Brussels, 18/04/2000 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission held an exchange of views on the state of progress of work relating to the elaboration of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, on the basis of an informative note from Mr Vitorino. Representing the Commission in the work of the convention which is drawing up the Charter, Mr Vitorino wanted to take stock of the state of progress of work, draw the College's attention to the main topics under discussion and stress that the Commission should present to the next European Council (to be held on 19 and 20 June in Feira, Portugal) a formal contribution to its work, which, he believes, is "needed and no doubt expected).
Given the questions raised, the Commission's contribution would "give a strong political message and fix the Commission's guidelines on problems of substance". Mr Vitorino will establish the draft for this and submit it to the college during next month. Several of these issues are already well known: the scope of the Charter, homogeneity between the Charter and the European Convention on Human Rights, citizens' rights, adoption procedure, and the nature of the Charter (binding or not). But new ideas have also been introduced into the work, for example: bioethics, the protection of personal data, controls of mergers in the media sector (problem of freedom of expression), the right to a healthy environment. The Commission may take position not only on "traditional" questions but also on new issues.