Belgium in the Council of Europe

Key points

·         Belgium was one of the ten founding members of the Council of Europe in 1949.

·         Paul-Henri Spaak (at that time, Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Belgium) was one of the founding fathers of the Council of Europe.

·         Belgium has ratified 127 conventions of the Council of Europe and has signed another 34 in the process of ratification.

·         Belgium ratified the European Convention on Human Rights on 14 June 1955.

·         Belgium had two Presidents of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE): Paul-Henri Spaak (1949-51) and Fernand Dehousse (1956-59).

Summary

The key objectives of the Council of Europe, the oldest pan-European organisation, are the protection of human rights, the rule of law and democracy, and the defence of a common cultural heritage. The organisation has 47 member states and has created more than 200 conventions, many of which have become national law across the continent. The Italian government and parliamentary institutions have actively participated in the political life of the Council since the very beginning.

The decision-making body of the organisation is the Committee of Ministers, which adopts conventions and makes recommendations to the member states and supervises the execution of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. It comprises the Ministers of Foreign Affairs or their permanent representatives, who are usually Ambassadors in Strasbourg. Currently, Vice-Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere represent Belgium in the Committee of Ministers. Since September 2006, the Permanent Representative of Belgium to the Council of Europe is Ambassador Jan Devadder.

After adoption by the Committee of Ministers, conventions are opened for signature by states which must ratify them to become legally binding. The last convention that Belgium ratified was the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (CETS 198) in September 2009.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is composed of representatives coming from parliaments from  47 member states. The texts adopted by PACE – recommendations, resolutions and opinions – serve as guidelines for the Committee of Ministers, national governments, parliaments and political parties. There are four PACE sessions a year, each lasting one week.

Belgium is represented in the Parliamentary Assembly by a delegation of 7 representatives and 7 substitutes. Currently, Paul Wille (ALDE) is the head of the delegation and Chairperson of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development. Belgian members of PACE are elected among parliamentarians.

Belgium is represented in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe by a delegation of 7 representatives and 7 substitutes.

The Secretary General of the Council of Europe – currently Thorbjørn Jagland  (Norway) – is elected for a period of five years and is responsible for strategic planning, management of the programme of activities and the budget of the organisation. The Council of Europe's ordinary budget for 2010 is almost 211 million euro, of which Belgium contributes € 4 533 495.19 (2.1483 %).

The European Court of Human Rights’ role is to ensure that states which have ratified the European Convention on Human Rights observe their obligations. It examines complaints lodged by individuals or states and where it finds that a member state has violated any right or guarantee, it delivers a binding judgment. The Court is composed of one judge from each member state. They are elected by PACE. The judge for Belgium to the European Court of Human Rights is Françoise Tulkens since 1998.

Several independent bodies of the Council of Europe monitor compliance of member states with the human right standards of the organisation.

The Commissioner for Human Rights is appointed to promote the development, the awareness of, and the respect for human rights in the member states of the Council of Europe. The current Commissioner is Thomas Hammarberg (Sweden), who took up his position in April 2006. The Commissioner visited Belgium two times in 2008. The report on these visits, published in June 2009, informs that measures have been undertaken to combat racism, discrimination, and violence against women. The Commissioner also observed improvements in the functioning of the asylum procedure and the Belgian judicial system. However, he noted improper overcrowding and inhumane detention conditions, excessively long procedures, a lack of precision in terrorism-related offences and methods of investigation, and urged to stop holding minors with adults. The Commissioner recommended the adoption of a national human rights action plan and the strengthening of the independence and transparency of the mechanism for monitoring police activities.

European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visits places of detention (e.g. prisons and juvenile detention centres, police stations, holding centres for immigration detainees and psychiatric hospitals), to see how persons deprived of their liberty are treated and, if necessary, to recommend improvements to the states. Its members are independent experts. The Belgian member, Marc Nève, is a practising lawyer, and also the former Chairman of the Prisons Committee of the League of Human Rights and the former President of "Avocats sans frontières - Belgique". He will hold his post until December 2011.

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) combats racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and intolerance. ECRI’s action covers all measures necessary to fight violence, discrimination and prejudice on the grounds of race, colour, language, religion, nationality and national or ethnic origin. So far, ECRI has issued four reports on the situation in Belgium, the last one dating back to May 2009. Mr François Sant’Angelo is the current Belgian member of ECRI.

Belgium is also part of some agreements such as the Council of Europe Development Bank, the European Pharmacopoeia, the European Audiovisual Observatory, the European Commission for Democracy Through Law - Venice Commission (represented by Mr Jan Velaers and Mr Jean-Claude Scholsem

), and the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO, Mr Frederik Decruyenaere is the Head of the Belgian Delegation), among others.

Questions and Answers

Which Council of Europe conventions has Belgium ratified?

Belgium has ratified 127 Council of Europe conventions, among them the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Convention on Social and Medical Assistance, the European Cultural Convention, the European Convention on Extradition, the European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage, the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, the European Agreement on the Abolition of Visas for Refugees, the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, the European Social Charter (revised) and the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption.                    

Which conventions has Belgium signed but not yet ratified?

Belgium has signed and is in the process of ratifying 34 Council of Europe conventions, among them the European Convention on the International Validity of Criminal Judgments, the European Convention on the Transfer of Proceedings in Criminal Matter, the European Code of Social Security (Revised), the Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers, the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, the European Convention on Cybercrime and the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. 

How many times has CPT visited Belgium?

Since 1993, when the first CPT delegation visited Belgium, it has carried out five regular visits which have produced reports and recommendations on actions the Belgian authorities should take to comply with the human rights’ standards of the Council of Europe. The last CPT visit to Belgium was in September 2009, and particular attention was paid to the safeguards afforded to persons in police custody, and to the situation in prisons. All the reports are available here.

What were the conclusions of the ECRI’s last report on Belgium?

In its last report in May 2009, ECRI said that progress has been made in a number of fields highlighted in the previous report (January 2004). As part of the changes introduced since then by the Federal Action Plan to combat racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and related violence, the Belgian authorities have established a tolerance barometer, a socio-economic monitoring and an administrative mechanism allowing for the suspension of

public funds granted to political parties displaying hostility to freedoms and human rights. The implementation of criminal laws against racism has also been improved with a specific training for judges, lawyers, police officers and prosecutors, and the creation of contact prosecutors responsible for racism and discrimination issues.

However, a number of issues are still raising concern. Despite the measures taken by Belgian authorities, the use of racist and xenophobic discourse in politics has intensified in extreme right-wing parties, and targets in particular non-European citizens, Muslims and Jews. Racism on the Internet has also increased, and there still are allegations of instances of racial discrimination and abusive behaviour by the police. ECRI also highlights a persistent discrimination in employment and in the access to housing and public services, in particular vis-à-vis of Moroccan,Turkish, sub-Saharan immigrants and Eastern Europe Travelers. Concerning education, both direct and indirect racial discrimination persists: immigrant children, or children of immigrant background whose mother tongue is not the one spoken in the classroom, usually perform less well for several reasons, including de facto segregation at school. Tensions between linguistic communities also concern Belgian people: allegations of discrimination based on language exist between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities. The measures taken at local and regional level, which obliged certain groups to learn or undertake to learn Dutch, do not seem efficient but counter-productive since they stigmatise the population and threaten the exercise of certain individual rights such as access to social housing or employment.

In this report, ECRI recommends that Belgian authorities take further action in a number of areas, such as the ratification of Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention of Human Rights; the need to consolidate the institution of the Centre for Equal Opportunities and the Fight against Racism, by making it an inter-federal organ; and the elaboration of alternative solutions to the measures having counter-producing effects. ECRI recommends that authorities pursue and step up their efforts to combat direct and indirect racial discrimination in employment, housing, and access to education, in particular by introducing positive action measures, by creating a sufficient number of equipped sites for Travelers and by promoting a social mix in state schools. ECRI also recommends that  authorities further their efforts to fight against racism by the police and in political discourse by applying and reviewing the effectiveness of the procedures already introduced for this purpose.

How many judgments related to Belgium did the ECHR deliver in 2009?

Of the 1,625 judgments delivered by the Court in 2009, 11 were related to Belgium. In 8 of them the Court found at least one violation of the convention, and in 3 it found no violations. Since November 1998, when the Court started to function full-time, it has delivered 107 judgments related to Belgium, out of 11,361 judgements.

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Delegation at PACE

Chairman Paul Wille (ALDE) and Vice-Chairperson: Luc Goutry (EPP/CD). Representative members: Mr Hendrik Daems (ALDE), Daniel Ducarme (ALDE), Philippe Monfils (ALDE), Patrick Moriau (SOC), Hugo Vandenberghe (EPP/CD) Substitutes members: Gerolf Annemans (NR), Juliette Boulet (NR), Pol Van den Driessche (EPP/CD),Geert Lambert (SOC), Dirk Van der Maelen (SOC),Elke Tindemans (EPP/CD), Karim Van Overmeire (NR).

Delegation at the Chamber of Local Authorities

Representative members: Marc Cools  (ILDG), Jef Gabriels (EPP/CD, Jacques Gobert (SOC). Substitute members: Willy Borsus (ILDG), Josette Michaux (SOC),  Ann Schevenels (NR), Etienne Van Vaerenberg (ILDG).

Delegation at the Chamber of the Regions

Representative members: Els Ampe (ILDG), Julie Fernandez Fernandez (SOC),  Karl-Heinz Lambertz (SOC), Johan Sauwens (EPP/CD). Substitute members: Michel De Lamotte (EPP/CD), Mia De Vits (SOC), Matthias Diependaele (NR).

Contacts

Giuseppe Zaffuto, Press officer

tel. + 33 (0)3 90 21 56 04

[email protected]                                                                  Updated in September 2010