At the end of September the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers adopted a Declaration on Internet governance principles that should be upheld by member states when developing national and international policies related to the Internet.
Policies should respect 10 principles: the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law; multi-stakeholder governance; the responsibility of states; the empowerment of Internet users; universality; integrity; decentralised management; the open standards, interoperability and the end-to-end nature of the Internet; open networks; and cultural and linguistic diversity.
Declarations by the Committee of Ministers are not legally binding on the member states, but possess a certain moral and political authority.