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EU commitment to promoting Human Rights and Democracy

Summary: December 10,2003: EU commitment to promoting Human Rights and Democracy (Brussels)

Commission activities relating to the promotion and defence of human rights cover a wide number of policy areas, from external relations to justice and home affairs, and including social policy and enlargement.

World Human Rights Day marks the signature, 55 years ago, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the World Conference on Human Rights, which adopted the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (VDPA), the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Principles on National Human Rights Institutions.

The principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law form a cornerstone of the European Union. The first considerable step in integrating human rights and democratic principles into the policies of the EU was taken with the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union (TEU)[1] . The Treaty of Amsterdam marks another significant step forward in integrating human rights into the legal order of the EU, by inserting a new article 6 in the TEU)[2] . The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights safeguards fundamental rights within the EU and promotes coherence between the EU's internal and external approaches.

International Dimension

Since 1992 the European Commission has systematically included a so-called "essential elements" clause in its bilateral trade and co-operation agreements with third countries. A Council decision of May 1995 spells out the basic modalities of this clause, with the aim of ensuring consistency in the text used and its application. Since this Council decision, the human rights clause has been included in all subsequently negotiated bilateral agreements of a general nature. The "essential elements" clause now applies to over 120 countries.

The EU also engages in a political dialogue of varying degrees of formality with all countries with which it has relations. The "essential elements" clause provides the basis for including human rights and democracy issues in these political dialogues. The EU Guidelines on Human Rights Dialogues were subsequently adopted by the Council in December 2001.

They further state that "the EU will ensure that the issue of human rights, democracy and the rule of law will be included in all future meetings and discussions with third countries and at all levels (…)", and provide specific provisions on the way dialogues should be conducted.

The EU has also adopted policy guidelines relating to the fight against torture and the death penalty and, in December 2003, on the issue of children and armed conflict.

The European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights

The European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) was created by the European Parliament in 1994 to give substance to the EU's commitment to protect and promote human rights worldwide. On 29th April 1999, the Council adopts the two regulations (975/1999 and 976/1999) )[3] that provide the legal basis for EIDHR actions.

Approximately € 100 million is available annually under the EIDHR to support the promotion and defence of human rights, democratisation and conflict prevention activities to be carried out primarily in partnership with NGOs and international organisations.

Projects are identified through calls for proposals, with an EU contribution of not less than € 300,000 (€ 100,000 in the case of micro-projects). This system facilitates not only a transparent selection process, but also the wide participation of civil society as a partner in achieving the EIDHR aims.

Since 2001, the Commission is managing more than 360 projects worldwide worth more than € 300 million.

Recent Development

Substantial improvements have been made in the past few years to elaborating and implementing policies on human rights and democracy, leading to a much more focused and results-oriented approach. Indeed, in May 2001 the European Commission adopted the Communication on the European Union's role in promoting human rights and democratisation in third countries, subsequently strongly endorsed by the Council. This Communication represents a crucial policy landmark to enhance the impact and effectiveness of the EIDHR, and proposed the adoption of a more strategic, prioritised and longer-term approach. It stresses that activities financed under EIDHR should promote strategic objectives, involving support for a limited number of thematic and geographic Human Rights and Democracy priorities.

The four thematic priorities identified are:

1. Strengthening of democratisation, good governance and the rule of law;
2. Abolition of the death penalty;
3. The fight against torture and impunity, including support for international tribunals and criminal courts;
4. Combating racism and xenophobia and discrimination against minorities and indigenous peoples.

Since the Communication, various improvements have been introduced in the framework of the EIDHR. The first step has been the adoption of the Programming Document for 2002-2004 (and its updates 2003 and 2004) which elaborates a strategy to enhance the impact of the EIDHR, and examine the best modalities to deliver assistance, by making strategic choices for appropriate areas of co-operation in the field of human rights and democracy.

The Document provides descriptions of possible programmes, types of assistance and activities, defining specific objectives and results under each of the four priority themes, and it allocates financial envelopes under each of the priorities. It also provides a specific programming framework for election observation activities.

Following the approach of the Communication, the Document identified 29 focus countries to receive the bulk of the assistance, which became 32 with the addition of Angola and China and Iraq in the 2003 and 2004 updates:

Sub-Saharan Africa: Angola, Burundi, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Zimbabwe
Mediterranean-Middle East: Algeria, Israel & West Bank / Gaza, Tunisia, Iraq
Caribbean: Haiti
Pacific: Fiji
Asia: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan
Latin America: Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico
NIS: Georgia, Russia, Ukraine
South East Europe: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro
Candidate Countries: Turkey

In addition to "focus country" interventions, there are a number of specific human rights themes that require action at global (international justice, development of governance indicators) or regional level (fight against torture, regional programs of HR education, etc).

Current efforts

Project Implementation

A total of seven calls for proposals were launched between 2002 and 2003. The Commission received more than 1000 proposals out of which more 122 project proposals were selected worth approximately € 85 million (results of the 2003 calls are still not known):

Micro-projects

To mark Human Rights Day, the Delegations in Indonesia, Ukraine and Ivory Coast launch a call for proposals under the micro-projects programme. The budgets available are € 800,000 for Ivory Coast, € 800,000 for Indonesia and € 600,000 for Ukraine. This year, 15 other Delegations have already launched similar calls. Micro-projects are designed to deepen support for local civil society initiatives and reinforce their contribution to democracy. The Micro-projects' programme is tailored to meet the needs of local civil societies at an appropriate level and it is this emphasis on smaller-scale projects, which serves to foster mutual understanding and imbue a sense of "local ownership". In Russia, the Commission Delegation has selected 17 new micro-projects from the call for proposals launched in June this year and representing a global EU contribution of € 814,723. These projects will be implemented in 2004.

International Justice

The EU has played a leading role in supporting the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which represents a highly significant advance for international justice. In September this year, the Commission organised a conference in Naples where experts met around representatives of the three organs of the Court (Presidency, Office of the Prosecutor, Registry) to discuss about the immediate challenges faced by the Court. The conclusions of the Conference will be published this month and will help the Commission finalise its strategy in terms of identification of relevant projects to support the ICC's work for the period 2004-2005.

Election Observation

The main aims of election observation are to legitimise an electoral process, where appropriate, to enhance public confidence in the electoral process, to deter fraud, to strengthen respect for human rights, and to contribute to the resolution of conflict.

The EU deploys between 8 and 10 Election Observation Missions per year as well as undertaking projects, such as the training of long term election observers and the commissioning of a handbook on election observation with the aim of standardising the EU approach to election observation. These developments reflect the importance the EU places on election observation. In 2003, the Commission deployed five EU Election Observation Missions worth just under € 9 million to Mozambique, Rwanda, Guatemala, Nigeria and Cambodia.

Future actions

If 2003 was rich in events, the year to come will yet again be stimulating and significant with other major challenges ahead. Indeed, deconcentration of the EIDHR in 2004 will be a key item on the agenda and in view of the sensitivity of the subject matter will require the respective roles of the Commission Head Quarters and the Delegations to be very carefully defined. The other major work will be to give top priority to issues relating to impact and mainstreaming.

For the EIDHR, this means focussing on the quality of projects: their design, definition of expected outcomes, monitoring and evaluation, simplification of procedures and production of appropriate guidelines. The Commission will also launch more calls for proposals for macro-projects and for micro-projects to be based on the programming document's update for 2004.

Internal Dimension

Anti-discrimination legislation and programme

In 2000, the European Union adopted two directives relating to anti-discrimination. The first tackles discrimination on the grounds of race or ethnic origin in the workplace and outside. The second tackles discrimination within the workplace on the grounds of religion or belief, age, disability or sexual orientation. The Commission also implements an Action Programme with three main objectives The programme supports studies, networks, information campaigns, data collections, conferences etc, with a budget of € 98.4 million for the period 2001 to 2006.

Gender Equality

The Commission has comprehensive legislation relating to equal treatment in the workplace, covering specifically equal pay, maternity leave, parental leave, training, promotion and working conditions. It has recently made a proposal to tackle discrimination on the grounds of sex in the provision of goods and services, taking legislation outside the workplace for the first time.

Legislation is supported by the Community Programme on gender equality which aims to Its budget for the period 2001-2005 is € 50 million.

Equal programme

Funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), EQUAL tests new ways of tackling discrimination and inequality experienced by those in work and those looking for a job. The key principals of EQUAL are: transnational co-operation, innovation, empowerment, thematic and partnership approach, dissemination and mainstreaming to ensure that EQUAL informs policies and practice. The activities are structured on the four pillars of the European Employment Strategy: Employability, Entrepreneurship, Adaptability and Equal opportunities for women and men. In addition EQUAL has a separate theme which addresses the needs of asylum seekers. The European Community contribution amounts to € 3,000 million (is this what we mean?) for the period 2000-2006, an amount which is matched by national funding.

Industrial relations

Freedom of association is one of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Dialogue between workers and employers is a fundamental element of the European Union's employment and social policies. The Commission gives financial support to assist dialogue between workers' and employers' representatives to ensure that their views are fed into the European policy-making process.

Social security co-operation

Since 1971, the Community has implemented a system to co-ordinate social security systems, so that any individual can transfer his or her social security entitlements when working in another Member State. Over the years, the system has become complicated, due to changes within national systems and case law from the European Court of Justice interpreting the legislation. For this reason the Commission proposed a simplification and modernisation of the 1971 Regulation. On 1 December, Member States completed their consideration of the Commission's proposal, paving the way for a simpler and more streamlined system for the transfer of entitlements in the future.

Violence against women and children

After a very successful first stage, DAPHNE 2 has now been agreed by Member States. The aim of this programme is to prevent violence against children, young people and women, provide support to the victims of violence and prevent their future exposure to violence. From 2000 to 2003, DAPHNE 1 funded 303 projects, with an overall budget of € 20 million. The budget for DAPHNE 2, which will run 2004-2008 is € 50 million.

Asylum

A European Refugee Fund of € 216 million has been created to help Member States of the European Union* receive asylum seekers, refugees and displaced persons. It is due to operate under its present form until 31 December 2004.

The preparation of a common policy on asylum is a constituent part of the European Union's objective of gradually creating an area of freedom, security and justice open to those who, forced by circumstances, legitimately seek protection in the European Union.

The European Refugee Fund fosters solidarity between Member States and promotes balance in the efforts they make in receiving asylum seekers, refugees and displaced persons.

The European Refugee Fund also supports Member States' action to promote the social and economic integration of refugees.

It provides practical support to help asylum seekers, refugees and displaced persons take an informed decision to leave the territory of the Member States and return home, should they so wish.

Also, at the Commission's initiative, it finances pilot initiatives and exchanges between Member States.

Finally, as called for by the European Council at its meeting in Tampere on 15 and 16 October 1999, the European Refugee Fund may also be used to finance emergency measures to provide temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of refugees.

Further information

For further information on The EU's Human rights & Democratisation Policy please consult the following Webpage:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/human_rights/intro/index.htm

For information on the activities of the EIDHR, please consult its webpages at the following address:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/eidhr/index_en.htm

For information on the EU anti-discrimination activities:
http://www.stop-discrimination.info/

Alternatively, you can send your question to the following mailbox:
EuropeAid-HumanRights@cec.eu.int



[1] The TEU considers the development and consolidation of "democracy and the rule of law, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms" as one of the objectives of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the EU. The TEU also adds a new title on development co-operation which states: "Community policy in this area shall contribute to the general objective of developing and consolidating democracy and the rule of law and to that of respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms".

[2] Art. 6 reaffirms that the European Union 'is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law, principles which are common to the Member States'.

[3] The regulations are available at the following Internet address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/eidhr/documents_en.htm



  • Ref: EC03-315EN
  • EU source: European Commission
  • UN forum: 
  • Date: 10/12/2003


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See also
 

European Union Member States