MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) - The Council of Europe (CE) has urged its 47 members to ban corporal punishment of children, a French daily said.

The French newspaper Liberation said Tuesday that the Council of Europe would launch a large-scale campaign aimed at persuading each country to introduce laws against punishing children in the home, and fostering good parenting initiatives next fall.

The campaign aimed at changing parents' attitudes is part of the Council of Europe's program: building a Europe for and with Children. The organization said "banning corporal punishment in the family does not mean persecuting the parents, but changing their behavior."

Back last May, when addressing the 28th conference of European family ministers, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, CE deputy secretary general, called for protecting "the physical and psychological integrity" and "dignity of our children."

The newspaper said just 16 CE members had so far imposed restrictions on corporal punishment of children both in schools and homes. Sweden was the first to impose a ban in 1979, and remains the leader for the number of amendments to their child protection laws.