Since 1989, there have been great changes in the composition of the European countries and cultures. In 1989, the Council of Europe had 23 members, by 2004 this number had risen to 45 and made the Council of Europe a truly pan-European organisation.
The Council of Europe is very important to Norway’s general Europe-policies. During the chairmanship period, Norway had three main priorities; human rights and judicial cooperation, strengthening the synergy of European cooperation and enhancing the role the Council of Europe may play in conflict prevention and intercultural dialogue.
Human rights and judicial cooperation
The most important aspect of this field was the reform of the European Court of Human Rights. At the time, there were approximately 65 000 cases before the court, a fact that called for urgent action. Important steps in the direction of reform was made, amongst them follow-up to decisions made at the ministerial meeting in may 2004. These were designed to improve the level of implementation of the Convention on Human Rights on a national level, thus making the number of complaints made to the court smaller.
Juridical cooperation between the member countries of the Council was another priority in this regard. The aim of this was to safeguard the legitimacy of the Council of Europe’s work to counter terrorism. Other important areas were fight against domestic violence and protection and enforcement of the rights and dignity of people with disabilities, especially children.
European cooperation
In holding the chairmanship, Norway initiated a closer cooperation with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in an attempt to coordinate work and avoid duplication. Cooperation in certain areas was already in place, but the Norwegian initiative aimed at creating a body for coordinating this.
Norway also started a process of reflection on the Council of Europe cooperation with the EU.
Conflict prevention and intercultural dialogue
Norway considered, and consider, the Council of Europe to have a unique position when it comes to preventive work in regards to conflicts, and used the chairmanship period to strengthen and further enhance this position. This role was especially prominent with regards to the work the Council did, and indeed still does, to promote intercultural dialogue and good governance.
The religious aspects of education was for this reason the focus of a large scale conference in Oslo in June 2004. It was stressed that it is important to spread knowledge on the ways in which different cultures and religions can contribute to understanding and mutual respect.
Other activities during the Norwegian Chairmanship:
· It was decided to hold a third Summit of Heads of State and Government in Warsaw in 2005.
· Continued work to strengthen stability and democratic government in South-East Europe.
· Work to resolve the conflicts in Caucasus.
· Promotion of democratic stability in Ukraine, Turkey and Moldova.