FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY
Secretariat of the Assembly
Synopsis n° 2001/044
24 April 2001
The Bureau of the Assembly, meeting on 23 April 2001 in Strasbourg with Lord Russell-Johnston in the Chair,
held a minute’s silence in memory of one of its members, Mr Juris Sinka;
with regard to the draft order of business for the second part of the 2001 Ordinary Session of the Assembly (23-27 April 2001):
proposed to the Assembly that, as regards the request for an urgent debate on the situation in Macedonia, the issue be debated as part of the existing report on Kosovo and the neighbouring regions;
proposed to the Assembly to hold an urgent debate on “the Kyoto Protocol on climate change: need for a joint international commitment”;
proposed to the Assembly that, as regards the request for an urgent debate on “the future of the free press in Russia”, the issue be debated as part of the existing report on “freedom of expression and information in the media in Europe”;
revised the draft order of business;
took note of the report on the election of the judges to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) submitted by the competent sub-committee of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and decided to distribute it as a confidential document to the members of the Assembly;
took note of the information regarding the request by the Spanish Judge Garzon, forwarded by the competent authority, for the waiver of the parliamentary immunity of a member of the Italian delegation, Mr Silvio Berlusconi;
approved the delegation representing the Assembly at the 2002 Budget consultation meeting with a delegation from the Committee of Ministers due to take place on 24 April 2001;
in the context of the request by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) for accession to the Council of Europe, was informed of the proposals by the President of the ECHR with a view to the appointment of the two eminent lawyers charged to draw up the report on the conformity of the legal order of the FRY with Council of Europe standards, and left it to the President of the Assembly to make the final appointment;
with regard to the follow-up to Resolution 1240 (2001) and Recommendation 1498 (2001) on the conflict in the Chechen Republic:
took note of the information provided by the co-rapporteurs of the joint working group on Chechnya, Lord Judd and Mr Rogozin, on the first meeting of the group in Moscow on 21 and 22 March 2001;
approved the progress report on the activities of the group and decided to distribute it as an addendum to the progress report of the Bureau;
decided that the list of criminal cases in Chechnya provided to the group should remain confidential and that it is provisional, not for public use and needs further checking before declassification by the Bureau;
agreed that the list should be made available, on that basis and upon request, to the members of the Assembly;
took note that the next meetings of the group will take place in June and in autumn 2001;
approved the progress report of the Bureau (Rapporteur: Mr Gürkan, Turkey, SOC);
declassified the report on the observation of the legislative elections in Moldova on 25 February 2001 by an ad hoc committee of the Bureau;
subject to ratification by the Assembly, approved the replacement of Mr Moreels (Belgium, EPP/CD) by Mr van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) on the Monitoring Committee following a proposal by the political group;
set up an ad hoc committee, composed of two representatives from each Assembly committee except the Monitoring Committee and the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunities, to co-operate in the preparation of, and participate in, the joint NGO/Parliamentarians Conference on “citizenship, solidarity: what sort of Europe do we want?” to be held in Strasbourg from 6-7 November 2001;
confirmed its next meetings as follows:
Strasbourg, Friday 27 April 2001 at 8.30 am
Istanbul, Tuesday 22 May 2001 at 9.30 am.
Strasbourg, Monday 25 June 2001 at 8.30 am
Strasbourg, Friday 29 June 2001 at 8.30 am
Paris, Friday 7 September 2001 at 9.30 am.
Horst Schade / Agnès Nollinger