18/02/2011 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“Cultural and religious diversity has become a source of anxiety, fear and tension in Europe, and even more outside the continent. Divisions have sprung up, which seem to have been exacerbated, amongst other things, by the different visions of society offered by each religion.
16/02/2011 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
PACE Committee on Culture, Science and Education is to hold a hearing in Paris on 18 February on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue, in the context of preparation of a report on this subject by Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE). This hearing is being held to consider in greater detail monotheist religions' contribution to the promotion and protection of the Council of Europe's fundamental values and to the development of a society which is both cohesive and plural.
03/02/2011 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Mats Johansson (Sweden, EPP/CD) has been appointed as the Standing Rapporteur on Media Freedom of the PACE Committee on Culture, Science and Education. Mr Johansson, who replaces the late Andrew McIntosh (United Kingdom, SOC), has been a journalist for 40 years, as well as publisher and writer, and was the Political Editor of the leading Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet before entering parliament.
25/01/2011 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“More still needs to be done to secure full respect for freedom of the media, guarantee journalists' safety and protect their sources,” today said Arne König, President of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), speaking at an exchange of views on the state of media freedom in Europe organised by the Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Culture, Science and Education.
23/12/2010 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“In a democracy, media must not be treated as enemies of the state. The Media and Communications Authority to be established in Hungary on 1 January is an alarming sign that Hungary wishes to police the media,” said Markku Laukkanen (Finland, ALDE), the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the Media of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
15/11/2010 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Markku Laukkanen, Chairman of PACE Sub-Committee on the Media, strongly condemned the recent violent attacks on two Russian journalists, Oleg Kashin of the newspaper Kommersant and Anatoly Adamchuk of the newspaper Zhukovskie Vesti. “It is an alarming sign that two critical journalists are attacked physically in Russia within one week”, said Mr Laukkanen, “and I welcome the declaration by the Russian President, Mr Dimitry Medvedev, that whoever is responsible for this crime will be punished regardless of their position", he said.
08/11/2010 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
The PACE Committee on Culture, Science and Education meeting in Paris, called for renewed efforts by European governments to reduce acts of violence in schools throughout Europe. Alarmed by “attacks by pupils with or without weapons, bullying and harassment among pupils, acts of hostility and even aggression by pupils against teachers,” the committee unanimously adopted a draft resolution which, as proposed by the rapporteur, Gvozden Srecko Flego (Croatia, SOC), sets out a range of guiding principles.
03/11/2010 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“Culture is often seen as a luxury for the elite. This is a complete misconception. It is impossible to imagine how our societies could protect and develop other fundamental rights if they overlook the fact that these rights were brought about by cultural development,” said Gvozden Srecko Flego, Chair of the PACE Committee on Culture, Science and Education, at the opening of a hearing in Paris on “the right of everyone to participate in cultural life”.
28/10/2010 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
French Culture Minister Frédéric Mitterrand will speak at a hearing on "the right of everyone to participate in cultural life" that the Committees on Culture of the French National Assembly and the PACE are holding on Wednesday 3 November. The meeting, organised under the High Patronage of the President of the French Republic, will be opened by the Chairpersons of both committees, Michèle Tabarot and Gvozden Srecko Flego.
11/05/2010 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
The veiling of women is often perceived as “a symbol of the subjugation of women to men” and could be a threat to womens’ dignity and freedom, but there should be no general prohibition on wearing the burqa and the niquab, a PACE committee has declared. In a draft resolution adopted yesterday at a meeting in Istanbul, PACE’s Committee on Culture, Science and Education said legal restrictions may be justified “for security purposes, or where the public or professional functions of individuals require their religious neutrality, or that their face can be seen”.
30/04/2010 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“International Press Freedom Day reminds us that journalists and the media are a vital cornerstone of democracy,” Andrew McIntosh, the standing rapporteur on media of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) said today. “It is therefore an alarming sign that at least 20 journalists have been killed in Europe since 2007, several of whom had worked on shedding light on corruption and organised crime,” he added.
10/03/2010 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
PACE Committee on Culture, Science and Education voted unanimously this morning in favour of a Europe-wide ban on the marketing, sale and use of "Mosquito" acoustic youth dispersal devices in all public places. The text adopted, drafted by Piotr Wach (Poland, EPP/CD), states that the use of these devices constitutes a "disproportionate interference with the right to respect for one’s private life, including the right to respect for one’s physical integrity" and contravenes the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular regarding health and safety.