03/10/2005 | Session
PACE will hold an urgent debate on "Europe and bird flu - preventive health measures" on Thursday 6 October. This afternoon the parliamentarians adopted the final order of business for the Autumn session (3 to 7 October 2005), including a day of debates on inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue. "Education and religion" will be the subject of a debate on 4 October attended by the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu. The UN's Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion Asma Jahangir will take part in a debate on "Women and religion in Europe". On the same day, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos is expected to discuss the Alliance of Civilisations project launched by the UN.
03/10/2005 | Session
Maria Postoico (UEL), a member of the Assembly since 2000, has just been elected as new Vice-President with respect to Moldova. The 20 Vice-Presidents chair plenary debates when the Assembly President is not available. They may also be called on to fulfil some of the President's other responsibilities.
03/10/2005 | President
Strasbourg, 03.10.2005 – Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President René van der Linden today welcomed the EU decision to start membership talks with Turkey. Speaking at a press conference earlier today, he had called on the EU to start talks with Turkey immediately: "There was a unanimous decision last December to begin accession talks with Turkey: Europe must now meet its promises and commitments, just as Turkey must fulfil all its obligations and commitments."
03/10/2005 | Session
PACE today called on European governments to co-operate in managing migratory flows between countries of origin and host countries in order to have a positive impact in both directions socially, economically and even politically. The parliamentarians noted that many migrants send money to relatives, while others pick up professional skills or ideas about democracy and human rights, which could help to boost development in their countries of origin. According to PACE, co-development policies would improve migratory flows in the interest of countries of origin, host countries and migrants themselves. Following the recommendations of the rapporteur (Rudy Salles, France, ADLE), PACE listed a series of 17 measures to promote co-development.
03/10/2005 | Bureau
PACE’s Bureau today decided to send a fact-finding mission to the Chechen Republic on the occasion of the elections on 27 November 2005. The delegation – composed of one member from each political group together with Andreas Gross, the Chair of the ad hoc Sub-committee for the organisation of the Round Table on the political situation in the Chechen Republic, will report back to the Bureau with its conclusions.
03/10/2005 | President
On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of German reunification, PACE President René van der Linden stressed that this was the first Eastern enlargement of free Europe. "It paved the way for Central and Eastern European countries towards the Council of Europe, but also for EU and NATO membership. It made a fundamental contribution to strengthening Europe. With its competence in both East and West, Germany remains a crucial partner not only in the Council of Europe, but also for the further development of Europe," he said. He also stressed the importance of political leadership and called for vision for Europe whilst paying tribute to Helmut Kohl and Jacques Delors for their outstanding contribution to building Europe.
03/10/2005 | Session
PACE today welcomed the working draft of a binding UN instrument to fight enforced disappearances – situations where people are abducted by the state, or groups acting with its acquiescence, followed by concealment of their fate. If the draft is further negotiated, the parliamentarians called for partial retroactive application, no amnesty for perpetrators and no possibility for them to be tried in military courts. Rapporteur Christos Pourgourides (Cyprus, EPP/CD) – author of an earlier PACE report on enforced disappearances in Belarus – said Council of Europe member states should in any case make declarations maximising the "protective effect" of the treaty.
27/09/2005 | Bureau
The head of a delegation of PACE parliamentarians meeting the Liechtenstein parliament this week said "a constructive dialogue" had begun over the constitutional and political practice in Liechtenstein following constitutional changes introduced in 2003. Marcel Glesener (Luxembourg, EPP/CD) said the talks covered the principle of "constitutional dualism", the process for appointing judges, the Prince's sanctioning of laws and his immunity for public acts. Also discussed was the "popular initiative" or referendum on questions about the beginning and end of life scheduled for later this year. In January 2004 PACE decided not to open a monitoring procedure as regards Liechtenstein following the constitutional changes, but to begin a dialogue on their application.
23/09/2005 | News
Intercultural and inter-religious dialogue will be one of the main issues discussed at the autumn session (3-7 October 2005) of the PACE. “Education and religion” will be the theme of a debate on Tuesday 4 October in which Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Islamic Conference, will take part, while a debate on “Women and religion” in Europe will include a statement by Asma Jahangir, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief. On the same day, an address by the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Miguel Angel Moratinos, will concern, among other things, the United Nations plan for an Alliance of Civilisations.
20/09/2005 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Parliamentarians from the Council of Europe and from Kazakhstan said at the end of a three-day meeting in Almaty that closer regional co-operation should be developed to achieve "better conditions for orderly migration management, with respect for human rights and dignity". Adopting a final declaration, participants in the "First Euro-Asian Parliamentary Forum on Migration" pledged to increase co-operation on migration law and submit new initiatives to governments in the Euro-Asian region. They agreed to convene a second forum within two years.
16/09/2005 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The Committee on Social, Health and Family Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), is due to approve the report on ‘Surrogacy as an alternative to sterility’, by Michael Hancock (United Kingdom, LDR), during its meeting to be held in Paris on Friday 16 September.
16/09/2005 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
PACE's Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, meeting in Paris this morning, adopted the following declaration : “The Committee condemns the systematic and worsening campaign of intimidation and persecution of independent journalists and civil society activists in the Republic of Belarus. The Committee denounces the recent crackdown on the Union of Belarusian Poles and Polish-language media outlets.