31/05/2011 | Election observation
13-member delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), led by Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD), will be visiting “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” from 3 to 6 June to observe the early parliamentary elections, alongside observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE and the OSCE’s Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
31/05/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“Given the ongoing harassment and political trials of civil society and political opponents, and continuing the restrictions of freedom of speech and association, the human rights situation in Belarus is deteriorating and remains a matter of serious concern,” said Sinikka Hurskainen (Finland, SOC), PACE's outgoing rapporteur on Belarus, speaking today.
30/05/2011 | Monitoring
Grigore Petrenco (Moldova, UEL) has been appointed as a co-rapporteur for PACE’s monitoring of Albania, to replace Jaako Laakso (Finland, UEL), who leaves this post after more than three years. He will work alongside the existing co-rapporteur Thomáš Jirsa (Czech Republic, EDG).Albania has been subject to the Assembly’s monitoring procedure – which involves regular visits to the country, dialogue with the authorities and periodic Assembly debates – since it joined the Council of Europe in 1995.
30/05/2011 | Monitoring
Indrek Saar (Estonia, SOC) has been appointed as a co-rapporteur for PACE’s monitoring of Serbia, to replace Sinikka Hurskainen (Finland, SOC). He will work alongside the existing co-rapporteur Davit Harutyunyan (Armenia, EDG). Serbia has been subject to the Assembly’s monitoring procedure – which involves regular visits to the country, dialogue with the authorities and periodic Assembly debates – since it joined the Council of Europe in 2003.
30/05/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
According to a report on the situation in Tunisia, prepared by Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE) and adopted by the PACE Political Affairs Committee today in Paris, the Assembly must put its experience of accompanying democratic transitions and establishing new institutions in young democracies in Europe at the disposal of Tunisia’s transitional institutions, future permanent institutions and civil society.
27/05/2011 | Standing Committee
PACE today welcomed the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative, describing it as a “major opportunity” for the six countries involved (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) to achieve reform and greater prosperity through enhanced links with the European Union.
27/05/2011 | Monitoring
PACE co-rapporteur on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Serbia, Davit Harutyunyan (Armenia, EDG), pays tribute to the steps taken by the Serbian parliament to align its legislation with Council of Europe standards. He particularly welcomes progress made in implementing PACE Resolution 1661 (2009) by abolishing blank resignations, amending the system of allocation of seats in parliament - which should better respect the will of the citizens - and ensuring a better access of women to elected positions in parliament.
27/05/2011 | Standing Committee
Microcredit, used to encourage the formation and development of microenterprises, often aids the transition from unemployment to self-employment, and plays an important part in promoting social inclusion, the PACE believes. In a resolution adopted today in Kyiv, on the basis of the report by Márton Braun (Hungary, EPP/CD), the PACE accordingly invited member states to adapt their institutional, legal and commercial frameworks in order to promote microcredit.
27/05/2011 | Standing Committee
The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) currently discriminates against new EU member states and needs a “radical shift” to make it fairer and more sustainable, according to PACE. In a resolution adopted today, based on a report by Juha Korkeaoja (Finland, ALDE), the Assembly said it “deplores that 85 per cent of CAP direct payments go to just 18 per cent of farmers, with the largest farms in the old EU member states benefiting the most.”
27/05/2011 | Standing Committee
In a resolution adopted today in Kyiv, PACE called on member states to eliminate as many heavy metals and other metals as possible from the human environment and to prevent their bioaccumulation in nature, the food chain and the human body. In respect of the most toxic heavy metals, such as mercury, member states should prohibit or limit the use of these substances by industry, agriculture and the medical sector – particularly the use of mercury in dental amalgams.
27/05/2011 | Standing Committee
“The priorities of Ukraine’s Chairmanship – protection of children’s rights, promotion of human rights and the rule of law in the context of democracy and stability in Europe, as well as the strengthening and development of local democracy – fully correspond to the 'core business' and values of our Assembly,” today stressed PACE President at the opening of the PACE Standing Committee in Kyiv.
27/05/2011 | Standing Committee
The Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Kyiv at Standing Committee level, today called on European governments to “take all reasonable measures” to reduce exposure to electromagnetic fields, especially to radio frequencies from mobile phones, “and particularly the exposure to children and young people who seem to be most at risk from head tumours”.