Mr President, Madam President-in-Office of the Council, Commissioner, we in the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party have a mainly positive attitude to the present report on human rights. Parliament has been wanting to see a report like this for a long time. We are therefore looking forward with pleasure to the tradition which the Finnish Presidency has now initiated. There is a need for specific detail, further development and more thorough analysis We shall be returning to these questions, from Parliament’s point of view, in the report for which I have the honour of being rapporteur and on which there will be a vote in March of next year. I want to take up a number of questions, however. One of these relates to the policy on minorities, of which there is little mention in the report. The EU quite rightly makes tough demands on the applicant countries where policy on minorities is concerned. We have also reacted very strongly when the rights of minorities in the world around us have been infringed. However, we ourselves are not always as good at putting our own house in order. The EU needs to strengthen its own policy on minorities. Quite a few of the Member States (including my home country, Sweden) have not signed the international declaration on the rights of minorities. This is an example of why the European Union must have a credible internal policy if it is to be credible externally. The European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party also welcomes the strategic perspective offered by the report, together with the ambition it expresses to work for a more integrated policy within the field of human rights. The EU, and especially the European Parliament, in fact has a very high profile and very high ambitions in the struggle for human rights. This Chamber has emphatically condemned the death penalty, discrimination, torture and other acts of cruelty. We know that our citizens care deeply about these issues. The problem is that our policy is not always consistent and integrated, and this sends out some odd signals. Measures must be taken to combat this problem and ambitions need to be raised significantly. If it is to be credible, our perspective on human rights must permeate the European Union’s entire policy, that is to say foreign policy, trade policy, policy on aid etc. What is required, therefore, is to raise the profile of human rights. These ought not to be seen in terms of some incidental ad hoc initiative but must be founded upon a well thought-out, consistent, clear and open policy. We must therefore be better at coordinating internal and external policies. This will mean collecting facts and acquiring better data and engaging in analysis and regular follow-up. It will require cooperation between the EU’s various institutions, between the EU and the Member States, between the EU and the voluntary organisations and between the EU and other countries. The failure to bring about a worldwide moratorium on the use of the death penalty is both tragic and deeply embarrassing. If this can become a common policy and a common strategy for the years to come, then I look forward to further constructive and fruitful work within this important sphere. (Applause)

Political group: ELDR