17/12/2010 | Monitoring
"Undoubtedly, Serbia has made significant progress in many areas and is heading towards the full completion of its commitments. However, some key issues remain unsolved or incomplete such as the reform of the justice system, the revision of the electoral law, the elimination of the party-administered system and blank resignations, as well as full compliance with the laws on freedom of speech, association etc...
17/12/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu welcomed the strong and fruitful co-operation between the Assembly and the Venice Commission, addressing today the 85th Plenary Session of the Venice Commission in the city. “Our respective roles are very complementary,” he said.
16/12/2010 | News
“All Council of Europe member states are under the obligation to protect the public against terrorist attacks […] and all perpetrators of terrorist acts, but also the instigators and organisers, must be held to account for their actions,” today stressed PACE Vice-President Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), speaking on behalf of the PACE President at the opening of a conference on the prevention of terrorism held by the Council of Europe in Istanbul.
16/12/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE Legal Affairs Committee has called for a series of international and national investigations into evidence of disappearances, organ trafficking, corruption and collusion between organised criminal groups and political circles in Kosovo* revealed this week in a report by Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE).
15/12/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
In a resolution on reconciliation and political dialogue between the countries of the former Yugoslavia* adopted unanimously in Paris today, the Political Affairs Committee says it supported the efforts of the countries of the former Yugoslavia to reconcile and reconstruct a new relationship among themselves and welcomed their commitment to regional co-operation, which indicated a greater willingness to overcome the legacy of the past. It noted with satisfaction a number of positive examples of people and leaders from the region working together for change.
14/12/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Following the interest shown in the draft report on the inhuman treatment of people and illicit trafficking in organs in Kosovo,* the rapporteur Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE), in agreement with the Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), has decided to make public the text on the website of the Assembly. The text will be discussed by the committee on Thursday 16 December in Paris (Council of Europe office, 55 Avenue Kléber). Mr Marty will give a press conference on the same day at 2.30pm.
14/12/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
At a hearing in Paris on the expansion of democracy by lowering the voting age to 16, the rapporteur of the PACE Political Affairs Committee on this issue, Miloš Aligrudic (Serbia, EPP/CD), today said that lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 should be strongly encouraged as the period of adolescence was of paramount importance for the future citizen. “Those who are below 18 and wish to vote should register on Voting Registers on their own. This is aimed at solving the problems related to the turnout of young voters, and participation of the young,” the rapporteur stressed.
14/12/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
At a meeting in Paris on Thursday 16 December, PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights is expected to adopt a report by Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE) on the inhuman treatment of people and illicit trafficking in human organs in Kosovo* at the Council of Europe office in Paris. Mr Marty will give a press conference at 2.30 pm at the same premises.
13/12/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Lord Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE’s rapporteur on climate change, has welcomed the package of decisions agreed at the UN global climate change talks in Cancún, describing them as “a small but important step for mankind”. Mr Prescott, who played a key role in negotiating the 1997 Kyoto Accord on behalf of the EU, attended the talks along with Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC).
09/12/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu has welcomed the strong determination of Bulgarian authorities to fight corruption and organised crime, an outstanding issue in the Parliamentary Assembly’s “post-monitoring dialogue” with Bulgaria. The President was speaking mid-way through a three-day official visit to the country (8-10 December), during which he met the country’s President, Speaker of Parliament and Foreign Affairs and Justice Ministers, among others.
08/12/2010 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“The Dublin Regulation is an unfair system both for asylum seekers and for states. It is expensive and ineffective and sometimes infringes the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees,” the newly elected Chair of the PACE Committee on Migration stressed today when summing up yesterday’s committee hearing on “Dealing with Dublin: ensuring fairness for asylum seekers and member states”.
08/12/2010 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG) has been elected Chair of the Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population. A member of PACE since 2005, Mr Chope is a barrister and former British Minister for Roads and Traffic. He replaces John Greenway (United Kingdom, EDG).