Winter Session 2025

PACE Winter Session: the humanitarian crisis concerning women, children and the hostages in Gaza; the need for a renewed rules-based international order

Debates on the humanitarian crisis concerning women, children and the hostages in Gaza; and on the need for a renewed rules-based international order - with a statement by Marko Bošnjak, President of the European Court of Human Rights - were among the highlights of the winter plenary session of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), taking place from 27 to 31 January 2025 in Strasbourg. The Assembly also held urgent debates on the "Opinion on a draft convention for the protection of the profession of lawyer", "The urgent need for free and fair elections in Belarus" and the "European commitment to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine".

The Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden, addressed the parliamentarians and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Chair of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, Xavier Bettel, presented his communication to the Assembly and take questions from members in the framework of Luxembourg’s Presidency.

His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew also addressed the Assembly, and Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, presented a communication to the parliamentarians.

The presentation of a report on multi-perspectivity in remembrance and history education was followed by a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in the Chamber.

Other highlights on the agenda included the observation of the parliamentary elections in Georgia; immigration as one of the answers to Europe’s demographic ageing; the risks to human rights and the rule of law posed by mercenaries and private military companies; regulating content moderation on social media to safeguard freedom of expression; and age-based discrimination against older persons.

The Assembly also debated the Council of Europe’s draft convention for the protection of the profession of lawyer, with a statement by the Rt Hon Lord Hermer KC, Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland, as well as reports on women in the economy: employment, entrepreneurship and gender-responsive budgeting; “long Covid” and access to the right to health; and the progress of the Assembly's monitoring procedure.