Strasbourg, 05/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament held a debate last Wednesday on international organ trafficking, which gave MEPs an opportunity to criticise the lack of action on the part of the Council and the Member States in the face of this growing menace.
The debate began on a light-hearted note with President of the Council Dick Roche apologising for a momentary lapse in attention, saying “I'm sorry, Chairman, I was a little distracted. Ms Frattoni was flirting with me. It goes to show that sometimes the European Parliament can be a lot more pleasant than the Dail Eireann; I've never know that to happen before!”. Passing almost seamlessly from “the humorous to the horrendous”, Dick Roche spoke of the violation of human dignity and physical personal integrity represented by this terrible trade. He recalled that the Greek Presidency had tabled a proposal in February 2003 for a framework decision aimed at harmonising investigations in order to strengthen the fight against international organ trafficking and all organised criminal activities resulting from it. This proposal had been discussed several times, but various Member States had not yet recognised the scale of the problem and “questioned the need for such an instrument”, he said.
Commissioner Antonio Vitorino stressed that the victims of this type of crime were often particularly vulnerable groups, such as children, and that the Commission is closely monitoring the situation in areas affected. They had already contacted the Prosecutor General of Mozambique, who had assured them that investigations were underway, and they were appealing for an agreement to be drawn up between Albania and Europol. “Specific measures targeting this type of crime do not seem to be appropriate at this time”, said the Commissioner, citing the Greek initiative. He also emphasised the fact that Europol's powers were extended in January 2002 to cover illegal trafficking in organs and human tissue. Europol is currently studying the problem and collecting data and information regarding the legal and illegal aspects of trafficking human organs, he added, stating that Europol could provide value added in the common fight against this phenomenon.
Portuguese MEPs Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) and Carlos Lage (PSE) drew particular attention to the case of Mozambique. Calling it “a new piracy of modern times, a particularly sordid and brutal form of piracy”, the Portuguese MEP José Ribeiro i Castro (UEN) called for the swift adoption of the framework decision proposed by the Greek Presidency in order to guarantee that all Member States would be free from this trafficking. British Labour MEP Robert Evans was highly critical of Member States and the subsequent Presidencies. He recalled that the Greek Presidency had really striven for a result, and that the Parliament had unanimously approved its report on the Greek initiative with 420 votes. More than 1000 European citizens travel to poor countries (he cited India, Pakistan and Albania) looking for a human organ, said Mr Evans in condemning the lack of progress in the fight against this problem.
While lamenting that there had not been more progress, Dick Roche emphasised that there was still a lack of information on these issues. Commissioner Vitorino explained that there were legal aspects of the Greek initiative linked to extraterritoriality which would require further discussion.