European Parliament resolution on respect for human rights in the European Union (1998-1999) (11350/1999 - C5-0265/1999 - 1999/2001(INI))
C 377/344 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 29. 12. 2000 Thursday 16 March 2000 Calls on the Council and Commission urgently to develop, as an alternative to sanctions which may 92. harm the general population, ‘smart sanctions’ targeted at illegally expropriated assets of the heads of abusive governments, and to promote coordinated international efforts to restore such assets to the coun- try of origin as soon as a genuine process of democratisation has started; * * * Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments 93. and parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, the United Nations Organisation, the gov- ernments of the countries that are candidates for accession and the governments of the countries referred to in the resolution. 8. Human rights in the EU A5-0050/2000 European Parliament resolution on respect for human rights in the European Union (1998-1999) (11350/1999 " C5-0265/1999 " 1999/2001(INI)) The European Parliament, * having regard to the European Union Annual Report on respect for human rights in the European Union (1998-1999) (11350/1999 * C5-0265/1999), * having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and subsequent Conventions adopted in this field, * having regard to the fundamental human rights guaranteed by the Constitutions of the Member States and the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), the protocols thereto and the Conventions and Charters adopted subsequently in this field, * having regard to the Treaty of Amsterdam, in particular Articles 6, 7, 11, 29 and 49 of the EU Treaty and Articles 13, 136 and 177 of the EC Treaty, * having regard to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in 1998-1999, particularly its main judgments on the exercise of civil and political rights, * having regard to the case law of the European Court of Justice during the same period, * having regard to its resolution of 12 April 1989 adopting the Declaration of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms and the successive resolutions adopted since then in this field (1), * having regard to its resolution of 16 September 1999 on the establishment of the Charter of Funda- mental Rights (2), * having regard to the results of the public hearing of Commissioner Vitorino on 3 September 1999, * having regard to its resolution of 27 October 1999 on the outcome of the European Council on 15/16 October 1999 in Tampere (3), * having regard to the outcome of the Human Rights Forum of 30 November and 1 December 1999, (1) OJ C 120, 16. 5. 1989, p. 51; OJ C 240, 16. 9. 1991, p. 45; OJ C 94, 13. 4. 1992, p. 277; OJ C 241, 21. 9. 1992, p. 67; OJ C 115, 26. 4. 1993, p. 178; OJ C 44, 14. 2. 1994, p. 103; OJ C 61, 28. 2. 1994, p. 40; OJ C 126, 22. 5. 1995, p. 75; OJ C 32, 5. 2. 1996, p. 88; OJ C 32, 5. 2. 1996, p. 102; OJ C 78, 18. 3. 1996, p. 31; OJ C 152, 27. 5. 1996, p. 57; OJ C 152, 27. 5. 1996, p. 62; OJ C 320, 28. 10. 1996, p. 36; OJ C 320, 28. 10. 1996, p. 268; OJ C 20, 20. 1. 1997, p. 170; OJ C 132, 28. 4. 1997, p. 31; OJ C 115, 14. 4. 1997, p. 92; OJ C 304, 6. 10. 1997, p. 55; OJ C 358, 24. 11. 1997, p. 37. (2) OJ C 54, 25. 2. 2000, p. 93. (3) Texts Adopted of that sitting, Item 15. 29. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 377/345 Thursday 16 March 2000 * having regard to the first annual activity report (1988) of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, * having regard to the annual report for 1998 of the European Ombudsman, in particular the decision following own-initiative inquiry 626/97/BB concerning combating discrimination on grounds of age in the recruitment of staff for the Community institutions, pursuant to the provisions concerning the protection of human rights (1), * having regard to the petitions received in 1998 and 1999, * having regard to the work of the Council of Europe in this field and the contributions of the relevant non-governmental organisations, * having regard to its resolutions of 16 March 2000 on combating racism, xenophobia and anti-Semit- ism in the candidate countries (2), on human rights in the world and the European Union’s human rights policy 1999 (3), on combating racism and xenophobia in the European Union (4) and on the Charter of Fundamental Rights of European Union (5), * having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure, * having regard to the report of the Committee on Citizens’ Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Petitions (A5-0050/2000), I. A new legal and political context Recalls that human rights are a set of universal and interdependent rights applicable to all human 1. beings; 2. Points out that an assessment of the human rights situation in the European Union in 1998 and 1999 must be seen in the new legal context of the Treaty of Amsterdam, which entered into force on 1 May 1999; 3. Notes that the new Treaty formally establishes that the European Union is founded on respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law (Article 6 of the EU Treaty) which is a require- ment for membership of (Article 7 of the EU Treaty) and accession to (Article 49 of the EU Treaty) the Union; 4. Notes that respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law should also therefore be a guiding principle for the Union’s policies such as the implementation of an area of freedom, security and justice and the social, foreign and development policies (Article 11 of the EU Treaty and Articles 136 and 177 of the EC Treaty) as well as for the functioning of its institutions; 5. Points out also that the new Treaty explicitly acknowledges that human rights include economic and social rights, as set out in the 1961 European Social Charter, revised in 1996, and the 1989 Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers (Article 136 of the EC Treaty); 6. Notes also that the new Treaty lays down the principle of equal rights for citizens and that there should be no ‘discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation’ (Article 13 of the EC Treaty); Notes, finally, that the new Treaty recognises citizens’ right of access to Community documents and 7. to the protection of personal data (Articles 255 and 286 of the EC Treaty); 8. Reaffirms, therefore, that all these rights, which correspond to ideas expressed in national Constitu- tions as well as in the ECHR, form the very foundation of the European Union and should be included in a European Charter of Fundamental Rights; 9. Considers it essential that such fundamental rights be uniformly applied and readily understood in the European Union, particularly in the light of the future Charter of Fundamental Rights which is being drafted; (1) Report for 1998, p. 268 et seq. (2) Texts adopted of that sitting, Item 18. (3) Texts adopted of that sitting, Item 7. (4) Texts adopted of that sitting, Item 17. (5) Texts adopted of that sitting, Item 4. C 377/346 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 29. 12. 2000 Thursday 16 March 2000 10. Approves the Council’s presentation of the first European Union annual report on human rights which constitutes a first step, but regrets the disappointing nature of the report’s content which is merely a statement of fact; 11. Sincerely hopes that the next Council report will contain a country-by-country detailed analysis of developments in the human rights situation in the EU and proposes that monitoring systems and strategies be introduced in the future to improve respect for such rights pursuant to Articles 6 and 7 of the EU Treaty; 12. Approves also the holding of the first Human Rights Forum on 30 November and 1 December 1999 and calls for the Council, Commission and Parliament to be closely involved in the next forum in 2000, with due recognition for the leading role which Parliament should play in this field; 13. Welcomes the fact that the protection of human rights in the Council of Europe has been strength- ened in institutional terms with the establishment on 1 November 1998 of a single and permanent human rights court to which any plaintiff may have direct access; 14. Hopes, however, that the new Court of Human Rights, which has experienced a significant increase in the number of applications in 1998 and 1999 and is currently faced with the task of processing more than 6 000 applications, will succeed in resolving this problem and speeding up its proceedings; 15. Welcomes the establishment of a Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, with non- judicial responsibility for promoting human rights education and awareness in the framework of the ECHR, and the appointment to this post of Mr Alvaro Gil-Robles; Deplores the fact that yet again eleven of the fifteen Member States of the European Union are 16. listed in Amnesty International’s Yearbook for 1999 on account of both serious and less serious human rights abuses; II. Human rights developments in the European Union The exercise of civil and political rights 17. Points out that the first corollary of respect for human rights is the guarantee that they can be exercised; accordingly, calls on the Member States to implement the measures needed to guarantee that every individual can exercise his or her civil and political rights and, in particular, to take effective steps to combat all forms of pressure or intimidation employed by organised bands or groups with a view to preventing the peaceful expression of opinions; Calls on Member States to abolish penal measures which are liable to restrict or prohibit the peace- 18. ful exercise of freedom of opinion, organisation and political activity; EXTENSION OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE AND TO STAND FOR ELECTION Expresses the wish that, in accordance with the EU’s founding democratic principles, Member States 19. will adapt their legislation without delay to extend the right to vote and to stand in municipal and Euro- pean elections to all non-Union citizens resident for more than five years on their territory; PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES 20. Urges Belgium and France to sign and Greece, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal and Sweden to ratify the 1995 European Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities without delay; 21. Urges Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom to sign and Aus- tria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Spain to ratify the 1998 European Charter for Regional and Min- ority Languages without delay; 29. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 377/347 Reaffirms in general terms the duty of Member States and of the EU to promote the economic, 22. social and cultural development of national minorities; Thursday 16 March 2000 RESPECT FOR PRIVATE LIFE Recalls that the right to respect for private life, the home and protection of personal data must be 23. legally protected; therefore is concerned about the proliferation of databases; FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND BELIEF 24. Observes that it is not possible for people belonging to the new minorities in the Union (who, on account of immigration, now constitute a substantial population group within European societies) to prac- tise their religion in all Member States and calls on Member States to guarantee the same social and insti- tutional recognition of all these new religious communities within the Union; Calls for the protection of freedom of conscience and the right of conscientious objection to mili- 25. tary service; Calls on Greece to implement fully and rapidly its legislation recognising the right to conscientious 26. objection; Violations committed by public authorities VIOLENCE PERPETRATED BY POLICE AND PRISON PERSONNEL Reiterates its condemnation of acts of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or pun- 27. ishment inflicted on persons arrested or detained by law-enforcement officials or prison staff; Notes that both the United Nations Committee Against Torture and the Council of Europe’s Com- 28. mittee for the Prevention of Torture as well as several NGOs refer once again in their 1998-1999 reports to inhuman and degrading treatment on the part of law-enforcement officials in certain EU Member States; 29. Calls on Ireland to ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Belgium, Ireland and the United Kingdom to make the necessary declaration under Article 22 of the Convention recognising the United Nations Committee Against Torture as being competent to receive and examine individual complaints; TREATMENT OF REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS 30. Expresses concern about the all-too-common and unacceptable problems relating to the situation of asylum seekers, including the random barring of access to lawful asylum procedures and about the quasi- systematic practice of detaining of asylum seekers in some Member States, often in intolerable conditions, and the brutal treatment inflicted on them during enforced expulsion, in some cases leading to death; Calls for the strict application by Member States of the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of 31. Refugees, the 1967 Protocol thereto and the principles drawn up by the UNHCR Executive Committee; 32. Calls on Member States to recognise gender persecution; recalls that the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees does not distinguish among victims of persecution, whether perpetrated by State bodies or by anybody else; 33. Regrets that the European Council meeting in Tampere merely decided on a common approach to asylum procedures at European level instead of opting for a single asylum procedure, and therefore awaits the Commission’s proposal for a single asylum procedure and a uniform status for all who have been granted asylum within the European Union; C 377/348 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 29. 12. 2000 Thursday 16 March 2000 Calls on Member States, in developing a common asylum system, to move beyond minimum levels 34. of harmonisation by adopting high protection standards as the basis for future asylum instruments; Emphasises that, in the absence of harmonisation in the short term, any common approach to 35. asylum procedures in the EU should guarantee respect for the following essential principles: * all asylum seekers should have access to the asylum procedure; * they should have a right to a fair hearing and a suspensory appeal, except in cases in which this is clearly unfounded; * before expelling an asylum seeker towards ‘a safe third country’, Member States should ensure that he or she will be admitted and will not subsequently be expelled; 36. Stresses the need to create a legal basis and provide adequate budgetary resources for the European Fund for Refugees, set up at the initiative of the European Parliament, to ensure that the expense is genu- inely shared among the Member States of the European Union; calls on Member States to ensure that funds are used in a balanced manner for reception, integration and return measures, to the benefit of refugees, asylum-seekers and persons benefiting from complementary protection as well as temporary pro- tection; SHORTCOMINGS OF JUDICIAL SERVICES 37. Is alarmed at the frequent violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by Member States in the field of criminal justice, as pointed out by the European Court of Human Rights; urges, therefore, Member States, and in particular Italy, to take all the necessary measures to limit pre-trial detention as far as possible by speeding up investigations and judicial proceedings and ensuring that each citizen can count on justice being delivered as promptly and fairly as possible; calls on Member States and the Commission, in the context of judicial cooperation, to seek the adoption of a number of European minimum rules on the subject; Considers that, in the cases of detainees or persons under arrest accused of having committed 38. offences outside their own country, the right to prepare their own defence before a court, to submit evi- dence and call witnesses and to authorise translators and interpreters to facilitate their defence, are rights which must be guaranteed in Member States; 39. Calls on the Member States to take measures in the sphere of civil and criminal procedural law, the organisation of and facilities provided for judicial bodies and training and staffing levels in the various areas of the justice system which serve to reduce the time taken by legal proceedings to the reasonable level indicated by the European Court of Human Rights so that citizens’ fundamental rights are respected; Recommends that Member States guarantee the independence of judges and courts from the execu- 40. tive and ensure that appointments to the judiciary are not made on political grounds; FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM Reiterates that terrorism is a violation of human rights and underlines the importance of cooper- 41. ation between the Member States in combating it; Calls on the Council to develop the legislative measures necessary to achieve the maximum coordi- 42. nation in the fight against terrorism and an effective level of protection of the citizens; also urges the Council to approve in the shortest time possible the measures for an appropriate indemnity for the victims of crimes, and in particular the victims of terrorism, in conformity with the guidelines of the Commission communication on crime victims in the European Union * reflexions on standards and action, and with the views expressed by Parliament; 29. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 377/349 Thursday 16 March 2000 Action against social violence CHILDREN’S RIGHTS 43. Notes that, on the tenth anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 % of children in the EU still suffer from social exclusion, according to a report by Save the Children, and that children’s rights are insufficiently embodied in the laws of the Member States and Community legislation and action programmes; 44. Calls for Member States to make the four general principles on which the Convention is based (i. e. serving the best interests of the child, the child’s development, non-discrimination and the child’s participation in the life of society) the driving force in improving Children’s Rights; Calls on the Member States to strengthen their legislation with a view to improving the protection 45. of children against sexual abuse, physical and psychological violence and any kind of discrimination; 46. Urges Member States not to imprison children who commit offences except as a last resort; Calls on Member States to give extra-territorial jurisdiction to their penal codes protecting children 47. against sexual abuse; Calls on the Intergovernmental Conference explicitly to incorporate the specific rights of children in 48. the future Charter of Fundamental Rights; 49. Considers that the right to family life implies full application of the right to family reunification; EQUAL RIGHTS FOR MEN AND WOMEN 50. Notes that, although policies on the subject have been pursued at European level for many years, there are still fundamental disparities in the employment conditions of men and women, to the detriment of the latter, particularly as regards indirect discrimination; calls on the Commission to take resolute action to produce a European strategy aimed at eliminating the inequality which still persists, which should be done in accordance with Article 141 of the EC Treaty; calls on the Commission to concentrate explicitly on the implementation of the existing directives concerning equal treatment and the approach to excep- tions to the principle of equality; 51. Calls on the Commission to monitor more precisely the national implementation of the equal-treat- ment directives and, where appropriate, to start infringement procedures based on Article 226 of the EC Treaty; Stresses, as a general rule, that equal rights for men and women should be applied in all areas in 52. accordance with the principle of mainstreaming laid down in Article 3(2) of the EC Treaty; Calls on the Member States to step up action to combat forced prostitution and trafficking in 53. human beings aimed at sexual exploitation; 54. Reminds Member States that equality between men and women rests upon the full control of one’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, free of coercion, discrimination and violence, and with the con- comitant access to information and services that this requires; EQUAL RIGHTS FOR DISABLED PEOPLE 55. Notes that disabled people in various degrees are still subject to discrimination across the European Union in many areas: employment, access to goods and services, access to buildings and general accep- tance in some people’s attitudes; C 377/350 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 29. 12. 2000 Thursday 16 March 2000 LIFE STYLES AND TYPES OF RELATIONSHIP 56. Calls on Member States to guarantee one-parent families, unmarried couples and same-sex couples rights equal to those enjoyed by traditional couples and families, particularly as regards tax law, pecuniary rights and social rights; 57. Notes with satisfaction that, in a very large number of Member States, there is growing legal recog- nition for extramarital cohabitation, irrespective of gender; calls on the Member States * if they have not already done so * to amend their legislation recognising registered partnerships of persons of the same sex and assigning them the same rights and obligations as exist for registered partnerships between men and women; calls on those States which have not yet granted legal recognition to amend their legislation to grant legal recognition of extramarital cohabitation, irrespective of gender; considers, therefore, that rapid progress should be made with mutual recognition of the different legally recognised non-marital modes of cohabitation and legal marriages between persons of the same sex in the EU; 58. Notes, however, that European citizens continue to suffer discrimination and disadvantages in their personal and professional life as a result of their sexual orientation; calls therefore on the Member States and the EU institutions concerned to remedy such situations urgently; 59. Deplores the fact that some Member States still have a discriminatory age-of-consent provision for homosexual relations in their criminal codes as well as other forms of discrimination, in particular within the army, although various competent human rights bodies and Parliament itself have condemned these provisions; repeats its demand for such clauses to be repealed; 60. Notes with satisfaction that the United Kingdom is undertaking to change the relevant legislation, but notes with deep concern that Austria continues to apply Article 209 of its Penal Code in persecuting homosexuals; urges Austria once more to repeal this discriminatory provision, and immediately to give amnesty to and to release from prison all persons imprisoned because of this provision; BIOETHICS AND PROTECTION OF HUMAN DIGNITY Considers it essential for ethical standards to be established on the basis of respect for the dignity of 61. each human being with regard to biological and medical applications; 62. Recalls that, according to the European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and the additional protocol, every individual has a right to his genetic identity and that human cloning is and must remain prohibited; reiterates its call for a European Union ethics committee to be set up to guarantee respect for human dignity with regard to genetic engineering applications; 63. Calls on the Member States to ratify the Convention and the additional protocol as soon as possible; 64. Considers that the right to freedom from discrimination (in health care, insurance, employment or otherwise) on the grounds of an individual’s genetic inheritance or predisposition is paramount and that an individual’s genetic data should only be transmitted to a third party with the prior, informed and written consent of that individual; Protection of economic, social and cultural rights 65. Insists that social and economic rights should be explicitly included among the fundamental rights laid down by the future Charter of Fundamental Rights, including the rights of trade unions as well as the rights of individuals vis-à-vis trade unions; calls for priority to be assigned to promoting literacy, as this is an important element in combating exclusion; this should apply both to children and to adults without distinction, as the right to education is a fundamental right; Is concerned about the widespread phenomenon of violence in the workplace, ranging from harass- 66. ment and unwelcome intimate approaches to serious physical violence; 29. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 377/351 Thursday 16 March 2000 67. Notes that there are still 15,5 million unemployed persons in the EU in 1999, accounting for 9 % of the working population, and approximately 40 million people living under the poverty line, and that poverty and the resulting exclusion are unworthy of a democratic and developed society; calls for recogni- tion of the right of the poorest sections of the population to assist and form associations with one another; considers that those who take part in voluntary work through an association should not be penalised financially, as happens in certain Member States where militancy through membership of associations is subject to authorisation or is penalised; Calls, therefore, for the right to a decent standard of living (i. e. to adequate social protection * and 68. hence safeguards against serious financial poverty * housing, adequate health care and proper education) to be explicitly included in the Charter of Fundamental Rights; Urges the Member States to implement a proactive strategy against extreme poverty which affects in 69. particular unemployed persons, women, the homeless, those without shelter and illegal immigrants and is a discredit to our societies; this strategy must be based on effective access for all to all fundamental rights and should be planned, implemented and assessed in cooperation with the population groups concerned; Human rights situation in the applicant countries Recalls that the Copenhagen European Council clearly indicated that ‘membership requires that the 70. candidate country has achieved stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities’; 71. Welcomes the fact that, according to the latest report drawn up by the Commission (October 1999), the efforts made by candidate countries in the field of human rights are considered, on the whole, to be positive, that in particular the human rights situation in Slovakia, especially the position of the Hungarian minority, has improved and that the death penalty has been abolished in several more coun- tries; 72. Regrets, however, the report’s findings that: * despite some progress, respect for human rights and minority rights in Turkey is still extremely unsa- tisfactory, * in Romania, the government has not yet succeeded in providing adequate assistance to the over 100 000 orphans in childcare institutions, * in many applicant countries as many as 80 % of the Roma people, who continue to suffer social and economic discrimination, are unemployed, their children being isolated in their own educational sys- tems if they are not out in the streets; Considers that the next Commission reports on progress by the applicant countries with regard to 73. human rights ought to devote greater and more systematic attention to: * the rights of women, as there are many indications that in the absence of an adequate compensatory policy the current reforms are disproportionately placing women at a disadvantage; * the lack, in many applicant countries, of adequate legislation or policy to tackle the sexual abuse and violence to which many children are subjected; * the rights of conscientious objectors in the applicant countries; 74. Calls for the protection of human rights and respect for minorities in applicant countries not only to continue to be screened but also to be seen as a genuine priority during the negotiations currently taking place with candidate countries and, if necessary, to be made a strict precondition for the continua- tion of existing financial programmes for those countries; Notes that Turkey has acquired the status of a candidate country, but stresses that accession nego- 75. tiations cannot take place until the Copenhagen criteria concerning human rights have been fulfilled; C 377/352 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 29. 12. 2000 Thursday 16 March 2000 76. Calls on candidate countries to ratify all the Council of Europe Conventions on human rights and calls on Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania and Romania to remove from their penal codes all laws which entail discrimination against lesbians and homosexuals; States that the European Union will reject the accession of any applicant country which, either in its 77. legislation or in its practice, fails to guarantee respect for human rights; III. Means of strengthening protection of human rights in the EU 1. A European human rights policy 78. Stresses, in view of the above remarks and the progress required to improve the human rights situation in the EU, that the EU’s very credibility in this area before the international community is depen- dent on proper respect for human rights and the rule of law within the Union and its institutions; 79. Hopes that the concrete measures mentioned in part IV of the Vienna Declaration of 10 December 1998 aimed at closer co-ordination between Member States’ human rights policies may also apply within the Union; 80. Reaffirms its commitment to drawing up a European Charter of Fundamental Rights, based on the constitutional traditions of the Member States and the fundamental rights guaranteed by the 1950 Euro- pean Convention, as well as by later Conventions and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and various other sources; 81. Considers it essential that the future Charter of Fundamental Rights be made legally binding and enforceable with a view to its effective application; believes that this Charter will fulfil its task well if it establishes a level of protection of citizens’ rights greater than that provided for by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; 82. Considers that, in view of the new legal context resulting from the Treaty of Amsterdam, the forth- coming prospect of a European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the establishment of a European area of freedom, security and justice, the EU’s approach to human rights should not be limited to reporting and applying sanctions on a case-by-case basis but should form part of a genuine European human rights policy, applicable to all European Union Member States; 83. Welcomes, in this connection, the Commission’s proposals for anti-discrimination legislation under Article 13 of the EC Treaty to combat various forms of discrimination in everyday life and at work, includ- ing its proposals to tackle discrimination on grounds of race or ethnic origin; Calls for the setting up of a European independent supervisory body responsible for monitoring 84. effectively the protection of personal data and the right to private life as envisaged in Article 286 of the EC Treaty; Considers it therefore essential that the Commission be provided with appropriate budgetary 85. resources to establish the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice in Europe within the next five years; 86. Stresses the importance of involving NGOs in the protection of human rights, which depends on proper financing and well-functioning cooperation with the Commission and, as far as the candidate coun- tries are concerned, with the Council of Europe, the UN and the OSCE; 2. Effective justiciability of human rights 87. Underlines the need to establish a clear hierarchy of legal rules and a proper definition and delimi- tation of the powers of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, the Court of Human Rights and the national courts, in order to prevent different legal standards from being applied; 29. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 377/353 Thursday 16 March 2000 88. Urges Member States to give the EU legal personality to enable it to accede to the ECHR; 89. Stresses the importance of strengthening judicial cooperation and calls on the Member States to adopt appropriate provisions to bring previous judicial cooperation agreements within the Community framework, in particular with regard to notification and recognition of judicial and extrajudicial acts, in order to guarantee that European citizens can rely on a properly functioning judicial system in the Union; Urges the Member States which do not fully participate in this to do so in order to secure the same 90. rights for their citizens; 91. Underlines the important role played by the Committee on Petitions in upholding citizens’ rights and in contributing to the implementation of Community law over a period of many years and calls on the Council to attend and participate fully in all its meetings where citizens’ petitions are considered, especially in cases of serious infringements of Community law by Member States; Considers that the role of the Council’s annual report on human rights should be made clearer and 92. that it should include a European analysis of human rights developments, including rights for national minorities, in the various Member States and a definition of strategies to enable national and European policies in this field to evolve with a view to improving their coherence; 93. Urges the Member States to ratify the Convention establishing an International Criminal Court as soon as possible and to take all the necessary measures to ensure that, in the near future, perpetrators of crimes against humanity can under no circumstances benefit from impunity within the EU; 94. Believes that the European Union should consider establishing an independent European Human Rights Agency, as was suggested at the European Council meeting in Cologne; calls, however, on the Commission to consider the feasibility of actually establishing such an agency or extending the scope of the existing European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia; 95. Suggests that such an agency would carry out a systematic monitoring of the human rights situa- tion within the Union as well as evaluating the mainstreaming of human rights into all areas of EU policy; 3. Education and information Emphasises the unique role of education in promoting a spirit of tolerance and calls on the Member 96. States and the European Union to promote projects aimed at improving the teaching of civics; 97. Welcomes the important contributions made by NGOs in the fields of tolerance and international understanding through intercultural activities, educational exchange programmes etc. ; 98. Urges the Member States to step up the training of law-enforcement officials and prison personnel in respect for human rights and conflict management and proposes that the future European Police Acad- emy, which the Tampere European Council decided to set up, be responsible for this major aspect of training; 4. The Wider Context 99. Stresses that improving the human rights situation, securing the rights of minorities, eliminating discrimination and combating violence, exclusion and poverty should be seen in the much wider context of the European objectives of economic and social cohesion and promotion of sustainable growth, as set out in Article 2 of the EC Treaty; 100. Emphasises the dangers posed to respect for human rights, the fight against racism and xenopho- bia and democracy in general by the existence of extremist parties and groupings and the ideology they propagate and calls on the EU institutions to display greater vigilance; C 377/354 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 29. 12. 2000 Thursday 16 March 2000 101. Hopes that the next European Parliament report will be based on uncontentious and objectively verifiable criteria, such as the exact state of, and arrangements for, enforcement of rights recognised in each country’s national legislation as enforceable at law, failures to respect these rights as indicated by judgments handed down by the courts of each country, and a breakdown, Member State by Member State, of any adverse judgments given by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg; this report should be based also on the work of UN bodies supervising international human rights conventions; * * * 102. ments and parliaments of the Member States and the candidate countries. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the govern- 9. Western Sahara B5-0246, 0253, 0262, 0272 and 0278/2000 European Parliament resolution on Western Sahara The European Parliament, * having regard to its previous resolutions on Western Sahara, in particular its resolution of 14 January 1999 (1) and its recommendation to the Council of 10 March 1998 (2), * having regard to the most recent developments towards self-determination in Western Sahara, * having regard to the statement by the Presidency of 21 June 1999 on behalf of the European Union, * having regard to the United Nations Security Council resolutions 1204 of 30 October 1998, 1215 of 17 December 1998, 1282 of 14 December 1999 and 1292 of 29 February 2000, A. whereas peace, stability and the prospects for economic integration and development in the Maghreb region depend in large measure on a speedy and just settlement of the conflict in Western Sahara based on international resolutions, B. believing in this regard that the full implementation of the UN peace plan, which provides for the holding of a referendum on self-determination, remains the appropriate means of bringing peace to that area, C. welcoming the efforts made to this end by the United Nations and, more specifically by Minurso, to identify eligible voters for this referendum, in spite of the significant obstacles which remain in this regard, D. concerned at the constant postponement of the referendum on self-determination, which threatens stability, security and peace in the Maghreb region, E. F. stressing the importance of the 1997 Houston Agreements as an effective means of implementing the United Nations peace plan, underlining the need for the European Union to support the United Nations in its mission to organise a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara, G. whereas the European Union must support the United Nations and the mediating role of Mr James Baker in his function as special envoy of the Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, for Western Sahara and must continue to supply humanitarian aid to the Saharawi refugee population, (1) OJ C 104, 14. 4. 1999, p. 112. (2) OJ C 104, 6. 4. 1998, p. 29