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Better understanding for an improved cooperation

The representatives of ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights met the Ambassador of the EU Delegation to the Council of Europe, Vesna Batistić Kos, to share their reflections on human rights institutions in Europe and to learn more about the Delegation's role in Strasbourg and the complementarity of the EU's and the Council of Europe's work on human rights. As the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights has recently been working on agreements or frameworks on child protection and digital safety, gender mainstreaming, and environmental rights, these issues were prevalent during the exchanges between the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights representatives and the EU Ambassador. 

At the Council of Europe, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights delegation learned about the institution’s history and missions. The Director of Political Affairs and External Relations, Miroslav Papa, explained how the Council of Europe is tackling the challenge of democratic backsliding and the growing tendency to deviate from common standards. He underlined how the conclusions of the 4th Summit of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik represent an essential commitment toward countering these difficulties. He expressed the wish to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN. The Director of Human Rights, Christophe Poirel, and Head of Department of the Implementation of Human Rights, Justice and Legal Cooperation Standards, Frederic Dolt, as well as French expert on death penalty, Sebastien Potaufeu, explained the three-folded work of standard-setting, supervision of the implementation of standards, and technical support. They highlighted the importance of the partnership with the EU in the technical cooperation work carried out by the Council of Europe. The Head of Division of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), Caroline Martin, shed light on the Venice Commission's consultative work on constitutional and electoral matters.

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Establishing inter-parliamentary and inter-institutional dialogue to resolve remaining contentions and to continue learning from each other

As the European Parliament was in plenary session in Strasbourg, the ASEAN representatives also met high-level officials working on human rights, democracy support, and Southeast Asia and Members of the EP from the subcommittee on human rights (DROI). The Director of the European Parliament in ASEAN, Antoine Ripoll, welcomed the guest and moderated the meeting. He will be based in Jakarta soon and looks forward to cooperating more closely. After several visits of the European Parliament delegations in ASEAN countries in 2023, the Director of External Liaison Offices of the Directorate-General for Parliamentary Democracy Partnerships, Oumar Doumbouya and the Director for Democracy Support in the Directorate-General for External Policies, Armelle Douaud, expressed the interest of the European Parliament in establishing an inter-parliamentary dialogue with ASEAN Member States. The Head of the External Policies Unit in the Directorate-General for Parliamentary Research Services, Elena Lazarou, and the Head of the Human Rights Action Unit in the Directorate-General for External Policies, Stefan Krauss, stressed the importance of resilience and capacity building through cross-regional parliamentary work.

The exchange of views with the DROI Committee highlighted a mutual interest in further collaboration. Some contentions persist, particularly in trade policies and the intersection of human rights and business, and further communication is needed. The future representation of the European Parliament in Jakarta will hopefully ease the resolution of these issues.

The visit to the European Court of Human Rights and the presentation by Anna Austin, lawyer at the Court's Registry, illustrated the Court's role in ensuring the rule of law in diverse legal systems. The lawyer explained how the implementation of judgements usually works and how sensitive political issues and democratic backsliding may affect the undertaking's speed and success more challenging. 

These three-day discussions were fruitful and showed that ASEAN-EU-Council of Europe interactions should be intensified. The recurring topics centred around Council of Europe monitoring, the EU's relationship with the Council of Europe, the implementation of legally binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, environmental rights, children's rights, and how could ASEAN implement institutions or mechanisms similar to the European ones. The next ASEAN-EU Human Rights Dialogue will prospectively take place in 2025 under the Malaysian presidency of ASEAN. 

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