18/09/2006 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“Individual nations will have different approaches on how to reconcile econonomic growth and social protection in an era of globalisation, but the maximum impact is likely where the public sector works, and invests alongside and in co-operation with the private sector, and other social partners,” PACE rapporteur Tony Lloyd (United Kingdom, SOC) said in Paris today at the end of a hearing organised by the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development on this issue.
14/09/2006 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
According to PACE rapporteur on the situation of elderly persons in Europe, Jean-Marie Bockel (France, SOC), Europe is likely to lose nearly 55 million economically active persons by 2050, making a ratio of one retired person for each worker. During a conference in Paris on 13 September organised by the Assembly’s Committee on Social, Health and Family Affairs under the patronage of the French Senate, several proposals were made for ways of countering this phenomenon. These include measures to encourage immigration, increased fertility and, in particular, employment prospects for senior citizens.
13/09/2006 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
French Senate President Christian Poncelet has called for the vicious circle of exclusion of the elderly to be broken and for an end to the social, physical and financial hardship they face. "While we are pleased to note that the French, like their European neighbours, are living longer, we also have to look at the other side of the coin: difficulty in paying pensions for demographic reasons, insecurity, inequality of status and treatment, unemployment among the elderly, inadequate provision for widows, and so forth," he said. Mr Poncelet was speaking at a conference in Paris on the situation of elderly persons in Europe, organised by PACE's Social Affairs Committee under the patronage of the French Senate.
11/09/2006 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
A conference on the situation of elderly persons in Europe, taking place in the French Senate in Paris on Wednesday 13 September, will deal with the aspirations and rights of the elderly on the one hand and the elderly under threat of inequalities and exclusion on the other. Organised by the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee of the PACE under the patronage of the French Senate, the conference will be opened by Christian Poncelet, President of the Senate and Bernard Schreiner, Chair of the French delegation to PACE. It will bring together parliamentarians from the 46 Council of Europe member states and government and NGO experts.
16/06/2006 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Two Sub-Committees of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development and of the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs took part in the Parliamentary Conference on Energy Cooperation around the Baltic Sea, held in Riga, Latvia, on 16 June 2006. The Conference, organised by the European Energy Forum, brought together members of the PACE, of the EP, representatives of the European Commission, of other international organisations and of the industry.
17/05/2006 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Her Majesty Queen Silvia took part in an exchange of views on childrens’ rights in Sweden being organised by the Social Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) in Stockholm on 18 May 2006. The meeting formed part of PACE’s contribution to the Council of Europe programme “Building a Europe for and with children”.
31/03/2006 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Sub-Committee on Agriculture and Food and the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs of the PACE, meeting in Paris on 27 and 28 March 2006, discussed the bird flu crisis. Their Chairs, Daniel Goulet (France, ADLE) and Walter Schmied (Switzerland, ALDE), appeal to all member states, to national, regional and local authorities and to all relevant organisations within civil society to help circulate accurate information based on scientific fact.
12/01/2006 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The committee holds an exchange of views with EBRD President Jean Lemierre in the framework of its annual report on the Bank’s activities. Also on the agenda: "Economic development in Ukraine, a test case for European solidarity" and "Europe’s interest in the continued economic development of Russia". On Thursday 19, the committee will meet senior representatives of the global risk management company Swiss Re.
16/12/2005 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
At a meeting in Paris today, the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee decided not to continue its work on the report “For recognition and supervision of surrogacy as an alternative to sterility.” The committee concluded that it was unable for the time being to submit proposals on the matter to the Assembly.
10/11/2005 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Cevdet Erdol, Président de la Commission de la santé et des affaires sociales de l’Assemblée nationale de Turquie, prononcera le 14 novembre à Istanbul l’allocution d’ouverture de la réunion de la Commission des questions sociales de l’APCE. La commission aura notamment des échanges de vues avec les autorités turques sur le trafic d’organes et sur la grippe aviaire dans le cadre de la préparation de deux rapports sur les sujets.
03/11/2005 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Organised on 4 November by the Parliamentary Assembly’s Environment Committee, this colloquy will look at the role of local administration and public services in waste management and environmentally-friendly treatment techniques. Meeting separately a day earlier, the committee will hold an exchange of views with members of the Romanian government and parliament, and may approve reports on Regrouping agricultural land in central and eastern Europe and on the 50th anniversary of the Europe Prize.
18/10/2005 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
More than one hundred national, regional and local elected representatives, members of governments, experts, international organisations and associations from about 50 countries, including Europe, the Maghreb, the Middle East and North America, participate in a conference on “Water Management: A Shared Responsibility”, in Strasbourg on 20 and 21 October 2005. This conference is a joint initiave of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe to address water management as a challenge for local, regional and national decision-makers, including members of Parliament.