Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-05-18-Speech-2-499"
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"en.20100518.34.2-499"2
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"Thank you to Sarah Ludford for this question. As you know, I have an interest in this and we have also cooperated in the past on this. It is needless to say that freedom and security go hand in hand, and respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law is at the heart of the European Union’s approach to countering terrorism. Measures to fight terrorism must always be undertaken within the framework of full respect for fundamental rights, and the EU must be exemplary in this respect.
This is not only a legal requirement but also a key condition to ensuring credibility and legitimacy as well as for promoting mutual confidence between the national authorities, and confidence among the public at large. The Commission will therefore continue to follow an approach on counter-terrorism which seeks to combine operational and legal effectiveness and feasibility with a clear commitment to the respect of fundamental rights.
Practices referred to as renditions and secret detentions are a violation of human rights. The Commission has always stressed this, and it is up to the Member States concerned to commence or to continue in-depth, independent and impartial investigations to establish the truth. This is a positive obligation, deriving from the European Convention of Human Rights, in order to establish responsibilities and to enable victims to obtain compensation. We have, from the Commission side, encouraged Poland and Romania to carry out investigations into allegations of the existence of secret detention facilities, and we welcome the launch of criminal investigations in Poland in March 2008.
The Commission has also written to the Lithuanian authorities welcoming their proactive attitude in initiating investigations. As far as the debate on rendition flights and its implications for EU aviation policy are concerned, the Commission draws some lessons in the context of the communication of civil and business aviation from January 2008. Furthermore, the Single European Sky, which entered into force last January, provides additional measures for monitoring the actual movement of aircraft, and we will continue to follow this carefully – within our powers, of course.
In 2008, the Commission provided panoramic factual information in its public staff document on terrorism and fundamental rights. This is a synthesis of the replies from the Member States to the questionnaire on criminal law, administrative law, procedural law and fundamental rights in the fight against terrorism. All Member States have replied to this questionnaire, and we are right now, in addition, preparing from the Commission side a stock-taking exercise of the main EU measures and policy initiatives taken in the field of counter-terrorism until the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.
Counter-terrorism policy conducted at national level by Member States or the participation on the CIA rendition programme will not specifically be assessed in this context, but it is very clear what the Commission thinks about this, and we will continue to follow developments in Member States, including legal challenges brought against counter-terrorism measures in national courts, and to draw lessons from sustainable policy making at EU level."@en1
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