1. Opening of the meeting by the President, Annelise OESCHGER

Annelise Oeschger welcomed members of the INGO Conference, saying that the Conference had won growing recognition both within and outside the Council of Europe in recent years.

This political recognition, as exemplified by the introduction of participatory status in 2003, the full role played by INGOs in the Warsaw summit in 2005 and Committee of Ministers Resolution Res(2005)47 on the participation of INGOs in intergovernmental steering committees, had been further confirmed in the past few days, with an invitation to the President to attend the 1000th meeting of Ministers’ Deputies in Belgrade.

Likewise, recent dealings with the Parliament Assembly indicated that the latter saw the INGO Conference as one of the four pillars of the Council of Europe: this was evident not only in Aleksandër Biberaj’s report on relations between the Assembly and the INGO Conference, but also in the PACE’s desire to secure the support of INGOs in its efforts to protect the Council’s budgetary future.

The President also told members about plans for a newsletter to keep all the INGOs better informed, and which would be sent to all members by e-mail.

2. Adoption of the agenda

The agenda was adopted.

3. Approval of the report of the meeting held on 30 January 2007

The report was approved.

4. Presentation of the future organisation of the thematic work of the Conference of INGOs

The President said that with increased recognition of the Conference of INGOs came the need for a review of its structures, thematic organisation and working methods, commensurate with the new role that it wished to play within the Council of Europe.

Ms Oeschger reminded members that the Liaison Committee was currently considering an overhaul of the thematic groupings, The discussion process would not be finished by the beginning of July, when the calls for candidatures for the chairmanships of the 8 groupings (social charter, human rights, education and culture, civil society, environment, NGO Towns, gender equality and extreme poverty) were due to be published.

The Chair accordingly proposed that the thematic grouping elections, originally scheduled for October 2007, be postponed by a year. This was a one-off measure, which it was within the power of the INGO Conference to adopt.

The proposal was adopted unanimously by the Conference of INGOs:
“Meeting on 26 June 2007 in Strasbourg, the Conference of INGOs agrees to exceptionally extend the term of office of the outgoing chairs of the groupings by one year, until the autumn 2008 session.”

Jean-Claude Gonon, General Rapporteur, summarised the main stages of the discussion and work on the thematic reorganisation of the INGO Conference. He also presented the timetable for future work in this area, on which a final decision was expected to be taken in April 2008. Two Bureau members (Silvia Geise and André Zawadzki) and two other members of the Liaison Committee (Jean-Philippe Durrenberger and Giovanni Rigone) had agreed to co-ordinate this general debate on the organisation of the INGO Conference and its thematic work. A further seminar, to be held on 5 and 6 October 2007 at the Saint-Thomas cultural centre, would provide an opportunity for more detailed discussions.

The President threw the discussion open to the floor. Among the questions raised were the following: what could be done to strengthen the role of INGOs in ratifying and implementing Council of Europe conventions? Was it possible to clearly identify what worked and what did not within the Conference of INGOs? How to ensure that the objectives of the INGO Conference tied in with those of the Council of Europe as a whole?

To conclude, Ms Oeschger invited all those who had addressed the meeting or who wished to do so to put their comments and proposals in writing as well.

5. Discussion and adoption of the revised Rules of Procedure of the Conference of INGOs and of the revised Rules of Procedure of the Liaison Committee and of the thematic groupings

Bearing in mind the decision that had just been taken to postpone the thematic grouping elections, Claude-Laurent Genty, Honorary Founding President and rapporteur, felt there was no longer any need for the INGO Conference to comment on the revised Rules that day, as the planned thematic reorganisation was liable to render them obsolete. One amendment, however, could be submitted to the Conference there and then, namely the Bureau’s proposal that the Bureau of the Conference of INGOs be constituted by the Bureau of the Liaison Committee.

During the discussion on this proposed revision of the Rules of Procedure, doubts were expressed about the legitimacy of the Bureau, were it to be appointed in that way. Examples of various countries’ election systems were then provided to show that the arrangement was feasible.

Ms Oeschger pointed out that this proposed revision did not involve any substantive changes and that the Bureau would still be the Bureau elected by the Liaison Committee and not by the Conference of INGOs. Such an amendment was justified for matters to do with representation, e.g. when a Vice-Chair represented the President of the Conference.

The Conference of INGOs adopted this proposed amendment to the Rules of Procedure, with four abstentions:
Rules of Procedure of the Conference of INGOs, new Art. 2.2: “The Bureau of the Conference of INGOs is composed of the Bureau of the Liaison Committee.”
Rules of Procedure of the Liaison Committee and of the thematic groupings, new Art. 2.7: “The Bureau of the Liaison Committee also composes the Bureau of the Conference of INGOs.”

6. Discussion and adoption of the Recommendation of the Conference of INGOs regarding the preparation of the White Paper on intercultural dialogue

Ms Oeschger began by explaining that it was planned to set up a drafting group consisting of INGOs willing to finalise, by the end of August, the draft Recommendation prepared by Christoph Spreng, project manager. It was important that this deadline be met, as the INGOs’ final contribution was due at the beginning of September 2007. Any comments could be e-mailed to Mr Spreng direct (c.spreng@caux.ch).

Mr Spreng said that an expert from the Council of Europe’s DG IV was compiling a summary of the 62 replies to the questionnaire which the co-ordinator for intercultural dialogue had sent out to all INGOs with participatory status.

He outlined the draft recommendation of the Conference of INGOs regarding the preparation of the White Paper on intercultural dialogue, emphasising that the Conference approved the plan to attach an appendix to the White Paper, containing the INGOs’ contribution (conclusions, proposals, examples of good practice) and asked that this plan be followed through.
By general consensus, the Conference approved this request and also the recommendation, subject to any minor changes that might be made during the finalisation process.

7. Promotion of the United Nations Convention on the rights of people with disabilities and involvement of the Conference of INGOs in the Council of Europe Action Plan to promote the rights and full participation of people with disabilities in society

Taras Poljanec (AEH, European Action of the Disabled) said that the UN convention on the rights of people with disabilities, which had taken 30 years to produce, had been adopted in December 2006. This Convention, which dealt, inter alia, with the issue of human dignity, also provided for a monitoring system, enshrined in an additional protocol. To date, 84 states had signed the Convention and the European Union had also acceded. A further twenty ratifications were needed for the instrument to come into force. The Council of Europe Action Plan was an important follow-up to the Convention, in the same way as the European Disability Forum. Mr Poljanec ended by inviting members to sign a petition on this subject at the front of the room.

Luk Zelderloo (EASPD, European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities) reminded members that Marie-José Schmitt (AEH) and himself represented the Conference of INGOs within the CAHPAH (European Co-ordination Forum for the Council of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015). He stressed the need for co-operation between the UN, the European Union and the Council of Europe, not least in order to change the way the public tended to view disability. He felt that the UN convention, by focusing on rights, and the Council of Europe Action Plan, by identifying 15 courses of action, complemented one another.

8. Other business

- Presentation of the new Directorate of Democratic Institutions within the Directorate General of Democracy and Political Affairs, by Jean-Louis Laurens, Director General of Democracy and Political Affairs, and Philip Blair, Director of Democratic Institutions

Mr Laurens described the new Directorate General, and in particular the Directorate of Democratic Institutions, as a coherent structure concerned with issues relating to good democratic governance at local and regional level and civil society. The setting up of the Directorate of Democratic Institutions did not mean that the Directorate General would no longer be interested in INGOs, far from it, with several major gatherings already planned for the second half of 2007. With regard to the recent Forum on the Future of Democracy, held in Stockholm/Sigtuna from 13 to 15 June 2007, Mr Laurens asked INGOs to look closely at the conclusions and recommendations produced by the Forum and to ensure the appropriate follow-up at their respective levels.

Mr Blair said he had always found it surprising that there was no focal point dealing with democracy at intergovernmental level, as now represented by the new Directorate of which he was head. He said he would seek in particular to develop synergies between the two main components of his Directorate. In this context, he mentioned the forthcoming ministerial conference in Valencia (exact title + dates to be added), one of the themes of which would be “citizens at the heart of local democracy”.

Ms Oeschger thanked Mr Laurens and Mr Blair warmly.

9. Next meeting of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe: 22 or 23 January 2008.