Prof. TADEUSZ IWIŃSKI

One of the Council of Europe’s priorities is promoting an awareness of European identity that is based on common values. What are those values?
Right up front I would like to emphasize that the Council of Europe (COE) was established in 1949 and is therefore the oldest international organization in Europe, affiliating 46 states. The values promoted by the organization include first and foremost democracy, understood as majority rule combined with respect for the rights of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities as well as women. Another value involves human rights and protection of those rights in various aspects. Very often this is also connected with protecting minority interests. The European Court of Human Rights, located in Strasburg, is an important element of the COE. As a judicial body, the court defends the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of November 4, 1950. Any citizen may file a complaint with the court on his or her own country, but only after exhausting all of the opportunities offered by the national justice system. One essential value is the observance of laws by governments, laws that are regulated by about 200 conventions. Three new conventions will most likely come out of the May summit in Warsaw. Moreover, we value the search by members of the COE for the best solutions to social problems.

Among the main objectives pursued by the COE, it is said that the council defends parliamentary democracy in some cases and pluralist democracy in others. How do these democracies differ?
By parliamentary democracy we mean the specific role of parliaments. Generally, the division of powers according to a classic model by Montesquieu must be observed – legislative, executive and judicial – and parliaments play an equally supervisory function with respect to the government.
Pluralist democracies place a special accent on minority rights, such as that of the Romany. Many reports have been written on this subject. The field of culture is an important consideration – the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages was passed in order to protect endangered languages such as Galician or Welsh. The richness of languages is needed. Religious or cultural dialogue addresses important elements of pluralist democracy because it takes that pluralism into account in many dimensions.

Since 1989 one of the primary tasks of the COE has included providing help for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the implementation and reinforcement of political, legal and constitutional reforms, introduced in tandem with economic reform. Do older members of the COE monitor to what degree those reforms serve the citizens of a given country?
Until 1989 the member-states belonging to the COE were only located in Western Europe. There are only two criteria that should be met in order to join the organization – ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights and free elections. The first country of Central and Eastern Europe to join the COE was Hungary. Poland became the second in November 1991. Gradually, this group expanded to include other states, such as Russia in 1996. Later three countries in the Caucasus were welcomed as members – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. For these new members, the COE represented a higher education in democracy. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic entered the COE first and only later became members of NATO and the European Union.
The COE is a unique forum, a platform for dialogue between 25 countries that belong to the union and 21 countries which are still outside of it, but cannot be excluded. Monitoring plays an enormous role. When a given country joins the COE it must also make certain commitments in addition to fulfilling the aforementioned basis conditions, such as lifting the death penalty or at the very least introducing a moratorium on its use in the case of Turkey, Russia or Ukraine.
There is also a permanent procedure for parliamentary monitoring. The Special Commission Assembly visits and monitors the state of affairs in various countries, for example in penal institutions. Or it examines whether the rights of Russian minorities in Latvia and Estonia are being violated as the Russians claim. The assembly discovers whether it is true that those who do not speak Estonian or Latvian cannot practice certain professions. This is a significant problem.
Monitoring is not only applied to new democracies, but also to states such as Great Britain, France and Germany, which are long-time members of the COE.

Has the Committee of Ministers or Parliamentary Assembly of the COE ever concerned itself with the issue of greed exhibited in modern capitalist societies and the pathologies of globalization, which lead to phenomenon such as increased unemployment and fewer chances for millions of young people? I pose this question because recently in Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and minister of the economy Wolfgang Clement recently spoke out against the growing “rule of capital.” They sharply criticized the head of Deutsche Bank for laying off 6,000 workers despite the bank’s large profit gains.
In terms of this incident, the sharpest criticism has come from the leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), Franz Muntefering. I would like to point out that the COE some time ago accepted the European Social Charter, which outlines a range of employee rights and regulations. Moreover, the problem of unemployment is frequently analyzed and a number of reports have been compiled on this issue. By the way, the Parliamentary Assembly of the COE operates precisely on the basis of reports. Labor unions in various countries and numerous politicians refer to the European Social Charter. The left-wing’s ideal European Union model is a socially-oriented Europe, which combines economic efficiency with social justice. It also involves establishing an optimal relationship between employers and employees and preventing the latter from exploitation at work – keeping them and their families from spiraling into poverty.

Polish participation in the COE is now at the 14-year mark. It is encouraging that from November 10, 2004 to May 17, 2005 our country, through Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prof. Adam Rotfeld, led the Committee of Ministers of the COE for the first time. Which of the priorities established at the beginning of the Polish term have been implemented by the Committee of Ministers?
In the COE every state – in alphabetical order using English – leads for half a year. We will be followed by Portugal. In accordance with tradition, Minister Rotfeld came to Strasburg for a COE sitting and in addition to leading the meeting, he also fielded questions from deputies. It was a very interesting dialogue. We attach a great deal of importance to solving potential conflicts such as the one brewing in Ukraine. The conversations led in that country by President Aleksander Kwaśniewski and then foreign minister Włodzimierz Ciemoszewicz brought about positive results and President Yushchenko made his first foreign visit to the COE. Other priorities outlined by the Polish leadership, such as strengthening unity on our continent in the wake of enlargement or developing local democracy and transborder cooperation, are gradually being implemented, although they are essentially long-term objectives.