07/05/2012 | Elections
Serbia’s parliamentary and early presidential elections on 6 May 2012 took place in an open and competitive environment but additional efforts are needed to improve the transparency of the election process and the functioning of the media, international observers said in a statement issued today.
04/05/2012 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), who is preparing a PACE report on “Keeping political and criminal responsibility separate”, will make a fact-finding visit to Iceland from 7 to 9 May 2012 to examine the case of former Prime Minister Geir Haarde, who was put on trial for failing to take appropriate ministerial action to avert the 2008 banking crisis.
04/05/2012 | Monitoring
Robert Walter (United Kingdom, EDG), PACE rapporteur for post-monitoring dialogue with "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", will make a fact-finding visit to the country from 7 to 10 May 2012.
02/05/2012 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“As the media have developed from Gutenberg's printing press to the internet in a globalised information society, universal human rights such as media freedom have become part of a universal culture embedded in the hearts and minds of people all around the world," said Deborah Bergamini (Italy, EPP/CD).
29/04/2012 | Elections
The 4 March presidential election in Russia showed "a clear winner with an absolute majority", but the voter's choice was limited, the electoral competition lacked fairness and an impartial referee was missing, according to the final report of PACE's delegation to observe the election. "Due to increased citizen awareness and involvement, these elections were more lively, better managed and more seriously observed," said the report, by delegation head Tiny Kox (Netherlands, UEL).
27/04/2012 | Elections
A 24-member PACE delegation led by Baroness Nicholson (United Kingdom, ALDE), will travel to Armenia from 4 to 7 May to observe the parliamentary elections alongside observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, the European Parliament and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE.
27/04/2012 | Session
PACE has demanded a series of steps to end what it calls “massive tax avoidance, evasion and fraud” facilitated by secrecy jurisdictions, tax havens and offshore financial centres. Adopting a resolution based on a report by Dirk van der Maelen (Belgium, SOC), the parliamentarians said tackling global distortions due to harmful or predatory tax practices was “a moral duty” because they drain public finances and cause serious harm to the public interest.
27/04/2012 | Session
In order to safeguard decent pensions for all, and to address the dual challenge of ageing of the population and the current economic crisis, the PACE calls on member states to “design national pension systems based on several pillars and a ‘mix’ of sources of pension income”. The PACE also called on member states to “find appropriate solutions for people with periods in which they have made no pension contributions” and for those who are less able to prepare for their retirement.
27/04/2012 | Session
Representatives of Google, Facebook and Index on Censorship were among participants taking part in a round table on internet freedom yesterday, organised by PACE's Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media together with the British Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers. Other speakers included British Ambassador Eleanor Fuller and Felix Treguer of La Quadrature du Net. The participants agreed that internet freedom was increasingly at risk, both from restrictive legislation in some countries as well as by the practices of some internet companies.
27/04/2012 | Elections
A 20-member PACE delegation, led by Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD), will visit Serbia from 4 to 7 May 2012 to observe the parliamentary and presidential elections alongside observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE.
26/04/2012 | Session
President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Jean-Claude Mignon and President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities Keith Whitmore announced today the results of the Best Practice Award Programme for European Coastal Towns, at a ceremony during the Parliamentary Assembly session in Strasbourg.
26/04/2012 | Session
It is now up to all players – the European Court of Human Rights, national governments, the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly – to ensure that the Brighton Declaration is put into effect, said Hans Franken (Netherlands, EPP/CD), opening a current affairs debate today on the future of the Court.