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The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Standing Committee met
on Tuesday 25 November in Maastricht at the invitation of the Dutch
Parliament.
Highlights of the agenda included a report on teenagers in distress
– which asks why suicide, in many European countries, is the
second most frequent cause of death among young people after road
accidents – as well as reports on tax incentives for cultural
heritage conservation, lesbians and gays in sport, organic farming,
erosion of the Mediterranean coastline and the conviction of Grigory
Pasko, the Russian military journalist convicted of treason.
The parliamentarians also discussed the recent presidential election
in Azerbaijan, and parliamentary elections in Georgia.
They held an exchange of views with Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who has recently taken over the chairmanship
of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers.
In his first address to the Parliamentary Assembly since taking over
the Committee of Ministers' Chair, the Netherlands Foreign Minister,
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, has described his country's priorities. He
stressed the importance of pragmatism. If Europeans could see how
the fundamental rights in the Council's conventions improved their
everyday lives, this would help to bridge the gap between words and
reality, he said.
The Bureau of the Assembly, meeting earlier in the day in camera,
discussed the possible opening of a monitoring procedure in respect
of Liechtenstein, a petition concerning Dutch-speakers’ right
to health-care in Brussels and a request by the Belarus Parliament
for restoration of its Special Guest status.
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