Brussels, 01/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - The Permanent forum for civil society says "no" to the draft EU Charter of fundamental rights. It sees in it "an unfinished Charter, a minimalist approach and an unsatisfactory debate". "If we examine the draft Charter from the point of view of common good, one cannot help but note, that it does not place the human person at the centre of the European building process and its development plan", notes the forum which continues: "It does not take part in the re-balancing of "institutions/markets/civil society" to the benefit of the citizens, it does not open onto the world, it is not a factor for change, it does not contribute to sustainable development and, in that, it has not conformed with the Amsterdam Treaty objectives". Very critical, the forum reveals that whole chapters are poor (it cites European citizenship) or even missing (participative democracy, local democracy, collective rights, the right to culture…). In the social field, it notes that to moves backwards compared to the Treaties and Conventions, with regards to the right to strike and the right to housing.
As a result, the forum is proposing to the French Presidency an approach that will enable it to play a major role for a historic move forwards towards a "citizens Europe". The European Council in Nice will welcome the text presented by the Convention as a "draft" and will decide to submit it to a "public inquiry" in all the EU countries, for six months, as proof of the desire to associate the citizens with the building of a citizens Europe. All the actors of civil society will thus debate this text and put forward their proposals to the Convention who will be responsible for their collection in view of submitting a final text to the European Council, at the latest by December 2001. The European Council in Nice will thus be able to also decide on whether to ask the Member States to take the necessary constitutional provisions to enable the calling of a referendum by the EU peoples on this final text during 2002. Finally it will indicate that the Charter text, once approved in codecision by the Parliament and Council, will enter into force as an integral part of the Treaties.