engagement
Today the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted the new Youth sector strategy 2030 which will provide policy guidance to the 50 States Parties to the European Cultural Convention for the ten years to come. Young people’s creativity, dynamism, social commitment and competences...
Committee of Ministers adopts new action plan for Roma and Traveller Inclusion
The Committee of Ministers today adopted the Strategic Action Plan for Roma and Traveller Inclusion 2020-2025 to combat anti-Gypsyism and discrimination and to support equality. The plan will also foster democratic participation, promote public trust and accountability and support access to...
Statement by Marija Pejčinović Burić on judicial reform in the Republic of Moldova
In December 2019, I met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Ion Chicu. We agreed that Council of Europe experts would visit Chisinau with a view to offering our assistance towards reforms needed to create an independent, accountable, efficient and professional judiciary for the...
Serbia: government’s efforts to fight violence against women are commendable, but more is needed
In its first report on the implementation by Serbia of the Istanbul Convention, the expert body GREVIO welcomes the policy commitment of the authorities to eliminate gender-based violence and the significant progress made in law and in practice. However, there are still problems requiring an...
Deputy Secretary General at Ministerial Conference ‘International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’
Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni participated in a Ministerial Conference convened by the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, presently Chairing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Ministers for Foreign Affairs of several...
CPT assesses isolation measures and cases of violence in Italian prisons
In a new report on Italy, the anti-torture Committee (CPT) has recommended ending the court-imposed measure of solitary confinement (“isolamento diurno”) for prisoners serving life sentences. The CPT also calls on the authorities to provide inmates with a minimum range of purposeful activities as...
Violence against women and domestic violence in the Netherlands: a stronger gender perspective is needed
In its first report on implementation by the Netherlands of the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (widely known as the “Istanbul Convention”), the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts (GREVIO) stresses the country’s long history of addressing...
Venice Commission: New reform in Poland further undermines judicial independence
In an urgent Opinion issued today, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, together with the organisation’s Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, concludes that the amendments to laws on the judiciary passed by the lower house of the Polish parliament (Sejm) on 20 December 2019...
