Brussels, 02/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - At the opening of its second plenary session, the body responsible for drawing up a draft EU Charter on Fundamental Rights decided, by consensus, to take the name of "Convention". This decision was taken against the opinion of the French elected member of the Union for a Europe of Nations, Georges Berthu. The latter was opposed as he felt the mandate of the European Council of Cologne spoke of a "body" and this did not entitle it to give itself another name. With 33 votes in favour, 16 against and 3 abstentions, the Convention decided that the deputies (who are part of the European Parliament and national parliaments' delegations) will be able to take the floor in all the informal meetings as well as during the formal meetings if there is no incumbent. EUROPE recalls that the Convention is made up of 15 representatives of the heads of State and government, 16 members of the EP and 30 members of the national parliaments. It is chaired by the former FRG president, Roman Herzog. The Convention adopted the timetable for its work, which comprises twelve informal meetings and fifteen meetings in the drafting committee (24 February, 2 March, week from 6 to 10 March, 27 March, 3 April, week from 17 to 20 April, week from 2 to 5 May, 11 May, 22 May, week from 29 to 31 May, 5 June, 19 June, 29 June, 17 July and 19 July). The next plenary meeting will be held on 20 and 21 March. Four other plenary sessions are scheduled for: 5 and 6 June, 11 and 12 September, 18 and 19 October.
The Convention also decided to take as a working basis a list of rights drawn up by its secretariat from the EU Treaties, the European Convention on Human Rights, the Declaration on Fundamental Rights adopted by the EP in 1989, and the report by Belgian Liberal Karel De Gucht, adopted by the EP in March 1993. The list includes: - the right to respect of dignity of the individual (involving the ban on inhuman and degrading treatment); - the right to life; - the right to freedom and security; - the right to a fair trial; - non-retroactivity of laws; - the ban on double penalties; - the right to respect of private life; - family rights; - freedom of conscience; - freedom of expression; - the principles of democracy; - the right to education; - the right of association and demonstration; - access to information and the protection of personal data; - freedom of movement; - the right to ownership; - protection of the environment and consumers' protection; - the right of asylum and the ban on collective expulsion; - the ban on discrimination; - the rights of EU citizens (voting rights and eligibility to European and municipal elections, consular protection, the right of petition, recourse to the Ombudsman, access to the European public service, the right to use each of the EU official languages in relations with Community institutions); - economic and social rights, namely the right to work, working conditions (right to safety and health at the workplace, fair pay, weekly rest and paid leave, right to retirement), continuing training, collective rights (worker information and consultation, collective demands, right to strike), social protection (right to health, social protection and health insurance, maternity protection, protection of children, integration of the disabled).
The Convention devoted most of the second meeting to a general discussion on the form that this Charter should take as well as on its scope. Concluding the first part of the debate, President Roman Herzog said: "Even if it is not our intention to adopt a text with legal value, we must be careful as this text could become binding". He insisted on the fact that the Cologne mandate clearly states the Charter must aim at Community institutions and bodies and not national authorities. He went on to add that subjects such as participation of women in the armed forces come under the Convention and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and not the Convention's mandate. Mr Herzog also felt that the work of the Convention must come within the current breakdown of powers within the Union. "We must not seek to amend the Treaties", he said. Finally, he insisted on the need to find "solutions that citizens can understand". He affirmed the Charter must show that "Europe is not only a question of GDP but also of a certain vision of man". EUROPE will come back to these two discussion days tomorrow.