Bid to bolster citizens’ rights

Date: 04/04/1996

By Rory Watson

ITALY is calling on EU governments to modify the Maastricht Treaty to open the way for the Union to sign up to the European Convention on Human Rights.

The move was announced yesterday (2 April) by senior Italian diplomat Silvio Fagiolo after he chaired the first two-day working group of the Intergovernmental Conference.

“The whole point of the IGC is to modify the treaty. This is one of the modifications we would seek,” he explained.

The Italian presidency argues that the change is essential to give member states the option of deciding that the EU as a body should sign up to the convention as part of a wider programme to strengthen its citizens' fundamental rights.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) surprised many legal observers last week by declaring that under current Community law, the Union had no competence to accede to the convention.

It specifically stated that Article 235 of the Treaty of Rome - traditionally used as the justification for EU action in areas where no other treaty base exists - could not “constitute a legal basis for accession”.

“This is a purely technical issue on how the Union could accede to the convention if it wanted to,” said one constitutional lawyer afterwards.

“It may be a disappointment to those who want to do this, but all the Luxembourg court is saying is: 'If the Union wants to accede it has to change the treaty'. This is now an item for the IGC agenda.”

Governments, split over the merits of the Union signing the convention, asked the ECJ two years ago to rule on whether such a move would be compatible with the Union's treaty.

Supporters of the idea, such as the European Commission, argue making the Union as a body a signatory to the convention would provide further protection for individual human rights. It would also avoid the possibility of the Luxembourg-based ECJ and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg interpreting the convention in different ways, which is presently the case.

Governments are examining other ways of improving human rights guarantees in the EU. According to Fagiolo, ideas discussed at this week's first meeting of IGC negotiators included the possible penalties to be imposed if member states were guilty of systematic human rights violations.

Werner Hoyer, Germany's representative on the IGC working group, argued against any expulsion of an EU country found repeatedly violating human rights, but indicated that his government could consider temporary suspension from Union membership.

The opening IGC negotiating session in Brussels was devoted to examining concrete ways of increasing the EU's relevance to ordinary citizens. “We have to see how to enrich the concept of citizenship. It supplements national citizenship, it does not replace it,” said Fagiolo afterwards.

A series of background papers prepared by the Italian presidency has been distributed to the IGC representatives in an attempt to provide a bridge between the work of last year's preparatory Reflection Group and the final goal of a modified treaty.

Governments are being asked whether they wish to include a general anti-discrimination clause in the new treaty. The possibility has also been raised of extending citizenship rights to such areas as freedom of speech, transparency, health protection and European referenda.

Few signs emerged from yesterday's meeting of any clear consensus among EU members on ways of improving the Union's ability to tackle international crime. This area is seen as one of the most intractable in the negotiations because although a clear majority of members led by Germany are arguing for fewer unanimous intergovernmental decisions, the UK has so far refused to countenance any change in the status quo.

But Fagiolo was quick to stress yesterday that the negotiating process had begun in “a friendly atmosphere of considerable trust and optimism”.

However, in a clear warning to any who expected concrete decisions to emerge early in the negotiations, he said: “You will not suddenly see us move into a higher gear. This is a gradual and slow process.”