Anne Brasseur

Anne Brasseur
Brasseur in 2015
Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Incumbent
Assumed office
2009
Parliamentary groupAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Minister for National Education, Vocational Training and Sports
In office
1999–2004
Prime MinisterJean-Claude Juncker
Personal details
Born (1950-05-19) 19 May 1950 (age 74)
Luxembourg
Political partyDemocratic Party

Anne Brasseur (born 19 May 1950 in Luxembourg) is a Luxembourgish politician[1] and former sports and training minister. On 28 January 2014 Brasseur was elected as the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for a one-year renewable term, the second woman to hold this post.

Political career

Brasseur began her political career when she was elected to the city council of Luxembourg in 1976. She is president of the Association des femmes libérales.

Minister for National Education, Vocational Training and Sports, 1999–2004

From 1999 to 2004 Brasseur was a cabinet minister of Luxembourg, Minister for National Education, Vocational Training and Sports (Ministre de l'Éducation nationale, de la Formation professionnelle et des Sports), in the government of Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker.[1]

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, 2009–present

From 2009 to 2014, Brasseur was president of The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (ALDE-PACE).[2] In January 2014, she was elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; she received an absolute majority of votes in the first round. On 26 January 2015, she was re-elected for a new mandate of one year.[3] Since 2016, she has been serving as a member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights; the Sub-Committee on Crime Problems and the Fight against Terrorism; and the Sub-Committee on the Middle East and the Arab World.

Political positions

On Russia

Early in Brasseur's tenure as president of PACE, the assembly in April 2014 suspended the Russian delegation's voting rights after the Russian annexation of Crimea in March 2014. Throughout her time in office, she maintained a constant dialogue with Russian Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin and Russia's PACE delegates.[4]

On Azerbaijan

On a 2014 visit to Azerbaijan, a member country of the Council of Europe, Brasseur criticized that "[i]n certain areas, such as freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of assembly, the situation appears to have deteriorated and this has to be addressed urgently."[5][6] In particular, she expressed her hope that Azeri human rights activist Ilgar Mammadov would soon be released, after the European Court of Human Rights had earlier described his imprisonment as an "unjustified restriction of freedom".[5]

On Poland

Brasseur criticized Poland's judiciary reform. She called on Polish politicians "not to enact, precipitously, legislation relating to the Constitutional Tribunal which may seriously undermine the rule of law."[7]

On education

In June 2007, the Council of Europe's Committee on Culture, Science and Education released a report entitled "The Dangers of Creationism in Education." According to Brasseur, who served as co-author of the report, its goal was to firmly anchor the theory of evolution in school curricula.[8] However, she was later pressured to shorten references in the resolution to "evolution by natural selection" to "evolution" because some members had misunderstood the reference to natural selection to be an attack on their religious beliefs.[9] The council ultimately approved the report's recommendations, with 48 votes in favor and 25 against.[8][10]

Other activities

References

  1. ^ a b "Anne Brasseur" (in French). Luxembourg: Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. November 16, 2010. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2011.Translate the French Government of Luxembourg biography of Ann Brasseur to English
  2. ^ "Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe - Presidents". Strasbourg, France: ALDE Group. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  3. ^ Anne Brasseur re-elected PACE President Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), press release of 26 January 2015.
  4. ^ PACE President, Delegates To Meet Duma Speaker In Moscow Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, November 13, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Nailia Bagirova (May 23, 2014), Council of Europe raps Azerbaijan over rights record Reuters.
  6. ^ Arzu Geybullayeva (June 25, 2014), Azerbaijan: A country of amputated spirits Al Jazeera.
  7. ^ Goettig, Marcin (22 December 2015). "Polish parliament passes contentious amendment to top court law". Reuters.
  8. ^ a b Jens Lubbadeh (February 25, 2009), Contesting Evolution: European Creationists Take On Darwin Spiegel Online.
  9. ^ Tom Heneghan (September 25, 2007), Council of Europe to vote on creationism next week Reuters.
  10. ^ Stephen Castle (October 4, 2007), European lawmakers condemn efforts to teach creationism International Herald Tribune.
  11. ^ Jury Nuremberg International Human Rights Award.