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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...
Protection of health-related data: new guidelines
The Council of Europe has issued a set of guidelines to its 47 member states urging them to ensure, in law and practice, that the processing of health-related data is done in full respect of human rights, notably the right to privacy and data protection. With the development of new technological...
Council of Europe adopts first-ever international legal instrument to stop sexism
States should step up their fight against sexism in all walks of life, according to a Recommendation just adopted by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. In response to the #MeToo and other recent movements that have heightened awareness of persistent sexism in society, the Council of...
Cultural Routes programme receives the Carlos V European Award
The Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme is the 2019 recipient of the "Carlos V European Award" , which honours people, organisations, projects or initiatives that contribute “to the enhancement of Europe’s cultural and historical values”. For the first time the Carlos V European...
Election of the Secretary General: the Committee of Ministers submits candidatures to the Parliamentary Assembly
The Committee of Ministers today decided to submit to the Parliamentary Assembly, for appointment to the post of Secretary General of the Council of Europe, with effect from 1 October 2019, the following candidatures in alphabetic order: - Marija Pejčinović Burić (Croatia) (Curriculum vitae) -...
Bulgarian legislation on family allowances for children violates certain provisions of European Social Charter
In a decision published today, the Council of Europe’s European Committee of Social Rights found that certain provisions of the Family Allowances for Children Act in Bulgaria violate the right to appropriate social, legal and economic protection for the family, and are discriminatory against...
“Tackling Gender Stereotypes and Sexism”: international conference in Helsinki
Gender stereotypes and sexism represent a serious limit to the achievement of substantive gender equality: equal rights for women and men in all spheres of public and private life. Gender stereotypes and sexism contribute to different forms of hate speech (on line and off-line) and discrimination...
Labour rights under pressure across Europe
Latest annual conclusions from the European Committee of Social Rights
“Be visible, be strong” : International Roma Women’s Conference in Helsinki
In its seventh annual Roma Women's Conference, this year held in Finland, the Council of Europe stresses the importance of "mainstreaming" Roma and Traveller gender equality issues as part of its "Strategy for Gender Equality 2018-2023". The three-day conference, which brings together NGOs,...
Intercultural integration academy in Iceland
An Intercultural Integration Academy will be held in Iceland on 25-28 March organised by the Council of Europe (Intercultural cities programme), the Ministry of Social Affairs and UNHCR. The Academy will focus on intercultural competence for social workers, municipal officials, police officers...
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – Launch of the ICC Manual on community policing
The Intercultural Cities (ICC) programme launches a Manual on community policing to mark 21 March, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
5th anniversary of annexation of Crimea
Statement by Timo Soini, Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Renewed efforts needed to eliminate racial discrimination, especially in the workplace, say Heads of Europe’s human rights organisations
Too many people with an ethnic or migrant background are still being held back in the job market. This is despite laws against racial discrimination and for equal opportunities in employment that have been in place for decades, the heads of three European human rights institutions said in a joint...
Enhancing media pluralism: Strasbourg conference
The Council of Europe and Reporters Without Borders are organising a conference in Strasbourg on 20 March to discuss public policies aimed at strengthening media pluralism. Held under the theme “Media Pluralism how can we deliver?”, the conference will explore how existing media legislation and...
25 “Venice Principles” - Democratic ABCs for ombudsman institutions
Today the Venice Commission published a set of guidelines to protect ombudsman institutions, following threats to these institutions in recent years. Ombudsman are important for democracy, their services are free, and are thus accessible to individuals who cannot afford to pursue their complaints...
GRECO publicly declares Belarus non-compliant with the CoE anti-corruption standards
Today, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption, in an unprecedented move, has publicly declared Belarus non-compliant with GRECO’s anti-corruption standards. Since 2012, when GRECO addressed 24 recommendations to Belarus and invited the authorities to authorise the publication...
Romania: anti-torture committee concerned about abuse of prisoners by staff, inter-prisoner violence and allegations of police ill-treatment
The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has expressed concern about several persistent problems in Romanian prisons - including the abuse of prisoners by staff and inter-prisoner violence - as well as about numerous...
Albania needs to strengthen protection of national minority rights
In its fourth opinion on Albania, the Council of Europe’s Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) urges Tirana to make operational the county’s law on the protection of national minorities through the adoption of further legislation....
States should enable NGOs to access foreign funding, say Venice Commission experts
In the wake of recent challenges to the independent functioning of associations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the Council of Europe's constitutional legal experts today adopted a report on standards with respect to foreign funding of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Council...
Hungary: Laws on administrative courts lack effective checks and balances in government, according to the Venice Commission
An opinion adopted today by the Council of Europe’s constitutional experts of the Venice Commission raises questions over two December 2018 laws establishing a separate system of administrative courts, with its own high court (the future Supreme Administrative Court, or SAC) and its own judicial...
