Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-05-25-Speech-3-103"
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".
Mr President, during the present period of debates, referenda and parliamentary ratifications of the EU Constitution, we have all heard the arguments about the reasons for democratic deficit within the Union, and we are well aware of the need to make the work of community institutions transparent and to bring it closer to the people.
It is certainly a crucial move to create equality of rights and not to tolerate discrimination. However, this is only one, surface treatment of the subject. In order to get a firm grip on tackling this problem, it is not enough to treat the symptoms, but we must dig to the roots and treat the malady in order to create equal opportunities. This complicated subject must be examined from various perspectives. Therefore, a separate section of the Agency must deal with traditional national minorities.
It is a very sensitive task, and a great challenge today, to monitor the implementation of rights and to find a balance between the granting of individual freedoms and achieving collective security. Therefore, the Agency must stand in the centre of a European movement striving towards better observance of fundamental rights and it must apply all the knowledge from previous experience in this process.
The goal is to be able to put the fundamental rights into the centre of all possible policies and provisions, so that we can really think of Europe as a symbol of these basic freedoms.
At present, the work of the Union’s legislative bodies is often shrouded in scepticism and lack of concern. It is our especial duty and obligation to change this. This aim could be accomplished by means of the careful definition of the mandate and function of the Fundamental Rights Agency, the guarantee of its efficient operation and for its role to be known as widely as possible. The Union’s announcement, that development has shifted from an economic community to a political community of common interests, is timely and if the Union is to have a Constitution that includes the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the human rights dimension must also become stronger. Since it is one of the principles of the Union that fundamental rights should be treated with priority in its policy, an Agency should be set up to monitor whether these high
sounding fundamental principles are being observed and to ensure that exercising fundamental human rights becomes a people
oriented, everyday practice instead of just bare legislation.
And now, Mr President, let me continue in English.
Mr President, following the decision of the European Council in December 2003, this own
initiative report seeks to set out the means towards the aim of extending the remit of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia and converting it into a Fundamental Rights Agency. The committee and the groups agreed on my approach and although 120 amendments were tabled to the report, we managed to achieve 25 compromise amendments by which all the members of our committee have contributed to the development of fundamental rights within the Union. This led to an absolute majority with only three votes against.
The core issues during the debate on the report in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs focused around certain problems. One was whether a new agency should be established at all. The main argument here, especially on the side of the PPE
DE Group, was that there are already too many agencies that are not sufficiently cost
effective and that thereby many of the tasks of the European institutions, such as Parliament or the Commission, would be delegated to agencies. I tried to make a clear point in this respect in my report. The credibility of the Agency, and our credibility, will be ensured by its well
defined mandate and structure.
The committee also asked that Parliament should have a more important role in the structure, mandate and work of this body. As a main legal basis had to be found, we invoked Article 13. But I must emphasise that this Agency has to have a broader mandate, covering the Charter of Fundamental Rights in its totality. Therefore I ask the Commissioner not to interpret this article only in a restrictive sense.
We have to make the hardly understandable legal language and structures clear, effective and operational and we need even more active cooperation between Council, Commission and Parliament. I can see this Agency cooperating, building the information it gathers on a network of networks, in which we can find a clear way through the jungle of European, national and regional institutions and centres dealing with human rights throughout Europe. Cooperation has to be a keyword in this field when we look at the Council of Europe.
It is important to use and build upon what has been achieved so far in the Council of Europe, not only symbolically but also in practical day
by
day terms. It is important that a functional model of cooperation be developed, as was emphasised at the Warsaw Summit. I think that the Agency could be a means towards this end.
The protection of national minorities has become a very important issue since EU enlargement and it has also become clear that combating xenophobia and discrimination is not enough in itself to guarantee minority rights."@en1
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