FOR THE ATTENTION OF MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

 

Secretariat of the Assembly

 

Synopsis No. 2000/173

30 November 2000

 

The Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Brussels on 21 and 22 November 2000 under the Chairmanship of Mr Davis (United Kingdom, SOC),

As regards:

-                  Financing of political parties (Rapporteur: Mrs Stepova, Czech Republic, SOC): heard a statement by the Rapporteur, held an exchange of views and decided to organise a hearing during the first half of 2001;

-                  Request for special guest status – Parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: appointed Mr Frey (Switzerland, LDR) Rapporteur, invited him to visit the country prior to the drafting of the opinion and to report back before the end of January 2001;

-                  the Situation in the Chechen Republic (Rapporteur: Lord Judd, United Kingdom, SOC):

held an exchange of views with:

Mr Anderson: Amnesty International

Mr Lohman: Human Rights Watch

Ms Regamey : International Federation of Human Rights

Messr.s Bradol, Gluck and Barriqand: Médecins sans Frontières

Mr Kamarotos: Médecins du Monde

° was informed by its Rapporteur that he would visit Moscow on 8-11 December 2000, together with Mr Bindig, Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, in order to assess the progress made by the Russian authorities on the requests set out by the Parliamentary Assembly in its Resolution 1227 (2000);

° authorised the Rapporteur to visit Moscow again and the North Causasian region, if need be, before the January 2001 part-session;

-                  Situation in Belarus (Rapporteur: Mr Behrendt, Germany, SOC): heard a statement by its Rapporteur on his visit, together with other members of “the Troika”, to Belarus on 12-16 October 2000 (during the parliamentary elections of 15 October 2000) and decided to ask for the Bureau’s authorisation to hold an exchange of views with representatives of different political forces in the Belarus Parliament during the January part-session and for its Rapporteur to visit the country;

-                  Request for Council of Europe membership – Bosnia and Herzegovina (Rapporteur: Mr Surjan, Hungary, EPP/CD): heard a statement by its Rapporteur and by Mrs Squarcialupi, Rapporteur of the Bureau’s Ad Hoc Committee on the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the elections held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 11 November 2000 at State and entities level, and decided to ask the Bureau to authorise its Rapporteur to visit the country;

-                  European Conference “All different, all equal: from principle to practice” (Strasbourg, 11-13 October 2000): heard a statement by Mr Bársony, Chairman of the Bureau’s Ad Hoc Committee on the European Conference;

-                  European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI): appointed Mr Bársony to represent it at the 23rd meeting of the ECRI on 11-15 December 2000 (Strasbourg);

-                  the Situation in the Middle East (Rapporteur: Mr Taylor, United Kingdom, EPP/CD): was informed by its Rapporteur that the Sub-Committee on the Middle East would carry out a fact finding visit to the region from 9 to 14 (or 15) of January 2001 (subject to authorisation by the Bureau), and asked its Secretariat to check how many members were interested in taking part in the visit, before deciding whether the Sub-Committee should be enlarged, or not;

-                  Work Programme: appointed the following rapporteurs:

°    Need to strengthen the Council of Europe’s presence on the ground: Mr Vasile Lupu (Romania, EPP/CD)

°    Incompatibility of banning democratically elected political parties with the Council of Europe standards: Mr Michel Dreyfus-Schmidt (France, SOC)

°    International law and the United States of America: Mr Cyril Svoboda (Czech Republic, EPP/CD)

°    Political solution to the Kurdish question in Turkey: Mr Jan Dirk Blaauw (Netherlands, LDR)

°    Relations with the Moroccan Parliament: Mrs Josette Durrieu (France, SOC)

°    Future of Kosovo’s political status: Mrs Tarja Kautto (Finland, SOC)

°    Relations with the Tunisian Parliament: Mr Theodoros Kotsonis (Greece, SOC)

°    Conceptions of a European federation: Mr Lluís Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC)

°    Opinion on the standards for the political handling of dealings concerning property after World War II: Mrs Renate Wohlwend (Liechtenstein, EPP)

°    Opinion on the setting up of a European Peace Corps: Mr Viktor Meier (Liechtenstein, EPP).

-                  held a joint meeting (afternoon, 22 November 2000) with the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Parliament, with the participation of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, and discussed the following issues:

°    Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe, with the participation of Mr Kursch, Principal Deputy Special Coordinator of the Stability Pact (Working Table I on Democratisation and Human Rights)

°    Enlargement of the European Union, with the participation of Mr Verheugen, Commissioner for Enlargement;

Next meetings:

-                  Plenary Committee:

. Riga (Latvia), 12-13 December 2000, exchange of views with the Chair-in-Office of the    Committee of Ministers

. Strasbourg, Saturday, 20 January 2001

. Strasbourg, during the Assembly’s January part-session (22-26 January 2001)

-                  Sub-Committee on Relations with Non-Member Countries:

. Strasbourg, during the Assembly’s January part-session (22-26 January 2001)

. Japan, 5-10 February 2001

Sub-Committee on the Middle East, meeting in Brussels on 21 November 2000 under the Chairmanship of Mr Adamczyk (Poland, EPP/CD):

-                  elected Mr Adamczyk Vice-Chairman;

-                  confirmed the dates of its visit to Israel and the Territories under the control of the Palestinian National Authority from 9 to 14 (or 15) January 2001 (subject to authorisation by the Bureau);

-                  discussed and approved the Rapporteur’s proposals for the programme of the visit;

-                  proposed to the Plenary Committee to ask all members whether they would be interested in taking part in this visit, with a view to considering if the Sub-Committee should be enlarged for this purpose.

Next meetings:

. Riga (Latvia) on the occasion of the Plenary Committee’s meeting

. Israel and the Territories under the control of the Palestinian National Authority, 9-14 January 2001 (subject to authorisation by the Bureau)

 

Bariş Perin, Marja Ruotanen and Petr Sich