17/04/2007 | News
PACE today voted to continue its policy of requiring that at least one of the three candidates put forward by a Contracting Party for the post of judge of the European Court should be a member of the “under-represented sex”, currently women. By 41 votes to 17, the Assembly rejected a proposal of its Legal Affairs Committee to allow single-sex lists in exceptional cases. "The Assembly should have the choice to elect a female judge to the European Court of Human Rights if it wishes to do so," said Jose Mendes Bota, rapporteur for opinion of the Committee on Equal Opportunities.
17/04/2007 | News
San Marino Foreign Minister Fiorenzo Stolfi, Chair of the Council fo Ministers Committee of Ministers, today awarded the title of Knight of the Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of St Agatha to Assembly President René van der Linden. This is the highest distinction in the Order of Saint Agatha. It is awarded to leading figures from the worlds of politics and culture who are closely associated with San Marino.
17/04/2007 | News
During a debate on a proposition by PACE’s Political Affairs Committee for a code of good practice for political parties, the Assembly stressed the need to “prevent the decline of authority of political parties” in order to preserve democracy in Europe. The Assembly discussed the crisis of legitimacy and credibility certain parties are facing – accused of corruption in particular – in many Council of Europe member states. To remedy this situation, the parlementarians called for the preparation of a code of good practice, guidelines which would reinforce democratic progress in Europe and limit the decline in confidence in political parties.
17/04/2007 | News
Democratic forces in Belarus should overcome ideological differences to "reach for and preserve unity", according to PACE's Sub-Committee on Belarus. In a statement approved today, following a round table with opposition leaders, the sub-committee called on them to act in "a forward-looking manner" and start preparing the ground for the 2008 parliamentary elections. "Belarusians should be aware that they have a democratic option and they should be free to choose it," the parliamentarians said.
16/04/2007 | News
At the opening of its Spring Session 2007, this morning in Strasbourg, PACE decided to hold an urgent debate on the functioning of democratic institutions in Ukraine on Thursday 19 April. Two days earlier, on Tuesday 17 at noon, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych will address the parliamentarians. PACE also decided to hold urgent debates on the situation in the Middle East and on the draft convention on the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. The situation in Sudan and Darfur will be discussed during a current affairs debate on Thursday 19. A special debate on the state of human rights and democracy in Europe will also be a highlight of the session.
16/04/2007 | News
“The European Union has the economic influence and, increasingly, the foreign policy coordination that can bring pressure to bear abroad. Nevertheless, the Council of Europe’s statutory mission as a value community remains fundamental to Europe’s moral authority, offering indispensable added value to the work of the EU”, said PACE President René van der Linden, in his opening speech to the spring part-session of the Parliamentary Assembly. “In this, the 50th Anniversary of the European Community, our two organisations must reinforce their cooperation to meet today’s challenges and threats together and make Europe a real, equal partner to the United States on the world stage”, he added.
16/04/2007 | News
There is “an urgent need” for dialogue between the ruling majority and the opposition to improve the political climate in Azerbaijan, the Parliamentary Assembly said today at the end of a debate on the Honouring of obligations and commitments in the country. The parliamentarians listed a series of steps the authorities should now take for Azerbaijan to meet its Council of Europe commitments. These range from a possible constitutional revision to strengthen the role of parliament through to more and better defence lawyers and efforts to “maintain the momentum” of last year’s negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh. On political prisoners, they urged better functioning of the Task Force set up to look into this question. The Assembly resolved to pursue the monitoring procedure, and called for the 2008 presidential elections to be “the first in the history of the country” to comply with international standards.
16/04/2007 | News
PACE President René van der Linden today launched the first Parliamentary Assembly video-blog. René van der Linden answered live from Strasbourg some fifty questions sent via the PACE website by the citizens of the 46 Council of Europe member States and other continents. Respect for human rights, CIA secret detentions, the situation in Russia and in Ukraine, co-operation between the European organisations and gender equality were some of the questions discussed. The President said that he hopes to organise further video-blogs in the future.
23/03/2007 | News
On the occasion of the celebration ceremony of the 50th anniversary of the Rome Treaties in Rome on 23 March and during a seminar organised in Florence on the eve, PACE President René van der Linden stressed the need for stronger involvement of civil society in European politics. “Civil society”, he said, “is often closer to European citizens than are some of the politicians.”
20/03/2007 | News
A PACE rapporteur looking into the situation of longstanding refugees and displaced persons in South-East Europe has warmly praised the Bosnian town of Prijedor, in the Republika Srpska entity, as “an extraordinary example of hope for the whole region of the Western Balkans as it has welcomed and assisted people of all ethnicities who wish to build a better and brighter future there”. Nikolaos Dendias (Greece, EPP/DC) was speaking at the end of a fact-finding visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro. Prijedor was the scene of mass executions during the war.
16/03/2007 | News
René van der Linden, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has strongly condemned the recent arrests of opposition leaders in Belarus. Speaking during meetings of PACE’s Bureau and Standing Committee in Paris, the President stressed that these arrests were all the more unacceptable given that, following his visit to Minsk in January, the Belarusian authorities had appeared to show a willingness to take a more constructive attitude towards relations with Europe and to start developing a new political climate in the country. This new step backwards jeopardizes a possible review of current relations with the Assembly, he said.
16/03/2007 | News
To guarantee responsible and professional media, the Standing Committee of the PACE today called on governments to increase professional education and training opportunities for journalists. Aware that not all companies are able to provide such training, because of lack of funds, the parliamentarians recommended Council of Europe support, possibly in co-operation with media and their professional organisations. They also recommended organising pan-European exchanges of journalists with educational institutions and media companies.