FOR THE ATTENTION OF MEMBERS OF THE POLITICAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly
Synopsis No. 2001 / 092
10 September 2001
The Political Affairs Committee, meeting in Tbilissi (Georgia) on 3 and 4 September 2001,under the chairmanship of Mr Terry Davis (United Kingdom, SOC):
heard opening statements by:
Mr Zurab ZHVANIA, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia;
Mr Irakliy MENAGARISHVILI, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia,and
Mr Revaz ADAMIA, Head of the Georgian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly,
held exchanges of views with:
Mrs Nino BURJANADZE, Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee
Mrs Elene TEVDORADZE, Chairperson of the Committee on Human Rights Protection
Mr Kakha CHITAIA, Chairman of the Committee on Environment Protection
Mr Ivar VIKKI, Deputy Head of the OSCE Mission in Georgia, and
Major General Bernd LUBENIK, Head of the OSCE Border Monitoring Operation
As regards:
Request for Council of Europe membership: Bosnia and Herzegovina (Rapporteur: Mr Surjan, Hungary, EPP/CD):held an exchange of views, with the participation of members of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Special Guest delegation, on the recent developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina and agreed to examine a preliminary draft Opinion at a future meeting;
Situation in the “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”(Rapporteur: Mr Jakic, Slovenia, LDR): heard a statement by members of the Ad Hoc Committee which had visited the country from 16 to 19 July 2001, held an exchange of views with Mr Gligoroski, leader of the “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly, on the recent developments and invited its Chair to ask the Bureau to authorise a derogation to Rule 33.2 of the Rules of Procedure in order to adopt its report on the first day of the September part-session 2001;
Conflict in the Chechen Republic (Rapporteur: Lord Judd, United Kingdom, SOC): heard a statement by Mr Rogozin, Co-Chairman of the Joint Working Group on Chechnya (JWG), on the conclusions of the JWGs last meeting (29 June 2001), on the programme of the JWGs forthcoming visit to Moscow and Chechnya (12 - 16 September 2001), as well as on the consultation meeting it will hold with Chechen representatives on 21 - 22 September 2001 in Strasbourg and invited its Chair to ask the Bureau to authorise a derogation to Rule 33.2 of the Rules of Procedure in order to adopt its report during the September part-session 2001;
Situation in Belarus (Rapporteur: Mr Behrendt, Germany, SOC): heard a statement by its Chairman and its Rapporteur on the information visit they had carried out in Belarus, together with Mr Svoboda (Rapporteur of the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee), from 31 July to 3 August 2001 and held an exchange of views on the forthcoming presidential elections (9 September 2001);
Positive experiences concerning autonomous regions in Europe (Rapporteur: Mr Gross, Switzerland, SOC): held an exchange of views on the basis of a preliminary draft report prepared by its Rapporteur and invited him to present a full report at the Committee’s meeting on 19 - 20 November 2001 with a view to present it to the Assembly during the January part-session 2002;
Drafting of a Charter defining Europe’s “Common Values” (Rapporteur: Mr Solé Tura, Spain, SOC): held an exchange of views based on a memorandum prepared by its Rapporteur and decided to resume its discussion at a future meeting;
Constitution of a third sub-committee: decided to constitute a sub-committee on Strengthening of Democratic Institutions, decided that it would hold its first meeting during the September part-session 2001 and appointed the following members to it:
Mr ADAMIA (Georgia, SOC)
Mr ATTARD MONTALTO (Malta, SOC)
Mr BEHRENDT (Germany, SOC)
Mr BERCEANU (Romania, SOC)
Mr GRAAS (Luxembourg, LDR)
Mr GROSS (Switzerland, SOC)
Mr HÖRSTER (Germany, EPP/CD)
Mr LEKBERG (Sweden, SOC)
Mrs LOPEZ GONZALEZ (Spain, SOC)
Mr MARTNEZ CASAN (Spain, EPP/CD)
Mr MOLLAZADE (Azerbaijan, EDG)
Mr SOLE TURA (Spain, SOC)
Mr WEISS (Slovakia, SOC)
Mr WIELOWIEYSKI (Poland, EPP/CD)
Sub-Committee on the Middle East: appointed Mr DEMETRIOU (Cyprus, EPP/CD) as a member and Mr THEODOROU (SOC) as his alternate, and Mr HÖRSTER (Germany, EPP/CD) as alternate to Mr Behrendt.
Appointed the following rapporteurs:
Situation in Georgia and the entire Caucasus region: Mrs LÖRCHER (Germany, SOC)
Future of Democracy: Mr WIELOWIEYSKI (Poland, EPP/CD)
Council of Europe’s contribution to reflection on the future of the whole Europe: Mr PRISACARU (Romania, SOC)
Political solution to the Kurdish question in Turkey (Rapporteur: Mr Blaauw, Netherlands, LDR): decided to invite its Rapporteur to begin the preparation of this report;
Next meetings :
decided to accept the invitation by the Mexican Observer delegation to hold a meeting in Mexico in January 2002 (subject to the Bureau’s authorisation)
Plenary Committee:
Strasbourg, during the September part-session of the Assembly (24 - 28 September 2001)
Strasbourg, 7 November (morning) (to be confirmed)
Lithuania, 19 - 20 November 2001 – exchange of views with the Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers (Subject to the Bureau’s authorisation)
Paris, 12 - 13 December 2001
Mexico, January 2002 (Subject to the Bureau’s authorisation)
Sub-Committee on relations with non-member countries:
Strasbourg, during the September 2001 part-session
New York, 18 - 19 October 2001 (on the occasion of the 56th General Assembly of the United Nations)
Ottawa (Canada) 22 - 23 October 2001, Joint Seminar with the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association
Sub-Committee on the Strengthening of Democratic Institutions:
Strasbourg, during the September part-session of the Assembly (24 - 28 September 2001)
Sub-Committee on the Middle-East:
Strasbourg, during the September part-session of the Assembly (24 - 28 September 2001) (to be confirmed)
Marja Ruotanen, Markus Adelsbach