Strasbourg, 07/10/14 (Agence Europe) - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) debated the 2013-2014 report of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Thursday 2 October. EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti, who attended the debate, stressed the value of collaboration with the PACE, noting how useful its input had been to the recent review of the EBRD's political evaluation methodology.
In this respect, the parliamentarians highlighted that a large number of the countries that the EBRD assists in their transition to market economies “do not always apply the principles of multi-party democracy and pluralism” (our translation). They therefore urged implementation of the EBRD's new method for evaluating the extent to which countries comply with the political aspects of its mandate, stressing in particular that there should be a representative government, civil society should be represented, there should be independent media, the guarantee of a rule of law that allows access to justice and the guarantee of civil and political rights.
In a resolution, the PACE welcomed the expansion of EBRD activities to the south and east of the Mediterranean basin (Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia). (VL)