The Bureau decided to set up an ad hoc committee of the Bureau on the situation of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Greece.
On the basis of a proposal by the EPP/CD Group, the Bureau nominated Mr Volodymyr Ariev (Ukraine) to replace Mr Serhiy Sobolev (Ukraine).
On the basis of proposals by the Socialist Group, the Bureau nominated Ms Marietta Karamanli (France) to replace Mr Michael McNamara (Ireland) and Mr Evangelos Venizelos (Greece) as members and Ms Ingrid Antičević Marinović (Croatia) as an alternate.
The Assembly is invited to ratify the above proposals made by the Bureau.
The Bureau considered the following requests for current affairs debate:
The Bureau decided to propose to the Assembly to hold a current affairs debate on The case of the “Panama Papers” and the concern about fiscal, social justice and public trust in our democratic system, on Monday 18 April in the afternoon, and designated Mr Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC), as the first speaker.
The Bureau took note of the President’s decision to declare inadmissible the request for a debate under urgent procedure on The Savchenko case, tabled by 21 members of the Assembly as it concerns an issue which is already on the agenda of the part-session. It also invited the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons to prepare an addendum to the report on The humanitarian concerns with regard to people captured during the war in Ukraine (Rapporteur: Ms Nellija Kleinberga, Latvia, ALDE).
The Bureau decided to propose to the Assembly to hold a debate under urgent procedure on The situation of refugees and migrants under the EU-Turkey Agreement of 18 March 2016 on Wednesday 20 April in the afternoon, and referred the matter to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons for report.
The Bureau decided to propose to the Assembly to hold a debate under urgent procedure on After the Brussels attacks, urgent need to address security failures and step up counter-terrorism co-operation on Thursday 21 April in the afternoon, and referred the matter to the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy for report.
The Bureau updated the draft agenda. It also took note of a letter by the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons to show a PowerPoint presentation during the Assembly debate on The humanitarian concerns with regard to people during the war in Ukraine on Thursday 20 April 2016.
The Bureau took note of the report drawn up by the Committee on the election of judges following interviews with candidates for the post of judge to the Court in respect of Slovenia. This report had been already declassified by the Committee and submitted to the attention of all members of the Assembly (Doc. 14016 Addendum II).
The Bureau approved the proposal made by the Secretary General of the Assembly to ask the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs to draft guidelines on the implementation of paragraph 2.3.1 of Resolution 2102 (2016) on Modifications to the Assembly's Rules of Procedure.
The Bureau authorised Mr Axel Fischer (Germany, EPP/CD) to carry out a fact-finding visit to Kazakhstan in May/June 2016, in the framework of the preparation of his report on The relations of the Council of Europe with Kazakhstan.
The Bureau authorised the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs to meet in Rome, on 17-18 May 2016.