29/05/2009 | Standing Committee
PACE Standing Committee, meeting in Ljubljana today, held a current affairs debate on the election process for the Secretary General of the Council of Europe - attended by Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Žbogar, who currently chairs the Committee of Ministers - and adopted a statement on this topic. Earlier, it held an exchange of views on the priorities of the Slovenian Chairmanship with Mr Žbogar and Slovenia's Justice Minister Aleš Zalar.
29/05/2009 | Standing Committee
In a recommendation adopted today by the Standing Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) in Ljubljana, the Assembly seeks to draw governments’ attention to the risks posed to the poorest countries by certain finance companies engaged in debt restructuring transactions, which are regarded as “vulture funds”.
29/05/2009 | Standing Committee
“Slovenia symbolises to perfection Europe's transformation, its turbulent history and its future as we would like to imagine it,” PACE President Lluis Maria de Puig told parliamentarians and Slovenian leaders today, opening a meeting of PACE’s Standing Committee in Ljubljana. “Slovenia is also proof that a country's contribution to European integration can be gauged not just by its size and GDP, but also by the political will of its leader, the scale of the ambitions of its people, and their determination.” Mr de Puig later met Slovenian President Danilo Türk.
27/05/2009 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
PACE’s Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population today held in Paris a hearing on so-called readmission agreements. The hearing was part of the preparations of a report by Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC) entitled “Readmission agreements: a neutral mechanism for the return of irregular migrants?”. According to the rapporteur, the intentions with readmission agreements might be innocent, but that they can nevertheless cause problems in terms of human rights. She said that the type of bilateral agreement that sees migrants being returned without having had the opportunity to put forward an application for asylum might be contrary to international refugee law, in particular if returned to a country where no functioning asylum system is in place.
27/05/2009 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
PACE’s Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population held a hearing in Paris today on so-called readmission agreements. The hearing was part of the preparations of a report by Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC) on “readmission agreements: a neutral mechanism for the return of irregular migrants?”
27/05/2009 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD), who is preparing a report on the implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, begins a two-day visit to Bulgaria (28-29 May) tomorrow. He is due to meet the Minister of Justice and the Deputy Minister of the Interior, as well as other officials and the members of the Bulgarian delegation to the Assembly. This is the first in a series of visits aimed at applying parliamentary pressure on states where delays or difficulties in implementing Court judgments have arisen. He will later travel to Greece, Italy, Moldova, Romania, the Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine.
26/05/2009 | Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE's Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Paris this morning, has come out unanimously in favour of restoring the Special Guest status of the Belarusian Parliament, which has been suspended since 1997, with a view to "engaging in political dialogue with the authorities" while supporting "the strengthening of democratic forces and civil society". The Assembly is to take a decision on the matter at its forthcoming summer plenary session (Strasbourg, 22-26 June).
25/05/2009 | Standing Committee
The Standing Committee of PACE will meet in Ljubljana on Friday 29 May 2009 at the invitation of the Slovenian National Assembly. PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig will also hold separate meetings on the same day with Slovenian President Danilo Türk and the President of the National Assembly Pavel Gantar.
25/05/2009 | President
During a visit to Algeria, Lluís Maria de Puig confirmed to the Algerian authorities that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and, more particularly, he personally as President of PACE, were determined to strengthen parliamentary relations with the countries on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, starting with the Maghreb. He pointed out that a debate on the establishment of a “Partner for democracy” status with the Parliamentary Assembly (Doc. 11913) was scheduled to take place in Strasbourg on 26 June.
25/05/2009 | Political Affairs and Democracy
During its meeting in Paris on Tuesday 26 May, PACE's Political Affairs committee is expected to adopt a report by Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE) on the situation in Belarus. The committee will also hold an exchange of views on “threshold levels in parliamentary elections and their impact on representativity of parliaments”, the subject of a report being prepared by Hendrik Daems (Belgium, ALDE). The agenda also includes an item on the committee’s contribution to the draft code of good practice for civil participation in the decision-making process.
20/05/2009 | News
A group of 20 members of PACE has challenged the credentials of the Ukrainian delegation to the Assembly on the substantial grounds of “a serious violation of the basic principles of the Council of Europe”. In a motion submitted yesterday, the signatories said the Ukrainian government persistently refuses to replace a missing third candidate on the list of candidates for election of a judge to the European Court of Human Rights, which “undermines the credibility of the Court”. Under the rules, a report is automatically prepared on a challenge of credentials, which is likely to be debated by the Assembly durings its forthcoming session (22-26 June 2009).
18/05/2009 | President
Beyond the creation of a common democratic and legal area, one of the Council of Europe’s major achievements, “we should think about new ways that will enable the Organisation to assert itself more in the member countries and on the international scene,” said PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig in Helsinki at the ceremony commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Council of Europe and the 20th anniversary of Finland’s accession to the Organisation. “I therefore welcome the reflection launched in our Assembly concerning a need for a broader interpretation of human rights."