Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-06-12-Speech-3-231"
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"en.20020612.5.3-231"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am taking the liberty of speaking here in response to the problem of asylum seekers from the PECO countries. I feel this problem clearly raises the question of the European Union’s ability to determine the rights and statutes of European citizens or future European citizens with regard to the right of asylum, on the eve of the great challenge of the decisions on enlargement.
The addition of the protocol on the right of asylum to the Treaty of Amsterdam prohibits Member States of the European Union from considering a request for asylum submitted by a national of another Member State. In doing so, the Treaty introduces discrimination against European citizens based on their nationality. This runs counter to Article 3 of the Geneva Convention, which defines a refugee as ‘any person who [has] a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion’.
The grounds for the incorporation of this protocol are, on the one hand, that the Member States have to respect the rule of law, democracy and human rights and possess the internal and external legal resources to put an end to violations of these legal principles, and, on the other, that nationals of the Member States already have rights in the other Member States which render useless the right of asylum, the right to free movement, free establishment, free choice of residence and other laws relating to citizenship.
What can be said, however, of the recent condemnation of various Member States by the European Court of Human Rights, or the Amnesty International reports which, every year, denounce violations of fundamental rights in most of the Member States? Moreover, how can we know what the future holds and state with absolute certainty that the Member States or future Member States of the European Union are above any form of abuse? The attitude to minorities is a good example of this.
Let us ensure that everyone can claim the right of asylum within the European Union. Let us ensure that everyone can have their request for asylum considered. Would that not be the best way of testing our democratic commitment?"@en1
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