2012-04-21

MEPs debated the Annual Report on Human Rights in the World and the European Union's policy in the Matter during the European Parliament’s plenary session from the 17th of April. Special focus was put on the impact human rights have on the EU’s strategic policy in the field.

DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor spoke about the report presented by British socialist MEP Richard Howitt, saying that the report emphasizes the true and full equality between the members of national minorities and majorities. The MEP saluted this remark, but argued that the EU needs to regulate the rights of national minorities within its borders if it intends to uphold this point of view in the world.
Here follows the MEP’s speech:

“Although my colleague’s 151 article long report has only one article about traditional national minorities, the 109th article contains an important idea: traditional national minorities have different needs than other minorities! The report also states that true and full equality between members of national minorities and majorities needs to be promoted in all aspects of economic, social, political and cultural life. These are important findings and I salute them, but we must not forget that the report is about the situation of human rights in the world. But how can the EU pay attention to the situation of traditional national minorities in the world if it does not regulate the situation of these communities within its borders? Yes, the EU’s traditional national minorities also have special needs and they also need equality in all aspects of life. This often requires special regulations, but we need to pay attention to these issues as well if we want to take our policies seriously, otherwise we will lose our credibility in front of our partners.”

The coordination of social security systems of member states was another major issue of the plenary session, due to a report by Czech conservative MEP Milan Cabrnoch on Wednesday, the 18th of April. Csaba Sógor saluted the constant adaptation of EU regulations to the needs of the citizens, but claimed that the European Commission’s proposals are not always in compliance with the citizens’ expectations.
Here follows the MEP’s speech:

“The coordination of social security systems of member states largely contributes to the free movement of persons within the EU, this was the tool which enabled in practice working and living abroad since the 1970’s. Comparison between the periods serves the acknowledgement of the united Europe and the existence of the internal market. But national regulations are in a constant state of change, this is why the regulation needs to be constantly adapted to the needs of citizens. As elected representatives of the citizens, we need to pay special attention to the Commission’s proposals and we need not wait too long to make the necessary modifications. This is what happened in this case and I salute my colleague’s report, which accurately identified several problematic issues from the Commission’s proposals.”