Diversity and freedom

An appeal “to all EU Member States and to the European Council to engage in a global, coherent and transparent migration policy, as its lack causes serious problems with repercussions on local communities”. The appeal by the CoE Group of Eminent Persons is contained in the report presented on May 11 by Javier Solana Madariaga during the Committee of Ministers Session. The blueprint highlights stumbling blocs along the path of European integration along with 59 “proposals for action”, that European States and their institutions are called to implement so that Europe may continue being one of the world’s “safest, freer, prosperous, and human” place. Inspiring trust. The Group highlights eight specific risks to traditional Council of Europe values: widespread intolerance; growing discrimination (especially against Roma and immigrants) as well as against Christians in Muslim-majority countries along with “rising support for xenophobic and populist parties; parallel societies; Islamic extremism; loss of democratic freedoms; presence of a population without rights”. The Report draws a balance of the resurgence of episodes of intolerance and discrimination across Europe, it refers to the principles of the European Convention on Human Rights, and identifies some of the reasons behind “the threat”: “insecurity deriving from the Old Continent ‘s financial crisis and sense of relative decline”; “distorted perceptions” of large-scale immigration; detrimental stereotypes of minorities “in the media and public opinion”. The report underlines “a clear leadership deficit” in shaping Europe’s present and future along with the lack of an “efficient and effective strategy” for its realization. Solidarity and sharing. The Group identifies the main actors for change in public attitudes: educators, mass media, employers and trade unions, civil society, churches and religious groups, celebrities and “role models”, towns and cities, member states, European and international organisations . Of 59 “proposals for action”, the first 17 are labelled “strategic recommendations” to European Institutions and their Member States. Amongst its 17 guiding principles, the Group insists on the fact that provided they comply with the law, immigrants should not be “expected to renounce their faith, culture or identity”. “European States – continues the document – have the right and the duty to control immigration, but immigrants who are denied residence and asylum are stripped of their fundamental human rights”. The Group thus demands “equal treatment of migrants and asylum-seekers arriving in Europe”. Even those Countries that are “the most distant from the Countries of arrival”, continues the Eminent Persons Groups “must do their share in this concerted effort. This requires solidarity and sharing of responsibilities on the part of EU27 and of the Council of Europe”..Freedom and democracy. In particular, states the Report, “we are asking all European populations to show solidarity towards all those who are courageously reaffirming their attachment to the universal values of freedom and democracy, notably in the Middle East and in Northern African countries”. The Group equally prompts the CoE, the EU and the OSCE “to develop global policies for the Eastern and Southern Mediterranean and for Central-Asian countries, thus enabling them, upon their request, to benefit from European experience and expertise in the establishment of societies based on the rule of the law, democracy and human rights”. The Group of Eminent Persons specifically requested that the EU “fully adopt the Commission’s next Communication on Integration and make the most of the EU Summit of June 2011, so as to convey a clear political message to EU27”. It highlighted the need “to develop global migration policies, backed up by a solid constitutional and legal framework based on respect and on the enhancement of fundamental rights as stipulated in the Stockholm Programme, in its Action Plan for the period 2010-2014 and in the Europe 2020 Strategy”. The Group of Eminent Persons is headed by the former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. Other members: Emma Bonino (Italy), Timothy Garton Ash (United Kingdom), Martin Hirsch (France), Danuta Hübner (Poland), Ayse Kadioglu (Turkey), Sonja Licht (Serbia), Vladimir Lukin (Russian Federation).