Raad van Europa-voorzitter Portugal presenteert prioriteiten (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Raad van Europa (RvE) i, gepubliceerd op woensdag 25 mei 2005.

Strasbourg, 25.05.2005 - Fernando Neves, Portugal's Secretary of State for European Affairs, today presented in Strasbourg the programme of the Portuguese chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. He underlined his country's responsibility for the implementation of decisions taken at the Warsaw Summit, at the end of which Portugal took over from Poland at the head of the Council of Europe.

Portugal's priorities will be based around three broad themes:

1 - Promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law:

  • a. 
    the Portuguese chairmanship will stress the importance of ratifying Protocol 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, in the hope that it will enter into force before May 2006;
  • b. 
    Working to reinforce the role of the Commissioner for Human Rights;
  • c. 
    Consolidating the results already achieved in the protection of children's rights, sex equality, local democracy and the fight against human trafficking;
  • d. 
    Reinforcing cooperation and coordination with the European Union, the OSCE and the United Nations.

2 - Recognition of the cultural dimension as a means of reinforcing democratic values:

  • a. 
    Portugal will place the utmost importance on the cultural dimension of the Council of Europe's activities, in the context of the 50th anniversary of the European Cultural Convention;
  • b. 
    It will also strive to strengthen links between cultures on both sides of the Mediterranean, including the possibility of extending the geographical scope of cooperation in the framework of the European Cultural Convention;
  • c. 
    Promoting reflection on ways of responding to the underlying causes of terrorism.

3 - Consolidation of social cohesion

  • a. 
    The Portuguese presidency will encourage all member States who have not yet done so to ratify the European Social Charter and its revised version;
  • b. 
    Special attention will be given to issues involving the family and children.

The Portuguese chairmanship will end in November 2005 with a ministerial session in Strasbourg. Seminars and conferences on the following themes will be organised :

  • - 
    the protection of children's rights, notably concerning trafficking and violence (Lisbon, June 2005)
  • - 
    balanced participation of women and men in political and economic decision making (Lisbon, June 2005)
  • - 
    Local autonomy (Lisbon, July 2005, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the European Charter on Local Autonomy)
  • - 
    Economic crime (Lisbon, September 2005)
  • - 
    The future of cultural cooperation in Europe (Algarve, 2005 - ministerial conference marking the closure of the 50th anniversary of the European Cultural Convention)

Press contact:

Henriette Girard, Press Division, Tel. +33 3 88 41 21 41 ; e-mail: henriette.girard@coe.int

 

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