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Isle of Man: strong legal basis for tackling money laundering, but improvements needed in practice
European experts have praised the Isle of Man’s legal system for tackling money laundering and the financing of terrorism, whilst also expressing a number of concerns about how it works in practice. Today’s report from the Council of Europe’s expert committee on money laundering and the financing...
Data Protection Day: guidelines to protect the people behind Big Data
Ahead of Data Protection Day on 28 January, the Committee of the Council of Europe´s Data Protection Convention, also known as “Convention 108”, adopted this week Guidelines on Big Data aiming to assist policy makers and organisations processing personal data to place people at the centre the...
President Raimondi presents the European Court of Human Rights’ results for 2016
Speaking at the annual press conference of the European Court of Human Rights on 26 January 2017, President Raimondi took stock of the year 2016 and reported that the volume of incoming cases, after falling over the previous two years, had considerably increased. This had largely been the result...
Assembly rapporteur’s visit to Rome focuses on “Youth against corruption”
Eleonora Cimbro (Italy, SOC), rapporteur for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), will conduct a fact-finding visit to Rome on 1-2 February, in the context of the preparation of her report on “Youth against corruption”. This visit aims to examine, in particular, the role...
European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) publishes its annual conclusions for 2016
European Committee of Social Rights finds 166 violations related to employment, training and equal opportunities in 34 countries in 2016
Klaus Werner Iohannis: "Euro-phobia is not just against the values of the EU, but those of the CoE too"
“One of the main challenges we all face in Europe is, unfortunately, the rise of populism, radicalism, xenophobia and Europhobia. Europhobia is not just against the values of the European Union. It is also very much against the fundamental values, principles and norms of the Council of Europe,”...
Committee of Social Rights publishes its Conclusions 2016: Live webcast of the press conference on 25 January
The European Committee of Social Rights will make public its Conclusions 2016 on state compliance with the European Social Charter as regards to rights related to employment, training and equal opportunities. The publication of the Committee’s conclusions and findings will be marked by a press...
Media freedom under serious threat in many European countries
PACE has expressed its concern at the many cases of serious threats to media freedom in Europe listed by the Platform to promote the protection of journalism and safety of journalists, set up by the Council of Europe in 2015. A resolution adopted today by the Assembly, on the basis of a report by...
Secretary General addresses PACE: tackling the challenges of populism, fake news, terrorism and migration; the situation in Turkey
Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland attributed the rise of populism in Europe and elsewhere to a widespread loss of faith in democratic institutions. He said the solution was to find answers to the everyday problems faced by...
Nicos Anastasiades expresses his determination to resolve the Cyprus problem
A resolution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of the values of the Council of Europe, respecting liberties and human rights, is a sine qua non condition for stengthening democratic security in Europe and the south-eastern Mediterranean region, said Nicos Anastasiades, President of Cyprus,...
Commemoration events for victims of the Holocaust
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland today opened a series of ceremonies to mark the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. In front of the commemorative stone on the forecourt of the Palais de l’Europe, addresses and wreath-laying were also made by Nicos...
EU and Council of Europe should combine strengths in a ‘strategic partnership', said Commissioner Hahn
The EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn has hailed the Council of Europe’s role as a “moral compass”, and called for the Council of Europe and the EU to combine their strengths in a strategic partnership to boost their shared values in a time of change. Addressing parliamentarians in...
Ioannis Kasoulides: Cypriot chairmanship to focus on strengthening democratic security in Europe
“The main theme we have chosen for our chairmanship is the strengthening of democratic security in Europe,” said Ioannis Kasoulides, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cyprus and Chair of the Committee of Ministers, addressing the Assembly today. Given the series of recent terrorist attacks, he...
Monitoring visit by the Congress to Switzerland
A delegation from the Congress will carry out a monitoring visit to Switzerland from 23 to 25 January 2017. The delegation will examine the situation on local and regional democracy in the light of the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, ratified by the country in 2005....
Monaco doit consolider les progrès accomplis en matière de protection des droits des enfants, des personnes handicapées et des personnes LGBTI
« Monaco a accompli ces dernières années des progrès importants en matière de protection des droits de l’homme. Ils doivent cependant être consolidés, notamment en améliorant encore la protection des droits des personnes les plus vulnérables, telles que les enfants, les personnes handicapées et...
Secretary General’s Opinion on the European Pillar of Social Rights
Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland has published today his Opinion on the European Union initiative to establish a European Pillar of Social Rights. In his letter to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, Council of Europe Secretary General highlighted the fact that this...
Italy: GRECO calls for reinforced measures to prevent conflicts of interest in Parliament and the judiciary
The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has published today its Fourth Round Evaluation Report on Italy. It focuses on the prevention of corruption amongst members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. GRECO praised Italy for the measures taken in recent years to...
United States encouraged to enhance measures to prevent conflicts of interest in respect of Members of Congress, judges and prosecutors
In a report published today, the Council of Europe's Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) acknowledges that the United States has in place a solid legal, ethical and institutional framework to prevent and fight corruption in respect of Members of Congress, judges and prosecutors....
Georgia should continue reforms to prevent corruption among parliamentarians, judges and prosecutors, says new report
In a report published today, the Council of Europe's anti-corruption body, Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), acknowledged considerable progress in reducing corruption in Georgia and improving the country’s standing in international indices, and called on the Georgian authorities to...
Slovenia: Parliament must ensure that legislative reform on migrants complies with human rights obligations
“Slovenian parliamentarians should reject amendments to the Aliens Act that are contrary to international human rights and refugee protection standards by which Slovenia is bound”, said today Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, while releasing a letter addressed to...