Vol. 514 No. 4
106 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if there are any indications of human rights abuses within the member states of the European Union; if so, the nature of these and the methods whereby they will be addressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4640/00]
As member states of both the European Union and the Council of Europe, each country within the EU has undertaken to accept the standards of these organisations, in particular, democratic values, the principles of the rule of law and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The promotion and protection of human rights is an essential prerequisite to membership of either organisation.
Each EU member state is party to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which is the most advanced regional provision for the protection and promotion of human rights. Full respect for human rights is part of the Copenhagen criteria which Ireland together with its EU partners considers to be an essential political qualification for EU accession.
Representatives of the institutions of the EU and national parliaments are currently working on the elaboration of a charter that will contain the fundamental rights and freedoms as well as basic procedural rights guaranteed by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and derived from the constitutional traditions common to the member states, as general principles of Community law. This is an unequivocal reaffirmation by the EU of the central position of human rights among its guiding principles both now and in the future.
Each Council of Europe member state is responsible for upholding the standards and values of the Council, as embodied in the convention and with other instruments, with the assistance of the relevant bodies of the organisation – in particular the Committee of Ministers, the Parliamentary Assembly, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. These bodies monitor developments and assist member states in fulfilling their obligations with regard to the commitments they entered into on joining the Council of Europe. Ireland in its chairmanship, from November 1999 to May of this year, of the Committee of Ministers has sought to promote the standards of the organisation and to encourage it to facilitate actively the democratisation process in its newer member states.
