22/06/2004 | President
During a meeting with members of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe led by Konstantin Kosachev, Assembly President Peter Schieder strongly condemned the armed attack against a government building in Ingushetia, causing the deaths of some 50 people including civilians, a local UN staff-member and high-ranking representatives of the Ingush authorities. On behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly, which is currently holding its summer session in Strasbourg, Peter Schieder expressed his sympathy to the families of the victims. “This attack shows the need to further improve international co-ordination against terrorism worldwide,” he said.“Only the total rejection of violence as a means of political struggle and an unremitting commitment to the rule of law and human rights can bring peace to the region,” Mr Schieder pointed out.
22/06/2004 | News
In his address to the Parliamentary Assembly, Jean Lemierre, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, said that the bank's situation was sound and that it could grant more loans to countries further east. Although the rule of law and the market economy were still important criteria, the education and health fields were also essential for the future of the entire region.
21/06/2004 | News
A victim of domestic slavery, Mary Parmar from the United Kingdom, today testified before the Assembly's Equality Committee at its meeting. In its report on the subject, due for discussion by the plenary Assembly later in the afternoon, the committee calls for "zero tolerance" towards domestic slavery, whether it involves migrant domestic workers, au pairs, women who have been trafficked or so-called "mail-order brides".
21/06/2004 | President
In his opening speech, Assembly President Peter Schieder pointed out that the way the elections to the Parliament of the enlarged Union unfolded should give food for thought. Turnout diminished from 60 per cent 20 years ago to just over 45 per cent, while in many of the new member states participation was only 20 per cent or even less. Populist and extremist candidates or groupings obtained significant results in many countries. The votes for parties and candidates which were either very critical or openly dismissive of the EU had also increased, he pointed out. "It seems that the European Parliament is paying the price for everything that has not been done by EU governments to explain the European design and goals to their citizens. This is a challenge - not only for the EU but for all of us," he said. Mr Schieder called for a full public discussion of the benefits of the new Constitutional Treaty and said he hoped and expected that this would also open the way for EU accession to the European Convention on Human Rights, a proposal which the Assembly has long championed, not least in connection with the Third Summit which has been, from the very beginning, actively promoted by the Parliamentary Assembly.
21/06/2004 | Rules, Ethics and Immunities
The Assembly today agreed to expand its Bureau – the body which prepares and co-ordinates its work – from 25 members to 36 members, including the chairpersons of the Assembly’s ten general committees and creating a new Vice-President to represent smaller national delegations. With their in-depth knowledge of the Assembly’s activities, the committee chairs would make the Bureau more representative, the Assembly said. The new, enlarged Bureau will meet for the first time on Friday 25 June.
21/06/2004 | News
When adopting the order of business of its Summer Session (21-25 June), the Assembly decided to hold an urgent debate on the Council of Europe's contribution to the settlement of the situation in Iraq on Thursday at 10 a.m. Lluis Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) was declared elected an Assembly Vice-President.
21/06/2004 | News
'The entry of the ten new states is extremely positive for Europe as a whole. They have tremendous growth potential which will benefit all Europeans,' declared Jean-Claude Trichet, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), in today’s Assembly debate on The Euro and the Greater Europe. 'Our economic analysis is that, all in all, too much emphasis has been placed on the negative aspects of enlargement, whilst forgetting that these are far outweighed by the benefits on the economic front, and this is something of a pity,' he said.
21/06/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
The procedure of joining the European Union’s Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) promises to be anything but easy for the new EU members, placing great strain on their currency stability and public finances. According to the Assembly, it is “vital that the terms for joining the EMU be made sufficiently flexible”. For instance, by having the permitted range of fluctuation in the Exchange Rate Mechanism be the wider range used at the currency’s launch in 1999. Adopting the rapporteur's (Robert Walter, UK, EDG) proposals on The Euro and the Greater Europe, the Assembly stressed the importance of ensuring observance of the Stability and Growth Act. “As long as the Pact exists in its current form, it should be respected. However, urgent thought must be given to ways of improving the Pact, both to make it better heeded and to improve its functioning”, it said.
11/06/2004 | News
A recommendation to end the monitoring of Turkey, measures to combat the “domestic slavery” of au pairs and mail-order brides and a call for an end to political interference in the media in Italy are among issues to be debated during the Parliamentary Assembly’s summer session (Strasbourg, 21-25 June 2004). Other subjects due for discussion include a Europe-wide ban on corporal punishment of children, the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution, the Italian law on legitimate suspicion and the honouring of obligations and commitments by Bosnia and Herzegovina – the first assessment since the country joined the Council of Europe in 2002.
11/06/2004 | Monitoring
Jerzy Jaskiernia (Poland, SOC), co-rapporteur on Armenia of the Assembly’s Monitoring Committee, makes a fact-finding visit to the country (11-15 June) to assess the state of Armenia’s honouring of its obligations and commitments. He will meet parliamentarians, representatives of political parties and senior members of the government including President Robert Kocharyan, who is also due to address the Assembly in Strasbourg on 23 June. In April, the Assembly called on both government and opposition to engage in peaceful dialogue without preconditions.
11/06/2004 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Latchezar Toshev (Bulgaria, EPP/CD), who is preparing a report on “the parliamentary contribution to the implementation of the Stability Pact in South-East Europe” on behalf of the Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, visits Brussels on 14 June for talks with Pact officials.
11/06/2004 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Miroslav Ouzký (Czech Republic, EDG), who is preparing a report on “the presence of the Council of Europe in Northern Ireland” on behalf of the Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee, visits Dublin (15-16 June) for discussions with Irish authorities, and possibly border areas in the Republic. His visit is a follow-up to earlier visits to London and Belfast.