Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-07-Speech-3-138"
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".
Please permit me one procedural remark before starting my introductory remarks. Today it was said at the start of the sitting that one of the items on the agenda had been deferred because the Council was unable to attend. In view of the late hour at which we started debating this item, there are clearly grounds for moving it to another day, particularly as the agenda for today's session is so full. The Presidency intended to be present for all the scheduled items and will also be present for the entire item, on which such a late start is being made, especially as we wish to illustrate the importance that the Council and the Presidency attach to this subject. My opening remarks will also be a little longer than the envisaged five minutes. I ask for your understanding and will try and shorten my closing statement at the end of the debate.
Respect for human rights across the world is indeed one of the major objectives of the European common foreign and security policy. Through instruments such as joint measures and strategies, demarches and crisis management operations, the EU has sought to strengthen the democratic process and improve the human rights situation in many countries. In this respect, dialogue on human rights is of particular importance. The EU is conducting talks with Iran, Uzbekistan, the Russian Federation, the African Union and China.
Under cooperation agreements, which contain provisions on human rights, such dialogue is also being conducted with other third countries. In that regard, I should mention that the next opportunity for discussion on the situation in China will be as early as next week, on 15 May, when the next round of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue will take place in Ljubljana. I should also mention recent consultations with the Russian Federation, which were held in April.
Honourable Members, I would also like to touch on cooperation between the individual institutions of the European Union on the protection and promotion of human rights. In the next few days the Council is expected to draft a reply to the letter from the President of the European Parliament, Mr Pöttering, regarding interinstitutional cooperation on human rights dialogue. I can assure you that there is great political will to strengthen these relations, at least on the part of the Presidency.
In conclusion, I welcome the report by Mrs De Keyser and Mr Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra on election observation missions. Election observation missions are a very important element of European Union policy for fostering democracy. They contribute to enhancing democratic dialogue and the democratic election process and help build democratic institutions. This year elections have been, and will be, held in many countries. The Council has been monitoring them closely and will continue to do so.
As part of our efforts to strengthen links between the European Parliament and the Council as regards election observation missions, we have already carried out an exchange of views with MEPs who have led observation missions. Their reports make a significant contribution to shaping policy in this area and I believe that today's debate will also be useful in this regard.
Honourable Members, I would like to welcome the report drawn up by Mr Cappato, namely the European Union annual report on human rights in the world. I would like to stress that we regard the role of the Parliament in promoting respect for human rights internationally as fundamental and your critical view as an important contribution to the European Union's endeavours in this vital field. The Council will study this report in detail. However, today I would like to respond to certain key elements of your report, Mr Cappato.
First of all, there is no doubt that your report deals with most of the basic challenges facing the European Union as far as human rights are concerned. Above all, we are pleased that the activities of the European Parliament have also been included in the report on human rights. The chapter of the report on this subject acknowledges the significant role of this esteemed assembly in promoting respect for human rights. In future too the Council will endeavour to ensure close cooperation with Parliament, in particular with the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Sub-committee on Human Rights. We believe that the annual reports will continue to reflect the efforts of the European Parliament in this regard.
As regards the call, contained in the report, to enhance cooperation between the Council of Europe and the European Union, I must say that we agree that there is a great deal of scope in this area and the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Council of Europe and the European Union is of course important. The European Union respects the Council of Europe's efforts to promote and protect human rights. The European Union also remains a staunch advocate of the United Nations system of human rights protection. We actively support independence for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and are endeavouring to ensure that the Human Rights Council becomes an effective body for dealing with serious violations of human rights the world over.
The recent seventh session of the Human Rights Council, which was held in Geneva, was a success for the European Union. Our two main initiatives – renewal of the mandates of the special rapporteurs on human rights in Burma/Myanmar and North Korea – were accepted. All the initiatives of the individual European Union Member States were also accepted. We also made efforts to ensure that the mandate of the independent expert for the Democratic Republic of Congo was renewed, but unfortunately were unsuccessful. Among the positive outcomes of this session, mention should be made of the renewal of the mandates for the defenders of human rights and women’s right to be free from violence.
In April a new mechanism, the universal periodic review, was launched within the framework of the Human Rights Council. The European Union regards it as a key mechanism for protecting and promoting human rights. It is still rather too early to make a proper assessment of the operation of this new mechanism, but initial impressions indicate that the Member States are taking it seriously and acting responsibly. Certain attempts by some members of the Human Rights Council to dilute this mechanism are, however, a cause for concern.
In addition to the intensive work in the United Nations, in recent years attention has been directed at integrating human rights into other areas of foreign policy. I would like to reaffirm that this is high on the Slovenian Presidency's list of priorities. The Presidency also supports all the efforts made by Mr Solana's Personal Representative for Human Rights, Riina Kionka, in this regard.
At this juncture I would like to touch on the part of the report which calls for the human rights guidelines to be updated. During our Presidency, three of the five thematic guidelines will be updated. Last week the General Affairs and External Relations Council adopted the updated Guidelines on Torture. Next month we also expect to conclude an update of the Guidelines on the Death Penalty, which coincides with the tenth anniversary of the guidelines. The Presidency is also concluding an update of the Guidelines on Children and Armed Conflict. In this respect, it should be noted that this month the General Affairs and External Relations Council is also expected to approve a two-year review of implementation of the Checklist for the Integration of the Protection of Children affected by Armed Conflict into European Security and Defence Policy.
As regards the Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders, your report asks the Member States to consider the possibility of issuing visas for such groups. Within the European Council Working Group on Human Rights (COHOM), the Presidency organised discussions in April with a view to exchanging information on visa issuing practices. It appears that the discussion prompted a number of Member States, together with the competent consular departments, to study the possibility of assisting human rights defenders by issuing them with short-term visas. At the same time, the Member States supported the inclusion of a reference to this matter in the new Common Code on Visas. The crucial aspect with regard to guidelines is, of course, their implementation in practice, that is to say monitoring human rights situations and responding to violations by making demarches and statements and including the issue in dialogue."@en1
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