02/10/2006 | News
The Assembly today elected, at the opening of its Autumn 2006 Session, three new Vice-Presidents: Serhiy Holovaty (Ukraine), Andrea Rigoni (Italy) and Oliver Sambevsky ("the Former yugoslav Republic of Macedonia").
02/10/2006 | News
"My only regret is that we had not been stricter in our monitoring of Romania and Bulgaria. This would undoubtedly have helped them better to resolve problems such as judicial reform and the fight against corruption, avoiding the need for the EU to impose conditions on accession" President René van der Linden said today in Strasbourg at the opening of the October 2006 part-session. He added that in order to be accepted by everyone, the Council of Europe standards should "apply equally to all, with no double standards or dividing lines. This is why it is so important that the Assembly periodically turn its attention to the situation throughout Europe, by preparing an annual report on the state of human rights and democracy."
02/10/2006 | News
Major structural deficiencies in the judicial systems of Italy, Russia and Ukraine are causing large numbers of repeated violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, representing a “serious danger to the rule of law” in these three countries, according to PACE. In a resolution the Assembly criticised the excessive length of judicial proceedings in Italy, where many cases take more than the 10 years the Court has ruled is a violation of the Convention. In Russia, the Assembly said the most important problems were excessive length of pre-trial detention in overcrowded facilities, as well as chronic non-enforcement or quashing of judges’ decisions. There were similar problems in Ukraine, made worse by interference with judicial independence.
02/10/2006 | News
In his address to the Assembly, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader today reviewed his country’s efforts towards European integration. “We must bear in mind our European history, characterised by confrontation; if we wish to avoid the same kind of future, there is no alternative but European integration, he said. According to the Prime Minister, Croatia has an important part to play in this process. It must endeavour to stimulate co-operation not only within Europe but also at the regional level. “As a neighbour, we have interests of our own in forging stability in the region … the Council of Europe must keep up its input of expertise in this regard, and Croatia can also make its contribution in a tangible way.”
02/10/2006 | News
The PACE today adopted a recommendation calling for an improved institutional balance in the organisation. In particular, the Assembly invites the Committee of Ministers to reach an agreement with it in order to strengthen PACE’s role regarding the elaboration and adoption of legal instruments, the negotiations with other international organisations as well as the adoption of the budget. The transparency of the COE both internally and externally should be strengthened and the status of the Human Rights Court in the institutional framework reconsidered. "If one wants to prevent the COE from institutional backwardness and from turning, to a certain extent, into a 'fossil', far-reaching institutional reforms will be required", the adopted text said.
29/09/2006 | News
''Football brings together millions and millions of people in a show of brotherhood, tolerance, diversity, justice, equality, human rights. Values which are at the very heart of the Council of Europe. These common values provide the link between our two institutions and bring us together in this Chamber today'', PACE President René van der Linden said today in Strasbourg at the opening of the conference "Play fair with sport", jointly organised by PACE and UEFA. "I very much hope the Conference will provide you with the opportunity to build alliances and partnerships between the world of sport and political decision makers", he said.
28/09/2006 | President
“It is time to deliver on the ambitious EU initiative to create a Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area by 2010, and find the appropriate arrangements to extend the trade area to cover agricultural trade,” said PACE President René van der Linden today, opening the 2nd Euro-Mediterranean Conference on Agriculture in Strasbourg, held on 28 September at the Council of Europe Hemicycle and the following day at the European Parliament. He acknowledged that neither CAP reform nor the Doha trade round had found a solution to agricultural trade with the Mediterranean region and that there was still an “economic gap” between it and Europe which was triggering illegal immigration.
27/09/2006 | Election observation
A twenty-member PACE delegation, headed by Lord Russell-Johnston (United Kingdom, ALDE), will observe the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday 1 October 2006. The delegation, which will be in the country from 29 September to 2 October, will assess whether the elections meet international – and in particular Council of Europe – standards for democratic elections. Members are due to meet electoral officials and representatives of the main political parties, as well as journalists and NGOs, before observing polling on the day of the vote.
26/09/2006 | News
A debate on the situation in the Balkans is a highlight of the PACE Autumn session, to be held in Strasbourg from 2 to 6 October 2006. The Croatian Prime Minister will address the Assembly on Monday 2 October. The following day sees a general policy debate on the situation in the Balkans, with the participation of the Prime Ministers of Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. On Thursday the Assembly will hold urgent debates on recent developments in Lebanon in the context of the situation in the Middle East, and on the mass arrival of irregular migrants on Europe's southern shores.
26/09/2006 | Prizes
The 2006 Europe Prize – which rewards cities and towns for their active promotion of the European ideal – was awarded to the Hungarian town of Szeged on 22 September at a ceremony attended by more than 2000 people. The town’s mayor, Lászó Botka, received the award from the Chair of PACE’s Sub-Committee on the Europe Prize Guy Lengagne. Szeged is the first town in Hungary to receive the prize, the highest distinction possible in this field.
26/09/2006 | President
René van der Linden, PACE President,has expressed support for the EU Commission’s recommendation today that two Council of Europe member states - Bulgaria and Romania - accede to the EU on 1 January 2007 under several strict conditions. “It was important not to lose the political momentum for accession, even if close scrutiny of several outstanding issues is deemed necessary,” he said.
25/09/2006 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
More than 200 parliamentarians and farmers’ representatives from across Greater Europe and the Mediterranean will gather in Strasbourg on 28 and 29 September 2006 to discuss “building a Euro-Mediterranean agricultural and rural policy in a global context” at the 2nd Euro-Mediterranean Conference on Agriculture. The conference is organised jointly by PACE and the European Parliament, who will each host the conference in their debating chambers on consecutive days, together with the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (ICAMAS).