Projects - Relations with European Institutions

Chair: Gabriela Frey, gabriela.frey(at)free.fr
Vice-Chair: Michel Aguilar, michelaguilar(at)orange.fr

Statement of Project Mission:

EU-COMMITTEE of the European Buddhist Union

The Committee of Relations to the European Institutions of the EBU focuses its work in two areas:

1. The European Institutions in Brussels: the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Bureau of European Policy Advisers (BEPA) and others. For this a Mission statement has been launched (available on simple request).
2. The European Parliament and mainly in the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. The EBU has obtained the participatory status on the Conference of INGO in the Council of Europe since December 2008.

Gabriela Frey as the Chair of the EU Committee is the representative of the EBU to the Council of Europe. Michel Aguilar as the Vice-Chair of this Committee is participating actively in all the main meetings and work groups in the Council of Europe.

The activities of the representatives of the EBU to the Council of Europe continue their work mainly in the of Human Rights and the Education Committee of the '"Conference of INGO’s". In these two Committees are working groups, dealing with religious, intercultural and inter convictional dialogue. They are present each of the 2 official annual Sessions and other meetings throughout the year to participate and to improve good relations to the different participants of the "Conference of INGOs" and other members of the Council of Europe.

The representation of the civil society in the Council of Europe, i.e. the Conference of INGO (more then 400 Ingo’s which have a participatory status), of which the EBU is member, has gone through important changes and reorganisation since October 2010. In the framework of the reorganisation the General Secretary of the Council of Europe has defined three priorities: Human Rights, rule of law and democracy.

At present these changes are almost achieved. During the Session of the month of June have been elected the president and vice presidents. You can also find further information on the webpage: http://www.coe.int/T/NGO/default_en.asp

The work has been reorganised in 3 Commissions:

a. Human Rights Committee with the focus on:

• Economic and social rights in relation to the current crisis
• Human rights defenders  
• The universality of human rights and the diversity of cultures
• The media and human rights  

b. Democracy, Social Cohesion and Global Challenges Committee with the focus on:   

• Sustainable development  
• North/South dialogue and solidarity  
• Participation in the decision-making process: the Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation in the Decision-Making Process
• Civic democracy through interaction of European NGOs
• Health and the fight against poverty  

c. Education and Culture with the focus on:

• Citizenship education  
• Multi-perspective teaching of European history
• Access to digital media
• Lifelong learning
• Key skills for access to labour market

The place and impact of gender equality is a theme, which, by definition, cuts across all the activities. To ensure that it does, a freely constituted group will see to this during the work and an elected representative or representatives will sit on the Standing Committee.

There will be also a new working group on the European Social Charter and its application. The way in which the Social Charter has been elaborated allows a possibility to act directly in all fields of our daily life in Europe,
http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/socialcharter/presentation/escrbooklet/escrbooklet_EN.asp

Every member of the EBU is invited to participate in the work of this Committee. We are happy to answer all questions and are open to suggestions.

Please contact Gabriela Frey gabriela.frey(at)free.fr

All details of the rules governing participatory Status can be found on: Council of Europe website.

Some information about the Participatory Status in the Council of Europe:

The Council of Europe in Strasbourg recognized the importance of Independent non-governmental organisations (INGOs) and gave them the opportunity to acquire consultative status. The Council initiated dialogue with INGOs to meet a three-fold need: to know the views and aspirations of European citizens; to provide direct representation for them; to publicize its own activities through these associations, 417 of which now hold participatory status.

The Council of Europe co-operates with INGOs in all bodies of its organizational structure: the Committee of Ministers; the Parliamentary Assembly; and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council Europe, as well as its Programme of Activities.

Co-operation takes many forms, from simple consultation to full-scale collaboration on specific projects. INGO experts may participate as consultants in various studies or contribute to the work of intergovernmental committees on an ad hoc basis; prepare memoranda for the Secretary General; make oral or written statements to the Parliamentary Assembly's Committees and to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities; address colloquies, seminars and other meetings organised by the Council of Europe. INGOs report back to the public on progress in Council of Europe projects in their sphere, while making their own expert advice available to the Council.

There are two or more annual Plenary Conferences per year that all INGOs with participatory status may attend. Please refer to the Conference of INGOs website for the dates of the next meetings.