22/01/2008 | Monitoring
The voting system in the United Kingdom is open to fraud, and while it delivers democratic elections, this is despite vulnerabilities in the system which should urgently be addressed, according to a committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). In an opinion made public today, PACE’s Monitoring Committee said 2006 changes to the postal voting system had enhanced security, but shortcomings remained.
22/01/2008 | Session
Speaking at the Parliamentary Assembly 's session on 22 January, Ferenc Gyurcsány, Prime Minister of Hungary, stated that the Council of Europe must remain the leading European rights institution and that its "unique conventional system and its Europe-wide membership makes it irreplaceable." He requested European countries to provide not only political but also financial support to the organisation. Mr Gyurcsány added that Hungary has a vital interest in stabilizing the Western Balkans and creating peace, democracy and prosperity in the area.
21/01/2008 | Session
The following PACE committees elected their Chairperson:
21/01/2008 | Session
At the end of a debate on the Progress report of the Assembly's Bureau and Standing Committee, the PACE adopted two reports on the parliamentary elections in the Russian Fderation and on the Presidential election in Georgia. In the first one, Luc Van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) said that "while the 2007 Duma elections were to a great extent free in terms of a variety of voting options, they were definitely not fair". About the second one, the rapporteur Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, LDR) said the elections were in essence consistent with most Council of Europe commitments, but stressed that "the shortcomings revealed form significant challenges that need to be urgently addressed".
21/01/2008 | Session
In his address to PACE today, the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico called on the Council of Europe to streamline its activities and focus on where it can be most useful. Recognising that the European Court of Human Rights and its judicial system are a great achievement, he said that for him, "genuine success would be if there was no more reason for any citizen to apply to Strasbourg and then only as an exception to the rule". "The solution rests in prevention of cases of human rights violations and in improved efficiency of national legal remedies. It is vital to put in effect Protocol 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights", Mr Fico added.
21/01/2008 | Session
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today elected its Vice-Presidents. The seat of Vice-President in respect of Cyprus remains vacant.
21/01/2008 | Session
At the opening of its winter session in Strasbourg, PACE elected Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) as its new President. "You have just elected a President who believes in Europe, and who believes in the Council of Europe,” he declared in his first speech as President of the Assembly. “I am a convinced European and I regard the future of our institutions with optimism. I want to make a citizens’ Europe the watchword of my term in office. I believe that the Assembly’s task is to help shape a Europe which is being built for Europeans and by them.”
21/01/2008 | Session
On 21 January, Dutch European Affairs Minister Frans Timmermans, underlined the importance of the Parliamentary Assembly in promoting dialogue, respect for human rights and diversity. Mr Timmermans also stressed the necessity to put Roma rights high on the agenda and called upon the Council of Europe to take the lead in this field, in close co-operation with the European Union and the OSCE.
18/01/2008 | News
The Parliamentary Assembly's Table Office has just received the candidacy of Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) for the post of PACE President. At the opening of the Winter Session, on Monday 21 January at 11.30 a.m., the Assembly will elect its new President, to succeed René van der Linden, for a one-year term of office, renewable once.
17/01/2008 | President
At the end of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President René van der Linden today welcomed the Russian Federation’s European orientation and its commitment to the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. “I once again wish to welcome the moratorium on the death penalty and Mr Putin's public position against capital punishment. However this commitment should be formally confirmed by the Russian Federation by ratifying Protocol No 6, he said.
16/01/2008 | Monitoring
“Implementing reforms in Ukraine is a complex process and our talks confirmed this. This makes it crucial for all Ukrainian politicians to make use of the constructive climate which prevailed in the wake of the parliamentary elections in order to accelerate the reform process”, said the rapporteurs for the Monitoring Committee, Hanne Severinsen (Denmark, ALDE) and Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP/CD), at the end of their visit to Kyiv, which formed part of PACE’s monitoring of Ukraine’s obligations and commitments.
16/01/2008 | President
PACE President René van der Linden will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday 17 January 2008 in Moscow. Their talks are expected to focus on the Russian presidential election in March 2008 and the ratification by Russia of Protocols Nos. 6 and 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights.