22/05/2026 | Standing Committee
The Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which acts in the name of the Assembly between sessions and brings together around 60 parliamentarians from the Council of Europe’s 46 member states, met in Monaco on Friday 22 May 2026. On 15 May, Monaco began...
22/05/2026 | Standing Committee
A meeting of PACE’s Standing Committee opened in Monaco today, with a series of opening speeches which focused on the urgent need to uphold the founding ideals of the Council of Europe in ever more worrying times – and on the concrete steps which the organisation is taking, including bringing...
22/05/2026 | Standing Committee
The PACE Standing Committee, meeting today in Monaco, welcomed the Venice Commission’s proactive stance in updating the Rule of Law Checklist to reflect the challenges to the rule of law and lessons drawn from developments in its 61 member states. The committee contributed to the update...
22/05/2026 | Standing Committee
By adopting unanimously a resolution today, based on the proposals by Constantinos Efstathiou (Cyprus, SOC), the PACE Standing Committee, meeting in Monaco, decided to restructure and streamline the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, as well as its complementary texts, with the aim of making the...
22/05/2026 | Standing Committee
PACE has adopted a resolution stressing that “equality and non-discrimination are cornerstones of democratic societies and essential elements of the rule of law”, while warning that “regressions in women’s rights may serve as an early warning sign of broader democratic backsliding”. The adopted...
22/05/2026 | Standing Committee
The PACE Standing Committee, meeting today in Monaco, strongly condemned “the deliberate targeting and killing of local journalists in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces” and Israel’s prohibition on international journalists and media outlets accessing the Gaza Strip. It also deplores the...
21/05/2026 | Monitoring
The Monitoring Committee has expressed “serious concerns about the democratic breakdown and deep political and social crisis” in Georgia, warning that “the democratic backsliding has continued unabated as has the crackdown on civil society, political opposition and dissent”. In a draft resolution...
21/05/2026 | Political Affairs and Democracy
The Committee on Political Affairs, meeting in Paris on 20 May, strongly condemned “the brutal, murderous and systematic repression of the protests” that began in Iran in December 2025 and the intensification of this repression since the beginning of the armed conflict in February 2026 with...
21/05/2026 | President
The adoption yesterday by the UN General Assembly of a resolution on the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on climate change sends a strong and timely message: climate action and human rights are inseparable. The resolution reaffirms that states have obligations under...
21/05/2026 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy has adopted a draft report stressing that artificial intelligence (AI) brings both major opportunities and serious risks for democratic systems, while warning that “efforts to ensure that AI systems are safe and regulated by democratic governance...
21/05/2026 | Monitoring
The Monitoring Committee, meeting in Sarajevo on 19 May, welcomed the progress made by Serbia as regards the reform of the judiciary and prosecution services since its accession to the Council of Europe in 2003, in particular the adoption of amendments to the Constitution in February 2022 and of...
20/05/2026 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Following the adoption of the Chişinău Declaration on migration, PACE’s Migration Committee has requested a current affairs debate on the topic at the Assembly’s forthcoming summer plenary session (22-26 June 2026). The committee’s Chairperson Sandra Zampa (Italy, SOC) echoed Assembly President...