08/04/2025 | Session
PACE today expressed concern about the growing divergence between international law and member states’ practice as regards collective expulsions of foreigners, recalling that such expulsions are “formally prohibited under Article 4 of Protocol No. 4 to the European Convention on Human Rights...
07/04/2025 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
On the eve of International Roma Day (8 April), Francesco Verducci (Italy, SOC), PACE General Rapporteur on combating racism and intolerance, made the following statement: “On International Roma Day, we honour the culture, language and history of Roma people, and their contribution to European...
07/04/2025 | Prizes
During a special ceremony held on 7 April 2025 in the chamber of the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg, the 2025 Council of Europe Museum Prize was awarded to Euskararen Etxea, the House of Basque Language, in Bilbao, Spain. The award was announced last December by PACE’s Culture Committee...
07/04/2025 | Session
“The outcome of the war of aggression against Ukraine is bound to shape the future of our continent. European democracies must continue to fully support Ukraine in its fight against the brutal and illegal aggression by the Russian Federation and strengthen this support as much as needed,” said...
07/04/2025 | Session
Presenting his first annual report today, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, warns that we stand at an inflection point for human rights and urges member states to renew their commitment to human rights. Addressing members of national parliaments from the 46...
07/04/2025 | Session
Despite some shortcomings and a polarised environment marked by increasingly harsh rhetoric, the calm and inclusive conduct of the elections to the Assembly of Kosovo on 9 February 2025 and the commitment of voters to democracy “represent a positive step towards bringing the country into line...
07/04/2025 | Session
The lists of candidates for the posts of judges at the European Court of Human Rights submitted by Monaco and the Slovak Republic; the observation of the recent elections to the Assembly of Kosovo*, and of the upcoming elections in Albania and Poland; the role of parliamentarians in drawing up a...
04/04/2025 | President
PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos has hailed the work of the Council of Europe Development Bank – noting its “countless achievements” in building a stronger, more inclusive and more human-centred Europe. Addressing the annual Joint Meeting of the Bank in Budva, Montenegro, the President...
04/04/2025 | Election observation
A four-member delegation* from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Simone Billi (Italy, ECPA), made a pre-electoral visit to Albania on 3-4 April 2025 to assess the electoral campaign and the political climate ahead of the parliamentary elections on 11 May 2025. The...
03/04/2025 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“I wish to express my strong support for the ClearingSport initiative by Play the Game and its crucial role in addressing corruption, financial misconduct and other threats to integrity in sport,” said PACE’s General Rapporteur on governance and ethics in sport Mogens Jensen (Denmark, SOC...
03/04/2025 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Saskia Kluit (Netherlands, SOC), Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Social Affairs, today expressed concern at the increased risk of poverty, social exclusion and deteriorating living standards among children, pointing out that 19.9 million children currently live at risk of poverty in the EU...
01/04/2025 | Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs
As part of a project to enhance ethical standards within the Parliamentary Assembly and across the parliaments of member states, funded by Germany, the Committee on Rules of Procedure organised a round table at the House of Commons in London on 31 March, bringing together members of the committee...