27/11/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The disastrous impact of the financial crisis on the living conditions of Europe’s citizens “could possibly threaten to undermine the very foundations of democracy”, PACE Economic Affairs Committee has warned. In a statement adopted yesterday in Paris, the committee also said public authorities had “failed in their duty” to adequately supervise the sophisticated financial instruments which partly led to the financial crisis.
07/11/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
To what extent can nuclear power help meet energy needs and reconcile them with the demands of sustainable development? Can it be combined with the development of renewable energy sources and CO2-free technologies? These were all questions which representatives of the nuclear industry, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and civil society tried to find answers to at a hearing held in Strasbourg today. This debate between supporters and opponents of nuclear power gave the members of PACE Committee on the Environment statistically-based insights into the subject, on which views diverge widely, and provided Bill Etherington (United Kingdom, SOC) with material for the preparation of his report on “nuclear energy and sustainable development”.
06/11/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“Proper water governance that offers sustainable access to water and sanitation is not possible without legislation. In this connection, parliamentarians have a key role to play in making governments understand the need for legislation at national and international level so as to ensure the right to water, in other words, the right to life”, said Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC), Chair of the PACE Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs, in Strasbourg today at the opening of the Parliamentary Process Preparatory Conference for the 5th World Water Forum to be held in Istanbul from 16 to 22 March 2009.
30/10/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
A conference to prepare for the “parliamentarian process” of the 5th World Water Forum, jointly organised by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Grand National Assembly of Turkey and the World Water Council, is to take place at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg from 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on Thursday 6 November.
08/09/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
"Protecting the environment, the right to live in a healthy environment, is not just a matter of applying principles by which we all set great store. It concerns the protection of a fundamental right for the citizens of our continent," said PACE President, Lluís Maria de Puig, this morning in Madrid when he gave the opening address of the colloquy being held by the Environment Committee on the theme "The role of parliaments in the management of water resources."
04/09/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“Our member countries must encourage, in different ways, its migrants to become active players in the democratic process, be it at the associative level, in enterprises or administrations, or at the political level,” today said Corien Jonker (Netherlands, PPE/DC), Chair of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, at the opening of the 8th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for migration affairs. She stressed that the active participation of legally residing migrants in our democratic, social and economic institutions was of fundamental importance for our economies, for development, and for social cohesion.
04/09/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
A colloquy on the theme "The role of parliaments in the management of water resources", organised by PACE Environment Committee, will be opened in Madrid by the President of the Assembly, Lluís Maria de Puig, on Monday 8 September 2008. Some 50 participants will analyse in particular the water management in agricultural development in the Mediterranean region and the problems of urban water management. The stakes of the Fifth World Water Forum, to be held in Istanbul in March 2009, will also be discussed during an exchange of views.
16/06/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
On the occasion of the 2008 World Day to combat desertification, PACE's Committee on the Environment called on the member states of the Council of Europe particularly concerned to urgently take all the measures necessary to fight against land degradation and to promote sustainable agriculture. According to the Committee, land is a global heritage which is vital for the well-being of all, and no human being can live without it.
18/03/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“In 2007, Europe remained the world’s most visited region. Seven European countries – France, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and the Russian Federation – are among the world’s ten most visited destinations. Nearly half of the 898 million visitors globally travelled to European countries in 2007. Tourist flows being expected to double in the next two decades, this poses an important development challenge to our member states,” José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD) explains in a report adopted today by the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development.
17/03/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“The importance of teenage suicide is underestimated as there are tens of thousands of suicides every year. It is a serious public health issue and has to be made a top political priority,” according to a report drawn up by Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE). According to statistics available from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, suicide kills more people than traffic accidents. The Russian Federation, Hungary and Slovenia are among the Council of Europe member states with the highest suicide rates.
22/02/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“International cooperation is vital in addressing the problem of chemical weapons dumped in the Baltic Sea after World War II, all the more so since interstate agreements have been forged to use the seabed for economic purposes” said Gedimionas Jakavonis (Lithuania, ALDE), rapporteur of the PACE Committee on the Environment today in Paris at the opening of a hearing on the subject.
30/11/2007 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
According to the experts speaking today in Paris at a hearing on environmental health risks, held by the PACE Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs, 30% of Europeans suffer from environmental illnesses, and 4 to 9% even suffer from serious ailments having environmental causes. "This has a considerable cost for health insurance schemes" said PACE rapporteur Jean Huss (Luxembourg, SOC), who hopes that this argument will help make governments more aware of the need for a genuine prevention and environmental health strategy.