Tal
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe 27 november 2008
Carl Bildt, Utrikesminister

Bildts tal vid överlämnadet av ordförandeklubban i Europarådet (eng)

Idag lämnar utrikesminister Carl Bildt över ordförandeklubban till Spanien och dess utrikesminister Miguel Angel Moratinos i Strasbourg.

Dear colleagues and friends, ladies and gentlemen,

When we took over the Chairmanship in early May, when the chestnuts outside were blossoming, we gave clear priorities for what we wished to do.

First I stressed that Sweden would not pursue specific Swedish interests and policies, but the common interest of the Council of Europe.

The task has been given us by the Council of Europe. We would be the faithful servants of the Council of Europe, the values it stands for, and of you all, the member states.

The main objective has been to promote the realization of the Council's core objectives, to promote and protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law, in line with the conclusions of the Warsaw summit.

They are all linked together. Human rights can only be respected in democracies. Democracy is unthinkable without human rights. And rule of law is a prerequisite for both.

I am not going to repeat all the things we mentioned in our priority paper, nor read out our achievement paper which is available. But I think that, in addition to the daily work, we have carried out the specific projects we had planned. We have held four conferences with a heavy emphasis on human rights: on ways of improving the functioning of the Convention, on systematic work for human rights implementation, on the rights of the child, and the rights of the disabled.

Obviously, there are limits to what a chairmanship can do in just 6 months and 20 days.

However, I believe that we have been heading in the right direction, even if a lot remains to be done in the Council of Europe, and in some member states.

One of the things that remain to be done, is the urgent need to reform the court. It is essential to bring about reforms which make it possible for the court to do its job. It has an impossible and increasing work-load, not the least after the new surge of appeals following the conflict in Georgia, and it takes between 5 and 7 years for the court to reach a verdict.

All this threatens the credibility of the court in its role as the bulwark of human rights. And in the long run, it threatens the very existence of the Court and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Indispensable reforms are blocked, since one member state, Russia, has not yet ratified protocol 14. Therefore we have decided to explore other ways to solve the problem.

Among other worries we have in common are the remaining, or maybe mounting, signs of xenofobia and discrimination in our member states, the very difficult situation of the Roma in many member states, including problems in my own country. Just to mention a few issues.

The state of democracy is still fragile in some member countries. Even if there have been steps in the right direction in the recent elections in countries like Macedonia, and Azerbaijan it is obvious that there are still significant shortcomings in many countries, and that a lot has to be done. In some member states administrative pressure on voters still exists, harassment of the opposition, difficulties for the opposition to reach out to the media, and even outright regularities in elections and political prisoners.

We also had hopes that developments in Belarus, and the recent elections, would create the conditions for opening up relations between the Council of Europe and Belarus. But these hopes are yet to be fulfilled.

Also concerning rule of law, much remains to be done in several member states, to ensure that the judiciary is independent, fair and predictable, that the fight against corruption gets going. This is one of the reasons why we organized a conference last week in Tbilisi on the strengthening of the Judiciary in South Caucasus.

We also have to come to an agreement on how to tackle the challenges in Kosovo.

The Council of Europe has an important role to play in all these core issues. And our priorities should be reflected in the budget.

We should recall, once more, the passionate speech held by Chancellor Merkel at the session of the Parliamentary Assembly in April. I will repeat a few of her points.

The Council of Europe has been the "European conscience" concerning our common values for the last 60 years. There is no such thing as internal matters, when it comes to human rights. Trade interests must not outweigh human rights. Europe has to revisit these challenges daily. We have a duty of "mutual interference" when human rights are concerned. And, violence is never the solution, in meeting minorities' quest for autonomy.

These are important words - but we would fail in our duty if they remain just words when we are confronted with the realities of the situation in parts of our Europe.

Rights must be real. Principles must be upheld. Values must be defended. International law must be respected.

We planned our chairmanship carefully. But, even though I warned about the risks of a conflict in the Caucasus in my address to the Parliamentary Assembly in June - the signs of escalation, from April 16 and onwards, were there for everyone to see - we could of course not plan for it.

This conflict has absorbed much of our time and political energy in the latter half of our chairmanship.

The conflict was a serious challenge to the organisation and the values it stands for.

It involved violations of the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states, and of the obligations and commitments in the Council of Europe - notably when it comes to the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

It caused loss of human life and great suffering among the population. Let me just point at the large number of persons that have been displaced - often cleansed - from areas were they used to live.

Clearly, it called for a distinct response from our Council.

I made several statements during the initial phase of the conflict, urging member states concerned to cease hostilities. I was given the opportunity to visit Georgia. And I called an informal extra meeting during the General Assembly in New York where we reached a broad consensus on the way forward.

On the recommendation of the Parliamentary Assembly, the Swedish chairmanship proposed an action plan for the conflict, comprising humanitarian protection, monitoring of how these two member states fulfil their respective obligations and increased co-operation on the core issues of the Council of Europe.

There were extensive discussions of this plan with all countries concerned. A very large majority of member States, including Georgia, contributed to the discussions on the draft Action Plan in a constructive spirit, and expressed support for its adoption.

The Russian Federation, however, submitted amendments that would have changed the very essence of the Plan.

Despite the wide support, there was no majority, in the absence of an agreement by Russia for a procedural decision to take a vote. Consequently the plan could not be adopted during the Swedish chairmanship.

This obviously falls way short of our expectations, but the plan will stay on the agenda. It has the backing of the entire European Union.

To conclude, I would like to thank all of you, member states, and not least the Secretariat, for your support and co-operation during our Chairmanship.

At the Ministerial meeting last May 2008 we tried to change the format in order to allow for a more political discussion between Ministers.

I believe that events have proved us to be right. It was a long time since discussions in the Council of Europe were as focused on fundamental political issues, as they have been this summer and autumn. This has, once more, showed that the Council of Europe has an important role to fulfill in the European political architecture.

On this note, I wish the Spanish Chairmanship - my friend Miguel Moratinos in particular - all success in the pursuit of our common values, when you now take over the torch.

And like me just add that I am already looking forward to coming to Madrid in early May for the important celebration of our 60th anniversary.