19/10/2009 | President
To mark the 3rd European day against human trafficking and the EU conference on the subject in Brussels from 19 to 20 October, PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig today called on Council of Europe member states that had not already done so to sign and/or ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. He welcomed the establishment of mechanism to monitor this Convention - the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Being, or GRETA - and invited the EU to continue to co-operate with the Council, to avoid any duplication of monitoring arrangements, and to accede to the anti-trafficking convention as soon as possible.
14/10/2009 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Local authorities will play a “crucial role” in translating the words of any coming global climate treaty into action and achieving the “deep and early cuts” in emissions that are needed, the Chair of PACE’s Environment Committee told local and regional elected representatives today.
13/10/2009 | President
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig has ended a three-day visit to Turkey by expressing his personal support for Turkey’s accession to the European Union and his conviction that continuation of democratic reforms will help the country achieve this objective. “I expressed my appreciation for the democratic reforms accomplished by Turkey, and encouraged the authorities to continue these in order to reinforce democratic institutions in the country, including through constitutional reform,” the President said. He also called for the creation of the institution of Ombudsman, and the extension of minority rights.
13/10/2009 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The reference framework on regional democracy that has been proposed by governments is a “poor substitute” for a full European Charter of Regional Democracy, and the Parliamentary Assembly will “continue the battle” to achieve the stronger text, the Chair of PACE’s Environment Committee told the Council of Europe Congress today. In an address to its plenary session on behalf of PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig, Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC) said he “deeply regretted” the decision to draft only a reference framework, instead of a Charter equivalent to the successful European Charter of Local Self-Government.
09/10/2009 | President
The Chair of the Committee of Ministers Samuel Žbogar, the PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland today made the following statement: "We are deeply concerned that Vasily Yusepchuk, a Belarusian citizen may face imminent execution after the Belarus Supreme Court has rejected his appeal against the death penalty. We appeal to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka to grant clemency to Mr Yusepchuk, to declare forthwith a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Belarus, and to commute the sentences of all prisoners sentenced to death to terms of imprisonment".
09/10/2009 | Monitoring
The prospects of adopting a new constitution for Bosnia and Herzegovina before the next parliamentary elections, expected to be held in Autumn 2010, look “rather gloomy”, say PACE monitoring co-rapporteurs in their latest assessment. “The positions of various stakeholders are extremely polarised and an agreement on a comprehensive package of constituional amendments is almost impossible to reach,” said Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey, EDG) and Kimmo Sasi (Finland, EPP/CD) in an information note declassified this week by the Assembly’s Monitoring Committee.
08/10/2009 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Göran Lindblad (Sweden, EPP/CD), Chair of the PACE Political Affairs Committee, today expressed his regret over the recent decision by President Obama to delay his meeting with the Dalai Lama, who is currently in the United States, until after his visit to China in November.
08/10/2009 | President
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig will be making an official visit to Turkey from 10 to 13 October. He is scheduled to hold meetings with the President, Abdullah Gül, the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly, Mehmet Ali Sahin, the Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (to be confirmed), the Minister for European Affairs and chief negotiator with the EU, Egemen Bagis, and the Chair of the Turkish national parliamentary delegation to the PACE, Mevlüt Çavusoglu. Mr de Puig will also hold talks with the leaders of the political parties represented in parliament.
08/10/2009 | Prizes
The Turkish town of Ankara will receive the 2009 Europe Prize in a ceremony which will be held on Saturday 10 October. A large delegation of parliamentarians, led by PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig and the Chair of PACE’s Environment Committee Alan Meale (United Kingdom, SOC), will present the prize to Ankara’s Mayor Melih Gökçek in presence of the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and a large number of personalities and invited guests.
06/10/2009 | Monitoring
The co-rapporteurs with respect of Ukraine of the PACE Monitoring Committee, Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Germany, ALDE), today expressed their concern about the ruling of the Court of the Pecherskyi district in Kyiv that forbids the publication or distribution by “any individual or legal entity” of any “unfair advertising” concerning the Prime Minister of Ukraine.
02/10/2009 | Session
In two inter-linked debates, PACE members today unanimously called for greater co-operation between member states in managing water issues. In the first debate, the Assembly said sharing expertise on how to combat water shortage and pollution in the Mediterranean Basin could help to promote peace. Recognising access to drinking water as a basic human right, the Assembly called for legislation on water supply and projects to limit further water stress. In a second debate on the oceans, PACE said they need to be protected from pollution, such as plastic, heavy metals and sewage, as well as over-fishing, increasing and poorly controlled coastal activities, as well as rising sea levels due to climate change. It urged European countries to endorse the maritime policies already proposed by the EU in its 2007 “Blue book”.
02/10/2009 | Session
Moldova’s new coalition government and opposition should enter into meaningful negotiations to break the deadlock over electing the President, the Parliamentary Assembly said today. Debating a monitoring report on Moldova, the Assembly also said that once the President and Prime Minister were in place, there needs to be far-reaching reform – including, where appropriate, of the Constitution – to avoid such institutional deadlock in the future.