14/12/2006 | Monitoring
PACE's Monitoring Committee has welcomed Armenia’s constitutional reform but warned that an improved political climate, and dialogue between the ruling coalition and opposition, would be necessary for it to work effectively. In a draft resolution adopted yesterday, the committee said: "Simply passing legislation is not enough to implement democratic reforms in the country. The laws must be applied." The committee also said forthcoming elections must comply with European standards for free and fair elections, and media coverage of the election campaign and the elections must be pluralist and unbiased. The report, by Georges Colombier and Mikko Elo, is due to be debated by PACE at its January plenary session.
13/12/2006 | Monitoring
PACE's co-rapporteurs on Azerbaijan, Tony Lloyd and Andres Herkel, have welcomed the return of Azerbaijan’s ANS TV station to the air pending a new frequency tender process, and thanked the authorities for showing "flexibility and goodwill". However, they said a definitive solution still needed to be found and strongly urged that the law on Radio and Television, and the procedure for its application, be reviewed by Council of Europe experts.
06/12/2006 | Monitoring
Tony Lloyd (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE co-rapporteur for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, has called for the TV station ANS to be put back on the air while the “technical issues” surrounding its license are solved. In an interview with the BBC World Service, Mr Lloyd said it was “not in the interest of anyone in Azerbaijan” to have the station – with a reputation as one of the country’s most independent – silenced, and pointed out that Azerbaijan had made a commitment not to use administrative measures to shut down media.
29/11/2006 | Monitoring
Russia is right to ask for "respect and responsibility" from Georgia and should show exactly the same attitude towards its neighbour country, said PACE rapporteurs Luc van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) and Matyas Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE), speaking at the end of a three-day visit to Moscow to discuss current tensions between the two countries. "Present relations between Georgia and Russia are too heavily charged with negative emotions and are not worthy of the long historic, cultural and personal ties between the people of the two countries," the co-rapporteurs said. They called on politicians to "stop exchanging verbal provocations and show the same wisdom as their societies". Both men earlier visited Tbilisi.
23/11/2006 | Monitoring
The Raporteurs of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly, Matyas Eorsi, co-Rapporteur for Georgia and leader of the ALDE group and Luc van den Brande, co-Rapporteur for Russia and leader of the EPP group, today called for dialogue between Georgia and Russia as a key to the solution of the current tensions between the two countries. They also reasserted the role of the PACE as a forum for dialogue and parliamentary diplomacy.
17/10/2006 | Monitoring
A PACE committee is to assess whether or not electoral fraud in the United Kingdom merits the opening of the Assembly’s “monitoring procedure”. Meeting yesterday in Yerevan, Armenia, PACE’s Monitoring Committee appointed two of its members, former German Justice Minister Herta Däubler-Gmelin (SOC) and Polish Senator Urszula Gacek (EPP/CD), to look into allegations of irregularities involving postal and absentee votes in Birmingham, Blackburn, Coventry and London.
02/06/2006 | Monitoring
At a meeting to be held in Paris on Tuesday 6 June, the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will be holding an exchange of views with the Presidents of the parliaments of the State Union and Serbian (to be confirmed) and Montenegrin, on the consequences of the referendum in Montenegro. The co-rapporteurs, Milos Budin (Italy, SOC) and Charles Goerens (Luxembourg, ALDE) will be present.
02/06/2006 | Monitoring
Hanne Severinsen (Denmark, ALDE), who is visiting Bulgaria in the framework of post-monitoring dialogue with the country, today told a press conference: "Bulgaria needs to keep in mind long-term goals and perspectives, not the date of EU accession, in pursuing reforms". She also said the Venice Commission should be asked for its opinion on planned constitutional changes in Bulgaria, especially as regards the independence of the judiciary.
11/04/2006 | Monitoring
The Monitoring Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), meeting in Strasbourg this morning, adopted the following declaration: “Since Bosnia-Herzegovina’s accession to the Council of Europe, major progress has been achieved in building a stable, functional and efficient state. Examples are the setting up of a court at State level and the transfer or assumption of responsibilities in the fields of defence, intelligence, the judiciary, indirect taxation and the forthcoming police reform. It should be acknowledged however that these transfers of responsibilities from the Entities to the State level are unlikely to have happened without the High Representative having taken the lead.
07/04/2006 | Monitoring
“The need for political stability and economic prosperity of Russia are no alternatives to the need to further develop democracy and human rights, both should go hand in hand,” PACE’s newly-appointed co-rapporteurs said at the end of their first visit to the country from 3 to 5 April 2006. In a press statement, Luc Van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) and Theodoros Pangalos (Greece, SOC) said Russia should set a “personal example” to other member states when it takes over the six-month Chairmanship of the organisation in May.
06/04/2006 | Monitoring
The Assembly’s co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Albania completed a three-day visit to the country today during which they met senior figures in the government, parliament and judiciary to update their assessment of Albania’s progress in fulfilling its commitments to the Council of Europe. Items discussed included the functioning of democratic institutions, electoral reform, the fight against corruption and organised crime, the functioning of the judiciary, implementation of legislation and local self-government as well as human rights issues such as freedom of the media and minority rights.
08/03/2006 | Monitoring
Charles Goerens (Luxembourg, ALDE) was today appointed as new co-rapporteur alongside Milos Budin (Italy, SOC) for the monitoring of the obligations and commitments of Serbia and Montenegro by the Monitoring Committee.