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.
16/09/2005 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Meeting today in Paris, the Committee on Social, Health and Family Affairs decided, following a lively debate, to continue work on the report "Surrogacy as an alternative to sterility" drawn up by Michael Hancock (United Kingdom, ALDE). So as to allow its members time to propose amendments, the committee intends to adopt the preliminary draft resolution at its next meeting in Paris on 16 December.
14/09/2005 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
The three candidates for the post of Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights – Thomas Hammarberg (Sweden), Marek Antoni Nowicki (Poland) and Marc Verwilghen (Belgium) – were interviewed by a panel of European parliamentarians on 15 September 2005 in Paris. The panel – the Human Rights Sub-committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee – will then make confidential recommendations to members of the Assembly, which is due to elect a new Commissioner on 4 and 5 October 2005 during its plenary session.
14/09/2005 | Equality and Non-Discrimination
At a hearing on men's involvement in equality projects that took place in Reykjavik on 13 September, the Icelandic Social Affairs Minister, Arni Magnusson, underlined the importance of "men taking action, hand in hand with the women, to make the necessary effort to create a just society for our daughters as well as our sons". Iceland is the country which first elected a woman as a president in general democratic elections, Vigdis Finnbogadottir, who stayed President for 16 years.
14/09/2005 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Anne Brasseur (Luxembourg, ALDE), PACE’s rapporteur on cultural diversity in the Northern Caucasus, today met the Mayor of Beslan and the President of the Committee of Beslan Mothers. Speaking after the meeting, which she described as a moving one, Mrs Brasseur said she had told the mothers’ representatives: “Your struggle is in defence of respect for human rights and tolerance. These are the values of the Council of Europe.” Mrs Brasseur is meeting religious and cultural leaders in the Republics of North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Dagestan during a week-long visit.
13/09/2005 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The First Euro-Asian Parliamentary Forum on Migration, jointly organised by the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Migration Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), is to take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from 15 to 17 September 2005. The forum will bring together parliamentarians from the Council of Europe, Kazakhstan and other central Asian republics such as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan with migration experts.
13/09/2005 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Parliamentarians from 46 countries joined senior officials from the OECD, the World Bank and the EBRD as well as European Trade Union representatives to discuss the pros and cons of “outsourcing” – the practice of companies in wealthier countries moving their production to low-wage, less regulated economies – at a public hearing in Paris on 14th September. The conclusions of the hearing, organised by the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development of the PACE, form part of a report being prepared by Neven Mimica (Croatia, SOC).
13/09/2005 | Political Affairs and Democracy
After a discussion of the draft report on "The need for international condemnation of the crimes of communism" (Göran Lindblad, Sweden, EPP/CD) in Paris today, the Political Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) decided to postpone the adoption of the draft recommendation and resolution to a future meeting. The President of the Committee will therefore ask the PACE Bureau to withdraw this item from the draft order of business for the October session (Strasbourg, 3-7 October). Considering that the report on "The condemnation of the admiration and justification of nazism" (Mikhail Margelov, Russia, EDG) should be debated at the same time as the report presented by Mr Lindblad, the Political Affairs Committee decided to postpone the adoption of the draft resolution of Mr Margelov's report.