23/06/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Parliamentary Assembly today called on European governments to institute a total, Europe-wide ban on the corporal punishment of children, enforced in national legislation. "It is a shame that the smallest and most fragile of Europe's citizens should have to wait until last to have their protection guaranteed," said Helena Bargholtz (Sweden, LDR), presenting her report. While all 45 member states of the Council of Europe have banned corporal punishment in schools, only a minority have formally prohibited it in the family and in all other settings – as they are required to do under international agreements, she pointed out. In its recommendation, the Assembly called for Europe to be made a “corporal-punishment-free zone” for children.
22/06/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Assembly sees recent EU enlargement – which brought eight of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 'countries of operation' into the Union – as a vindication of the EBRD’s major contribution to European integration. It called for the Bank to put a growing emphasis on the remaining non-EU states, in particular those which are less developed, and commend it on the link it makes between progress in human rights, democracy and the rule of law, on the one hand, and economic development on the other. However, the Assembly deplored developments in countries at the bottom of the Bank’s 'constitutional liberalism index', such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Belarus.
21/06/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The procedure of joining the European Union’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) promises to be anything but easy for the new EU members, placing great strain on their currency stability and public finances. According to the Assembly, it is “vital that the terms for joining the EMU be made sufficiently flexible”. For instance, by having the permitted range of fluctuation in the Exchange Rate Mechanism be the wider range used at the currency’s launch in 1999. Adopting the rapporteur's (Robert Walter, UK, EDG) proposals on The Euro and the Greater Europe, the Assembly stressed the importance of ensuring observance of the Stability and Growth Act. “As long as the Pact exists in its current form, it should be respected. However, urgent thought must be given to ways of improving the Pact, both to make it better heeded and to improve its functioning”, it said.
11/06/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Assembly’s Economic Affairs Committee, meeting at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, is to approve its annual report on “The OECD and the world economy” prepared by Abdülkadir Ateş (Turkey, SOC). The report is due to be debated at the autumn session by the so-called Enlarged Assembly, which has served as the OECD’s parliamentary forum since 1962 and which includes parliamentarians from OECD countries not members of the Council of Europe.
14/05/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Daniel Goulet (France, LDR), who is preparing a report for the Assembly’s Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs on “the potential adverse consequences of the Oil Pool D-6 operation”, visits Kaliningrad,Vilnius and Nida from 19 to 20 May to meet Russian and Lithuanian authorities as well as local environmental organisations. The D-6 operation is a planned oil extraction platform in the Baltic close to the Curonian Spit, a Unesco World Heritage listed site which straddles both Lithuanian and Russian territory.
30/04/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Debating the future of social security in Europe on the last day of its spring session, the Assembly acknowledged that there is no single model which will fit all European countries, but recalled the basic principles which should apply to all – enshrined in key Council of Europe texts. Presenting his report, former French Health Minister Claude Evin (France, SOC) said: “Social security has a cost, but it can cost still more – economically, socially and politically – to be without social security.”
16/04/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Abdülkadir Ateş (Turkey, SOC), who is preparing the annual report on “the OECD and the world economy” for the Assembly’s Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, visits on 23 April the organisation’s headquarters for briefings with senior officials. The report is due to be debated by the Enlarged Assembly – involving parliamentarians from OECD countries not in the Council of Europe – during the Assembly’s October 2004 session.
02/04/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Michael Hancock (United Kingdom, SOC) visits Romania to assess progress in implementing the recommendations in his report on “improving the lot of abandoned children in institutions”. The Assembly’s recommendation, adopted in April 2003, calls for the closure of large, isolated or dilapidated childrens’ institutions and the restoration of childrens’ family ties where possible. Mr Hancock will meet Romanian Health Minister Ovidiu Brînzan as well as other authorities concerned with childrens’ rights.
29/03/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
At its meeting on 1 April in Paris, the Assembly’s Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Regional Affairs will hold a hearing on industrial hazards, with the participation of Erik van Gils (General Directorate of Welfare at Work, Belgium) and Luc Lavrysen (Centre for Environmental Law, University of Ghent, Belgium). The hearing will contribute to the preparation of a report by Frans Timmermans (Belgium, SOC). The Committee should also adopt two preliminary draft recommendations on management of water resources in Europe (Borislav Velikov, Bulgaria, LDR) and on transboundary water basins in Europe (Latchezar Toshev, Bulgarie, EPP/CD).
26/03/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
At the suggestion of the rapporteur, Dick Marty (Switzerland, LDR), the Assembly Social Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris today, decided to ask the Assembly to refer the euthanasia report back to committee. The request will be made in the debate on euthanasia which is to be held during the Assembly’s spring session (26-30 April).
18/03/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris on 25 March, is due to take position on amendments submitted to its draft resolution on euthanasia, including those in an opinion of the Legal Affairs Committee. The issue is again provisionally scheduled for debate during the Assembly's spring session (26-30 April).
26/02/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
During its meeting in Paris on 5 March, the Assembly’s Environment Committee will deal with reports on the management of water resources in Europe, genetically modified organisms, and industrial hazards.