26/03/2012 | President
Boris Tadić (President of the Republic of Serbia) and Souhayr Belhassen (President of the International Federation of Human Rights), are the two North-South Prize 2011 laureates. The Prize will be awarded in Lisbon by the President of the Republic, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, during an official ceremony, notably with Parliamentary Assembly President Jean-Claude Mignon, at the Senate Room of the National Portuguese Assembly, on 27 March (11h00).
23/03/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“The energy sector will continue to be dominated by fossil fuels for many years to come. It is vital to first diversify our approach to energy”, said an expert, Professor Samuele Furfari, at a hearing held in Paris today by PACE's Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development. In particular, he proposed a three-pronged approach to diversification.
23/03/2012 | Monitoring
Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD), PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Ukraine, will visit Kyiv from 27 to 29 March 2012 to assess the follow-up given to Assembly Resolution 1862 (2012) on “the functioning of democratic institutions in Ukraine”, passed in January.
23/03/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“From an economic perspective, cuts in public spending, social security and wages are not effective against the current crisis because they particularly affect those who receive the lowest wages, the unemployed, pensioners and other social groups in need of special protection - children, the elderly and disabled, migrants.
23/03/2012 | President
Following his official visit to Monaco, PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon praised Monaco’s efforts to modernise its institutions and encouraged the authorities to adopt the most modern international standards to address the current challenges of international co-operation.
22/03/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
In a draft resolution adopted unanimously in Paris today, PACE’s Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development proposes a series of measures to guarantee decent pensions for all.
22/03/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
With the report of Dirk Van der Maelen (Belgium, SOC) on promoting an appropriate policy on tax havens, the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development expresses its concern about the extent of the offshore financial system involving tax havens and its impact on public finances, stability of financial markets and society at large.
21/03/2012 | President
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon is to make an official visit to the Principality of Monaco on 23 and 24 March 2012. On 23 March he is due to meet the President of Monaco’s National Council Jean-Francois Robillon and the heads of political groups in the Council, as well as Minister of State Michel Roger. He will also have an audience with His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco.
21/03/2012 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The danger of austerity measures for democracy and social rights will be a major theme of a PACE hearing on overcoming the economic crisis and its effects, taking place in Paris on 22 March 2012. Other topics at the hearing, organised by PACE’s Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, include the consequences of the financial crisis for young people and its impact on local and regional authorities.
21/03/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Girls victims of rape should be assisted and protected; the last thing that could help them overcome their trauma is being forced to marry the man who raped them” said Fatiha Saïdi, rapporteur on ‘Equality between women and men: a condition for the success of the Arab Spring’, referring to the recent suicide of a young girl in Morocco.
21/03/2012 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Politicians must condemn racial discrimination and put the fight against it “at the heart of their public engagement”, PACE’s Equality Committee has said in a declaration to mark the UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
20/03/2012 | President
Following the shootings in Toulouse, PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon this morning visited the Aquiba School in Strasbourg, in order to express his sympathy and voice the Parliamentary Assembly’s solidarity with the Jewish community.