04/09/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“Our member countries must encourage, in different ways, its migrants to become active players in the democratic process, be it at the associative level, in enterprises or administrations, or at the political level,” today said Corien Jonker (Netherlands, PPE/DC), Chair of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, at the opening of the 8th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for migration affairs. She stressed that the active participation of legally residing migrants in our democratic, social and economic institutions was of fundamental importance for our economies, for development, and for social cohesion.
04/09/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
A colloquy on the theme "The role of parliaments in the management of water resources", organised by PACE Environment Committee, will be opened in Madrid by the President of the Assembly, Lluís Maria de Puig, on Monday 8 September 2008. Some 50 participants will analyse in particular the water management in agricultural development in the Mediterranean region and the problems of urban water management. The stakes of the Fifth World Water Forum, to be held in Istanbul in March 2009, will also be discussed during an exchange of views.
16/06/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
On the occasion of the 2008 World Day to combat desertification, PACE's Committee on the Environment called on the member states of the Council of Europe particularly concerned to urgently take all the measures necessary to fight against land degradation and to promote sustainable agriculture. According to the Committee, land is a global heritage which is vital for the well-being of all, and no human being can live without it.
18/03/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“In 2007, Europe remained the world’s most visited region. Seven European countries – France, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and the Russian Federation – are among the world’s ten most visited destinations. Nearly half of the 898 million visitors globally travelled to European countries in 2007. Tourist flows being expected to double in the next two decades, this poses an important development challenge to our member states,” José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD) explains in a report adopted today by the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development.
17/03/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“The importance of teenage suicide is underestimated as there are tens of thousands of suicides every year. It is a serious public health issue and has to be made a top political priority,” according to a report drawn up by Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE). According to statistics available from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, suicide kills more people than traffic accidents. The Russian Federation, Hungary and Slovenia are among the Council of Europe member states with the highest suicide rates.
22/02/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“International cooperation is vital in addressing the problem of chemical weapons dumped in the Baltic Sea after World War II, all the more so since interstate agreements have been forged to use the seabed for economic purposes” said Gedimionas Jakavonis (Lithuania, ALDE), rapporteur of the PACE Committee on the Environment today in Paris at the opening of a hearing on the subject.
30/11/2007 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
According to the experts speaking today in Paris at a hearing on environmental health risks, held by the PACE Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs, 30% of Europeans suffer from environmental illnesses, and 4 to 9% even suffer from serious ailments having environmental causes. "This has a considerable cost for health insurance schemes" said PACE rapporteur Jean Huss (Luxembourg, SOC), who hopes that this argument will help make governments more aware of the need for a genuine prevention and environmental health strategy.
30/11/2007 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Britain’s Hadley Centre Met Office predicts that 2007 will go down as the hottest year on record, thanks to the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, which are responsible for rising temperatures. The ten hottest years in the last 150 are concentrated between 1995 and today.
27/11/2007 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
PACE Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs will hold a hearing on environment and health in Paris, on Friday 30 November. Discussions will focus on chemical risk assessment, environmental health and medicine, and the role of NGOs in this process.
27/11/2007 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
PACE sub-Committee on Sustainable Development will hold a hearing in Paris, Thursday 29 November, on global warming and ecological disasters, in the framework of a report prepared by Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC).
08/11/2007 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“The point of international adoption is to enable a child to find parents, with respect for his or her rights, not to satisfy the parent’s wish to have a child at all costs: there is no such thing as the right to a child!” This was the conclusion reached today by Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold (Switzerland, SOC), speaking on behalf of PACE Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, at a meeting of the committee in Paris. In her report, which is based on fact-finding visits to Ukraine and Moldova, Mrs Vermot-Mangold firmly condemns the increasing use of alternative circuits that can encourage the disappearance of newborn babies for illegal adoption in Europe.
12/10/2007 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Committee on Economic Affairs will meet representatives of the European Patent Office to take stock of the new outlook, following France’s ratification of the London Agreement to introduce greater flexibility into the translation requirements for European patents. At its plenary meeting the Committee on Economic Affairs will discuss the mobilisation of parliaments in the "New Partnership for Africa's Development" (NEPAD). The Committee will also visit the headquarters of Siemens and EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space) Germany.