Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-04-25-Speech-3-251"
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"en.20070425.35.3-251"2
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".
Madam President, I welcome the report by Mr Coveney on human rights in the world in 2006 and on the EU’s policy on the matter, as well as the resolution before Parliament today. I am particularly pleased that the innovative approach of the report has been maintained and that it puts the focus on the scrutiny of action taken by EU institutions in implementing the human rights mandates. I also note with approval the recommendation made to move towards a truly interinstitutional EU annual report that reflects the activities of the Council, the Commission and Parliament in the field of human rights and promoting democracy in the world.
Let me now turn to the second issue on our agenda. I should like to emphasise how important it is for the European Union to continue to promote the universal abolition of the death penalty. It represents a key objective of our human rights policy and I am personally committed to seeing the European Union play a lead role in this effort, notably within the United Nations. I therefore welcome any initiative to discuss how to achieve a universal moratorium on the death penalty. A UN General Assembly resolution on this matter would certainly be an important step. However, as we also discussed at this week’s Council meeting, we have to plan the timing of such an effort very carefully. A resolution would be effective only if it is endorsed by a clear majority of UN Member States, and we need to prepare the ground well before submitting such a project.
On these and all other issues before us, let us keep in mind our common overarching goal of advancing human rights and democracy, and of working pragmatically side by side to reach it.
This proposal, which I fully endorse, does not in any way imply that Parliament will have to forfeit its prerogative to issue its own report on this matter, nor that there is a potential infringement of the division of powers between Council, Parliament and the Commission. Rather, the objective of the proposal, which I hope will be followed up under the forthcoming Portuguese Presidency, is to offer EU citizens and our partners in the world a single comprehensive report that does justice to the full range of actions undertaken by the three institutions, as well as representing the shared values and objectives in this field.
The Commission welcomes the proposals contained in the report to increase synergies between the three institutions, and to take full advantage of their specific aims as regards promoting human rights. In this regard, I would like to refer specifically to the study of the European Inter-University Centre, which we support. This study provides a number of practical suggestions that merit our full attention. In the same spirit, the good cooperation between our institutions regarding human rights was certainly reflected when introducing the new democratic scrutiny on geographic and thematic cooperation strategies.
The December part-session of the European Parliament, when the EU annual report is presented, is a good occasion to further develop our joint commitment to human rights and democracy.
I would like to mention two examples from the report presented to us today: the UN Human Rights Council and human rights dialogues. Paragraph 22 of the report calls for the EU to make more effective use of its leverage in order to promote important issues on the agenda of the UN Human Rights Council and to better fine-tune its lobbying and outreach activities. As you know, the Commission was initially somewhat sceptical about this council, and felt that even when it was endorsed at the UN General Assembly in 2005, it was not ambitious enough. Doubts remain with respect to this for the following reasons.
The composition has hardly improved. In terms of dealing with country situations, fewer are at the centre of attention and a question mark hangs over the future of the mandates of special mechanisms. Yet there are positive signs, such as the mission to Darfur and the unanimous resolution thereafter. I believe it would be wrong to give up on what is still the most important global human rights forum. On the contrary, we will have to redouble our efforts to make it work better, in the interests of all those peoples whose rights are seriously violated every day.
The EU and like-minded partners have to break the cycle of politicisation and reach out more effectively to partner countries among the G27.
Parliament has closely followed particular developments in the new UN body from its inception, notably through programming missions and inviting its current chair to discuss issues of common interest. In view of the mission planned for next June, I would suggest an informal meeting among the three institutions in order to inform you of the assessments of the situation and to offer our full support in the preparation of the mission.
Paragraph 78 of the report also calls for increased involvement of the European Parliament in human rights dialogues with third countries. These dialogues have become an essential tool for us in promoting respect for human rights, although there is, of course, a mixed track record depending on the dialogue partner. It would certainly increase our leverage if we could move our exchanges with these countries to beyond those with people in executive power. While in practice there might be obstacles to allow full European Parliament participation in the formal dialogue meetings, parliament-to-parliament dialogues would certainly complement the ongoing efforts. I look forward to Parliament’s own-initiative report on this subject for constructive proposals. In any case, I see advantages in an improved information exchange between European Union institutions and the preparation, implementation and follow-up of dialogue exercises."@en1
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