Reforming the Council of Europe would make it ''more politically relevant and influential,'' Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has declared. The organisation would focus ''on what we can do best, in areas where we can make a real impact'' he told the Parliamentary Assembly on 27 April. The Secretary General urged greater coordination and cooperation on all parts of the organisation as vital to ensuring that new dividing lines in Europe did not emerge. A failure to reform could impede the''main goal'' of the European Union’s accession to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. This could lead to the development of separate case law and standards in Europe.
Comment: The Council of Europe needs to firmly deal with the UK on 1 June 2010, when the Committee of Ministers meet to discuss execution of the judgment of Hirst v UK(No2). Particularly, in the light of the UK's continued violation of Article 3 of the First Protocol of the Convention, the Court decision and the warnings issued by the Committee of Ministers, and the latest decion of Frodl v Austria.
Thorbjørn Jagland meets President of European Council Herman Van Rompuy, 2 March 2010
The Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, met with the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy on 2 March in Brussels.
The meeting focused on the relationship between the Council of Europe and the European Union in the perspective of strengthening multilateral co-operation in the larger European area and the future EU accession to the European Convention on Human rights.
Thorbjørn Jagland stressed that he and the President Van Rompuy agreed that it was crucial to provide a clear political guidance in order to ensure the accession of the European Union to the Convention. Mr Jagland also met key members of the European Parliament dealing with issues of human rights and justice.
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