Progress report of the Bureau of the Assembly and of the Standing Committee (29 January-26 April 2010)

Progress report | Doc. 12210 Part II | 26 April 2010

Author(s):

Bureau of the Assembly

Rapporteur :

Mr Jean-Claude MIGNON, France, EPP/CD

1 Introduction

1. The Bureau met on 26 April 2010 in Strasbourg.

2 Functioning of the Assembly

2.1 Progress Report of the Bureau of the Assembly and of the Standing Committee (29 January –26 April 2010)

2. On 26 April, the Bureau approved the progress report.

2.2 2nd ordinary part-Session of 2010 (Strasbourg, 26-30 April 2010)

3. On 26 April, the Bureau:

i Requests for debate under urgent procedure:

a “Urgent need of a constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the light of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Sejdic and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina” (submitted by the Monitoring Committee):

• decided to recommend to the Assembly to hold a debate under urgent procedure on the subject;
• decided to change the title of the debate as follows: “Urgent need of a constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina”;
• proposed to refer the matter to the Monitoring Committee for report;

b “The situation in Belarus: recent developments” (submitted by 23 Assembly members):

• decided to recommend to the Assembly to hold a debate under urgent procedure on the subject;
• proposed to refer the matter to the Political Affairs Committee for report and to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for opinion;

ii Request for a current affairs debate:

a “The consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia” (submitted by the Monitoring Committee): decided to recommend to the Assembly to hold a current affairs debate on this matter and appointed Mr Marty (Switzerland, ALDE) to open the debate;

iii Election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Ukraine: took note of the recommendations by the Sub-Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights and decided to transmit them to members of the Assembly;

iv Draft agenda: updated the draft agenda.

2.3 Appointments of Assembly Representatives for official activities

4. On 26 April, in reply to formal invitations, the Bureau took the following decisions:

a Mr Lambert (Belgium, SOC): Third parliamentary Forum on Shaping the Information Society on “ICT and the Global Economic Crisis: current situation an future perspectives”, Geneva (Switzerland), 3-5 May 2010;

b Mr Ivanovski (“the former Yougoslav Republic of Macedonia”, SOC): 5th annual session of the Crans Montana Forum, Tirana (Albania), 6-7 May 2010;

c Mr Lotman (Estonia, UEL): Third Nevsky International Ecological Congress, St Petersburg (Russian Federation), 14-16 May 2010.

2.4 Institutional representation of the Parliamentary Assembly in 2010

5. On 26 April, the Bureau appointed Mr Wilshire (EDG, Monitoring Committee) in order to represent the Assembly to the Council for Democratic Elections of the Venice Commission.

2.5 Visits

6. On 26 April, the Bureau authorised Mr Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC) to participate to the First China-Europe High Level Political Party Forum to be held in Beijing on 24 and 25 May 2010 in order to represent the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Authorities (without cost for the Assembly).

3 Relations with other bodies of the Council of Europe

3.1 Committee of Ministers

i. Meeting of the Assembly’s Presidential Committee with the Bureau of the Committee of Ministers (Paris, 18 March 2010):

7. On 26 April, the Bureau took note of the results of the meeting.

4 Other business

4.1 Declaration by the Bureau on the situation in Albania

8. On 26 April, the Bureau adopted a Declaration on this matter (see on the Assembly web site).

4.2 Declaration on “Working together for biodiversity, protection of natural areas and the fight against climate change”

9. On 26 April, the Bureau approved this Declaration.

4.3 Communications

10. On 26 April, the Bureau took note of the communications by the President, the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe as well as the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly.

Appendix – References and transmissions to committees

On, 26 April, the Bureau approved the following references and modifications of references:

i. References to committees

1. Council of Europe’s common approach to solving the human rights situation in Burma/Myanmar

Motion for a resolution presented by Mr Meikar and others, Doc. 12153, to the Political Affairs Committee for information

2. Increasing drug traffic from Afghanistan as a threat to European security

Motion for a resolution presented by Mr Markov and others, Doc. 12154, to the Political Affairs Committee for report

3. Violent pornography: a threat to women’s dignity and rights

Motion for a recommendation presented by Mr Mendes Bota and others, Doc. 12156, to the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men for report

4. The involvement of the army in the events of March 2008 in Armenia

Motion for a resolution presented by Mr Lindblad and others, Doc. 12157, to the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) to be taken into account in the preparation of the report on Honouring of obligations and commitments by Armenia

5. Inadmissibility of honouring militant nationalists as heroes

Motion for a resolution presented by Mr Markov and others, Doc. 12158, to the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) to be taken into account in the preparation of the report on Honouring of obligations and commitments by Ukraine

6. Burqa – is action needed?

Motion for a resolution presented by Mrs Kiuru and others, Doc. 12159, to the Committee on Culture, Science and Education to be taken into account in the preparation of the report on “Islam, Islamism and Islamophobia in Europe” and instructed the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights to present an opinion on this report;

7. Europe and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action: 15 years later

Motion for a recommendation presented by Mr Mendes Bota and others, Doc. 12162, to the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men to be taken into account in the preparation of the report on "Fighting the global backlash against women’s human rights" (Ref. 3643)

8. The need for reinforced protection of rights of migrant women

Motion for a recommendation presented by Mr Greenway and others, Doc. 12164, to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population for report at the Standing Committee and to the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men for opinion;

9. Putting an end to personal vendettas in Albania

Motion for a resolution presented by Mr Rochebloine and others, Doc. 12165, to the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) to be taken into account in the preparation of the report on Honouring of obligations and commitments by Albania

10. Human rights in Western Sahara and the impact on Europe

Motion for a resolution presented by Mr R. Farina and others, Doc. 12166, to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for information

11. Water resources and the risk of conflict

Motion for a resolution presented by Mr Marquet and others, Doc. 12176, to the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs for report at the Standing Committee

12. Over-indebtedness of States: a danger for democracy and human rights

Motion for a resolution presented by Mr Wille and others, Doc. 12177, to the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development for report and to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee for opinion

13. Bureau decision

Urgent need of a constitutional reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the Monitoring Committee for report;

14. Bureau decision

The situation in Belarus: recent developments, to the Political Affairs Committee for report and to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for opinion.

The Bureau took the following decisions:

i. Extension of references

1. Fight against extremism: achievements, deficiencies and failures

Motion for a resolution presented by Mr Berényi and others, Doc. 11515, Ref. 3425 of 14 April 2008 – validity: 14 April 2010, extension until 31 October 2010

2. The fight against harm to the environment in the Mediterranean

Motion for a recommendation presented by Mr Marquet and others, Doc. 11586, Ref. 3452 of 23 June 2008 – validity: 23 June 2010, extension until 31 October 2010

3. Co-operation between the Council of Europe and the Maghreb in fighting social exclusion

Motion for a resolution presented by Ms McCafferty and others, Doc. 11573, Ref. 3445 of 29 May 2008 – validity: 29 May 2010, extension until 30 September 2010