WRITTEN QUESTION P-2360/96 by Jesús Cabezón Alonso (PSE) to the Council (27 August 1996)

Subject: 1997 - European Year against Racism and Xenophobia and fundamental rights under the review of the Treaties

The need for the European Union to become a 'legal entity' so as to be able to join the European Convention on Human Rights is rejected by certain Member States. The idea that protection of such rights be applied 'erga omnes' and that all forms of racism and xenophobia be condemned is deemed 'unnecessary' by one Member State.

Does the Council not think that the attitude of these Member States is in contradiction with:

1. the objectives laid down in its draft resolution on 1997 - European Year against Racism and Xenophobia (draft resolution whose formal adoption was expected to take place at the Florence European Council but did not, despite the agreement on BSE);

2. the social reality of the Member States and the aspirations of its citizens and residents;

3. the noble ethic and moral sense inherent in the democratic system?

Answer (13 December 1996)

With regard to the possible accession of the European Community to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950, the Court of Justice stated in its Opinion 2/94 of 28 March 1996 that in the present state of Community law, the Community is not competent to accede to the Convention.

The Council would nevertheless point out, as the Court does in its Opinion, that respect for human rights is an integral part of the general principles of Community law and constitutes a condition for the legality of Community acts. In addition to the preambles to the Single European Act and the Treaty on European Union, respect for fundamental rights is laid down in Articles F, J.1 and K.2 of that Treaty, as well as in Article 130u of the EC Treaty.

In any event, the European Council has on many occasions asserted the Union's determination to fight racism and xenophobia with the utmost firmness. This has resulted in particular in the adoption on 15 July 1996 of a joint action, in the framework of Title VI of the TEU, concerning action to combat racism and xenophobia. This joint action provides for the criminalization in national law of certain types of racist and xenophobic behaviour, or failing that, the waiving of the principle of double criminality. The Council and the Governments of the Member States have also adopted three Resolutions: one on 23 July 1996 designating 1997 as European Year against Racism and Xenophobia; another on 5 October 1995 on the fight against these phenomena in the fields of employment and social affairs; and the third on 23 October 1995 on the response of educational systems to these problems. In addition, the brief of the Consultative Commission on Racis and Xenophobia set up by the Corfu European Council in June 1994 has recently been extended, and the Council is studying the possibility of creating a European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.

Finally, the Intergovernmental Conference provided for by Article N of the TEU is examining a proposal for amendment of the Treaty which would introduce a specific provision on the fight against racism and xenophobia.