The only candidate in the running, Belgian liberal Rik Daems (Open VLD) was appointed President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Monday 27 January. He thus takes over for 2 years from the Swiss socialist Liliane Maury Pasquier, to whom he paid tribute.
A PACE member since 2007, Mr Daems has already announced that he would be “a full-time President”. He added that, “I want to go to each of the 47 member states, talk to national parliamentarians, discuss the impact of the Council of Europe and its 200 or so conventions on the daily lives of European citizens. I also want to make PACE members accountable, possibly by means of an annual report which sets out the tasks carried out by the Assembly and – country by country – by each delegation. When you go to Strasbourg, it’s to work!”
Another priority for the new President is to set a goal for the Council of Europe, and in particular for PACE, that will “move heads and hearts”, namely the climate.
“I will go to the 47 national parliaments and explain that this is a fundamental right that must be incorporated into the European Convention on Human Rights. I know that my rhetoric will be difficult to get across in some countries, but I won’t give it up”, he considered.
The new PACE President also announced that he would ask for this issue to be placed on the agenda of the meeting of the Committee of Ministers (the Council of Europe’s executive body) next week.
Some 10 years ago, PACE voted on a recommendation to start work on the adoption of a climate protocol to the Convention. However, this text has still not been examined by the representatives of the Foreign Ministers of the 47 member countries.
“It’s time to get down to it!”, insisted Mr Daems. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)