The award ceremony for the Vigdís Prize for Women's Empowerment and speeches by the Prime Minister of Malta Robert Abela and the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia Gordan Grlić Radman will be among the highlights of the summer plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), taking place from 23 to 27 June 2025 in Strasbourg.
Three urgent debates have been requested, on “Women's rights in Europe – Progress and challenges”; on “Halting the genocide in Gaza – The Council of Europe must act now”; and on “The urgent need to put an end to the war in Gaza”.
Two current affairs debates have also been requested, one on “A call for the immediate release of Zurab Japaridze, Nika Melia and other persons facing politically motivated persecution in Georgia”, and a second on "Attempts to undermine the European Convention on Human Rights and to attack the independence and impartiality of the European Court of Human Rights through political interference".
Other debates are scheduled on the legal and human rights aspects of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine; on political negotiations to enforce exchange and release of prisoners of war; on social mobilisation, social unrest and police reaction in Council of Europe member states; on inclusive participation in parliamentary life; on protecting human rights in and through sport; and on the Olympic movement and peacekeeping.
Furthermore, Ian Borg, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism of Malta, President of the Committee of Ministers, will present the traditional communication from that body and answer questions from members. The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, will hold a question-and-answer session with the parliamentarians.
Other items on the agenda include debates on saving migrants’ lives at sea and protecting their human rights; on the challenges and needs of public and private actors involved in migration management; on the analysis and guidelines for a sustainable and socially fair energy transition; on the Draft Protocol amending the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism; and on the observation of the parliamentary elections in Albania.
The Assembly will adopt its final agenda on the first day of the session.
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Practical information
Media accreditation: please fill in this accreditation form. More details here, or contact the Council of Europe Media Department via [email protected].
PACE website: the agenda, adopted texts, reports to be debated, voting results, speakers lists, video recordings of each sitting (in English, French and original languages), as well as the verbatim record of each sitting (in English, French, German and Italian), are available on the special session page. News items on all debates appear on the Assembly’s home page.
Social media: follow the Assembly’s official accounts via Bluesky, X, Facebook and LinkedIn (#PACEsummer2025).
Webcast: the session is webcast live (in French, English, German, Italian and Spanish) on PACE’s website. Each sitting is also streamed live via the Assembly’s YouTube channel in English, scrollable in mid-stream, with instant replay.
Video clips: an online tool allows video clips from plenary sessions to be edited and downloaded.
Photos: photos from session week can be downloaded from the Council of Europe media library or via the Assembly’s Flickr account.
Contact: PACE Communication Division, tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93, [email protected]
17/06/2025 - Session
PACE summer session: Vigdís Prize award ceremony, speech by the Prime Minister of Malta
11/04/2025 - Session
PACE spring session focused on Georgia, Türkiye and Ukraine
10/04/2025 - Session
PACE welcomes draft Convention on environmental crime, but calls for stronger and more balanced provisions
Monday 23 June 2025
Doc. 16198 (Progress report) Activities of the Assembly’s Bureau and Standing Committee (11 April – 22 June 2025) Doc. 16198 Add. 2 (Progress report) Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights
Tuesday 24 June 2025
Doc. 16193 (Report) Legal and human rights aspects of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine Doc. 16197 (Report) Support for political negotiations to enforce exchange and release of prisoners of war Doc. 16183 (Report) Promoting inclusive participation in parliamentary life: gender equality, accessibility and inclusive policies
Wednesday 25 June 2025
Doc. 16196 (Report) Protecting human rights in and through sport: obligations and shared responsibilities Doc. 16185 (Report) The Olympic Movement and peacekeeping: is sport neutrality serving sport values? Doc. 16195 (Report) Saving the lives of migrants at sea and protecting their human rights Doc. 16192 (Report) The challenges and needs of public and private actors involved in migration management Doc. 16191 (Report) Social mobilisation, social unrest and police reaction in Council of Europe member States: is there a need for a new social contract?
Thursday 26 June 2025
Doc. 16186 (Report) Draft protocol amending the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism Doc. 16182 (Report) Analysis and guidelines for a sustainable and socially fair energy transition
