Paul Connaughton
Question:9 Mr. Connaughton asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will report on the EU's consideration of a charter of fundamental rights. [12857/00]
Ceisteanna–Questions. Priority Questions. - Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The convention which was established to elaborate a draft charter of fundamental rights has been meeting regularly, in both formal and informal session, to discuss elements for inclusion in the draft charter. The convention will meet today and tomorrow to have an exchange of views on, inter alia, the preamble to, and the structure of, the charter. Detailed discussions have already taken place on draft wording for certain rights, including social rights, civil and political rights, rights of the citizen and also on horizontal aspects. Discussions on the draft articles will continue in further meetings of the convention. I understand the chairman of the convention, Mr. Roman Herzog, has indicated that it is hoped to have available a full set of draft articles by the 23rd of this month. Copies of the draft articles, submissions to the convention and reports of meetings are available on the convention's comprehensive website.
One of the fundamental issues which has yet to be resolved in the convention is the scope of the application of the charter, whether it should be in respect of the Union only and in respect of all or only some of its activities, or in respect of the member states also. The Government has already indicated a preference for the charter to take the form of a political declaration rather than a legally binding text and that remains the Government's view.
The Taoiseach's representative at the convention, Deputy O'Kennedy, has been keeping the Government informed about progress in the discussions. Regular updates are provided to the Cabinet Sub-Committee on European Affairs. Consideration is currently being given to the submission by the Taoiseach's representative of written suggested amendments to the draft articles which will be drafted with the assistance of the Departments of the Taoiseach, Foreign Affairs and Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Office of the Attorney General. Deputy O'Kennedy and his alternate, Mr. Mahon Hayes, also actively participate in the meetings of the convention, including the drafting sessions. There is open access to all these meetings.
I take it from what the Minister said that the fundamental right to life is not an issue which need cause any concern here and will remain a domestic issue for consideration by us and the Joint Committee on the Constitution which is considering the matter.
Is racism and xenophobia being addressed in particular under this review of fundamental rights? In this context how does the Minister see the role of the EU dovetailing with the role of the Council of Europe in terms of preventing duplication and ensuring the matters are addressed urgently, efficiently, effectively and with sanity? There seems to be some very extreme movements towards racism and xenophobia throughout Europe, including in Ireland.
The background to the establishment of the convention is that the European Council in Cologne in 1999 decided there was a need to establish a charter of fundamental rights to make the overriding importance and relevance of such rights more visible to citizens of the Union. As to content, it felt the charter should contain the fundamental rights as well as basic procedural rights guaranteed by the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, more commonly known as the European Convention on Human Rights, and the rights derived from the constitutional traditions common to the member states as general principles of Community law. It was decided that the draft of such a charter should be established by a body comprised of representatives of Heads of State and Government.
The major issues yet to be resolved are the nature of the charter – whether it will be a political declaration or a legally binding instrument for inclusion in the treaties; the scope of its application – whether in respect of the Union or in respect of some of its activities; who the beneficiaries should be – only EU citizens or also legal or illegal residents; consistency with existing human rights instruments, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter, and also International Labour Organisation conventions and the UN human rights instruments; and how the charter is to be enforced.
As far as I am aware the issue of racism has not been specifically raised, but it is undoubtedly the greatest challenge currently facing many EU states, including Ireland, and there are issues of international human rights compliance which are relevant and in respect of which we cannot deal with this issue in a purely domestic context. The human rights unit of the Department of Foreign Affairs is constantly making observations on Government proposals at all levels in the formulation of policy in relation to asylum and immigration. This matter involves international human rights compliance and not just domestic considerations.
I note from the Minister's reply that cultural rights were not mentioned. Perhaps she would like to address this issue. I have to ask this question of the Minister of State as we no longer have a Minister responsible for Culture, the title having been abolished rather vindictively.
Given that there is no reference to cultural rights, will no notice be taken of the Council of Europe's document, In from the Margins, or of the UNESCO document, Our Creative Diversity, both of which make the case for cultural rights? This is related to the question asked by Deputy Mitchell. Does the Minister agree that if it becomes a political declaration rather than a legally binding document it will be just another hollow document to which nobody will pay attention?
I take the point about the exclusion of cultural rights and I will raise it with the Taoiseach's representative in the process. There is nothing in my briefing to indicate any mention has been made of cultural rights.
It would appear a decision has been made that it will be a political declaration. I agree with the Deputy that much that is said about human rights is rhetorical and that more substance is necessary in terms of how we manifest our commitment to international human rights.
The Minister is aware that NGOs, for example, which deal with Third World development issues see the education of domestic public opinion on these issues as very important in terms of the support they need for their work. Similarly, does she agree that we need to educate the public in terms of counteracting racism and xenophobia and will she undertake to consider a programme of education in the Republic in relation to the dangers of racism and xenophobia?
The Deputy may be aware that under the ODA budget we have a subhead for development education. The NCDE, which is fully funded by the Government, disperses funding to development education projects, with over £1 million being provided this year. In the context of the ongoing debate on the need to counter racism in a very active way, the NCDE proposes having a public awareness campaign to contribute to the wider Government policy of public awareness to counter racism and xenophobia, which have been rearing their heads in Ireland. The efforts in the schools are extremely important and we will be co-operating with the INTO and the Department of Education and Science in terms of dealing with issues of development education, justice, and anti-racism programmes, particularly in primary schools.