Progress report | Doc. 14529 Add. 1 | 23 April 2018
Activities of the Assembly’s Bureau and Standing Committee (22-23 April 2018)
1. Decisions of the Bureau of 23 April 2018 requiring ratification by the Assembly
1.1. Composition of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs
The Bureau, on the basis of a proposal by the UEL Group, nominated Mr Nikolaj Villumsen, Denmark.
1.2. Resolution 1376 (2004) relating to Cyprus
The Bureau took note of the letters from the two Turkish Cypriot political parties informing the President of the Assembly of the names of the “elected representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community” entitled to sit in the Assembly in 2018, namely Mr Armağan Candan and Mr Hamsa Ersan Saner.
The Assembly is invited to ratify these Bureau decisions.
2. Other decisions of the Bureau taken on 22 and 23 April 2018
2.1. Allegations of corruption within the Assembly
The Bureau received the report of the Independent external investigation body and held an exchange of views in camera with its members:
- Sir Nicolas Bratza (United Kingdom)
- Mr Jean-Louis Bruguière (France)
- Ms Elisabet Fura (Sweden)
The Bureau decided:
- invite the current and former members of the Assembly whose behavior has been found by the investigation body as unethical or in violation of the Assembly’s code of conduct, or who have refused to co-operate with the investigation body, to suspend all their activities within the Assembly with immediate effect;
- invite the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs to consider further possible actions;
- invite the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs to ensure proper follow-up to the recommendations for the Assembly’s ethical framework made in the report.
2.2. Second part-session of 2018 (Strasbourg, 23-27 April 2018)
2.2.1. Requests for debates under urgent procedure
The Bureau took note of the withdrawal of the request tabled by Mr Akif Çaǧatay Kiliç (Turkey, EC) and 25 members of the Assembly for the Assembly to hold a debate under urgent procedure on Rising anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and xenophobia in Europe: Threat to European values.
The Bureau took note of the request tabled by the Group of the Unified European Left (UEL) and decided to recommend to the Assembly to hold a debate under urgent procedure on Copenhagen Declaration, appreciation and follow-up and referred the matter to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.
The Bureau took note of the request tabled by Sir Roger Gale (United Kingdom, EC), and 19 members of the Assembly and decided to recommend to the Assembly not to hold a debate under urgent procedure on Member States’ respect for international rules-based agreements and principles in the context of the interventions by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and most recently in the United Kingdom and of a further recent transgression of international law by the regime in Syria and its sponsors, and that, should the Assembly decide otherwise, the matter be referred to the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy.
The Bureau took note of the request tabled by the Socialist Group (SOC) and decided to recommend to the Assembly to hold a debate under urgent procedure on Follow-up to the report of the Independent Body on the allegations of corruption within the Parliamentary Assembly and referred the matter to the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs.
2.2.2. Requests for current affairs debates
The Bureau took note of the request of the Ukrainian delegation and decided to recommend to the Assembly not to hold a current affairs debate on Illegal election of the President of the Russian Federation on the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea: a human rights violation.
The Bureau took note of the request of the Icelandic delegation and decided to recommend to the Assembly to hold a current affairs debate on Europe´s role in peacemaking initiatives in Syria and appointed Ms Rósa Björk Brynjólfsdóttir (Iceland, UEL) as the first speaker.
2.2.3. Draft agenda
The Bureau updated the draft agenda.
2.2.4. Election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights
The Bureau took note of the report drawn up by the Committee on the Election of Judges following interviews with candidates for the post of a judge in respect of Montenegro. This report had been already declassified by the Committee and submitted to the attention of all members of the Assembly (Doc. 14529 Addendum 2).
2.3. Progress report of the Bureau of the Assembly and of the Standing Committee (26 January-21 April 2018) (Rapporteur: Ms Liliane Maury Pasquier (Switzerland, SOC))
The Bureau approved the Progress report (Doc. 14529).
2.4. Election observation
2.4.1. Azerbaijan: presidential election (11 April 2018)
The Bureau took note of the statement of the observation mission.
2.4.2. Montenegro: presidential election (15 April 2018)
The Bureau took note of the statement of the observation mission.
2.4.3. Turkey: early presidential and parliamentary elections (24 June 2018)
The Bureau decided to observe this election and constituted an ad hoc committee for this purpose composed of 31 members (EPP/CD-10; SOC-10; EC-5; ALDE-3; UEL-2; FDG-1), as well as of the 2 co-rapporteurs on monitoring of the Monitoring Committee and to conduct a pre-electoral mission.
2.5. Communication
The Bureau took note of the communication by the President of the Assembly.