Lluis Maria de Puig elected PACE President

PanARMENIAN.Net - At the opening of its winter session in Strasbourg, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) elected Lluis Maria de Puig (Spain, SOC) as its new President.



"You have just elected a President who believes in Europe, and who believes in the Council of Europe," he declared in his first speech as President of the Assembly. "I am a convinced European and I regard the future of our institutions with optimism. I want to make a citizens' Europe the watchword of my term in office. I believe that the Assembly's task is to help shape a Europe which is being built for Europeans and by them."



He stressed his intention of forging closer ties with the other players on the European political scene, and particularly the European Union. "I know that institution well, and am convinced that the EU should make better use of the Council of Europe's experience, know-how and instruments."



Mr de Puig succeeds Rene van der Linden (Netherlands, EPP/CD) as the Assembly's 24th President since it was established in 1949. He is the third Spaniard to hold the office.



There had been only one candidate. Under the Assembly's new Rules of Procedure, the President's one-year term of office may be renewed once, the Parliamentary Assembly Communication Unit repots.