Resolution on setting up a single coordinating structure within the Commission responsible for human rights and democratization
Date: 1997-12-19
Institutions: Committee on Foreign Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: European Commission, budgetary expenditure, common foreign and security policy, computer network, democratisation, human rights, institutional structure, non-governmental organisation, transmission network













EUR-Lex - 51997IP0393(01) - EN






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51997IP0393(01)

Resolution on setting up a single coordinating structure within the Commission responsible for human rights and democratization  


Official Journal C 014 , 19/01/1998 P. 0402 





A4-0393/97Resolution on setting up a single coordinating structure within the Commission responsible for human rights and democratizationThe European Parliament,- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,- having regard to the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights,- having regard to the CSCE Charter adopted in Paris in 1990,- having regard to Article 130u(2) of the EC Treaty,- having regard to the resolution of the Council and the representatives of the Member States meeting within the Council of 28 November 1991 on human rights, democracy and development,- having regard to the results of the UN human rights conference in Vienna in June 1993, and of the UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen and Beijing,- having regard to its resolutions on human rights throughout the world, particularly the resolution of 12 December 1996 on human rights throughout the world in 1995/96 and the Union's human rights policy ((OJ C 20, 20.1.1997, p. 161.)),- having regard to its resolution of 21 April 1994 on human rights in the European Union's foreign policy ((OJ C 128, 9.5.1994, p. 370.)),- having regard to its resolution of 12 June 1997 on progress in implementing the common foreign and security policy (January to December 1996) ((OJ C 200, 30.6.1997, p. 148.)),- having regard to the Commission communication to the Council and Parliament: 'The European Union and the external dimension of human rights policy: from Rome to Maastricht and beyond¨, COM(95)0567,- having regard to the Commission report on the implementation of measures intended to promote human rights and democratic principles (for 1995), COM(96)0672,- having regard to the Commission report on cooperation with European non- governmental development organizations (NGDOs) in those fields of importance to developing countries (1994 financial year), COM(96)0032,- having regard to its resolution of 20 September 1996 on the communication from the Commission on the inclusion of respect for democratic principles and human rights in agreements between the Community and third countries ((OJ C 320, 28.10.1996, p. 261.)),- having regard to its resolution of 13 June 1997 on the proposal for a Council Decision on a framework procedure for implementing Article 366a of the Fourth Lomé Convention, and the opinion of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy in report A4-0175/97 ((OJ C 200, 30.6.1997, p. 256.)),- having regard to its resolution of 21 February 1997 on European Union humanitarian aid and the role of ECHO, and on the Commission communication to the Council and European Parliament on linking relief, rehabilitation and development ((OJ C 85, 17.3.1997, p. 181.)),- having regard to Rule 148 of its Rules of Procedure,- having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy and the opinions of the Committee on Development and Cooperation and the Committee on Budgets (A4-0393/97),A. whereas the Union has declared that it is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law, and this declaration should find practical expression in the internal policy of the Union, in the common development policy and the common foreign and security policy (CFSP),B. whereas following the outcome of Amsterdam a troika comprising the Council President, the CFSP High Representative/Council Secretary-General and the Commission will be set up for the CFSP and the Commission will be fully involved in the CFSP's tasks,C. whereas with the international recognition of human rights, reference is increasingly being made to human rights and democracy in international relations also; whereas the Community's human rights policy has duly expanded in scope and the activities, funding and operators in this area have accordingly increased,D. whereas the European Union has created new priorities in its human rights policy by introducing the consolidation of democratic processes and conflict prevention,E. whereas the Vienna human rights conference endorsed the indivisibility and universality of human rights and the right to development as an integral component of fundamental human rights,F. whereas the Council introduced ¨conditional' development aid by decision of November 1991, in contrast to its previous policy of unconditional development aid,G. whereas the rehabilitation phase of development cooperation is tied to the introduction of democratic processes and programmes include measures to restore civil society and the rule of law,H. whereas the Union as a whole is required to be consistent in its foreign policy measures and the Council and Commission share that responsibility, and whereas foreign policy measures must be not only consistent but efficient and transparent as well,I. whereas, with its most recent proposal for a Council Regulation on the development and consolidation of democracy and the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms (COM(97)0357), the Commission is putting forward a single legal basis designed to bring about a greater degree of coherence and efficiency in the implementation of policy and measures in support of human rights and democracy,J. whereas in view of the European Union's substantial financial contributions to the implementation of democracy and human rights projects and election support and observation, the conspicuousness of European Union funding particularly needs improving,K. convinced that the European Union should coordinate the implementation of its human rights policy measures as closely as possible with international organizations (e.g. the Council of European Unionropean Unionrope, OSCE) in order to achieve broad synergies and multiplier effects,L. whereas to implement an effective foreign policy, which includes the promotion of human rights and democracy, the European Union must provide itself with suitable decision-making structures and instruments,M. whereas Parliament needs to have procedures and instruments that will enable it to ensure that, in accordance with its resolutions and recommendations, a consistent policy is pursued in human rights issues, including an effective capacity to monitor action taken in response to its opinions,N. convinced that the variety of proposals put forward in Parliament's resolutions and recommendations points to Parliament's wish for transparency, control, analysis and supervision,O. whereas enforcement of the human rights approach depends on the clarity and constancy with which concepts are defined and the consistency with which the instruments are applied,P. convinced that assessment of and reporting on the human rights situation in third countries are essential requirements with regard to the guarantees and sanctions policy and conflict prevention,Q. whereas the divided decision-making and administrative structure on which European Union foreign, development and trade policy is based leads to breakdowns in coordination, and tensions on the issue of responsibility,R. having regard to its efforts to counter the fragmentation of budget funds for human rights and democracy projects; whereas the Commission strategy is lacking, and responsibility divided, for their use,S. whereas the internal coordinating body for Commission departments concerned with human rights and democracy is a mirror image of the fragmentation of responsibilities,T. whereas the procedures for project allocation are slow-moving and difficult to survey, and lead to considerable delays in payment,U. whereas the Commission's method of reporting on project assessment and the continuity of projects is - despite progress - still difficult to survey and incomplete and often provides information at a very late stage, which affects transparency and Parliament's monitoring ability,V. whereas the Commission does not yet have its own, comprehensive appraisal system for the human rights and democracy programmes, and whereas an initial assessment report on the PHARE and TACIS democracy programmes was submitted to the first conference on the assessment of the programmes held on 2 and 3 October 1997 in Brussels,W. whereas the annual memorandum on the human rights activities of the Council and the Member States in the framework of the CFSP should be more detailed and presented each year at a fixed date,X. whereas although the participation of non-governmental organizations in project implementation has steadily expanded, the system of cooperation has also become more difficult to survey as a result,Y. whereas the creation of ECHO has decisively helped to improve the coordination, effectiveness and conspicuousness of European Union measures in the field of humanitarian aid,Z. favouring the consistency, transparency, efficiency, credibility and conspicuousness of European Union human rights policy and its measures to promote respect for human rights and democracy,1. Calls for regular reporting by the Council and Commission on the situation of human rights and democracy, European Union positions, their follow-up, and on relevant measures in third countries in the form of constantly updated country reports;2. Takes the view that annual report must not take the place of the Annual Memorandum of the Council and Member States in the area of human rights, which could be expanded;3. Calls for the European Union delegations to be more closely involved in both political monitoring and reporting and in the supervision of projects and the assessment of programmes;4. Calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States to do justice to the need for an adequate European Union monitoring mechanism as part of conflict prevention by incorporating the observation of human rights throughout the world in the tasks of the early warning unit and, in particular, to set up facilities for assessing the human rights situation in third countries with which the Union has concluded agreements incorporating human rights clauses;5. Recommends restructuring of the Commission's decision-making and administrative structure, with the introduction of a single structure to cover the area of human rights and democratization, in order to improve coordination and facilitate dialogue with the European Parliament, the Council, international organizations and NGOs;6. Therefore repeats its call for a single Vice-President/Commissioner for external relations to be appointed, at the investiture of the new Commission if not before, under whose responsibility close coordination of all Commissioners and Directorates-General involved in external relations, the coordination of programme and project management and policy on guarantees and sanctions would be assured;7. Wonders whether it might not be desirable to set up a 'European Agency for Human Rights and Democratization' as an over-arching coordinating structure, possibly modelled on ECHO, under the responsibility of a Commissioner for Human Rights and Democracy, which would not only administer programmes and projects but would also coordinate the guarantees and sanctions policy;8. Calls for precautions to be taken straight away to define a common strategy to spend the financial resources for human rights projects to ensure that human rights considerations play a significant and clear role in formulating foreign policy;9. Calls for precautions to be taken straight away to make the management of the relevant programmes and projects more efficient in the framework of a common administrative structure for all directorates-general dealing with external relations, making it a priority to coordinate resources and tasks, to simplify procedures and financial management and to mobilize all available funds as efficiently as possible;10. Notes, in this connection, that the Commission, through the forthcoming establishment of the SCOOP service (joint cooperation service), intends to reorganize the administrative procedures for dealing with all external aid;11. Further recommends to the Commission improving cooperation with NGOs, which would include standardizing application procedure and partnership contracts, and incorporating NGDOs operating in the field of human rights and democracy in a structure comparable to the NGDO Liaison Committee;12. Supports, as stated in paragraph 5, the creation of a common internal administrative structure, recalling that, during the budgetary procedure for 1998, it decided to set up an interinstitutional consultative working party consisting of representatives of the European Parliament and of the Commission, which would be required to deliver an opinion on the annual work programme;13. Calls for a still stronger concentration of the funds for human rights and democracy by entering them in Chapter B7-70 of the budget, while giving special consideration to the thematic approach; in this connection, welcomes the further consolidation of appropriations in the 1998 budget, inter alia for human rights and democracy in the countries of southern Africa;14. Requests that coordination might be improved by means of cooperation agreements with international and regional organizations, in particular the OSCE and the Council of Europe, in view of the latter's considerable experience in the assessment of trends on human rights issues, thus avoiding duplication of work and achieving a consistent approach;15. Considers that there is a need for its own parliamentary bodies dealing with human rights and democracy issues to be more effectively coordinated, including the preparation of election observation;16. Regards more efficient coordination between the institutions and the international organizations in the case of election support and observation as being indispensable, in order to safeguard the efficiency, productivity and conspicuousness of the action taken; accordingly welcomes the consolidating approach in the 1998 budget;17. Points out in this connection that it has just stipulated, during the budgetary procedure for 1998, that the implementation of the appropriations for support for, and supervision of, electoral processes (Article B7-709) will be conditional on the prior adoption by the three institutions of joint measures and of procedures governing representation in the context of special missions for electoral supervision and/or post-electoral measures;18. Proposes, in addition, creating a 'European network for human rights and democratization' within the Commission for the purpose of collecting, analyzing and organizing relevant information for electronic transmission via the Internet and coordinating the operations carried out by individual Member States with those of the European Union;19. Demands, in the interest of making European Union human rights policy both transparent and conspicuous, that the network provide the institutions, and particularly Parliament, within the institutional decision-making and cooperation framework but also in cooperation with all partners in the fields of human rights and democracy, with a quicker, fuller and constantly updated information exchange, which should concentrate on:- the principles and instruments of European Union human rights policy,- the situation of human rights and democracy in third countries,- the use of all relevant funding and the full assessment of programmes and projects, including prior effectiveness analysis and programme continuity, and identifying partners involved in implementation,- expert aid for the NGOs and NGDOs,- the activity reports of all establishments funded by the European Union;20. Wishes the network to come under the Commission's responsibility and a working party comprising representatives of the Commission and Parliament to receive the mandate for organizing the information;21. Wishes to make it possible, through the network, to carry out an annual impact assessment on the human rights situation that will meet the need for systematic assessment of European Union human rights policy and the use of resources;22. Proposes that this network should be funded from budget chapters 'European initiative for democracy and the protection of human rights' (B7-70) and 'Community measures to support NGOs' (B7-60), if necessary also drawing on appropriations for EU information policy (B3-3), the placing of appropriations in the budget to be decided during the annual budgetary procedure in accordance with the needs identified by the Commission and Parliament;23. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.