27/04/2005 | News
PACE this morning debates a draft resolution on "Assistance to patients at end of life". The text, prepared by Dick Marty (Switzerland, LDR), propose that Council of Europe member States define and implement "a genuine policy of assistance to patients at end of life which does not cause them to want to die". It therefore propose measures such as the promotion of palliative treatment, bearing in mind that the aim is to alleviate the patient’s suffering, while also realising that it may shorten his or her life in certain cases, and the development of codes of medical ethics to avoid superfluous treatments which can be regarded as over-zealous prolongation of life.
27/04/2005 | News
Addressing PACE today in Strasbourg, Luxembourg Prime Minister and EU Council President Jean-Claude Juncker stressed that the Council of Europe would remain as relevant as ever because it stayed true to its values. He called on the “25” to accord the Council its rightful place in the fields of human rights, standard-setting and culture, where the EU could not step in. "The moment has come for harmony between these two great organisations," he said, underscoring their complementarity. He pressed for the drawing-up of a memorandum between the two institutions, on the basis of guidelines worked out ahead of the Warsaw Summit (16-17 May). The Prime Minister also underlined the need to "give credibility to the different Council of Europe bodies and their actions" during this Summit. He appealed for an increase in staff, particularly at the European Court of Human Rights to reduce its backlog of cases. "This Court is the jewel in the Council of Europe’s crown", he said. The EU Council President also spoke in favour of the European Constitution: "The Constitutional Treaty should get a clear and decisive yes vote," he said.
27/04/2005 | News
Meeting this week in plenary session in Strasbourg, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) rejected a draft resolution on assistance for patients at the end of life by a very large majority. After a long debate, the parliamentarians voted 71 amendments – but the amended text was still rejected by the Assembly. 138 members voted against, 26 in favour, and 5 abstained. The author of the report, Dick Marty (Switzerland, LDR), himself voted against the amended draft resolution. Afterwards, he expressed the hope that the Assembly would return to the issue at some future date.
27/04/2005 | News
Despite laws outlawing discrimination in the workplace, women in Europe still find it harder to get appropriate jobs, are paid less than men for work of equal value and are routinely passed over for promotion, said PACE in a resolution voted today. This is partly because employers wrongly fear the cost and hassle that motherhood may entail, the parliamentarians said. They called for real teeth to anti-discrimination laws, including a positive duty to promote equality, and targets to increase women in the labour force and narrow the gender “wage gap”.
27/04/2005 | News
While noting that women suffer frequent discrimination in their access to, and practice of, both amateur and professional sport (persistence of stereotyping, lack of a back-up and support structure for sportswomen, inadequate media coverage) the Assembly this afternoon called on the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to work out a “European Strategy for Women and Sport”. This strategy should notably ensure that physical education is accorded more importance in school, that women play a greater part in sport's ruling bodies and that support is given to women's participation in top-level sport.
27/04/2005 | News
Immigrants to Europe should respect the “laws and basic values of European societies”, and should be provided with free courses on their rights and responsibilities, said PACE in a resolution adopted today. For their part, European governments should accept a number of immigrants – taking into account the host country’s labour needs and welfare capacity – while respecting their dignity and distinct identity. The aim should the “accommodation of diversity understood as a two-way process”, the parliamentarians said.
26/04/2005 | Session
The Assembly today called on the United States government to cease torturing and mistreating detainees at Guantánamo Bay – and challenged it to either try them fairly or release them, in line with international law. In a resolution adopted almost unanimously during its plenary session in Strasbourg, PACE said the US Government had “betrayed its own highest principles” in the zeal with which it had attempted to pursue the war on terror.
26/04/2005 | News
Welcoming the President of Serbia and Montenegro Svetozar Marovic today in Strasbourg, PACE President stressed that "the recent amendments to the Constitutional Charter are a welcome development, but they will have to be followed soon by a clear, convincing and feasible plan for the future of the state union". While welcoming the recent series of voluntary departures to the ICTY as a positive development in itself, Mr van der Linden regretted that "the way in which the authorities encouraged indicted war criminals to voluntarily depart for the Hague means that two thirds of citizens in Serbia consider the voluntary surrender as a 'patriotic act'. The fact that persons indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity are perceived as heroes making a sacrifice for their homeland is certainly going against the need to critically confront the past – which is also a Council of Europe commitment," he concluded.
26/04/2005 | News
Iran as a nuclear-weapons state would “substantially increase the risk of destabilisation in the Middle East”, said PACE in a resolution adopted today. Iran, which borders three Council of Europe member states, should open all its nuclear sites to inspection to reassure the international community and suspend enrichment and reprocessing in return for economic incentives, the parliamentarians said. PACE also gave its backing to a “nuclear-free-zone” in the Middle East and pledged to help promote democracy and human rights in the country.
26/04/2005 | News
PACE today reacted to Europe’s vulnerability in the matter of energy by calling on European governments to introduce policies which would permit energy savings and a gradual transition to alternative energy sources, replacing fossil fuels, reserves of which are falling rapidly. They also asked those concerned to review their nuclear energy policies. At the end of a general debate, based on reports on Europe’s growing energy vulnerability (Radu-Mircea Berceanu, Romania, SOC) and energy systems and the environment (Bill Etherington, United Kingdom, SOC), the parliamentarians called on member states to act without delay to reduce the environmental impact of the production, transport and use of energy, by developing renewable energy sources, supporting research and development in the field of nuclear fusion, and including environmental costs in energy charges. Claude Mandil, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), who took part in the debate, emphasised that “we can and must do something at once, by making massive energy savings, concentrating on research and development, and promoting international co-operation”.
26/04/2005 | News
“Europe is our choice, the goal and the future. This cannot be just a segment of political rhetoric, but a truthful, vital long-term interest of both Serbia and Montenegro”, Svetozar Marovic, President of Serbia and Montenegro, today said addressing the Assembly. “Serbia and Montenegro will continue cooperating fully with the international institutions, especially with the Hague Tribunal. No responsible person in Serbia and Montenegro harbors illusion that we can progress without such co-operation”, M. Marovic said. Regarding the future of Kosovo, he expressed a clear message: “Kosovo must be multiethnic, Kosovo must be European, Kosovo must be open and safe for all its citizens, with the minorities carefully protected”.
25/04/2005 | News
After a minute of silence in memory of Pope John-Paul II and Prince Rainier of Monaco, PACE President René van der Linden very warmly congratulated Pope Benedict XVI on his election. He expressed his support for the French journalist Florence Aubenas and her guide and for the three Romanian journalists, all of whom are missing and held hostage in Iraq, calling for their speedy release and recalling that freedom of the press and freedom of expression lie at the heart of the Council of Europe’s mission. He also appealed to PACE members, all of whom are members of national parliaments, to ensure that their leaders attend the Summit and, most of all, commit themselves fully to implementing its decisions. “We have to make further use of our double mandate, here in PACE and at home in our national Parliaments”, he said.