The first informal meeting of the “troika” – composed of representatives of Council, Commission and European Parliament – on the setting up of a European Agency of Fundamental Rights was held in Brussels on 25 April. It now seems certain that the new Agency (the date of 1st January 2007 for its official foundation is not excluded) will also extend its scope to the candidate countries to ensure prompt conformity of their domestic legislation to European standards. At the same time, the meeting confirmed the involvement of the Council of Europe in the agency’s future activities, subject to the Agency’s limitation to furnishing information and expertise to EU institutions and member states to help them take the right decisions in terms of human rights policies. The exclusive competence for the “role of monitoring” human rights will in fact remain in Strasbourg. According to Austrian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Hans Winkler, who chaired the meeting, “the establishment of an independent and effective agency is essential for the credibility of the defence of fundamental rights in Europe”.
