1. It gives me great pleasure to extend my warmest congratulations on behalf of the European Union to Georgia for its excellent co-operation and remarkable presidency which comes to an end today. I wish to especially congratulate Ambassador Irakli Giviashvili and his delegation in Strasbourg for their hard work and a job well done in the time of unprecedented challenges.

2. A great part of the Georgian Presidency took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, which seriously affected the functioning of the Council of Europe and necessitated adoption of new working methods. We commend the valuable efforts by the Georgian Presidency which facilitated the continuation, to the greatest extent possible, of the work of the Organization and of the Committee of Ministers during this difficult period.

3. The European Union has recently reaffirmed the need to pay special attention to the growing impact of the pandemic on all human rights, democracy and the rule of law. We support the important role of the Council of Europe in ensuring that member States' response to the major challenges brought by the pandemic fully respects our shared norms and values. In this context, we commend the Georgian Presidency for initiating the adoption of the Committee of Ministers' declaration recalling that measures to combat the disease and its wider consequences must be taken in accordance with the Organisation's principles and the commitments entered into by member States and stressing that the Secretary General's information document on “Respecting democracy, rule of law and human rights in the framework of the Covid-19 sanitary crisis: a toolkit for member States" provides useful guidance in this respect.

4. The EU supports the efforts to preserve and extend the Council of Europe’s pan-European character, ensure the compliance of its members with their international obligations, protect the Organisation’s values, principles and standards and ensure that it functions effectively. We appreciate that the Georgian Presidency, following on the valuable work carried out by the French and Finnish Presidencies, accomplished the task set out by the ministerial session in Helsinki in May 2019 through the finalisation of the complementary procedure between the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly which will help to make the Organisation’s action more consistent and more effective in response to a serious violation by a member State of its statutory obligations.

5. We congratulate the Georgian Presidency on its achievements in implementing its four priorities (Human Rights and Environmental Protection; Civil Participation in Decision-Making; Child Friendly Justice; and Strengthening Democracy through Education, Culture and Youth Engagement). We attach great importance to these topics and we will continue to support the work of the Council of Europe in these areas, in accordance with the EU priorities for the Organization. We particularly welcome the joint declaration of the outgoing and incoming Presidencies aimed at exploring the Council of Europe's potential in the field of human rights and environment.

6. I also take this opportunity to wish Greece every success in their new duties and welcome their priorities, including their focus on the continuing challenges brought by the pandemic.