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.
29/04/2004 | News
Regardless of the nature of its future status, the full implementation of the ‘Standards for Kosovo’, endorsed by the UN Security Council on 12 December 2003, is the key to achieving stability and drawing Kosovo nearer to Europe, according to the Assembly. Following the proposals made by the rapporteur on the situation in Kosovo (Tony Lloyd, United Kingdom, SOC), the Assembly called on the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo to make the implementation of the ‘Standards for Kosovo’ a priority and to ensure the full participation of the Kosovo political leaders and the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in this process. The Mission should implement the reform of local self-government and public administration drawing extensively on the recommendations made by the Council of Europe (“the Civiletti report”).
29/04/2004 | News
Declaring that “Turkish Cypriots’ international isolation must cease” following their overwhelming support for the Annan Plan, the Parliamentary Assembly today decided to associate more closely elected representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community in the work of the Assembly and its committees, integrated to the Cypriot parliamentary delegation.
29/04/2004 | Monitoring
The Assembly today welcomed Albania's progress in the last three years towards a functioning pluralist democracy and a state governed by the rule of law and respect for human rights. According to the rapporteurs, Jerzy Smorawinski (Poland, EPP/CD) and Soeren Soendergaard (Denmark, UEL), there have been improvements in the functioning of state institutions, notably the increasing influence of parliament in Albanian political life. However, this progress was threatened by organised crime, and some elements of legitimate business which wished to profit from the lack of regulation and control, exercising an illicit influence on public life, the parliamentarians said.
28/04/2004 | News
The Assembly today called for “a maximum of political pressure” on the leadership of Belarus until high-ranking state officials, including current Prosecutor General Victor Sheyman, were fully investigated for their role in the disappearances of four men in 1999 and 2000 and any subsequent cover-up. Sanctions should include the possible suspension of Belarus’s participation in Council of Europe agreements and activities as well as contacts on a political level, while co-operation with civil society should be stepped up, the parliamentarians said. They also encouraged those countries whose courts have international jurisdiction to open murder proceedings.