13/05/2020 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE monitors for Turkey Thomas Hammarberg (Sweden, SOC) and John Howell (United Kingdom, EC/DA), as well as the General rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member States Alexandra Louis (France, ALDE), have reacted to the decision of the Grand Chamber of...
11/05/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Rósa Björk Brynjólfsdóttir (Iceland, UEL), PACE rapporteur on “Stop violence against, and exploitation of, migrant children”, has called for urgent action from European governments to assist internally displaced children, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. “UNICEF’s new report, Lost at Home...
11/05/2020 | Monitoring
PACE’s co-rapporteurs on the functioning of democratic institutions in Poland, Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD) and Azadeh Rojhan Gustafsson (Sweden, SOC), have taken note of the de facto last-minute cancellation of the Presidential election in Poland, due to take place on 10 May 2020. While...
11/05/2020 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
With violence against women increasing during the COVID-19 lockdown, parliamentarians and experts from across the international community came together in an online conversation on Europe Day (5 May) to urge governments to tackle this “dramatic situation” by fully implementing the measures laid...
09/05/2020 | President
“Life after the Corona crisis will be different – but our rights and freedoms should stay the same,” said PACE President Rik Daems in a special video message to mark the Schuman Declaration (9 May) and the forthcoming 70th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. “In the Council of...
07/05/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Two PACE rapporteurs have called on national policy-makers and international institutions to “act in a concerted manner now in order to beat both the virus and the crisis”, urging a strong political response which stabilises economies while protecting the vulnerable. In a joint statement...
07/05/2020 | Standing Committee
The Standing Committee (*) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) held its second virtual meeting today from 12 noon to 1 pm. Thirty six members took part in the meeting. The Standing Committee took a decision on the references to committees of motions for reports submitted...
07/05/2020 | Bureau
At its meeting on 7 May, the Bureau approved a memorandum on arrangements for the conduct of remote committee meetings, introducing supplementary working methods on a temporary basis in response to the exceptional situation of COVID-19. The organisation and holding of such meetings must guarantee...
06/05/2020 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), rapporteur on the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the rule of law in Malta, today responded to developments in the process of institutional reform in Malta. “When I visited Malta in February, I was encouraged to hear from the government that an...
05/05/2020 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“PACE‘s support for democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Kosovo* holds strong in these challenging times,” said PACE Rapporteur Peter BEYER (Germany, EPP/CD). “The people of Kosovo* have been hit hard by the current Coronavirus crisis, as are many others around the world. My sympathy...
05/05/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“It is an outstanding effort during the current pandemic that Greece transferred several hundred vulnerable migrants from island camps to Athens on 4 May. I wish to praise Greece for this humanitarian act, at a moment when Greece will begin to chair the Committee of Ministers,” declared Fabien...
04/05/2020 | President
“The Council of Europe was born on the ashes of World War Two, thanks to brave people who, in a spirit of sacrifice, resisted tyranny and oppression to affirm the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law,” said Rik Daems, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of...