Brussels, 01/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - As reported in Europe of 24/25 June, pp 5 and 6 and 26 June, p.6, the European Convention meetings to hear the views of civil society that was organised last week took place within various working groups. The main elements arising from dialogue with representatives of the regions, human rights defence organisations and organisations to promote culture and development in the widest sense were the following:
Regions and communities. Chaired by Ana Palacio (Spanish government ). European Commissioner Michel Barnier intervened, as did various Members of the Committee of the Regions, such as its Vice-President, Eduado Zaplana, President of the Region of Valencia, who again called for the CoR to have the status of a genuine institution and be able to appeal to the Court of Justice. Failing which, he wanted the other institutions to be obliged to give justifications if they strayed from CoR opinions. MEP Andrew Duff and Belgian Parliament representative Karel De Gucht called for the creation of a Convention working group on this issue, while the Scottish National Party MEP Neil McCormick said that such a group was essential, adding that Scotland was the equivalent of half of Denmark and that Luxembourg was better represented in the EU than Catalonia.
Human rights. Chaired by European Commissioner Antonio Vitorino. Participants hoped that the European Charter of Fundamental Rights would be included in the Treaty. Some people wanted to improve it, but others feared it would be weakened. Dick Oosting from Amnesty International feared that the war on terror and on clandestine immigration would weaken protection of human rights in the EU, and Laetitia Sedou from the World Anti-Torture Organisation said the EU should joint the European Convention of Human Rights and that exchanges between he European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights should be formalised. European Ombudsman Jakob Söderman said that citizens had to be able to appeal in the event of non-respect of the Charter of Human Rights.
Development. Chaired by Henning Christophersen (Danish government). The working group regretted the scrapping of the Development Council (Simon Stocker of Eurostep feared this would weaken the EU's humanitarian and development policy) and called for the European Development Fund for ACP countries to be included in the EU budget (a long-standing European Parliament demand, Ed). Claire Godin from Equilibres et Population called for better account to be taken of sexual equality in the EU's foreign policy, while Meral Gezgin Eris from the Economic Development Foundation in Turkey said that education and youth affairs should be prioritised.
Culture. Chaired by Aloijz Peterle (Slovenian parliament). Peterle said there was no contradiction between defending cultural diversity in Europe and common action in the cultural field, noting that Europe should do more in the latter domain. Mr Von der Gablenz from Europa Notra said a European Cultural and Educational Area was required to develop European identity, while Mr Jenkins from the Conference of European Churches stressed the affirmation of the EU as a community of values, acknowledging that there were divisions whether to refer to religious values in the Treaties. Ali Tekin (Turkish parliament) said that reference to moral and ethical values were sufficient in his view. Mr Brezigar from the European Bureau for Lesser-Used Languages again expressed hope that the new Treaty would guarantee linguistic diversity, while Hans Van Mierlo (Dutch government), who also called for cultural diversity, called for the Convention to create a working group on culture.