Brussels, 23/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - In a press release, European Economic and Social Committee President Mario Sepi has come out in favour of the European Commission's proposal to set up a European Asylum Support Office, “as part of an intensified effort to harmonise different national laws in this area”.
“The right to asylum is all the more fundamental at a time when we are witnessing countless violations of this right - one of the rights of the person - and inconsistencies in its application, across Europe. This right has been protected in many European countries since the Middle Ages,” Sepi says in a press release, before going on: “The European Economic and Social Committee wholeheartedly supports the Commission's proposal to actively affirm human rights as an essential aspect of European citizenship”.
Also part of this effort is the establishment of the European Integration Forum, a joint initiative of the European Commission and the Committee. The Forum will be launched by Jacques Barrot, Commission Vice-President with responsibility for Justice, Freedom and Security, when he addresses the Committee's plenary session on 25-26 February (see related article). (G.B./transl.rt)