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Nov 27 2008

Sweden's Chairmanship comes to an end

On 27 November the Swedish Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will be tranferred to Spain.

During the good six months Sweden has presided over the work in the Committee of Ministers, attention has been focussed on implementing the core values of the Council of Europe: human rights, democracy and the rule of law. As an important part of the Chairmanship’s programme, four international conferences on priority issues have been organised: a Colloquy on stronger implementation of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) at national level in Stockholm on 9-10 June; a Conference on the rights of the child in Stockholm on 8-10 September; a Conference on the realisation of the rights of persons with disabilities in Strasbourg on 29-30 October; and a Conference on systematic work on human rights implementation in Stockholm on 6-7 November. The conclusions of these conferences will be followed up by the different bodies of the Council of Europe. More information about the conferences is available on the website of the Swedish government.

The conflict between the Russian Federation and Georgia has received full attention of the Council of Europe, and Sweden has kept the issue high on the agenda of the Committee of Ministers. On 24 September the Chairmanship convened an extraordinary ministerial meeting in New York to discuss the conflict. On the basis of the conclusions from this meeting, in which 34 member states participated, of which 32 ministers, the Chairmanship drafted a plan for a coordinated response by the different entities of the Council of Europe, within the specific mandate of the organisation. Due to opposition in a procedural voting the action plan could not be adopted during the Swedish Chairmanship. The plan is still on the agenda and will continue to be handled by the incoming Spanish Chairmanship.

Despite the substantial efforts aimed at forging a response from the Council of Europe to the conflict in Georgia, Sweden has carried out the Chairmanship’s programme with a clear focus on the fundamental objectives of the organisation. Guided by the motto to “make rights real”, the Chairmanship has sought to promote the core objectives of the Council of Europe by means of systematic work with the implementation of rights and through close cooperation with governmental and non-governmental actors, both on national and international level.

Read the Report of the Swedish Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (7 May – 27 November 2008).

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