30/11/2012 | Standing Committee
In a resolution adopted today by the PACE Standing Committee meeting in Andorra, the Assembly called on member states to reinforce their policies on intercountry adoption in order to pursue this practice under secure conditions while respecting the best interests of the child.
22/11/2012 | Standing Committee
Ensuring that the best interests of the child are upheld in the context of intercountry adoption will be one of the central themes of the meeting of the PACE Standing Committee to be held in Andorra la Vella on Friday 30 November 2012, on the occasion of the transfer of the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers to Andorra.
25/05/2012 | Standing Committee
There are numerous Jewish cemeteries in Europe and they need to be protected and preserved. They are part of the European cultural heritage and constitute an important element of the Jewish religion, PACE's Standing Committee said today at its meeting in Tirana. Considering that these cemeteries are probably more at risk than those of other confessions represented in Europe, the adopted text, based on the proposals by the rapporteur (Piet De Bruyn, Belgium, NI), calls on governments, members of Jewish communities and heritage organisations to develop appropriate forms of co-operation to ensure their protection.
25/05/2012 | Standing Committee
Europe’s governments should set up digital film libraries and other archives of audiovisual material for education and research purposes, and clarify copyright issues for making it available on the internet, according to PACE’s Standing Committee. Approving a report by Doris Fiala (Switzerland, ALDE), the committee said that old films and recordings were “vanishing due to their material fragility”.
16/05/2012 | Standing Committee
The priorities of Albania during its forthcoming Chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers will be discussed at a meeting of PACE's Standing Committee in Tirana on Friday 25 May 2012. Albanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Edmond Haxhinasto will hold an exchange of views with the committee, which brings together around 60 parliamentarians from the Council of Europe’s 47 member states.
09/03/2012 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee, meeting today in Paris, made the following statement on the deteriorating situation of imprisoned politicians in Ukraine: “PACE notes with concern, some six weeks after Resolution 1862 (2012) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Ukraine, the absence of any tangible signs of its demands being met with regard to the criminal prosecutions initiated under Articles 364 and 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine against a number of former Government members..."
09/03/2012 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee, meeting in Paris today, made the following statement on the situation in Syria: “The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is appalled by the deterioration of the situation in Syria, where more than 8,000 persons have been killed in the last 11 months as a direct result of actions by the Syrian autocratic leadership against a pro-democracy uprising..."
09/03/2012 | Standing Committee
PACE's Standing Committee today called on all the stakeholders of the EU Eastern Partnership to make the Council of Europe’s standard-setting, advisory and monitoring role – including the findings of the Council of Europe monitoring mechanisms and the PACE monitoring procedure – and its contribution to this process, more visible and duly acknowledge them.
09/03/2012 | Standing Committee
Considering the precarious situation of numerous national minority groups in Europe, the Assembly today said it is time to reconsider its previous proposals concerning the adoption of an additional protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights, which could reinforce the standing of national minorities, both as individuals and/or as groups, before the European Court and provide them with substantive and justiciable rights.
09/03/2012 | Standing Committee
The Council of Europe member states which have not yet done so should be invited to sign and ratify the UN Convention and those member states which have ratified the Convention should contribute actively to the functioning of this instrument, PACE said today. The member states should also consider launching the process of elaborating a European convention on this issue, based on and enhancing the achievements of the UN Convention.
09/03/2012 | Standing Committee
The member states of the Council of Europe should sign and ratify the Nairobi Convention, which provides a harmonised legal framework for dealing with the problem of wrecks, PACE said today. European governments should create a European database on wrecks, carry out systematic assessments of wrecks, support research in this area, and consider setting up a fund for old wrecks that pose a threat to the environment.
09/03/2012 | Standing Committee
In order to be credible and trustworthy, expert assessments in fields such as the environment, health, energy, finance or civil protection must be independent and impartial, PACE said today. According to the parliamentarians, it is therefore essential, among other measures, to instigate model rules, to impose the traceability of expert assessments and for them to operate in a collegial framework.