The Media and Information Society Sub-Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) met in Edinburgh on Monday along with its Chair, Lord George Foulkes.
Council Leader, Cllr Cammy Day, welcomed the sub committee members to a Civic Reception at the City Chambers where Lord Foulkes explained to those attending he used to sit as a councillor. Cllr Day explained some of the economic development which could be seen from the City Chambers with the £1 billion St James Quarter development. He also explained that Edinburgh is the first UK city ready to begin introducing the Visitor Levy which he hopes will bring new funding of around £40 million to the city.
He said: “It’s a privilege for me to welcome some distinguished guests to Edinburgh and to recognise the work that you do safeguarding the pillars of free, democratic societies. Your dedication to combat the spread of fake news ensures that truth and transparency endures at the heart of discourse. The support you find for public service broadcasting upholds the impartiality and the trust that we have in the media – not that we always agree with them of course.”
Lord George Foulkes said: “We met in the Royal Scots Club today and meeting here this evening at the City Chambers ensures we are now meeting somewhere even better.
“This is the city where I started my political career 54 years ago in this very chamber where I was a councillor. I was a Bailie and there is a great tradition in Edinburgh – they say once a Bailie always a Bailie. So when I am here I am Bailie Foulkes. The Council of Europe is a wonderful organisation and the European Convention of Human Rights is so important. A Supreme Court judge said to me that the Court of Human Rights is the only elected court in the world.
“We have had a fantastic day today with contributions from several experts. This year is the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe so this is I believe a celebration of the founding of the Council of Europe 75 years ago.”
The Depute Lord Provost, Lezley Marion Cameron, and former Labour Leader of the council, Mark Lazarowicz were also in attendance along with members of the Edinburgh Consular Corps.
Members of the sub-committee came from all over Europe and also included two members of the Parliament of Ukraine, Yullia Ovchynnykova and Yevheniia Kravchuk.
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