Standing Committee (15 September 2020)

PACE Standing Committee meets by videoconference

Virtual meeting of the Standing Committee

The Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) met by videoconference on Tuesday 15 September 2020.

After the opening of the meeting by PACE President Rik Daems, the parliamentarians held an exchange of views with Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The discussions focused on topical issues in the framework of the Assembly's ongoing political dialogue with the Committee of Ministers.

A current affairs debate on “The events and the current situation in Belarus” was requested.

Other items on the agenda included the setting of minimum standards for electoral systems, drug policy and human rights, the establishment of an Internet Ombudsman institution, Europe’s political response to fighting the manipulation of sports competitions, and ethics in science and technology with a new culture of public dialogue.

The meeting of the Standing Committee, which took place on Tuesday 15 September from 10 am to 12.30 pm and from 2.30 to 5 pm was streamed live in English, French, German, Italian and Russian.

The Standing Committee, which acts on the Assembly’s behalf between plenary sessions, is made up of the President and Vice-Presidents of the Assembly, the chairpersons of political groups, the chairpersons of national delegations and the committee chairpersons, totalling some 60 parliamentarians from the Council of Europe's 47 member States.