EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the parliamentary elections in Venezuela
A European Union Election Observation Mission was deployed to Venezuela on 7 November 2005 to observe the Parliamentary Elections (National Assembly, Latin-American Parliament and Andean Parliament) of 4 December. The Mission was led by Chief Observer José Albino Silva Peneda, Member of the European Parliament. In total, the EU EOM deployed 160 observers in 20 of the 24 states to follow and report on the electoral process in line with established EU methodology and the "Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation" adopted under the auspices of the United Nations in October 2005.
A preliminary statement was issued on December 6th. The EU Mission will remain in the country until 21 December to observe the post-election period, including electoral complaints.
A final report will be issued in February 2006.
Preliminary Statement, Conclusions, Findings and Recommendations
Caracas, 6 December 2005

EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the parliamentary elections in Venezuela
The European Commission has deployed an EU Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the parliamentary elections in Venezuela, scheduled to take place on 4 December. The EU EOM will be led by Mr. José Albino Silva Peneda, Member of the European Parliament. The decision to deploy an EU EOM follows an invitation last June ion from the National Electoral Council (Consejo Nacional Electoral) of the Republica Bolivivariana de Venezuela to observe the campaign. These elections represent an important moment for Venezuela, especially in view of next year's presidential polls.

Hrušovský re-elected chairman of Christian Democrats
Pavol Hrušovský was re-elected chairman of the Christian Democrats (KDH, Slovakia) on October 22 at the national congress of the party in Ružomberok.

Antonio De Poli, a Minister of the Veneto regional government
Antonio de Poli, former EPP-ED MEP for Italy (2004-2005, UDC), became a Member of the regional government of the Veneto region of northeastern Italy. He is responsible for social policies, the non-profit sector and handicapped persons.

Bulgarian parliamentary observers will join the European Parliament from 26 September
Geoffrey Van Orden MEP, the European Parliament's rapporteur for Bulgaria, has intervened with the President of the largest political group in the Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering (EPP-ED), in order to facilitate the early arrival of Bulgarian observers to the Parliament. The date of the reception of the observers was confirmed today. They will be invited to come to Parliament from the second September session of this year.
Geoffrey Van Orden said, "I am delighted that the Bulgarian parliamentary observers will now arrive sooner rather than later. It had been our aim for them to come to the Parliament after the Bulgarian elections and following the summer break, and we now know that this will definitely happen."

Election of the new President of the Republic of Hungary
Mr László SÓLYOM has just been elected President of the Republic of Hungary by the Parliament in Budapest. Mr Sólyom was the joint candidate of the Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Union and the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), two member parties of the EPP.
Mr Sólyom was a key figure in the 1988-1989 peaceful regime change in Hungary and subsequently served for nine years as the President of the Constitutional Court of Hungary. You can find more information at http://www.mindentudas.hu/en/20050605solyom1.html.

José Ribeiro e Castro is the new President of the CDS-PP (Portugal)
José Ribeiro e Castro MEP was elected President of the CDS-PP at the Congress on Sunday 24 April. Luís Queiró MEP was confirmed as President of the Congress. Martim Borges de Freitas is the Secretary-General. Former MEPs Manuel Machado and José Girão Pereira will assume the chairmanship of other dirigeant bodies.

Luís Marques Mendes is the new President of the PSD (Portugal)
Marques Mendes, former Minister in the Cavaco Silva and José Barroso governments, was elected on Sunday 10 April at the PSD Congress. Arlindo Cunha, former MEP (1994-2003) and former Minister, is Vice-President. Regina Bastos, former MEP (2000-2004) was elected as member of the Political Bureau. Miguel Macedo was elected as Secretary-General.
Read more: http://www.psd.pt

Ioannis VARVITSIOTIS (Nea Dimokratia, GR): The political and legal importance of terrorism
In a letter to the Chairman of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, the Head of the Greek delegation, Mr Ioannis Varvitsiotis, presented a series of proposals on how to politically and legally consider terrorism. As the Committee is about to consider a bulk of EU legislation on the matter, Mr Varvitsiotis digs deep into his long ministerial experience to present some proposals to cope with modern terrorism.


NEW BOOK ON CONSTITUTION
A series of essays edited by the Greek MEP Giorgios DIMITRAKOPOULOS and G. KREMLIS was launched on 5 April 2005 in the European Parliament.
Made up of contributions from prominent European figures, among them two European Commissioners close to the EPP, A Constitutional Settlement for the European People is published by Ant. N. Sakkoulas Editions, Athens, and Editions Bruylant, Brussels.
The volume is presented by: Stavros DIMAS, Environmental Commissioner, Viviane REDING, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Ioannis VARVITSIOTIS, Head of the EPP-ED's Greek delegation, and Tasos GIANNITSIS, former Greek Minister for European Affairs.

Following the election of Timothy KIRKHOPE MEP as Head of the UK Delegation in the EPP-ED Group, Struan STEVENSON MEP was elected Vice-President of our Group on Tuesday 8 March in Strasbourg.

28/02/2005: Papastamkos publishes book on Constitution (Athens)
The MEP and academic lawyer, Prof Georgios Papastamkos (EPP-ED, Greece), today announced the publication (in Greek) of a short book "The European Constitution. Democracy, Transparency, Proximity to the Citizens", with a foreword by EPP-ED Greek delegation leader Ioannis Varvitsiotis.
More information from the office of Georgios Papastamkos: tel. +32 2 284 5448

Mariano Rajoy intervendrá en Bruselas en el acto "Constitución Europea y solidaridad" junto con el presidente de la Comisión Europea, José Manuel Durão Barroso
El presidente del PP, Mariano Rajoy, intervendrá el próximo martes, 15 de febrero, en Bruselas junto con los presidentes de la Comisión Europea, José Manuel Durão Barroso; del Comité de Regiones, Isidoro Gottardo, y del Grupo Popular Europeo (PPE-DE), Hans-Gert Poettering, en un acto de apoyo a la Constitución Europea que se celebrará en la sede del Parlamento Europeo en Bruselas.
El acto, bajo el lema "Constitución Europea y solidaridad", ha sido organizado por el Grupo Popular en el Parlamento Europeo dentro de la campaña para el referéndum sobre este tratado que tendrá lugar en España el próximo 20 de febrero.
En su visita a Bruselas, Mariano Rajoy mantendrá también un encuentro bilateral con la comisaria europea de Política Regional, Danuta Hubner, y con los representantes de la emigración española en Bélgica. El presidente del PP viajará a Bruselas acompañado por las Secretarias Ejecutivas de Política Social y Bienestar y de Política Autonómica y Local del PP, Ana Pastor y Soraya Saénz de Santamaría, respectivamente; y del Secretario de Relaciones Internacionales, Jorge Moragas.
El acto "Constitución Europea y solidaridad" será inaugurado por el portavoz del PP en la Eurocámara, Jaime Mayor Oreja, a cuya intervención sucederán las de Mariano Rajoy, José Manuel Durão Barroso, Isidoro Gottardo y Hans-Gert Poettering.

Women's rights in Turkey
Edit Bauer MEP, Angelika Niebler MEP and Marie Panayotopoulos MEP stated today at a press conference in Ankara that it is a positive sign that there have been developments on the legislative level in Turkey including the reform of the Civil Code, the Penal Code and the Constitution but warned that it is still highly necessary to closely monitor the implementation.
Despite the big changes in legislation, in reality there are still worrying signs such as a high level of illiteracy among women, a high level of illegal and unpaid work, unreliable statistics, a low level of participation of women in the labour market as well as in political life. Polygamy still exists as does the considerable number of unregistered children, especially young girls.
As regards human rights, Turkish citizens still have to face big challenges and continue the implementation of the existing European criteria and the cooperation with the Member States of the European Union in this field.
Democracy cannot be built for only half of the population, meaning 'men'. Women must be treated equally. (02/02/05)

A standard licence for Europe's air traffic controllers
The Transport Committee gave its backing on Wednesday for plans for a single Community licence for air traffic controllers. The aim is to harmonise existing national licensing systems and promote mutual recognition of national licences among EU Member States.
A standard EU licence would make it easier for air traffic controllers to work outside their own country. This should lead to a more flexible use of manpower, making it easier to provide crossborder services and paving the way for more crossborder air traffic control zones within the EU.
A single licence would also improve safety. For example, air traffic controllers will have to speak and understand English to a satisfactory standard in all Member States, except for communicating with airport services such as the fire brigade and ambulances, where the local language may also be used if this is more practical.
However, the Transport Committee is calling for the training of air traffic controllers to place more emphasis on safety, security and crisis management techniques, as controllers may be confronted with emergencies such as plane hijackings and bomb threats. MEPs also approved a range of technical amendments.
The committee's report, drafted by Ingo SCHMITT (EPP-ED, DE), was adopted by 38 votes to 0, with no abstentions. (02/02/05)

Council of Europe
René van der Linden (CDA-NL), EPP Group Chairman in the CoE, has been elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. In his maiden speech he stressed three priorities for this year:

• reinforce the Assembly's efficiency by an intensified interaction with the national Parliaments and attention for the citizens' preoccupations;
• develop relations with the partner institutions: the UN, the OSCE and particularly the EU;
• make a success out of the Third CoE Summit (Warsaw, 16/17 May 2005) and implement its decisions.

Council of Europe

Strict sanctions against illegal oil pollution in EU waters
On Wednesday, the Transport Committee demanded strict EU sanctions against illegal oil pollution in EU waters. MEPs called for ship-source discharges of polluting substances to be regarded as criminal offences if committed with intent, recklessly or by gross negligence. In the most serious cases, prison sentences should not be ruled out, they said.
Arguing that a European coastguard service could play a crucial role in combatting ship-source pollution, MEPs asked the Commission to compile a feasibility study on setting up such a service. And to ensure that discharges of polluting substances are detected in time, MEPs would like the role of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to be strengthened. They say EMSA should assist the Member States in tracing illegal discharges by providing satellite monitoring and surveillance.
The Transport Committee made these demands in the context of a recommendation at second reading on ship-source pollution and the introduction of sanctions. The recommendation, drafted by Corien WORTMANN-KOOL (EPP-ED, NL), was approved by 26 votes to 4, with 20 abstentions.
from EP News Report, 19.01
18/01/2005: Serious sanctions for infringements of ship-source pollution. Corien Wortmann-Kool MEP

Palestinian presidential elections
Speaking on behalf of the MEPs who observed the Palestinian elections, the leader of the delegation, European Parliament Vice-President Edward McMillan-Scott, made the following statement:
"Our task is to deliver an informed political verdict on the electoral process in due course. After an initial appraisal, my colleagues confirm that despite the Israeli occupation and lack of opportunity for East Jerusalem and other residents to vote, the Palestinians - especially women - have conducted an election of which they can be proud. It prepares the ground for the parliamentary elections, which could serve as a model for others in the region."
Jerusalem 10.01.05


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