Chapter II characterised the Convention system in terms of its establishment and functioning and the developments and reform it went through; chapter III characterised the notion of dialogue by illustrating how it has been employed in different settings as a descriptive and normative tool and by enumerating prerequisites, facilitators and instruments for dialogue. This chapter combines and is based on the foregoing two chapters, thus bringing together the Convention system and the notion of dialogue.

As can be derived from chapter III, the notion of dialogue can be used either in a descriptive or a normative sense. This chapter is geared towards the normative question whether, and if so, why the notion may be usefully applied to the Convention system and what the added value of its application would be. The aim is therefore to give insight into the normative worth, rather than the descriptive value, of dialogue. As is proposed, the normative worth of dialogue can be based on the need to manage two categories of tension that characterise the Convention system and that have been discussed in chapter II: internal and external tension. More positively, another basis for the use of dialogue in the Convention system can be found in the necessity of cooperation between the different interlocutors in order to bolster the effective functioning of the system.

Section IV.1 elaborates on the importance of cooperation, which will be based on two characteristics of the Convention system established in the conclusion to chapter II: the lack of final power and the sharing of responsibilities. Section IV.2 deals with internal tension and IV.3 with external tension. Further, section IV.4 turns to the notion of dialogue as a means to improve cooperation and to handle the problematic aspects of internal and external tension in a way that they do not jeopardise, but stimulate the effective functioning of the Convention system. The last section, IV.5, looks forward and explains how this study proceeds in parts 2 and 3. It formulates the research questions and describes the indicators which facilitate answering these questions.

THE NECESSITY OF COOPERATION

Cooperation between the interlocutors on the national and the Council of Europe level is indispensable or at least instrumental to the effective functioning of the Convention system: the better the cooperation, the more effectively the system functions.