[autom.vertaling] Het nieuwe Agentschap van de EU om fundamentele rechten in Europa te controleren (en)

The EP Civil Liberties Committee held a public hearing this week to discuss the current human rights situation in the Member States and the future tasks of the new European Agency on Fundamental Rights which is due to start work in 2007. The committee later adopted two reports on related issues: one on the role of the Agency and one on the protection of minorities in Europe.

The decision to set up the agency was taken by the European Council on December 2003 in Brussels, the aim being described as "to build upon the existing European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia and to extend its mandate to make it a Human Rights Agency".

Most of the experts and civil society representatives who spoke at this week's public hearing agreed that the creation of an agency to promote the respect of human rights on EU territory will be a positive step, as long as its activities do not interfere with existing bodies inside and outside the EU, such as the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Council of Europe.

The High Commissioner Alvaro GIL ROBLES said that the EU agency must have its own sphere of action, based on writing opinions, drafting recommendations, monitoring EU legislation and working not only with international institutions but also with NGOs. " Nobody has a monopoly on the protection of fundamental rights. We cannot compete with one another, we have to cooperate with common goals ", he concluded. Another point of controversy was the overlap of responsibilities between the agency and the Monitoring Centre against Racism and Xenophobia in Vienna, which will be absorbed by the new agency.

Representing the views of civil society and NGOs, Dick OOSTING (Director of Amnesty International, Belgium) welcomed the creation of the agency but voiced concern that there was " a strong push towards a minimalist conception of the agency in order to ensure that its tasks fit existing mechanisms and do not offend political sensitivities ".

As regards the responsibilities of the agency, EU Commissioner Franco FRATTINI said " We need an active EU policy to promote rather than just monitor the protection of fundamental rights " and he added that the agency's role should not be limited to compiling " a shame list " of Member States who fail to protect human rights. To a question on the specific role of the agency in protecting different kinds of " family status " - including the union of homosexuals, which she said could conflict with some national constitutions - Mr Frattini replied: " I cannot imagine that there will be a single European family status. Defining what constitutes a family remains a national competence. However, we have to tackle the consequences of these differences in legislation, when it comes to the free movement of people or the divorce of two people from different nationalities, for example ".

On the question of women rights, Maria CARLSHAMRE (ALDE, SE) said that although a specific EU Gender Institute will soon be set up, the agency should be the body responsible for preventing violence against women.

The draft resolution by Kinga GAL (EPP-ED, HU) adopted by the Civil Liberties Committee after the debate states "The agency should be designed as a multi-layered structure (network of networks), a specialised body with horizontal competences". It " should gather all relevant information, analyses and experience available" in the European and international institutions, national governments, supreme courts, NGOs, etc. The resolution concludes that " once it has been demonstrated that it is absolutely necessary to create bodies in charge of monitoring specific aspects of human rights policy throughout the Union (such as the Gender Institute) in order to improve the implementation of EU policies... these bodies should be formally connected to the agency", becoming part of the "network of networks ".

Protection of minorities

The Civil Liberties Committee also adopted a draft resolution on the protection of minorities and anti-discrimination policies in an enlarged Europe. The rapporteur Claude MORAES (PES, UK) stressed that the EU has some recent achievements to its credit in the field of equal treatment and non-discrimination of minorities, although important steps still need to be taken. Minority issues have not been high enough on the agenda of the Union and greater attention is needed through the adoption of legislative measures and the provision of financial support. However, late or incomplete transposition of measures, the failure to set up equality bodies and the difficulties in gathering information are mentioned by the report as frequent problems in the Member States.

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