28/11/2008 | Standing Committee
At its meeting in Madrid, the PACE Standing Committee adopted a resolution highlighting the importance of involving men in achieving gender equality. In this resolution, the committee expresses the view that public policies must incorporate a gender perspective and counter stereotypes, but also include action that encourages the involvement of men. Steingrímur J. Sigfússon (Iceland, UEL), rapporteur on the subject, stresses that involving men is a prerequisite for achieving gender equality and changing mentalities.
28/11/2008 | Standing Committee
In a resolution adopted today in Madrid, PACE Standing Committee calls on individual craft trades, trade federations and national training groups to identify themselves, to establish European networks and to develop public support. In keeping with the findings of its rapporteur on this subject, Baroness Gloria Hooper (United Kingdom, EDG), the Committee likewise calls for concerted action between government, private and voluntary sectors in developing the skills and expertise necessary for heritage conservation.
28/11/2008 | Standing Committee
Iceland’s parliamentary delegation to PACE has opened a current affairs debate in Madrid by suggesting that "a Council of Europe member state, the United Kingdom, was instrumental in bringing down the economy of another member state – Iceland." At today’s debate, held during a meeting of PACE’s Standing Committee, Steingrímur Sigfússon (Iceland, UEL) said the UK government had unilaterally resorted to "apparently discriminatory and disproportionate" measures against Icelandic banks, with grave consequences for the country’s economy.
28/11/2008 | Standing Committee
"The Spanish Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers wishes to strengthen the parliamentary dimension of the Council of Europe," said the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Miguel Angel Moratinos, outlining the priorities of the Spanish Chairmanship to the PACE Standing Committee this morning in Madrid. "We are counting on your support," he declared.
28/11/2008 | Standing Committee
“The current global economic crisis is the best test of the quality of our democracies and our collective ability to maintain the European model of social protection in the face of new challenges,” said the Speaker of the Spanish Senate, Francisco Javier Rojo, opening the meeting of the PACE Standing Committee this morning in Madrid.
28/11/2008 | Political Affairs and Democracy
"I very much welcome the decision of the Belarusian authorities to allow the printing of two independent newspapers – Narodnaya Volya and Nashe Niva – in Belarus and their distribution through the state network," the PACE rapporteur on Belarus Andrea Rigoni (Italy, ALDE) said today. "This is another tangible sign that the Belarusian leadership has a clear understanding of Europe’s expectations and is prepared to respond to them with actions, along the lines indicated in a recent non-paper by the Belarusian authorities on how to improve EU-Belarus relations."
28/11/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
PACE Committee on the Environment is to hold a conference in Strasbourg (Palais de l’Europe, Room 1) on 5 December on "Environment and Health - Indoor Pollution and Multi System Illnesses". The conference, which is open to the press, will allow scientific and medical experts to express their views on the effects of a polluted environment on health. The discussions will provide material for a report by Jean Huss (Luxembourg, SOC) on “Environment and health: better prevention of environment-related health hazards”.
28/11/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“National parliaments and international parliamentary assemblies have a primary responsibility to promote the full implementation of international humanitarian law, which provides that refugees and displaced persons are safely returned to their homes, once hostilities have ceased,” said John Greenway (United Kingdom, EDG) last Monday in St. Petersburg, representing PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig at a conference on international humanitarian law.
27/11/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio has expressed the hope that governments will make speedy progress in negotiations on a framework convention to combat violence against women. "What is really important – and this was one of the main objectives of our campaign – is that we should have clear, specific, binding rules for combating violence against women," she said, addressing members of PACE’s Sub-Committee on Violence against Women in Madrid.
27/11/2008 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
The Spanish Minister responsible for equal opportunities, Bibiana Aído, expressed her support this morning for PACE Recommendation 1847 (2008), which calls on European governments to prepare a Council of Europe framework convention on the severest and most widespread forms of violence against women, including domestic violence, sexual assault, harassment, forced marriages, "honour" crimes and female genital mutilation. "An accurate, reliable diagnosis of the phenomenon of violence against women is the first step towards combating it more effectively,” said Ms. Aído.
27/11/2008 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The disastrous impact of the financial crisis on the living conditions of Europe’s citizens “could possibly threaten to undermine the very foundations of democracy”, PACE Economic Affairs Committee has warned. In a statement adopted yesterday in Paris, the committee also said public authorities had “failed in their duty” to adequately supervise the sophisticated financial instruments which partly led to the financial crisis.
26/11/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“The international community bears the responsibility to find political solutions to protracted conflicts, as protracted internal displacement is most often a result of the still unresolved conflicts on our continent”, said Corien Jonker, (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of the PACE Migration Committee, at a seminar on this subject organised by the committee in Geneva.