Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-14-Speech-2-009"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20060214.4.2-009"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
".
Mr President, I welcome this report on the human rights and democracy clause in European Union agreements prepared by the honourable Members of this House, and especially by Mr Agnoletto, and the resolution before Parliament today.
As regards Parliament’s involvement in negotiating or suspending an agreement, you will be well aware that these procedures are clearly established by the Treaty and reflect the interinstitutional structure of the European Union. Parliament already plays an invaluable role in focusing attention on human rights issues, through the extremely active work of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, through its annual report on human rights in the world and through the many resolutions and debates on particular human rights issues. Moreover, I very much welcome the suggestion that interparliamentary delegations should take up human rights issues much more systematically. I think that there, too, you have a great role to play.
I also favour revising the format of the current EU Annual Report on Human Rights in order to make it a fully interinstitutional report and to include an analysis of the application of human rights clauses.
In conclusion, let me reiterate that the success of human rights clauses should be measured by the progress made in engaging partners in a genuine dialogue and in consultations on human rights, and the resulting improvements in human rights.
Over the last ten years, human rights clauses have provided an indispensable foundation for developing a truly effective human rights dialogue with our partners because it is in this way that these countries slowly change their behaviour. That does not mean, of course, that there is no room for improvement: there is always room for improvement, and I look forward to this debate today and to an ongoing and active debate with Parliament. We are in a listening mood, but we would also like to contribute to improving human rights in the world.
Human rights clauses have been inserted systematically into external agreements since 1995 and, ten years on, it is timely to take stock of what has been achieved. All EU institutions need to work together to this end, and I emphasise my commitment to an ongoing, but also very practical, dialogue with the Council and Parliament, for which this report provides a good basis.
I shall begin by underlining how much has already been achieved: it must be said that the glass is more than half full. After often difficult discussions and very difficult negotiations, the Commission has secured the inclusion of a human rights and democracy clause in, as you said, more than 50 agreements, covering over 120 countries. A notable example is, indeed, that of Articles 9 and 96 of the Cotonou Agreement. In the field of trade policy, the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance, known as ‘GSP+’, provides additional benefits for countries that implement
certain international standards in human and social rights; so it is a positive incentive.
The impact of human rights clauses is already evident, and many of our human rights activities are supported by their mere existence. Human rights feature prominently in every political dialogue with our partners. Human rights subcommittees are being established with a growing number of partners, and, indeed, the European Union Neighbourhood Policy Action Plans contain highly detailed sections on human rights.
The Commission, as part of the troika, makes numerous démarches on human rights issues every year, and the European Initiative on Democracy and Human Rights funds human rights projects throughout the world. The Commission is also funding numerous technical assistance projects with an impact on human rights, ranging from, for instance, improving police training to modernising the judicial system in partner countries. The rule of law is one of the most important areas where I think we can really make a difference.
I would also like to mention how active both Member State embassies and Commission delegations are in this regard. EU Heads of Mission collectively draw up human rights fact sheets periodically, report on the implementation of the various EU human rights guidelines and make detailed analyses of developments in particular countries concerning human rights and democracy. More and more frequently, political reporting from the Commission delegations is covering human rights issues.
Assessing the effectiveness of the human rights clause to date needs to be done in a comprehensive manner. The human rights and democracy clause is, in itself, an important way of demonstrating the shared commitment of the European Union and its partners to upholding, and also to promoting, human rights. The human rights clause opens the door to developing a deeper and more intensive dialogue on human rights issues. Moreover, the existence of these clauses may, in some cases, even help deter potential human rights violations.
As far as sanctions are concerned, I would like to underline that the frequency of imposition clearly depends less on the wording of the human rights clause than on the political will of the Member States, as well as of the other states. I agree that, when sanctions are not implemented in response to serious breaches of human rights, the credibility of the EU’s human rights policy could be damaged.
For its part, the Commission would sometimes like to see a more robust use of these clauses but the solution is not, however, to include more clauses in the agreement. Instead, we need to build up awareness and the consensus throughout the European Union on the importance of human rights issues relative to other priorities. This report therefore makes a valuable contribution in this regard."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples