Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has opened the way to stronger links between the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
In his speech today to the OSCE’s Permanent Council, he said the two organisations had joined with the European Union to become “three pillars of the most successful and inspiring peace process in history.”
The Secretary General now wants to build on that alliance. “When it comes to the co-operation and co-ordination between the OSCE and the Council of Europe, I believe that we are far from making use of its full potential,” he declared.
Jagland favours re-establishing regular exchanges of views between key officials and ensuring the “mutually beneficial” interaction of experts. He also encouraged the development of joint programmes between specific OSCE institutions – such as ODIHR, HCNM and the OSCE Media Representative – and relevant agencies within the Council of Europe.
Jagland said this “could increase the coherence and value-for-money approach of the international community, while further decreasing the risk of duplication.”
The Secretary General has already commissioned a study on this theme – ‘The Council of Europe and the OSCE: enhancing co-operation and complementarity through greater coherence,’ which he said, identified the potential for “untapped synergies.”
