Brussels, 13/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Monday evening the European Parliament debated the report by Dutch Socialist Joke Swiebel on fundamental rights in the European Union, which was adopted in committee by 25 to 20 with 2 abstentions. The vote gives a foretaste of the problems likely to be encountered in the vote in plenary on Tuesday (the EPP-ED group has already indicated it will vote against). The long, 135-point resolution singles out all Member States in terms of various aspects of fundamental rights, over dignity, liberties, equality, solidarity, citizenship or justice.
In her highly critical report, Swiebel hails the "important step" taken by the European Commission in deciding on 13 May 2001 that all of its proposals would from then on be subject to prior assessment of compatibility with the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Her draft resolution calls for the relevant European Parliament committee to be made permanently responsible for monitoring respect of the Charter in connection with other relevant committees. Swiebel notes that her report only looks at the human rights situation in current EU Member States, and does not give an overview or assessment of the human rights activities of the institutions. Some of the highlights of the very detailed report, organised in terms of the relevant articles of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Dignity. Swiebel comments here on legislative initiatives damaging individual civil rights adopted by some Member States as part of the fight against terrorism (citing the UK and Germany). In the context of the ban on torture and inhuman or degrading treatment and imprisonment, she reports on cases of mistreatment by police forces in France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Spain and Belgium.
Freedoms. The report looks here at the problem of the freedom of the press, the freedom of speech and the freedom of information (mentioning the "confusion of interests" whereby the Italian prime minister owns several TV chains, welcoming the fact that the Austrian TV and radio broadcasting monopoly ended on 1 January 2002), along with asylum rights, where she criticises restrictive measures in Greece and France.
Equality. The report looks at racial discrimination and xenophobia in various Member States, stressing the importance of equality between men and women and combatting discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation (citing Austria, Portugal and Ireland). The report also highlights shortcomings in terms of children's' rights (especially in France concerning the rights of minors who are the children of asylum seekers).
Solidarity. The report regrets that the Council of Europe's Social Charter (reviewed in 1996, that came into force in 1999) has not yet been signed by the Netherlands or Germany. It singles out unreasonable measures in Denmark, Greece, the UK, Italy, Ireland , the Netherlands and Spain in terms of protection against unjustified sacking.
European citizenship. The report notes that EU citizens' involvement in municipal elections in other Member States has been restricted to date, and highlights the social security problems faced by migrant workers.
Justice. The report looks in detail at the conclusions of the European Court of Human Rights on the right to a fair trial (Greece, Italy and Finland), the right to a public hearing (Austria, France, Italy and Germany) and the right to an unbiased and independent tribunal (the UK and France).