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SUMMARY
MEPs have served notice that they are no longer prepared to approve international agreements which do not contain a human rights and democracy clause.
Such clauses already appear in many of the EU's international agreements. Parliament, however, wants a revised wording to ensure a more effective approach to human rights in EU external relations. MEPs also want the clause inserted into all new treaties, including sectoral, trade, technical or financial aid agreements, with both industrialised and developing countries.
MEPs say the new human rights and democracy clauses should cover:-
Parliament also wants to raise public awareness of the existence of the clause, and to set up a "structured dialogue" both with government institutions and with NGOs to review any breaches of the clause.
Note to Editors:
Contact: Simon Duffin, Press Officer, European Parliament UK Office, sduffin@europarl.eu.int
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DEBATE
Excerpts from Tuesday's debate (14 February 2006) in Strasbourg
Glyn Ford MEP (Labour, South West) As the Commissioner said, 14 years on from the start of these human rights agreements being included, it is time for a fresh look. Since 1995 this has been invoked on 12 occasions. We have invoked it against Niger, Guinea-Bissau, the Central African Republic, Togo, Haiti – from which I have just returned from an election-observation mission, Comoros, the Ivory Coast, Fiji, Liberia and Zimbabwe. The human rights clause has also prevented the conclusion of agreements with Australia and New Zealand and with Belarus, following the increasingly authoritarian rule of Mr Lukashenko.
… We believe there should be specific benchmarks and possibly a more nuanced set of benchmarks for responding to human rights violations. We ask that the Commission establish a monitoring mechanism that links the implementation and temporary suspension of trade agreements and autonomous trade measures to beneficiary countries’ compliance with basic democratic standards and respect for human and minority rights, as set out in the European Parliament’s annual report on human rights in the world. …
Sajjad Karim MEP ( LibDem, North West) – … The EU has been criticised for failing to put its human rights tools in the field of external relations into practice and it has become increasingly apparent that when dealing with key countries, strategic partnerships and double standards of Realpolitik still eclipse the fundamental human rights which this clause seeks to protect. …
I have been a harsh critic of the handling of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, scrutinising the precise application of the human rights clause on numerous occasions on the floor of this House. Yet I hear nothing other than euphemisms, such as that we must maintain our influence and continue our dialogue. If the Council and the Commission cannot spell out to this House how it uses the human rights clause coherently, effectively and transparently, then how can it expect this House to be prepared to give its assent to new international agreements?
… A revised text must provide a concrete, step-by-step implemented mechanism, from dialogue to warning signals, and a spectrum of tools from smart sanctions to suspension, to add influence and authority to our interventions with persistent violators. Moreover, the instrument should be based on the principle of reciprocity with regard to abuses that take place on EU soil as well as those abroad. If anything has become clear from the controversy over unlawful CIA operations in Europe, it is that when it comes to human rights, the EU has failed to keep its own house in order.…
Gerard Batten MEP (UKIP, London) – … This report says that the clause must apply in all countries equally. Has this been properly thought out? If so, it will apply to China and other developing economies in the Far East and other parts of the world. Many jobs depend on trading relations with China and the number will increase in the future. Are we really saying that we are going to turn the tide of history by telling China to turn into a democratic country with full human rights overnight, just on the basis of one report from the European Parliament? I think not.
Today the United Nations has called for Guantanámo Bay to be closed and there are many human rights questions hanging over what the Americans are doing in Guantanámo Bay. If this agreement is to apply equally to all countries, are we going to suspend relations with the US if we think that it is contravening human rights in Guantanámo Bay?
I was also struck by the arrogance of the Commissioner in demanding that other countries, such as China and Japan, abolish the death penalty if they want to have relations with the EU. I think that is an unbelievable intrusion into the democratic and sovereign right of other countries to have a penal system that suits them and their citizens rather than the European Union. …
Richard Howitt MEP (Labour, Eastern) – Mr President, once again over the past year the EU has been accused of failing in its commitment to human rights by refusing to effectively use human rights clauses in trade and cooperation agreements. An important precedent was set in Uzbekistan following the Andijan massacre, but the fact that the reaction took four months is a sad commentary on the lack of seriousness given to the clauses in the past.
Despite huge human rights concerns and EU influence in the Middle East, human rights clauses have never been invoked in relations with Egypt, Israel or Tunisia, in the latter case despite strong EU statements last year on curbs on freedom of expression and the blocking of NGO funding.
How do we ensure the success of consultations on the human rights clauses? It needs commitment on the side of the third country. Too much today this seems dependent on how far there is dependence on EU funding. It needs coordination between donors, for example as took place after the coup in the Central African Republic in 2003. It needs identification of the violations and the steps that need to be taken to rectify them, as in the case of Guinea-Bissau, when free and fair elections were held within the timescale set; and it needs the maintenance of close political dialogue, something that can be blocked and – as was seen today – was sadly lacking in the case of Iran.
We agree with the Commissioner that political reasons too often block action by Member States. I do not think she is arrogant; I think she is noble when she upholds the EU’s unswerving commitment to ending the death penalty.
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LINKS
Report by Vittorio Agnoletto MEP:
Resolution Adopted
Full text of the debate in the speakers' original language:
UK MEPs contact details:
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