Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-09-03-Speech-2-322"
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to begin by congratulating Mrs Avilés Perea on the excellent report she has presented to this plenary sitting today. I believe that the most important conclusion to be drawn from it is that the Commission and Parliament are agreed on uniting their efforts to combat the problems of violence, particularly problems of violence against women and children.
I am referring to the concern to develop an ongoing educational programme in schools, and also in the media, to combat stigma and cultural prejudices that still predominate in our societies. I am referring most specifically to the need for common indicators and to the need to undertake a more comprehensive collection of data on violence at European level, because this situation is often hidden from view and disappears in official statistics.
This is also a need felt by the Commission and future activity could be tied in with the current action of setting up a network of experts on fundamental rights. In fact, following a request by the European Parliament, this new action to create a network of European experts in the field of fundamental rights under budget line B-5850 in 2002, which the Commission has already started to finalise, will enable a close relationship to be established between this network of experts and the objectives of the Daphne programme, in addition to emphasising something that is of considerable importance. This is the dimension of the breach of fundamental rights that all violence against women and children represents and which we shall continue to fight.
Parliament is supporting this programme with the resolution that has been proposed, a programme that is still – I admit – modest, but which the Commission is extremely proud to have created. I particularly welcome the fact that the European Parliament acknowledges the success of the actions already undertaken and is warming to the idea that the programme must continue beyond 2003. The Commission, for its part, is ready to present the text of the decision on the new Daphne programme, in line with the concerns expressed in the motion for a resolution.
In order to do this, however, I must address the issue that the rapporteur raised on the legal base of the programme. The Daphne programme today takes as its legal base Article 152 of the EC Treaty on health protection. The Article might appear to be far-removed from concerns about violence, but violence is clearly much more than simply a health issue, because it is also a health concern; involving both physical and psychological health.
I fully agree that violence against children and against women is an unacceptable breach of their rights as human beings. Nevertheless, within the scope of the Treaties in their current state, the Commission has no alternative but to initiate actions against violence under Article 152. This is the situation, regardless of the future position of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Union, within the scope of the Treaty or outside it.
Nevertheless, the current situation must not prevent us from trying to improve it. The Commission will shortly be proposing a directive on equality between men and women outside the workplace. The directive will exclude action against violence, because its legal base, Article 13 of the Treaty, does not provide for actions in this area.
We must, for this very reason, pursue the discussion and I am pleased to note the suggestion of this House, which the rapporteur has just made, that the discussion of this matter by the Members of the Convention could focus on a proposal on violence, with its own specific legal base in the Treaty. Since I am one of the representatives of the Commission in the Convention, I shall certainly support Parliament’s request when the matter is discussed in the Convention.
Obviously, in a discussion of this type we will have to take into consideration and balance the various competences between the States Members and the Union as a whole. In other words, if we – both the Parliament and the Commission – want a new Daphne Programme, which is ready to start at the beginning of 2004, the Commission has no alternative but to once again use Article 152 of the Treaty.
The success of this programme is clearly expressed in the large number of projects that have been submitted. It must be acknowledged, however, that this sign of success is also a cause for concern. It means that the number of violent situations and the number of cases of violence against women and children in the countries of the European Union is still very high. Therefore, the rapporteur’s request for an increased budget is in line with the observations made by the Commission, especially if we bear in mind the expected increase in work in this field, following the accession of the candidate countries.
In addition to the support given by this Parliament to the Daphne Programme, the suggestions contained in the motion for a resolution are useful and are fully in line with the discussions that have taken place in the Commission. I am referring, in particular, to the idea of giving priority to prevention, for which civil society, non-governmental organisations and the public authorities with competence in the field must be mobilised."@en1
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