1801221130E

AA18CR01

AS (2018) CR 01

2018 ORDINARY SESSION

________________

(First part)

REPORT

First sitting

Monday 22 January 2018 at 11.30 a.m.

In this report:

1. Speeches in English are reported in full.

2. Speeches in other languages are reported using the interpretation and are marked with an asterisk

3. The text of the amendments is available at the document centre and on the Assembly’s website.

Only oral amendments or oral sub-amendments are reproduced in the report of debates.

4. Speeches in German and Italian are reproduced in full in a separate document.

5. Corrections should be handed in at Room 1059A not later than 24 hours after the report has been circulated.

The contents page for this sitting is given at the end of the report.

(Mr Cilevičs, the doyen of the Assembly, took the Chair at 11.35 a.m.)

1. Opening of the 2018 ordinary session

The PRESIDENT – I declare open the 2018 ordinary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

More than 20 years ago, I first stepped into this Chamber as a still relatively young NGO leader. It felt like entering the temple of human rights. Indeed, our Assembly plays a unique role. We live in the world of States where, at the end of the day, it is governments that decide. Our Assembly, however, gives voice to many groups who are not represented by governments: oppositions, minorities and, to cut a long story short, the entire diversity of Europeans. Our Assembly reflects the dynamics of the situation in national parliaments and in European politics in general.

Not surprisingly, in recent years we have faced major challenges that have emerged in Europe and beyond. One of the key issues we have to handle is how to manage growing cultural diversity while preserving the basic values of democracy and human rights. The so-called refugee crisis is one of the most salient cases where the existing system appears ineffective and must be reformed. However, in no case should these reforms water down the humanistic spirit of the Geneva Convention or undermine the right to asylum.

Integration has become a key word, but only a word rather than an effective action. Often, integration has been used as an excuse to neglect the rights of minorities. The Council of Europe has adopted the first ever legally binding instrument on national minority rights and must defend its spirit and letter. Integration does not mean assimilation. Effective integration necessarily implies respect for cultural diversity and minority rights. This is why, for example, our Assembly’s resolution and the Venice Commission’s recommendations will hopefully help our Ukrainian colleagues find the proper balance for their reform of minority education. In fact, such a balance is needed in a number of other member States, including my own country of Latvia. Our Assembly should make efforts to assist all the member States and offer them the chance to capitalise on the Council of Europe’s outstanding expertise in this sensitive field.

The European Court of Human Rights is often called the crown jewel of our Organisation. I believe that to strengthen the Court, we have to resolutely oppose any attempts to undermine its authority and independence. This is a top priority for our Assembly. The right to petition must be effective and upheld for every European and any person under the Convention’s jurisdiction.

In the last few years, we have witnessed growing disagreement about the nature of our Assembly. Is it just a forum for debate, a round table similar to the United Nations or the OSCE, or a club with clear and strong criteria for membership? I believe that Europe does not need another OSCE. Yes, we must be flexible and take into account a broad diversity of views, but in the meantime, we must strongly uphold our values, not only in rhetoric but also in practice, even when this may lead to financial losses.

For all of us, our duties in the Assembly are a second mandate. Our primary obligations are at home and it is often difficult to successfully sell our work in Strasbourg to our voters back home. This is one more reason why politicians are susceptible to populist temptations. This curse of populism has also hit our Assembly and this is another serious challenge we need to face.

We all know too well that the Assembly’s reputation has been marred by allegations of corruption in recent years. I am proud that we have acted strongly, although with some delay. We are doing our best to clarify the matter, to take all necessary measures against those who violated the basic principles of our Organisation and to prevent similar incidents. That is a good lesson for all of us. We are all politicians: dialogue and political deals are our daily business, but we must keep in mind that the border between a political deal and political corruption is often hazy. I strongly believe that our Assembly, under the leadership of a new President, to be elected today, will clear its name and demonstrate its courage, maturity and dedication to the values of democracy and human rights. I want to believe that, in the future, representatives of European society will perceive our Assembly to be a temple of human rights, as I did more than 20 years ago when I first stepped into it.

2. Examination of credentials

The PRESIDENT – The first item on the agenda is the examination of members’ credentials. The names of the members and substitutes are in Document 14472. If no credentials are challenged, the credentials will be ratified.

Are any credentials challenged?

Before calling Ms Blondin, I remind the Assembly that the rules on challenges to credentials require the member challenging credentials to state which credentials are being challenged, whether the challenge is under Rule 7 on procedural grounds, or Rule 8 on substantive grounds, and the reasons for the challenge.

Ms BLONDIN (France)* – I challenge the credentials of the delegation of Andorra on formal grounds and on the basis of Rule 7.1.b. The delegation of Andorra is not following Rule 6.2.a, which stipulates that national delegations must contain a percentage of the under-represented sex at least equal to the percentage in their parliament, and that at they must have at least one member of the under-represented sex as a representative. The Andorran delegation has met the requirement of parity – it contains two men and two women – but the two men are titular members and the two women are alternates. The Andorran delegation said that it would correct that as quickly as possible after this meeting. In challenging its credentials, I want to draw the attention of all and sundry to the necessity of following our rules and of respecting full parity between women and men in our Assembly.

The PRESIDENT – Ms Blondin has challenged the credentials of the delegation of Andorra on procedural grounds, which is a challenge under Rule 7.

Under Rule 7, a challenge must be supported by at least 10 members present in the Chamber, from at least five national delegations. Would those members supporting this challenge please rise in their places and remain standing while we check whether the requirement is met?

The challenge has the support required under the Rules of Procedure.

Accordingly the credentials of the delegation of Andorra are referred without debate to the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs for report, and to the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination for opinion.

The committees shall report within 24 hours if possible.

We will deal with the timing of the urgent procedure debate when we come to adopt the agenda of the part-session.

I remind you that members whose credentials are challenged may sit provisionally with the same rights as other Assembly members until the Assembly has reached a decision. However, those members shall not vote in any proceedings relating to the examination of credentials which concern them.

Are there any other challenges?

The other credentials set out in Document 14472 are ratified. I welcome all new colleagues.

3. Election of the President of the Assembly

The PRESIDENT – The next item on the agenda is the election of the President of the Assembly.

I have received only one candidature: that of Mr Michele Nicoletti, from Italy, of the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group.

I therefore declare Mr Nicoletti elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Mr Nicoletti, I congratulate you on your election and invite you to take your seat.

(Mr Nicoletti, President of the Assembly, took the Chair in place of Mr Cilevičs.)

4. Address by the President of the Assembly

The PRESIDENT – Dear colleagues, ambassadors, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Deputy Secretary General, and Secretary General of the Assembly, it is a great honour for me to take on the presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at this time. First and foremost, I thank the political groups, including mine, which placed their trust in me based on the agreement on the rotation of the presidency. I also thank all members of the Assembly who endorsed this agreement and whose consent made my appointment possible.

(The speaker continued in Italian.)

It is quite clear to me that all power in a democracy derives from the free consent of the members of the community. The members of that community grant that power and may take it away. Anybody who exercises a democratic power must be aware that this power is vested in that person for a limited period of time. The power does not belong to him or her; it stems from others, and that person is accountable to those who confer that power. In a democracy, we must respect not only the model that provides for the granting of power but the fundamentals of that power, as characterised by accountability and responsiveness.

These values were embodied by my predecessor, Stella Kyriakides. I express my gratitude to her for her discretion, wisdom and balance. She showed all those qualities in exercising her duties in this difficult office, while at the same time upholding the dignity of this institution and instilling an atmosphere of serenity and honest co-operation at a difficult time in the life of the institution. Many thanks to you, Stella.

Finally, I express my gratitude to my own country, Italy, and to my fellow citizens, who, by electing me to parliament, gave me the opportunity to devote my energy to working in the Italian Parliament and in this Assembly. I like to believe that the Council of Europe can survive not only thanks to the will of the governments that set out their position in the treaty; it also lives thanks to the determination of citizens – their resources and their mandate. The fundamental of democracy is the idea of the sovereignty of citizens and the fact that their representatives are their trustees and servants, as the wonderful Virginia Declaration of Rights says.

This is the second time that an Italian has held this important office. Before me, Giuseppe Vedovato was President of this Assembly between 1972 and 1975. An expert in international law and a courageous politician, he presided over this Assembly at a delicate moment in history, following the dictatorship, and subsequent fall of the regime, of the Greek colonels. However, as I take on this office, I cannot but think of the names of two other great Italian Europeans, in addition to the name of Vedovato: Alcide De Gasperi, who comes from my region, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Altiero Spinelli. Both these men were able to develop their ideals of a united Europe in fascist prisons. Having experienced at first hand being deprived of their freedom, they understood that respect for the dignity of each individual, fundamental freedoms and justice are at risk whenever nationalism takes hold, and the best way of guaranteeing these values is at a European level, where fundamental rights are protected by the supreme guarantees of a supranational court.

(The speaker continued in English.)

In times of difficulty, it must always be remembered that the great conquests of European civilisation represent the fruits of past struggle and sacrifice. There is not one single article in our Convention or indeed our democratic constitutions that is not the result of struggles by men and women, workers and minorities of all persuasions, who, by their efforts, their commitment and their very lives, fought for their rights and defended their ideals. Nothing has been given away for free. Everything that has been achieved has been hard fought. Altiero Spinelli used to say that Europe did not fall from the sky, and the same is true of freedom, democracy and human rights. So when we think of the extraordinary hopes and energy that emerged during much more difficult times and of how we Europeans were able to build an era of freedom on the ruins of an era of slavery, we must not lose heart and give in to pessimism when confronted with the difficulties of today.

Our European anthem is “Ode to Joy”. Not everybody knows this, but it was proposed in 1971 as an anthem for the Europe we are building by our Assembly. The same is true of the 12-star European flag, which symbolises European unity worldwide and is used as the European Union’s emblem. It was designed here, at the Council of Europe. We can be proud of how much we have created that has met with success. And yet “Ode to Joy” starts with the words: “O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!” – “O friends, no more of these sounds!” In other words, let us cast aside the sounds of lamentation and rediscover the will to build.

Over the course of 2017, the Assembly forcefully stressed, in the resolution on the fourth summit, the need to reinforce the unity of the Council of Europe as the only European institution that brings together 47 countries around the values of human rights, democracy, the rule of law and acceptance of the European Court, blazing at the heart of our continent’s life the principles laid down in the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter. At a time of great and dramatic challenges – from terrorism to migration; from poverty old and new to mistrust of representative institutions; from the re-emergence of racism and xenophobia to the desperate solitude of so many people – we must offer a response to nationalist and chauvinistic temptations to close ranks, to centrifugal pressures and to conflicts, by reasserting the need for peace and justice on our continent.

As a pan-European political forum and a statutory body of our Organisation, our Assembly should play its full role in addressing these challenges. This requires the active involvement of all members and delegations from all 47 member States. In this context, I regret that the Russian Parliament did not put forward a delegation for the 2018 ordinary session. Nevertheless, dialogue with Russian parliamentarians and all the other delegations continues, in full respect of our rules and obligations.

Last year, our Assembly made a clear political call for a full summit of heads of State and government in order to reassert, at the highest level, the member States’ commitment to ensuring that the Council of Europe can be the common European home of all, respecting the equal dignity, integrity and freedom of each member, along with an undertaking by all to remain true to the European Convention on Human Rights, along with all the other conventions, and to contribute faithfully to the life of the institution. Let me quote a paragraph from that resolution: “as part of the preparatory work for the summit, the Assembly resolves to continue its own reflection on its identity, role and mission as a statutory organ of the Council of Europe and a pan-European forum for interparliamentary dialogue which aims at having an impact in all Council of Europe member States. This reflection would also enable the Assembly to provide its own vision of the future of the Organisation.”

This reflection on our identity, which the Assembly will decide how to develop, appears to me to represent an extraordinary opportunity for our institution to forcefully reassert its own role as the guardian of European unity. I strongly believe that all member States of the Council of Europe must participate in this process. In performing that task, we must not cease openly denouncing any violation of human rights committed in any part of our continent and by any authority. There cannot and must not be any free zones.

However, this defence of human rights will be even stronger if we can combine it with an ever-increasing unity between our peoples. We must tirelessly seek to emphasise what unites us, and in so doing we can draw support from the cultural and social dimensions of our lives. Respect for human dignity forms the heart of the Convention and lies at the root of our European identity. That principle, which is certainly legal and political, has been asserted through a profound understanding of human existence, which is typical of European civilisation.

The centrality of human rights flows from an understanding of what it means to be human, which has grown out of a variety of traditions. The Convention stands on the shoulders not only of legal documents, such as the Magna Carta and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, but also on the poetry of Dante, the plays of Shakespeare, the music of Beethoven and the novels of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy. No wall has been able to divide European humanism, which cannot thrive without all those different strands. Today, now that we have torn down the walls, we must be able to bring to bloom as never before the pluralist wealth of that humanism.

As the guardians of European unity, we must enhance the role of European culture. In performing that task, we must form an alliance of the worlds of culture, schools and universities. The university is a typically European creation and has made a massive contribution to the creation of that shared culture. For that reason, it would be wonderful if our Assembly and the entire Council of Europe could mobilise all European universities around the values of that European humanism and the defence of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. We already have a positive example of that: the Academic Network on the European Social Charter. It is a network of teachers, researchers and students from throughout Europe, which is united by its efforts to defend and promote the values embodied in the social charter. It would be a wonderful thing if we could encourage the creation of a European academic network for each of our conventions, with each taking the Council of Europe as its point of reference. I am thinking, first, of the Istanbul Convention, or the convention against corruption. These are issues in relation to which academic networks could be used to promote research, exchange of information and best practice, as well as the organisation of training pathways – in other words, to mobilise efforts and to reinforce the connective tissue of European civil society.

We therefore need to reaffirm the values of parliamentarianism, at a time when the true meaning of democracy has become somewhat blurred. On the one hand, the various expressions of populism call into question the values of parliamentary democracy and of discussion and deliberation. On the other hand, the intrusiveness of the executive and, at times, authoritarian regimes, constrain the power of parliaments. Our Assembly, as a European Assembly, can help all national parliaments recover the strength and dignity of parliamentary work by finding common standards to guarantee their independence and integrity and their competence and effectiveness, and by defending freedom of speech and dissent and the legal protections they enjoy, such as parliamentary immunity.

Our battle against political corruption must be relentless, and it must be waged in our national parliaments, governments and societies and in our international relations – especially in those institutions that deal with human rights. How much credibility can our reports and resolutions have if there is any suspicion that they have been influenced by private interests and undue interference? How can all those people whose rights have been violated or undermined, or who have been unjustly imprisoned or marginalised by society for their opinions or orientation, have any trust or hope in our institution if we are suspected of being in the service of this or that power, rather than in the service of human dignity? That is why it is essential that our institution can show impartiality and transparency. We have taken significant steps in that regard, by improving our Rules of Procedure and our code of conduct and by setting up an external investigation body.

The Assembly has made abundantly clear its intention to make every effort to dispel any misgivings about the way it works, and to defend its reputation. We now need to put that into practice, through the commitment of each and every one of us. Corruption is a cancer in democracies and States governed by the rule of law, and consequently must be combated with all the energy we can muster. In our parliaments and in our own Parliamentary Assembly, we must reaffirm the responsibility that each member of parliament has to represent not only what is important to him or her, but also what is important to everyone. That is something that we need to ensure happens here.

Dear colleagues, we sit here in alphabetical order; our Assembly Chamber is not divided into political groups or national delegations. That means that each and every one of us must accept responsibility for the whole. With just a few minor adjustments, we can embrace the famous words of Edmund Burke: “Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile interests; which interests each must maintain, as an agent and advocate, against other agents and advocates; but Parliament is a deliberative Assembly…with one interest, that of the whole; where, not local purposes, not local prejudices, ought to guide, but the general good, resulting from the general reason of the whole.”

If we adopt this transparency and sense of responsibility for the whole, we can reclaim not only for ourselves, but also for our national parliaments, that sense of pride that comes from the best parliamentary tradition, and which is expressed in the beautiful oath of allegiance to the king sworn by the courtiers of Aragon: “Nos, que somos tanto como vos y todos juntos más que vos, os hacemos rey de Aragón, si juráis los fueros y si no, no.” That is, “We, who are as good as you and together better than you, make you King of Aragon if you swear to observe our laws and customs and if not, we do not.” In these words, the republican tradition has always recognised the pride of those who consider themselves equals to the monarch and together greater than the monarch, to whom they swear allegiance only if the sovereign abides by the laws. It is this pride and this courage that we must find once more.

Many of our citizens are disillusioned with politics because they feel that it is far removed from their problems and hardships. They are gravely concerned about the future because of the increasing number of environmental challenges and conflicts, and they regard politics as powerless. Rebuilding trust in democratic institutions is a huge task, but one that we must take on courageously. We must once again have the courage to say what sort of society we wish for ourselves and for those dear to us. We do not want a society dominated by fear: the fear of women being attacked, children being abandoned and trafficked minorities being discriminated against and raped; the fear of not having work, of having no prospects, of not being able to express one’s thoughts or of being alone; and the fear of war and terrorism. We cannot remain indifferent to these fears and we must ensure that our institutions can regain the ability to address them head-on, to listen to them and provide comfort, and to instil courage and hope. If there is one wish I have for us at this time, it is to be able to hear those fears and turn them into hope. At the end of the tragedy of totalitarianism, the dream of a united Europe was able to do this, and a continent was built out of the incredible spiritual and material resources that existed. Together, once again, we will be able to live up to this task. It is our duty to do our best to achieve this.

Seventy-five years ago saw the execution in Munich of the White Rose students who, unarmed, opposed the Hitler regime, distributing leaflets in the university in which they denounced the criminal actions of the regime. Sophie Scholl, one of those students, had chosen as a motto the words of the French philosopher Jacques Maritain, “Il faut avoir l’esprit dur et le cœur tendre.” That is, “One must have a determined spirit and a tender heart” – a tender heart to feel the suffering of the world, and a determined spirit to combat violence and fight to secure the freedom of everyone.

5. Election of the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly

The PRESIDENT – The next item on the agenda is the election of Vice-Presidents of the Assembly. Eighteen nominations for Vice-Presidents are listed in Document AS/Inf (2018) 01. If there is no request for a vote, they will be declared elected.

Since there has been no request for a vote, I declare these candidates elected as Vice-Presidents of the Assembly, in accordance with Rule 16 of the Rules of Procedure. They will take precedence by age.

6. Membership of committees

The PRESIDENT – The next item on the agenda is the appointment of members of committees.

The candidatures for committee members have been published in document Commissions 2018 (01) and Addendum 1.

These candidatures are submitted to the Assembly for ratification.

Are these proposals approved?

The proposed candidatures are approved and the committees are appointed accordingly.

7. Requests for urgent and current affairs debates

The PRESIDENT – Before we examine the draft agenda, the Assembly needs to consider requests for debates under urgent procedure and on current affairs. The Bureau has received the following: a request from the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy for an urgent debate on “The Israeli-Palestinian peace process: the role of the Council of Europe”; a request on the same subject with a different title submitted by Mr Talip Küçükcan of Turkey and 20 other members; and a request from the Group of the Unified European Left for a current affairs debate on “The Turkish military intervention in Syria”.

At its meeting this morning, the Bureau took note of both requests for urgent debate and agreed to support a debate on “The Israeli-Palestinian peace process: the role of the Council of Europe”, and therefore recommends to the Assembly that this matter be debated during this part-session as set out on the draft agenda as issued.

Does the Assembly agree to this recommendation?

The Bureau’s recommendation is accepted, and the request for urgent procedure is therefore approved. The Bureau proposes that the urgent procedure debate be held on Thursday morning as the first item of business.

The Bureau proposes that the topic of the debate we have just agreed be referred to the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy for report.

Is this agreed?

The reference is agreed to.

We now consider the request submitted by the Group of the Unified European Left for a current affairs debate on “The Turkish military intervention in Syria”. At its meeting this morning, the Bureau decided to recommend to the Assembly that this request be accepted. Does the Assembly agree to the recommendation of the Bureau? It is agreed.

A current affairs debate on “The Turkish military intervention” will therefore be held during this part-session, and the proposal is to hold this on Wednesday afternoon after the address by the Prime Minister of Denmark. It will be opened by Mr Tiny Kox.

8. Adoption of the agenda

The PRESIDENT – The next item of business is the adoption of the agenda for the first part of the 2018 ordinary session. The draft agenda submitted for the Assembly’s approval was brought up to date by the Bureau on 15 December 2017 and this morning, Document 14551 prov 2.

I remind members that we have just agreed to hold an urgent debate on “The Israeli-Palestinian peace process: the role of the Council of Europe”, and that the Bureau proposes that the debate will take place as the first item of business on Thursday morning.

We have also agreed to hold a current affairs debate on “The Turkish military intervention in Syria”, which will take place on Wednesday afternoon after the address by the Prime Minister of Denmark.

We also have to consider the challenge to credentials accepted this morning. The Bureau proposes that the report be considered as the last item of business on Thursday afternoon.

Is the draft agenda, as amended, agreed to? It is agreed to.

Because it is already clear that there will be a large number of speakers and amendments in certain debates, the Bureau proposes that speaking time be limited to three minutes all week, except on Friday. Is that agreed? It is agreed.

9. Approval of the minutes of proceedings of the Standing Committee

The PRESIDENT – The minutes of the meeting of the Standing Committee in Copenhagen on 24 November 2017 have been distributed. I invite the Assembly to take note of those minutes.

10. Progress report of the Bureau and Standing Committee

The PRESIDENT – The next item on the agenda is the debate on the progress report of the Bureau and Standing Committee, Document 14455 and Addenda 1 to 3, and Document 14471, presented by Ms Stella Kyriakides. I remind members that speaking time in this debate will be limited to three minutes. The debate will continue this afternoon after the communication from the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

I call Ms Kyriakides to present the progress report. You have 13 minutes in total, which you may divide between presentation of the report and reply to the debate. Ms Kyriakides, you have the floor.

Ms KYRIAKIDES (Cyprus) – Mr President, I warmly congratulate you on your election and wish you the very best in pursuing our Assembly’s goals and upholding its values and principles. I assure you that you will have my unwavering support and, I am sure, that of all the Assembly’s members.

Dear colleagues, today my term as President of the Assembly comes to an end. Following our tradition, I present to you the Assembly’s progress report for the last four months.

Last year was indeed an extraordinary period for our Assembly. It was a year full of challenges, which led to the questioning of the credibility and integrity of this institution – an institution that millions of European citizens look to for protection of their human rights, whether civil, political, economic or social, as well as their fundamental freedoms. It is an institution that acts as a beacon of democracy and the rule of law. It is an institution that has been safeguarding fundamental principles for decades and whose future depends on how solid and strong it stands against instances of corruption, lack of transparency and the questioning of the very principles that it was set up to protect and that have formed its cornerstones since its very establishment.

Serving this Assembly has been a great privilege because, as members, we are called upon to stand up for fundamental principles, putting aside our personal, national or other interests and motives, and to work tirelessly to the best of our ability to promote the founding principles of the Council of Europe. Acting as President of this Assembly puts even greater responsibility on one’s shoulders, and I am honoured and proud to have had the opportunity to play that role. It is a president’s duty to lead the way and provide an example in the joint effort that we are all here to make. We are here as parliamentarians committed to this institution to work tirelessly to protect it. We are here to build bridges between different voices, span the gaps, rise above differences and seek consensus. We are here to motivate and inspire, but also to express appreciation of the outstanding work done every day by the committed staff of this Assembly. It is only by being one strong unit, bound by the same principles and ethos, that we can all move forward.

At times in 2017, we fell far short of the expectations I have described. At times, it was a year that led to great disappointment and disillusionment, sometimes to the extent that we almost lost sight of our founding principles and goals. That led to the Assembly’s integrity and transparency being questioned. Let us be honest: once that happens, it makes little difference whether we adopt a resolution or perform a mission that, looking through rose-tinted spectacles, we see as successful; broader and more general considerations put the motives behind our actions into question.

However, let me not paint this picture with only dark colours. As I said, it is a privilege to serve this institution as President. It is a privilege because the overwhelming majority of the work that characterises this Assembly is nothing short of inspiring. Through our actions, we make a positive difference to the lives of millions of citizens in our respective countries and set the bar for what people should expect with respect to protection of their rights. We spread positive and constructive messages and change stereotypes through our campaigns. We speak in support of the rights of minority groups and on gender issues. We promote LGBTI rights. We speak in support of equality and respect for diversity. We address political issues and try to work effectively towards conflict resolution. We create hope for millions of citizens who look to us to ensure that, if their rights are trampled on or if the rule of law is not respected, there is an institution that they can turn to, trust and believe in.

Does it all sound too idealistic? It should not, because if we lose sight of why we are here, we put the future of the Assembly in jeopardy. If we lose sight of the wider picture, we will simply fall short of the expectations of those who rely on us, whether they are members of our Organisation, citizens, colleagues or members of staff. On my election, I had no illusions that after four months I would be able to claim to have dealt effectively with all the challenges we face or that the crisis we had found ourselves in would magically have disappeared. However, I hope that we have moved on from the past, when we were in danger of losing sight of the wider picture, living and functioning in an Alice-in-Wonderland world full of mirrors, seeing only our own image and not what others see in us. When I was elected in October, I said that I would try to restore credibility, consensus, calm and integrity within our Organisation. Today, I can only assure you that I have given my utmost to work towards those objectives by trying to bridge gaps, to build partnerships, to listen and show respect, to learn to work closely with all colleagues and staff, often learning from your collective wisdom, and to look into the future, not dwell on the past.

Of course, the past is part of our history and we need to learn from mistakes in order to go forward. A great deal has changed recently regarding our rules and procedures. We must ensure that, as a result of that process of change, we become more accountable, more transparent, less vulnerable and more credible. Specific steps have been taken concerning our code of conduct within the framework of Resolution 2182 (2017), with a view to promoting and strengthening the transparency, accountability and integrity of all Parliamentary Assembly members. We must all co-operate fully in the implementation of these new rules and procedures. This is an ongoing process that we are committed to following through on.

Learning from the past is important, but looking into the future is even more important, because that is where we find hope. Hope is provided when each of us rises above personal wants or interests.

You will see in the progress report that, during my term, I tried to contribute to addressing the political challenges we face, including relations with the Russian Parliament, difficulties that arose with Turkey, terrorism, the ongoing migration crisis and more. We were able to hold a meeting with Russian parliamentarians in Paris last December as a further step towards the implementation of the recommendations of the Nicoletti report, and to agree on the establishment of an ad hoc committee involving all 47 member States. The resolution, as adopted, clearly states that this process requires the whole Assembly and every single member State of this Organisation to do their utmost to ensure that every member State is fully represented in this process, both at parliamentary and at intergovernmental levels, in strict compliance with their respective obligations and pertinent resolutions. The first meeting of the ad hoc committee of the Bureau is scheduled for tomorrow. I can assure you, Mr President and dear colleagues, that I shall constructively contribute to its work as chairperson of my national delegation.

I visited Greece to see the situation on the ground in relation to the refugee and migration crisis. As a follow-up, I wrote letters to the two European Commissioners responsible for these issues, Mr Avramópoulos and Mr Stylianídes, asking them to provide more active and tangible support to resolve the huge humanitarian problems affecting vulnerable groups such as women and children. I also wrote letters to all chairpersons of delegations asking for their support in dealing with this humanitarian crisis. I would like to thank all colleagues who picked up on my appeal in their national parliaments. I also hope I contributed to achieving our aims through bilateral and other meetings, in Paris, Copenhagen, Athens and London. I was always available to member States to discuss and look into issues they are facing, considering their concerns and challenges, and I also continued to support all our campaigns, which enable the Assembly to do important advocacy work.

Dear colleagues, have the many major problems we are faced with been resolved? The answer is clearly no, but we made the effort to address them, not to avoid them. We openly acknowledged their existence and emphasised the need to find ways forward. I truly believe this was done in an atmosphere of respect and neutrality, with transparent agendas in order to rebuild trust. That is essential, because even if we cannot find a solution to a deadlock, if the motives are clear to all and there are no hidden agendas, we can take the next step – perhaps a different step – that can lead to change and a constructive way forward. In these efforts, I thank all the members of the Bureau and the Presidential Committee for their invaluable support and for the fruitful and productive discussions we had. I also thank wholeheartedly colleagues who share the same beliefs and principles, and work tirelessly towards achieving the aims of this Assembly, to the greatest extent possible. I thank the Secretary General of the Assembly for his invaluable support in helping us not to lose sight of the wider picture; the members of staff of the President’s private office for their tireless work and support; and all the staff of the Assembly and of the Council of Europe, for their absolute professionalism and availability.

A new year, 2018, has started. The challenges we have to face are many, not least due to the serious budget deficit, which will unavoidably affect the whole of the Council of Europe. Therefore, we need to strike a balance between caution, visible good governance and risk management, so as to avoid an over-reaction which may damage the Organisation and its activities. But organisations can survive budget limitations. They can learn to work with less and differently, and, despite the pressure, can be equally effective. What, however, destroys an organisation’s effectiveness and its primary role in the lives of millions of citizens across our continent and beyond, is not a budgetary decrease but the questioning of its core values and principles, the lack of solidarity between its members, a lack of direction or, even worse, taking the wrong political direction. These are the challenges we are facing today. We have to bring about consensus and credibility, to safeguard our principles and to work towards promoting and safeguarding peace and human rights by upholding the rule of law and democracy with absolutely no exception. Above all, our task today is to bring hope and trust to the millions of European citizens we represent.

The PRESIDENT – Thank you, Ms Kyriakides. You have one minute remaining for your reply. To start the debate, I call Mr Németh.

Mr NÉMETH (Hungary, Spokesperson for the Group of the European People’s Party) – Mr President, I congratulate you on your election and express my gratitude to your predecessors in the past two years, Stella Kyriakides and Pedro Agramunt. As has been seen, the EPP clearly abides by the cross-party agreement, but I do not hide our intention to renegotiate it in view of what has happened in the recent past. The EPP’s constructiveness is reflected in the cross-party committee agreement, too, which we hope we will be able to implement in the coming days. Budgetary difficulties are the No. 1 concern for me and for the whole organisation. Following the Russian Federation, Turkey has also decided to retreat from its obligations. We have to make it clear that human rights are not for sale. That is the fundamental principle behind all our intentions, which go in the same direction. However, I also welcome the Bureau’s decision to create the ad hoc committee of the Bureau to facilitate appropriate dialogue with our 47 member States. We need to draw conclusions from negative developments, and this decision points us in the right direction.

I agree with you, Mr President, and with Stella Kyriakides, our rapporteur, that today can be a new beginning. We have the European flag flying above our heads – not just the flag of the European Union, but that of the Council of Europe – and our dream is European integration, in the sense that we need and have to integrate the human rights of European nations, too, because that is part of Europe’s identity. The European identity is based on human rights and the rule of law, and we should not forget the fact that the reunification of Europe is not at all over; we need to bring into European institutions the countries of the Balkans and of eastern Europe, especially Ukraine, which is prone to Russian aggression.

We need to have commitment, discipline and solidarity inside the Council of Europe. That is the precondition of our Organisation, of our success and of the human rights of European people.

Mr SCHENNACH (Austria, Spokesperson for the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group.)* – First, on behalf of our group, I express my great joy that you have been elected President, Mr Nicoletti.

I express my special thanks to Stella Kyriakides for stepping in over the past few months as President of the Parliamentary Assembly. Your election as President was a form of deliverance for the Assembly, and you deserve our greatest respect for the way in which you presided over it. You were elected very much at the right time and you were the right person for the job, so thank you very much indeed, Stella, for what you have done over the past few months. You did outstanding work to improve and restore trust and credibility in the Parliamentary Assembly, which was very important.

Of course, we wish to welcome this progress report – such reports are always very important here – which takes stock of the past few months, making mention of the creation of the ad hoc committee, as well as the decisions taken by the Standing Committee, the Presidential Committee and the Bureau. This is all very important indeed. Peace in Europe cannot be imposed against the Russian Federation – “against” is not the word here. We need to work with the Russian Federation, but of course we have a number of conditions that need to be fulfilled. The second point to make is that we always need to leave the door open for anyone from the Russian Federation who wants to be able to make use of the European Convention on Human Rights, so that individuals in the Russian Federation can introduce applications. We should not close the doors to that, of course.

Once again, we had a successful World Forum for Democracy, which was held at the end of last year. We spoke a great deal about fake news at the forum and exactly what consequences and ramifications it can have in the world of politics.

My colleague Stella and our new President mentioned budgetary matters. We have to discuss that issue, and in an open and frank way. That cannot only be done here in the Assembly. Changes and amendments can be made, but that should be the focus of our work. We must also continue to work on human rights and fundamental rights.

In spite of the United States President, there has been a rapprochement between North Korea and South Korea. Debates are going to be held on Jerusalem and matters occurring in Syria and Turkey. There have been some positive developments. In fact, roughly a week ago, I led negotiations in the Republic of Moldova and Transnistria. I am delighted that some progress has been made and that there is more understanding.

Mr LIDDELL-GRAINGER (United Kingdom, Spokesperson for the European Conservatives Group) – Congratulations, Mr President. The great beauty of the Council of Europe is openness, transparency and the ability to talk freely and openly with each other. If we want to make progress, the ad hoc committee should always be open and transparent. I know that we are able to have our Secretariat there. However, many people in my group and others represent countries that would like to be there – maybe not to vote or even to speak, but to be in that committee. As a group chairman, I urge you, Mr President, to look at this in the cold light of day. Yesterday you said how much you wanted transparency at all levels, and I welcome that.

I wish to come on to another thorny issue that we have to face. The Council of Europe is built on the ability to do its job, and that may now be under threat. Our Turkish colleagues are not going to pay the full amount of money that they would normally in the Council of Europe. I gently say to Mr Jagland – I will only make an observation, because he cannot reply at this stage – that we need to cut our budgets now. It is like everything else in life: if you leave it till the last moment, the remedy is much worse. You might feel that if you stick your head in the sand, it will go away, but it normally does not, and you are left wondering what to do next. We need to make changes. This is the time to do it. We have a brand-new President, and we have people who really understand what we need to be doing.

In the middle of April, the corruption report will be presented to us. We have challenges in that area, but the budget means that we can continue to do our work, providing we face the losses and what we need to make up this year and next year. We need to make the decisions now. There are going to be very thorny issues to discuss, such as language, translators, printing in different languages and the co-operation we have with other groups. We need to discuss those, and we need to do so in such a way that people feel they are included. If we do not make those decisions and the funding continues – we do not yet know the position of the Russian Federation for sure – we could find ourselves going back to our own countries to ask for money. I wonder how many of our countries will give extra funding, given that there is uncertainty within the Council of Europe. I think probably not very many.

I say gently to the Secretary General that we need to make those decisions. We will work together to make them, but we are in a difficult time. We have a new President, who I am sure will bring stability and hope. Let us use that to build on this wonderful Organisation for the future.

Mr Michael Aastrup JENSEN (Denmark, Spokesperson for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) – First, heartfelt congratulations to you as the new President. We look forward to good co-operation.

The ad hoc committee, which has the very diplomatic name of the ad hoc committee on the role and mission of the parliamentary assembly, is a very good thing, because dialogue has been needed for some time now with the Russians. Let us remember that the Russian delegation was not kicked out, but left of its own accord. It left because it was angry about the sanctions put on it, but a big majority in the Assembly only wanted to put sanctions on the Russian Federation and keep a dialogue regarding its fulfilment of our many resolutions.

If we can have dialogue with the Russians, that is very good. However, if this is a bad excuse to play the blackmail game that the Russians are playing, where they say, “We do not want to pay our dues to this Organisation as long as we have sanctions against our parliamentary delegation,” that is very bad. ALDE cannot participate in that kind of game. We need to tread very carefully, so that we can have dialogue and be very frank with the Russians.

ALDE is persuaded that we want our new President and all of us who will participate in the meeting tomorrow to be very politically correct in saying what the most important issue is. The most important issue is that the delegation from the Russian Federation is more than welcome – and more than welcome to remove the sanctions against it, as long as it fulfils the resolutions we have adopted. Otherwise, if the Russians are let in and we ease the restrictions on them regarding their voting rights and so on, we will play the propaganda game and be used as a tool in it. ALDE does not want to be a stooge in that propaganda game. How would this Organisation then be viewed by the entire population of Europe? We would be viewed as an Organisation that was weak and did not value its core rights and core values.

Our core rights and core values are that we promote democracy, freedom and the rule of law. One of the most important parts of the rule of law is that one member country cannot just take a part of another member country and say, “Let bygones be bygones.” That is the most important issue. Let us stick to our values and be frank about them in our meeting tomorrow.

Mr KOX (Netherlands, Spokesperson for the Group of the Unified European Left) – On behalf of my group, I thank Stella Kyriakides not only for her progress report but for the great job she has done in the past three months. My experience, in my family, is that women are often a bit more effective than men. What you did in three months will not be easily done by the new President in two years. We from the left say that you did the right things. You put the house in order and created a new atmosphere, and you also increased the credibility of the house to the outside. Thank you very much. If there was not a rotation system, you could have stayed in the chair for far longer.

I congratulate our new President, my good colleague Michele Nicoletti. You are most welcome. Because of what you propose, you get the full support of my group. Within four years, there will be a President from my group, according to the rotation system. I say to my colleague Zsolt Németh that we always stick to our promises, and I hope he will do that also.

I hope that the ad hoc committee, which is based on the Nicoletti report, will be chaired by our new President. It is of the utmost importance, because we have to talk about the role of the Council of Europe, the function of our Assembly and the role that the Council of Europe and the Assembly can play in the near future to stay relevant and not become irrelevant. Therefore, we also need to harmonise the rules and regulations of the statutory organs of this Organisation. I am looking forward to that experience. I think that it is great that all 47 member States are, via their parliaments, represented on the committee.

I want to make one last remark. Democracy is in danger in Europe. That is not strange to us, but I want to say something about politicians who are in danger. On our continent and in the Council of Europe member States, far too many of our colleagues – elected parliamentarians – are on trial, are blocked in their work or are even put in jail. We have seen it in Turkey, Azerbaijan, the Republic of Moldova and even Spain. We have to remain in solidarity with all our colleagues who are elected at home as parliamentarians. Parliamentarians should not be put in prison; they should be put in parliament. I ask for your solidarity with all those who are now not here or not in their parliaments because they have been put in jail. We showed solidarity with Nadiia Savchenko and we must show it with all colleagues who are now not in their parliaments but in jail.

Ms GAMBARO (Italy, Spokesperson for the Free Democrats Group)* – On behalf of my group, I offer my heartfelt congratulations on your election, Mr President. How can we not recall Stella Kyriakides’s mandate? She agreed to take on the presidency over the past four months, which were crucial for the entire Council of Europe. The challenges that she faced meant that she had to do a lot of work as President, as will you, so I offer all my best wishes to you for what you will have to confront.

The credibility and integrity of this institution are fundamental. Over the past few months, we have succeeded in strengthening them. As Stella said, the future of the Council of Europe depends on whether it succeeds in combating corruption and lack of transparency. As our colleague Mr Németh said, we must always recall that even in times of financial difficulty, which we all know, human rights are not for sale. We will have to continue to pursue our efforts and activities in the field of human rights and democracy, possibly while we have financial problems. We are defending the rights and democracy of millions of citizens. One of my hopes is that the excellent work that is done by the officers here will be communicated more widely than has been the case hitherto, because the millions of citizens whom we represent must feel more at ease and know that their parliamentarians come to Strasbourg to look after their rights.

As Stella recalled, over the past four months we encountered a number of challenges. One in which I had the opportunity to be involved was the meeting with the Russian delegation and the setting up of the ad hoc committee. I agree with colleagues that we must be transparent and clear about this. Like Stella, I hope that the Council of Europe will be able to look to the future, because looking to the future is more important than recalling the past.

Ms HOVHANNISYAN (Armenia) – Thank you, Mr President, and congratulations. I also thank Ms Kyriakides for the difficult work that she did.

Today, I would like to share with you some of the developments taking place in Armenia, which are of the utmost importance not only for us but for the whole of Europe. We have reached an important stage in Armenia-European Union relations. On 24 November, within the framework of the Eastern Partnership Summit, Armenia and the European Union signed the comprehensive and enhanced partnership agreement. The agreement opens a new page in our co-operation with the European Union, establishing new opportunities for the further expansion of our partnership. The document is based on shared European values – a strong commitment to democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It will deepen our co-operation in the fields of energy, transport, environment, investment and mobility, strengthening the rapprochement of our societies. We are giving a new political push to our sectoral co-operation, where we have registered sound achievements during past two years, and to the focus on infrastructure connections.

Along with a number of vital issues, the agreement calls on us to join efforts in combating international terrorism, preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction and promoting conflict resolution. High Representative Mogherini said: “This agreement is the first of this kind that is concluded with a party that is also a member of the Eurasian Economic Union”.

Being in a landlocked country, we in Armenia attach great importance to different integration projects. Today, when the world faces serious challenges, dialogue and interaction are more important than ever. We live in conditions of new crises and threats and we are witnessing the deepening of dividing lines. In this time of globalisation, instability in one region can have consequences on a larger scale. Therefore, we must unite in our efforts to ensure stability and peace.

Co-operation between different integration entities can contribute to the formation of a common space without dividing lines. Our firm position is that participation in one integration community does not limit the possibility of co-operation with other structures. That is the formula for our participation in the Eurasian Economic Union and for our collaboration with the European Union. The European Parliament recommendation of 15 November 2017 on the Eastern Partnership, made in the run-up to the November 2017 summit, said that the “Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with Armenia … serves as an example of how membership of the Eurasian Economic Union and participation in the European Union’s neighbourhood strategies can coexist.” Today we are proud to state that Armenia managed its diversification. That is our success story.

Mr SOBOLEV (Ukraine) – Congratulations, Mr President. This is a serious time for our Organisation in organising the mainstream of our future work, and the main principles of this Organisation will be the first issue.

When I read the report, I thought that two different people had written it. Although the main idea of the protection of human rights is constant, and although we stress the ideas of democracy and the ideas that protect all the people in this continent, we need to find how to solve our problem with the Russian Federation. The answer to the problem is very original. When we propose that we build bridges, they must not be bridges for Russian tanks, as they were in Ukraine. They must require the fulfilment of all our resolutions, and only that can be the task of our negotiations.

If we want to change the principle of this Organisation, we can do so. We can close the Monitoring Committee and the European Court of Human Rights. Perhaps we do not need a commissioner who analyses the violation of human rights. That is another kind of organisation.

The Council of Europe, with all its partners in different spheres, is the only organisation in Europe that can not only protect and declare human rights but answer these questions adequately. Our future relations with the countries that violated the main principles of this Organisation can be built not on the decision of the political groups and not even on your decision, Mr President, but on the decisions of the whole Parliamentary Assembly and its – our – resolutions and recommendations. That is the main principle that can build bridges for future peace, rather than war. Paragraph 4.3 of the progress report is not the subject of our discussion. If we want to stress how each country, each of the 47 members, can fulfil its obligations, we can only find the answer in our resolutions.

The PRESIDENT – I must now close the sitting. The debate will continue this afternoon, after the communication from the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

11. Next public business

The PRESIDENT – The Assembly will hold its next public sitting this afternoon at 3 p.m. with the agenda that was approved this morning. I would like to invite all of you to the ceremony of the presidential handover, which will take place immediately after the sitting in the lobby of the Chamber.

The sitting is closed.

(The sitting was closed at 1 p.m.)

CONTENTS

1. Opening of the 2018 ordinary session

2. Examination of credentials

3. Election of the President of the Assembly

4. Address by the President of the Assembly

5. Election of the Vice-Presidents of the Assembly

6. Membership of committees

7. Requests for urgent and current affairs debates

8. Adoption of the agenda

9. Approval of the minutes of proceedings of the Standing Committee

10. Progress report of the Bureau and Standing Committee

Presentation by Ms Kyriakides of the progress report of the Bureau and Standing Committee, Document 14455 and Addenda 1 to 3, and Document 14471.

Speakers on behalf of political groups: Mr Németh (Hungary), Mr Schennach (Austria), Mr Liddell-Grainger (United Kingdom), Mr Michael Aastrup Jensen (Denmark), Mr Kox (Netherlands), Ms Gambaro (Italy), Ms Hovhannisyan (Armenia) and Mr Sobolev (Ukraine).

11. Next public business

Appendix / Annexe

Representatives or Substitutes who signed the register of attendance in accordance with Rule 12.2 of the Rules of Procedure. The names of members substituted follow (in brackets) the names of participating members.

Liste des représentants ou suppléants ayant signé le registre de présence, conformément à l’article 12.2 du Règlement. Le nom des personnes remplacées suit celui des Membres remplaçant, entre parenthèses.

ÅBERG, Boriana [Ms]

ÆVARSDÓTTIR, Thorhildur Sunna [Ms]

AGHAYEVA, Ulviyye [Ms]

AKBULUT, Gökay [Ms] (SCHÄFER, Axel [Mr])

ALLAVENA, Jean-Charles [M.]

AMON, Werner [Mr]

AMORUSO, Francesco Maria [Mr] (CENTEMERO, Elena [Ms])

ANTTILA, Sirkka-Liisa [Ms]

ARENT, Iwona [Ms]

ARIEV, Volodymyr [Mr]

ARNAUT, Damir [Mr]

BADEA, Viorel Riceard [M.] (BRĂILOIU, Tit-Liviu [Mr])

BAKOYANNIS, Theodora [Ms]

BALÁŽ, Radovan [Mr] (PAŠKA, Jaroslav [M.])

BARDELL, Hannah [Ms]

BARNETT, Doris [Ms]

BARTOS, Mónika [Ms] (CSÖBÖR, Katalin [Mme])

BEREZA, Boryslav [Mr]

BĒRZINŠ, Andris [M.]

BEUS RICHEMBERGH, Goran [Mr]

BEYER, Peter [Mr]

BILDARRATZ, Jokin [Mr]

BİLGEHAN, Gülsün [Mme]

BILOVOL, Oleksandr [Mr]

BLAHA, Ľuboš [Mr]

BLAZINA, Tamara [Ms] (ZAMPA, Sandra [Ms])

BLONDIN, Maryvonne [Mme]

BOSIĆ, Mladen [Mr]

BOUYX, Bertrand [M.] (GAILLOT, Albane [Mme])

BRASSEUR, Anne [Mme]

BRUYN, Piet De [Mr]

BRYNJÓLFSDÓTTIR, Rósa Björk [Ms]

BUDNER, Margareta [Ms]

BUSHATI, Ervin [Mr]

CAZEAU, Bernard [M.]

CEPEDA, José [Mr]

CERİTOĞLU KURT, Lütfiye İlksen [Ms] (ŞAHİN USTA, Leyla [Ms])

CHITI, Vannino [Mr]

CHRISTENSEN, Jette [Ms] (EIDE, Espen Barth [Mr])

CHRISTODOULOPOULOU, Anastasia [Ms]

CHRISTOFFERSEN, Lise [Ms]

CHUGOSHVILI, Tamar [Ms]

CILEVIČS, Boriss [Mr] (LAIZĀNE, Inese [Ms])

CIMBRO, Eleonora [Ms] (QUARTAPELLE PROCOPIO, Lia [Ms])

CORLĂŢEAN, Titus [Mr]

CORSINI, Paolo [Mr]

COURSON, Yolaine de [Mme] (WASERMAN, Sylvain [M.])

COZMANCIUC, Corneliu Mugurel [Mr] (PLEȘOIANU, Liviu Ioan Adrian [Mr])

CREASY, Stella [Ms] (BYRNE, Liam [Mr])

CROWE, Seán [Mr]

CRUCHTEN, Yves [M.]

CSENGER-ZALÁN, Zsolt [Mr]

DALLOZ, Marie-Christine [Mme]

D’AMBROSIO, Vanessa [Ms]

DESTREBECQ, Olivier [M.]

DIVINA, Sergio [Mr]

DUNDEE, Alexander [The Earl of] [ ]

DURANTON, Nicole [Mme]

EBERLE-STRUB, Susanne [Ms]

ESSL, Franz Leonhard [Mr]

FIALA, Doris [Mme]

FILIPOVSKI, Dubravka [Ms] (PANTIĆ PILJA, Biljana [Ms])

FOURNIER, Bernard [M.]

FRESKO-ROLFO, Béatrice [Mme]

FRIDEZ, Pierre-Alain [M.]

GAFAROVA, Sahiba [Ms]

GAMBARO, Adele [Ms]

GARCÍA ALBIOL, Xavier [Mr]

GARCÍA HERNÁNDEZ, José Ramón [Mr]

GASHI, Afrim [Mr] (HADRI, Shpresa [Ms])

GATTI, Marco [M.]

GATTOLIN, André [M.] (DE TEMMERMAN, Jennifer [Mme])

GERASHCHENKO, Iryna [Mme]

GHILETCHI, Valeriu [Mr]

GILLAN, Cheryl [Dame]

GIRO, Francesco Maria [Mr]

GOGA, Pavol [M.] (KRESÁK, Peter [Mr])

GONÇALVES, Carlos Alberto [M.]

GONCHARENKO, Oleksii [Mr]

GONZÁLEZ TABOADA, Jaime [M.] (BARREIRO, José Manuel [Mr])

GORGHIU, Alina Ștefania [Ms]

GORROTXATEGUI, Miren Edurne [Mme] (BUSTINDUY, Pablo [Mr])

GOUTTEFARDE, Fabien [M.]

GOY-CHAVENT, Sylvie [Mme]

GRAF, Martin [Mr]

GÜNAY, Emine Nur [Ms]

GUNNARSSON, Jonas [Mr]

GUTIÉRREZ, Antonio [Mr]

HAIDER, Roman [Mr]

HAJDUKOVIĆ, Domagoj [Mr]

HAJIYEV, Sabir [Mr]

HALICKI, Andrzej [Mr]

HARANGOZÓ, Gábor [Mr] (MESTERHÁZY, Attila [Mr])

HEER, Alfred [Mr]

HEINRICH, Gabriela [Ms]

HERKEL, Andres [Mr] (MIKKO, Marianne [Ms])

HOFFMANN, Rózsa [Mme] (GULYÁS, Gergely [Mr])

HONKONEN, Petri [Mr] (PELKONEN, Jaana Maarit [Ms])

HOPKINS, Maura [Ms]

HOVHANNISYAN, Arpine [Ms]

HOWELL, John [Mr]

HUNKO, Andrej [Mr]

HUOVINEN, Susanna [Ms] (GUZENINA, Maria [Ms])

HUSEYNOV, Rafael [Mr]

IBRAHIMOVIĆ, Ervin [Mr] (SEKULIĆ, Predrag [Mr])

JANIK, Grzegorz [Mr] (JAKUBIAK, Marek [Mr])

JANSSON, Eva-Lena [Ms] (KARLSSON, Niklas [Mr])

JENSEN, Michael Aastrup [Mr]

JENSEN, Mogens [Mr]

JONES, Susan Elan [Ms]

JORDANA, Carles [Mr]

KALMARI, Anne [Ms]

KANDELAKI, Giorgi [Mr] (BAKRADZE, David [Mr])

KATSARAVA, Sofio [Ms]

KAVVADIA, Ioanneta [Ms]

KERESTECİOĞLU DEMİR, Filiz [Ms]

KILIÇ, Akif Çağatay [Mr]

KITEV, Betian [Mr]

KLEINWAECHTER, Norbert [Mr]

KOBZA, Jiři [Mr] (BENEŠIK, Ondřej [Mr])

KOÇ, Haluk [M.]

KOPŘIVA, František [Mr]

KORENJAK KRAMAR, Ksenija [Ms]

KORODI, Attila [Mr]

KOVÁCS, Elvira [Ms]

KOX, Tiny [Mr]

KRIŠTO, Borjana [Ms]

KRONBICHLER, Florian [Mr]

KROSS, Eerik-Niiles [Mr]

KÜRKÇÜ, Ertuğrul [Mr]

KVATCHANTIRADZE, Zviad [Mr]

KYRIAKIDES, Stella [Ms]

KYTÝR, Jaroslav [Mr]

LACROIX, Christophe [M.]

LAMBERT, Jérôme [M.]

LEITE RAMOS, Luís [M.]

LIASHKO, Oleh [Mr]

LĪBIŅA-EGNERE, Inese [Ms]

LIDDELL-GRAINGER, Ian [Mr]

LOGVYNSKYI, Georgii [Mr]

LOMBARDI, Filippo [M.]

LOUHELAINEN, Anne [Ms] (PACKALÉN, Tom [Mr])

LOUIS, Alexandra [Mme]

LUCHERINI, Carlo [Mr] (BERTUZZI, Maria Teresa [Ms])

LUPU, Marian [Mr]

MAIRE, Jacques [M.]

MALLIA, Emanuel [Mr]

MARKOVIĆ, Milica [Mme]

MAROSZ, Ján [Mr]

MARQUES, Duarte [Mr]

MARUKYAN, Edmon [Mr] (RUSTAMYAN, Armen [M.])

MASIULIS, Kęstutis [Mr] (BUTKEVIČIUS, Algirdas [Mr])

MASSEY, Doreen [Baroness]

MAVROTAS, Georgios [Mr] (KASIMATI, Nina [Ms])

McCARTHY, Kerry [Ms]

MEHL, Emilie Enger [Ms]

MELKUMYAN, Mikayel [M.] (FARMANYAN, Samvel [Mr])

MILEWSKI, Daniel [Mr]

MİROĞLU, Orhan [Mr]

MÜHLWERTH, Monika [Ms] (BURES, Doris [Ms])

MULARCZYK, Arkadiusz [Mr]

MULDER, Anne [Mr]

MÜLLER, Thomas [Mr]

MUNYAMA, Killion [Mr] (TRUSKOLASKI, Krzysztof [Mr])

NAUDI ZAMORA, Víctor [M.]

NĚMCOVÁ, Miroslava [Ms]

NÉMETH, Zsolt [Mr]

NENUTIL, Miroslav [Mr]

NICK, Andreas [Mr]

NICOLETTI, Michele [Mr]

NISSINEN, Johan [Mr]

NOVYNSKYI, Vadym [Mr] (LIOVOCHKINA, Yuliya [Ms])

OBRADOVIĆ, Marija [Ms]

OEHME, Ulrich [Mr] (BERNHARD, Marc [Mr])

OHLSSON, Carina [Ms]

OMTZIGT, Pieter [Mr] (MAEIJER, Vicky [Ms])

ÖNAL, Suat [Mr]

O’REILLY, Joseph [Mr]

PASHAYEVA, Ganira [Ms]

PAVIĆEVIĆ, Sanja [Ms] (ĆATOVIĆ, Marija Maja [Ms])

PISCO, Paulo [M.]

POCIEJ, Aleksander [M.] (KLICH, Bogdan [Mr])

POMASKA, Agnieszka [Ms]

POPA, Ion [M.] (ȘTEFAN, Corneliu [Mr])

PREDA, Cezar Florin [M.]

PRESCOTT, John [Mr]

PRUIDZE, Irina [Ms]

PRUNĂ, Cristina-Mădălina [Ms]

PSYCHOGIOS, Georgios [Mr] (ANAGNOSTOPOULOU, Athanasia [Ms])

PUTICA, Sanja [Ms]

REICHARDT, André [M.] (GROSDIDIER, François [M.])

REISS, Frédéric [M.] (ABAD, Damien [M.])

RIGONI, Andrea [Mr]

ROCA, Jordi [Mr] (MATARÍ, Juan José [M.])

RODRÍGUEZ HERNÁNDEZ, Melisa [Ms]

SANTA ANA, María Concepción de [Ms]

SANTERINI, Milena [Mme]

SCHENNACH, Stefan [Mr]

SCHOU, Ingjerd [Ms]

SCHWABE, Frank [Mr]

ŠEŠELJ, Aleksandar [Mr]

SEYIDOV, Samad [Mr]

SHALSI, Eduard [Mr]

SHARMA, Virendra [Mr]

SILVA, Adão [M.]

ŠIRCELJ, Andrej [Mr]

ŠKOBERNE, Jan [Mr]

SMITH, Angela [Ms]

SOBOLEV, Serhiy [Mr]

SØNDERGAARD, Søren [Mr]

SORRE, Bertrand [M.]

SOTNYK, Olena [Ms]

SPAHIU, Klodiana [Ms] (BUSHKA, Klotilda [Ms])

STANĚK, Pavel [Mr]

STEVANOVIĆ, Aleksandar [Mr]

STIENEN, Petra [Ms]

STIER, Davor Ivo [Mr]

STRIK, Tineke [Ms]

STROE, Ionuț-Marian [Mr]

ŞUPAC, Inna [Ms]

SUTTER, Petra De [Ms] (BLANCHART, Philippe [M.])

SVENSSON, Michael [Mr]

TARCZYŃSKI, Dominik [Mr]

THIÉRY, Damien [M.]

THÓRARINSSON, Birgir [Mr] (ÓLASON, Bergþór [Mr])

TOMIĆ, Aleksandra [Ms]

TOPCU, Zühal [Ms]

TORNARE, Manuel [M.] (MAURY PASQUIER, Liliane [Mme])

TRISSE, Nicole [Mme]

TROY, Robert [Mr] (COWEN, Barry [Mr])

TÜRKEŞ, Yıldırım Tuğrul [Mr]

VAREIKIS, Egidijus [Mr]

VARVITSIOTIS, Miltiadis [Mr] (MEIMARAKIS, Evangelos [Mr])

VEJKEY, Imre [Mr]

VEN, Mart van de [Mr]

VENIZELOS, Evangelos [M.] (TZAVARAS, Konstantinos [M.])

VERCAMER, Stefaan [M.]

WENAWESER, Christoph [Mr]

WERNER, Katrin [Ms]

WILSON, Phil [Mr]

WOJTYŁA, Andrzej [Mr]

WOLD, Morten [Mr]

XUCLÀ, Jordi [Mr] (RODRÍGUEZ RAMOS, Soraya [Mme])

YAŞAR, Serap [Mme]

YEMETS, Leonid [Mr]

YENEROĞLU, Mustafa [Mr]

ZOHRABYAN, Naira [Mme]

ZRINZO AZZOPARDI, Stefan [Mr] (CUTAJAR, Rosianne [Ms])

Also signed the register / Ont également signé le registre

Representatives or Substitutes not authorised to vote / Représentants ou suppléants non autorisés à voter

ANDERSON, Donald [Lord]

AST, Marek [Mr]

ATSHEMYAN, Karine [Ms]

BAKRADZE, David [Mr]

BALFE, Richard [Lord]

BESELIA, Eka [Ms]

BRANDT, Michel [Mr]

BRUIJN-WEZEMAN, Reina de [Ms]

BÜCHEL, Roland Rino [Mr]

BULIGA, Valentina [Mme]

BYRNE, Liam [Mr]

CANNEY, Seán [Mr]

COAKER, Vernon [Mr]

CORREIA, Telmo [M.]

EIDE, Petter [Mr]

ENGIN, Didem [Ms]

FARMANYAN, Samvel [Mr]

FOULKES, George [Lord]

GOGUADZE, Nino [Ms]

KAPUR, Mudassar [Mr]

KELLEHER, Colette [Ms]

KERN, Claude [M.]

LEŚNIAK, Józef [M.]

LUNDGREN, Kerstin [Ms]

MAKHMUDYAN, Rustam [Mr]

MULLEN, Rónán [Mr]

ÖZSOY, Hişyar [Mr]

PALLARÉS, Judith [Ms]

PASQUIER, Bernard [M.]

RIBERAYGUA, Patrícia [Mme]

RUSSELL, Simon [Lord]

SHEPPARD, Tommy [Mr]

SOLEIM, Vetle Wang [Mr]

TOUHIG, Don [Lord]

TSKITISHVILI, Dimitri [Mr]

UCA, Feleknas [Ms]

VLASENKO, Sergiy [Mr]

WHITFIELD, Martin [Mr]

ZAVOLI, Roger [Mr]

Observers / Observateurs

LUNA CANALES, Armando [Mr]

SANTANA GARCÍA, José de Jesús [Mr]

Partners for democracy / Partenaires pour la démocratie

ABUSHAHLA, Mohammedfaisal [Mr]

ALBAKKAR, Khaled [Mr]

ALQAISI, Nassar [Mr]

ALQAWASMI, Sahar [Ms]

SABELLA, Bernard [Mr]