06/06/2011 | Election observation
Yesterday’s early parliamentary elections were competitive, transparent and well-administered throughout the country, but certain aspects such as the blurring of the line between state and party require further attention, the international observers concluded in Skopje today.
01/06/2011 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
"I welcome yesterday's announcement by the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that mobile phone use should be classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans," today declared Jean Huss (Luxembourg, SOC), author of the report on the potential dangers of electromagnetic fields and their effect on the environment, which resulted in a Resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) last Friday.
01/06/2011 | Monitoring
PACE rapporteurs for the honouring of commitments by Ukraine, Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden, EPP/CD), welcomed the authorities “considerable efforts” and “political will” to honour their accession obligations to the Council of Europe. “The initiation of a profound constitutional reform process should be welcomed in this context”, they underline in an information note. However, “developments with regard to electoral reform are of serious concern”, especially in the context of the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2012.
01/06/2011 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Christos Papoutsis, Greece’s Minister for Citizen Protection, has acknowledged his country’s “serious problems” with flows of irregular migrants, with huge implications for Greek society and economy – but pledged to handle them “with sensitivity and responsibility”.
01/06/2011 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
All Council of Europe member states have a “moral duty” to share responsibility with frontline Mediterranean states – such as Malta, Italy or Greece – for handling asylum-seekers and refugees arriving on Europe’s southern shores, PACE’s Migration Committee has said.
31/05/2011 | Political Affairs and Democracy
On the basis of a report presented by Luca Volontè (Italy, EPP/CD), the PACE Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris today, voted in favour of granting the Parliament of Morocco partner for democracy status. The PACE will be required to vote on a corresponding draft resolution at its forthcoming plenary session in Strasbourg (20-24 June).
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
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.”