Barroso promised the establishement of the human rights competence in the next Commission

José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Committee (EC) met with the representatives of the European Parliament this week. The president, whose term is just about to end is trying to convince the parliamentary groups to back his reelection. In support of this, he presented his programme entitled Political direction for the next Committee.

In the debate following the presentation, two of the representatives of the Hungarian minority in Romania, Mr. Sógor Csaba and Mr. Tőkés László addressed questions to the president.

Mr. Sógor Csaba made reference to the personal liberties that have been in effect for the past 50 years in the European Union and asked if the president can guarantee them in his next term. Also, the MEP enquired about the measures the president intends take regarding recent incident involving the infringement of the free movement rights of the Hungarian president in Slovakia and against the state regulations that constrain the free usage of minority languages.

In his answer, president Barroso promised the establishment of a human rights competence in the next Commission.