24/01/2006 | News
The General Committees of the Assembly elected their bureaux on Monday 23 January 2006, as follows:
24/01/2006 | News
Access to water should now be recognised as a fundamental human right. Following a debate on “Europe’s contribution to improving water management” (rapporteur Elsa Papadimitriou (Greece, EPP/CD), the Assembly adopted a text that underlines that this recognition would enable ordinary citizens and civil society to hold governments to account if they fail to provide it. According to PACE members, Parliaments and governments must keep the momentum up at international level.
24/01/2006 | News
Addressing the Assembly today, the Bulgarian Prime Minister told his audience that the democratisation process in his country was still under way. He underlined that his government had a number of priorities, such as improving the judicial system, preventing and combating corruption and integrating minorities, particularly Roma, into Bulgarian society. Mr Stanishev also expressed his government's gratitude to the Council of Europe for its support in the case of the Bulgarian nurses imprisoned in Libya; thanks to Tony Lloyd's report proclaiming their innocence, they had avoided the worst possible outcome.
24/01/2006 | News
At the end of a debate on the integration of immigrant women in Europe, the Assembly today called on measures to encourage this women to join the labour market, learn the language and play a full part in the economic, social and political life of their adopted countries. They should be granted an autonomous legal status independent of their spouse while the application of any foreign legislation, such as legal judgments on marriage, divorce or child custody delivered in non-Council of Europe member states, should be checked to see if they adhere to the principles of equality which are part of the fundamental human rights promoted by the Council. Men need to be involved in this process too, the committee believes – fathers, spouses and brothers must be encouraged to apply gender equality in their own communities.
24/01/2006 | News
Two years after the Rose Revolution, it is now time for Georgia to deliver on its promises, the Assembly said in a resolution adopted today. Debating a report on the country's honouring of obligations and commitments, the parliamentarians said progress over the last year can be regarded as generally encouraging, but it is still only a first step towards fully honouring those promises. “Post-revolutionary euphoria has given way to pragmatism and, in general, large-scale and long-term reforms have been set on the right track,” they said. However, major challenges remain, in particular continuing to build strong democratic institutions, fight corruption and reform the judiciary and local self-government.
23/01/2006 | News
The credentials of Azerbaijan’s twelve-member delegation to the Assembly have been challenged at the start of the week-long plenary session in Strasbourg. Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), one of two co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Azerbaijan, made the challenge on substantial grounds saying that Azerbaijan's recent election was not in line with Council of Europe standards. He was supported by at least ten members of the Assembly belonging to at least five national delegations. The Assembly will now decide – on the basis of a report by the Monitoring Committee – whether or not to ratify Azerbaijan’s credentials, or to ratify them but to suspend some of the delegation’s rights. The debate is due on Wednesday 25 January at around 3.30 p.m.
23/01/2006 | News
René van der Linden was re-elected President of PACE for a further one-year term, at the opening of its winter session. The Parliamentary Assembly also today elected its Vice-Presidents:
23/01/2006 | Session
PACE President René van der Linden, in his opening speech to the winter part-session of the Parliamentary Assembly, today demanded full cooperation with Mr Marty’s enquiry into alleged secret detentions. “Fighting terrorism is of the highest priority. It is a common fight, in our common interest. But all of our partners must respect the international rule of law,” he said. “I encourage all members of this Assembly to take further action at home to discover the truth of this affair.” Whilst the fact of a determined and high-profile European investigation would itself act as a deterrent to such practices occurring in future, Mr van der Linden stressed the need for concrete measures.
23/01/2006 | News
“The UN stands to gain much from a stronger and more systematic relationship with parliamentarians, the elected representatives of the member states”, the President of the sixtieth session of the UN General Assembly, Jan Eliasson, said addressing the PACE. “As we all know, structural reform of the UN is a comprehensive and, I know, labour intensive and complicated undertaking. For it to succeed, the broadest possible agreement must be reached between member states. This will require time, energy and creative and forward-looking thinking and to this you have certainly contributed”. Mr Eliasson took part on a debate on the parliamentary dimension of the United Nations.
23/01/2006 | News
At this crucial time for the UN, with agreement on reform proving difficult, PACE today called for renewed impetus in the reform process. As a first step, there should be progressively greater involvement of parliamentarians in UN activities, including the setting up of a parliamentary committee with consultative functions for one or more committees of the General Assembly. If successful, this could eventually inspire the establishment of a full UN parliamentary assembly, based on national delegations, with consultative functions for the plenary General Assembly.
23/01/2006 | News
In his communication on the state of the Council of Europe, the Secretary General recalled the Organisation’s priorities for 2006: stamping out all forms of discrimination and all forms of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment; fostering a true culture of democracy. ''Fighting terrorism also represents one of our major priorities – terrorism is one of the most dangerous threats to democracy and human rights,'' he added.
23/01/2006 | News
Outgoing Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly, Bruno Haller, in his address to members of the Assembly, told them “for me there is no doubt, if the Council of Europe did not exist, we would have to invent it.” “I am well aware of the criticisms made in some quarters about its lack of real power and practical action. We must heed such criticism so that we can further develop what we do on the ground – which, by the way, is what we are doing more and more – and increase our influence in the process of European construction, a goal pursued with great determination by this Assembly. However, these critcisms should not lead us to doubt our role which is one related to values, ethics, thought and the very purpose of living in society.” Mr Haller will be leaving his post on 31 January. In October 2005, the Assembly elected Mateo Sorinas as the new PACE Secretary General.