The importance of intercultural and interreligious dialogue is back in the agenda of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which is taking place in plenary session from 25 to 29 June, at the headquarters in Strasbourg. The speeches by the president of the Assembly, René Van der Linden, and Austria’s chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer will open the works. The general manager of FAO, Jacques Diouf, was entrusted with a speech about "The Euro-Mediterranean agricultural policy". The speech by the president of the European Parliament will follow, Hans-Gert Pöttering, on the relationships between community Europe and the Council of Europe. Tuesday 27 will be the turn of several subjects concerning the role of religions in the European society: "The intercultural and interreligious dialogue"; "State, religion, laity and human rights"; "Blasphemy, insults with religious character and incitement to hate for religious reasons". On the same day, they will be talking about "the commitment of the Council of Europe to the international death penalty moratorium", in the presence of the Italian Justice Minister Clemente Mastella. On the other hand, Wednesday 28, according to a note by the COE, "the subject of secret detention in Europe will be tackled, on the basis of the latest report by Dick Marty", Swiss MEP.
