17/05/2005 | News
Speaking at the Council of Europe’s Summit of Heads of State and Government in Warsaw today, Parliamentary Assembly President (PACE) René van der Linden called for much stronger co-operation with international organisations, in particular with the European Union. In this context he thanked Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker for having agreed to prepare a political report on the relations between the EU and the Council of Europe which he said “will certainly provide us with the necessary roadmap”. “
16/05/2005 | News
Speaking in Warsaw at the opening of the Third Council of Europe Summit of Heads of State and Government, Parliamentary Assembly President René van der Linden today called for more intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. “Fighting terrorism must be our priority. However, I do not believe in a clash of civilizations. There is only a clash between human civilization and barbarity. Hence the need for a much increased intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, building on our work in fighting racism, anti-semitism and xenophobia. The Council of Europe and its Assembly, with more than 630 directly elected representatives of the people, is the ideal forum for this dialogue”, Mr van der Linden said.
13/05/2005 | News
Speaking on the eve of the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe, to take place in Warsaw on 16 and 17 May, Parliamentary Assembly President René van der Linden stressed that the Council’s unique position as the only pan-European Organisation should be fully exploited. “For the first time in history, leaders of all 46 European nations will meet on an equal footing to address the challenges facing our continent today,” he said. René van der Linden drew attention to some of the key issues he will put to the European Heads of State and Government in Warsaw: There must be no new dividing lines in Europe. The European Union should not duplicate our work but use the experience, institutions and instruments of the Council of Europe; We should intensify inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue, using the Council of Europe as the best-placed forum; The parliamentary dimension should be reinforced, as should co-operation with civil society, to bring the organisation closer to our citizens; The European Convention on Human Rights is in serious danger because of the enormous and ever-growing backlog of cases before the European Court of Human Rights.
11/05/2005 | News
The EU and the Council of Europe “should work together where their goals are identical” said European Education and Culture Commissioner Ján Figel today, speaking during an exchange of views with PACE’s Culture Committee. “We are moving in the same space, now it is important that we move in the same direction,” he said, raising the possibility of “joint reports” in complementary areas. He also pointed out that education and culture were permanent components of the EU’s near neighbourhood policy – affecting some non-EU members of the Council of Europe – and offered the Commission’s assistance for concrete joint projects which did not duplicate existing ones.
04/05/2005 | News
During his official visit to Rome on 3 and 4 May, PACE President René van der Linden discussed the preparations for the Council of Europe Summit of Heads of State and Government in Warsaw on 16 and 17 May, in particular relations between the Council of Europe and the EU. The President's interlocutors agreed that the EU should make use of the Council of Europe's mechanisms and experience. René van der Linden expressed concern about certain initiatives of the EU Commission, such as the Human Rights Agency which could lead to double standards and new dividing lines at the expense of the tax-payer. René van der Linden, accompanied by Claudio Azzolini, leader of the Italian parliamentary delegation to the Council of Europe, met the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Pier Ferdinando Casini, the Foreign Minister, Gianfranco Fini, the Minister for the Cultural Heritage, Rocco Buttiglione, the Deputy Speaker of the Senate, Lamberto Dini, the Chair of the Senate Committee on EU Policy, Mario Greco, the Chair of the Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee, Fiorello Provera, and the Chancellor of the Gregorian University, Father Ghirlanda.
29/04/2005 | News
referendums can be a means to reinforce the democratic legitimacy of political decisions. In fact, the national referendums organised in the context of the ratification of the European Union Constitutional Treaty may be the greatest European popular vote of all times. The Assembly today called on European governments to codifying rules on the holding of referendums and promote models of good practice, to ensure that referendums are used as a supplement to representative democracy and avoid any manipulation.
29/04/2005 | News
“Aleksander Lukashenko is afraid of Europe. European flags are torn from people’s hands when they demonstrate in Belarus, but people are no longer afraid,” said Pavel Marinich, the son of Mikahail Marinich, Belarus opposition leader and political prisoner, in his statement to the PACE Sub-Committee on Belarus this morning. He was pleased that Europe “calls a spade a spade” and defines the Belarus regime as a dictatorship. “The people of my country need practical action and useful sanctions. Denying visas to judges and law enforcement representatives would be a good example. All measures to exert pressure on the regime are welcome,” he added. Ambassador Jean-Claude Joseph, Chair of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ Rapporteur Group on Democratic Stability, called for measures in support of civil society in Belarus to be kept up and reinforced. The sub-committee’s rapporteur on the situation in Belarus, Azim Mollazade (Azerbaijan, LDR), wants closer contacts with other international organisations so that they keep a common line of action towards the regime.
29/04/2005 | News
Today PACE Bureau unanimously agreed to the proposal by Claudio Azzolini (EPP-CD), Vice-President of the Assembly and Head of the Italian Delegation, to invite Pope Benedict XVI to Strasbourg for a forthcoming plenary session. Mr Azzolini told the Bureau that he had attended the Pope’s inaugural mass in St Peter’s Basilica on Sunday 24 April on behalf of the President of the Assembly, René van der Linden, and that he had later met the Pope, who had expressed the greatest respect for the importance of the Council of Europe.
28/04/2005 | News
Speaking on the occasion of the NGO study day on education and religion, PACE President René van der Linden stressed that politics and religion should be kept apart. “However, democracy and religion need not be incompatible and can be valid partners. By tackling societal problems, the authorities can remove many of the causes of religious extremism. Education is the key way to combat ignorance, stereotypes and misunderstanding of religions,” he added. René van der Linden also stressed that PACE felt that governments should also do more to guarantee freedom of conscience and religious expression, to develop education about religions, to encourage dialogue with and between religions and to promote the cultural and social expression of religions. “Given the many possible prejudices and stereotypes regarding religions, it is important to have structured, rational instruction in schools. That would help combat fanaticism, fundamentalism and xenophobia more effectively,” he concluded.
28/04/2005 | News
Denouncing the murder or kidnapping of journalists in conflict zones as “an act of aggression against freedom of expression and information”, PACE today demanded the immediate release of French journalist Florence Aubenas and her assistant Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi, as well as three Romanian journalists held in Iraq, Sorin Dumitru Miscoci, Marie-Jeanne Ion and Eduard Ovidiu Ohanesian. Adopting a resolution following an urgent debate in Strasbourg, PACE also proposed that journalists working in conflict areas declare publicly in advance that no financial payments or political concessions should be made to kidnappers if they are abducted.
28/04/2005 | News
“I hope that the laying of this foundation stone will also mark a further step towards harmonisation in the pharmaceutical field, and I can promise you our Assembly’s unqualified support”, declared PACE President René van der Linden at today’s foundation stone ceremony for the European Pharmacopoeia’s new building. “The European Pharmacopoeia was founded over forty years ago and has become, with the passing of time, one of the main standard-setting institutions responsible for guaranteeing quality and security of pharmaceutical products. Thanks to its work, we now have general, compulsory standards, and are well on the way to a genuine European policy in the public health field”, the PACE President said.
28/04/2005 | News
PACE’s Committee on Equal Opportunities today adopted unanimously a draft resolution and a draft recommendation on the disappearance and murder of a great number of women and girls in Mexico. Since 1993, between 350 and 500 women and girls have been brutally murdered in the northern Mexican border State of Chihuahua. According to the rapporteur on the subject, Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold (Switzerland, SOC), the initial reaction to the “feminicides”, particularly at the state level, was “denial”. The adopted texts call on the authorities to “face up to their responsibilities and tackle urgent tasks to produce rapid results and thus regain the confidence of victims’ families and of civil society as a whole”. The texts support the Mexican authorities, in particular the Mexican Congress and the Congress of the State of Chihuahua, in their endeavours and offer PACE assistance. A plenary debate on the issue is foreseen in June 2005.