17/11/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Marking End Child Sexual Abuse Day (18 November), the Chair of PACE’s Social Affairs Committee Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC) and the Chairperson of the Lanzarote Committee Maria José Castello-Branco (Portugal) made the following joint statement: “One in five girls and one in seven boys globally...
12/11/2025 | President
PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos has affirmed the Assembly’s commitment to advancing the “New Democratic Pact for Europe” – a Council of Europe initiative which aims to stop the unravelling of democracy and boost the resilience of democratic institutions against backsliding, disinformation...
10/11/2025 | Monitoring
Elvira Kovács (Serbia, EPP/CD) and Valentina Grippo (Italy, ALDE), co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the periodic review on Spain, will make a fact-finding visit to Madrid and Barcelona from 12 to 14 November, to assess the honouring of membership...
07/11/2025 | Secretary General of the Assembly
“The Pyrenean Freedom Routes* are a living tribute to the values of dignity, liberty and responsibility towards one another – exactly the values that the Council of Europe has strived to protect for 76 years,” said Despina Chatzivassiliou, Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly, speaking...
07/11/2025 | Artificial Intelligence
At the 2025 World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg, participants discussed how artificial intelligence affects elections and democratic participation. The session, titled “AI at the ballot box: threat or opportunity for democratic elections?”, was co-organised by PACE and the Council of Europe...
07/11/2025 | News
As part of the World Forum for Democracy 2025 in Strasbourg, leading figures in democracy and human rights gathered to reflect on the future of citizen participation in modern societies. Opening the third plenary session via video, Venezuelan political figure and human rights defender María...
07/11/2025 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
At the World Forum for Democracy 2025 in Strasbourg, a session co-organised by PACE and the Observatory on History Teaching in Europe explored how history education shapes democratic citizenship and resilience. Moderated by Matjaž Gruden, Director for Democracy at the Council of Europe, the...
06/11/2025 | President
The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Theodoros Rousopoulos, made the following statement today: “The Latvian parliament has finally listened to the people it represents, allowing the country to continue applying the Istanbul Convention, at least until a new...
06/11/2025 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
At the World Forum for Democracy 2025 in Strasbourg, a discussion explored how young people are reshaping democratic participation beyond traditional voting. The session, “Beyond the ballot: youth-led innovations boosting Democracy” was moderated by Valentina Grippo (Italy, ALDE), PACE General...
05/11/2025 | Rules, Ethics and Immunities
In order to give effect to Resolution 2394 (2021) on the “Gender representation in the Parliamentary Assembly”, the Committee on Rules, Ethics, and Immunities emphasised the need for PACE to amend its provisions on gender composition.On 30 October, by adopting a draft resolution based on the...
05/11/2025 | President
Opening the World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos compared democracy to a mine that depends on its pillars of trust, solidarity and accountability to remain stable. “Miners once used a small bird, a canary, because it was the first to sense the poison in...
04/11/2025 | President
In an address at a solemn ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the signature of the European Convention on Human Rights, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos hailed the Convention as “the most powerful act of imagination in our continent’s history”. Speaking at the European Court of Human...