Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-20-Speech-3-347"
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"en.20070620.27.3-347"2
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"Mr President, first of all I would like to say what a shame it is that the rapporteur is not here, because I was going to compliment him on his excellent report and thank him for the good cooperation. Unfortunately he is not here, but, worse still, the Council is absent once again. I take that as a sign of its lack of commitment to these important matters, in particular to the human rights aspect of our external relations, to which I will return later. When it comes to taking security measures, measures against terrorism and crime, then the Council is always present and able to take very quick decisions, but when human rights are the issue, it is not here. I would like to emphasise that point.
This is a very important report, because it touches upon the very core of the European Union, namely democracy, human rights and individual freedoms. I am particularly happy with the first indent of paragraph 17, which states that the promotion of democratic standards, human rights and political freedoms is a key dimension of external relations and central to our overall goals.
As far as I am concerned, that is one of the report’s key paragraphs. In the last six years we have taken many measures in the fight against terrorism and crime, but this action has been very unbalanced because the human rights aspect has been completely underexposed. We have talked a lot about human rights, civil liberties and democracy. However, I wonder if we still have the same moral authority in the world, if we look, for example, at Guantánamo Bay, the CIA renditions and secret detentions and the fact that the Council has, until today, failed to reply to any of the issues that were raised.
If I consider that the human rights violations in Russia meet with only very timid condemnation by the European Union and that the summit this weekend will very probably eliminate the Charter of Fundamental Rights from the Constitution, I wonder what kind of political signal we are sending. I think we should stop talking about the principles of human rights and democracy and actually start putting them into practice and taking them seriously.
A second issue is, of course, democratic accountability, which the rapporteur rightly strongly underlines. It is very important for the European Parliament to be much more closely involved in these matters and I therefore endorse the call for a
. It would, however, be even better if the Council arrived at conclusions on a treaty or a constitution this weekend that would ensure democratic control in the area of civil liberties, justice and home affairs.
Martine Roure has already highlighted an important point concerning the fight against terrorism. With regard to the topical cases of SWIFT and PNR, we have to say that there is no democratic oversight and that the agreement we will probably reach with the Americans simply does not meet our standards. I am beginning to wonder – and again I am addressing the empty chair in front of me – how hard the Council has been negotiating. We know that the Commission has made a major effort, but I wonder about the Council.
Small informal groups such as the G6 and the High Level Contact Group meeting behind closed doors on matters of anti-terrorism do not befit a modern democracy like the European Union."@en1
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