10/05/2010 | President
“Culture is not a luxury, it is a compelling need,” said PACE President, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, opening a hearing in Istanbul into “the right of everyone to take part in cultural life” organised by PACE’s Committee on Culture, Science and Education. It was important to find practical ways to make culture accessible to the widest possible number of citizens, the President said, speaking in the city which currently holds the title of European Capital of Culture. “These are the issues which are crucial for the future of European societies,” he said.
07/05/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu has expressed his appreciation for the achievements of Switzerland’s six-month Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, which is due to end on 11 May. Meeting Erika Forster-Vannini, the Speaker of Switzerland's Council of States – the upper house of the Swiss Parliament – and an accompanying delegation yesterday, the President praised in particular the Presidency’s work on the Interlaken Process, which aims to streamline the work of the European Court of Human Rights. Maximilian Reimann (Switzerland, ALDE) and Liliane Maury Pasquier (Switzerland, SOC) from the Swiss delegation to the Assembly were also present.
07/05/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Strasbourg, 07.05.2010 - Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, has ended a two-day visit to Bucharest (5-6 May 2010) with a call to the Romanian...
05/05/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, has ended a two-day visit to Chisinau (3-4 May 2010) with a call to the Moldovan authorities to increase their efforts to solve several structural problems revealed in these judgments. “Good intentions to rectify the various deficiencies pointed to by the Court are just not enough,” said Mr Pourgourides, who chairs the Assembly’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.
30/04/2010 | Session
On the basis of a report by Denis Badré (France, ALDE), which takes stock of existing Euro-Mediterranean relations at both European Union and Council of Europe level, the Assembly takes the view that the Council should strengthen its contribution to the Euro-Mediterranean partnership process. It is not for the Organisation to compete with the actions of the Union for the Mediterranean by setting up parallel structures, but to complement it by adding the dimension relating to democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and the transversal issue of gender equality.
30/04/2010 | Session
The Assembly today called on Council of Europe governments to make the most of the many opportunities offered by the International Year of Biodiversity taking place this year. These require that policy-makers work towards promoting the conservation of biological diversity and reducing the impact of climate change upon it. Following proposals by the rapporteur, Francine John-Calame (Switzerland, SOC), the parliamentarians also called for the need to “step up the fight against illegal trading in fauna and flora”.
30/04/2010 | Session
Migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and displaced persons are at once a future workforce and a rich source of renewal for European economy, culture and society and, according to the Assembly, the Council of Europe needs to give a much higher priority to migration issues. The parliamentarians called for an integrated medium-term strategy on migration, asylum and displacement, one which focuses on protecting the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, and helps them to integrate fully.
30/04/2010 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
“International Press Freedom Day reminds us that journalists and the media are a vital cornerstone of democracy,” Andrew McIntosh, the standing rapporteur on media of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) said today. “It is therefore an alarming sign that at least 20 journalists have been killed in Europe since 2007, several of whom had worked on shedding light on corruption and organised crime,” he added.
30/04/2010 | Session
PACE has welcomed progress made by Bulgaria since 2000 in fulfilling its Council of Europe obligations, but said in a unanimous resolution there were “a number of concerns and worrying trends” concerning the functioning of the judiciary, the fight against corruption, the freedom of the media and the rights of minorities.
29/04/2010 | Session
At the end of a debate on discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, PACE today called on European States to guarantee "legal recognition of same-sex partnerships only when national legislation envisages such recognition" and provide for the possibility of "joint parental responsibility" for each partner's children “bearing in mind the interests of children”.
29/04/2010 | Session
In a resolution adopted today, based on the report by Marie-Louise Bemelmans-Videc (Netherlands, EPP/CD), the Assembly in particular stresses the key role parliaments can play in stemming the flood of applications submerging the European Court of Human Rights, for instance by carefully examining whether draft legislation is compatible with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights and by keeping up the pressure on governments to execute Court judgments.
29/04/2010 | Session
PACE today decided to suspend its activities involving high-level contact with the Belarusian Parliament and/or the governmental authorities, having noted a “lack of progress” towards Council of Europe standards and a “lack of political will” on the part of the authorities to adhere to the Organisation’s values. The adopted text, which is based on a report by Sinikka Hurskainen (Finland, SOC), recalls the proposal set out last year by PACE to lift the suspension of the Belarusian Parliament’s special guest status provided that a moratorium is decreed on enforcement of the death penalty.