29/09/2009 | Session
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) has unanimously elected Anne Brasseur new President of the Group. Mrs Brasseur, engaged in politics since 1975, has a long and rich experience of parliamentary work. She was Minister of National Education and Sports of Luxembourg (1999-2004) and at present chairs PACE's Committee on Culture, Science and Education.
28/09/2009 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
In a recommendation adopted today, the Assembly calls on the member states to increase protection for minors who use Internet and online media services, particularly through the use of parental filter systems. PACE also urges the member states to support the creation of secure, restricted-access networks which filter content harmful to minors and comply with codes of conduct, as recommended by József Kozma (Hungary, SOC) in his report.
28/09/2009 | Session
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today elected two of its Vice-Presidents : Dzhema Grozdanova, with respect to Bulgaria and Juan Moscoso del Prado Hernández, with respect fo Spain.
28/09/2009 | Session
What strategies are currently being implemented in Europe and the United States to support green business? Are new environmentally-friendly technologies and solutions emerging on both continents? What policies have governments already introduced to foster green growth? All of these issues will be explored at a debate to be held jointly by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the Alsace Regional Council, on Tuesday 29 September 2009, from 8 to 9.30 p.m.
28/09/2009 | Session
At the opening of its autumn session (28 September-2 October 2009) in Strasbourg this morning, the Assembly decided to hold a current affairs debate on Wednesday 30 September on the situation of human rights defenders and the growing violence in the North Caucasus region. The parliamentarians also decided to discuss the reconsideration, on substantive grounds, of the already ratified credentials of the Russian delegation, an item which will be debated on Thursday 1 October, and a challenge to the credentials of the Moldovan delegation, a question which will be discussed on the evening of Wednesday 30th September. The highlights of the session include debates on the challenges of climate change and the situation one year after the war between Georgia and Russia, and the election of the new Council of Europe Secretary General.
28/09/2009 | Session
In his opening speech the President recalled that he had stressed on several occasions how important it was not only to have a vote, but also to ensure that it is a strong vote, showing significant political support for the future Secretary General. “I therefore believe that, after the events of the last few months, the person elected to the head of this organisation, whoever he or she may be, will not have the slightest doubt that the confidence shown by the Assembly will have to be earned – and that we will be vigilant and demanding,” he said.
25/09/2009 | Political Affairs and Democracy
“We cannot take peace for granted, even on our continent,” said PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig, closing a two-day PACE forum on early warning in conflict prevention held in Strasbourg. “The Assembly owes it to itself to put peace, and maintaining peace, at the very heart of its work [...] We have a duty of vigilance.”
25/09/2009 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig will present the Assembly’s 2009 Equality Prize in Strasbourg on Wednesday 30 September, at a ceremony to be held during its autumn session (28 September-2 October). The winner of the first prize, the Portuguese Socialist Party (Partido Socialista), represented by Pedro Silva Pereira, Portuguese Minister of the Presidency, will receive the trophy, a statuette by the artist Ewa Rossano, and will be offered a co-operation activity under the aegis of the PACE Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men. The winners of the second and third prizes, the British Labour Party and the Swedish Left Party (Vänsterpartiet) respectively, will receive a diploma.
24/09/2009 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“What next?” asked Corien W.A. Jonker, Chair of PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, commenting after the bulldozers went in to destroy the tent and shack village established by irregular migrants and asylum seekers and refugees waiting for the opportunity to cross from France into the United Kingdom. “We saw the closure of Sangatte in 2002, we have now seen the evictions from the ‘Calais Jungle’ in 2009, but we are no nearer to solving the problem of people living in desperate conditions, taking desperate steps to establish new lives,” said Mrs Jonker.
22/09/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
European governments should be guided by the words of a great American judge of last century, Mr Justice Brandeis, who wrote in 1928: “If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for the law,” according to Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), speaking during a round table in Florence on 18-19 September on the challenges for the judiciary of the fight against terrorism.
22/09/2009 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Peace is the principal precondition for the genuine enjoyment of democracy, the rule of law and human rights. The realisation that peace between Council of Europe member states cannot be taken for granted has led PACE Bureau to organise in Strasbourg on 24-25 September 2009 a Forum on early warning in conflict prevention, with the aim of taking stock of existing mechanisms and exploring whether and how they could be further enhanced.
21/09/2009 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The right to ‘live in a healthy and viable environment’ should be enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights, according to PACE Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs. PACE’s Rapporteur on Climate Change, former UK Deputy Prime Minister and Kyoto Protocol negotiator John Prescott is backing the call as part of its New Earth Deal campaign to secure a fairer deal at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.