Activities of the Assembly’s Bureau and Standing Committee (16 April 2011 – 20 June 2011)
Progress report
| Doc. 12642 Part II
| 20 June 2011
1 Decisions
of the Bureau requiring ratification by the Assembly
1. The Bureau met on 20 June 2011 in Strasbourg.
1.1 2011 Third part-Session
(Strasbourg, 20-24 June 2011)
1.1.1 Requests for debates
under urgent procedure and current affairs debate
2. Following a request by all political groups, the
Bureau decided to recommend to the Assembly to hold a current affairs
debate on the “Political and humanitarian
consequences of the situation in Syria and Libya” on Thursday
23 June 2011 at 3 pm and appointed Mr Robert Walter to open the
debate.
1.1.2 Election of a judge
to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of France
3. The Bureau took note of the recommendations of the
Sub-committee on the election of judges to the European Court on
Human Rights and decided to transmit them to members of the Assembly.
1.1.3 Updating of the
draft agenda
4. The Bureau updated the draft agenda.
1.2 Progress report
of the Bureau of the Assembly and of the Standing Committee (16 April
– 20 june 2011) (Rapporteur: Mr Dariusz Lipiński, Poland (EPP/CD))
5. The Bureau approved the Progress Report presented
by the rapporteur.
1.3 Election observations
1.3.1 “The former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia”: early parliamentary elections (5 June 2011)
6. The Bureau approved the report of the ad hoc committee
which observed these elections, presented by Mr Jean-Charles Gardetto
(Monaco, EPP/CD), Chairman of the ad hoc committee.
1.3.2 Turkey: parliamentary
elections (12 June 2011)
7. The Bureau heard an oral report by Mrs Kerstin Lundgren
(Sweden, ALDE), Chairperson of the ad hoc committee which observed
these elections
Note.
1.3.3 Bulgaria: Presidential
election (23 October 2011)
8. The Bureau decided in principle and subject to confirmation
of this election and to the receipt of an invitation by the competent
authorities of Bulgaria to observe this election. The Bureau constituted
an ad hoc committee to observe this election, composed of 11 members
from each political group (EPP/CD: 3, SOC: 3; EDG: 2, ALDE: 2, UEL:
1).
1.4 Motions for recommendation
and resolution
9. Further to the tabling of motions for recommendations
or resolutions by members of the Assembly
Note, the Bureau,
on the basis of proposals made by the Presidential Committee, approved
the references and modifications to references as presented in appendix
1, subject to ratification by the Assembly.
10. The Assembly is invited to ratify the proposals made by the
Bureau.
1.5 Composition of
the Monitoring Committee
11. On the basis of proposals from the political groups,
the Bureau nominated Lord J.E. Tomlinson (United Kingdom, SOC) to
replace Mrs Sinikka Hurskainen (Finland, SOC) and Mr Andrej Hunko
(Germany, UEL) to replace Mr Jaako Laakso (Finland, UEL) and decided
to submit these proposals to the Assembly for ratification.
12. The Assembly is invited to ratify the proposals made by the
Bureau.
2 Activities of the
Bureau not requiring ratification by the Assembly
2.1 Order of speakers
for questions to guest speakers
13. The Bureau took note of the memorandum on the establishment
of the list of speakers for questions to guest speakers and agreed
to the following guidelines (paragraphs 7 and 8 of the document
prepared by the Secretariat
Note) and invited the President
to follow these guidelines when drawing up the list of speakers
for questions to guest speakers if the situation so requires:
“[…] 7. As the President of the
Assembly is ultimately responsible for drawing up the list of speakers, he
or she has the power, if the situation so requires and in order
to enable the largest possible number of interested delegations
to speak, to take any decision that will strengthen this guarantee.
Time allocated to the Assembly’s guest speakers is limited
to one hour and the time left for questions from parliamentarians
depends on the length of the guest’s speech. It would be fair, therefore,
to allow as many members from different delegations as possible
to put a question. Accordingly, the President, using the powers
conferred on him by the Rules of Procedure, could decide that, following
the representatives of the five political groups, the first half
of a list of speakers for questions to a guest speaker would be
taken in the chronological order of their registration, subject
to there being only one speaker per national delegation. The rest
of the list would follow the customary chronological order without
restriction.[…]”
2.2 Communications
14. In the absence of the Secretary General on Monday
20 June 2011, the communications of the Secretary General and the
Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe will appear on
the agenda of the Bureau meeting to be held on Friday 24 June 2011.
The Bureau took note of communications by the President and the Secretary
General of the Parliamentary Assembly.
2.3 Cooperation with
the European Parliament
15. The Bureau took note of the report on the 2nd meeting
of the ad hoc committee to participate in the Joint Informal Body
to co-ordinate information sharing in the context of the accession
of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights
which took place on 15 June 2011 in Paris, presented by Mr Christos Pourgourides
(Cyprus, EPP/CD).
16. The next meeting of the Bureau will be held in Strasbourg
on Friday 24 June 2011 at 8.30 am.
Appendix 1
A. REFERENCES
TO COMMITTEE
1. The protection of minors against sectarian influence,
Motion for a resolution presented by Mr Pourgourides and others,
Doc. 12595, reference
to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
for report and to the Social, Health
and Family Affairs Committee
for opinion
2. Impact of the economic crisis on the media: dangers to the
fundamental human rights, Motion for a resolution presented by Mrs
Čigāne and others,
Doc.
12596, reference to the Committee on Culture, Science and
Education to be taken into account in the preparation of the report
on “The state of media freedom in Europe” (Ref. 3775)
3. Intercountry adoption: ensuring that the best interests of
the child are upheld, Motion for a resolution presented by Mrs Rupprecht
and others,
Doc. 12597,
reference to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee
for report
4. Circular migration: is this the answer to Europe’s migration
dilemma?, Motion for a resolution presented by Mr Iwiński and others,
Doc. 12598, transmission
to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population
for information
5. The impact of increasing social exclusion on democratic institutions
and participation: need for strong action, Motion for a recommendation
presented by Ms Kaufer and others,
Doc. 12599, reference to the Social, Health
and Family Affairs Committee
for report
6. Towards a new energy strategy in Europe, Motion for a resolution
presented by Mr Meale and others,
Doc. 12600, reference to the Committee
on Economic Affairs and Development to be taken into account in
the preparation of the report on the “Energy diversification, a
common European economic interest” (Ref. 3754)
7. Human rights for the residents of camp Ashraf, Motion for
a resolution presented by Mr Binley and others,
Doc. 12602, transmission
to the Political Affairs Committee
for
information
8. Parliamentary contribution to solving the Western Sahara conflict,
Motion for a resolution presented by Mrs Maury Pasquier and others,
Doc. 12603, reference
to the Political Affairs Committee
for
report and to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human
Rights
for opinion
9. Integration tests for migrants: a step forward or back? Motion
for a recommendation presented by Ms Strik and others,
Doc. 12604, reference
to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population
for report
B. REQUESTS
TO EXTEND REFERENCES
1. The right of everyone to participate in cultural
life, Motion for a recommendation presented by Mrs Marland-Militello
and others,
Doc. 11981,
extension until 31 January 2012
2. Democracy and the limitation of mandates, Motion for a resolution
presented by Mr Mota Amaral and others,
Doc. 11863, Ref. 3596 of 28 September
2009 - validity: 28 September 2011, extension until 30 June 2012
3. Abuse of state secrecy and national security: obstacles to
parliamentary and judicial scrutiny of human rights violations,
Motion for a resolution presented by Mr Marty and others,
Doc. 11907, Ref.
3571 of 29 May 2009 - validity: 30 June 2011 after extension granted
on 24 January 2011, extension until 31 October 2011
Appendix 2 – Appointments
of representatives of the Assembly for official activities
In reply to formal invitations, the Bureau
appointed the following members to represent the Assembly:
a Mr Alan Meale (United Kingdom,
SOC), conference “crisis and recovery: bringing solutions in partnership,
Strasbourg (France), 20-21 June 2011 at no cost for the Assembly.
b Mr Jean-Claude Mignon (France, EPP/CD), 6th summer university,
Strasbourg (France), 27 June 2011 at no cost for the Assembly.
c Mrs Francine John-Calame (Switzerland, SOC), XXXVIIth
session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie, Kinshasa
(Democratic Republic of Congo), 5-8 July 2011, at no cost for the
Assembly.
d Mr Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD), 20th annual
session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, Belgrade (Serbia),
6-10 July 2011 at no cost for the Assembly.
e Mr Jean- Claude Mignon (France, EPP/CD), 67th international
session of the European Youth Parliament, Grenoble and Lyons (France),
14-24 July 2011.
f Mr Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE), 9th conference of Health
Ministers on “child-friendly health care: building a healthy future
for and with children”, Lisbon (Portugal), 29-30 September 2011.
