03/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - Special Representatives priorities. After 90 days in post, EU Special Representative for Human Rights Stavros Lambrinidis set out his five priorities for the remainder of his two-year term of office. Speaking on 3 December, he said that the EU had to take a number of initiatives in the coming months to support civil society and non-governmental organisations which were facing difficulties worldwide, such as registration problems and funding, harassment, persecution and intimidation. Underlining that the universality of human rights has come ever more under attack, Lambrinidis said he hoped that the EU would be more persuasive, that it would make its voice heard more and that it would demonstrate that the universality of human rights is guaranteed. He is of the view that a number of human rights discussions and consultations have to be re-assessed and reinvigorated. He also wants to put human rights still further at the heart of all EU policies: development, trade, and tackling terrorism. He highlighted the importance of socio-economic and cultural rights in human rights. (CG/transl.fl)