Statement at Council of Europe (11 May 2007)

Mr Chairman, 

May I first thank San Marino and you personally for your very able leadership as Chair of the Committee of Ministers. San Marino has made great achievements to move our organisation forwards in implementing the decicions of the Warsaw Summit in 2005. 

Let me point to four main priority areas in the follow-up of of the Warsaw Summit where Norway believe further attention is required. 

Firstly, there is an urgent need to strengthen the unique European human rights protection system. As the Group of Wise Persons has pointed out, the situation is extremely serious and the system is in danger of collapsing. At the Warsaw Summit, we made a commitment to provide the European Court of Human Rights with the necessary support and to implement all the reform measures adopted in 2004. We still have a long way to go. 

We are deeply concerned that Protocol No. 14 has still not entered into force, three years after its adoption. We strongly appeal to Russia to ratify the Protocol before the 1st of July.  

Furthermore, as collective guarantors of the Convention, we must all ensure that the Court is provided with sufficient resources to deal in a timely manner with the constantly rising flow of new applications as well as the vast backlog of cases.  

The Group of Wise Persons has proposed additional measures to ensure the long-term effectiveness of the human rights protection system.  Norway is looking forward to a continued broad and transparent follow-up process to the report at European and national levels, which should lead to lasting solutions to the Court’s problems. 

Norway has proposed to establish a Trust Fund to support national efforts in implementing the Convention on Human Rights. This work is well underway and we are happy that several countries have indicated interest in contributing to the Fund. We hope to finalize this work before the summer break. 

Secondly, Mr. Chairman, we strongly support closer co-operation between the Council of Europe and the EU. We believe in a strong and vigorous partnership, as suggested by former Prime Minister Juncker in his report.  

The MoU creates a new framework for enhanced cooperation and political dialogue between the two organisations. It will allow us to work more efficiently together in promoting human rights and democracy in Europe. Joint programmes and a strengthened political dialogue will ensure unified standards for human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. The goal is to create a Europe without dividing lines based on the fundamental values and freedoms. We will do our utmost to contribute to this task. 

Thirdly, the Council of Europe is carrying out important work to promote intercultural dialogue. We need to increase knowledge and understanding in order to fight intolerance and extremist views. Programmes and policies focusing on young people and education are especially important in building a more inclusive Europe. Norway has offered to set up a European resource center for education for democratic citizenship and inter-cultural education, in co-operation with The Council of Europe, aimed at promoting training of teachers. We are looking forward to our further discussions on this project. 

Many of the challenges – as well as opportunities – that we face in the era of globalisation appear at community level. Thus, we should also look for the solutions at community level. Regional co-operation, cross-border contacts and local democracy are important in this regard.  

In the high north, we have put a lot of effort into this, especially in the last decade.  The result is a close co-operation in the Barents Region encompassing the governments of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia as well as regional authorities, local communities, local businesses and civil society.  

We are therefore happy to invite you all to a Council of Europe conference on Transfrontier cooperation in Europe in the Arctic City of Tromsø on July 3rd. With this initiative, we hope to contribute to a fruitful sharing of best practices and thereby inspire further transboundary cooperation and understanding in all of Europe.

Finally, Mr Chairman, the administrative and budgetary reform process remains an urgent priority. Norway will continue to press for measures that will produce a more cost effective and modernized Council of Europe for the future.  

Mr. Chairman, referring to previous statements on the War Memorial, we have full confidence in the ability of the Estonian Government to handle the situation. We are confident that this issue will be solved in the spirit of co-operation of this Council. It is in everybody’s interest to avoid a further escalation of this situation.  

Mr. Chairman, may I seize this opportunity to warmly welcome Montenegro as a member of our organisation.  

I would also like to wish our incoming Serbian Chairmanship every success. Norway has long and historic ties with Serbia. We are encouraged and supportive of the programme of the Serbian Chairmanship, and look forward to working closely with Serbia in the months ahead. 

Thank you, Mr Chairman.