In its conclusions adopted on Thursday 12 October by European Justice Ministers on the application of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights last year, the Council of the EU indicates that the presumption of innocence, legal aid, procedural safeguards for children and data protection rules at EU level are all rights that were all further strengthened in 2016.
In this text the Council highlights asylum and migration and emphasises that there is a need to respect the fundamental right of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, “despite the urgent challenges in the areas of migration and asylum”. It also indicates that EU and national action should particularly take into account the serious risks of abuse and exploitation by smugglers and traffickers, to which women and children are particularly exposed.
The Council also recognises the measures taken by the Commission to combat racism and xenophobia, particularly through stepping up the fight against online hate speech. It also indicates that it is eagerly awaiting the results of the ‘EU-MIDIS II’ investigation carried out by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) to assess the progress achieved over the past five years in the protection of the fundamental rights of ethnic minorities.
The Council repeats its commitment to prevent and eliminate all kinds of violence against women and in this regard, calls on all member states to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention), which the EU signed last June (see EUROPE 11807). At this stage, only 14 member states ratified it.
Finally, the Council highlights its support for the EU’s accession to the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). According to the Council signing up to this Convention, “will reinforce the common values of the Union, improve the effectiveness of EU law and enhance the coherence of fundamental rights protection in Europe". In view of a further examination by the Council, the Commission is called on to rapidly complete its analysis of the legal questions raised by the European Court of Justice in its opinion of December 2014 in which it deemed the accession draft incompatible with the Union treaty (see EUROPE 11221). (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)