29/11/2010 | President
“Yesterday’s public support in Switzerland for an initiative of the Swiss People’s Party to automatically deport foreigners convicted of serious crimes is a matter of concern to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) and the values it stands for,” PACE President Mevlüt Cavusoglu stressed today.
29/11/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Promoting the Council of Europe Convention against trafficking in human beings will be the subject of an inter-parliamentary conference which the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities between Women and Men of the will be holding in Paris on 3 December 2010. The participants will take stock of the action undertaken by the international organisations in this field, the implementation of the relevant international legal instruments and the involvement of national parliaments.
29/11/2010 | Election observation
Yesterday’s early parliamentary elections in Moldova met most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments, the international observers concluded in a statement issued today (attached). The observers noted that the elections were administered in a transparent and impartial manner and a diverse field of candidates provided voters with a genuine choice. Election day was assessed positively although some procedural errors were observed. Civil and political rights were respected during the election campaign.
26/11/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
A 14-member PACE delegation will be taking part in the launch of the Council of Europe campaign to stop sexual violence against children, “One in five”, next week in Rome – and drawing attention to ambitious plans for the parliamentary dimension of the campaign.
26/11/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“One of the conclusions of our conference could be the assertion that nuclear energy is in a good position to meet the energy requirements of our societies, for it is plentiful and does not contribute to global warming. But the production and management of such an energy source, intrinsically dangerous, must be aimed above all at keeping risks to a minimum through optimum waste management.”
25/11/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu has discussed a range of Council of Europe priorities and initiatives with Finnish leaders during an official visit to the country, including plans for reform of the Organisation and the forthcoming accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights.
25/11/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
“Investing in negawatts is the cheapest way to reduce our ecological footprint. The development of renewable energy and energy-saving are not only safer but also more cost-effective alternatives to fossil fuels than nuclear energy”, said Aleksei Lotman (Estonia, UEL), Chair of PACE Environment Committee, at the opening today of a two-day conference on nuclear energy organised by the committee in Strasbourg.
25/11/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Lord Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), PACE rapporteur on climate change, has called on the nations of the world to agree on basic principles for fighting climate change voluntarily – as he believes no legally-binding agreement can emerge from next week’s UN talks in Cancun. “The legal framework is falling apart. Let us be practical, recognise that it has happened, and go for an alternative,” said Mr Prescott, who as British Deputy Prime Minister played a key role in negotiating the 1997 Kyoto Accord on behalf of the EU.
25/11/2010 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
"It is a fact that tens of thousands of women around the world are murdered every year by their husbands, partners or ex-partners simply because they are women, let alone those who are specifically targeted in warfare and other extreme situations. In terms of numbers of victims alone, this is the equivalent, every month, of more than the number who died in the 9/11 attacks in New York! There is a civil war going on in our backyards," declared José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD), Chair of the Committee on Equal Opportunities.
25/11/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC), PACE rapporteur on the situation in Kosovo, and Chair of the PACE Political Affairs Committee, will conduct a fact-finding visit to Kosovo from 28 to 30 November 2010. The main purpose of this visit is to assess the political situation on the ground and the position of the various communities, prior to the early elections to be held on 12 December 2010.
24/11/2010 | President
“Finland has very strong democratic traditions and it has always been a fervent promoter and defender of the Council of Europe and its values,” PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu said today in his speech to the Finnish Institute for International Affairs as part of his official visit to Finland (24-27 November). “It is an example for many other European countries as a leader in fields such as the fight against discrimination, the rights of minorities, Roma rights and the fight against corruption, and it holds records in women’s rights.”
24/11/2010 | Election observation
A 27-member PACE delegation, led by Indrek Saar (Estonia, SOC), will be in Moldova from 26 to 29 November to observe the holding of the early parliamentary elections, alongside observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The delegation will be meeting the representatives of the main political parties standing for the elections, the Central Electoral Commission, as well as representatives of civil society and the media, before observing the polling on 28 November.