EU-China year 2012 +CoE Assembly new Chair Mignon confirms to EuroFora Pekin special status' idea

*Brussels after Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- The launch of EU - China inter-Cultural dialogue Year 2012, today in Brussels' Bozar, by Culture EU Commissioner Vassiliou and Minister Cai Wu, while German Chancellor Merkel is visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao, and EU Parliament was discussing a landmark Report on EU Foreign policy Strategy towards BRICS Countries, China being the No 1 issue, almost coincided with the election, earlier in Strasbourg, of CoE PanEuropean Assembly's new President, Head of the French Governing Party UMP's delegation, Jean-Claude Mignon, who has just confirmed to "EuroFora" that his initial intention to negociate a special status for the only UNO SC Permanent Member State which doesn't yet have such a link with the CoE (Russia, USA and Canada having done so since the late 1980ies), obviously is an astonishing accumulation of convergent exceptional events, shortly before the forthcoming 14-15 February EU- China Summit at Beijing, which cannot certainly be due to a pur hasard, but apparently reveal a strong will to advance towards closer, Strategic links.

EU Commissioner Vassiiou, together with Chinese Minister Cai Wu, evoked tonight also the decision to create a "3rd Pillar" in EU - China inter-Cultural dialogue from 2012, based on "People to People" relations, which is due to be officialy opened at the forthcoming EU - China Summit (See supra).  The Bozar event evolves tomorrow in Brussels with a Conference which includes also New Media and Linguistic aspects, as well as High-Tech. ICT aspects, etc.

- "China is projected to become the World's largest Economy before 2020", and EU should establish a closer partnership and cooperation agreement on the basis of shared values in view of a new system of Multipolar Global Governance, "in order to fulfil the Potential of EU - China Strategic Partnership", stresses a Resolution drafted by Polish MEP Jacek Saruyz-Wolski, former President of the Foreign Affairs Committee, due to be debated later tonight at EU Parliament for vote and adoption tomorrow noon.

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+New CoE Assembly President Mignon to EuroFora on China + ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Meanwhile, the new Head of the only Organization able to balance the 1,5 Billion People strong China, the fast-enlarging PanEuropean CoE Assembly's incoming President, in charge of some 1 Billion People, experienced French MEP Jean-Claude Mignon, of the governing Majority party UMP, speaking to "EuroFora" shortly after his uncontested, quasi-Unanimous' Election for the 2 next years, (renewable up to 4 : i.e. until 2016 included), confirmed one of his main earlier proposals in favor for a strategic deal between Strasbourg and Pekin, thanks to the possibiliy to attribute a special, conditional status, as CoE has already done recently for other non-European but regular, key EU partners in the International scene, (v. infra).

    China is currently the only UNO Securiy Council member without any status vis a vis the PanEuropean CoE, while, on the contary, shortly after the Historic entry of Russia as a full CoE Member (back on 1996), USA and several other non-European but key International EU partners, such as not only Canada and Mexico, but also Japan, etc., got afterwards a special status at the CoE, which allows contacts, participation and debates, even if it reserves vote on most final CoE decisions, facilitating political and legal deals about "Hotsposts" and other GeoPolitical issues, Draft International Legal Treaties (f.ex. on Internet and/or CyberCrime, BioEthics, etc), etc.

    Moreover, CoE's Parliamentary Assembly (which hosts already 48 Members, i.e. 10 more than EU Countries, including states such as Western Balkans' Serbia, Montenegro, FYROM, Albania, as well as big Russia, together with former USSR members Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia or Azerbaidjan in the Caucasus, even Turkey since the "Cold War" era, etc), has recently (after adopting a landmark 2009 Report) started to prepare another special Status, as "Democracy Partner", for Neighbouring Countries, from the Mediterranean Sea up to Central Asian (former CIS' country) Kazakhstan, etc., which has naturally got a boost after the 2011 "Democracy Wind" blew on 2011 from Morocco up to Turkey's Syrian borders. "

    But today, the absence of diplomatic channels to contact directly China at the CoE (despite an experienced and active Consul General in Strasbourg), contrary to all other UNO SC Permanent Members which already got a Special Status (See supra), was felt more accutely than in the Past, considering also, f.ex., new PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon's declared wish to "start daring to tackle even the most thorny (Political) issues", such as that "of Cyprus", etc., that he cited more extensively and 1st (well before the problems related to Georgia, Transnistria or Nagorno-Karabach, etc), in his Inagural Speech (see infra) :
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    However, just a few years ago, Mignon had taken the Initiative to propose that CoE welcomes China's possible participation to the PanEuropean body by opening the possibility to give a special "Status", according to an Historicé Resolution adopted by its Parliamentary Assembly as early as since 2008. (Comp. : http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/irish/china.html )

    - "My proposal to offer to China an official status as "Observer", in short term, under conditions, was welcomed" by the CoE : "The road to Dialogue between China and the CoE has now been opened", declared then,  after Strasbourg's debates and votes, Jean-Claude Mignon.

    "Neither complacency, nor a mere condamnation of China", but a "wise approach of a political issue of great importance", advised Mignon to all those who'd either overload claims on Democracy, Human Rights or Minorities, or close their eyes to anything, there as elsewhere... A balance which had not exactly been followed during debates, contrary to Mignon's personal stance, which appeared rather even-handed.

    China is the only UNO Security Council permanent member which has not yet any status at the CoE, being still obliged to be represented in Strasbourg by a General Consul : USA and Canada, even Japan and .. Mexico, have already got a special Status at the CoE, following Strasbourg's decision, back in 1995, to counter-balance the accession of Russia (1996) by creating special links to traditional "Western-world" allies.

    All former "Socialist" Eastern European countries started to have relations whith the CoE through its former sector on Culture and Education, before becoming full Members of Strasbourg's paneuropean organization. Speculations were unfolding recently about establishing a probable concrete link with China through the topical issue of anti-doping in Sport, on the occasion of the 2008 Olympic games.

    More spectacular, a meeting co-organized a few years ago in Strasbourg, by EuroFora and the International Space University between EU Parliament's long-time Rapporteur for EU's Satellite Navigation system "GALILEO", German MEP Brigitte Langenhagen, and a group of postgraduate students, attracted special interest from Chinese experts, and was followed, in less than a month, by the anouncement of China's intention to support EU's GALILEO project with a participation of 200 million €.

But after EU again delayed its GALILEO moves, China decided to launch its own Geo-localisation system recently. However, EU Commission's vice-President in charge of Industry and Space, Antonio Taviani, recently told "EuroFora" that there are other possibilities, today, of EU - China cooperation in Space, including during the frorthcoming deployment and development of both Satellite Navigation Systems, etc.

    Compared to that, revendications of .. "Turkish" Minorities, by Turkish MEPs, earlier in Strasbourg, spreading through a wide area extended ...from Greece up to China, appeared less worrying, than pittoresque...

    Meanwhile, French President Sarkozy''s political will to start involving China and other important countries in European and Global affairs was raised also at the recent G-8 ad G-20 Summits at Deauville and Cannes (See "EuroFora"s NewsReports from both events,on 5 + 11/2011).

Thus, today in Brussels, China's possible active involvement in efforts to stimulate Global Growth is clearly cited in EU Parliament's 2012 Report on BRICS (see supra), particularly when the EU - China Summit is now taking place during the same days that EU Parliament will discuss in Strasbourg "Growth" targets, in view of the forthcoming EU Heads of State/Government's Summit dedicated on "Growth", scheduled in Brussels for March 1-2.

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Jean-Claude Mignon has a long, profound and overall experience on most CoE Parliamentary Assemmbly's activities, since he started participating as MEP as early as since 1993 (by a coincidence, almost at the same year that "EuroFora"s co-Founder started following EU Parliament and PACE in Strasbourg : 1992 and 8/1993, respectively), and is the 1st French CoE leader since Catherine Lalumiere's 1994 term as CoE's Secrtetary General (with whom we started covering the CoE), extending even as fas as 23 Years since the last PACE Chair from France.

    After serving for a long time mainly inside Foreign Relations' Committees, he started, already many years ago, to focus also, more and more on CoE's Institutional Reform issues and on its present and future "Role", 60 years after it was created, i.e. thus gathering a precious experience on CoE as a Geo-Political tool.

    But, adding also a long experience in PACE's "Monitoring" Committee, (responsible for checking States' respect of their Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law obligations : An instrument created on 1996 in order to avoid imposing immediate Sanctions against Turkey's reluctance to abide with a series of Conditions put by an April 1995 Resolution which had asked Ankara to move fast on eradicating the worst Human Rights' violations (such as impunity for Torture/Inhuman-Degrading treatments and/or Killings, Enforced "Disappearances", etc, arbitrary Deprivations of Liberty, Prosecutions, Oppression of Free Speech and/or of Association, etc), the Kudish conflict and lack of a full Democratic regime, the Military Occupation of Cyprus, threats against Greece at the Aegean, refusal to admit Armenian Genocide, etc.), as well as (since 2007) Chair of the French Delegation to the PACE, vice-President of CoE's Assembly as well as of the ChristianDemocrat/EPP Group (currently the biggest of all), Mignon  had enough occasions to built up also an overall view on CoE's main Mission, since the latest, 2004 Heads of State/Government Summit at Warsaw (Poland), which focuses on Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law as such, inside all its 48 Member States.
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+ By another coincidence, New PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon is due to meet with EU Parliament's biggest Political Group's Chairman, Joseph Daul, next week in Strasbourg, before participating , later the same day, to Conference organized by the University of Strsbourg and UNESCO, focusing on New Media and how to bridge inter--Cultural differencies, where "EuroFora" has been officially invited, all these moves taking place the same Day, and just a Few Hours before EU-China Summit starts at Beijing.
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