FOR THE ATTENTION OF MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly
Synopsis No. 2001 / 129
13 November 2001
The Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Strasbourg on 7 November 2001, under the chairmanship of Mr. Terry Davis (United Kingdom, SOC):
As regards:
Request for membership of the Council of Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina (Rapporteur: Mr. László Surjan, Hungary, EPP/CD): heard a statement by the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly on the state of the procedure regarding the acceptance of the commitments by the highest authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, considered and took position on amendments to the draft opinion by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (Rapporteur: Mrs Jäätteenmäki, Finland, LDR) and mandated the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly to send a consolidated list of commitments to the BiH authorities without delay;
Democracies facing terrorism (Rapporteur: Mr. Terry Davis, United Kingdom, SOC): heard a statement by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, held an exchange of views on the follow-up to Recommendation 1534 and Resolution 1258 and prepared the meeting of the Joint Committee (8 November 2001);
Stability Pact in South-East Europe (Rapporteur: Mr Bársony, Hungary, SOC): held an exchange of views based on a memorandum prepared by the Rapporteur;
Situation in Georgia and the entire Caucasus region (Rapporteur: Mrs Lörcher, Germany, SOC): heard a statement by the Rapporteur on her visit to Georgia, held an exchange of views and asked the Rapporteur to limit the scope of her report to Georgia only;
New references to the Committee: took note of new references made to the Committee and decided to appoint a rapporteur, at its next meeting, on the Presence of the Council of Europe in Northern Ireland – Reference 2653, 28.09.01, and to examine the other references at a future meeting.
Reports for the January 2002 part-session: agreed to ask the Bureau to include the following reports on the agenda of the January part-session:
Request for membership of the Council of Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina (Rapporteur: Mr. László Surjan, Hungary, EPP/CD);
Situation in Cyprus (Rapporteur: Mr Andras Bársony, Hungary, SOC);
The conflict in the Chechen Republic (Rapporteur: Lord Judd, United Kingdom, SOC);
Threat posed to democracy by extremist parties and movements in Europe (Rapporteur: Mr Henning Gjellerod, Denmark, SOC).
Representation of the Committee:
appointed Mr Bársony (Hungary, SOC) to represent the Committee at the 26th meeting of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) to be held in Strasbourg from 11 to 14 December 2001.
Sub-Committee on Relations with Non-Member Countries:
Joint Seminar organised jointly in co-operation with the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association on ‘Democratic Reform: challenges for parliamentarians’ (Ottawa, 21-23 October 2001): heard a statement by its Chairman, on behalf of Mr Bergqvist, Chairman of the Sub-Committee, on the Joint Seminar and held an exchange of views;
was informed that the Sub-Committee would meet in New York from 4 to 6 December to attend the 56th General Assembly of the United Nations, attend a co-ordination meeting organised by the IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union) and to meet high ranking UN officials.
Next meetings:
Vilnius (Lithuania), 19 - 20 November 2001 – Exchange of views with the Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers
Paris, 12 December 2001, 9.30 am – 6.00 pm (Plenary Committee)
Paris, 13 December 2001, 9.30 am – 1.00 pm (Hearing on Positive experiences concerning autonomous regions in Europe)
Mexico, 9 - 12 January 2002
The Sub-Committee on Strengthening of Democratic Institutions, meeting in Strasbourg on 6 November 2001, under the chairmanship of Mr. Wielowieyski (Poland, EPP/CD):
As regards:
Future activities: heard a statement by its Chairman and held an exchange of views on the themes the Sub-Committee may address in the future;
Joint NGO/Parliamentarians’ Conference “Citizenship, solidarity: what sort of Europe do we want?” (Strasbourg, 6-7 November 2001): held an exchange of views on its participation in the Conference;
Next meeting: Left to its Chairman to convene it.
Barış Perin, Marja Ruotanen, Petr Sich and Markus Adelsbach