Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-12-17-Speech-3-299"
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"en.20081217.21.3-299"2
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"− Madam President, let me first say that I understand that our colleague, Rama Yade, has experienced difficulty getting here. Yesterday, I myself had to wait five hours for my flight to Strasbourg. Maybe she is having the same difficulties, so bear with her – this is
after all.
This review is on-going. It would be a little premature for me to comment on the outcome at this stage because we are not yet at an end result, but the use of the human rights clause is one issue that is being carefully considered. But political clauses in all political agreements, and in trade and sectoral agreements of different kinds, are there and they have to be there.
My next point concerns the Human Rights Council. Mrs Andrikienė, I agree that there could be many improvements and, therefore, we will have to insist on having special rapporteurs and perhaps also country resolutions; I think this could help. I also find it very positive that all countries are scrutinised every four years and that there is also involvement by civil society. I must say that, up to now, we have seen that countries have been quite seriously prepared. That is something positive, and the discussion in depth is there and should continue. We all know that things are not perfect, but we can go on and make further improvements.
Let me say a word on China and human rights. I am always, as Commissioner responsible for relations with China among other countries, very open to building a strong relationship with China based on mutual respect. However, I also have to tell you that I am concerned by what I perceive as a certain toughening of the Chinese position on human rights, as seen by the execution of Wo Weihan on the day of the human rights dialogue.
This has been confirmed by what we have heard today and in recent days, such as the suppression of demonstrations in Beijing on the 60
Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – there was a presidency statement concerning that; the blocking of foreign websites – for instance, the BBC website; and a very negative report by the United Nations Committee on Torture three weeks ago.
However, I would also like to take up the words of Zeng Jinyan, Hu Jia’s wife, this morning, who said that China is moving in great steps towards an open and democratic society. I think this movement is going on. There are many other things, much has been done for instance over recent years by China, for example, on labour rights. It is important that there has been some progress, but many other problems persist, particularly concerning implementation. Sometimes, even when things are written, as we have heard today, many of them still have to be implemented.
I therefore reiterate that we stand ready, for instance, to provide expertise on further legislative reforms. As President Pöttering said, China is a great country. We have many common interests and need to work together, but I think that we, the European Union, should not take hasty decisions. We have to reflect on the recent negative signals sent by China on human rights that are damaging our mutual trust. I think that it is now for China to send some positive signals to rebuild this trust.
As regards Guantánamo, we have called repeatedly in the many debates held here, in which I also participated, for the closure of Guantánamo. Naturally, we also welcome President-elect Barack Obama’s statement that he will take steps to close the detention centre quickly.
We are willing to work with the US Administration to find ways to deal with the practical issues which will arise when Guantánamo is closed, such as the resettlement of prisoners in third countries. For instance, the European Union has recently expressed its concerns regarding secret detention, and we hope that the President-elect will then address this issue and Member States will be able to answer. I cannot speak for the Member States as such.
On the situation in the Middle East, particularly in Gaza, I very much regret the return to violence in recent days; the five months of calm achieved by the truce were unfortunately too short, but they were very welcome. It has been very difficult to watch the return of violence. We have condemned the recent rocket attacks from Gaza but we have, at the same time, condemned the closing of the crossings.
I myself asked the Israeli Ambassador to come to my office. I clearly expressed my concerns about the question in Gaza. We could not give the fuel that we normally fund, we could not enable UNRWA to do what they are normally doing. The day before yesterday I was in New York, and we spoke with Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, on that subject. President of the Council Kouchner and I wrote a letter to the Israeli authorities in order to get funding going. We are very much monitoring the situation. Unfortunately, it is not at all easy, and in all our dialogues and consultations, we always mention these things.
I would now like to say something on the coherence that has been mentioned between external and internal policies. Yes, I think it is true. This is a point that we have to take. This has been taken up with Jacques Barrot. He has tried to go forward on the question of migration in a way which pays much more attention to human rights. I think this builds up our credibility, but a lot is also within Member States’ competence which means it is not that easy.
I greet State Secretary, Mrs Rama Yade.
I can only say that human rights dialogues are reciprocal: that means we also tackle human rights issues in the European Union, and we have JLS experts within the different Member States.
There is also a UN Commissioner for human rights envisaging creating an office in Brussels, so we are trying to enhance the coherence between internal and external policies.
I shall stop here. I am sorry I cannot say anything on colonisation. That is a matter for the Member States. You know it very well.
I am sorry, but it is not within the competence of the Commission to enter into this question.
Well, five hours is not normal. I am just saying that I do not know exactly what has happened to her, but that was what happened to me, and I was very glad that I did not have an appointment yesterday, because the same thing could have happened to me too. I just wanted to express my solidarity on this point.
Second, this human rights dialogue and the report on human rights constitute one of our basic major concerns. I would just like to show you the new EU report. When I started as Commissioner, we had separate reports from the Council and the Commission and now I am very happy to show you that the Council and the Commission have drawn up this report together. The foreword is by Bernard Kouchner, Javier Solana and myself. I think it is very important to show that here we are really working together.
As I said in my introductory remarks, we are trying very hard to go forward on the path of promoting human rights. However, we also know that the glass can be half full or half empty. A lot remains to be done, and it was very moving to see so many defenders of human rights here this morning. I spoke of Elena Bonner, but I could have spoken of any of them, and of course the video of Hu Jia’s wife was very moving: she has shown great courage.
I would like to reply to some of the questions. I cannot answer every question on behalf of the Commission, but I shall go into as much detail as I can.
First, concerning the death penalty, let me say that I have taken up this issue very forcefully. I am totally against the death penalty, and throughout this year we have given massive support in the UN for the resolution on a moratorium in more countries. But, yes, the problem is still there: many executions are still being carried out by a small number – Iran on the one hand, unfortunately China, and there are many others. We have to go on fighting against that by raising it in every dialogue. It is most important that we do that: every person who is executed is one too many.
Let me say in this context that we were all working against the execution of Wo Weihan. Sadly, he was executed on the very day of the EU human rights dialogue with China. This was a terrible example of not listening to each other.
Second, let me say to Mr Agnoletto that human rights clauses are indeed very important. At this very moment, Member States and the Commission are currently undertaking a wide-ranging review of the EU’s policy on standard political clauses in external agreements in general, in order to strike the right balance between key, ‘untouchable’ principles of the European Union on the one hand and, on the other, the need for a certain flexibility to negotiate on various parts, because we need to try and reach agreement."@en1
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"(Interjection by Marios Matsakis)"1
"(Interjection from the floor: ‘Travelling circus!’)"1
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