The Center
for the Study of Democracy has been hosting the Information Centre
on the Council of Europe in Sofia since 1993. The Information
Centre provides the Bulgarian public and institutions with
information on the activities and supports Council activities in
priority areas. Below are some of the highlights for the year 2000.
Additional information is available at www.cid.bg
Releases in 2000
Translations
• Short guide to the European Social
Charter
• European Code for Social Security
• Cultural Policy - A Short Guide by Simon
Mundy
Publications
• The Framework Convention for the Protection of
National Minorities -information package
• Europe is More Than You Think: Educational
Package for Secondary School
• A visit by the CPT - What's it all about? 15
Questions and Answers for the Police - a reference
brochure
• Police Practice and Human Rights - A European
Introduction - a reference brochure
• The Council of Europe and Human Rights - a
leaflet
• The Council of Europe Open to Voluntary
Organizations - a leaflet
Data protection
The increasing use of
automated processing of personal data over the past few decades has
exacerbated the risk of illegal use of personal data and
facilitated their transfer across frontiers between countries with great differences in the level of
protection provided to personal data. Faced with the need to
reconcile the two fundamental rights - the right to privacy and
the right to information - and ensure the same level of protection
of these rights beyond national borders, the Council of Europe
elaborated the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with
regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data which was
opened for signature on January 28,1981. To this day, it still
remains the world's only binding international legal instrument in
this field, open to signature by any country, including countries,
which are not members of the Council of Europe.
As part of
the assistance provided to members states in this respect, a
seminar on the protection of individuals with regard to the
personal data processing was organized on September 25 and
26, 2000 at the Information Centre on the Council of Europe in
Sofia with the assistance of its host institution, the Center for
the Study of Democracy. The seminar was organized jointly with the
Council of Ministers in the framework of Council of Europe's
Program on assistance for the development and consolidation of
democratic stability on the occasion of the drafting of a new law
on data protection in Bulgaria.
This law is intended to
regulate the collection and processing of information related to
individuals by public and private entities, individuals or
companies. It is aimed to protect all individuals with regard to
the risks related to the increasing computerization of activities
in society and constant technological progress while at the same
time enabling Bulgaria to face the new challenges of the
information society in a modern and competitive economy.
Continuing
its work, started in 1999, on facilitating the process of
ratification of the European Social Charter, in 2000 the
Information Centre continued with assistance to the ratification of
the European Social Security Code by Bulgaria. On November 6, the
Centre organized, in cooperation with Council of Europe -
Directorate General III "Social Cohesion" and the Committee on the
European Social Charter with the Ministry of Labor and Social
Policy of Bulgaria, an international conference on promoting the
ratification. The Conference was the closing event of the
implementation phase of Project COE#P-PG/ADACS(98)9 financed and
launched by Directorate General III "Social Cohesion, and the
Bulgarian Committee on the European Social Charter in response to a
request on behalf of the Bulgarian Government.
The
concluding report, designed by Prof. Dr. Bernd Schulte,. Max-Planer
Institute for Foreign and International Social Insurance Law in
Munchen reflects the research carried out in cooperation with the
Bulgarian authorities under this particular, and other projects on
related matters. The conference provided key Bulgarian
institutions, and interested nongovernmental organizations with
motivated conclusions concerning the prospective for Bulgaria to
join the contracting parties to the European Social Security
Code.
The
Information Centre is increasingly targeting young people in its
work. In 2000, this was exemplified by its publications for the
secondary education institutions. Among those, the translation and
publication in Bulgarian of Europe is More than you Think,
an information pack aimed at students at teachers in secondary
level schools in Bulgaria.
The
publication is both a practical guide for teaching on European
issues and a reference resource about available training programs
and other tutorial materials. Topics include human rights, the
history of modern Europe, multicultural societies, the environment,
public health care, and others.
