For fundamental rights

“The Commission’s commitment to promoting respect for fundamental rights in the Eu is total. The establishment of the Agency for Fundamental Rights represents a step forward in equipping the Union with the necessary powers to successfully combat all forms of discrimination”, declared the President of the Executive, JOSÉ MANUEL BARROSO , at the ceremony inaugurating the new Eu body in Vienna on 1st March. The Agency takes the place of the former European Monitoring Centre on Phenomena of Racism and Xenophobia (also based in Vienna). A RESOURCE FOR THE EU. “Once it becomes fully operational – explained Barroso during the inauguration of its Viennese headquarters – the Agency will represent a valuable resource for the Commission and for all the other Eu institutions”. And, in response to the doubts that have emerged about whether the Agency is only a “replica” of other institutions already active in this field (Council of Europe, Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, etc.), the Portuguese statesman added: “I consider the Agency more a complement, than a rival to the work performed in other institutions”. The Executive, indeed, “considers the Agency an essential resource to provide consultancy to Eu institutions and to member states, raise public awareness and furnish information and data in support of the task of promoting human rights”. Also present at the ceremony were Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament, and Brigitte Zypries, Minister of Justice in Germany, which currently holds the revolving Presidency of the EU Council. ROLE AND FUNCTIONS. European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, FRANCO FRATTINI , also expressed his satisfaction about the creation of the Agency: “We must promote fundamental rights to obtain a Europe in which people are integrated and live amicably side by side, overcoming the inequalities of gender, race and of any other type”. Frattini also pointed out: “European citizens support this objective; according to a recent survey, 73% of them wish for greater decision-making power at the EU level for the promotion and protection of rights. The Agency will be a fundamental resource” to this end. The new organization has the objective – in conformity with its statutes – “to provide the competent institutions of the Community and member states, in their implementation of European law, with assistance and counselling on questions of fundamental rights, so as to help them fully respect such rights when they adopt measures or define projects in their fields of competence”. The Agency will be “an organ for the collection and analysis of data with the ability to formulate opinions”. It will operate throughout the territory of the EU and be open to the participation of the candidate countries and those that have concluded accords of association with the EU, such as the Balkan states. “A LIMITED MANDATE”. But not all international commentators agree on the incisiveness of the Agency set up by the EU: there are those who downplay its significance and scope, and those who claim it is endowed with few real powers. TERRY DAVIS , general secretary of the Council of Europe (CoE), who was also present at the inaugural ceremony in Vienna, explained that “the mandate of the Agency, clearly limited and confined to the legal system of the Eu, respects the pre-eminent role of the CoE in the protection of human rights” in the old continent and, in particular, the role of the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg. According to Davis “the regulations of the Eu Agency recognise the work performed by the CoE and contain provisions aimed at fostering synergies and ensuring complementarity” between the two bodies. During the ceremony in Vienna on 1st March, the participants explained that the negotiations for an accord of cooperation between the two organizations (Council for Europe and Agency for Fundamental Rights) “have already begun and should be completed before the summer”. MORE POWERS TO THE AGENCY. According to AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL , “the Agency of Fundamental Rights of the EU is a step in the right direction”, although the “current challenges to human rights in Europe require stronger mechanisms”. “In spite of its high-sounding name – maintain Amnesty chiefs – the Agency represents a missed opportunity. The reluctance of member states to tackle internal problems concerning human rights, which starkly emerged during the debate on the Agency’s objectives, has given rise to a minimum mandate that is at odds with the serious dimension and nature of violations of human rights in the Eu”. Amnesty “will not fail to offer its own contribution to combat every form of racism and the various forms of discrimination”, but expresses its regret that the Agency will be unable to intervene on other important aspects such as the fight against terrorism, asylum and immigration, violence against women, and the trafficking of human beings.