Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, consisting of: Head of the Delegation, Mr Zoran Vukčević PhD, and members of the Delegation: Ms Draginja Vuksanović PhD, Mr Mladen Bojanić, Mr Predrag Sekulić PhD, Mr Damir Šehović MA and Ms Snežana Jonica participates at the PACE Summer Session, being held in Strasburg, on 24-28 June 2013.

The first working day started with Plenary Session opened by the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr Jean Claude Mignon. During his addressing, the President pointed out that the focus of the summer session would be request for the opening of a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary. He assessed that the duty of the Parliament was to react in order to indicate the necessity of respecting democratic values and standards of the Council of Europe, stating that each problem should be discussed. He also stated that the Monitoring Committee proposed opening of a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary, while at the meeting of the Bureau in Yerevan it was proposed the monitoring procedure not to be opened, thus he assessed the debate on this issue as very important. Issues relating the constitutional amendments in Hungary, which, according to the Venice Commission are a subject of worry in terms of respect of democratic standards and values of the Council of Europe, are among the highlights of the summer plenary session.

President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe assessed as very important cooperation between the Council of Europe and European Union, stating that the problems that the country were facing with were often very complex, and that coordinating response of all European shareholders, especially of the Council of Europe and European Union, represented the pillar of unique European project. He assessed that those two organisations must speak with unique voice regarding respect of standards in the field of democracy, human rights and rule of law.

Reminding that the cooperation and rapprochement of the Council of Europe and European Union was one of the priorities during his mandate, he voiced pleasure with previously achieved. In addition, he voiced regret over the fact that Mr Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament would not have a possibility to address PACE MPs, as it was previously announced.

President of the PACE pointed out three key examples of cooperation among Parliamentary Assembly, Council of Europe and European Union relating to monitoring of democratic reforms throughout Europe.

The first one is related to Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, members of the Council of Europe, which actively participate in negotiations on accession to the European Union. He emphasised that the Council of Europe, with the aim of proving help to the countries on their European path, would provide an expert help for the purpose of accelerating reforms that awaited them.

Second example is related to Georgia and Azerbaijan, where the presidential elections will be held in autumn, and they will, according to Mignon, present litmus test for democratic institutions. He stated that during his recent visit to those countries, he urged authorities and all political forces to create the conditions for ensuring the elections to be held in a pluralistic context, in accordance with international standards. Several months prior to elections, the Council of Europe and European Union should intensify cooperation with those countries, especially through joint programmes, which would contribute to preparation of good conditions for holding of elections.

Third example is related to South East Europe, the region where joint action of CE and EU is also important. President of the PACE reminded of his recent visit to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and assessed that the progress had been achieved in comparison to the events from December 2012.  He assessed that it was necessary to continue with implementation of reforms in this country, especially in terms of functioning of parliamentary democracy, in order to prevent similar incidents in the future. He expressed expectations that the Report “Post-Monitoring Dialogue with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, drafted by Mr Robert Walter (UK), would provide a solid political basis for initiating a new joint programmes of cooperation with the European Union, in order to support this country in the process of European integration.

President of PACE said that he is glad that the following would participate at the PACE summer session: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, chairperson of the Committee of Ministers Mr Edward Nalbandian, Minister for Women’s Rights of the Government of the Republic of France Ms Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and speaker of the House of Representatives of Morocco Mr Karim Ghellab.

On the first day of the PACE summer session there were debates on religious prosecutions in Iran, situation in Georgia, popular protest and challenges to freedom of assembly, media and speech, as well as state interference with privacy on the Internet.

On the first day of the session, PACE dealt with procedural issues regarding verification of mandate of the new members of national delegations, however, the Iceland Delegation has drawn special attention because it does not comply with the conditions defined by the PACE rules regarding representation of members of less represented gender, which the Committee on Procedures and Immunities will consider subsequently so that the Assembly could vote on it on Wednesday.

The Report on Observation of the early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria was on the agenda, and it was assessed that the elections were held in the pluralist context, however the Assembly is concerned about lack of public trust in the electoral process and it was pointed out that that was the lowest turnout in the history of the post-communist Bulgaria, only 51.33%.

In the report drafted by Mr Andreas Gross (Switzerland), head of Election Observation Mission in Bulgaria, which was adopted by the Assembly today, it is stated that there had been incidents during the campaign, as well as numerous citations regarding election corruption, especially buying votes and controlled voting. Due to that, the Bulgarian government was invited, in order to return trust of the citizens in the election process, to promote the electoral legal framework, taking into consideration the Venice Commission recommendations from 2011.

In the afternoon session, the members of PACE were addressed by Mr Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and the chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, who pointed out that during the Armenian presidency over the Committee of Ministers the priorities were combating hatred, racism, xenophobia and intolerance, mainly promoting dialogue and sharing opinions. The members of PACE were able to pose questions to the chairperson of the Committee of Ministers.

Citing that tax evasion by politicians and business men, as well as tax evasion by the multinational companies that show less profit than they really have, the governments of the EU states are deprived of income totalling to a trillion euros, which in the end also undermines trust in democratic institutions, Head of Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro, Mr Zoran Vukčević PhD asked the chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, Mr Edward Nalbandian, what were the measures proposed to solve this problem.

On the first working day, a meeting of the Bureau was also held, in which Mr Zoran Vukčević PhD, Head of Delegation, also participated.

The meetings of the Committee for Political Affairs and Democracy, Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and the Subcommittee for Education, Youth and Sport of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, in which, as members or deputy members, the MPs, members of Delegation of the Parliament of Montenegro in PACE participated.

Members of Delegation participated in the work of the Socialists Group, as well as the Women’s working group of the Socialists Group.

As expected, on the second working day of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the following will be on the agenda: the election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights from Iceland and Lithuania; the situation in the Middle East; request for the opening of a monitoring procedure in respect of Hungary, and evaluation of the partnership for democracy in respect of the Parliament of Morocco.