22/06/2009 | Prizes
PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig is to award mayors of 18 prize-winning municipalities with the European Diploma 2009, on the occasion of a ceremony which will take place on Wednesday 24 June 2009 at 3.30 pm in the Palais de l'Europe (Room 5). The Diploma not only acknowledges the work done at European level by the prize-winning municipalities, but also serves as an incentive to develop it further through contacts with twin towns and other European partners.
22/06/2009 | Election observation
A PACE 19-member delegation, led by Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), will be visiting Albania from 26 to 29 June to observe the parliamentary elections, alongside observers from the OSCE and NATO Parliamentary Assemblies, and the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR). The delegation is to meet the President of the Central Electoral Commission and representatives of the political parties standing in the election, civil society and the media, before observing the ballot on 28 June in a sample of polling stations across the country.
22/06/2009 | Session
The President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) addressed the Assembly on 22 June, highlighting the global relevance of human rights. The current Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Namibia focused on the co-operation between IPU - which celebrates its 120th anniversary - and the Council of Europe, facing common challenges in the international political arena.
22/06/2009 | Session
At the opening of its Summer session (22-26 June 2009) in Strasbourg, the Assembly decided not to include on its agenda the election of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (due to be held on Tuesday 23 June) and not to hold an urgent debate on the issue. The parliamentarians decided to discuss the situation in Iran during an urgent debate on Thursday 25 June. Other highlights of the session include the biennial debate on “the state of human rights in Europe", as well as debates on the situation in Belarus and the creation in the Assembly of a "Partner for democracy" status for the parliaments of countries neighbouring the Council of Europe.
22/06/2009 | Session
In his opening address at the summer session, Lluís Maria de Puig said that he hoped the Assembly would adopt a resolution on Tuesday calling for the Belarusian parliament's Special Guest status to be restored. This was simply a first step and very strict conditions would be applied before even a second one could be contemplated, he said. Nevertheless, it was an “outstretched hand”, to the authorities and the opposition, both of whom would have the opportunity to take part in the Assembly's activities.
22/06/2009 | Session
PACE today elected two Vice-Presidents: Dariusz Lipinski, Poland and Lilja Mósesdóttir, Iceland.
22/06/2009 | Bureau
PACE Bureau, meeting in Strasbourg today, expressed its disappointment that the competent authorities of Bulgaria had until now failed to issue an invitation for PACE to observe the forthcoming parliamentary elections of 5 July 2009 and considered this to be a clear case of lack of cooperation with PACE. The Bureau recalls that Bulgaria is subject to a post-monitoring dialogue and that, in accordance with the existing rules, the Bureau decided, on 27 April 2009, to observe the 5 July elections and set up a twenty member ad hoc committee for that purpose, a decision on which the Bulgarian side was fully aware.
19/06/2009 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
On the eve of World Refugee Day, Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Migration and Refugee Committee reminded governments and civil society that “World Refugee Day is a day to bring the plight of 10 million refugees world wide into our homes and hearts. Visiting refugee camps and IDP centres in different parts of the world, I have seen for myself the plight of these vulnerable persons who have been forced to flee their homes,” said Mrs Jonker.
18/06/2009 | News
The PACE rapporteurs on the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia, Luc van der Brande (Belgium, EPP/ CD) and Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE), as well as Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), rapporteur on the humanitarian consequences of this war, today jointly expressed great concern that Russia had vetoed the continuation of the mandate of the UN Observer Mission to Georgia (UNOMIG) and its work in the breakaway region of Abkhazia.
18/06/2009 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
PACE's Committee on Economic Affairs and Development will meet on Friday 19 June 2009 at the OECD headquarters in Paris. As part of the preparation of the report by Konstantinos Vrettos (Greece, SOC), "Wealth, welfare and wellbeing: how to reconcile them in a changing Europe?", the committee members will hear the address of Corinne Lepage, EMP and former French Minister for the Environment, coinciding with the publication of her book Vivre Autrement (alternative living). Enrico Giovannini, head statistician of the OECD and member of the Stiglitz Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, will also attend the meeting.
17/06/2009 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
“Combating violence against women, especially in the private sphere, should be enhanced in Europe with a legally binding instrument. I therefore invite the Ministers of Justice to support the current drafting of a convention which can effectively combat the most widespread and most severe forms of violence against women, including domestic violence, and that should encompass the gender dimension”, declared in Tromsø Carina Hägg (Sweden, SOC), Chair of the PACE Sub-Committee on violence against women, at the opening of the 29th Conference of Council of Europe Ministers of Justice.
17/06/2009 | President
During a two-day official visit to “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” ending today, PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig said that since its declaration of independence and subsequent accession to the Council of Europe in 1995, the country had made steady progress on the path of strengthening its democratic institutions, affirming the principles of rule of law and effectively protecting human rights and national minorities. “However, ‘the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’ still has issues to face in the process of consolidating its democratic institutions. The confidence of all political players in the parliamentary process must be bolstered,” said PACE President.