14/04/2011 | Prizes
The 2011 Europe Prize has been awarded jointly to the towns of Landerneau (France) and Hünfeld (Germany). This decision was taken unanimously by the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) at its April plenary session in Strasbourg.
14/04/2011 | Session
When opening the current affairs debate on “the situation in Northern Africa” this morning, Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC) said that when citizens were confronted with threats and were fighting a daily battle against poverty, unemployment and unpredictable security services, their dignity ultimately suffered, and that it was not surprising that revolutionary movements had emerged in certain Northern African countries. “Leaders should never treat their people with violence and these populations should be helped to live in dignity,” he said.
14/04/2011 | Monitoring
While welcoming the authorities' many initiatives for electoral reform and reform of the judiciary and the police, PACE co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Armenia (John Prescott, United Kingdom, SOC, and Axel Fischer, Germany, EPP/CD) say that it is now time for these initiatives to be translated into action. The rapporteurs emphasise in an information note that legislative changes alone are not sufficient and "should be accompanied by policies aimed at changing existing practice and mentalities".
14/04/2011 | Monitoring
The PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Moldova, Piotr Wach (Poland, EPP/CD) and Lise Christoffersen (Norway, SOC), have encouraged all political parties in the country – including within the ruling coalition – to reach an agreement to ensure a swift election of the President of the Republic. In an information note on their first visit to the country (21-24 March), made public today, the co-rapporteurs said this would contribute to the stability needed to secure the process of democratisation.
14/04/2011 | Session
PACE today asked European governments for specific legal, economic and social measures to improve the situation of rural women. The Assembly members stressed that unemployment, poverty and low quality or absence of basic services particularly affected rural women, as did stereotyped roles and subordinate status, the outcome of traditional attitudes. Following the proposals of the rapporteur Carmen Quintanilla, (Spain, EPP/CD), the parliamentarians called for measures aimed specifically at improving their situation and fostering equal opportunities.
14/04/2011 | Session
The Assembly today urged the US and Japan, as observer states to the Council of Europe, and Belarus, which aspires to membership, to join the growing consensus among democratic countries that protect human rights and human dignity by abolishing the death penalty. In a resolution based on a report by Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), PACE said: “The European experience has shown conclusively that the death penalty is not needed to check violent crime, and that political leaders who led the way towards abolition did not suffer any backlash from public opinion.”
14/04/2011 | Session
In a recommendation adopted today, the Assembly invited the Committee of Ministers to amend the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment so that members of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) would be elected by PACE. Parliamentarians believe that if members of the CPT were elected by the Assembly they would have enhanced democratic legitimacy and authority.
13/04/2011 | Monitoring
In an information note on their fact-finding visit to Moscow and Kazan from 18 to 21 January 2011, the co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Russia, György Frunda (Romania, EPP/CD) and Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), state their intention of presenting a full monitoring report by the end of the year, so as to enable the Assembly to hold a debate on this subject after the legislative elections due in December 2011, but before the presidential election scheduled for mid-2012.
13/04/2011 | Monitoring
In an information note published today, the rapporteur for post-monitoring dialogue with Monaco, Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE), underlines that many reforms remain to be devised and implemented so as to meet the requests formulated by PACE in 2009.
13/04/2011 | Session
Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly, the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu stressed that the recent important events in the southern shores of the Mediterranean served as a strong reminder of the relevance of the Council of Europe’s values. Recalling that the core mandate of the Organisation is and remains in Europe, Minister Davutoğlu underlined that in today’s increasingly globalised world, the Council of Europe “cannot simply be indifferent to the regions around it”.
13/04/2011 | Session
"Progress in implementing human rights is too slow, and the agreed standards are not consistently enforced," said Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg, presenting his 2010 annual activity report to the Assembly today. "The implementation gap is wide." He added: "What I have seen and heard during my activities in 2010 has made me deeply impatient."
13/04/2011 | Session
Given the increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes affecting children and young people, the Assembly today appealed to European governments to “respond urgently to this public health crisis”. The text adopted on the basis of proposals by Mike Hancock (United Kingdom, ALDE) advocates measures to promote healthy eating habits, healthy lifestyles and a healthy environment. The participation of children and young people in the design of public health programmes intended for them is “an important condition for their successful implementation”.