21/05/2010 | Standing Committee
The Assembly today welcomed the new code of Code of good practice in the field of political parties, prepared by the Venice Commission. The report by Pedro Agramunt (Spain, EPP/CD) considers it "a systematic repertoire of best practice in Europe", offering public authorities and courts a yardstick to assess the practice of political parties continent-wide. The Assembly should forward it to national delegations, parliaments and political parties.
21/05/2010 | Standing Committee
In a resolution adopted today in Skopje, PACE invited member states to “encourage the use of geothermal energy”. According to the Assembly, in order to achieve this goal it is essential, to “increase realisation and awareness among the general public and potential investors of the advantages of geothermal technologies”, and to set up suitable “strategic research programmes, financing and insurance schemes”.
21/05/2010 | Standing Committee
The Assembly elected the Council of Europe’s new Secretary General, Thorbjorn Jagland, by a significant majority, with a clear mandate to pursue reform, and should now aim to assist him in implementing the institutional improvements he envisages, the Assembly said today. Given the current difficulties, 2011 must therefore be regarded as a year of transition, the parliamentarians believe.
21/05/2010 | Standing Committee
In a resolution adopted today in Skopje, the PACE urged member to “increase the quality, quantity and regularity of the information they share with other member states on sex offenders” for effective oversight of their movements from one country to another, and to do so in compliance with the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data.
21/05/2010 | Standing Committee
"The priorities of the Macedonian Chairmanship [of the Committee of Ministers] largely coincide with those that I promote as President of the Parliamentary Assembly,” today said Mevlüt Çavusoglu at the opening of the PACE Standing Committee in Skopje.
12/05/2010 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee will be meeting in Skopje on Friday 21 May 2010 to discuss the priorities of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, which, since yesterday, has held the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, the Organisation’s executive body. After the opening of the meeting by Mevlüt Çavusoglu, President of the PACE, and a welcoming address by Trajko Veljanoski, President of the Assembly of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, the Standing Committee will hold an exchange of views with Antonio Miloshoski, Minister for Foreign Affairs of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, who will be chairing the Committee of Ministers for the next six months.
12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee, meeting in Paris today, called for the appropriate inclusion of the aspect of children who witness domestic violence into a future Council of Europe Convention focussing on violence against women. It invited member states to develop comprehensive social services and educational strategies aimed at preventing the intergenerational transfer of domestic violence. The report, presented by Carina Ohlsson (Sweden, SOC), also proposed to develop the Council of Europe Platform on Childrens’ Rights launched in June 2009.
12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
"Eleven years after the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities came into force, eight member states have still not ratified it, and restrictive declarations and reservations sometimes hinder its operation", according to Boriss Cilevics (Latvia, SOC), speaking at a meeting of the Standing Committee in Paris today. In a recommendation adopted on the basis of his report, the PACE asked the Committee of Ministers to increase efforts to achieve speedy ratification of the Convention.
12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
The Assembly today adopted, in its Standing Committee, an opinion on the draft protocol to the Convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters. In its opinion, prepared by Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), PACE paid special attention to the need to protect personal data, as well as administrative assistance in criminal tax matters and the compatibility of the text with European Union law.
12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
Following its debate on a report presented by Paul Wille (Belgium, ALDE), PACE today invited Council of Europe member states to ensure that the right to equal pay for work of equal value is enshrined in their domestic legislation, and that employees have recourse to the judicial process to pursue their claims with regard to this right, without incurring risks to their employment.
12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee, meeting in Paris today, recommends that the Committee of Ministers initiate a future-oriented study on copyright in the digital environment and give thought to the changes required to guarantee a flexible legal apparatus, enabling copyright law to adapt more easily to technical, economic and social changes.
12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
"The Parliamentary Assembly is increasingly concerned about the serious threat posed by counterfeit medicines to the life and health of vulnerable people and patients in Europe and elsewhere. The recent development of cross-border care and the introduction of on-line pharmaceutical sales and direct e-mail ordering have amplified the problem", concluded Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE) today at the PACE Standing Committee meeting in Paris.