FOR THE ATTENTION OF THE MEMBERS OF THE BUREAU OF THE ASSEMBLY
Secretariat of the Assembly
Synopsis n° 2000/ 063
10 April 2000
The Bureau of the Assembly, meeting in Strasbourg on 7 April 2000 with Lord Russell-Johnston in the chair,
- endorsed the membership of the Bureau ad hoc Committee which would observe the presidential
elections in Georgia (9 April 2000) ;
- subject to ratification by the Assembly approved the following changes in the composition of the Monitoring Committee :
. Mr Attard- Montalto (Malta) to replace Mr Averchev (Russia) in respect of the Socialist Group
. Mrs Feric-Vac (Croatia) to replace Mr Akelsen (Norway) in respect of the
Socialist Group
. Mr Ivanenko (Russia) to replace Mr Sishlov (Russia) in respect of the Liberal,
Democratic and Reformers' Group
. Mr Christodoulides (Cyprus) to replace Mr Brunetti (Italy) in respect of the
United European Left
. Mr Soendergaard (Denmark) to replace Mr Angourakis (Greece) in respect of
the United European Left ;
- asked the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities to prepare a report on the Assembly's
Committee structure on the basis of document AS/Bur (1999) 106 (on follow-up to Resolution 1177 (1999) on the Committee of Wise Persons report: Building greater Europe without dividing lines ) as revised in the light of the ensuing consultations with national delegations and political groups , for discussion at the Assembly's June 2000 part-session;
- drew up the list of candidates in respect of Iceland to the European Committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (CPT) and agreed to forward it to the Committee of Ministers in the order proposed by the Icelandic parliamentary delegation;
- endorsed the opinion by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights regarding to the motion for a resolution contained in Doc. 8304 (setting-up of a special Assembly Committee on the rights of national minorities) and agreed to take no further action on this motion;
- subject to ratification by the Assembly proposed the following references to committees:
. Motion for a recommendation on challenges facing the European audiovisual sector (Doc.8661) to the Committee on Culture and Education
. Motion for a resolution on popular initiatives (Doc.8677) to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and, for opinion, to the Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations;
. Motion for a resolution on Fundamentalist interpretation of Sharia law (Doc. 8681) to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
. Motion for a recommendation on the European Charter of the Danube basin (Doc.8684) to the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities ;
. Request from the Committee of Ministers for an opinion on a draft European Landscape Convention (Doc.8702) to the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities
. Motion for a recommendation on the future of Kosovo's political status (Doc.8708) to the Political Affairs Committee;
- approved the proposals by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and the Social,
Health and Family Affairs Committee contained in document AS/Bur (2000) 026 that certain references to these committees should lapse;
- referred the European Parliament's resolution on Human Rights violations and Humanitarian Law
in Chechnya to all committees concerned;
- took note of the draft guidelines for the information policy of the Parliamentary Assembly and
decided to resume discussion at the next meeting ;
- took note of the revised draft programme of the meetings of the Parliamentary Assembly in Dublin (14-17 May 2000) and noted that the draft agenda of the Standing Committee's meeting in Dublin would be submitted for approval of Bureau members under written procedure;
- authorised the following meetings elsewhere than in Strasbourg and Paris :
. Sub-Committee on Regional Planning (of the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities) in St Vincent (Italy) (28-29 April 2000),
. Sub-Committee on Youth and Sport (of the Committee on Culture and Education) in Bratislava (Slovakia) (30-31 May 2000),
. Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee in Antalya (Turkey) (1-2 June 2000);
. Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities and Ad hoc Sub-Committee on Mediterranean Black Sea in Valletta (Malta) (8-10 June 2000);
. Sub-Committee on Cultural Heritage (of the Committee on Culture and Education in Prague (Czech Republic) (9-10 June 2000),
. Sub-Committee on International Economic Relations (of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development) in Mexico (12-14 June 2000),
. Sub-Committee on the Media (of the Committee on Culture and Education) in Cracow (Poland) (15-16 June 2000);
. Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food in Brussels (21 June 2000),
. Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food in Riva di Garda (Italy) (26-27 October 2000),
. Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography in The Hague (Netherlands) (16-18 November 2000);
. Political Affairs Committee in Rome (Italy) (12-13 June 2000: meeting with the chairmanship of
the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe;
. Presidential Committee in Dublin on 13 May 2000 to meet a delegation from the US Congress, in Bucharest in connection with the session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (5-10 July 2000) and in New York from 30 August-1 September 2000 on the occasion of the Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments;
- appointed the following Assembly representatives :
. Mrs Wohlwend ( Liechtenstein, EPP/CD) Rapporteur on the abolition of the death penalty, to Japan,
. Mr Spindelegger (Austria, EPP/CD) Rapporteur for opinion on Armenia's application for membership of the Council of Europe, to this country (end of April 2000 ),
. Mr Surjan ( Hungary, EPP/CD) and Mrs Jäätenmäki (Finland, LDR) Rapporteurs for Bosnia and Herzegovina's application for membership of the Council of Europe to this country from 26 - 29 April 2000,
. Mrs Jäätenmäki (Finland, LDR) to Bosnia and Herzegovina in June 2000;
- decided to hold its next meetings as follows :
. Dublin, Tuesday 16 May 2000 at 9.30 am
. Paris, Thursday 8 June 2000 at 3 pm
. Strasbourg, Monday 26 June 2000 at 8.30 am
. Strasbourg, Friday 30 June 2000 at 8 am
. Paris, Friday 8 September 2000 at 9.30 am
A.Nollinger /M.Heinrich