Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-10-20-Speech-3-566"
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"en.20101020.24.3-566"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights is a very recent instrument. It can already be said, however, that it does a lot of meaningful and important work. You can see that from the feedback that we get from representatives of civil society, both within and beyond the EU. It is also a very positive complement to our human rights policy in the European Parliament and in the EU as a whole.
Work on human rights often takes place under very difficult conditions. It is therefore particularly important that these instruments provide the ability for the EU to grant financial support to civil society establishments without the government in question having to give its consent, and potentially without it even having to be informed of the financial support in question by the EU. We should stress a number of times that this aid is to be retained and – where necessary – extended.
Like my co-rapporteur, Mrs Gál, I can endorse the Commission proposal that there should be a tax abatement in those countries where payments from this financing instrument are still taxed. That, too, would significantly ease the work of the NGOs in question.
However, I see it as a constant challenge in work with this financing instrument that, on the one hand, we also have complaints or negative feedback in this connection that makes quite clear that it leads to more red tape for civil society organisations that seek support from this instrument. On the other hand, of course, there is the necessity for transparency with regard to what money is spent on and whether and how it is used. However, we should take seriously the repeated complaint by small organisations, in particular, that they are put off from using this support and this is an issue we need to tackle now.
By the same token, I see it as a challenge that it is difficult to reach a lot of local organisations in the countryside, rather than in the metropolises of the global South, in other words, to make them aware that a financing instrument of this nature exists and how they can administer it. Imagine the following situation: in a rural area where there is not always electricity, paper trails are perhaps an exception rather than the rule – that makes it necessary for particular attention to be focused on achieving these initiatives. I see an opportunity in enlarging the EU embassies on the ground at this point – and it is, of course, actually settled that there are also to be responsibilities, and staff on hand, in each local EU embassy to speak up for human rights and democracy – in these civil servants – who I will now refer to as human rights agents – intensively engaging in taking on precisely this role as a mediator and this remit to provide information and communications, and also in getting through to local initiatives that perhaps do not have the ability to communicate in English, French, Spanish or another EU language.
It is still far too early, at present, to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the Instrument. The timeframe is much too short – the results would not stand up very well. In a few years’ time, however, we need to very intensively devote ourselves to a comprehensive evaluation of this kind. By evaluation, I mean not only looking back at what went well, but also considering what new ideas we should adopt and how we can further develop the financing instrument."@en1
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