11/03/2011 | Standing Committee
European states should enhance and modernise the legal framework surrounding biometric data used to identify individuals – such as DNA samples, fingerprinting, retina images or voice recordings – so that their use does not infringe human rights, according to PACE’s Standing Committee.
11/03/2011 | Standing Committee
"For the Council of Europe the current events in the Arab world are of major importance - not only because they affect peace and security in the region and beyond; but also because of our deep historic and cultural links and our close inter-dependence," PACE President Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said during a current affairs debate of the Standing Committee in Paris.
11/03/2011 | Standing Committee
The Standing Committee has just approved the setting up of an Ad hoc committee of the Bureau on recent detentions, prosecutions and convictions of members of the opposition in Belarus, tasked with gathering and analysing all relevant information concerning the events of 19 December 2010 following the presidential election in Belarus and subsequent developments in respect of members of the opposition.
11/03/2011 | Standing Committee
PACE’s Standing Committee has warmly welcomed the draft Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, as the first international binding instrument specifically devoted to this issue and as an important step forward for equality.
04/03/2011 | Standing Committee
A current affairs debate on co-operation between the Council of Europe and emerging democracies in the Arab world will be a highlight of a meeting of the PACE Standing Committee in Paris on 11 March 2011. Other topics to be debated include an opinion on the Draft Council of Europe Convention to Prevent and Combat Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, preserving the environment in the Mediterranean, the need for a global consideration of the human rights implications of biometrics, and “Genetically modified organisms: a solution for the future?”
12/11/2010 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee today held a current affairs debate on “recent violent attacks against Christians and other religious communities in Iraq” during its meeting in Antalya, Turkey. Opening the debate, requested by the French delegation to the Assembly, Jean-Claude Mignon (France, EPP/CD) said the Assembly could not avoid discussing this issue.
12/11/2010 | Standing Committee
PACE has called on European governments to suspend planned returns of Roma to Kosovo* “until they can be shown to be safe and sustainable”. Approving a report on “Roma asylum seekers in Europe” by Milorad Pupovac (Croatia, SOC) today in Antalya, PACE’s Standing Committee - which acts in the name of the Assembly – said these Roma faced “an unsustainable social situation with little chance of reintegration upon return, as well as serious threats to their personal security”.
12/11/2010 | Standing Committee
Council of Europe member states should pass strict laws governing online gambling and regulate them effectively, PACE Standing Committee has said. Approving a report by Laurent Beteille (France, EPP/CD), the committee said the legal situation at EU level should be clarified and a European policy adopted to protect players against online gambling addiction.
12/11/2010 | Standing Committee
In a resolution adopted today, the Assembly called on member states to combat the harmful effects of noise and light pollution. It advocated measures with a view to "introducing threshold values for noise and light […], imposing penalties and establishing maximum reference values for noise in connection with the WHO guidelines”.
12/11/2010 | Standing Committee
PACE's Standing Committee has demanded "immediate action" to save endangered languages in Europe, including raising awareness of them, encouraging their transmission to younger generations, and ensuring they are taught using new information technologies, if necessary.
12/11/2010 | Standing Committee
PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu has pledged the Assembly's full support for the priorities of the new Turkish Chairmanship of the Council of Europe, particularly its work to address the current challenges of multicultural societies. During an exchange of views with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at a meeting of PACE's Standing Committee in Antalya, the President said the Assembly had "a wealth of ideas and concrete proposals" to contribute on this topic.
05/11/2010 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee will meet in Antalya on Friday 12 November 2010 as Turkey takes over the chairmanship of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu will open the meeting, followed by welcome addresses from Deputy Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Sadik Yakut and the Governor of Antalya Ahmet Altiparmak. The parliamentarians will then hold an exchange of views with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is chairing the Council of Europe’s executive body for six months from 10 November 2010.