12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee, meeting in Paris today, called for the appropriate inclusion of the aspect of children who witness domestic violence into a future Council of Europe Convention focussing on violence against women. It invited member states to develop comprehensive social services and educational strategies aimed at preventing the intergenerational transfer of domestic violence. The report, presented by Carina Ohlsson (Sweden, SOC), also proposed to develop the Council of Europe Platform on Childrens’ Rights launched in June 2009.
12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
"Eleven years after the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities came into force, eight member states have still not ratified it, and restrictive declarations and reservations sometimes hinder its operation", according to Boriss Cilevics (Latvia, SOC), speaking at a meeting of the Standing Committee in Paris today. In a recommendation adopted on the basis of his report, the PACE asked the Committee of Ministers to increase efforts to achieve speedy ratification of the Convention.
12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
The Assembly today adopted, in its Standing Committee, an opinion on the draft protocol to the Convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters. In its opinion, prepared by Pieter Omtzigt (Netherlands, EPP/CD), PACE paid special attention to the need to protect personal data, as well as administrative assistance in criminal tax matters and the compatibility of the text with European Union law.
12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
Following its debate on a report presented by Paul Wille (Belgium, ALDE), PACE today invited Council of Europe member states to ensure that the right to equal pay for work of equal value is enshrined in their domestic legislation, and that employees have recourse to the judicial process to pursue their claims with regard to this right, without incurring risks to their employment.
12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee, meeting in Paris today, recommends that the Committee of Ministers initiate a future-oriented study on copyright in the digital environment and give thought to the changes required to guarantee a flexible legal apparatus, enabling copyright law to adapt more easily to technical, economic and social changes.
12/03/2010 | President
PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu is to make an official visit to Kazakhstan from 15 to 18 March. Meetings are scheduled with the President of the Republic, Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Chairman of Mazhilis (lower House of Parliament), Ural Muhamedzhanov, the Chairman of the Senate, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, and with the State Secretary and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kanat Saudabayev.
12/03/2010 | Standing Committee
"The Parliamentary Assembly is increasingly concerned about the serious threat posed by counterfeit medicines to the life and health of vulnerable people and patients in Europe and elsewhere. The recent development of cross-border care and the introduction of on-line pharmaceutical sales and direct e-mail ordering have amplified the problem", concluded Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE) today at the PACE Standing Committee meeting in Paris.
10/03/2010 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
PACE Committee on Culture, Science and Education voted unanimously this morning in favour of a Europe-wide ban on the marketing, sale and use of "Mosquito" acoustic youth dispersal devices in all public places. The text adopted, drafted by Piotr Wach (Poland, EPP/CD), states that the use of these devices constitutes a "disproportionate interference with the right to respect for one’s private life, including the right to respect for one’s physical integrity" and contravenes the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular regarding health and safety.
09/03/2010 | President
“One of the priorities of my presidency is to strengthen co-operation with the European Parliament, in particular through PACE involvement in the recently set-up parliamentary branch of the Eastern Partnership Initiative Euronid, through more regular committee meetings and closer contacts between PACE and EP rapporteurs,” the President of the Parliamentary Assembly Mevlüt Cavusoglu said at the end of meetings with the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek and leaders of the EP’s political groups in Strasbourg on 8-9 March.
09/03/2010 | Standing Committee
Debates on the protection of minorities in Europe, children who witness domestic violence, rethinking creative rights for the Internet age and the wage gap between women and men will feature on the agenda of PACE Standing Committee at its meeting in Paris on Friday 12 March 2010. The meeting will be opened by Mevlüt Çavusoglu, recently elected President of the PACE. The committee will also examine reports on rules and procedures for the future elections of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe and the term of office of co-rapporteurs of the PACE's Monitoring Committee.
08/03/2010 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Jean-Charles Gardetto (Monaco, EPP/CD), rapporteur of PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights on the protection of witnesses as the cornerstone for justice and reconciliation in the Balkans, will make a fact-finding visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina from 9 to 11 March. During his visit, Mr Gardetto will meet representatives of the Ministries of Justice and Security and representatives of the judiciary, the police, and the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA).
05/03/2010 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE Sub-Committee on the Middle East, under the chairmanship of Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC), held a two-day meeting (4-5 March) in Izmir (Turkey) at the invitation of the Turkish delegation to PACE. Against the backdrop of PACE Resolution 1700 (2010) on the Situation in the Middle East, the Sub-Committee decided to prepare the second session of the Tripartite Forum, bringing together the PACE, the Knesset and the Palestinian Legislative Council.