26/02/2004 | News
Meeting in Paris on 1 March, the Assembly's Bureau considered possible forms of dialogue with the Liechtenstein Parliament, as well as a petition concerning the access to health-care in their language of French-speakers living in the municipalities of the Brussels periphery. It also adopted a draft agenda for the Assembly’s spring session (26-30 April 2004).
12/02/2004 | News
A delegation from Monaco, headed by Georges Grinda, Plenipotentiary Minister of European Affairs, was in Strasbourg from 12 to 13 February at the invitation of Assembly Secretary General Bruno Haller. Subjects discussed during the visit, which took place in the framework of Monaco’s request to join the Council of Europe, included the Monegasque position on Protocol No. 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights, the Cybercrime Convention and co-operation with the OECD. The delegation met the Secretary General of the Assembly as well as other senior officials of the Council of Europe. The Assembly is due to debate Monaco’s accession request during its spring session (26-30 April).
06/02/2004 | News
Council of Europe leaders today deplored the bomb attack at the Paveletskaya metro station in Moscow, which killed dozens of people and injured many more. Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder, Secretary General Walter Schwimmer, President of the Congress Herwig Van Staa and Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles condemned this barbaric act and called for an end to political violence. They said the attack only strengthened the Council of Europe’s resolve to fight terrorism. They sent their condolences to the families of the victims, the people of Moscow and the Russian authorities.
03/02/2004 | News
In a letter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder appealed for clemency in the case of death row inmate Kevin Cooper. “Since you took office as Governor, you have shown mercy and humanity in supporting decisions by the California Board of Prison Terms to set free apparently rehabilitated murderers. Yet on Friday you rejected a clemency appeal from death row inmate Kevin Cooper. As President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the 45-member nation Council of Europe and as a fellow Austrian, I appeal to you in the name of mercy and humanity to stay the execution of Kevin Cooper set for 10 February"
30/01/2004 | News
The Assembly warned on building a 'two-tier Europe'. According to parliamentarians, solidarity mechanisms will have to be strengthened not only within the enlarged EU but also across the continent for a truly inclusive Europe. They called on EU member and acceding countries to proceed more swiftly with the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, to pursue pension reform or adjustment -as might be called for in view of population ageing- and to reinforce information links with citizens with a view to enhancing the transparency of European institutions.
30/01/2004 | News
The enlargement of the European Union in May 2004 and the subsequent expansion of the Schengen visa system would create an excessive impediment to the free movement of persons between the Council of Europe member states. Following the proposals of the rapporteur Vitaliy Shybko (Ukraine, SOC), the Assembly recommended to the Council of Europe member states and the EU to take a series of legal and policy measures intended to improve collaboration in the fields of migration policy and police and judicial co-operation, and to make the practical operation of the Schengen system itself as efficient and accessible as possible.
30/01/2004 | News
The Assembly – which has the right to elect judges of the European Court of Human Rights from a list of three candidates submitted by each contracting party – will refuse to consider any list not including at least one male and one female candidate. Approving a report by Kevin McNamara (United Kingdom, SOC) on the last day of the session, it also called for judges to be elected for a single non-renewable nine-year term, instead of the current six-year renewable term, to guarantee continuity and strengthen the Court's independence.
30/01/2004 | News
The Bureau of the Assembly rejected the Belarus Parliament's request for restoration of its special guest status with the Parliamentary Assembly. The Bureau considered that the reasons which had led to the suspension in 1997 were still valid. However, it expressed the desire to continue dialogue with Belarus and to observe the parliamentary elections due to be held there in the autumn of 2004.
29/01/2004 | News
The Assembly holds an urgent debate this morning on "Terrorism: a threat to democracies". On behalf of the Political Affairs Committee, the rapporteur (Murat Mercan, Turkey, EPP/CD) regrets that the legislative framework is fragmented and incomplete. Despite efforts, the United Nations have not been able to conclude a comprehensive convention on the fight against terrorism. The report advocates that the more homogeneous group of states of the Council of Europe should be able to overcome the obstacles, including a definition of terrorism. The Committee of Ministers is invited to start work without delay on elaborating a comprehensive convention.
29/01/2004 | News
The Assembly has said it may recommend the suspension of Ukraine from the Council of Europe if further attempts are made to push through political reforms “by unconstitutional means”, or if Ukraine should fail to guarantee a free and fair presidential election in October. Following an urgent debate, the parliamentarians said reforming election rules on the eve of Presidential elections was "biased and divisive" and called for any changes relating to the term and mode of election of the president to be submitted to a nation-wide referendum.
29/01/2004 | News
While regretting that “loopholes still exist in legislation, cross-border controls, prosecution and extradition arrangements in the international co-operation for fighting terrorism”, the Assembly called on 29 January on the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to “begin work without delay” on the elaboration of a comprehensive Council of Europe Convention on Terrorism. The parliamentarians said the future convention should include a definition of terrorism and terrorist acts so that terrorist offences cannot be defined as politically motivated acts. The text should also cover important aspects such as information sharing, the introduction of a pan-European “arrest warrant”, prosecution of acts committed in or affecting more than one country, financial resources, extradition and protection of witnesses and informers.
29/01/2004 | News
The Assembly today called on Council of Europe member states to improve effective access to the asylum procedure for those who arrive at European seaports or coastal areas. Following the proposals of the rapporteur (Franco Danieli, Italy, LDR), the parliamentarians said that those who wish to apply for asylum should be granted unimpeded access to the asylum procedure, including through interpretation in their language and the provision of free and independent legal advice. The text calls for improved international co-operation between police, judicial and immigration authorities and for harmonised criminal legislation to punish the smuggling of migrants and the trafficking of human beings.