19/03/2026 | President
“Protecting social rights is not a secondary political agenda. It is the very foundation of democratic stability,” said PACE President Petra Bayr today, addressing the High-Level Conference on Social Rights and the European Social Charter, organised in Chisinau by the Council of Europe and the...
18/03/2026 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Social dumping and labour exploitation, which at its worst includes forced labour and trafficking in human beings, “represents a grave violation of human dignity and fundamental rights,” warns a draft resolution adopted by PACE's Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development...
18/03/2026 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has expressed “deep concern” at ongoing legislative proposals before the Israeli Knesset that would expand the death penalty in Israel. Approving a draft resolution based on a report by Gala Veldhoen (Netherlands, SOC...
18/03/2026 | President
PACE President Petra Bayr made the following statement today, after a side-event held in the margins of the High-Level Conference on Social Rights (Chisinau, 18–19 March 2026): “On the occasion of the High-Level Conference on Social Rights – the European Social Charter, and at a time when these...
17/03/2026 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Lord Michael German (United Kingdom, ALDE), PACE General Rapporteur on European Migration and Asylum Policies, ending a series of meetings with officials from other international organisations dealing with migration, has urged European lawmakers to uphold international law in migration policy...
16/03/2026 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Yevheniia Kravchuk (Ukraine, ALDE), PACE Rapporteur on “Countering the erasure of cultural identity in times of war and peace”, made the following statement today: “I am deeply concerned by the possibility of Russia reopening its pavilion at the Venice Biennale while its war of aggression against...
16/03/2026 | Prizes
The former President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Theodoros Rousopoulos, presented the sixth ‘Human Rights in Motion’ Award at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival. The international jury selected Birds of War, a documentary by the Lebanese journalist...
13/03/2026 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Ahead of the International Day to Combat Islamophobia (15 March), Francesco Verducci (Italy, SOC), PACE General Rapporteur for combating racism and intolerance, made the following statement: “Prejudice against Muslim people remains a persistent challenge in our societies. Islamophobia often...
13/03/2026 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
"The backlash against women's rights is real, but it is not inevitable. It can be resisted, and it can be reversed, if we act together," said PACE President Petra Bayr at the opening of a side-event on the margins of the 70th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) in New York...
13/03/2026 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
A PACE committee is calling for a balanced regulation of artificial intelligence that empowers the creative sector and protects citizens and democracy at large. Approving a draft resolution based on a report by Mogens Jensen (Denmark, SOC), PACE’s Culture Committee said that current copyright...
13/03/2026 | President
PACE President Petra Bayr has concluded a visit to the UN in New York by expressing strong support for the election of a woman as the next Secretary General of the UN. The President was participating in the 70th session of the Commission for the Status of Women (CSW70), dedicated this year to the...
10/03/2026 | President
PACE President Petra Bayr, in New York to attend the UN Commission on the Status of Women, met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres yesterday for an exchange with him on key issues facing both organisations. “The UN and PACE share the same objectives and concerns: consolidating the rules-based...