26/04/2005 | News
PACE today reacted to Europe’s vulnerability in the matter of energy by calling on European governments to introduce policies which would permit energy savings and a gradual transition to alternative energy sources, replacing fossil fuels, reserves of which are falling rapidly. They also asked those concerned to review their nuclear energy policies. At the end of a general debate, based on reports on Europe’s growing energy vulnerability (Radu-Mircea Berceanu, Romania, SOC) and energy systems and the environment (Bill Etherington, United Kingdom, SOC), the parliamentarians called on member states to act without delay to reduce the environmental impact of the production, transport and use of energy, by developing renewable energy sources, supporting research and development in the field of nuclear fusion, and including environmental costs in energy charges. Claude Mandil, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), who took part in the debate, emphasised that “we can and must do something at once, by making massive energy savings, concentrating on research and development, and promoting international co-operation”.
26/04/2005 | News
“Europe is our choice, the goal and the future. This cannot be just a segment of political rhetoric, but a truthful, vital long-term interest of both Serbia and Montenegro”, Svetozar Marovic, President of Serbia and Montenegro, today said addressing the Assembly. “Serbia and Montenegro will continue cooperating fully with the international institutions, especially with the Hague Tribunal. No responsible person in Serbia and Montenegro harbors illusion that we can progress without such co-operation”, M. Marovic said. Regarding the future of Kosovo, he expressed a clear message: “Kosovo must be multiethnic, Kosovo must be European, Kosovo must be open and safe for all its citizens, with the minorities carefully protected”.
25/04/2005 | News
The head of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly, Konstantin Kosachev, has been elected a PACE Vice-President. Mr Kosachev, who belongs to the European Democrat Group, is a member of the Political Affairs and Monitoring Committees.
25/04/2005 | News
Ernest Benach, President of the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE) and Speaker of the Parliament of Catalonia (Spain), today informed the PACE Committee on Local and Regional Affairs of his wish to start up a permanent dialogue with the committee and with PACE as a whole. As a first step towards cooperation, he asked the committee members to promote discussions in the Council of Europe member states on a few basic principles concerning the role of assemblies in devolution, democracy and self-government.
25/04/2005 | News
After a minute of silence in memory of Pope John-Paul II and Prince Rainier of Monaco, PACE President René van der Linden very warmly congratulated Pope Benedict XVI on his election. He expressed his support for the French journalist Florence Aubenas and her guide and for the three Romanian journalists, all of whom are missing and held hostage in Iraq, calling for their speedy release and recalling that freedom of the press and freedom of expression lie at the heart of the Council of Europe’s mission. He also appealed to PACE members, all of whom are members of national parliaments, to ensure that their leaders attend the Summit and, most of all, commit themselves fully to implementing its decisions. “We have to make further use of our double mandate, here in PACE and at home in our national Parliaments”, he said.
25/04/2005 | News
PACE’s Monitoring Committee, meeting during the plenary session, today expressed “deep concern” at the political climate in Azerbaijan ahead of parliamentary elections. “Some of the basic pre-conditions for holding free and fair elections… are not met,” the parliamentarians said in a declaration. “The opposition has almost no means of conveying its message to the electorate.” The committee also said that the situation “hardly resembled” that of Georgia and Ukraine, and that speculation on both sides with the word “revolution” could lead to unforeseen consequences.
25/04/2005 | News
There are “undeniable positive changes” in the situation of children abandoned in institutions, the Assembly said today in a resolution, but in some post-communist democracies the situation was still disturbing. Rapporteur Mike Hancock (United Kingdom, LDR), who had investigated the follow-up to his 2003 report, said that although his report focused on Romania and Bulgaria, no Council of Europe member state was beyond criticism. “The richest ingredient we can give our children is love, yet some of these children go their whole lives without experiencing it,” he said.
05/04/2005 | News
In his speech before the 112th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Manila (3 – 8 April) PACE President René van der Linden announced that the Parliamentary Assembly has decided to conduct a pan-European campaign against domestic violence in 2006, in co-operation with European and national partners such as national parliaments, the European Parliament and NGOs and called on the IPU to consider carrying out a similar campaign. With regard to trafficking in human beings, he pointed out that a European convention is being drafted and will soon be opened for signature by the member states. “This convention is designed to protect victims’ rights and ensure respect for human rights. It will aim to strike a balance between matters relating to human rights and those relating to criminal proceedings”, he said. As far as women’s participation in politics is concerned, René van der Linden reminded participants that PACE has recommended that European governments draw up a “charter for electoral equality” in which the Council of Europe member states would guarantee women’s electoral rights,improve their participation in elections and outlaw “family voting”. "PACE set the objective of increasing the minimum representation of women in parliaments and other elected assemblies to at least 40% by 2020," he concluded.
02/04/2005 | News
The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, René van der Linden, tonight paid tribute to John Paul II: “On behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe I wish to pay tribute to His Holiness Pope John Paul II, for placing his life at the service of understanding among peoples, and peace and freedom across the world. We are grateful for his tireless efforts to end the division of our continent and promote democratic reform. The death of this great pilgrim of peace is a loss to us all. John Paul II was a firm ally of the Council of Europe in his support for a unified continent free of the death penalty, which is now a reality for 800 million Europeans in our 46 member states.
30/03/2005 | News
PACE President René van der Linden said today that "a French 'yes' to the draft European Constitution is also a 'yes' for a Europe based on democracy and human rights". The Assembly President was addressing the foreign affairs committees of the French National Assembly and Senate and the Senate European Union delegation in Paris today. The draft Constitution is essential for Europe and for European citizens, he said. It provides for Union accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, which safeguards the fundamental rights of over 800 million Europeans. "This clearly shows that protecting Europeans' fundamental rights is a central strand of the draft Constitution".
24/03/2005 | News
The European Union should consider the Council of Europe as the primary framework for its "neighbourhood policy", sign up to Council of Europe treaties to create a "single European legal space" and make systematic use of the Council’s expertise, PACE President René van der Linden told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Luxembourg Parliament yesterday during a visit to the Grand Duchy. "The message is clear and direct," said the President, "the EU should make full use of the experience, institutions and instruments of the Council of Europe". Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who currently chairs the EU Council, is due to address PACE at its April session.
18/03/2005 | News
PACE today decided to hold a debate under urgent procedure on the freedom of the press and the working conditions of journalists in conflict zones on Thursday 28, as well as a current affairs debate on the European Constitutional Treaty the same day. However, parliamentarians voted against the Bureau proposal to hold un urgent debate on the constitutional reform process in Armenia. The adopted order of business includes also debates on assistance to patients at end of life and the lawfulness of detentions by the United States in Guantánamo Bay. Luxembourg Prime Minister and EU Council President Jean-Claude Juncker as well as Serbia and Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic are due to address the Assembly.