Press Release: New cooperation agreement between the Commission and Council of Europe on human rights, democracy and rule of law

On 1 April 2014, the European Commission and the 47-nation Council of Europe (CoE) signed a 'Statement of Intent' putting in place a new framework for cooperation in the EU Enlargement and Neighbourhood Regions for the period 2014-2020.

The agreement will enable the two organisations to work together in a more strategic and result-focused manner to help promote human rights, democracy and the rule of law in the EU Enlargement and Neighbourhood Regions based on the Council of Europe’s binding international conventions, monitoring bodies and assistance programmes.

The new framework will cover three specific regions:
o EU enlargement countries (Turkey and the Western Balkans)
o countries covered by the EU’s Eastern Partnership programme (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine)
o countries in the Southern Mediterranean region (initially Morocco and Tunisia, but possibly also other countries in the future).

• Primary Source

European Commission: EuropeAid: Who we are: Our Partners: International organisations http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/who/partners/international-organisations/index_en.htm

EEAS: EU relations with the Council of Europe http://eeas.europa.eu/organisations/coe/index_en.htm

Council of Europe: New cooperation agreement between European Commission and Council of Europe on human rights, democracy and rule of law: Statement of intent - Questions and answers, April 2014 http://hub.coe.int/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=e6e778d2-df67-4190-bd68-35721725e611&groupId=10227

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