Council of Europe prepares for systematic reforms

Strasbourg — This May in Istanbul, during the spring session of the Council of Europe (CE), Ukraine will for the first time preside over the CE Committee of Mi-nisters, receiving the baton from Turkey. In 15 years of membership our country has never been in this role, so it’s natural that Ukraine has certain expectations, notably to move forward in the process of European integration.

“We expect it to be one of the main achievements of our presidency of the Council of Europe,” remarked the deputy permanent representative of Ukraine at the Council of Europe Natalia Shakuro. “When presiding the Council of Europe Ukraine will have certain relations with the EU, as we [rise] within the system of European institutions. Now everything depends on Ukraine, on our ability to influence decisions concerning the relations between the Council of Europe and the EU, and as these relations exist and intensify.”

Each country presides over the CE every 25 years. The presidency implies special responsibility and opportunity at the same time. Despite a certain crisis of the system, the CE remains the largest European organization, uniting 47 countries, including non-EU members.

Though the exact agenda of the May session is yet to be finalized, Kyiv will present a complete program of our presidency within a couple of weeks — the main areas of the Committee of Ministers’ work are being actively discussed in Strasbourg. Aside the usual issues like civic rights protection and fighting corruption, the May session will focus on protecting children, the development of local government and regional democracy, and security. The CE is expecting a report by the former German Vice-Chancellor Joschka Fischer “How should we coexist in a Europe of the 21st century,” which will be presented at the beginning of May in Istanbul. This report is likely to outline the key strategic areas for the development of the European region. Ukraine has an opportunity to present its vision of this development, and is expected to do so. The CE Director for Communications Daniel Helten told Ukrainian journalists in Strasbourg that Ukrainian views concerning the abovementioned questions are extremely important for Europe.

The CE hopes that Ukraine will support the reform process within the organization, actively promoted by CE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland. It’s no secret that due to the EU’s dynamic development its members lose interest in the CE. That is why the reform aims to make this organization more important and influential in Europe. Accordingly, the CE expects Ukraine to joint this process during its presidency or even offer its vision of this process.

The reform of the CE focuses on several areas. First of all, it will touch on the functioning of the European Court of Human Rights. Due to the complicated procedure and a large number of applications (over 140,000 now) the court cannot consider the claims in timely manner. An average case is considered for five to ten years, reducing the effectiveness of the court. That is why the CE aims to simplify the procedure and create certain filters at a local level. For this every CE member has to improve its own legal system.

It is also the first time the CE is planning to go beyond its usual protection of fundamental rights and freedoms and start working in the political arena.

“We do not compete with the EU. Quite the contrary, today we closely cooperate with the EU, combining our expertise with its economic power,” says CE Director General of Democracy and Political Affairs Jean-Louis Laurens.

The EU is likely to join the existing CE conventions. By the way, the CE is also planning to reconsider existing conventions and update them. That is why the reform process will be ongoing and complicated. Its result can hardly be predicted today, as the whole organization will be changed. Ukraine has been offered to actively participate in this important process, an opportunity we should not miss.