WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3030/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Human Rights
30. 4. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 134/61 (98/C 134/75) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3029/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (1 October 1997) Subject: Human Rights The Commissionís policy, set out in The European Union and the External Dimension of Human Rights Policyí (CES 0474/97) (1), lacks clear, strategic guidelines for the implementation of a coherent human rights policy. The Economic and Social Committee has the impression that EU policy to date has been determined on a case-by-case basis. Will the Commission follow three lines of action to consolidate the external aspects of the EUís human rights policy: 1. accession by the EU to the European Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms; 2. the creation of a European Bill of Rightsí; 3. the inclusion of certain specific human rights clauses in the Protocol attached to the Maastricht Treaty? (1) OJ C 206, 7. 7. 1997, p. 117. (98/C 134/76) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3030/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (1 October 1997) Subject: Human Rights With reference to The European Union and the External Dimension of Human Rights Policyí (CES-0474/97) (1), will the Commission insert several specific human rights clauses in the Protocol attached to the Maastricht Treaty? (1) OJ C 206, 7. 7. 1997, p. 117. Joint answer to Written Questions E-3029/97 and E-3030/97 given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (17 October 1997) The Commission draws the Honourable Member’s attention to the fact that it has for some considerable time adopted a coherent approach on human rights, in particular as regards the aspects they raised. In 1991 it put a communication before the Council to obtain a negotiating mandate defining the arrangements for the Community’s accession to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This initiative, actively supported by Parliament, prompted the Council to ask the Court of Justice in April 1994 to rule on whether accession was compatible with the Treaty establishing the Community. On 28 March 1996 the Court ruled that, as Community law stood, the Community did not have the competence to accede to the Convention. In its grounds it said that given the act’s constitutional scope and its implications for the Community institutions it went beyond the limits of Article 235 and could not be implemented by amending the Treaty