FOR THE ATTENTION OF MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

Secretariat of the Assembly

 

Synopsis No. 2000/127

11 September 2000

 

The Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Prague on 4 and 5 September 2000, under the chairmanship of Mr Davis (United Kingdom, SOC):

-           held an exchange of views with Mr Jan Kavan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic;

-           held an exchange of views with Mr Lubomir Zaoralek, Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic;

-           heard a statement by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe concerning inter alia the presence of experts of the Organisation in the Bureau of Mr Kalamanov;

As regards:

-           The United Nations at the turn of the new century, (Rapporteur: Mrs Hanne Severinsen, Denmark, LDR): approved the change of title of the report and unanimously adopted a draft recommendation in view of the Assembly debate during the September Part-Session;

-            Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, (Rapporteur: Mr Georges Clerfayt, Belgium, LDR): considered a draft Opinion;

-            Situation in Belarus, (Rapporteur: Mr Wolfgang Behrendt, Germany, SOC), heard statements by the Chairman and the Rapporteur on their visit to Minsk (31 July – 4 August 2000) and on the Conference on technical observation of the elections in Belarus, organised by the OSCE, in Vienna on the 30 August.

-            Conflict in the Chechen Republic: recent developments (Rapporteur: Lord Judd, United Kingdom, SOC): heard a statement by the Rapporteur and discussed the follow-up to Resolution 1221 (2000);

-            Elections in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: heard an exchange of views on the situation in Serbia and Montenegro and on the opportuneness of observing the forthcoming elections on 24 September;

-                  Situation in the Middle-East (Rapporteur: Mr John D. Taylor, United Kingdom, EPP/CD): heard a statement by Mr Yecheskel, member of the Knesset, on recent developments in the region, discussed the autumn 2000 visit of the Sub-Committee on the Middle-East, and expressed its agreement to hold an exchange of views with a Palestinian delegation during one of the next meetings;

-                  Threat posed to democracy by extremist parties and movements in Europe, (Rapporteur: Mr Henning Gjellerod, Denmark, SOC): authorised the Rapporteur to visit Slovakia and the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia in Vienna in the framework of preparing his report;

-                  Parliamentary contribution to the implementation of the Stability Pact, (Rapporteur: Mr András Bársony, Hungary, SOC), authorised the Rapporteur to participate at the Conference on the reconstruction of the Balkans, which will take place in Prague on 21 September.

-            Next meetings: decided to hold its next meetings as follows:

-            Plenary Committee:

. Strasbourg, during the fourth part-session of the Assembly (25-29 September 2000)

. Paris, 25 October 2000: joint meeting with the Committee on Foreign Affairs of  the French National Assembly (to be confirmed)

. Brussels, 22 November 2000: Joint meeting with the Committee on External Relations, Human Rights, Defence and Security of the European Parliament (to be confirmed)

. Riga (Latvia) 12-13 December 2000 (pending the authorisation of the Bureau) 

 

Barış Perin, Petr Sich, Catherine Hügel-Maffucci