27/04/2004 | News
The Assembly decided today that it “cannot but ratify the credentials of the parliamentary delegation of Serbia and Montenegro” following yesterday’s challenge, saying that it considers it necessary to be able to deal with extremist parties, and individual members of such parties, when they are appointed members of national delegations to the Assembly. A decision not to ratify – which must apply to the whole delegation under the Assembly’s current rules – would “punish the democratic forces in Serbia and Montenegro represented in its national delegation”, the parliamentarians said. The Assembly resolved to adapt its rules as quickly as possible to allow the credentials of individual members to be contested on the grounds of substance.
27/04/2004 | News
In his speech before the Assembly, Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader stressed his country’s European vocation and its commitment to European ideals. With an agreement on EU accession expected in June, the country was pursuing a historic path of European integration and counted on the support and assistance of the Council of Europe, he said. “The Council of Europe should remain a vigilant fortress of its values for all Europe. Democracy, rule of law, human rights and minority rights are a heritage of our history and a guide to our future,” stated Mr Sanader.
27/04/2004 | News
The Parliamentary Assembly today called for a “European Prisons Charter” spelling out prisoners’ rights and obligations, which would be binding on all member states. Drawn up in conjunction with the EU, it would include rules on detention conditions, access to lawyers and doctors, visiting rights and activities for rehabilitation and education. This joint initiative by the two institutions will equip Europe with a permanent monitoring system in the judicial and penal field, ensuring supervision of all the players in the judicial and penal system.
27/04/2004 | News
Following a long debate on euthanasia, based on the report by Dick Marty (Switzerland, LDR), the Assembly decided not to vote on the text but instead to refer it back to committee. The parliamentarians gave the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee a year to prepare a new text which brings together the widely diverging approaches expressed during the debate. Dick Marty, who himself proposed the reference back to committee, nonetheless regretted the “too numerous misunderstandings” on the question and deplored “taboos, dogmatism and a refusal to discuss”. He hoped that the committee would submit a revised text which “no longer speaks of euthanasia, but uses another term which can do justice to a real problem existing in our society”.
26/04/2004 | News
The credentials of the new parliamentary delegation of Serbia and Montenegro were challenged on substantial grounds on the opening day of the session. Making the challenge, Roman Jakić (Slovenia, LDR) said: “Members of the delegation belong to two parties whose leaders are being tried for war crimes and genocide at the Hague.” There were therefore “open questions” which should be examined before the credentials were ratified, he said. The Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee will report on the question tomorrow afternoon, with an opinion from the Rules Committee.
26/04/2004 | News
In his opening speech today, Assembly President Peter Schieder stressed that a ‘Yes’ vote in the Cyprus referendum would have been a clear signal for ‘One Europe’. "It would have meant the end of division on the island and the start of a time of unity and greater strength. It is clear that we fully respect the result of the referendum and the will of the people of Cyprus. But we cannot hide the fact that we are deeply disappointed that a historic chance has been missed. The Assembly will discuss the situation in an urgent procedure debate," he said.
26/04/2004 | News
When adopting the order of business of its Spring Session (26-30 April), the Assembly decided to hold three urgent debates (Situation in Kosovo, Armenia and Cyprus) but removed the one concerning the new Dutch policy on asylum seekers. The debate on the honouring of obligations and commitments by Turkey has also been removed from the order of business. Elmir Jahić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Frano Matusić (Croatia) were elected Assembly Vice-Presidents.
26/04/2004 | News
The Assembly today issued an urgent call for the setting up of a European Migration Agency, open to non-European countries, whose task would be to track national migration policies and legislation, produce comparable statistics, analyse trends and dispense advice. Debating a report by Tadeusz Iwinski (Poland, SOC), the parliamentarians said such an agency could also help warn irregular migrants against being duped by traffickers.
26/04/2004 | News
According to the Assembly, Council of Europe funding priorities for 2005 should include creating the closest possible links with the EU, expanded co-operation with the OSCE and a possible permanent presence at the UN in New York, as well as more field offices. As for the Assembly’s budgetary priorities for the next year, they should include infrastructure improvements to the debating chamber, as well as greater funding for external relations, communications and its political groups.
26/04/2004 | News
Parliamentary Assembly President Peter Schieder today signed a wide-ranging co-operation agreement with the Speaker of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Nurtay Abikayev aimed at promoting parliamentary democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights in the country. In the agreement – the first of its kind – the Kazakhstan Parliament pledges to encourage total abolition of the death penalty and promote co-operation with the Council of Europe, reporting annually on its progress. In return, the Assembly agrees to invite Kazakh parliamentary delegations to its events, including some plenary sessions. Addressing the Assembly, Mr Abikayev declared: "Kazakhstan is firmly on the road to protecting fundamental rights and freedoms... and this is irreversible."
26/04/2004 | News
The 2004 Council of Europe Museum Prize was presented to the director of the Museum of Health Care in Edirne, Turkey, during a ceremony at the Palais des Rohan in Strasbourg last night. The prize consists of a bronze statuette by Joan Miró, La femme aux beaux seins, which will be kept by the museum for a year, as well as a diploma and cheque for 5 000 euros. It has been awarded annually since 1977 to a museum judged to have made a significant contribution to the understanding of European cultural heritage.
23/04/2004 | Legal Affairs and Human Rights
A proposal to allow the European Court of Human Rights to declare inadmissible cases where “the applicant has not suffered a significant disadvantage” is unacceptable, the Assembly’s Legal Affairs Committee declared on Wednesday. Giving its opinion on a package of reforms aimed at streamlining the Court, the committee said the proposed new admissibility criterion was “vague, subjective and liable to do the applicant a serious injustice” and should be replaced with a reference to respect for human rights. The Assembly is due to debate the reforms – when it adopts its opinion on draft protocol No. 14 to the European Convention on Human Rights – on Wednesday 28 April at 3p.m.