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Mr Damien COTTIER (Switzerland, ALDE)

Mandates

In the political groups

  • Treasurer: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe since 22/01/2024
  • Member: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe from 27/01/2020 to 21/01/2024

In the Assembly

  • since 24/01/2022 Representative - Switzerland
  • from 27/01/2020 to 24/01/2022 Substitute - Switzerland

In the committee(s) and sub-committee(s)

  • Alternate ALDE: Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights (since 22/01/2024)
  • Full Member: Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy (since 19/06/2023)
  • Chairperson: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (from 25/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights: Standing Committee (from 25/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Ex officio (Rule 44.1 of the Rules of Procedure): Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) (from 25/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Ex officio (Rule 44.1 of the Rules of Procedure): Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights (from 25/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Chairperson of national delegation: Standing Committee (from 24/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights: Bureau of the Assembly (from 21/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • First Vice-Chairperson: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (from 28/09/2021 to 23/01/2022)
  • Member: Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs (since 25/01/2021)
  • Member: Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) (since 26/06/2020)
  • Full Member: Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons (from 27/01/2020 to 24/04/2022)
  • Chairperson: Sub-Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights (since 25/01/2024)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Democracy (from 22/06/2023 to 31/12/2023)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Refugee and Migrant Children and Young People (from 27/04/2022 to 18/06/2023)
  • Ex officio: Sub-Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights (from 26/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Ex officio: Sub-Committee on Human Rights (from 24/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Ex officio: Sub-Committee on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (from 24/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Chairperson of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights: Sub-Committee on Conflicts concerning Council of Europe Member States (from 24/01/2022 to 21/01/2024)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights (since 22/03/2021)
  • Vice-Chairperson: Sub-Committee on Refugee and Migrant Children and Young People (from 12/03/2021 to 27/09/2021)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Refugee and Migrant Children and Young People (from 30/01/2020 to 24/04/2022)
  • Full Member: Sub-Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights (from 28/01/2020 to 24/01/2021)
  • Alternate of Mr Hannes GERMANN (Full Member): Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (since 27/01/2020)
  • Alternate of Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ (Full Member): Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons (from 25/04/2022 to 18/06/2023)
  • Alternate of Ms Sibel ARSLAN (Full Member): Sub-Committee on External Relations (since 25/01/2024)
  • Alternate of Mr Alfred HEER (Full Member): Sub-Committee on the Middle East and the Arab World (since 25/01/2024)
  • Alternate of Mr Hannes GERMANN (Full Member): Sub-Committee on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (since 22/03/2021)
  • Alternate of Ms Marianne MARET (Full Member): Sub-Committee on External Relations (from 22/06/2023 to 21/01/2024)
  • Alternate of Mr Hannes GERMANN (Full Member): Sub-Committee on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (from 11/09/2020 to 24/01/2021)
  • Alternate of Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ (Full Member): Sub-Committee on Diasporas and Integration (from 26/01/2021 to 18/06/2023)
  • Alternate of Mr Charles JUILLARD (Full Member): Sub-Committee on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (from 28/01/2020 to 10/09/2020)

Interventions

Last speeches

03/10/2024 | 16:18:08 Thank you, Mister Chairman. On behalf of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Group, I'd like to congratulate and thank the rapporteur for her work. She is right to point out that lesbian, bisexual and queer women continue to suffer discrimination based on their sexual orientation, gender and other cross-cutting factors, despite the obvious, notable and significant progress that has been made on LGBTI rights in recent decades on our continent. This discrimination affects... 27/06/2024 | 15:53:35 Thank you, Mr Chairman. The rapporteur, Mr Piero FASSINO, is right: he is right to broaden the scope of his report to cover the whole situation in Cyprus; he is right to point out that, unfortunately, this country has been split in two for 50 years this year, and that this is a sad anniversary; and he is also right to recall the whole framework that has been developed in recent years, notably the resolutions of our Assembly but also those of the United Nations Security Council. On behalf of... 26/06/2024 | 10:51:07 Thank you, Mr Chairman. The crime of aggression is the worst of all crimes, because it contains within it the catalyst for all the others. This is the observation our Assembly already made last year on the basis of the report I had the honour of presenting, and I thank Mr Davor Ivo STIER for referring to it and following up this important report. As he mentioned, unfortunately, the situation has not improved: on the contrary, it has deteriorated, making it all the more necessary for the... 25/06/2024 | 10:56:18 Thank you, Mister chairman. A few days ago, we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation's second Federal Constitution. This Constitution of 1874 introduced a popular instrument that nobody in Switzerland today could imagine not having: it is the instrument of the referendum, with the possibility not for the authorities to decide when they wish to consult the population, but for the population itself to contest a law passed by parliament by collecting 50,000 signatures; in a... 18/04/2024 | 17:45:36 Thank you, Mr President. One hundred and sixty years ago, in 1864, Henry Dunant founded the first Geneva Convention with the aim of bringing a little humanity to the horror of war. One hundred and sixty years on, its principles should still be valid, and should continue to inspire us. Article 1 in common of the current Geneva Conventions, those of 1949, which are universal in scope, obliges all states on the planet to apply and ensure the application of the principles of the Geneva...

Activities