Progress report | Doc. 13031 | 29 September 2012
Activities of the Assembly’s Bureau and Standing Committee (29 June – 30 September 2012)
Bureau of the Assembly
1. Introduction
2. Activities of the Bureau since the last part-session
2.1. Follow-up to the third part-session of 2012 (Strasbourg, 25-29 June 2012)
- Follow-up to the current affairs debate on European institutions and human rights in Europe: the Bureau decided to refer this issue to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for report. It also asked the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy to prepare a report on "The memorandum of understanding between the Council of Europe and the European Union - evaluation 5 years after" and another report on "Challenges of a "federal Europe". These decisions are subject to ratification by the Assembly;
- Resolution 1891 (2012) on the situation of human rights defenders in the Council of Europe member states: the Bureau decided to seize the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for a report on “Strengthening the protection and role of human rights defenders in Council of Europe member States”, subject to ratification by the Assembly;
- Resolution 1885 (2012) on the young generation sacrifices: social economic and political implications of the financial crisis: the Bureau decided to make use of the Assembly’s state of democracy and human rights debates to assess progress made and the effectiveness of measures taken by member States in improving access to social rights;
- Resolution 1889 (2012) on the portrayal of migrants and refugees during election campaigns: with reference to paragraph 12, the Bureau requested the Venice Commission to carry out a study on the portrayal of migrants and refugees during election campaigns, with a view to possibly amending the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters;
- Resolution 1893 (2012) on political transition in Tunisia: the Bureau decided to seize the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy for a report on “Political transition in Tunisia”, subject to ratification by the Assembly.
2.2. Fourth part-session of 2012 (Strasbourg, 1-5 October 2012)
2.3. Election observation
2.3.1. Revised Guidelines for the observation of elections
2.3.2. Parliamentary elections in Georgia (1 October 2012)
2.3.3. Early parliamentary elections in Montenegro (14 October 2012)
2.3.4. Parliamentary elections in Ukraine (28 October 2012)
2.3.5. Schedule of elections 2012/2013
2.4. Issues raised by committees
2.4.1. Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy
2.4.2. Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights
2.4.3. Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination
2.5. References and transmissions to committees
2.5.1. References approved by the Bureau
- Doc. 12940, Motion for a resolution, Need to reinforce the independence of the European Court of Human Rights, to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights tobe taken into account in the preparation of the report on “The future of the European Court of Human Rights and the Brighton Declaration” (Ref. 3864 of 27 April 2012);
- Doc 12941, Motion for a resolution, Fathers and their influence on children’s well-being, to the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, for information;
- Doc. 12946, Motion for a resolution, Migrants: a benefit or a burden for our society?, to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons for report;
- Doc. 12947, Motion for a resolution, Addressing age discrimination on the labour market, to the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination for report and to the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development for opinion;
- Doc. 12979, Motion for a resolution, The war between Georgia and Russia: the humanitarian situation in the war-affected areas, to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons for report.
2.5.2. Request for modification of a reference
- Ref. 3845 of 9 March 2012, The activities of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2011- 2012, to the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy for report and to the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development for opinion.
2.5.3. Requests for extension of references
- Ref. 3629 of 25 January 2010, Measures to improve the democratic character of elections in the Council of Europe member States, Bureau decision of 14 December 2009, Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy until 31 December 2012;
- Ref. 3700 of 4 October 2010, Accession of the European Union to the European Convention on Human Rights: Election of judges, to Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights until 31 December 2013.
2.6. Communications
2.7. Relations with the European Parliament
2.8. Visit of the Presidential Committee to Romania (18 and 19 July 2012) and subsequent developments
2.9. Resolution 1115 (1997)
2.10. Information by the Chairperson of the delegation of Armenia to the Parliamentary Assembly on the case of Ramil Safarov
2.11. International Day of Democracy, 15 September 2012 (Interparliamentary Union)
2.12. European Conference of Presidents of Parliament (Strasbourg, 20-21 September 2012)
2.13. Youth Assembly 2012 (Strasbourg, 5-7 October 2012)
2.14. World Forum for Democracy (Strasbourg, 5-11 October 2012)
2.15. 2013 Parliamentary Assembly Human Rights Prize: proposed extension of deadline for the submission of nominations
2.16. Composition of the Monitoring Committee
2.17. Analysis of the use made by the Assembly’s political groups of their allocations for 2011
2.18. Meetings of the Standing Committee and the Bureau in 2013
Monday 21 January, 8.00 am Strasbourg (part-session) |
Bureau |
Friday 25 January, 8.30 am Strasbourg (part-session) |
Bureau |
Thursday 7 March, 3.00 pm, Paris |
Bureau |
Friday 8 March, 9.00 am, Paris (to be confirmed) |
Standing Committee |
Monday 22 April, 8.00 am, Strasbourg (part-session) |
Bureau |
Friday 26 April, 8.30 am, Strasbourg (part-session) |
Bureau |
May, Armenia (date and place to be confirmed) |
Bureau and Standing Committee (CM Presidency) |
Monday 24 June, 8.00 am, Strasbourg (part-session) |
Bureau |
Friday 28 June, 8.30 am, Strasbourg (part-session) |
Bureau |
Monday 2 September, 9.30 am, Paris |
Bureau |
Monday 30 September, 8.00 am, Strasbourg (part-session) |
Bureau |
Friday 4 October, 8.30 am, Strasbourg (part-session) |
Bureau |
November, Austria (date and place to be confirmed) |
Bureau and Standing Committee (CM Presidency) |
Monday 16 December, 9.30 am, Paris |
Bureau |
2.19. Meetings elsewhere than in Strasbourg and Paris
- the Sub-Committee on the Europe Prize of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development to meet in Sighişoara (Romania) on 21 July 2012;
- the Sub-Committee on the Europe Prize of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development to meet in Corciano (Italy) on 12 August 2012;
- the Ad hoc Sub-Committee on Relations with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy to meet in London on 5 September 2012;
- the Sub-Committee on Culture, Diversity and Heritage of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media to meet in Ljubljana and Maribor (Slovenia) on 21 September 2012;
- the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development to meet in Moscow on 19-20 November 2012.
2.20. Appointment of Assembly representatives for official activities
- Ms Carmen Quintanilla (Spain, EPP/CD) to attend the Conference “The gender approach in the development of Women in the Mediterranean”, organised by the Association “Voix de femmes”, Women’s Tribune and the European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity (North-South Centre of the Council of Europe), in Tetouan (Morocco) on 7 July 2012;
- Ms Elvira Kovács (Serbia, EPP/CD) to attend the International Session of the European Youth Parliament in Tallinn from 27 July to 5 August 2012;
- Mr Paolo Corsini (Italy, SOC) to attend the Council of Europe 2012 Exchange on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue on the theme: “Taking responsibility for tomorrow’s Europe: the role of young people in the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue” in Durrès (Albania) on 3-4 September 2012;
- the Chair of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media or a member of the delegation of Albania to attend a tribute from the European youth to the people who saved the honour of humanity during the Holocaust in Tirana on 5 September 2012;
- Ms Nursuna Memecan (Turkey, ALDE) to attend the European Roma and Travellers Forum, opening ceremony of the 2012 Plenary Session in Strasbourg on 6 September 2012;
- Ms Deborah Bergamini (Italy, EPP/CD) to attend the World e-Parliament Conference, organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in Rome from 13 to15 September 2012;
- Mr Bernard Marquet (Monaco, ALDE) to attend a conference on “Renewable Energy: the Future of the Mediterranean”, organised by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean in Ouarzazate, Morocco from 14 to 15 September 2012;
- Mr José Mendes Bota (Portugal, EPP/CD) to attend the Regional Conference on the Prevention and Combat of Violence against Women, organised by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the Moroccan government, in Rabat, Morocco from 24 to 25 September 2012;
- Ms Carina Ohlsson (Sweden, SOC), to attend the 2nd Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Social cohesion “building a secure future for all”, in Istanbul (Turkey) from 11 to 12 October 2012;
- Ms Nursuna Memecan (Turkey, ALDE) to attend the 81st Rose Roth Seminar, organised by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, in Sveti Stefan (Montenegro) from 15 to 17 October 2012.
3. Decisions of the Bureau requiring ratification by the Assembly
3.1. References and transmissions to committees
- Doc. 12983, Motion for a resolution, The young migrant generation in Europe, to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons to be taken into account in the preparation of the report on “Integration of migrants: is Europe failing?” (Doc. 12498, Ref. 3748) and in the preparation of the report on “Unaccompanied migrant children: what rights at 18?” (Doc. 12678, Ref. 3800);
- Doc. 12985, Motion for a resolution, The right to Internet access, to the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media for report and to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights for opinion;
- Doc. 12986, Motion for a resolution, So-Called “honour” crimes in the North Caucasus, to the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination for report;
- Doc. 13001, Motion for a resolution, Resettlement of refugees: an efficient tool for greater solidarity in Europe, to the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons for report;
- Doc. 13006, Motion for a resolution, Reporting suspected sexual violence against children: legislative and political measures required to protect victims and professionals, to the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development for report.