CoE Rapporteur, French Assembly v.President Waserman to EF on WhistleBlowers' Legal status Query

*Strasbourg/EU Parliament + CoE/Angelo Marcopolo/- While EU Institutions were fine-tuning and coordinating their work here, on the much needed Protection of "Whistle-Blowers" (like the famous Edward Snowden, etc), the PanEuropean CoE was Launching an Ambitious, Wide and Profound, operation, extending accross many More Countries, in order to Forge concrete, Operational Legal Tools, Starting with a 2 Days-Long Conference, organised, this Same Week in Strasbourg, by CoE's new Rapporteur on Whistle-Blowers, the vice-President of the French National Assembly, MEP Sylvain Waserman, who spoke Today to "Eurofora" on his plans.

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+Earlier this week in Strasbourg, on Tuesday, EU Commission's Chief Spokesman, Margarites Schinas, speaking in a Press Conference, together with EU Commission's vice President Katainen, (Comp. Katainen's statements to "Eurofora" on other Topical Issues at: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/eucommissionvpresidentonchinaandspace.html), Announced that "the TriaLogue" (between EU Parliament, EU Commission and EU Council) had just reached an "Agreement" on the "High-Level Protection of Whistle-Blowers", following a Proposal initially made by EU Commission's President, Jean-Claude Juncker, on April 2018".(It updated and gave Legal Force to CoE's Committee of Ministers' pioneer and landmark Recommendation on WhistleBlowers' Status, which had been adopted on 2014, i.e. shortly after Snowden's initial revelations on 2013).

++ Shortly afterwards, this Thursday and Friday, at the Nearby CoE, the Rapporteur of the PanEuropean Organisation for Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law, vice-President of the French National Assembly, MEP Sylvain Waserman from Strasbourg, Started a Conference with Debates between Legal Experts, Whistle-Blowers, specialized NGOs, Lawers, Judges, etc., and even a Video-Debate with Edward Snowden himelf, scheduled for Tomorrow, working closely Together with the Experienced Head of PACE's Legal Committee's secretariat, Dr. Gunter Schirmer.

UE's 27 or 28 Member States use to Cooperate with CoE's much Wider, 47 Member States' PanEuropean Organisation (including Russia, etc), which, in certain Areas of Legal Instruments "Open" to signature also by 3rd Countries, can Extend even Further, f.ex. in Constitutional Law (via the "Committee of Venice") accross 61 Member States, and/or on "CyberCrime" Topical Issues (via the "Budapest Convention"), where it's also the USA which participate, etc), as well as on Protection of "Private/Personal Data", etc., with a Recent Trend for EU - CoE Cooperation to lean Towards a kind of "Global" impact in the foreseable Future's Horizon, (Comp., f.ex. : ...)

So that it's not unusual in Strasbourg to see often, f.ex. EU's Offices to stand Aside ... f.ex. those of the Holy See, and/or of Japan, (etc)...

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- "Eurofora" invited Waserman to present a Highlight of his on-going work, right in the Middle of that CoE's Conference, on Thursday afternoon.

 - "There are 2 Aims", vice-President Waserman stressed from the outset :

(A) "The First is to make a Comparative Study of Various Laws in Europe, in order to identify Good Practices, and, therefore, make some Proposals",

(B) "and the Second is to try to identify Indicators, able to qualify the capacity for Democracy, to reply to the need for protection, etc.

Thus, in all our work we have that Double View :

- (1) Identify Good European Practices, and mainly show how the Decisions taken in the CoE have allowed to make Serious Progress.

These Practices, Nowadays, are very Heterogenous, and Need to be Stabilized, in the Rule of Law".

- (2) But also to find Factual Indicators, very Accurate, which allow to Qualify, by each MP, when he returns back to his National Assembly, and has to transpose EU's Directives, or make (legislative) Texts concerning the Protection (of Whistle-Blowers), enabling him to work with an operational Tool", he concluded.

=> So, Tomorrow (Friday), we are going to Formulate concrete Proposals", he anounced. "Particularly during the Last 2 Sessions, where there will be More and More Proposals".

+ "Afterwards, we are going to have a lot of Work to do, in order to make Scenarios on the way to move Forward".

- Concerning the Timeline, "we intend to use the Time available during the Summer, in order to be able, around September, to present proposals to our Collegues", (MEPs in CoE's competent Committee for Legal affairs).

Thus, "I'd be Glad to have the Result Ready, in a Report (adopted by the Committee), during the forthcoming French Presidency of the CoE, (i.e. between May and November 2019), Waserman concluded, for the time being.

(../..)

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