US embassy cable - 03THEHAGUE2864

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 002864 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, NL, COE 
SUBJECT: Priorities of Dutch Council of Europe Presidency 
 
 
1. Summary: On November 6, the Netherlands assumed the 
Presidency of the Council of Europe (COE) for a period of 
six months.  Dutch Presidency priorities include:  giving 
priority to improving the effectiveness of the European 
Court of Human Rights, enhancing the cooperation between the 
COE, OSCE and EU, advancing a dialogue on integration, 
fundamental rights and integrity in the public sector, and 
promoting social cohesion in areas such as health care, 
sports and the dissemination of information.  The GoNL will 
look to achieve such goals via a variety of expert meetings, 
conferences and seminars.  End summary. 
 
2. At the start of the Dutch COE Presidency, Foreign 
Minister De Hoop Scheffer declared the Netherlands intends 
to use the Presidency to promote European cohesion, stating 
that the goal is to build bridges and prevent new divisions 
on the European continent.  He identified three themes that 
would dominate the Dutch Presidency: 
 
-- protection of human rights and monitoring mechanisms 
-- integration and social cohesion 
-- promotion of synergy between COE and international 
organizations. 
 
3. In order to ensure that human rights are applied 
consistently and effectively, the Dutch Presidency is 
proposing several activities, including providing assistance 
to new or aspirant member states to help them comply with 
human rights standards.  It will organize a seminar on how 
compliance with human rights standards can be improved, and 
the GoNL Presidency intends to draft a proposal for 
developing human rights standards in the information 
society.  In the Dutch view, the European Court of Human 
Rights plays a key role in protecting human rights. 
However, at present the Court is the victim of its own 
success; it is currently too overburdened to function 
effectively.  The Dutch Presidency plans to reduce the 
Court's workload by concentrating on only those cases that 
make a real contribution to the administration of justice in 
Europe. 
 
4. Within the context of promoting social cohesion and 
dialogue among cultures, the Dutch Presidency intends to 
organize a variety of conferences and seminars locally and 
throughout Europe on:  integration; fundamental values and 
rights in an intercultural society; integrity in the police 
and public administration; and the function and design of 
public libraries. 
 
5. On the point of promoting synergy between the COE and 
other international organizations, the Dutch Presidency will 
organize a dialogue between the COE and the EU; a seminar on 
coordinating health programs of the COE with the WHO and the 
EU; a study on best practices in sports; and a seminar on 
the development of the Pan European Ecological Network plus 
a workshop of biodiversity.  Finally, the Dutch Presidency 
will study the suggestions of the COE Parliamentary Assembly 
to establish a framework agreement on cooperation among the 
COE, OSCE and EU, and the creation of a COE, OSCE and EU 
Troika.  Note:  Traditionally, the Netherlands does not 
support creating such new institutions.  End Note. 
 
Russel