Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-06-14-Speech-3-364"
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".
Mr President, first of all, I should like to mention, as a starting point, Mrs Cederschiöld’s speech. It has traditionally been felt that victim protection is primarily a matter of compensating victims. It should be noted that the Commission communication differs from this in offering a broader approach to issues of the European level protection of victims of crime. I must stress the role played by my predecessor, Anita Gradin, in initiating debate on these issues within the Commission and the European institutions.
We are already establishing contacts with the future Swedish Presidency, which, this autumn, with support from the Grotius programme, will be organising a special seminar specifically on compensation mechanisms. Similarly, in a very practical move, the Commission has already decided to carry out a study into the feasibility of establishing a European victim aid system in the form of a free multilingual telephone helpline.
Many Members have expressed regret that the Commission’s scoreboard only provides for measures on aid for crime victims from 2004 onwards. As I have already had occasion to explain several times, 2004 is the cut off date to which we are bound under the 1998 Vienna action plan. Nevertheless, as you see, the Commission is already committed to working without delay on this issue, which is so important for the people of Europe, and I hope that we will have achieved tangible results even before 2004.
This broader approach takes the view that the issue of victims also necessitates work on prevention, information, practical help and the status of victims in criminal trials. I should like to stress the fact that the Tampere European Council endorsed this broader approach. That is why it declared that it is in the Union’s interest to adopt minimum standards for the protection of victims of crime, specifically with regard to access to justice for these victims and their right to compensation, including the reimbursement of their legal fees. This issue must not only be addressed at European level, but the Tampere Council also recommends establishing national programmes to finance both public and non-governmental measures for the assistance and protection of victims.
The Commission is therefore delighted at Mrs Sörensen’s excellent report, on which I congratulate her. We are fully prepared to work in accordance with the broad general guidelines presented in this report. The Commission agrees fully with the approach for the need to develop victim support networks, particularly language support. By the same token, we share the rapporteur’s concern at the special attention that needs to be paid to particular categories of victim, such as foreign nationals, minors, and victims of sexual violence, the trade in human beings or terrorist acts. It is equally important that we improve the training of staff likely to come into contact with such victims.
Lastly, Parliament quite rightly stresses the importance of protecting the privacy and anonymity of victims and witnesses, specifically where the media is concerned. This is a sensitive issue, but one we must support, as it is crucial to safeguarding the dignity of victims of crime.
What are we currently doing? So far the Commission has collected the views of non-governmental organisations, and we feel that it is very important to hear Parliament’s opinion too. We are paying close attention to a proposal for a framework decision on the protection of victims in Europe, which is already under consideration by the Council. This proposal was submitted by the Portuguese Presidency and we agree with its broad philosophy. This proposal for a framework decision, which, as you know, is a legislative instrument specific to the third pillar, provides for the development of all victim support mechanisms and for making it easier for crime victims located far afield to take part in trials by setting up systems for giving evidence in either written or video form. The proposal also provides for separate waiting rooms for victims to be established, enabling them to avoid, as much as possible, meeting the perpetrator of the crime against them. We are already, however, working at a level beyond this framework-decision.
As Mrs Sörensen pointed out, moreover, the Commission is anxious to make use of all courses of action provided for in the Treaty to provide better protection for victims, and here I am referring to Articles 65 and 66 of the Treaty establishing the European Community and to Article 31(E) of the Treaty on European Union.
Indeed, it is the Commission’s view that the measures dealing with the provision of victim support, that is, the standards which the support services must meet, the creation of victim support helplines, and all the issues to do with information and with linguistic support for victims of crime, should be regulated by instruments that come under the first pillar.
The same applies to the intervention mechanisms for possible compensation funds with regard to the joint regulations, the conditions of eligibility for the funds, the possibility of advances, and coordination with insurance schemes and between national victim compensation funds."@en1
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