22/01/2013 | President
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty, PACE President, Jean-Claude Mignon, has stressed that, today more than ever, Franco-German reconciliation offers a message of encouragement wherever reconciliation still seems premature, a message of perseverance in the task of European integration, but also a message of vigilance in the face of rising Euro-scepticism and populism.
22/01/2013 | Session
Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland today issued an impassioned call for Europe to reaffirm its collective and individual commitment to protect human rights, solidarity and democracy, but warned that widespread corruption was undermining citizens’ trust in the rule of law.
22/01/2013 | Session
Reacting to the interruption by the Russian Federation of intercountry adoption procedures involving the United States of America as a ‘receiving country’, Marlene Rupprecht (Germany, SOC), PACE General Rapporteur on Children, said that she was worried about the situation of Russian children who are taken as hostages of transatlantic diplomatic tensions and called on the Russian authorities to revoke the law.
22/01/2013 | Session
"The European Court of Human Rights is not only a cornerstone in the defense of fundamental rights, but also a reference point for national judges", declared the Italian Justice Minister Paola Severino, while addressing PACE on Tuesday, January 22nd.
22/01/2013 | Session
The committees of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today elected or re-elected their Chairpersons: Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy Pietro Marcenaro (Italy, SOC), re-elected; Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG), re-elected...
22/01/2013 | Session
Hans Peter Lankes, Vice-President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), today underlined the importance of the Bank’s relationship with the Council of Europe, and in particular with the PACE Monitoring Committee, as a forum for political scrutiny.
22/01/2013 | Session
At the end of a parliamentary debate, held on the basis of the report by Luca Volontè (Italy, EPP/CD), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today decided “to continue the post-monitoring dialogue with the Bulgarian authorities in respect of reform of the judiciary, media freedom and transparency of ownership, as well as the revision of the Electoral Code."
21/01/2013 | Session
At the opening of its Winter Session, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today re-elected Jean-Claude Mignon as its President. PACE also elected its Vice-Presidents (in alphabetical order): Francis Agius - Malta; José Maria Beneyto – Spain; Fernand Boden - Luxembourg...
21/01/2013 | Session
At the opening of its Winter Session 2013, members of the Assembly stood for a minute of silence in memory of former PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig, who died last month. “A fine companion and great friend has left us. Lluís Maria de Puig was one of the most enthusiastic agents in building the European dream embodied by our Council of Europe”, PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon said.
21/01/2013 | Session
In his opening address at the PACE Winter Session, Assembly President Jean-Claude Mignon took stock of his action over the past twelve months. Having been re-elected for a new one-year term, he also presented the priorities for his presidency. "I shall naturally endeavour to continue into 2013 the action we initiated in 2012...
21/01/2013 | Session
The credentials of a member of the Greek delegation to the PACE, Eleni Zaroulia, and a member of the Hungarian delegation, Tamás Gaudi Nagy, were challenged on procedural grounds at the opening of the PACE session today in Strasbourg. Making the challenges, Fiamma Nirenstein (Italy, EPP/CD) said that both members belonged to political parties which were “racist and anti-semitic”...
21/01/2013 | Session
“Georgia has been threatened, embargoed, bombed, invaded and occupied. Two of our regions have been ethnically cleansed” declared President Saakashvili on Monday.