Brussels 19 May 2015
We have gathered here to discuss our common challenges of democratic security, the fight against terrorism and the tackling of the root causes of irregular migration, at a time when only together and united, and by utilizing all of the resources and existing mechanisms, we are able to address them effectively.
The Council of Europe, as a unique pan-European forum which gathers together all of the 28 EU member states and 19 other states, has a central role to play in securing that our responses are comprehensive, democratic and respective of the rule of law and fundamental rights.
The EU would like to thank the Secretary General for his report on the “State of democracy, human rights and rule of law in Europe: a shared responsibility for democratic security in Europe,” which the EU hopes will be the basis of many future substantial discussions. Even though the report evaluates the pan-European area as a whole, it is quite clear that some deficiencies are more pronounced in certain states than others.
The EU appreciates the work of the Council of Europe in addressing these deficiencies in all 47 of its member states. The European Union has acknowledged and will always acknowledge the Council of Europe´s special role as a setter of benchmarks for fundamental values in Europe. In this context it is important to underline that: the EU remains fully committed to the EU accession to the European Convention of Human Rights as a top priority.
We congratulate the Council of Europe for its contribution in the fight against terrorism. We appreciate its initiatives on countering radicalisation and extremism leading to terrorism. The EU’s appreciation goes to the Council of Europe, the Belgian Chairmanship of the Council of Europe and the Latvian Presidency of the European Union for the excellent cooperation they have shown in addressing the question of foreign terrorist fighters, the testimony of which is that today we are adopting the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism.
The European Union is looking forward to signing and ratifying this protocol and the convention as soon as possible after our internal decision making procedure will have been finalized. While the implementation of the protocol will provide a more solid criminal justice response, we need to pursue with similar vigour our efforts to prevent radicalisation and extremism leading to terrorism.
As you know, the Commission has just presented the European Agenda on Security, its overall strategy on security issues. This includes our approach to countering terrorism and preventing radicalisation. The European Agenda on Security addresses in this respect possible legislative measures strengthening our criminal law tools. It equally highlights the importance of tackling the root causes of radicalisation also from a broader societal angle. We will continue delivering on key issues such as: de-radicalisation in particular in prisons, the development of counter narratives and cooperation with the industry to tackle the use of online and social media for terrorist purposes. And we will further step up our support to the further development of preventive measures in Member States and third countries through the establishment of the RAN Centre of Excellence in September this year.
The Council of Europe’s declaration and action plan on the fight against violent extremism and radicalisation leading to terrorism adopted today go into a similar direction. I am very much looking forward to enhanced cooperation between our two institutions ensuring complementarity and effectiveness of a global response to the threat posed by terrorism.
We have come to witness an unspeakable tragedy in the Mediterranean some weeks ago and it goes without saying that our two organisations should step up efforts to tackle the humanitarian crisis that we are facing at this very moment. The European Union has decided to mobilize all efforts at its disposal to prevent further loss of life and to tackle the root causes of irregular immigration, also in cooperation with the countries of origin and transit.
While the European Union is strengthening its presence at sea and fighting against traffickers in accordance with international law, we need to reinforce our political cooperation at all levels to tackle the causes of irregular immigration. A comprehensive approach in this regards was recently put forward by the European Commission in the form of a European Agenda on Migration.
The Council of Europe has an important role to play in this field. The cooperation of the EU and the Council of Europe in the countries of the Southern neighbourhood has proven very successful so far and the EU stands ready to continue and enhance this cooperation in the future.
On this note, let me conclude by praising the essential role that the Council of Europe plays in standard setting and the valued expertise it brings in particular in the areas of: constitutional governance, justice reform, the fight against corruption and money laundering, promotion of democratic values and the consolidation of democracy.