12/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 12 July, the European Parliament Conference of Presidents voted, by majority decision, against the proposal to make the sub-committees on human rights and defence into full Parliamentary committees. The issue will come up again after the 2009 European elections. The EPP-ED, ALDE and UEN groups voted against the proposal, although there would appear to have been a gentleman's agreement among all the groups in January at the mid-term reorganisation of the committees. This caused indignation in the Greens and Socialist groups. In a joint statement, Martin Schulz, PES leader, and Monica Frassoni (joint leader of the Greens/EFA group, complained that the EPP-ED, the Liberals and the UEN had not stuck to their commitment. “If Parliamentary group leaders do not honour their word, there is a real risk of descent into chaos,” they said. Hélène Flautre, chairwoman of the human rights sub-committee, said the decision was “lamentable”. “By sacrificing the human rights committee on the altar of unworthy tactical arrangements, the conservatives and the liberals have shown how good they are at double talk: generous and willing in their speech, cynical and calculating when it comes to taking decisions. This is a very bad signal to the public at a time when human rights are being damaged,” she said. (hb)