Speech Minister van Justitie seminar 'Ensuring rights for all in Europe: Challenges for the Council of Europe and the European Union'
A very warm welcome to you all here in Huys Clingendael and in the city of The Hague. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to you on this special occasion. As my colleague Nebahat Albayrak remarked yesterday at the Dutch Senate: it is the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Council of Europe and the 50th anniversary of the European Court of Human Rights. And I am very glad that members of the most important European legal institutions are gathered here today to discuss a topic which I consider of the utmost importance for the present and future of Europe: human rights, democracy and rule of law.
We are living in turbulent times, of rapid technical development, communication, transportation and globalization. Europe must redefine itself and revalue its goals. This in relation to the outside world, where new powers are emerging, and within Europe itself, with the internal challenges facing our western societies in the field of economy, crime and immigration. For more than 60 years we have been able to maintain peace within our boundaries, but how shall we maintain this peace and ensure it for the future, and for our children?
Unfortunately, there is no evident, waterproof formula which sets out how people can live together in peace. But there are a number of necessary basics, such as a democratically chosen government by the majority of the people, and the rule of law.
In my view, the human rights are at the core of this issue.
Human rights are not self-evident; they are the result of centuries of struggles and emancipation. A peaceful society can only be achieved when concepts such as justice, equality, solidarity, and charity are central. A society that defends these core values will be more stable and – consequently - safer. This will subsequently ensure economic and social progress. Throughout the last 60 years, the Council of Europe has been of paramount importance in developing and upholding these standards.
We are seeking to achieve the same goals in the European Union, in which the Union shall constitute an area of freedom, security and justice. We are putting a great deal of effort into this endeavour. This is not only necessary to help us deal more effectively with the challenges of today. It also helps to better ensure the rights of European citizens. With the 27 Member States of the EU we are pursuing an even higher level of protection of these rights than possible within the Council of Europe. See for example the present discussions on a Framework Decision on Procedural Rights. This of course is the added value of the activities of the EU in this field. Within this context, cooperation between the EU and the Council of Europe is of great importance. Good cooperation makes the two organisations stronger, and prevents duplication of activities. If they work together, much more can be achieved when it comes to ensuring the human rights of people across Europe. Both organisations should therefore take advantage of each other’s experience, knowledge and possibilities.
To be able to tackle current problems, such as organised crime and terrorism, there are nowadays far-reaching cooperative mechanisms established within the EU. In order to ensure effective cooperation, the rule of law and the quality of the judicial system in each Member State is important -- not only to the Member State concerned, but also for the whole community of EU Member States. Now that we have a European Arrest Warrant, it is important that prison conditions and criminal procedural rights in Member States are up to standard. Now that we have the Dublin regulation it is important that the asylum procedure in all Member States is in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights. If this will not be the case, this Dublin regulation and the criminal justice system will be undermined. Policy in the area of freedom, security and justice is based on mutual trust. Therefore, it is important that Member States, practitioners and citizens have confidence that fundamental rights are protected equivalently in other member states.
That is why it is essential that measures are taken to preserve and reinforce that trust. It is for this reason that I proposed, as a contribution to the EU Stockholm Programme, a mechanism for additional evaluation in the field of criminal matters to strengthen mutual trust. The idea is that evaluation within the EU should move beyond mere evaluation of implementation and transposition of European law in national law. This additional evaluation should systematically assess issues relating to the quality, integrity and equity of national legal systems. Some of these issues have repeatedly stood in the way of cooperation, and hamper the proper functioning of the European judicial area.
As we all know, many of the issues relating to the quality of national legal systems have for a long time been assessed by well-established Council of Europe bodies, such as the European Court of Human Rights, the CPT, GRECO and CEPEJ. Therefore, the experience of the Council of Europe should be taken as a reference point. It should also be an important source for the development of an EU additional evaluation mechanism. Clearly, the work of the Council of Europe is essential in identifying institutional and procedural obstacles in national legal systems, and also in determining the necessary measures to remedy these problems. Furthermore, the findings and results of the monitoring and evaluation mechanism within the Council of Europe should be utilized. This will avoid duplication, evaluation fatigue and additional costs. But most importantly, this ensures coherence and synergy in the activities of the two organizations.
The European Union could, thus, clearly benefit from the work of the Council of Europe. This is also true the other way around. An additional evaluation mechanism in the EU could also strengthen the follow-up of the results of monitoring within the Council of Europe.
Working together in the context of this additional evaluation mechanism could possibly serve as an example for the future in the relations between both organizations. It could lead to more mutual trust, which in turn could lead to better cooperation. In the past, cooperation between the two organizations has not always been without challenges. In the future we all, both the organizations and their Member States, should endeavor to ensure that misunderstandings will not be repeated. It should be absolutely clear that good relations between the Council of Europe and the EU are a prerequisite for the success of both. The recent statements of the new Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr Thorbjørn Jagland, in this regard were very encouraging.
Some people think that the added value of the Council of Europe has decreased. Especially now that the EU is more active in the field of human rights, for example through the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and the new function of Commissioner for Fundamental Rights. In my opinion, this is not true. Firstly, there is the obvious advantage of a wider circle of member states within The Council of Europe. The Council gives us the chance to regularly discuss vital issues such as human trafficking and cyber crime with non EU Member States. And most of these States are not only directly concerned with the same problems, such as Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, but are also able to play an important role in solving them.
In addition, the EU cannot only take its own measures. It is of great value that the EU will remain embedded and accountable to its environment. That is also why it is very important that all EU Member States accede as soon as possible to the Council of Europe Conventions on human trafficking and sexual exploitation of children. The fact that EU-Framework Decisions are being developed on these issues does not affect this responsibility.
After the Lisbon treaty has entered into force – and I am pleased to inform you that the Constitutional Court of the Czech republic this morning has endorsed the treaty - another priority is at stake, namely the accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights. This in order to increase the accountability of the EU to its environment, and to better guarantee the fundamental rights of its citizens. The Charter of Fundamental Rights will give the possibility to the European Court of Justice in Luxemburg to assess the actions of the EU institutions and of the Member States when implementing EU law in the light of this Charter. Divergence between this court and the European Court of Human Rights on the interpretation of fundamental rights should be avoided at all times. The European Court of Human Rights will remain the highest court when it comes to this specific issue, obviously taking into account its subsidiary status in relation to both national highest courts and, in the future, the European Court of Justice.
Today, at the celebration of the birthdays of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights, it is time to look forward. We need to combine what we have learned in the last decades with a clear view of the future.
It should be absolutely clear, that cooperation between the Council of Europe and the EU is not something to be taken lightly. It is an absolute necessity for the safeguard of the fundamental rights of people across Europe. I hope that the seminar today will contribute to this cooperation. And I wish you a very interesting and fruitful day. Thank you.