03/10/2012 Session
Strasbourg, 03.10.2012 - “When foreign policy neglects human rights for too long and focuses solely on strategic economic and geopolitical interests, human rights crises may erupt and ‘humanitarian interventions’ become urgent and moral necessities”; Europe can’t afford to have another Srebrenica – foreign policy can no longer neglect human rights, said Pietro Marcenaro (Italy, SOC) today, when presenting his report on human rights and foreign policy.
PACE adopted a resolution and a recommendation, in which it urged the member States of the Council of Europe to strive to ensure consistency between the democratic and human rights principles that they have vowed to respect internally and the conduct of their external relations and foreign policy strategies. According to PACE, all the civil, political, social, economic and cultural aspects of human rights activities must be integrated into various policy areas, particularly conflict prevention work, security, combating terrorism, migration and asylum issues, trade policy and development co-operation, in order to pursue a consistent and results-oriented human rights policy inside and outside the area of the Council of Europe.
PACE also calls on national parliaments to encourage parliamentary diplomacy and set up committees or sub-committees on human rights working in conjunction with foreign affairs committees.
Lastly, it encourages the European Union, among other things, to make better use of the Council of Europe’s expertise in the field of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the European Union common foreign policy strategy. The recent creation of a European Union External Action Service (EEAS) provides a unique opportunity, which should not be missed, to improve the links between human rights and foreign policy, concluded PACE.