Nyt fra E u r o p a r å d e t
Opdatering juli/august og kalender september
Pressemeddelelse DK 10/05, 29.a ugust 2005
Joint Declaration by Council of Europe Secretary General Terry Davis and
European Commission Vice-President Franco Frattini:
EU Fundamental Rights Agency is a topic for discussions between the European
Commission and the Council of Europe
Strasbourg, 06.07.2005 – Secretary General of the Council of Europe Terry Davis and European
Commission Vice-President Franco Frattini (Justice, Freedom and Security) met yesterday to continue
discussions on the proposed European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and its cooperation with the
Council of Europe, as well as on joint action to organise a European Day against Death Penalty.
Vice-President of the Commission Franco Frattini and Secretary General Terry Davis said: “Ensuring respect
and promotion of fundamental rights in Europe are common goals of our organisations. Human rights
institutions, such as the proposed Agency are important tools to achieve these goals. Within its sphere of
competence, the Agency should bring added value to the work already undertaken by the Council of
Europe.”
They also noted that the Council of Europe will study the detailed proposals for the Agency which the
Commission published on 30 June.
The Fundamental Rights Agency will be a centre of expertise on fundamental rights issues in the context of
the European Union through data collection and analysis as well as networking. As such, it complements the
work of the Council of Europe, in particular of its human rights mechanisms, which remains the major point
of reference as regards human rights and the monitoring of human rights performance. Indeed, the Agency
will build close institutional relationships with the Council of Europe.
Competitive Albanian elections weakened by insufficient political will and
system open to abuse
TIRANA, 4 July 2005 - The parliamentary elections in Albania on 3 July complied only partially with
international commitments and standards for democratic elections. The elections were competitive and voters
were provided with a diversity of information. While the Central Election Commission has so far
administered the elections professionally, state and local authorities and major political parties have yet to
demonstrate political will that corresponds with their responsibilities for the electoral process.
These are the preliminary conclusions of the International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) for the
parliamentary elections in Albania on 3 July. Some 410 observers from 36 countries observed the elections
for the four organizations represented in the mission.
“Overcrowding, delays and uncertainty regarding identification of voters gave an impression of
disorganization, but so far few allegations of serious irregularities have been substantiated,” said Jørgen
Grunnet, Head of the Election Observation Mission of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights (ODIHR).
