Brussels, 12/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 12 March, MEPs called on the European institutions and member states “to put human rights at the heart of the EU's relations with all third countries”.
By adopting (390 votes in favour, 151 against and 97 abstentions) a report by Pier Antonio Panzeri (S&D, Italy), which analysed the 2013 annual report on human rights and democracy in the world and the EU's policy on this, the MEPs underline the importance of an “effective, systematic and coherent implementation of European policy on human rights”. “Human rights have become an essential component of the EU's external action and a true element of its identity in its bilateral, multilateral and institutional relations”, they state.
The MEPs recommend that in cases of a serious violation of human rights by a partner country with which an agreement has been concluded, the EU should take more effective measures to impose adequate sanctions “including the possible (temporary) suspension of the agreement”.
The European Parliament calls on the European External Action Service (EEAS) to strengthen the management and control of the EU's funds for supporting human rights. The post of the EU special representative for human rights should be maintained, with a view to making it permanent and providing it with adequate means for fully playing its role, the MEPs add (our translation throughout). (Camille-Cerise Gessant)