Leo van Doesburg

A few days ago, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) (which is the statutory decision making body of the CoE) endorsed a report of its Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on the oversexualisation of children. It also encouraged its Member States to take concrete steps in protecting children. The rapporteur for this report was ECPM Member Valeriu Ghiletchi (MP, Moldova). His report highlighted the negative consequences of the oversexualisation and objectification of children by the media, marketing campaigns as well as television programmes. Additionally, the recommendations submitted to the Committee of Ministers called for the inclusion of the issue of the oversexualisation of children in their "Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child" (2016-2021). Moreover, it invites the relevant Council of Europe Committees to take more action .  We strongly welcome the endorsement of this report from the Council of Ministers. Now, their recommendations ...

"For I know the plans I have for you" declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11 Dear friends, Another year has passed. Usually, during the last days of every year, most people contemplate what happened in the past year and try to envision and plan their next steps. Last year, in my New Year's message , I wrote that "2015 was a year filled with fear and uncertainty." When I composed  last year's me ssage, it was a few weeks after Brussels was locked down beca use of fear s of a terrorist attack. Unfor tunately, this became a reali ty when a double bomb attack took place  Brussels on the 22nd of March , followed by other terrorist attacks in Nice and more recently in Berlin.  Moreover, the humanitarian tragedies that came as a result of conflicts around the world, especially in the Middle East, were also prevalent  this year and they are expected to continue to shock...

On Tuesday the 11 th of October, the last debates and votes  on a controversial recommendation on surrogacy took place in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). This recommendation was based on a rejected resolution that asked for a legal framework for the so-called “not-for profit surrogacy”. Interestingly, the first report was rejected in its entirety  by the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development (SOC) of PACE last March, forcing the rapporteur to draft another report. However, the resolution of the new report was also rejected in a Committee meeting last September.  Strangely enough, a  recommendation that was  based on the r ejected resolution was adopted. This was a mistaken decision. This became evident by  the fact that before the plenary debate, the SOC voted with a large majority two amendments (24 against 16 for the first amendment and 27 against 16 for the second) to  this controversial...

The issue of abortion came again in the forefront recently.  In the Polish Parliament, there was  a debate on a  Bill for a str icter ban on abortion. Of course, the pro-ab ortionists used this opportunity to criticize th is effort and to frame the people who want to protect the life of the unborn . I nterestingly, they are also  openly proclaiming that abortion is an EU comp etence  ne glecting the legal limitation s of the EU. One week before , ano ther meeting was org anized in the European Parliament by  the S&D Group where they discussed about what to do with  doctors or midwifes who can not perform abortions be cause of their conscience. The freedo m to choose does not seem to be valid for doctors with an other worldview.  That's why they are  p ushing them to act against  the ir conscience. The pro-abortionists or the so-called, "freedom to choose" movement showed its real face going aga inst f reedom and against democr...

The 18 th of October is the 10 th EU Anti Trafficking day. This  day is an opportunity to reflect on our anti-trafficking policies and a call for more targeted action. Last Tuesday, as General Secretary of the European Parliament Working Group on Human Dignity, I was involved in organizing an event on Human Dignity with the title "Combating Human Trafficking”. It was a very fruitful meeting that showed that there is substantial interest across political groups in the European Parliament on this issue. The event was hosted by MEPs Bastiaan Belder (ECR,  Chair of the Steering Committe of the Working Group ) and Diane Dodds (NA). Keynote speakers were: Lord Maurice Morrow  (Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly)  who tabled the latest law on prostitution in Northern Ireland based on criminalizing the client, Maria Vassiliadou, (EU anti-trafficking coordinator) and Frits Rouvoet (Director of Brightfame Foundation) who helps prostitutes in Amsterdam to leave prosti...

ECPM MEP Branislav Skripek (ECR) organized a press conference yesterday in the European Parliament that focused on developments in Syria after the Turkish invasion. Speakers besides Mr. Skripek w ere: Saleh Muslim vice-president from the Kurdis h Party in S yria and David Vergili from the European Sy riac Union. You can read the full press release here .

Yesterday, as Secretary General of the European Parliament Working Group on Human Dignity, I helped to organize (together with the offices of MEPs Bas Belder and Luigi Morgano) and participated in an event of the Working Group  with the title "Refugees and Human Dignity". It was a very successful event  that offered to all participants new insights on the situation of refugees in Europe. Seven Members of the European Parliament as well as representatives of different NGOs, Parliamentarian assistants and experts participated to this meeting. You can read below the official press release that was issued after the event.