Brussels, 18/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has enthusiastically welcomed the statement by High Representative Catherine Ashton on putting in place a post of EU Special Representative for Human Rights. On Thursday 18 April, Parliament requested that this post be immediately set up and that the person who occupies this post should be an expert in international humanitarian law and international justice and who would also play a key role in improving the Union's profile on the international stage.
In the report of Richard Howitt (S&D, United Kingdom), on the annual human rights report in the world in 2010 and European Union policy in this field (particularly the implications for the EU strategic policy on human rights) which was adopted by a large majority (580 votes for, 28 against, with 74 abstentions), MEPs also underlined that, for the EU to the a credible actor in external relations it has to take coherent and exemplary action and avoid double standards between human rights and other policies, both domestic and external. They also point out that the performance-based “more for more” approach implies “less for less” on the basis of clearly defined and monitored criteria.
MEPs also regret that, despite strong declarations on human rights and democracy, these issues have sometimes been ghettoised within the European instrument for democracy and human rights instead of being integrated into all the different instruments.
MEPs also call on the other EU institutions, including the European Parliament, to make further efforts on integrating dialogues on human rights into all external action carried out by the EU within a given country.
The report particularly highlights the importance of civil society, social networks, women's rights, the freedom of religion and beliefs, the freedom of expression and LGBT rights. It calls on the European Union to take action in all these fields.
Freedom of religion
During the debate the previous day, High Representative Catherine Ashton replied to a call made by rapporteur Richard Howitt to nominate a Special Representative for Human Rights so that the voice of the EU can be heard throughout the world. She said it was important to have a special representative and that she was working on the mandate and looking for the appropriate person who had impeccable integrity for this extremely important role. She also underlined that the EU can promote human rights by placing countries and regimes within a range extending from positive engagement to isolation.
Howitt stated that speaking out in defence of human rights is more important than keeping quiet in an effort to protect the unity of the EU. Leonidas Donskis (ALDE, Lithuania) highlighted the need to establish whether human rights have an essential place for the EU and whether there is a red line that should be drawn in this respect with regard to foreign policy. Like many MEPs from all the different parties, Howitt underlined the importance of freedom of religion and belief and the many violations of these rights that had been committed.
The rapporteur for the development committee, Cristian Dan Preda (EPP, Romania) pointed out that it was essential to increase financial support for democracy and human rights. Marie Christine Vergiat (GUE, France) underlined the importance of consistency of EU internal and external policies and said that there was a lot to do in this respect. Maria Eleni Koppa (S&D, Greece) pointed out that there were important clauses on human rights in trade agreements that needed to be implemented and that “more for more” corresponded to “less for less”. Andrzej Grzyb, speaking on behalf of the EPP, spoke of the corporate social responsibility on human rights in trade relations. Rui Tavares (Greens/EFA, Portugal) denounced the fact that member states were trading with countries where there was conflict, such as Guinea-Bissau and Syria, which “undermines human rights”. (CG/transl.fl)