24/06/2011 | Session
European sport could end up as “a graveyard” if it goes the way of Asia – which has lost millions in sponsorship and TV rights as a result of corrupt “match-fixing” – a hearing on the phenomenon heard today. Investigative journalist Declan Hill, who spent seven months undercover to expose match-fixing syndicates, told participants at the hearing – including sports officials, parliamentarians and experts – that there were few sports in Asia that had not been affected, and that European sport was now “on a knife-edge”.
24/06/2011 | Session
PACE today urged member states to adjust public policies so as to fully implement the labour-related provisions of the revised European Social Charter and give priority to reducing youth unemployment...
24/06/2011 | Monitoring
In an information note declassified by PACE Monitoring Committee on 21 June 2011, the co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Montenegro, Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD) and Serhiy Holovaty (Ukraine, ALDE), welcomed Montenegro’s willingness to honour its commitments and obligations and meet the requirements of the European Union in the field of human rights, the rule of law and democracy in order to begin the EU accession negotiation process.
23/06/2011 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
PACE has launched an inquiry into who is responsible for the more than 1,000 “boat people” thought to have perished in the Mediterranean since January 2011 while trying to reach European soil from North Africa. Following a request for an inquiry signed by 34 members of the Assembly, PACE’s Migration Committee today appointed Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC) to prepare a report on “Lives lost in the Mediterranean sea: who is responsible?”.
23/06/2011 | Prizes
At the end of a special debate on the state of human rights in Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today presented its 2011 Human Rights Prize to the Russian NGO “Committee against Torture” (Komitet Protiv Pytok), in recognition of the organisation’s key role in assisting victims of serious human rights abuses.
23/06/2011 | Session
PACE today set out in detail what national parliaments of Council of Europe member states can do to ensure compliance with international human rights standards. Approving a report by Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), the Assembly said parliaments should set up committees to check draft laws for their “human rights compatibility”, propose new laws where needed and monitor governments’ compliance with international standards – especially judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
23/06/2011 | Session
“Within our legacy there are lessons to be learnt” said Robert Walter (United KIngdom, EDG) in Strasbourg today, opening a current affairs debate on the political and humanitarian consequences of the situation in Syria and Libya.
23/06/2011 | Session
The European Union's forthcoming accession to the European Convention on Human Rights fills an important gap in Europe's human rights protection system, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, Germany's Minister of Justice, has told the Parliamentary Assembly.
23/06/2011 | Session
UK Attorney General Dominic Grieve today affirmed that the UK government will use its upcoming chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers from November this year to pursue reforms in the Council of Europe and Court of Human Rights.
23/06/2011 | Session
According to PACE, the experience of quotas could be advantageously transposed to the private and socio-economic sectors to improve the representation of women in decision-making bodies. In this connection, the Assembly proposed in a resolution adopted today that member states “introduce the obligation for state-owned and large private companies to guarantee a minimum 40% of representation of women on their governing and management boards”.
23/06/2011 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“The status of women and gender equality are regressing significantly in Ukraine and have been doing so for several months”, said Olena Bondarenko (Ukraine, EPP/CD) today at a hearing on the situation of women in Ukraine held following a motion for a resolution presented by Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Germany, SOC). “Political leaders are making more and more sexist comments in public about women and the media are constantly conveying stereotypes that degrade the image of women”, she added.
22/06/2011 | Session
In connection with the reform of the PACE, the parliamentarians adopted a resolution today containing a number of measures ranging from policy action to modifications of its working methods and structure. These measures, which are set out in detail in the report by Jean-Claude Mignon (France, EPP/CD), will come into effect at the opening of the Assembly’s 2012 session, on 23 January 2012.