60 years together

The Council of Europe and NATO, which celebrated the 60th anniversary of their foundation almost simultaneously past spring, don’t fully correspond to the political system of the European Union, marked by the ongoing effort for the unity of our Continent. Yet, in many different ways the Council of Europe and NATO are strictly linked to this system, to its rules, and to its values. Although at first glace they would appear to have little in common.The Council of Europe, founded May 5 1949, didn’t yearn to bring together its members in a concerted action, as the European Community did in its wake. The States that joined the Council of Europe differed in their self-images and political interests. However, they shared the need for a forum to debate, and reach agreements on, the enhancement and the development of their joint values. It was believed that the promotion of Europe’s historical heritage and cultural identity, along with the development of a common view of democracy and rule of the Law, was the most appropriate context. For this purpose the Convention on the Rights of Man and a series of decisions aimed at the harmonization of the States’ legislations were adopted, while multi-faceted cultural and political activity was implemented.The development of cultural and legal consensus is largely due to the commitment of the Council of Europe, which enabled the integration of policies within the European Community. It is certainly thanks to the Council of Europe if over the decades European peoples and States – even those that were not among the first members of the European Community – were granted a common home, stepping up their cohesion and promoting the enlargement of the European Union. During the first 40 years the CoE encompassed the States and populations of free Western Europe, while in the past 20 years it was joined by the States and Peoples of Central and Eastern Europe, that were granted the support of the Council of Europe in the development of democratic institutions and structures, and in view of the establishment of the self-administration of their local bodies.Also NATO, founded April 4 1949, as a Political-military Federation, during the first 40 years of its existence was restricted to the States of free Europe that had joined the United States of America and Canada with their respective democratic legal systems. Today is includes Mitteleuropean States that in the meantime gained membership in the European Union.NATO was not conceived as a military bloc against an enemy. It was meant to uphold freedom, peace, democracy and all the values shared by its members, the very values constituting the foundations of the Council of Europe. Thus at the end of the Cold War, NATO’s cessation wasn’t deemed necessary. Although the indirect threat of Soviet Communist regimes has ceased to exist, democracy, peace and freedom, along with the social and political regulations developed under the aegis of NATO, continue being worthy of defence.NATO and the Council of Europe both belong to the set of institutions, tools and structures that contributed to the development of our Continent’s profile over the past 60 years, granting protection from inner and outer perils. The European Union that ensued, and that progressed from the Carbon and Steel Community, and later from the Economic Community, whilst preserving the crucial features of these two organisations, owes a lot to them.