Slovenia will chair the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for the first time from 12 May to 18 November 2009. The Chairmanship programme has been drafted to include priorities based on the commitments of the Third Summit of the Council of Europe held in Warsaw in 2005, and includes the following:
1. Promoting the common values of the Council of Europe
1.1. Encouraging further reform of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)
Slovenia will strive for and promote the continuation of the reform process of the ECHR, which has come to a standstill. The Court is facing an increasing number of unresolved cases and Slovenia actively takes part in seeking solutions to enable a more efficient settling of cases and a reduction of the backlog as soon as possible.
1.2. Strengthening the rule of law and promoting pluralistic democracy
The rule of law is one of the three fundamental missions of the Council of Europe; therefore, it will receive special attention. Slovenia will endeavour to promote and develop the rule of law both at national and international levels. It plans to organise an expert seminar on the topic of decisions of international courts and tribunals and their contribution to strengthening the rule of law at national and international levels.
The Slovenian Minister of Justice will represent the Slovenian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers at the 29th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Justice in June in Norway, the main subject of which will be domestic violence. In the course of the conference, a representative of Slovenia will sign the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents. During the drafting process of the Convention, the Slovenian representatives endeavoured to adopt a more advanced convention taking into account current international standards. Thus Slovenia earned a high reputation in Europe and internationally because it provided a positive input to the regulation of access to information of a public nature. Due to Slovenia’s active role in the elaboration of the Convention and in the light of its Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, Slovenia has set itself the objective of being the first country to sign the Convention. By doing so, Slovenia will set an example for other countries to sign it, allowing for the Convention to enter into force as soon as possible.
At the beginning of June, Slovenia will host the session of the two bodies of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (the Congress). The role of the Congress, a consultative body which represents the interests of local and regional authorities in the Council of Europe, has been strengthened. By organising this event, Slovenia shows its commitment to the fundamental principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The session will also feature a contribution from the Minister responsible for local self-government and regional policy.
By organising a round table on the right to trial within a reasonable time in Bled in September, Slovenia wishes to encourage expert debate and an exchange of national experiences of effective methods for tackling judicial backlogs.
A round table on regulating criminal procedure rights of the European Convention on Human Rights in the light of European Union legislation will be held in Portorož in October. Its purpose is to encourage expert debate on effective methods of protecting criminal procedure rights and the issue of their protection by the ECHR and the Court of Justice of the European Communities.
Joint plenary sessions of the Consultative Council of European Judges (CCJE) and the Consultative Council of European Prosecutors (CCPE) will take place in Ljubljana in November.
A conference of international non-governmental organisations will be organised in Ljubljana in November, a core event in initiating the implementation process of the document of the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations (INGOs) of the Council of Europe – the Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation in the decision-making process. The conference will discuss the integration of NGOs into the processes of shaping policies, present best practices and make recommendations for their realisation, promotion and implementation by Council of Europe member states.
1.3. Striving for equality between women and men
Slovenia will encourage equality between women and men and engage in the Council of Europe activities in this area, particularly in combating trafficking in human beings. Equality between women and men will be one of the topics of several conferences held during its Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, such as the 29th Session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Family Affairs to be held in Vienna in June.
1.4 Active policy of integration and protection of minorities, Roma and Travellers
Slovenia advocates the position that minorities are an expression of pluralism in society and provide a foundation for tolerance and understanding. During the Slovenian Chairmanship, an international conference on the status of minorities in Slovenia and of Slovenians living outside of the Republic of Slovenia will be organised. The aim of the conference is to raise awareness of both the Slovenian and international public of the positive approach to minority protection and shaping the minority policy in Slovenia. Within the Council of Europe campaign “Dosta! Go beyond prejudice – discover the Roma”, the Government Office for Nationalities and partner organisations will organise the opening meeting on the Route of Roma Culture and Heritage in Prekmurje in October. The meeting is also aimed at addressing other priorities relating to Roma and Travellers.
The international conference “The education of Roma: achievements, opportunities and future challenges” will be organised by Slovenia, in co-operation with the Council of Europe, in Brdo pri Kranju on 25 and 26 May 2009, in order to highlight the significance of education for the successful integration of Roma and Travellers into society. This will be the final conference of the Council of Europe project “Education of Roma Children in Europe”.
Slovenia will undertake a political initiative on raising awareness of discrimination, social marginalisation and media racism, which hinder Roma and other ethnic minorities from becoming European citizens on an equal footing. For this purpose, Slovenia will place the integration issue relating to Roma and marginalised groups in a European context. It has set up a project called “You See Me, I See You: Cultural Diversity in The Eyes of Roma”, which includes work on the ground and a photo exhibition with an accompanying brochure to be presented in the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg during the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
1.5 Promoting democracy, the rule of law and human rights in South-East Europe, the Caucasus and Belarus
Slovenia will devote special attention to promoting the values of the Council of Europe in certain regions in accordance with its foreign policy priorities. It will strive for the promotion of human rights (with “Our Right”, an education project about the rights of children), the strengthening of democratic standards (the status of ethnic minorities, including Roma) and the rule of law in South-East Europe, including combating trafficking in human beings. It will endeavour to include South-East Europe in all Council of Europe activities.
In addition, Slovenia will continue to take an active part in drafting and discussing documents concerning South-East Europe to be considered within the Council of Europe. It will devote special attention to intercultural dialogue, in which South-East Europe can play an active role in setting an example for the coexistence of different cultures. In this context, it will pay attention to issues relating to the preservation of heritage of different cultures. In November, an international conference on the Ljubljana Process will be organised as the final part of the project financing the preservation of cultural heritage in South-East Europe (2008–2010). This conference will include a panel for the transfer of best practices of the Ljubljana Process from South-East Europe to the Kyiv initiative countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine). The project was set up as a joint initiative by the Council of Europe and the European Commission, and has been carried out since 2003.
During its Chairmanship, Slovenia will also closely follow Council of Europe activities in Southern Caucasus and Belarus. In the light of developments in various countries and regions, it will plan and undertake other appropriate activities, if necessary.
2. Strengthening the security of European citizens
2.1 Combating terrorism, organised crime and corruption
In combating crime and corruption, Slovenia will promote and improve co-operation and mutual understanding among law enforcement bodies, other national bodies and relevant EU institutions. To this end, it will actively participate in the 3rd International Anti-Corruption Summer School in Vienna in June, and in the capacity as Chair of the Committee of Ministers, it will take part in a high-level conference, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the partial agreement establishing GRECO (Group of States against Corruption). Furthermore, an international conference of the European Partners against Corruption will be held in Nova Gorica in November.
Slovenia will ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism and the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism by the end of the year and will encourage other countries to follow its example. If the 6th special meeting of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee with representatives of relevant international, regional and sub-regional organisations on complementarity and co-operation in the implementation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy takes place in the framework of the Council of Europe, Slovenia will ensure high level participation at the meeting.
The regular semi-annual, 17th meeting of the Committee of Experts on Terrorism (CODEXTER), which co-ordinates counter-terrorism activities, will take place in Strasbourg 17-18 November. On this occasion, one of the main topics will be the review of the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism.
2.2. Combating trafficking in human beings
Slovenia will strive to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings, protect the rights of victims of trafficking, establish a comprehensive framework for assistance to victims and witnesses and for their protection, and ensure effective investigation and prosecution. In addition, it will promote international co-operation on action against trafficking in human beings.
2.3. Rights relating to health and biomedicine
Slovenia will strive for the promotion of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and its protocols, and will actively engage in the Council of Europe activities in this area. It will organise, together with the Council of Europe, a conference to mark the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo Convention) in Strasbourg in November. The conference assess the impact of the Convention and its protocols on legislative progress in member states and on practice in biomedicine in compliance with the European ethical and legal norms provided for by the Convention. The purpose of the Conference is to encourage member states to ratify the Convention or to examine the reasons for not ratifying it.
The above-mentioned conference will be accompanied by a Satellite Symposium on the rights related to health and biomedicine to take place in Ljubljana in October. The Symposium will highlight the historical significance of the Convention for progress in bioethics and for the implementation of common European ethical principles in practice, in which new ethical and legal issues are raised through the development of new technologies and progress of science.
In its capacity as Chair of the Committee of Ministers, Slovenia will take part in the Co-ordination Forum for the Council of Europe Disability Action 2006–2015 (CAHPAH). An international conference organised by the Slovenian Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs in Portorož in October will contribute to raising awareness of the rights of the disabled and to promoting the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
3. Building a more humane and inclusive Europe
With a view to creating a more humane and inclusive Europe, Slovenia will organise the second meeting of the South East European Regional Network for Qualifications Frameworks (education planning). Its purpose is to seek solutions for classifying the pre-Bologna and Bologna qualifications into the national frameworks and subsequently to classify these qualifications in relation to the European Qualifications Framework.
The Second European Cultural Heritage Forum will be held in Ljubljana in September to mark the European Cultural Heritage Day.
The 5th Informal Conference of Ministers of Education from the Western Balkans will take place in Ljubljana in October. Ministers responsible for higher education will discuss the vision of a European Higher Education Area in 2020 and the development of the Bologna Process after 2010. They will examine achievements in implementing the Bologna reform process in the past decade and the possibilities for co-operation in the region in implementing it in the next decade. The aim of the conference is to arrange for regional co-operation in certain fields covered by the reform process.
3.1 Rights of the child
Slovenia will continue to promote children’s rights within the Council of Europe Programme “Building a Europe for and with children”. The main topic will be combating violence against children, with special emphasis on the abolition of corporal punishment and the fight against sexual exploitation of children.
The launching of the Council of Europe Platform on Children’s Rights is to be held in Strasbourg at the beginning of June and in this context the national focal points will consider inter alia draft Council of Europe Guidelines on National Integrated Strategies for the Protection of Children against Violence, as well as European follow up to the UN Secretary-General' Study on Violence against Children and the III World Congress on Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents.
The 29th Session of the Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Family Affairs will be held in the second half of June in Vienna and will address public policies supporting the wish to have children: Societal, economic and personal factors. The Conference will also be attended by Slovenia in its capacity as Chair of the Committee of Ministers.
A meeting of experts for the coordination of child and youth policies will be held in Brdo pri Kranju in September. It is aimed at reviewing the implementation of these policies in individual Council of Europe member states and at identifying measures for coordinating them more effectively.
3.2 Human rights education
Slovenia will also devote special attention to children’s rights within the framework of human rights education and to the creation of conditions to enable children and youth to become partners when discussing their rights. On the latter point, it will continue to strive for better access for children to mechanisms protecting their rights and for human rights education. To this end, Slovenia will renew an education project on children’s rights, “Our Rights”, which was carried out during its OSCE Chairmanship in 2005. Thus, it will contribute to systematic education on children’s rights within the school curricula in Kosovo1, North Ossetia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project aims at raising the awareness of the general public to children’s rights in certain environments.
An international conference on education on human rights and on the right of children to protection against violence is expected to be held in Ljubljana in the second half of September. Its purpose is to draw the attention of experts and the general public to the issue of children’s rights, particularly the right to protection against violence.
At the beginning of the Slovenian Chairmanship of the Council of Europe, the Slovenian Ministry of Justice will publish a revised version of the ‘Short Guide to the European Convention on Human Rights’ by Donna Gomien. It is an additional contribution to the professional qualification of judges, state attorneys, state prosecutors, attorneys, and the concerned public with regard to the human rights and fundamental freedoms contained in the European Convention on Human Rights.
3.3 Intercultural dialogue
Slovenia sees intercultural dialogue as a process promoting the creation of an open and complex cultural environment that contributes to diversity and the dynamic character of European society. In the area of promoting intercultural dialogue, it will promote the effective implementation of the Council of Europe White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue.2 The project “You See Me, I See You: Cultural Diversity in The Eyes of Roma” will be devoted to the significance of intercultural dialogue. Slovenia would thus like to highlight the need for deconstructing stereotypes and for de-marginalising discriminated groups.
3.4 Education on crimes against humanity
Slovenia will carry on activities, in co-operation with the Council of Europe, in the field of education on crimes against humanity in relation to the birth of the European idea. A seminar “From crimes against humanity to the birth of the European idea” will be organised in Brdo pri Kranju in October and attended by foreign and Slovenian history teachers, advisers and teacher educators. The seminar is aimed at presenting the development of the European idea as a response to hatred among European nations and lack of understanding in the past, and will give examples of crimes against humanity during the Second World War and thereafter in Europe and Slovenia. The seminar is aimed at training history teachers professionally in Slovenia and Europe, at exchanging experience between European and Slovenian teachers on including the topic of crimes against humanity in history teaching and at sharing views on the issues discussed.
4. Fostering co-operation with other international and European organisations and institutions
4.1. Endeavours to strengthen co-operation with key international organisations, particularly with the European Union, the OSCE and the United Nations
Slovenia will endeavour to encourage co-operation with key international institutions: the European Union, the OSCE and the United Nations and will strive for an effective multilateral system and, in particular, for strengthening co-operation in the field of human rights. The Council of Europe is an important partner of the European Union in preserving a high level of human rights protection and in promoting democratic stability. The Slovenian Chairmanship will encourage close co-operation with the European Union in accordance with the conclusions of the 2005 Third Summit held in Warsaw, and will consult on topical issues with the countries holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union: the Czech Republic and Sweden.
Slovenia will devote special attention to the regional issues which are at the centre of topical discussions in the Council of Europe and South-East Europe, a priority region in terms of its foreign policy. It will strive for the promotion of human rights and the strengthening of democratic standards (the status of ethnic minorities, including Roma) and the rule of law in South-East Europe, including combating trafficking in human beings. It will endeavour to include South-East Europe in all Council of Europe activities.
During its Chairmanship, Slovenia will closely follow activities in other European regions and will support the Council of Europe’s continued activities in the Southern Caucasus and Belarus. In addition, it will also take an active part in other regular activities and ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the Council of Europe.