On June 19, representatives from the EU and Council of Europe met in Strasbourg to take stock of the numerous ongoing EU-CoE Joint Programmes, discuss their achievements, and prepare the next steps in their collaboration.
The annual EU-Council of Europe Scoreboard meeting on Cooperation through Joint Programmes was held in Strasbourg on June 19. During the meeting, members of the Council of Europe Secretariat and representatives from the EEAS and Commission discussed their inter-institutional collaboration. Joint programmes are of particular importance to this cooperation, with a budget of 245 million euro at their disposal, 85% of which coming from the EU, due to the CoE’s position as a privileged partner for technical issues. Both parties exchanged on the impact of recent geopolitical developments over their work, such as the consequences of EU enlargement, and the current situation in the EU’s Eastern and Southern neighbourhoods. They also reviewed their major flagship projects and facilities in the likes of the Partnership for Good Governance, strengthening good governance in the countries of the Eastern Partnership; the Horizontal Facility, aimed at helping the countries of the Western Balkans and Türkiye to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy; and the South Programme which supports democratic reforms in the countries of the Southern Mediterranean. The exchange also tackled cooperation in the field of justice and Rule of Law within the EU, as the CoE’s expertise is very valuable to the EU. Lastly, they went over the thematic cooperation projects, tackling a wide variety of issues ranging from the protection of Roma and children, to ensuring sports safety and building networks on history teaching.