10/04/2006 | News
The Assembly today called for greater efforts to fight corruption in member states, pointing out this would also reduce poverty. It called for measures including more transparency and financial accountability, ensuring that public officials are adequately paid and supported, giving fiscal autonomy to local and regional authorities, guaranteeing an independent media and organising better training for judges and law enforcement officials. “Fighting corruption is not just a moral issue,” said rapporteur Alain Cousin (France, EPP/CD), “it is also an effective means of combating poverty.”
27/03/2006 | News
A two-year programme of parliamentary assistance for the three Assemblies of the State Union and the two republics of Serbia and Montenegro begins today with a seminar in Strasbourg for civil servants from all three bodies. The 1.58 million euro programme, carried out jointly by PACE and the European Agency for Reconstruction, will involve help for harmonising these bodies’ rules with European norms and improving their administration, as well as providing expertise on the EU acquis. The overall aim is to promote “European-minded leadership and a constructive political dialogue” as part of helping Serbia and Montenegro to meet its Council of Europe obligations and commitments and achieve the aims of the EU’s Stabilisation and Association Process.
17/03/2006 | News
The Parliamentary Assembly has called for the preservation and development of Europe’s mining sites for cultural and environmental purposes as well as tourism and small businesses. “Without coalmining, Europe would never have played its part in the world,” said the Assembly’s Standing Committee in a resolution. Presenting the report, Jacques Legendre (France, EPP/CD) dedicated it to the memory of those who died in the mining disaster in Courrières, which took place exactly 100 years ago. The report, by Jean-Pierre Kucheida (France, SOC), also calls for the training of men and women from coalmining areas, solidarity with victims of mining accidents and further study of the “exemplary” social structures inherited from mining.
17/03/2006 | News
At a debate of the PACE Standing Committee today in Paris on a dynamic housing policy as an element of European social cohesion, rapporteur Denis Jacquat (France, EPP/CD) stressed that the right to housing as a fundamental social right secured in the revised Social Charter of the Council of Europe is the prime foundation for housing policies. "The Assembly must condemn once more the discriminatory practices, whether active or passive, that particularly affect Roma and families of African origin in certain Council of Europe member countries,“ said Mr Jacquat..
17/03/2006 | News
"Freedom of expression is not negotiable, a view that is shared Europe-wide. But while that freedom is not open to negotiation, it has never been synonymous with a right to insult the faith of others or to slander their belief", according to Jacques Legendre (France, EPP/CD), speaking at the opening of today's current affairs debate on freedom of expression and respect for religious beliefs, organised on the occasion of the meeting of the Standing Committee of the PACE. "And that freedom, if it is to be humanistic and respectful, must allow for the fact that the faith of a believer is absolute, and that true suffering may result if that absolute is denied or caricatured", Mr Legendre continued.
10/03/2006 | News
Seriously concerned that the debate within the Committee of Ministers concerning the Council of Europe's budget for 2007 is at a standstill, the Assembly today held a current affairs debate on the subject. Opening the discussion, Paul Wille (Belgium, ADLE) called on the Committee of Ministers to approve without delay the priorities for the draft budget and the programme of activities for 2007, as proposed by the Secretary General.
07/03/2006 | News
With a view to tomorrow’s International Women’s Day, PACE President René van der Linden today urged the organisation’s member states as well as the European Community to adhere to the Convention on action against trafficking in human beings. “Whilst fully supporting all current initiatives for a ‘red card to forced prostitution’, I hope we can avoid yellow cards for our member states for not having taken the necessary legal action to prevent trafficking in general, and forced prostitution in particular,” he said.
27/01/2006 | News
The natural tendency for companies to allocate their investments optimally “should be allowed to continue unhindered” since it will lead over time to increased trade, a rise in prosperity on all sides and a more unified and politically stable Europe, PACE said today following a debate. But in a resolution the parliamentarians said countries should “properly assist those affected” and seek to maintain essential aspects of Europe’s hard-fought-for social achievements.
27/01/2006 | News
Everyone has the right to a nationality, but what happens when a state, for example, divides into two new states? The Assembly today welcomed the draft Protocol on the avoidance of statelessness in relation to state succession which it regards as an essential instrument complementing the existing Conventions. It fully supported the objective of avoiding cases of statelessness by facilitating the acquisition of nationality and it generally subscribes to the provisions laid down therein. However, the Assembly recommended the introduction of several amendments to the draft instrument.
27/01/2006 | News
The economic rise of China can lead to major benefits for Europe and overall world stability and prosperity, according to PACE. In a resolution, the parliamentarians said reforms have begun in the country and Europe must support them. However, China also needs to make progress on human rights, democracy and the rule of law, the parliamentarians pointed out – areas which are of vital importance to lasting economic development. Here, Europe has a major role to play, not least through increased contacts via the Council of Europe and its Parliamentary Assembly.
26/01/2006 | News
"Our common aim is to establish a genuine partnership between the Council of Europe and the European Union, as two prominent organizations sharing the same values", today said the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Romania and Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers addressing the Assembly. Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu reminded taht "two distinct and mutually reinforcing processes have been unfolded to this purpose –a report by H.E. Jean-Claude Juncker, which the Heads of State and Government asked the Prime Minister of Luxembourg to prepare on a personal basis and the negotiation of a Memorandum of Understanding that would render operational the guidelines adopted by the Warsaw Summit".
26/01/2006 | News
At the end of a debate on the policy of return for failed asylum seekers in the Netherlands, a policy the Dutch authorities approved in 2004 for returning approximately 26,000 failed asylum seekers, the PACE considered that it broadly complies with the recommendations on return made by Council of Europe bodies. However, some features – also to be found in the policies of other countries, including Switzerland and the United Kingdom – raise concerns.