Strasbourg – The President of the European Movement International (EMI), Jo Leinen, met with Council of Europe Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, on Tuesday 13 March to discuss current developments in the 47 member organisation which was set up at the instigation of the European Movement in the wake of the 1948 Hague Congress.

Mr Leinen welcomed the role the Council is playing in promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Central and East European countries which remain outside the EU. He reaffirmed the importance of the European Human Rights Court in guaranteeing fundamental freedoms across the whole of Europe.

Referring to the up-coming Brighton Ministerial Conference on reform of the Court (April 18-20) Mr Leinen said governments must not use the present backlog of cases as a pretext for trying to water down the right of access to justice for the adjudication of alleged human rights violations as guaranteed by the 1950 European Human Rights Convention.

Individuals Europe-wide must be able to apply to the Strasbourg and it is the Court, and not national governments, which must decide the cases it should review, the EMI President said.

Mr Jagland and Mr Leinen also discussed future cooperation between the Council of Europe and the EMI with special reference to Civil Society activities.

Mr Jagland informed the EMI President about the Strasbourg World Forum for Democracy which will be launched in October. He invited the European Movement International and its President to participate in the event “Bridging the Gap: Democracy between Old Models and New Realities”.

Other topics discussed included recent political developments in Europe, EU-Council of Europe relations and prospects for EU accession to the European Human Rights Convention.
[ENDS]

For more information, please download the EMI BRIEFING_NOTE_ON_THE_EUROPEAN_COURT_OF_HUMAN_RIGHTS
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Editor’s Note: The European Movement International (EMI) is one of the largest pan and pro-European civil society organisation with currently more than 70 Member Organisations, bringing together representatives from European associations, political parties, enterprises and trade unions.

For more information, please contact the secretariat: +32 (0)2 508 30 88, email: secretariat(at)europeanmovement.eu