17/11/2011 Standing Committee
Strasbourg, 17.11.2011 – Reform of the European Court of Human Rights and other priorities of the United Kingdom during its six-month Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe are due to be discussed at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Edinburgh on Friday 25 November 2011.
British Minister for Europe David Lidington will hold an exchange of views with the committee, which brings together around 60 parliamentarians from the Council of Europe’s 47 member states. This will be preceded by an opening address from PACE President Mevlüt Cavuşoğlu.
The Council of Europe – which is separate from the EU – oversees the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights.
The committee will also discuss the Assembly’s observation of recent elections in Tunisia, Bulgaria and the Kyrgyz Republic, and is due to debate and vote on a series of reports on topics including:
• Combating all forms of discrimination based on religion
• The challenges faced by small national economies
• Protection orders for victims of domestic violence
• Psychological violence
• Armed conflicts and the environment
There has also been a request for a current affairs debate on “The young generation sacrificed: political, social and other consequences of the financial crisis”.
The Standing Committee acts in the name of the full Assembly between plenary sessions and traditionally meets in the country taking up the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers.
***
Note to editors:
The meeting, which is open to the press, begins at 9 a.m. on Friday 25 November at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, Level 0, The Exchange, Edinburgh EH3 8EE.
Media interested in attending are invited to request accreditation at [email protected], or by contacting PACE’s Communication Division on +33 (0)3 88 41 31 93.
Press stand-ups may be arranged on the spot, as required.
Contact: Angus Macdonald, PACE Communication Division, mobile +33 (0)6 30 49 68 20, e-mail: [email protected]