13/05/2004 | Political Affairs and Democracy
Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are aware of the urgency of resolving their conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region due to its far-reaching negative humanitarian, political and economic consequences, said Political Affairs Committee rapporteur Terry Davis today. He was speaking following meetings in Strasbourg on 13 May with the Foreign Ministers of both countries and the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, who thanked him for his earlier visits to the region and his support. Mr Davis is preparing a report on the conflict for debate by the Assembly before the autumn.
12/05/2004 | Bureau
Assembly President Peter Schieder has sent a letter to Stéphane Valéri, President of the National Council of Monaco, informing him of the Assembly Bureau’s decision to grant the Monaco Parliament special guest status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Monaco will therefore be able to occupy two seats in the Assembly from the summer plenary session (21-25 June 2004) onwards. The Bureau’s decision follows Opinion 250 (2004) on the Principality of Monaco’s application for membership of the Council of Europe, adopted by the Assembly on 27 April 2004.
10/05/2004 | President
“The Assembly strongly condemns yesterday’s bomb attack in Grozny in which the President of the Chechen Republic Akhmad Kadyrov was killed,” Assembly President Peter Schieder wrote today in a letter to Sergey Mironov, President of the Council of the Russian Federation, and to Duma President Boris Gryslov. He extended his condolences, on behalf of the Parliamentary Assembly, to the families of those who died in the attack.
10/05/2004 | President
More than 50 Speakers and presidents of parliament from across Europe, as well as the heads of some ten European parliamentary assemblies, gather in Strasbourg from 17 to 19 May 2004 for a parliamentary summit on the theme “Europe of citizens: parliaments and participation of citizens”.
07/05/2004 | Culture, Science, Education and Media
Paschal Mooney (Ireland, LDR), who is preparing a report on “the possible monopolisation of the electronic media and abuse of power in Italy” for the Parliamentary Assembly, today expressed his regret over the resignation of RAI Chairperson Lucia Annunziata. He also voiced his concern about the future of public service broadcasting in Italy. “It is unacceptable that the public service broadcaster in a democracy such as Italy should be an arena for political struggles," Mr Mooney said.
06/05/2004 | President
Assembly President Peter Schieder said today that he was devastated at the news from Tripoli that a court of law has sentenced to death a number of international medics - five of whom are Bulgarians and therefore nationals of a Council of Europe member State. “I hope that an appeal will be made and that the court ruling will be reversed. I do hope that goodwill will prevail in Tripoli, which has just reopened its dialogue with Europe,” he said.
06/05/2004 | President
Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder will speak at the 114th Session of the Committee of Ministers (12-13 May), which is due to discuss reform of the European Court of Human Rights, the Third Council of Europe Summit and international action against terrorism.
06/05/2004 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
On 13 May, the Assembly’s Sub-committee on Migration will take part in the second session of the Council of Europe’s political platform on migration, which aims to promote north-south, east-west dialogue as well as co-operation on migration aspects between countries of origin, transit and destination. The chosen theme is student mobility and co-development.
30/04/2004 | News
The additional protocol on biomedical research increases the effectiveness of the protection of human dignity without imposing unnecessary barriers to the freedom of research, the Assembly said today. Adopting the proposals of the rapporteur (Majléne Westerlund Panke, Sweden, SOC), the Assembly welcomed this further enrichment of the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and recommended that the Committee of Ministers open it for signature as soon as possible. It urged all states Signatories and Parties to the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine to sign it. The parliamentarians regretted that 28 out of the 45 member states of the Council of Europe have not yet ratified or acceded to the Bioethics Convention and urged them to do so as soon as possible.
30/04/2004 | Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
Debating the future of social security in Europe on the last day of its spring session, the Assembly acknowledged that there is no single model which will fit all European countries, but recalled the basic principles which should apply to all – enshrined in key Council of Europe texts. Presenting his report, former French Health Minister Claude Evin (France, SOC) said: “Social security has a cost, but it can cost still more – economically, socially and politically – to be without social security.”
29/04/2004 | News
The 2004 Europe Prize has been awarded today to the Belgian town of Oudenaarde. This decision was taken unanimously by the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs. Situated in the Flanders, 50 km west of Brussels, this town of 30,000 inhabitants has developed for many years six very active twinnings, with Coburg (Germany), Castel Madama (Italy), Bergen op Zoom (Netherlands), Arras (France), Hastings (Great-Britain) and Buzau (Romania). Its administration, local associations and schools actively cooperate with the Twinned Town Association established in Oudenaarde to give substance to the process of European integration, particularly in recent years.
29/04/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A draft Assembly report approved today welcomes the “significant progress” made by Turkey in implementing decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, including payment in the Loizidou case, but cautions that some of the cases outstanding are still not settled or only partly so. In the draft report, which will be debated by the parliamentarians soon, the Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee urged Turkey to take eight further steps, including ensuring fair new trials in the cases of Sadak, Zana, Dogan and Dicle.