Highlights of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly's winter session (27-31 January 2003) include debates on freedom of expression in the media, the Council of Europe's contribution to the process of drafting a European Union Constitution, the conflict in the Chechen Republic, as well as the challenges of social policy in our ageing societies and the full social inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Debates under urgent procedure on the amendments to the Constitution of Liechtenstein proposed by the Princely House of Liechtenstein, on marine pollution and on the code of good practice in electoral matters are also scheduled (*).
Guest speakers include Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister of Turkey, Edward Fenech Adami, Prime Minister of Malta, and Thomas Klestil, President of the Republic of Austria. Joseph Borg, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Malta, will speak in his capacity as Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers, and Walter Schwimmer, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, will present his annual communication on the state of the Council of Europe.
(*) Requests for debates under urgent procedure must be submitted to the Assembly for approval at the start of the session.
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The following is a provisional order of business which may be altered by the Assembly on the first day of the session.
Monday 27 January
- Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister of Turkey
- Bruce George, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
- Report on progress on the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe: enhancing security and political stability through economic co-operation with the participation of:
Erhard Busek, Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe
- Report on population displacement in South-Eastern Europe: trends, problems, solutions
Tuesday 28 January
- Enrique Jackson, President of the Mexican Senate
- Report on freedom of expression in the media
- Edward Fenech Adami, Prime Minister of Malta
- Communication from the Committee of Ministers presented by Joseph Borg, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Malta and Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers
- Communication from Walter Schwimmer, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, on the state of the Council of Europe
- Report on cultural co-operation between Europe and the south Mediterranean countries with the participation of:
Khalida Toumi, Minister of Culture and Communication of Algeria
Farouk Abdel Aziz Hosni, Minister of Culture of Egypt
Mohamed Achaari, Minister of Culture of Morocco
Abdelbaki Hermassi, Minister of Culture, Youth and Leisure of Tunisia
Wednesday 29 January
- Election of the Spanish judge to the European Court of Human Rights (1st round)
- Report on Council of Europe's contribution to the process of drafting a European Union Constitution with the participation of:
Noëlle Lenoir, Minister responsible for European Affairs, France
- Report on the challenges of social policy in our ageing societies
- Report on the full social inclusion of persons with disabilities with the participation of:
Marie-Thérèse Boisseau, State Secretary for people with disabilities, France
- Report on the conflict in the Chechen Republic
Thursday 30 January
- Election of the Spanish judge to the European Court of Human Rights (possible 2nd round)
- Urgent debate on the amendments to the Constitution of Liechtenstein proposed by the Princely House of Liechtenstein
- Thomas Klestil, President of the Republic of Austria
- Urgent debate on marine pollution
- Report on globalisation and sustainable development
- Report on the follow-up to the World Summit on sustainable development: a common challenge
- Urgent debate on the code of good practice in electoral matters
Friday 31 January
- Report on the draft protocol amending the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism
- Report on the situation of young migrants in Europe
- Report on progress of the Assembly's monitoring procedure
PRESS CONFERENCES
Peter Schieder, President of the Assembly, will give a press conference on Monday 27 January at 11 am.
(Room 2, second floor of the Palais de l'Europe)
Other press conferences will be announced on the spot.
See the Assembly's website, http://assembly.coe.int, for further details. During the Session, it will be updated daily with news of debates and speeches and features a link to a live webcast of the proceedings.
