The president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, who is busy right now in Brussels with the summit of the heads of state and government of the 27 member states about the Constitutional Treaty, specifies: "While it is true that the trend to abolishing death penalty all over the world is continuing, within Parliament we are deeply concerned about the fact that national legislations still exist or have been reintroduced in dozens of countries across the world, that include such penalty and result in the execution of thousands of human beings every year". Poettering concludes: "Life is an inalienable right and a fundamental value of the European Union. Let the abolition of death penalty contribute to the strengthening of human dignity and to the progressive development of human rights" in Europe and all over the world.
