Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-06-Speech-3-189"
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".
I am also very pleased to be able, on behalf of the Presidency-in-Office of the Council, to participate in Question Time in the European Parliament, and furthermore in a parliament which has such a dignified President.
With regard to Mr Alavanos’ oral question, I would like to state that the Council has not had the opportunity to study the matter to which the honourable Member refers. This is an issue which essentially falls within the competence of the Member States, and which Greece is dealing with directly with the Egyptian authorities. There also appears to be a bilateral agreement between Egypt and Greece on the exchange of prisoners, which aims to enable prisoners to complete their sentence in their country of origin.
The Council knows that conditions in Egyptian prisons can be harsh. Spain also knows this to be true, for its own part and as a Member State of the European Union, because it also has problems with Spanish prisoners in Egyptian prisons.
Although financial cooperation under the Association Agreement between the EU and Egypt does not directly deal with the issue of the situation in prisons, these two instruments can serve to promote awareness of the conditions in detention centres and the treatment of prisoners. Other Member States have in fact used it to this end.
The Association Agreement, which was signed on 25 June 2001 in Luxembourg, and which has still not entered into force because some of the ratification instruments have yet to be put in place, establishes respect for human rights as one of its essential features.
The protection of detained or imprisoned persons features in the international human rights instruments and the National Indicative Programme for Egypt for 2000 to 2004, which comprises a financial package worth EUR 351 million and also provides support for the development of civil society, education and for increasing social protection and the rights of the most disadvantaged and marginalised groups in Egyptian society.
I believe that, in effect, the Council should use the instruments provided by this Association Agreement to put pressure on Egypt, to become more involved with the fate of EU prisoners in Egyptian prisons, but, naturally, we cannot rely on an instrument that will allow this to take place when it is not ratified and when the ratification instruments are not even in place.
Therefore, I think that it is a good time to call upon Member States to ensure that this and other Mediterranean agreements that are awaiting ratification are ratified as soon as possible."@en1
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