04/06/2010 | Monitoring
Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) and Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE), monitoring co-rapporteurs for PACE, have welcomed the clearly-stated objective of Ukraine’s authorities and ruling coalition to implement remaining commitments to the Council of Europe in the near future.
04/06/2010 | European Conference of Presidents of Parliament
Speakers and Presidents of Parliament from the 47 Council of Europe member states gathered on 11 and 12 June 2010 at Limassol in Cyprus, on the occasion of a conference organised by the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe...
04/06/2010 | Session
A possible urgent debate on the flare-up of tension in the Middle East, as well as reports on the handling of the H1N1 pandemic, the situation in Kosovo, Islamism and Islamophobia, and legal remedies for human rights violations in the North Caucasus are among highlights of PACE’s summer session (21-25 June 2010). There will be addresses by the President of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” Gjorgje Ivanov, the President of Croatia Ivo Josipovic, the Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Ðukanovic and the head of the UN’s Alliance of Civilizations Jorge Sampaio. French actress Fanny Ardant will also take part in a debate on the situation of Roma in Europe.
04/06/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The handling of the H1N1 pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), EU agencies and national governments led to a “waste of large sums of public money, and unjustified scares and fears about the health risks faced by the European public”, according to a report by PACE's Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee made public today in Paris. The report, prepared by Paul Flynn (United Kingdom, SOC) and approved today by the committee ahead of a plenary debate at the end of this month, says there was “overwhelming evidence that the seriousness of the pandemic was vastly overrated by WHO”, resulting in a distortion of public health priorities. Presenting his report, Mr Flynn told the committee: “this was a pandemic that never really was”...
02/06/2010 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee of PACE is due to adopt the report by Paul Flynn (United Kingdom, SOC) on “The handling of the H1N1 pandemic: more transparency needed” at its meeting in Paris on 4 June.On this occasion, the committee members will be holding an exchange of views...
01/06/2010 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The Chair of PACE’s Migration Committee has challenged European states never to detain children in the context of migration. Issuing the call during a major conference on Human Rights and Migration which ended today in Lisbon, John Greenway (United Kingdom, EDG) said: “Let’s be clear: when it comes to migration, children should never be put in detention. Full stop.”
01/06/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Discussing today a report by Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC) on democracy in Europe: crisis and perspectives, the Political Affairs Committee concluded that the world economic crisis had accentuated symptoms of crisis of democracy: lack of necessary regulation and political control over financial interests, highly centralised executive decision-making, concentration of power and money, disinterest in the current institutionalised procedures of democracy...
01/06/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Discussing a report by Björn von Sydow (Sweden, SOC) on the situation in Kosovo[1] and the role of the Council of Europe, PACE Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris today, expressed its concern about the poor respect for the rule of law in Kosovo affecting the everyday lives of all persons, irrespective of the community they belong to, and their trust in the political system.
31/05/2010 | President
Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Chair Antonio Miloshoski and Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly President Mevlüt Çavusoglu have condemned the terrorist attack on the Iskenderun Naval Base in Turkey, and expressed their deep sadness at the loss of life it caused. "The Council of Europe condemns terrorism in any form, which is an affront to the values we defend. Terrorism targets the right to live in dignity and security, and thus goes against all Council of Europe values," they said in a joint statement.
31/05/2010 | President
“I am deeply shocked to learn that civilians who were attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza have lost their lives or been severely injured,” the PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu said in a statement, reacting to last night’s interception by Israel of an aid convoy to Gaza. “This should never happen, whatever the reason. I condemn this action by Israeli forces and deplore the disproportionate use of force employed."
31/05/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The situation in the North Caucasus region, particularly the Chechen Republic, Ingushetia and Dagestan, is currently “the most serious and delicate situation” from the angle of protecting human rights and affirming the rule of law in the whole geographic area covered by the Council of Europe, as stressed by the text adopted this morning by PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, on the basis of the report drawn up by Dick Marty (Switzerland, ALDE). The unanimously adopted draft resolution paints a dark picture, particularly in the Chechen Republic, where the current authorities continue to nurture “a climate of pervading fear”.
31/05/2010 | Monitoring
Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) and Mailis Reps (Estonia, ALDE), the co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Ukraine, will make a fact-finding visit to Ukraine from 31 May to 4 June 2010. They will discuss the policy priorities and reform programme of the new government, as well as recent developments concerning media freedom, and the establishment of an agreed roadmap for adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of the reforms needed to bring Ukraine into line with its Council of Europe obligations and commitments.