23/04/2013 | Session
The process of legislative and institutional change in Turkey is “ongoing but incomplete”, PACE has concluded in its first assessment of the country in five years. In a resolution adopted today on the basis of a report by Josette Durrieu (France, SOC), PACE recognised there had been many reforms in Turkey since 2004 – when the full “monitoring” procedure was closed – but said these only partially responded to the remaining problem areas set out by the Assembly.
23/04/2013 | Political Affairs and Democracy
According to the PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, meeting in Strasbourg today during the plenary session, the need for European countries to mobilise efforts to curb the production of opium and heroin in Afghanistan, and dismantle networks of drug trafficking from this country is becoming urgent.
23/04/2013 | Session
Addressing PACE on Tuesday, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili appealed for European support to help his country build a better relationship with Russia. “The recently-begun dialogue between Tbilisi and Moscow should not create an impression that Georgia is dealing with this problem on its own and no longer needs the support of European partners,” said the Prime Minister.
23/04/2013 | Session
“Politics means building a country, a Europe, a better world for future generations,” said Didier Burkhalter, Vice-President of the Swiss Federal Council and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in his address to the Parliamentary Assembly.
23/04/2013 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Politicians should be protected from criminal prosecution based on their political decisions, while being held to account for criminal acts or omissions – such as acting for personal gain or violating the fundamental rights of others – PACE’s Legal Affairs Committee has said.
23/04/2013 | Session
The Assembly called for committed legal action and policies to fight effectively against child sex tourism. Following the proposals by the rapporteur Valeriu Ghiletchi (Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD), the Assembly called on European governments to develop, implement and monitor mechanisms that will “prevent high-risk sex offenders from travelling abroad”...
23/04/2013 | Session
The Assembly believes it is possible to step up the effectiveness of the Council of Europe ONE in FIVE Campaign even further and today recommended that the Committee of Ministers allocate adequate financing from the ordinary budget of the Council of Europe to the three dimensions of the campaign...
23/04/2013 | Session
The Assembly today urged its member States to take concrete measures to end discrimination against Roma children. The adopted text, based on the on the proposals by the rapporteur (Nursuna Memecan, Turkey, ALDE), stresses that these efforts should be aimed at improving the material living conditions of Roma families...
22/04/2013 | Session
When adopting its final agenda at the opening of the Spring Session 2013, PACE decided to hold a current affairs debate on "Syrian refugees in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq: how to organise and support international assistance," on Thursday 25. The President of the Jordanian Parliament has been invited to address the Assembly in the framework of this debate...
22/04/2013 | Session
At the opening of its Spring plenary Session (22-26 April 2013), the Assembly today elected its Vice-Presidents with respect to Malta, Joseph Debono Grech ; Monaco, Jean-Charles Allavena ; and Romania, Ionuţ-Marian Stroe.
22/04/2013 | Session
The credentials of Ukrainian deputy Andriy Shevchenko, who was nominated to replace Sergiy Vlasenko on the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation, were challenged at the opening of PACE’s spring session today in Strasbourg.
22/04/2013 | Session
At the opening of the spring session of the PACE, the President, Jean-Claude Mignon, welcomed the unreserved support of the Czech Republic and of the Václav Havel Library and Charta 77 Foundation for the change in the name of the PACE Human Rights Prize to “Václav Havel Human Rights Prize”.