09/03/2012 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee, meeting today in Paris, made the following statement on the deteriorating situation of imprisoned politicians in Ukraine: “PACE notes with concern, some six weeks after Resolution 1862 (2012) on the functioning of democratic institutions in Ukraine, the absence of any tangible signs of its demands being met with regard to the criminal prosecutions initiated under Articles 364 and 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine against a number of former Government members..."
09/03/2012 | Standing Committee
The performance of parliament is one of the essential indicators of the state of democracy in a country. In this context, measuring the democratic performance of parliaments in Council of Europe member states may therefore be useful, PACE said today. According to parliamentarians, self-evaluation by parliaments according to agreed benchmarks and a clearly established procedural framework could be a tool for identifying solutions to the shortcomings observed in representative democracy.
09/03/2012 | Standing Committee
While noting that the inhabitants of Rhodes and Kos with a Turkish cultural background are generally well integrated into the multicultural societies of the two islands, PACE today noted that supporting the Turkish language, heritage and culture and promoting their better knowledge would benefit not only the inhabitants with a Turkish cultural background, but also their neighbours with Greek or other cultural backgrounds. In that sense, PACE made proposals intended to assist the Greek authorities in resolving this and other issues in a constructive manner.
09/03/2012 | Monitoring
After his talks in Podgorica, including visits to refugees and displaced persons in the Konik camp, Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD), PACE Rapporteur on the monitoring of Montenegro, stated that he was expecting a major political gesture from the Montenegrin authorities: “Montenegro generously took in over 120 000 refugees and displaced persons fleeing the war in former Yugoslavia and Kosovo. Now the authorities can seize this historical opportunity to integrate those who will not or cannot go back home..."
08/03/2012 | Bureau
PACE Bureau meeting in Paris on 8 March 2012, International Women’s Day, recalls that every year for over a century, this day has drawn our attention to the fact that women and men do not have the same opportunities in life. This year it should also remind us that equality and democracy are inextricably linked and that one cannot exist without the other.
07/03/2012 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Football’s governing body FIFA should open an internal investigation into whether the candidates in its recent election for President – and particularly the successful candidate – exploited their institutional positions to obtain “unfair advantages for themselves or for potential voters”, according to a PACE committee.
07/03/2012 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Harmonised laws to combat ‘match-fixing’ came a step closer yesterday when PACE’s Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media unanimously called on the Council of Europe’s 47 member states to draw up a convention – or binding international treaty – against match-fixing and illegal betting. Meeting in Paris, the committee said the need for such a legal instrument was now “urgent”.
07/03/2012 | President
In a statement to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon has said there can be no democracy without respect for women’s rights. He launched a message of support and encouragement to all women living in the new democracies emerging from the Arab Spring. “Women, who were on the front line of the uprisings against authoritarian regimes, must also be on the front line when it comes to the running of public institutions, political decision-making, being able to vote and stand for elections,” said Jean-Claude Mignon.
07/03/2012 | President
In a statement to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon has said there can be no democracy without respect for women’s rights. He launched a message of support and encouragement to all women living in the new democracies emerging from the Arab Spring.
07/03/2012 | President
“The activities of the Council of Europe and the European Union are complementary: they pursue the common goal of creating a space for human rights protection throughout Europe, in the interests of all European citizens,” said PACE President, Jean-Claude Mignon, at the end of a two-day visit to Brussels, which included a series of high-level talks with various representatives of the European institutions.“We must avoid duplication of the Council’s and EU activities, while attempting to set up new synergies,” he added.
06/03/2012 | President
PACE President Jean-Claude Mignon will be holding high-level talks in Brussels on 6 and 7 March with Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Štefan Füle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, and Pierre Vimont, Executive Secretary General of the European External Action Service.
05/03/2012 | Election observation
Although candidates in yesterday’s presidential election in the Russian Federation were able to campaign unhindered, conditions were clearly skewed in favour of one of the contestants, current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the international observers concluded in a statement issued today. "This election showed a clear winner with an absolute majority, avoiding a second round," said the head of the PACE delegation Tiny Kox (Netherlands, UEL).