Where are we?
Now we come to the consideration of the current affairs request under the title “Current challenges to European security: what role for the Council of Europe?” from the five political groups.
At its meeting on Friday the Bureau approved this request, and therefore recommends to the Assembly that the matter be debated during this part-session.
Does the Assembly agree to this recommendation?
I see no opposition.
The Bureau’s recommendation is therefore accepted, and the request for a current affairs debate is therefore approved. The debate will take place on Thursday morning as the last item of business and will be opened by Mr Zsolt NEMETH.
Dear colleagues,
The next item of business is the adoption of the agenda for the first part of the 2022 Ordinary Session (Doc. 15408 prov3). The draft agenda submitted for the Assembly’s approval was drawn up by the Bureau on 21 January and updated this morning.
We have two successful challenges to the credentials of the Russian Federation and the reports on these will be debated at the start of the afternoon sitting on Wednesday. The deadline for amendments to report on the challenges on substantive grounds (Rule 8) will be 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The deadline for amendments to report on the Challenge on procedural grounds (Rule 7) will be 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Does the Assembly agree with the agenda as we have discussed including the urgent debate, the current affairs debate, and the debate on the report on the challenge of credentials?
This is not a question time, so do you have a point of order?
A point of order. Thank you very much, Mr President.
Tell me please, will the Russian credentials be discussed before report on the Navalny poisoning or after?
Thank you.
Before.
Why?
This is the proposal on the agenda.
I have another proposal to make afterwards.
Then you object the...
I object.
OK.
You have the floor for one minute, Mr GONCHARENKO.
Thank you very much.
I feel that we need to discuss the very important question of credentials of the Russian delegation after the report about the Mr Navalny case because these two issues are absolutely connected. When we are speaking about Putin killing his own oppositioners, we need to understand also what is the position of our colleagues from the Russian Parliament and also certainly these questions are connected. So my proposition is first, Mr Jacques MAIRE's report on the Alexei Navalny case and after this, after all, we will hear and then we will approve, then we can discuss the credentials of the Russian delegation, because certainly, we understand that one more violation of the core principles of the Council of Europe, which we see in the Navalny case, can influence the voting on the credentials of the Russian Federation. So that is my proposition, first, the Navalny case, then the credentials.
Thank you.
We now heard the moving of the motion to the draft agenda. The only members who can now be heard are the movers of the motion. We just heard them. One speaker against the motion and the spokesperson of the Monitoring Committee.
Who is going to speak against the proposal?
Mister OMTZIGT, you have the floor.
It's working, thanks.
I supported the challenging of the Russian credentials both on substantive grounds and on procedural grounds and I really think there are big issues with the Russian delegation so they should be examined. So let there be no mistake.
But first you check those credentials before you are going to discuss on Russia. If this were to happen on your country, if we were going to challenge your credentials and then discuss a report on your country, you would be angry and I think we should stay tough but fair on all countries. And fairness is you first discuss whether you want to give them the credentials, and if you want to give the credentials they can participate, and if you don't, not. But don't give the semblance of having a procedural grounds of not having them participate in a discussion in which they have a legitimate interest to participate.
Thank you very much. Our rules say that now a spokesperson on behalf of the Monitoring Committee could comment on the proposal. Do we have Mr FASSINO with us at this moment, here or online?
As I do not see a representative of the Bureau of the Monitoring Committee at this stage, so we do not have the opinion of the Monitoring Committee so we proceed with the vote on the alteration of the Agenda moved by Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO.
Those who support the proposal should vote "YES" and those who reject the proposal and approve the Draft Agenda should vote "NO".
So if you support the view of Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO to alter the Agenda, vote "YES". If you stick to the approved Agenda, you should vote "NO".
I hope that that is clear.
Members in the Chamber should use the hemicycle voting system. Members participating remotely should vote using the remote system.
The vote in the hemicycle and via remote voting is now open.
I close the vote and ask for the result to be displayed.
The proposed change of the Agenda is disapproved.
Is the Draft Agenda now agreed to? I think so. It is agreed. We will proceed according to the Agenda, which we now adopted.
Next point on the Agenda is the minutes of the meeting of the Standing Committee in Rome on 25-26 November, which have been distributed (AS/Per (2020) PV 03).
I invite the Assembly to take note of the minutes.
That is done.
Thank you very much, dear colleagues, this was my first presiding of our Assembly, we will now hold our next public sitting this afternoon at 3.30 p.m. with the Agenda which was now approved in the morning.
The sitting is adjourned. Thank you very much.
Dear colleague,
The next item is the presentation by Mr Rik DAEMS of the progress report of the Bureau and the Standing Committee.
This discussion will be joined by the report of the Ad hoc committee of the Bureau on the observation of the presidential election in Bulgaria, presented by Mr Alfred HEER, and that of the Ad hoc committee on the observation of the parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan, which will be presented by Ms Marina BERLINGHIERI.
We should be finished by 4:30 p.m. We will have to interrupt the list of speakers at about 4:25 p.m. to hear the reply from the committee and to proceed to the vote.
I will now give the floor to our President, Mr. Rik DAEMS, to present the activity report of the Bureau and the Standing Committee.
Mr. DAEMS, dear Rik, you have seven minutes for the presentation of your report and three minutes to respond to the speakers at the end of the discussion. You have the floor.
Thank you, Mr President.
I am no longer president: I am the outgoing president, past, as you wish. You are the president.
Congratulations, once again, on your election. I am sure that all of us will be able to work with you to achieve results that will perhaps surpass what we have been able to do in the last two years. I hope so, anyway.
The fact that I can make this report is a little tradition, if you like, that the outgoing president has the opportunity to thank everyone a little bit during his presidency, which I will do.
Apart from congratulating you on your election and wishing you all the success possible and even impossible, Mr President, this allows me to say goodbye as "President" but above all to say a big thank you to all of you for the support I have had during these two years, which were difficult but where we have had extraordinary results, I dare say.
We have been able to count, among others but above all, on our services, under the direction of Mrs. Despina CHATZIVASSILIOU-TSOVILIS, always active as I said before. It's 24/7 minus 5 hours a night - is that, more or less, her work order? So many thanks to the services, which are of exceptional quality, but above all many thanks to all the members, to all the members of this Assembly, because without them, as I said before, a President is nothing without the members. So the message is well received, I suppose; but you knew that a long time ago, since you have been here since 2003.
As for the report on the activities of the Assembly that I have the honor of presenting, there are two elements, I think, that stand out.
There are two elements that are really, in my book, most important, the first one concerns gender equality in the Istanbul Convention – we were able to revisit it in June but we took it on afterwards. By the way, Mr President, if I may give you one word of advice, book your ticket to Mexico, they are waiting for you now, just to sign up to the Istanbul Convention, so that is one of the elements that is waiting. We wanted to go before but let's say that lucky enough now this is your privilege to head out there and also to other countries, which is what we have done over the past months. The Istanbul Convention, fighting violence against women, gender equality is by excellence an element that has been on our agenda and stayed.
The second element obviously within this progress report – you cannot look next to it or the side of it – is the environment and human rights. It was in the September session, where we were able in an unanimous way, to adopt all these proposals and recommendations which have been followed up by the Committee of Ministers in the CDDH, which is the committee that is going to give an opinion on which legal instrument will be the most appropriate to put our recommendations into practice, be it the Convention on the Social Charter, be it another type of convention, be it a protocol, and we are awaiting the result of that. But we should not stop working on the issue during the CDDH – this Committee – is working on the issue.
So the two main elements that I would like to flag in this short report are these two and I hope they will stay on the agenda, Mr President, dear colleagues, in the coming months and even years, because they are the two key elements of our work. The first one that we started long ago, and the second one where we now head into taking the lead on the environmental issue, taking the lead by the way for the United Nations itself. So that is very important.
Three, what I would like to mention is the report of obviously what we have done but it is logical that we look at what we can do together in the coming future and this is about the so-called transition paper – I have been able to present it, Mr President, dear colleagues, to the Bureau. The transition paper is known, it has a reference for those who wish to consult it can do so. It is obviously up to the new President, the Presidential Committee, the Bureau, to see which of these elements would be appropriate enough to take on board for the future and which other ones to add, or whatever. I mean this is not my call, this is your call. But I do hope that a number of the elements will stay on board. The elements that I have flagged and it is part of the progress report, because I presented it within that term. So the elements that I have flagged are:
One, importantly the connection with the Committee of Ministers and the Secretary General – in your inaugural address you mentioned it too – this is crucial for us. I mean we have got the same objectives, so we should work together and see where we can do the same things, although we know that the opinion of the Assembly does not always have to be the same as the Committee of Ministers, quite on the contrary, we are the voice politically, they are more like the executive branch with the Secretary General.
On top of that, the thematic approach is important. I have flagged the legal discrimination of women. I am leaving this to the Bureau and yourself to see whether that will be an issue to take on board in the coming period. We can take the lead for the World Bank and the EBRD beyond that one.
The third element is basically the linkage to the national parliaments, Route 47 and other initiatives. I think that if COVID-19 is away, this might be something for you to take on. I mean, I had this maybe a bit crazy plan, of visiting all 47 countries, I advise you to do so. Why not? I planned to do it with a camper. I mean if you're in the Benelux it's easier, you just take a camper and you stay the night in a camper. I did my campaign twice in a camper, dear Mr President, dear colleagues, and that was quite nice. So why not take it on board and connect. The bilateral connectivity that was flagged is reaching out to countries that are not necessarily member states of the Council of Europe, also other ones, because we basically need to influence what is happening outside of the Council of Europe because what is happening there is influencing us in terms of migration, refugees, human rights, etc.
The other one is the multilateral connectivity, this has to do with the World Bank, the United Nations, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. We can be a leading factor in the debate on fundamental rights for these great institutions because we can make conventions. They cannot. This is what we agreed upon with the UN, with Mr Guterres and Volker Türk, number two of the UN and environment.
This is what we have been flagging on legal discrimination with the first executive Vice-President of the World Bank, EBRD, where we re-signed an agreement. These are just a couple of examples. Multilateral connectivity is crucial for us to take the lead on fundamental rights.
The working methods, I know you are very adamant on that one, so you will be looking into that, monitoring how to use the modified rules that we have made and of course some other elements.
Voilà, so this, dear colleagues, and dear Mr President, again, congratulations on your election. I wish you all the success and I support you fully. Once the election is over, there is only one president and everyone should be behind the president.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, dear Rik, for your wise words with regard to what we have been doing and what we should and could do in the near future.
I now give the floor to Mr Alfred HEER to present his report of the Ad Hoc Bureau Commission on the observation of the Bulgarian presidential election. You have the floor, dear Alfred.
Thank you Mr President, and also congratulations for your election and good success for the coming two years.
As you know, we've been in Bulgaria for the third time this year. The reason was that during the two previous elections parties were not able to form a government. Now, after the elections, we were observing on November 14 that the government was formed.
We had a new party that won the elections. We Continue the Change with 25.67%. The former ruling party, GERB-SDS, they came in second with 22.74%. Movement for Rights and Freedoms came in third with 13%.
We've seen now a coalition of We Continue the Change with the Bulgarian Socialist Party. There Is Such a People and Democratic Bulgaria. They formed a government which is in place now.
We see that in Bulgaria now a lot of money is coming in from the European Union due to the Covid-19 crisis. Of course it is very important that we have a stable government in the future that can handle and spend the money wisely.
As for the procedure during the election day, it was very calm. It was well organised also. There were no tensions at all.
What we saw was the introduction of machines. Polling stations with more than 300 voters were obliged to use voting machines.
In total there were 11 936 voting machines used.
There were some problems with those voting machines because we had on the same day not only the parliamentary elections, we also had the presidential elections where Rumen Radev was confirmed on a second election the following Sunday.
The problem on the first election day when we had parliamentary elections and presidential elections was the fact that you had to press a button if you wanted to vote for parliament or for president, or if you wanted to vote for both elections. Normally people wanted to vote for both elections, but if they pressed too quickly the wrong button, only parliamentary elections or presidential elections, they could not go back, meaning they could only vote for parliamentary or presidential elections. That happened in approximately 10% of cases.
All in all, it was transparent.
Machine voting was a problem for the Roma community where people cannot read or write. They have difficulties in using the machines properly. They were, in a way, excluded from the election process, which was also a problem that has to be addressed in the future.
I would like to thank the colleagues that joined me and also the Bulgarian authorities. It was well organised. We had good discussions with all the parties, and I'm confident that Bulgaria will have a good and bright future.
Thank you.
Thank you dear colleague.
I think that the Assembly owes you and your colleagues great respect for probably longest election observation mission that we've had in our Assembly because you've done several elections in Bulgaria.
I now call on Ms Marina BERLINGHIERI to present the report of the ad-hoc Committee of the Bureau on the observation of the Parliamentary Assembly in Kyrgyzstan.
I understand Ms Marina BERLINGHIERI that you are online.
You have three minutes and you have the floor.
Can you please ask for the floor Ms Marina BERLINGHIERI? Then we can give you the floor.
I hear that Ms Marina BERLINGHIERI has technical problems to get connected to us so I propose that we start with the debate and we give the rapporteur the floor when she is able to connect with us.
Now we are taking first the speakers on behalf of the political groups.
The first speaker on behalf of the Socialist Group is Mr Frank SCHWABE.
Mr Frank SCHWABE you have the floor.
[...] I just hope, but we said at the same time, we want to get into the debate and we see that there are very positive developments, for example, in Ukraine. It is the issue of the cooperation of the international institutions, which certainly has been pushed accordingly and I think that also you can say, that started before the presidency of Mr Rik DAEMS. But the cooperation with the Committee of Ministers has become much more intensive, certainly disturbed now by the COVID situation in the last months, but I think that is a result at the end also of this presidency.
I know Rik that you have tried, so to speak, to renew things here as well, to reform things. Some of that succeeded, some of it couldn't succeed because the COVID situation came along.
It is a very personal style that you have cultivated, also a very special style, but one that defines you. That is also very important, and I would like to thank you again very much on behalf of my group of Socialists, Democrats and Greens for the presidency.
Thank you very much.
At the same time, on behalf of my group, I would like to congratulate Mr Tiny KOX, the new President of this Parliamentary Assembly, who I think also stands for continuity to a certain extent, I think that is important.
The decision today was not a decision on any countries or on any conflicts. I think we simply have to emphasize that again. Also for the people who are outside and don't always understand how this works here, and that has something to do with the fact that we have made agreements between the groups over a longer period of time. That's to make sure that we end up basically staying together and that we also give smaller caucus the opportunity to represent this assembly. And that is the reason that we have done this, and I am sure that Mr Tiny KOX will do very very very well, will represent this Assembly honorably over the next two years, that we have a lot of discussions to have.
This organization is struggling for its future, but not because the organization is bad, but many member states are behaving badly and we have to discuss with them accordingly. That's what we are doing here and in the end we need a clear voice.
Thank you very much and all the best and we hope – and we are sure – that there will be a good cooperation.
Last sentence on the subject of Bulgaria, I would like to join the words of thanks of the President, thanks to Mr Alfred HEER and all who were on the road there. We could see now in Bulgaria that it is important that we exist. In the end there was a change through elections, with all the difficulties that there were and are in Bulgaria, these elections have brought change, finally, after a long debate. And in the end, our assembly has also contributed to the fact that this has happened in a democratic and reasonable way, therefore I would like to thank you very much.
The next speaker in the debate is Mr Aleksander POCIEJ on behalf of the Group of the European People's Party.
Mr Aleksander POCIEJ, you have the floor.
Poland, EPP/CD, Spokesperson for the group
15:57:51
Let me begin with congratulations.
We worked together in the Presidential Committee for four years, almost four years.
I strongly believe that the atmosphere that we created contributed to peaceful work and to consensus.
The word consensus is something which is very close to my heart. In many things we did it.
I wish you a very good two years and I hope that in the same aim we are going to cooperate.
Of course I would like to congratulate you, Mr Rik DAEMS, for the last two years. We heard that you had this special way of leading this organisation, but I must say I liked the way you presided very much.
Thank you very much for your efforts connected to the environment, to the protection of everything which is around us. This is probably the biggest challenge for the future, for our planet, and for our children. For all of us. Thank you. Thank you very much.
I think that for the future we should learn a little bit about what happened five years ago in Greece and what recently happened on the Belarus border. We can see that even though Belarus and other countries are not among our family here they can have a very big impact on what's going on in our countries.
That leads me to think about the future. I think strongly that we should think about what our international law about migration is.
As I said before the walls were built many years ago when those treaties were signed to stop people from going from communism to the free land. Now those walls are constructed, unfortunately, also in Poland, but to stop a completely different episode which has nothing to do with the situation many years ago.
Thank you very much. I would like to conclude by congratulating Mr Alfred HEER. I was indeed three times in Bulgaria. It was not enough. Only after the first visit we achieved... But as Mr Frank SCHWABE said, I think that we contributed a lot to the changes.
Thank you very much.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:02:02
I don't want to stop my head of group. Thank you Mr POCIEJ.
I would like to give the floor now to Ms Marina BERLINGHIERI. She will give us a report on Kyrgyzstan and she couldn't connect before. Now you have the floor.
Dear Mr President, Dear Colleagues,
It is the fourth time that our Assembly is observing parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz Parliament has enjoyed since 2014 the status of “Partner for Democracy” with the PACE. It is the only Central Asian country to receive this status.
Our delegation of 13 persons was composed of nine members of the Assembly, representing all five political groups within the Parliamentary Assembly and coming from seven different European member states.
These elections mark the end of a political transition, which was triggered after the massive protests over fraudulent elections in October 2020. They wished to have a new and fresh departure through new elections, which were to be held in December 2020. However, instead of the new start through a fresh cast of vote, the Kyrgyz people were drawn into a spiral of repeated postponement, a snap presidential election which brought into power Sadyr Japarov, and a complete constitutional overhaul, which gave the new president sweeping powers, including to dismiss ministers, appoint judges and heads of law enforcement agencies, lowered the number of seats in parliament, changed the system of voting for candidates and drastically diminished the powers of the parliament.
Our delegation was also very concerned that the substantial changes to the electoral system and the electoral legislation adopted at the last minute, deprived many women, young people and the almost 60 percent of the population without higher education from political representation in the parliament. For people who were hoping a more equal representation in the future, the changes were a disillusionment.
On a more positive note, our delegation commended the professional running of these elections on the election day, despite the last-minute modifications that changed the entire electoral system. Members of polling stations were in most cases very cooperative with our observers, and the voting process was transparent.
Much unlike other countries in Central Asia, election outcomes are still unpredictable in Kyrgyzstan. And in the new parliament, there is one party that can be called opposition.
It is hard, at this juncture, to predict how the new Kyrgyz parliament will behave. Under the new constitution, its powers are diminished but it may nevertheless present an arena for discussion.
We urge the newly elected Kyrgyz Parliament to step up its co-operation with the Assembly and Venice Commission to recommit to the aims of, and to fully use the opportunities offered by its partner for democracy status.
Kyrgyzstan has a fresh and vibrant civil society that merits to live in a democratic society where their freedoms are respected. We call on the newly elected parliament and all political actors in Kyrgyzstan to reverse the negative trends of the last year and to stand up for the protection of human rights, the rule of law and respect for democratic standards. We think that keeping all allies of dialogue is important for this young democracy, and we consider that the Council of Europe should continue to help Kyrgyzstan, by means of their various co-operation programmes, to support the vibrant civil society in the country.
Thank you.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:06:05
Thank you very much Ms Marina BERLINGHIERI for your reports.
I will now go on with the speaker's list and the second one on my list is Mr Zsolt NÉMETH on behalf of the EC group.
Yes, I see him.
You have the floor.
Hungary, EC/DA, Spokesperson for the group
16:06:33
Happy New Year to all of you.
This is a hand-over time and I would like to express my gratitude to Mr Rick DAEMS for his work and to congratulate Mr Tiny KOX.
It is a good occasion to reflect on what happened. First, COVID-19 happened. But I think our President Rick stroke a very good balance between saving lives and maintaining the work and the operation of the Parliamentary Assembly. We should not forget the conclusion of the COVID period vaccination.
Secondly, thank you Rick for the transition paper. I think it is a good practice and hopefully, along with the strategic priorities, these two documents will guide us in the coming period.
Thirdly, this is somehow the summary of the Hungarian presidency as well. We are grateful to you for your co-operation. I think part of Rule 747 was completed. You had a fantastic trip to Hungary and the Hungarian authorities were also happy about your involvement in our work. We have also prepared a summary of the Hungarian presidency. I would like to suggest you read it. I would like to underline the importance of national minorities. If you talk about conflicts in Europe – and we do speak about the conflict in Europe – norm-setting in the field of national minorities and realising that stability through national minority rights is the only way in most serious conflicts.
And finally, I would like to underline the creative chairmanship of you Mr DAEMS. The panel debates were very useful and I think it is a practice to continue, especially I think the panel on the environment was really important and to draw the attention of all of us how we relate ourselves to the created environment which surrounds us. It has a lot to do with human rights.
Finally, thank you very much once more for the creative and very innovative way of chairmanship you have worked, and not the least, for your humour. I wish you a successful future political career.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:09:42
Thank you very much, Mr NÉMETH.
Next speaker.
Mr Jacques MAIRE.
You have the floor.
Thank you Madam President.
First of all, I would like to congratulate Mr Tiny Kox on his success in this competition. I am happy that this competition took place. We are a democratic body.
Naturally, we, as the ALDE Group, are totally bound by this group agreement: I am therefore pleased and I congratulate Mr Tiny Kox on this election.
I would also like to congratulate Mrs Mariia MEZENTSEVA who scored very well with one third of the votes, which really shows that this corresponded to a real aspiration in this House.
I conclude that it is never useless to have debates, to have, even when we have a group agreement, the possibility of expressing the points of view of each other; because a group agreement is not a decision of the Supreme Soviet, it is a political agreement that must then be validated by the different groups and by all the colleagues who are in non-attached positions.
I also wanted to say a warm thank you to Mr Rik DAEMS, who took us, I would say, beyond the usual borders of the Council of Europe, both in terms of themes and geography.
You know, there are two types of presidencies. There are those who are part of a process, who feel that they are above all driven by the Rules of Procedure and by the need to do more or less what is expected of them, and then there are those who say: "this is a moment to have an impact". There are those who respect the letter and those who respect the spirit.
The Council of Europe was built by people who built a cathedral, this is human rights in Europe, on a match. And Mr Rik DAEMS has tried, I would say, in his own way, to renew the exercise of the Parliamentary Assembly by building a European and multilateral ambition on the match that is the Parliamentary Assembly. This is a real message of optimism, a real message of commitment, a real message that shows that history is not written.
There are indeed defensive issues, and they are widely addressed during this week, through the Memorial, through Mr NAVALNY and the extremely worrying situation of the behaviour of the Russian authorities, but there are also development issues, issues that allow us to see that the Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe can score points in the international environment.
And, from this point of view, what was announced by Mr Rik DAEMS, that is, in terms of concepts, to go towards a recognition of the right of the environment as a human right, is something which is of the medium term; but the short term, as for example the multilateral engagement with the World Bank, with the EBRD, to establish these rights as elements conditioning financial supports, are new building sites.
My wish for Mr Tiny Kox's mandate, and he will have our full support, is that this level of ambition and commitment be reflected, once again, in the next two years.
I thank you all.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:12:56
Thank you very much, Mr Jacques MAIRE.
And now I would like to give the floor to Mr George KATROUGALOS on behalf of the UEL group.
Greece, UEL, Spokesperson for the group
16:13:09
Thank you, Madam Chair.
And first of all I would like to express my best wishes to you, all colleagues, the general secretary, the Secretariat, to the interpreters, for a better New Year. And I must say that I fully agree with the report on Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria. The report of former president Mr Rik DAEMS, whom, by the way, I would like to thank you for his service and his contribution.
I'd like to speak a little about the election of Mr Tiny KOX, not in order to praise him, he does not need that, but exactly because we can draw some lessons from this election.
First of all its exceptionality: we would never have let me moderate it, it would be almost impossible to have an election like that at our national parliaments or at the European Parliament. The leader of the smallest political group to get elected. How this has been possible in our assembly? You could say: there was an agreement. Okay, of course, pacta sunt servanda, especially at international law where trust is more important than everything else. But again, why it was possible to reach such an agreement at our assembly here, which is not the rule at our national parliaments or at the European Parliament?
I think the answer is simple and it lies in the originality of this assembly. It is not about the defined policies. From the beginning the aim of the Council of Europe was to build a commonality of values and, more than that, a common European law of human rights and freedoms, a genuine European community of freedoms, liberties and rule of law. So it is not about policies, it is not about how to play the game, it is about the rules of the game. That's why, if we share these common values, all groups who make part of this noble assembly can serve.
And I'm more than sure that Tiny, because of his mentality who has proven to be at the service of this assembly many times, he's the ideal person to do that. But I would like also to ask all of us to respect this particularity of our institution, not to try to manipulate this specialization of our institution to human rights and freedoms in order to promote other agendas, for justified or unjustified grudges. We have an obligation toward our citizens, towards our countries, but above all towards the goals of the Council of Europe.
Many thanks, Madam Chair.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:16:23
Thank you very much Mr George KATROUGALOS and I now close the list of speakers on behalf of the groups and I go to the normal list of speakers.
First, I would like to call for is Lord George FOULKES. Is he in the room or is he online? Mr FOULKES is online. Happy to see you!
Thank you, Madam President.
Unfortunately, I am online because I have been struck down with COVID-19 at the airport as I was hoping to leave to come to Strasburg. I am really sorry but to be with you, particularly to offer my congratulations too to Mr Tiny KOX.
I also want to thank Mr Rick DAEMS for the work that he has done, particularly his visit to the United Kingdom along with Ms Despina CHATZIVASSILIOU-TSOVILIS, which was a very successful visit meeting ministers, the speakers, Lord speaker and raising the profile of the Council of Europe in the United Kingdom. And I think that is something that should be continued. It is particularly valuable in the countries which are not members of the European Union where the Council of Europe has become even more important and we need to get that message across, so we were grateful to Mr DAEMS for paying that visit. He saw a very lively political situation in the United Kingdom. Since his visit, it has got even more lively not because of his visit but for other reasons I had better not go into.
I want secondly to raise the question of Belarus. I am really worried about Belarus and the situation of political prisoners where some of us are linking up with them and adopting the political prisoners who are suffering but also the way in which Belarus is being used by the Russian, by President Putin, in so many ways and now in amassing of military force to threaten Ukraine. And I want to suggest that we raise Belarus much higher up on our agenda. That we take it more seriously, that we do some more work on it, and I hope that will be considered by the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy.
And finally, I want to raise the question of gender equality. I am very pleased that this is coming up in so many of our reports and has been mentioned previously in this debate. And I want just to give advance notice, to give an indication that on Wednesday when my report from the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media on football governance comes up, gender equality is going to be one of the very important issues that we cover to make sure that women's football is treated in the same way as men's football and given the same prominence and the same important and it is just as important in football and sport as it is in all other aspects of our life.
Thank you Madam President and again I am so sorry that I am not able to be with you but I am really grateful to all the people who have enabled us to contribute online.
Thank you.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:19:42
Thank you very much Lord George FOULKES.
I hope you are soon well, and you can be lucky that perhaps it was discovered in London. Otherwise, they would have kept you in Strasbourg. I don't know if that is a nice idea.
I now give the floor to Mr Bernard FOURNIER.
Madam President, Dear colleagues,
First of all, I would like to thank our colleague Mr Alfred HEER for this report, which gives a good account of the presidential election and the early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria on November 14.
The parliamentary elections took place in a particular context in this country. Indeed, following the last two elections, which took place on April 4, 2021 and July 11, 2021 respectively, no coalition could be organized in Parliament to form a government. I am therefore pleased to see that these new elections have allowed the formation of a government on December 11.
This government has made a strong and public commitment to fighting corruption and reforming the judicial system. We in this assembly can only hope for its success, even if the ideological differences between the parties in power call for caution.
Bulgaria has been a member of our assembly since 1992 and a member of the European Union since 2007. While we can be satisfied that these elections allowed for a genuine competition between the various candidates and that fundamental freedoms were respected, we can nevertheless regret that the turnout for the three parliamentary elections held in 2021 was less than 50%. Moreover, turnout dropped from 49 per cent in the first election to about 40 per cent in the third, a sign of voter fatigue. The new government will have the difficult task of restoring the confidence of Bulgarian citizens in the institutions in order to stop this erosion of participation.
The report presented to us today points to two main difficulties. First, vote buying is still too widespread, especially in the most economically vulnerable communities such as the Roma. Despite the government's efforts to combat the practice, the ad hoc committee heard from interlocutors that the problem persists.
Secondly, the ad hoc Committee was informed of difficulties relating to the use of voting machines. This practice limits the participation of those less accustomed to such technology, especially since the discovery of hundreds of such machines in several government-owned premises raises serious questions about the possibility of electoral fraud. It will be up to this government to address these difficulties.
Finally, I would like to conclude by addressing the media coverage of these two elections. The report of the Ad Hoc Committee mentions a form of self-censorship on the part of some media outlets that did not cover these election campaigns as they should have for fear of losing advertising contracts. This situation reminds us how important the economic independence of the media, whose role in times of crisis we will debate this week, is in guaranteeing democracy.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:23:13
Thank you very much, Mr Bernard FOURNIER.
Dear all, I have to cut the speaker's list. I must interrupt now. The speeches of members on the speaking list who've been physically or remotely present during the debate but who have not been able to speak, may be given to the table office for publication in the official report. I would like to remind colleagues that type-written text can be submitted also in an electronic way, but no later than four hours after the list of speakers is interrupted. And what I have to do now is ask Mr Rik DAEMS if he wants to reply.
And if you want: three minutes.
You are standing, so you want.
Thank you, Madam President.
Thanks to all the colleagues who intervened.
On behalf, obviously, in joining me on congratulating the new President and on commending me, that was not necessary, but it always feels nice, I have to admit.
Two elements upfront: gender equality, environment and human rights. It is clear that this needs to be on the agenda. I thank all of you for flagging that again, but then you should work on it. It is not enough to say it. It has to be done. So I, as one, in the coming period, Madam President, dear colleagues, I will try to make sure that it does. I think you know me. I can be pretty nasty in the good moments, in a nice way, you know, you can be nasty in a nice way. But if it does not go in the right direction, you will hear me loudly trying to help to keep it on the agenda, too.
The UK, Hungary have been mentioned. You could add Poland. You could even add Russia, Turkey and some other countries. It is important that the President reach out. You have to be there. You have to be there and convince or be convinced and this is one thing that Covid-19 has done. If you are not in situ, if you cannot look into the whites of the eyes of the adversary, you cannot make any progress. Unfortunately, we did not have all the time nor the occasion of doing so, Madam Chair, you know that because on the Monitoring Committee the rush was an issue. But you have to be there. I hope that the President is going to keep on doing that given the circumstances that would allow him to do so, but you have to really look into the whites of the eyes of the other one. That is where you make progress. So I would like to say that this is an important issue that the President has to take on.
Thirdly, Belarus, yes, you are right, it has to be higher on the agenda not only because of Belarus but also because of the fact that we have seen that in the recent past, look at Poland, they did not enjoy enough solidarity from the other countries. They were a little bit left alone in the beginning, let's be honest about it. Okay, they themselves, let's say took a stance that provoked it a little bit. That's true, but you cannot tackle these kinds of problems alone. Maybe solidarity is not the right wording; it is working together to tackle this kind of issue. When, indeed, migration is politically abused, then you need to stick together to do something again and not fall into the pit of saying, "Yeah, but Poland is an X country, so we are not going to help them." It is not about Poland. It is about the people. This made me angry, Madam President. I never showed it. I show it a little bit now, but you have to work together because, at the end of the day, it is about the people and not about the country itself.
The last element I would like to say is very simple: ambition. You know, colleagues, politics is like shooting with a bow. You have to aim very high with a bow because the arrow will come down by itself.
Thank you very much.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:27:17
Thank you very much Mr Rik DAEMS for your report.
Finalisation of this debate is now here.
Dear colleagues, the Bureau has proposed a number of references to committees for ratification by the Assembly.
They are set out in Document 15439 and also in Addendum 3.
Is there any objection to the proposed references to committees?
I don't see any, so there are no objections.
The references are approved.
Then, dear colleagues, I now propose that the other decisions in the Progress Report, Document 15439 and Addendum 2 and 3 be ratified.
Are there objections?
I don't see any.
There are no objections.
The progress report is herewith approved.
There was an objection to the election of the Polish lists of candidates for the election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights.
Who wanted to have the floor?
Mr Arkadiusz MULARCZYK, point of order?
Online, Mr Arkadiusz MULARCZYK.
Mr Arkadiusz MULARCZYK, you have the floor.
Thank you very much, thank you very much, Madam President.
Dear colleagues, first of all, I would like to thank you for this vote. After the decision of the committee on the election of judges, rejecting the Polish list of the candidates again, appealed to the review of that decision and sent it back to the committee in order to conduct proper interviews. And only after that, to take a fully informed and objective decision. The hearing of the candidates is not even started. They did not get a chance to introduce themselves. The fundamental rights of the candidates as citizens of a member state of the Council of Europe have been violated. The equal treatment of all the members of the Council of Europe as well as mutual respect to national procedures were always crucial values for our group. Therefore I do appeal to you to stand for our common values.
Thank you, Madam President. Thank you, dear colleagues.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:31:08
Thank you very much, Mr MULARCZYK. You objected the Committee's recommendation to ask the Polish authorities to submit a new list of candidates. Does anyone wish to speak against this objection?
I heard that that will be Mr Boriss CILEVIČS.
Thank you Madam President I am strongly against this proposal.
I would like to remind you that already in April the Committee and the Assembly decided to reject the list of candidates from Poland both on substantive and procedural grounds because the national selection procedure was not compatible.
This is indeed unprecedented, that the government of Poland submitted absolutely the same list, the same three candidates who are already rejected once.
Within more than 20 years of my work in the Committee and Subcommittee, and the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights I can't remember a similar case.
This is a clear disregard of valid reason and criticism, of both the advisory panel, the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights, and this Assembly.
So indeed, we have talked a lot about the situation of the independence of the judiciary in Poland. Since then we already have decisions of both the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice which confirmed our position.
I believe it did speak about our values as Mr Arkadiusz MULARCZYK said. We should be consistent and we should reject the list once again. So I'm against this proposal.
Thank you Madam President.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:32:49
Thank you very much Mr Boriss CILEVIČS.
So before I call the vote, I have to remind the Assembly that the effect of the objection of Mr Arkadiusz MULARCZYK would be to refer the list of candidates from Poland nominated for election to be judges back to the Committee on the election of judges to the European Court of Human Rights.
Those who wish to support this objection should vote "YES". Those who do not want to support objection and agree to reject a list of candidates should vote "NO".
A simple majority will decide this question. So I would like to declare the vote as open.
Okay, the vote is closed and I would like to call for the result to be displayed. If the objection is agreed to, the matter will be referred back to the Committee but the result is positive 25, against 43 and abstentions 11.
So that means that the objection is rejected.
I would like to ask if there are further objections. I do not see any.
So thank you very much.
Then we go to the joint debate on two reports stemming from the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development.
The first is titled The right to be heard: child participation, a foundation for democratic societies and it will be presented by Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY.
The second is titled Inaction on climate change – a violation of children's rights (Document 15436) and that will be presented by Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN.
We will also hear from three young people who have been invited to address the Assembly. In order to finish the debates by 6:30 p.m. we must interrupt the speakers at about 5:50 p.m. to allow time for the replies and also for the vote.
I call now Baroness MASSEY rapporteur to present her first report. You have seven minutes to present and then you will have three minutes to reply to the debate.
Not yet? Then I will start with Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN. Is she also online?
Okay, the Baroness is, in the meantime here online.
You have the floor.
(Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2)
The time between the Progress Report from the previous session and the current report is as short as ever. Nevertheless, this traditional three-month interval seems to be twice and thrice longer than in the past, and the reason is that many thoughts and questions have arisen in recent months. The main purpose of these reflections is the future opportunities for the development of independence in young democracies and the work that the Council of Europe needs to do in this direction, the need to give a new impetus to the activities of the organization.
The Council of Europe was established at a critical stage in the history of the world and the continent, arose as a historical necessity, and after the Second World War, during the Cold War, it provided unprecedented services in regulating the political balance in the world and on the continent.
The second important stage in the history of the Council of Europe, another serious test of its responsibility to the world and Europe, took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With the collapse of the socialist camp, the emergence of a chain of new independent states and the accession of most of them to the Council of Europe, history has set new important tasks for this organization.
The Council of Europe has made an extremely significant contribution to the development of young democracies, and the short-term formation of democratic values and institutions in countries that have regained their independence after 70 years of totalitarian rule.
My opinion is that we have now entered a very delicate and decisive third stage in the history of the Council of Europe, concerning the future fate and development of these democracies. And this stage imposes more accountability on the Council of Europe than ever before.
The first factor that stands before our current and future progress reports and shows what development is, must be our contribution to protecting these new democracies and their independence from external threats and real dangers. These threats and dangers are already visible on an ever-increasing scale. It is wrong to react to them only with statements. Time obliges the Council of Europe to take a consistent and decisive position at this historical stage. I wish that in each new Progress Report we witness consistent and serious efforts by the Council of Europe in this direction - protecting and strengthening new democracies, new successes and steps that can be assessed as an indicator of genuine progress.
(Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2)
Dear Colleagues,
Today, I want to draw your attention to problems related to the role of the Council of Europe on the international scene.
It is obvious to me that the world map is defined by two unconstructive trends: the rising level of confrontation and the continuing decline of democracy. In the twenty-first century, as humanity has entered into a new stage of development, many states continue to solve matters by force, including war. Many here know that in 2020, Azerbaijan unleashed a war against the people of the Artsakh Republic. After the 1994 ceasefire, Azerbaijan decided once again to use force to deprive the Armenian people of Artsakh of the right to self-determination, engaging in a second large-scale war in the course of three decades. Azerbaijan is the one that, in violation of Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, has been regularly invading my country’s territory since May 2021. I am referring to a member stage of the Council of Europe, which commits all these acts against another member state.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Many experts have stated that the Council of Europe is losing much of its reputation and prestige in the member states. The alarming trend is that the Council of Europe is starting to be viewed not as a platform for dialogue and cooperation. With its current format and substance, the Council of Europe cannot be a stage for the greatest confrontation of value systems in the world order since the end of the Cold War. Western democracies strive for a new ultraliberal context of human rights and freedoms, while countries of the East try to preserve their sovereignty in the context of conservative traditions and norms of social life. All of us in the Council of Europe need to appreciate and accept responsibility so that geographically-driven new value paradigms do not lead to a confrontation that may take countless human lives. Lives that are the substance of our organization.
Thank you very much Madam President.
Good afternoon friends and colleagues. I regret that I cannot be in Strasbourg today, but nevertheless it is a great pleasure to present this report to you.
I want today to share with you some of the key issues in the report, and listen to your contributions. I know that we can, with European partners, create a new impetus for working with children to enable them to understand about children’s rights and about the political structures which enable those rights, including the Council of Europe.
More than one Parliamentarian has said to me, “How can we expect to have knowledgeable voters and people who take voting seriously if we don’t educate them when they are young?” And children say they like talking to parliamentarians who show an interest in their concerns, and who explain what their role is as politicians.
Following recommendations from the PACE Social Affairs Committee, the Assembly has said that children should be consulted in preparation of reports relevant to them. This could be through written responses, participation in hearings, focus groups or Parliamentary networks. This would be a huge step forward.
It has been a delight to see the enthusiasm of children who have actively contributed their views on child participation in seminars and meetings. They have been inspired and aided by dedicated teachers, youth workers and Parliamentarians. The Parliamentarians working on this initiative have been superbly supported by the secretariat of the Committee on Social Affairs. This support has been ably coordinated by Yulia Pererva.
The efforts by Lord Simon Russell in the UK, Senator Joe O’Reilly in Ireland, Martine Wonner and Jennifer de Temmerman in France have been the backbone of the initiative described in this report and have provided insights into engaging with children. Children are contributing to a child friendly version of the report, drafted by Ireland. We have also had contributions from other countries represented on the PACE sub committee on children. Thank you all for your determination to work in difficult circumstances: I mean, of course, in the context of COVID which made actual contact with children and professionals difficult. Much of the original plans for the initiative had to be abandoned but much has been accomplished and much has been learned, as I hope is apparent in the report. In particular, I would highlight the expressed concerns about encouraging the participation of vulnerable children – those from deprived backgrounds, those who have a disability, those who are hard to reach, and those subject to discrimination or prejudice due to a variety of factors such as ethnicity, sexuality, gender and origins.
There is much good practice to build on. In this initiative, Parliamentarians have associated themselves with, a school, a youth organisation or community structure, to find out what is happening already. There is often a key person in the school, club or community who will know how best a Parliamentarian can support their work. Some organisations are already doing work on children’s rights, some teach about local and national politics, the rights of the child are set out in the UN Convention on children’s rights. For example, children’s rights to be involved in decisions made on issues which affect them; the right to good quality health care and good standards of the environment, including clean water and nutritious food; the right to education and a good standard of living; the right to legal help; the right to protection from abuse and cruelty; protection from work that is dangerous or may affect their education; if children are refugees their rights should be respected in line with the rights of all children. All countries represented in this Assembly have ratified, or are in the process of ratifying, these clauses. Children’s rights are not about children being pampered or excused for bad behaviour. Knowing about children’s rights involves learning about respect for oneself and for others. Children’s rights are intimately connected to local and national political structures – for example seeking protection for places to play and learn, reducing violence in communities, improving the environment.
I have seen examples of these initiatives being carried out between Parliamentarians, teachers, youth workers and children in many different contexts – for example, in Strasbourg, children have presented petitions to local senior politicians about their right to be able to live in peaceful communities, in Ireland, local projects across the country explain and carry out work on children’s and political involvement. In London, a UNICEF Rights Respecting School teaches about rights and responsibilities throughout the school and older children visit local primary schools to discuss rights and responsibilities. Many schools have school councils run by children themselves. Some Parliaments, including Austria and the UK have education departments with outreach work into schools carried out by Parliamentarians. These examples, and others are described in the report.
What might be the next steps for this Assembly? Based on my findings. I offer some suggestions:
- The Council of Europe might set up a panel of Parliamentarians, chaired by a senior figure, undertake an audit of existing examples of child participation and recommend future developments;
- The CoE could restate its support for promoting children’s rights and collaboration with other European structures in developing a vision of how we can realistically develop coherent action and evaluate impact;
- A European seminar could be held whose task it would be to discuss and develop an approach for encouraging more child participation built on known good practice and already existing skills from, for example, Eurochild, UNICEF’s Rights Respecting Schools programme and from our own Children’s Rights Division;
- Training of trainers and the development of support groups at local levels could be useful in supporting and developing professionals working in child participation in Europe. This could become a network to enhance knowledge of child rights and of political structures nationally and in Europe and share good practices.
We have shown, during the difficult situations resulting from the COVID pandemic, how we can work imaginatively and powerfully to maintain and develop contacts across Europe and, indeed across the world. More children professionals have become involved with each other. We can build on this and use what we know and believe in to enhance the rights of the child and knowledge of the valuable work we do as the Council of Europe to promote democratic societies. I look forward to a fruitful debate.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:44:09
Thank you very much, Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY for respecting the time that was given to you.
I now try to give the floor again to Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN and she is the rapporteur for the second report.
You also have 7 minutes.
Good morning to all of you, dear colleagues,
I would like to begin by extending my best wishes for the year 2022.
I am pleased to be able to discuss this joint debate with Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY whose work I admire and respect for her unwavering commitment to children's rights. We will be able to link our work and discuss together, albeit remotely, this report on the links between climate inaction and the rights of the child. I would like to start by saying that in the last two years, the pandemic has completely challenged all our ways of working and all our certainties.
A year ago, we voted on another of my reports in which we collectively committed ourselves not to exert political, social, psychological or other pressure on populations. Today, we are obliged to note that these good resolutions have fallen one after the other in a certain number of states and that a certain number of our citizens are seeing their rights called into question in the name of fighting the pandemic.
I am making what may seem to you, dear colleagues, an aside because I am worried because every infringement of human rights that we can justify, no matter how small it may seem to you, no matter what justifications you want to give, creates an irremediable precedent capable of justifying all present or future infringements. Let us be careful not to destroy in two years what our predecessors took more than 70 years to build.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) alerts us to the fact that we have entered the era of pandemics. It also provides us with avenues to fight against them, slow them down and reduce their effects. In particular, strong measures must be taken to fight against climate change, deforestation and loss of biodiversity, all of which are gas pedals of these pandemics. This shows how topical the report I am about to present to you is. It must not remain a declaration of good intentions but lead us to action.
The children are calling us to action through their protest as citizens. They ask us to finally act to protect them from extreme situations already visible or others, perhaps more in Europe, to come if we continue not to act. They ask us to better respect their fundamental rights and especially to recognize them as actors of the ecological transition, the absolute necessity of which no one can doubt anymore.
The "Fridays for future" demonstrations have provoked political reactions in all countries. They have also triggered a wide-ranging discussion within our Assembly: for example, on the participation of children in debates and the taking of positions on issues that concern them; this is the work of Baroness Massey's report. We have also had debates on the subject of the quality of life of future generations in the face of environmental disruption. But all this is not new. Our young people's concerns about climate change are not new. Severn Cullis-Suzuki was already questioning this issue in 1992. Thirty years ago, at the Rio Summit. She was barely older than me. She was 12, I was 15. What has been done since then? Will my son be obliged to make this same speech in 30 years? Will he still be able to?
Faced with our inaction and that of our predecessors, it is important to restore trust between generations and especially between the political world and children to act together against climate change. This is why the primary objective of this report is to bring their voice to the table: that of 2.2 billion people in the world, i.e. almost one third of the population. Climate change is depriving them of essential elements for their well-being, health and development: access to water, food, housing, education... It aggravates inequalities and compromises the future of future generations.
However, the international community has adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Goal 13, dedicated to the fight against climate change. It has concluded the Paris Agreement on climate change, now ratified by all the countries of the Council of Europe. I congratulate Turkey, by the way, for ratifying this agreement last October. This same community has recognized the rights of the child through the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely ratified treaty in history. But we must admit that our States continue to move too slowly to honor their commitments and apply these texts. This is the observation that can be made after the 26 annual conferences on climate change and the repeated warnings of the panel of scientists. Our lifestyles, the overconsumption of resources, our economic activities with a disastrous environmental footprint risk triggering chaos on the planet. We are deepening our debt to our children and future generations.
This report has been prepared according to a certain methodology by collecting testimonies and proposals from children, we have held two hearings and participated in thematic debates during the World Democracy Forum dedicated throughout 2021 to the subject of democracy to the rescue of the environment. In our Assembly, we debated and voted on recommendations to better protect the right to a healthy environment, as well as to create a parliamentary network to regularly exchange on "green" rights and climate action.
The fight against climate change remains a top priority for young people in Europe and around the world. According to UNICEF, nearly one billion children live in areas threatened by climate change and environmental degradation. Their consequences could kill 250 000 more children each year between now and 2100. Nearly 90% of the world's children suffer from air pollution, a phenomenon that is linked to climate change and that seriously affects children's health. I remind you that at the end of November 2020, the European Court of Human Rights requested the "priority" examination of the appeal of six young Portuguese, who accuse 33 European states of failing to meet their climate commitments. In France, on October 14, 2021, the State was condemned for its failures in the fight against climate change.
I also welcome the recent decision of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, which found that a State could be held responsible, as long as it was a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, for its climate inaction. So we are on the right track, we have some ideas.
My report aims to strengthen this link between the political world and the young generation on the challenge of climate change. Society should listen more carefully to children and involve them in the development of policies and measures to combat climate change.
On this International Education Day, I also wanted to emphasize the special role of schools in providing children with information and tools for action.
Our Assembly could also engage in a dialogue with children on climate action and environmental protection through the parliamentary network dedicated to this subject, following the work of Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY.
I guess I'll have to conclude by thanking the committee administrators and the department for their help. Thank you.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:52:12
Thank you very much, Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN.
As I said before, now we have some young people commenting on the two reports and I would now like to welcome VANI from the United Kingdom, ORNA from Ireland and JÉRÉMY from France, who will each address the Assembly for two minutes.
I first invite VANI to address the Assembly. You have the floor.
Thank you very much.
My name is Vani Patel and I'm in year 12 at Burntwood school. Thank you for having me today.
I believe meaningful child participation is when children's views are taken on serious issues that concern them, and the subsequent views are taken into consideration when drafting legislation. Otherwise that's a publicity stunt, and that's meaningless and inefficient.
As the UNICEF called Rights Respecting School, the UNICEF Ambassador in our school actually helped write the curriculum, making it more engaging and making sure that the students learned about their rights as laid out in the United Nations Conventions on the Right of the Child.
Most of the work in the school revolves around Article 12, ensuring that every student and their ideas are taken seriously. The ambassadors also decide what projects they want to work on.
Recently our school created shelter boxes containing essentials for families and refugees from Afghanistan so that they would have the essentials they needed to start their new life in the UK.
Our students also visit local primary schools to deliver lessons about children's rights.
Another example of student participation is the student magazine The Burntwood Biweekly, which is written by the students for the students.
There are very few limitations on what the students can write about making it a true representation of the school. They can be read online for free and with free copies from the library making it completely accessible.
We have a student council with representatives from every year group that works to continue to improve the school by working with caterers to improve the local restaurant in our school.
Lastly, we can also decide what money to spend on in our school, like our eco-group, who worked to lower our impact on the planet, and inequities group and many other leadership opportunities for our students to positively influence the community through meaningful participation.
Thank you.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:54:44
Thank you very much, VANI.
Then I give the floor now to ORNA to address the assembly.
ORNA, you have to floor.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, Dia Diabh,
My name is Orna, and I’m from Ireland.
Not all countries are aware of the valuables they are surrounded by, and I’m not talking about gold, oil or even cobalt for electric cars which is said to be the future however, you do have a value that you should embrace, before you miss out.
What is this value you may be thinking? Well, it is the minds of the children who will grow up and become the fuel of our countries.
If we learned anything from the research shown in this report, is that we should be investing in our nations’ children because if we continue to listen, promote and support them in decision’s that impact their futures we will reinforce the strengths of democracy.
The Council of Europe will gain a new perspective on how their actions affect children. We children can become the 48th voice of The Council of Europe. The more children views are consulted the more will they appreciate in value.
The imaginative and innovative ideas that are created in a child’s mind are an infinite resource.
If there is one thing for sure it’s that whenever children are included the future is positive.
Is this not what you want for the future of our countries? So why would you oppose a resource that is interested, willing and eager to work with you.
All you must do is open the right doors to the right rooms and allow young minds to help resolve old problems.
So, what we have envisioned is that for every report going forward from the day this bill is passed.
We will hear and see children working alongside parliamentarians from the start to finish of the democratic process.
We see children at the forefront.
Thank you.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:56:47
Thank you very much, ORNA. And I now invite JÉRÉMY to address the assembly.
JÉRÉMY, you have the floor, I think it's in French.
Hello to all,
I am Jérémy DAVID, I am a member of the youth council of the city of Strasbourg.
As a preamble to my speech, I would like to come back to the work and reflections of the Youth Council on the measures to be taken to fight against climate change.
After having taken cognizance of human rights, we concluded that the protection and preservation of the planet was everyone's responsibility, and that the current situation was "non-assistance to a planet in danger". To put an end to this lack of reaction and to incite governments to act, we believe that it would be judicious to add the rights of the planet to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In addition, we propose concrete measures to fight against climate change:
- Reducing the amount of plastic used for packaging in supermarkets.
- The installation of a deposit system in countries that do not have one.
- A generalization of the collection of bio-waste.
As young people can also have an influence on public opinion, for example when 25 young people from the Strasbourg Youth Council took part in the climate strike in Stockholm following the footsteps of Greta THUNBERG, on November 5, 2021 during the COP-26 and the World Democracy Forum, we decided to continue our commitments to push decision-makers to take measures leading to laws in favor of the planet's rights.
And it is in this perspective that we will be able to cooperate with Parliaments, we have taken our time to propose concrete measures and to commit ourselves to the climate. Now it is your turn, would you be ready to commit to take our proposals seriously and bring them to your respective parliaments, would you be ready to come and dialogue with young people, all over your countries, and listen to their proposals as you have done with us.
We have proven our motivation and we are ready to continue our work and to come and speak before the Senate and the National Assembly as we have just done in front of you, now it is up to you to play and to make serious commitments.
Thank you for your attention, we are counting on you.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
16:59:18
Thank you very much.
You were all three so disciplined to engage in the two minutes which were given to you. I thank you. I thank VANI, ORNA and JÉRÉMY.
It was the first public political event for you, I think, and you shared with us your clear comments.
I would like to thank you for your expertise.
I will now start the speakers list.
First of all, the speakers on behalf of the political groups.
Let me have a look.
I give the floor to the first speaker.
He is online.
Mr Joseph O'REILLY.
Ireland, EPP/CD, Spokeperson for the group
17:00:17
Yes, can you hear me, Madam President? Thank you.
At the outset, can I congratulate Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY, my good friend, on an outstanding report. Can I also similarly congratulate Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN. I want to thank and congratulate my Irish friends, members of our national youth movement, for your involvement at all stages of the preparation of both these reports. I am naturally particularly proud of ORNA O'BRIAN from Cork, who has properly challenged us today.
On the vote on the UN United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the strategy for the rights of children Council of Europe 2020-27, the UN Agenda for sustainable goals, cited by Ms DE TEMMERMAN, and indeed other international instruments and statements, children should have their views taken into account and have a part in decision-making, particularly when the decisions potentially impact on them.
As with issues around climate change, cited in Ms DE TEMMERMAN's report, education and many others, currently, young people are involved considerably in the schools, etc., but that has become the norm. This must be extended into other areas. Child participation builds capacity, it builds confidence and identification with democratic institutions. In this regard, it is of course vital that we involve vulnerable young people also. We need participation mechanisms for people under 18 in local government, central government and within the voluntary sector.
Our responsibility here is to commit to and act on child participation within the Council of Europe and the EPP not only supports this report but is committed to this.
Children can be involved in hearings on reports impacting on them, children can make written and online submissions, children can present in the hemicycle, we should have a proactive policy on youth participation and regular organised visits by young people to this building and hemicycle. They should witness our pursuing of the Council of Europe values first hand and make submissions to the Council of Ministers also on implementation.
At a time when we have an existential threat to our democratic system across Europe, it is vital that we strengthen it. Child participation, as in young people under 18, is fundamental to all of that. When we satisfy ourselves that we have measured up here in the Council of Europe, we must work at national level to maximise youth participation at local, regional and national government level and within NGOs. There should be a constant review mechanism with capacity building for those charged with the facilitating of young people.
Let us leave here this evening committed to acting on this and there is no point in talking about it without acting. So that is the proper tribute we could pay to Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY's extraordinary work down the years, would be to immediately act on all of this. And I know that myself, and Ms DE TEMMERMAN and I know most, or a taking numbers of the Assembly realised that the great challenge of the moment is to get our young people actively participant with us. And I look forward to that happening and certainly I echo the views of all my EPP colleagues in that regard.
Thank you, indeed, Madam President.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:04:04
Thank you, chair. Now I am not going to call myself as the next speaker because I have moved up in here.
So we will move onto to Ms Fiona O'LOUGHLIN also from Ireland.
Ireland, ALDE, Spokeperson for the group
17:04:24
Thank you very much Chair and excuse me because my laptop is powering down and that is exactly where I have my words written down. But just to say at the very start of this, that I really want to thank Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY for her incredible work that she has done and also Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN. The reports and the research that they have done are absolutely top class. And the three speakers that we have had ORNA, JÉRÉMY and the first speaker, I think were absolutely excellent. They have given us really strong ideas that we could push in place and I think it is important that when conditions allow that we have the opportunity to invite them here to one of our plenaries so that they could see democracy in action.
In terms of the United Nations declarations back in 1989 that made it very clear that we need to listen to the voices of young people, that they have a right to be heard and to be consulted and to be listened to. When we think about it that was more than 30 years ago and I know that many governments around the world have grappled with that and it is important that we support them and that we help give the tools. And in fact, the report from the Baroness certainly gives very strong suggestions in relation to that.
When we think about all of the young people right around the world, we are living in a time where we have the greatest number of young people in history. So we have young people just brimming with creativity, with energy and with ideas and that was witnessed by our three speakers. I think there is no doubt that if we listened in the appropriate way that would be of tremendous benefit to our population and our society.
In relation to the climate change crisis that we are facing and the importance of listening to young people, this is one area where we absolutely see our young people as actors of change. When we see what Greta Thunberg and her colleagues have done in relation to challenging us to listen to them and also to saying, "We want you, we need you to take action". It is also interesting to see that in India and Pakistan and South Korea, that young people have actually sued their governments because they believe they are not doing enough in terms of climate change. So I think that this is an area where young people and children are not waiting to be consulted. They are saying, "This is our number one agenda. This is what we want you to do". So it is very important that we listen, that we engage and that we act.
Thank you Mr Chair.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:07:51
Thank you very much, Fiona.
We now go online to Mr Antón GÓMEZ-REINO from Spain.
Spain, UEL, Spokeperson for the group
17:08:11
Good afternoon.
First of all I would like to say how very positive are these particular reports and their focus on the participation of young people in politics. Also, in the linking of inaction on climate change and a violation of children's rights.
This is a kind of self-criticism I do feel.
Our decisions as regards to young people ought to be more ambitious.
In our case, this is very positive that we focus right now on young people and children in the participatory process of democracy and climate change.
As adults, in our families and in our societies, it is absolutely clear that we have to play a very important role as far as including young people in politics. In all decisions. Decisions as far as economic models.
We have to make it very clear that no young person is free or has the same opportunities of democratic participation, that is to say, in economic systems that generate inequality.
Young people who have to fight poverty, exclusion, inequality. They can't participate either. So decisions that we make with regards to civil rights are decisions that will affect young people. Governments have to protect our children, our boys and girls, particularly those who are on the margin, who are members of minorities. Sexual minorities, or linguistic, or ethnic minorities.
When we have this protection, then we include them. When we create, however, barriers, on these various different fronts, we exclude them from the political participation process as well.
I think it's very important for us to take into consideration the relevance of our decisions on the climate front.
The decisions of today will facilitate or will create huge impediments for boys and girls of the future. Boys and girls which are indeed mobilising in order to create a better future for themselves. We have to facilitate them and not the opposite.
I think it is very important to really focus on young people and not to be centred on ourselves as adults.
Remember the very important contribution that young people have to make and the very importance of the decisions we make all together with regard to the future. The future are young people indeed.
So participation in general to take place, social structures have to be there. Material welfare has to be there as well for everybody.
Of course the Parliamentary Assembly has to make all efforts possible to guarantee the participation of young people to create a future of sustainability for them above all, for the boys and girls of the future.
Thank you very much.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:11:29
Thank you, Antón.
And now the last of our political speakers is Mr Fourat BEN CHIKHA from Belgium.
Belgium, SOC, Spokeperson for the group
17:11:41
Dear colleagues, I would first like to thank our rapporteurs Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY and Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN for an excellent work and for raising such an important issue.
The right to a safe, clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a fundamental human right. However, 2.2 billion children worldwide are at risk. They are increasingly deprived of their right to healthcare, food, water, and quality education.
During an international conference a few years ago I met a 16 year old boy from Bangladesh. He shared that due to the climate crisis he was already certain at the point that it would be impossible for him and his family to continue living in his current home. They would be forced to leave behind their livelihoods and move to a different part of Bangladesh where they would be faced with other different challenges.
Climate change, as you know, is not an equal battle. Its disproportionately affects the most vulnerable. Financial and technological assistance is crucial in assisting and supporting the poorest and most climate vulnerable countries, to help them adapt to climate change and to reduce its effects on children to deal with the ecological crisis.
The story of the young boy from Bangladesh is a lived reality for millions of people. We should work together to establish an international legal status for environmental refugees, and to protect these victims of forced migration.
I want to salute the work of my colleague Mr Simon MOUTQUIN on his report adopted just a few months ago on anchoring the rights of a healthy environment. It's not a privilege to live a healthy and sustainable life.
Politicians have to realise that the fight against climate change is also a fight for the future of our children.
Children should be informed and educated on the challenges of the climate crisis.
Member states should ensure that schools equip children with tools, knowledge, and skills to participate in decision making processes as well as the ecological transition, and make them sensitive about the protection of our planet.
Therefore, we need a children's rights approach to combat climate change. That is exactly what this report calls for.
But mostly, nothing about children and youngsters without them in the decision-making process.
It's our responsibility as adults to tackle climate change more strongly. Our actions should match our words.
That is also exactly what the next generation is expecting from us.
Finally, I would like to thank those youngsters that have taken the floor. The wake up call will hopefully lead to more action.
Thank you.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:14:56
Thank you very much.
That brings to an end the speakers on behalf of political groups. And we now move on to the general list of speakers. And the first of those is Ms Zita GURMAI from Hungary.
I believe she is online.
Thank you very much.
Dear Colleagues,
Since the dawn of this century, we have been living the consequences of major global crises. After the 2008 financial crash, we had to realize the possible consequences of climate inaction. And now humanity faces a global pandemic that has disrupted our lives.
In the case of globalization and climate change, children have been very vocal. With the leadership of Greta Thunberg, TIMES’s Person of the Year in 2019 for her activism in the fight against climate change, a global children’s movement has been growing. Or Malala Yousafzai is the face of girls’ education after being attacked for her views in Afghanistan. Children have been telling us, adults that our action is unsatisfactory. We cannot deny them our understanding: they will be the ones to enjoy or suffer the consequences of our current decisions.
We often say that children are our future, and even if it is a commonplace, it is true. Are we ready to act on this unequivocal consensus? I believe we should. It is our moral obligation not to take decisions without involving all concerned parties.
The real issue is involving kids in decisions that influence their own lives. Oh, it is so easy to say that kids should let the adults do what they have to do. I still remember when I was a 16 year-old kid. Yes, I was already filled with hopes, a bursting energy and a worldview that I could not properly express because adults, as usual, scorned kids for being kids. Do we want to be like the adults who suppressed our own youthful dreams and wants? No, we don’t.
Besides, it is in our rational interest to involve kids in politics. When children turn 18, they are electors who validate or reject our ideas, opinions and decisions, they are the ones who challenge us as politicians. Yes, they are the ones who fire or hire us. And, sometimes, they are the ones to decide to run, themselves!
Being a citizen of a democratic country is a big deal in an age when democracy is fragile and shrinks back to the darkness of illiberalism. It implicates a responsibility that has to be taught, and, first of all, taught by example. Let us help our children learn to be citizens before they are electors.
Another commonplace we all unequivocally agree on is that we we want to leave a better world for our children. But let us agree on one more thing: we have to give our kids the tools so that they can leave a better world for their children as well. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is our responsibility.
Children are not tools, they are not campaign objects. Yes, they are often used as such, like in my country right now, but such practices should be despised and condemned. Kids are important, kids are bright, and they demand to have a say. It is our moral obligation to hear them, and if you do not care about morals, remember that it is in our political interest to listen to them.
That is why I support this resolution.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:18:28
Thank you, indeed.
Now we move to France with Mr Alain MILON, who is also online.
The floor is yours.
Oh, he is not online.
So we move on to Ms Sevinj FATALIYEVA, who I think is also online.
Ladies and gentlemen.
Dear Mr President, the variety of forms of voluntary participation of children in decision-making processes on issues affecting their interest, ensuring openness and setting standards for such participation are the key to improving the quality of life not only for children but for society as a whole.
The rights of the child could be heard and taken seriously as one of the four main principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The right to express one's opinion should be supported by the right to participate in the implementation of the decision taken, which is a form of active citizenship.
The foundation of this participation, as well as the foundation of cultivating civic consciousness and awareness of oneself as a person, endowed with rights and duties, laid in the family. But unfortunately, we do understand that due to family traditions and the mentality of some parents, the involvement of children in solving daily issues, as a rule, doesn't occur. That's why society has so far been unable to make participation the norm for all children and youth.
The most progressive view is that children and young people have the right to participate in decision-making in the family, at school, and in cultural and sports organisations. But we have to think about a much broader understanding of child participation: in local and national governments, in international organisations.
It's well known that in real life it's far from reality where parents, teachers, educators and officials ask for children's opinions for solving children's problems.
I think that this report is called to change the situation. The initiative is based on the fact that the opinion of children is taken into account in the formation of policies. Children become more active players in determining important areas such as protecting children from violence, keeping children safe in the digital space, and many other topics that are today very important for the well-being of children.
In most cases, the participation of children in society is carried out on the terms of adults. Also the work of us parliamentarians, parliaments, and children councils can also be organised.
My country, Azerbaijan, has a very successful experience in this. Since 2009, a children's forum has been launched. It is held every three years, as well as children ambassador institutes, that play an important role in delivering the problems and the views of the children which are discussed among the children. I think that is a very important issue.
We have to think about which decisions do we have to provide children who participated. First of all involvement of children as mediators in resolving various conflicts, in making decisions regarding the elimination of the problems of violence. Whether its domestic, whether it is online violence, whether it's bullying, in making decisions regarding the choice of education, in problems of ecology as it was mentioned here.
That's why I call on the member states to take this report extremely important and extremely seriously and implement the key points in their countries so that we can improve our policies by hearing children and listening to children based on their opinions and vision.
Thank you very much for your attention.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:22:53
Thank you very much.
Now we go to Ukraine with Ms Lesia VASYLENKO, who is also online.
Dear Colleagues, Mr President,
Let me first applaud both rapporteurs on their excellent work, which tackles many important yet difficult issues. Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN's report is especially valuable in its aim to find a balance between topics thought previously incompatible. Our honourable colleague has made a great attempt to marry environmental rights as economic interests and build a bridge between the need of present and future generations.
The discussion we are having this afternoon is especially timely after the Assembly adopted its breakthrough Resolution 2396 in Autumn last year, whereby it recognised almost unanimously the right to a clean, safe and healthy environment as a human right for all to enjoy. As the world is facing an increase in temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions, it stands true that environmental rights could well become the most important rights of the 21st century. Our job today, colleagues, is to make sure that all human beings are granted equal access to these rights not only today but in the years to come. Our actions today shape the world our children and our children's children will be living in tomorrow. Our unwillingness to change behaviour patterns and amend the industrial status quo has already led to drastic consequences in every corner of the planet. Shortages of food, water; unbreathable air, floods, and droughts are some examples. The continued use of fossil fuels has led to irreversible changes in our planet's climate, which first and foremost, impact the livelihood of most vulnerable groups, which of course include children. When I read through the report, I was not at all surprised to learn that 41% of children do not trust adults to make the climate crisis decisions for them. My prediction is that this number will continue to grow along with the number of cases of the likes of Duarte Agostinho against 33 Council of Europe member States that is now being under consideration in the European Court of Human Rights. As Germany gives a green light to Russian Nord Stream 2, the fossil fuel project executed was high‑energy security and environmental risks for the whole region, as the Balkan States. In fact, my own country, Ukraine, remains Europe's biggest air polluters by running coal-powered power stations. As the overall phase-out of fossil fuels is postponed every year despite the many pledges to implement the Green Deal agenda, the youth and the children have every right to doubt and be angry and to put forward claims against governments. It is our job in this Assembly to build a framework enabling young generations to participate equally in decision making.,
Eventually, the examples from France, Ireland, Azerbaijan, Nordic states should be generalised and framed as Assembly recommendations for truly all-encompassing and age-neutral participatory democracy to be set up at national level in all Council of Europe member States.
With that said, dear colleagues, I would like to go back for a very brief moment to read the report of Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY on the rights of children to be heard. I would like to point out that Amendment 2 as proposed by Mr Vladimir KRUGLYI, as all other of his amendments, contradicts the very essence of the report. To ask governments and parliaments to merely consider children's views rather than actually ensure children's views are taken into account shall in the end do nothing for children's rights.
For this reason, I propose that the Assembly reject this amendment in the same way as it has done with all other amendments of the same author: amendments which were directed at the mitigation of the governments' obligations to respect children rights to participatory democracy.
Thank you very much. I give the floor back to you, Mr President.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:27:19
Thank you very much.
And the next speaker is Ms Marina CAROBBIO GUSCETTI, who is also online.
She is coming.
Esteemed President,
I apologize for the technical difficulties, colleagues, dear young participants.
Promoting the active participation of children and young people in society and political life is necessary and urgent. Therefore, I would also like to thank the rapporteurs, Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY and Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN for their important reports and insightful work.
Young people are an important resource on which unfortunately nowadays even politics relies little, although our decisions are central to their present and future.
Climate and pandemic show us how important it is to include young people in decision-making processes. The passivity of governments in addressing the climate crisis creates feelings of misunderstanding and abandonment among young people. It creates distrust in the future and also in politics.
Even pandemic containment measures have partly ignored the basic need of young people to have social relationships, for example. Our policy decisions or even non-decisions have a real and important impact on young people's lives.
Young people are interested in political life and policy choices, though. We heard this even with the interventions of the three young people today.
So we need to provide them with spaces to discuss, opportunities to express themselves and be heard. In this sense, youth parliaments are certainly privileged opportunities for training in democracy. In Switzerland, for example, we have the possibility for young people to bring petitions to which the Parliament, the Federal Assembly, must respond. Because it's not enough to listen to them, you also have to take their requests seriously and you have to give answers.
This is the only way to feel included and considered
Having said that, I think it is important that in our work, in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, young people are also listened to and included. I was very pleased to hear the Baroness' proposal to do panels with young people.
Young people are a heterogeneous category, a mirror of society. We must value their diversity and make sure that all voices are heard, especially those who live in disadvantaged conditions, vulnerable minors.
During my term as President of the Swiss Parliament, I have met several times with young people and also with a delegation of more than thirty children from the ATD Quart Monde movement. They told me about how difficult it is to live in poverty, in war or foster care settings. They were the words of those who have experienced or directly experience difficult conditions.
Words that must lead to elaborate and discuss with young people, with children, answers.
Young people today asked us, when they spoke, to dialogue with them. Well, I hope that with the adoption of the resolutions, this dialogue will be taken seriously and carried through to the end.
"Young people are our future", if we really believe this, it is good to recognize and give concrete importance to their voice, allowing them to bring creativity and boldness to the political debate.
Thank you.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:31:30
Thank you very much.
And now we have, Ms Hajnalka JUHÁSZ from Hungary.
I believe that she is online.
So the present report on Inaction on climate change – a violation of children's rights – touches upon two remarkable topics: environmental protection, as well as children's and future generation rights, that were put into the centerpiece of the previous Hungarian Council of Europe presidency as well.
This topic is vital for the future of nation or continent, as well as humankind in general.
The rapporteur also deems it necessary to address sustainability issues along with the protection of the rights of minors. In this regard this approach is not worth the undeserved due attention.
Climate change has a serious impact on the lives of young people and children. Ultimately, their very future may depend on whether we can tackle climate change or not. Thus we have our common responsibility to act.
In line with the above highlighted principles, whomever I'm afraid that the rapporteur might to some extent have drawn some wrong conclusions about the potential responses to the challenges; that underscores the introduction of climate refugee status and the elaboration of a legally binding definition of climate or environmental refugees at an international and European level.
I would like to quote Resolution 1655 from 2009 of this Assembly: environmentally induced migration identified this phenomenon as a challenge and stipulated a massive migration, for environmental reasons may affect environmental conditions based in areas of origin and destination, as well as the transit routes in between.
The same resolution highlighted that mass migration can have a negative impact, including an escalation [of the] humanitarian crisis, rapid urbanisation so to say slum growth and stagnant development.
The issue of climate change and environmental degradation can and shall not be linked to migration. In my point of view it seems to be a risky and impenetrable exercise to create a legal definition of so-called climate refugees, a notion far too vague without considering the probable foreseeable adverse and undesirable effects.
We are all aware that the climate crisis needs an immediate response. Hungary is firmly committed to Agenda 2030 because we believe that by reaching the sustainable development goals, we will be able to create an appropriate environment for every child.
Thank you very much indeed.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:34:26
Thank you very much indeed.
And now we go to Mr Ahmet Ünal ÇEVİKÖZ.
Thank you, Mr President.
Mr President, distinguished members of the Assembly, allow me first and foremost, to express my thanks and my appreciation to both rapporteurs Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY and Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN for the excellent reports they have prepared and presented. I support both reports, both draft resolutions, and both recommendations wholeheartedly.
I took the floor to comment and express my feelings on the report entitled Inaction on climate change – a violation of children's rights. I was particularly tempted by the mention of my country's name in the report among the five countries which stood accused of having recklessly used fossil fuels and failing to take measures to reduce greenhouse gases. Embarrassing, but maybe there is no reason for being embarrassed because I feel that younger generations in my country are much more attentive to and conscious of environmental circumstances and the future of our planet.
Last weekend, my granddaughter and I were having a conversation about nature. She is seven years old and she started elementary school in September. She seemed to be concerned about several issues related to our subject topic of today and asked me if there would be a shortage of water in the country in the future when she grows older. I was careful in giving her all the reassurance I could so that she would not be in stress. I said I, as well as her parents, would do everything necessary to ensure that she would not be concerned about such issues and that we would be taking care of her. Surprisingly, she responded in a very intelligent manner. She said, "Yes, Grandpa, I have no doubt about that but when I come to the age of my parents, they will be at your age, and you will be very old". This was a striking reminder to me but I was glad that at least she did not mention that I could not be around at all. Then she continued, "Don't you think, Grandpa, that is, we will be the ones to live more in the future? It is also important that we try to find a solution to such problems ourselves, starting now".
Distinguished colleagues, this is encouraging. My granddaughter is definitely not Greta Thunberg, at least not yet. But she definitely urged me to think once again that we adults tend to ignore children and their opinions assuming that they do not have the knowledge or wisdom. Well, that is not the case Ms DE TEMMERMAN's report mentions that 59% of children do not think their voices are being heard on climate change. It is also important to underline it is one of the very other important identifications in the report, the fact that if today's society continues to ignore calls for changing the human rights of 2.2 billion children could be irreversibly altered within the next decade. Irreversibly. Isn't it alarming enough?
Let's turn the most beautiful planet known in the universe back into a healthy blue sphere together with views of today for the future of our children.
Thank you.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:37:43
Thank you very much.
Now we go to Mr Pablo HISPÁN. Is he in the room?
No.
Then we move on to Ms Mónika BARTOS from Hungary, who I think is online.
No.
Ms Mónika BARTOS?
Then we go to Mr Fazil MUSTAFA.
We have somebody here.
Online.
Dear colleges, first of all I want to say thanks to both rapporteurs.
The Parliamentary Assembly calls that child participation is enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and is therefore an international legal obligation.
The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development acknowledges children's right to participation as an essential part of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Democratic societies cannot be built unless we listen to children.
Several countries have now established laws to approve voting at 16. It would seem logical that voting at the age of 16 would lead to a greater awareness of child's rights and political systems, and would encourage the teaching of civics and rights in schools and other youth sittings.
Listening to children is not about giving them free rein to do as they like. On the contrary, it enables children to think about their role in society and helps in boosting their ability to express themselves in appropriate ways.
The children involved considered that children knew best what their needs were; they should be involved in every discussion affecting them. Children felt that their participation had a substantial impact on their psychological development and positive implications for self-control, responsibility, communication skills, and the ability to perceive other's point of view as well as expressing one's own opinions.
The negative effects of not participating included high levels of uncertainty and anxiety.
Adults could help children prepare from an early age to make decisions by and for themselves by giving them freedom and the option to make choices while ensuring the necessary control and providing support.
Rethinking our possibilities for involving children in democratic societies could be refreshing and practical. I feel that now is a good time for us to assess what has been achieved and what we could further achieve.
Thank you for your attention.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:41:55
Thank you very much.
And now we stay online with Mr Ziya ALTUNYALDIZ from Turkey.
Thank you, Mr Chair,
I just would like to congratulate Mr Tiny KOX for his presidency, and I would like to thank Mr Rick DAEMS for his presidency and some hard effort put on climate change during his presidency.
Dear colleagues, the existential threat brought on climate change on humanity's future is first and foremost the violation of our children's rights. I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to the rapporteur for shedding light on the multi-faceted repercussion of the climate crisis on children. I firmly believe that this report will encourage governments to take necessary measures without further delay for mitigating the risk of climate change. As I indicated in my report titled Addressing issues of criminal and civil liability in the context of climate change has now become a global concern of humankind as climate change indicated in my report.
There is with valid reason, a clear anxiety among younger generations, and the older generations are responsible for ensuring intergenerational and climate justice. In this context, it is of utmost importance that we succeed in entering the human right to a safe, clean healthy and sustainable environment through national, European and international legal instruments.
Among many valuable recommendations of the report, I would like to emphasise the proposal for recognising children as agents of change based on this report. It is understood, I believe, we can construct a national and international platform for channelling the demands of children to concrete policy actions.
Recently, I participated at the world forum for democracy organized by PACE, where I had the opportunity to witness first-hand the dynamism and innovation of younger generations in tackling climate change. It is without that that children will be very keen to contribute to the policy discussions about climate change when we recognise them as agents of change.
Dear friends and Chairperson, to conclude, I believe PACE is playing a very important role in putting the international spotlight on climate change. This report, along with other reports, focused on climate change will be a catalyst for orienting the international community to address climate change. This report will constitute a robust basis for encouraging the member governments and parliaments to formulate policy decisions while upholding the rights of children, and I thank you.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:45:50
Thank you very much indeed.
And now it's Mr Pere LÓPEZ.
Thank you very much, Mr President.
First of all, I would like to congratulate our two rapporteurs Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY and Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN for the work that they have done and for having presented this new approach, this perspective of inaction on climate change as a violation of children's rights. It is important to look at it in this particular fashion.
Today the new generations are neither in a position of responsibility nor power. They're not in a position to protect their rights. They're not in a position to protect their futures, either. Their future is in our hands. Thus it is our responsibility to serve this generational group in the best possible fashion.
For this reason we ought to put these particular rights in the centre of our attention. It ought to be something that we focus on very, very carefully.
Indeed, this all has to be couched in a language which is comprehensible to all.
Now we have to look at these rights of the future not simply as rights of the future, but rights of the present.
That will take place with a whole series of decisions which have to be taken into consideration and made by us right now concerning the environment.
Thank you.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:47:31
Thank you very much indeed.
Now Ms Mariia MEZENTSEVA.
Dear Chair,
I'm lucky enough to speak on this very important topic which unites us all with no doubt of having a debate on it.
I highly salute the work of the rapporteurs which are not only touching upon basic human rights but also on a potential lowering down of the voting age.
We are facing now the youth generation, which is the Generation Z. At this very Plenary, in this very House, already back in 2021 at the Annual Forum on Democracy which has been organised for so many years here, we have heard that this Plenary gave an opportunity to so many children from all over the globe to raise their voice to talk about the climate and to talk about the challenges we have seen also today with these small interventions of very sharp timing of two minutes.
I would also like to complement the report with the fashion of taking these opportunities for children to take part in decision-making locally and internationally. Such examples can be regional councils which are developing across Europe, also in Ukraine.
We are seeing beautiful role-play models of the UN, of the European Council, and why not do models of PACE sometime in the future that can promote our organisation, get more youth acquainted with its functions, and maybe them, would be sitting here and voting, making very important decisions for the present and the future.
Thank you very much dear colleagues.
Taking this opportunity I would also like to make a technical comment. I ask you not to support Amendment 2 because it definitely decreases the insured rights of children in decision-making.
Thank you very much President and thank you to the rapporteurs.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:49:54
Thank you very much. Now we move back to somebody online, to Mr George LOUCAIDES from Cyprus.
Dear colleagues,
In Greece, experts have warned about the new “eco-anxiety” among children and teenagers. Images and news about global large scale environmental damage, including wildfires, flash floods, heatwaves and the rise of the average global temperature, are directly impacting young people’s mental health. Their fear of environmental doom is not unfounded. The lives of our children and future generations are at stake, with lifelong impacts on their physical wellbeing and a direct endangerment of their livelihoods.
Climate change raises questions about how governments, politicians and international institutions have committed to delivering effective solutions for the wellbeing of future generations. Business as usual is no longer an option. “You had a future, and so should we"; "change the system not the climate" are some of the slogans that young people around the world are using, when demanding and struggling for urgent climate action.
The Paris Agreement, ratified by all Council of Europe member states, acknowledges that climate change is “an urgent and potentially irreversible threat to human societies and the planet”. In the unequal current socio-economic system, the causes and impacts of climate change inevitably affect the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of our societies, while children and future generations are most likely to suffer its worst consequences. Therefore, it is more than clear, that now is the time to put people over profits and corporate interests, by encountering energy poverty and promoting climate justice and equity.
Institutional and governmental inadequacy in tackling the climate crisis has created a growing intergenerational mistrust that we must urgently address. Institutions should reach out to young people, achieve greater and more visible participation of youth on climate action, and encourage solutions via local, national and regional environmental initiatives. Children and teenagers should be included in debates and decision-making processes that, after all, principally concern them, both through top-down and bottom-up approaches in consultation mechanisms.
Furthermore, it is urgent to develop a legal status for people fleeing long-term climate change in their native country and ensure the protection of these climate refugees in international law. The principal victims of forced migration are unfortunately children, and we must do our utmost to protect their health and welfare.
These efforts, dear colleagues, can only be carried out collectively, through the cooperation of all stakeholders. Our common goal is to guarantee the implementation of international treaties and commitments like the Paris Agreement, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the right to a safe, clean and healthy environment, in order to ensure the protection of young populations and mitigate the harmful effects of environmental degradation.
Thank you dear colleagues.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:53:45
Thank you very much.
Now the next speaker will be the last speaker, I'm afraid.
Ms Lucie MONCION from Canada. She is, of course, online.
Thank you very much, Mr President.
Dear parliamentarians,
I am delighted to be with you, if only virtually, and to address this Assembly on issues that are close to my heart.
Today we are debating, among other issues, the report by Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN, which, in the fight against climate change, urges member states to exercise their shared responsibility to act together to advance the next generation of rights, in order to better safeguard the well-being of present and future generations.
As the report notes, climate change imposes the greatest burdens on vulnerable populations who have contributed least to the problem, especially children and the future generations.
Let me tell you about children's rights in relation to climate change within the Canadian legal framework, and provide you with a concrete example of how a young Canadian woman has taken action.
Under Canadian law, children enjoy rights of equality and a range of additional protections, including the legal principle that laws and decisions affecting them must take their best interests into account first.
But these equality rights do not, under current Canadian law, include an obligation for the government to target specific climate change objectives or policies.
Moreover, the rights of future generations are not generally recognised in Canada, except in relation to Aboriginal rights resulting from treaties and recognised in the Canadian Constitution. More specifically, Aboriginal title is considered to be held for the benefit of future generations. Legally, this is intended to prevent land or other resources from being used or developed in a way that would prevent future generations from using them.
As mentioned in the report, several young people and organisations have fought, to the point of going to court, and will continue to do so in order to change the Canadian legal framework.
This brings me to Autumn Peltier, an 18 year old woman who is a water rights advocate and Chief Water Commissioner for the Anishinabe Nation. She is an internationally recognised water rights activist who fights for the right to safe, clean drinking water, both on indigenous reserves in Canada and in the developing world.
She advocates for the children of today and for future generations, especially those who will live on the land of her ancestors. She is not afraid to speak the truth to the authorities, as she did in 2016 to our Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, or in 2018 at the United Nations General Assembly.
I conclude with a plea to all of us: let us be aware of the inaction of our parliaments and governments, as this report urges, but in particular, let us recognise the action of our young people. They must be supported in their actions and included in our debates, especially on climate change.
Thank you for your attention.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
17:57:11
Thank you very much indeed.
Well, I'm afraid that brings to the end the debate and the list of speakers. The Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development has presented a draft resolution which is Document 15435 to which 7 Amendments have been tabled.
Oh, I'm so sorry, I forgot to hand back first of all to the rapporteurs
Have we got Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY online?
Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN, I think you go first.
Thank you, Mr Chairman.
I thank all the speakers for their support of Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY's report and mine.
As I was listening to our young people, VANI, JÉRÉMY and ORNA, I had a quote that came to mind. It's a quote I love, from Henri Matisse, the painter, who said, "You have to look at all of life with children's eyes."
Finally, it was Ms Zita GURMAI who reminded us: children are our future. But when we listened to her, I also had this idea that it is also our past, the children. We are all children who have grown up and a number of us, as she said, have probably stifled our own dreams. So is it fear? Is it ambition? Is it fatigue? In any case, we need to rediscover that childlike look, that capacity for wonder.
ORNA was right, children are an exceptional resource for this. We need them to enrich our reflections and our work, to help us find this look at the laws we vote, at the measures we put in place, so that they are as consistent as possible with the rights of the child.
Mr Fourat BEN CHIKHA was right to recall the excellent report of our colleague Mr Simon MOUTQUIN and, in order for this report to become a reality, I believe that children are our best allies.
I would also like to thank all the colleagues who were kind enough to give examples of what was being done in their countries, in particular Ms Sevinj FATALIYEVA and Ms Marina CAROBBIO GUSCETTI. The petitions sent to the Parliament, I find this particularly interesting as a lead.
I also wanted to answer Ms Hajnalka JUHÁSZ on the question of the definition of climate refugees. The expression "climate refugees" appeared for the first time in a report by the United Nations Environment Programme in 1985. So maybe it's time to get to grips with the subject and to define this notion very clearly, knowing that there will be an estimated 250 million climate refugees by 2050. I think we need a legal definition on this subject.
I would also like to respond to JÉRÉMY: I too, JÉRÉMY, would like you to be more involved in parliamentary work in France. We have a children's parliament but, unfortunately, it is something that is only for primary classes, that only takes place once a year and, finally, we have one class that comes to the National Assembly every year, which seems to me to be very few. Personally, last Friday, I was again with middle and high school students in a school to speak. I invite you to contact the deputies of your territory so that they can exchange with you. And also, we have presidential and legislative elections so do not hesitate to question the candidates.
I would just like to finish by saying that I hope that we will collectively commit ourselves, today, to give voice to the children and to listen to them. And I would like to remind you that we are all parliamentarians and we already have a great power to take into account the voice of children: it is to think of them in every vote we make in our respective parliaments.
Thank you.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, President of the Assembly
18:01:21
Thank you very much.
And now to Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY.
Thank you, thank you very much, Ms BÖKE. I very much enjoyed the debate and thank you all for your vision and enthusiasm for the reports. I thank Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN as well for this because I think that we have both shown that the reports complement each other. They are about empowering children. They are about to respect between children and adults, etc. So I think that you, as a group, are right to say that we should, as one of the children almost said, we should use children as a resource and work alongside them. And I have to say that there is now a child-friendly report in a draft produced by the Irish group who are going to circulate it to other countries. This report is available in the meeting room for you and also on the extranet. This has been produced by the Irish group based on my report. It is a really good effort and I enjoyed it looking at it today.
I have heard so many things said today that I think is worth repeating some of them. We should talk about it with children and share values. We should have a look at also the global children's movements and children telling us that they find things not satisfactory. We should look at the moral obligation we have to involve others in decision making. We should give tools to others to be involved in decision making, on both climate change and in general on child participation and letting them have an influence on what we decide.
I know several organisations, including in the voluntary sector, who have children on their panels, on their boards to influence them. They all say decision-making is improved. We heard about the right to be heard, not just for themselves but for the good of all. We heard about active citizenship. We heard about the Assembly recognising the problems, of hopes that the Assembly will actually expand its ideas to encourage children to visit the Assembly and also to participate. I think that we must also, as I think Marina CAROBBIO GUSCETTI said, create space for children. There are youth parliaments but they are often, I think, not open really too vulnerable children and the children themselves have said this. So I think our duty towards children and to each other is to take note of the reports and I thank you for doing that and to encourage children as best we can.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for your words.
Now we are going to consider the amendments to the draft resolution. The Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development has presented a draft resolution in Document 15435 to which...
OK. Sorry. I'm running too fast. The chairperson of the committee still has three minutes to speak.
Can I ask you to take the floor, Madam Chairperson?
Turkey, SOC, Chairperson of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
18:05:51
Thank you very much Mr President. I'd like to congratulate you once more on your new duties and thank Mr Rik DAEMS for all that he's done for the organisation.
So today we are discussing two reports that are actually very timely and critical.
I'd like to thank both rapporteurs – Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY as well as Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN – on, first and foremost, having ensured that the voices of children were heard not only through the report, but also through the process of the report.
I think what's valuable about these reports is not only what is drafted in them as guidance for a better tomorrow as well as a better today, but also in making sure that words actually were translated into action. So both reports complement each other tremendously. They both ask that every child is actually heard and is able to find ground to speak their own words.
They both propose that we have a systematic and inclusive process, where each and every individual, of all ages, feels they are part of it: an inclusive process.
In this manner a very concrete example of climate change is actually put forth.
Climate change, a crisis, that will impact and very much affect the vulnerable children of today. 2.2 billion of them will be affected because their health, their livelihood, their safety, food, water access, shelter, education – the very rights that are enshrined in our very own European Social Charter – are under threat through climate change and the crisis that comes on account of that.
So it is time that children are actually involved in building up that better future from today.
Therefore not only does Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY's report provide a framework, but Ms Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN's report puts that framework forth into action through a reaction towards climate crisis. Therefore they complement each other.
Now I'd like to remind you that this process that I mentioned has been built over time. It's the first time in our 70 years of history that a child took part in a debate, in speaking the words, about how they will be affected through our actions.
This did not come overnight. Actually, over the past three years pilot projects were implemented in 10 different countries. This was built up and it was tried out: parliamentarians learn from children, children learn from us.
I do hope that we adopt these reports as amended in our committee. Hopefully we will make it possible to build a better future with our children.
A quick reminder of what Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY said: there will be a child-friendly draft which will actually be debated and discussed here in April.
So once again, I thank our rapporteurs.
Thank you very much, Madam Chairperson.
May I congratulate you on your election as the chairperson of the committee?
Now we are going to consider the amendments to the draft resolution. The Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development has presented a draft resolution in Document 15435 to which seven amendments have been tabled.
There's also a recommendation to which one amendment has been tabled.
I understand that the Chairperson of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development wishes to propose to the assembly that amendments 3, 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 to the draft resolution and amendment 8 to the draft recommendation, which were rejected by the committee with a two-thirds majority, be declared as rejected.
Is that so, Madam SAYEK BÖKE?
Turkey, SOC, Chairperson of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
18:09:57
Yes, it is so.
Thank you very much.
As nobody objects, amendments 3, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are rejected.
We now go to amendment 2.
First I have to ask if someone wants to raise an objection to the amendments being rejected.
I don't see any.
Now I call Mr Vladimir KRUGLYI to support amendment 2.
You have one minute.
We have the request of Ms Olena KHOMENKO to take the floor.
Dear colleagues, I'd like to object to the amendment number 2 that was adopted by the Committee.
Sorry, we will be later on that.
First we will have the mover of the amendment to support the amendment, and then you can speak against it.
OK?
Against amendment number 2.
We first asked Mr Vladimir KRUGLYI to support amendment number 2.
Mister KRUGLYI, you have one minute.
Thank you Mr President.
The text of the amendment is before you.
We believe that thinking of millions of children and taking their views into account would be superfluous in this document.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child does not include the concept of a right to a future.
We are proposing a different phrasing for the second paragraph of the draft resolution that is before you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mister KRUGLYI.
And now there was a speaker against the amendment.
Madam KHOMENKO, you have the floor.
Dear colleagues,
Mr KRUGLYI's amendment was proposed to soften the wording, and if we accept this mitigation this will weaken our aspirations as parliamentarians; not only to listen to children's opinions but also take them into account. This contradicts the initial goal of the report and the resolution because then, governments and parliaments will only be considering children's abuse, without any guarantee to take them into account as suggested in the original text of the resolution.
I don't see any necessity to deviate from our initial goal.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ms Olena KHOMENKO.
What is the opinion of the Committee on the amendment, Madam Chairperson?
Turkey, SOC, Chairperson of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development
18:13:28
The Committee adopted the amendment by majority.
Thank you very much.
The amendment is adopted by a majority.
I shall now put the amendment to the vote.
The vote in hemicycle and via remote voting is open.
Now the vote is closed. I call for the results to be displayed.
The amendment is carried.
Amendment 3 was rejected.
Amendment 1 was rejected.
Amendment 4 was rejected.
Amendment 5 was rejected.
Amendment 6 was rejected.
Amendment 7 was rejected.
And we now will vote on the draft resolution as amended.
The draft resolution contained in Document 15435 as amended.
The vote in hemicycle and via remote voting is open now.
I close the vote and I call for the results to be displayed.
And the draft resolution is adopted.
We will now consider the draft recommendation Document 15435 to which an amendment was tabled but we have rejected that amendment with the two-thirds majority.
So we now will proceed to the vote on the draft recommendation as contained in document 15435.
The vote is open.
The vote is closed. May I call for the results to be displayed.
The draft recommendation is adopted.
The Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development has presented a draft resolution in Document 15436 to which no amendments have been tabled. There is also a draft recommendation to which no amendments have been tabled.
You will first vote on the draft resolution then come to the draft recommendation.
We will now proceed to vote on the draft resolution contained in document 15436.
The vote is open.
There is a technical problem that we are checking now, so one minute.
Dear colleagues online, you have to be aware that there is now a new vote as we have started to consider the draft resolution in document 15436.
So there is a new vote and you have to vote in favour or against that resolution.
We are now, for your information, voting on the report Inaction on climate change: violation of children's rights. So look to the vote that this is proposed there and then cast your vote.
The vote is closed. I call for the results to be displayed.
The resolution is adopted.
We will now proceed to vote on the draft recommendation contained in Document 15426. So that is the next vote.
The vote is now open on the draft recommendation.
The vote is closed, and may I again ask for the results to be displayed.
The draft recommendation is adopted.
Thank you very much, dear colleagues, for this debate and for the vote on this debate.
The next item of business this afternoon is the debate on the report titled European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum: a human rights perspective, which you find in document 15438.
It will be presented by Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO on behalf of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons and a statement by Ms Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs.
I call Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO, the reporter to present his report. Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO you have seven minutes to present the report and then you will have three further minutes to reply to the debate at the end.
You have the floor.
(Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2)
Dear colleagues!
First of all, let me thank Ms. Jennifer DE TEMMERMAN for the report. Indeed, the challenges associated with climate change, as well as ensuring the rights of children in this area (including the right to life and health, development, care and education, good standards of living, information), is a priority direction of modern policy. We support the desire for a more attentive attitude of society to the opinion of children regarding environmental problems.
However, it is important to note the following. Recognizing the importance of the position of children, it seems unreasonable to involve them directly in the development of policies and measures to combat climate change. First of all, this is due to the fact that the law-making process requires a high level of qualifications, experience and competencies. In addition, it is important to listen to the opinions of other groups of the population, taking into account the positions of all age categories.
In this regard, we believe that the participation of children in solving environmental issues should be implemented through other mechanisms and activities of states. Thus, it is necessary to conduct environmental education in order to develop children’s ecological and legal consciousness and their moral attitude towards compliance with environmental regulations. It is also important to consistently develop a system of environmental education and environmental culture, as well as to implement children's and youth environmental projects. We believe that these key areas of activity will allow us to take into account constructively the position of children regarding the problems of the environmental crisis and climate change.
Speech not pronounced (Rules of Procedure, Art. 31.2), only available in French
Speech not pronounced (Rules of Procedure, Art. 31.2), only available in French
(Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2)
Mr. President,
Dear colleagues in Strasbourg and all around Europe,
I thank Rapporteur Baroness Doreen E. MASSEY for her excellent report on child participation.
I am deeply convinced that child participation is a matter not only of the efficient implementation by states of the international and regional human rights documents regarding the rights of children. It is also part of forming legal consciousness and culture concerning the coming generations. It is paramount to forge an understanding that no decisions regarding children should be made without their participation and opinion, instilling in them a sense of responsibility for their actions.
Also, child participation shall be a partnership between children and adults.
Moreover, I share the view that the ‘child participation must be meaningful and sustainable (rep. par. 72) and “should be part of policy development and implementation in areas such as health, education, migration, family and community affairs’ (report par. 70).
However, we need to pay more attention to the participation of children from vulnerable groups.
International and domestic experience in Ukraine shows that communities benefit from child participation because it raises awareness of the problems and concerns of children and their subsequent solutions at local and national levels.
Ukrainian society has repeatedly raised discussions about the right to vote for young people. In particular, to reduce the age of voters from 18 to 16 years. Youth also took an active part in the presidential and national elections in Ukraine in 2019.
A recent development is an initiative to create an economic passport and a Future generations fund for children. A personal account is created and filled with a percentage of the rent for the use of national subsoil. When children turn eighteen, they can spend this money to buy a home or study in Ukraine, or transfer the money to a retirement fund.
Our delegation supports the presented report and the provisions of the draft resolution and recommendation prepared by the Committee on Social Affairs, Health, and Sustainable Development.
Thank you!
Speech not pronounced (Rules of Procedure, Art. 31.2), only available in French
(Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2)
I would like to pay tribute to the rapporteur. I consider her work and her report to be very important.
The report is entirely eye-catching. It draws attention to our missions. I say this despite the fact that Hungary is one of the 21 countries in the world that have been able to achieve economic growth while reducing emissions. But we have universal omissions and we can do more. The effects of climate change are so complex and significant that they require continued activity.
The report draws attention to the fact that there are highly vulnerable societies and countries that need to be helped financially and technologically to adapt to the effects of climate change. The Budapest Water Summit serves exactly this purpose. It was established on the initiative of President János Áder. It is also a platform for sharing best practices and international networking, and for transferring technological know-how. The results of Budapest Water Summit have already been put into practice. For example Hungary has already installed a number of equipment and technologies related to water use and water management in many parts of the world.
It mentions the importance of education and an exemplary environment in shaping children's attitudes. I deeply agree. It is also very important that we adults set a good example in our personal lives and decisions.
The report discusses from many sides that a lot of children think seriously and committedly about environmental issues.
Based on this, he recommends their participation in decision-making, and guarantee the right of children to be heard by promoting the lowering and alignment of the legal voting age. The decision also comes with responsibility. Children should only be given as much responsibility as they can handle according to their age.
Finally, I would like to quote the idea of the report, which points to an earlier Recommendation and Resolution. “Anchoring the right to a healthy environment: need for enhanced action by the Council of Europe”. I translated this reference to myself in such a way that the Council of Europe can play a key role in environmental matters. Let the Council of Europe be at the forefront of environmental protection. We have been working to promote this during the Hungarian Presidency and we support all further steps.
Embedded in this process, I find the report very valuable. Congratulations to the rapporteur.
(Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2)
I fully support the resolution “Giving a voice to every child: promoting child participation as a foundation for democratic societies”.
The Austrian Parliament started in the year 2007 with the so-called Democracy Workshop.
The Democracy Workshop of the Austrian Parliament promotes an understanding of democracy and an interest in politics. The programme is designed as a place for experimenting with different approaches to political topics. The Democracy Workshop programme designed by the Parliament has the purpose of educating children and young adults from the age of eight to 14 years about the essential characteristics of democracy and the parliamentary system in interactive workshops. An additional aim is to explain two other important prerequisites for political participation: media competence and a willingness to explain one’s own opinion.
Politicians of both chambers and all political parties represented in the Austrian Parliament have been working with 9 000 up to 10 000 children each year. In total, more than 120 000 children have participated so far in these workshops since the start of the program.
At their first visit, every participant receives a Democracy Workshop passport. The passport confirms the participation in the various workshops. This tool intends to encourage children to participate in more workshops and to stay engaged with the Parliament.
School classes who have attended four different workshops are honoured as so called “Democracy Workshop Pros” by the President of the Parliament. This presents an award for the participants’ hard work and efforts.
Every month the Democracy Workshop publishes a newspaper which is shared among parliamentarians and other people interested in the monthly activities of the Democracy Workshop.
Child participation and a voting age of 16 are a reality in Austria since more than 10 years!
(Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2)
“Children,” the late President John Kennedy once said, “are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”
It is essential that we highlight their voices and perspectives.
My remarks are energized by the report entitled The right to be heard: child participation, a foundation for democratic societies. I will focus specifically on its recommendation that states consider lowering the voting age to 16 years.
In the Canadian context, my social democratic party has officially committed to lower the federal voting age from 18 to 16. We believe that:
Young people are increasingly engaged in the world, and many are worried about facing a future with rising inequality and catastrophic climate change. It’s no surprise: they often they can see themselves paying the biggest price for the decisions governments are making today. Young people can and should have a say in their future.
I note the debate about lowering the voting age in Canada is not new. In 1970, Canada reduced the federal voting age from 21 to 18. Since then, many have argued and research demonstrates that lowering the voting age, along with stronger civics education in schools, would be an effective way to encourage life-long participation in our electoral process.
This is also supported by many young people in Canada. As per a 2020 survey, young Canadians
expressed their belief that voting is an inherent citizen’s right, and as citizens, youth have a stake in the governance of Canada. They noted that at 16, Canadians hold both rights and responsibilities that are consistent with the responsibility of voting, such as working, paying taxes, driving and serving in the military. Youth also stated they are engaged in diverse local and national issues and are informed and capable enough to vote.
Last month, 13 young Canadians filed an application in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice to strike down the minimum voting age.
I and my colleagues introduced legislation to lower the federal voting age in Canada from 18 to 16 years of age. I hope that these efforts will soon bear fruit.
Importantly, while we work on lowering the voting age, we should not keep young people away from engaging in our democratic institutions. I support the report’s key recommendations that this Assembly and its committees consult minors when preparing reports concerning them, and that they be invited to take the floor in our plenary debates.
Speech not pronounced (Rules of Procedure, Art. 31.2), only available in French
(Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2)
I welcome the opportunity to speak on this really important report on how climate inaction is a violation of children’s rights.
Each and every one of us has a responsibility to ensure that the planet we call home continues to be habitable for future generations.
For too long, States in the Global North have delayed taking the necessary action to reverse climate change.
We now find ourselves in a situation whereby not only have we put the future of today’s children at stake but for many children particularly in the global south it is not their future that is at stake but their very existence.
The 1.1 degree temperature increase is already wrecking havoc and children are disproportionately impacted by devastating heat waves, the spread of infectious disease, floods, desertification and rising sea levels.
We as parliamentarians in our respective countries have an opportunity now to listen to children and youth as they demand a right to a healthy environment.
The recommendations in this report are very welcome. Children have a right to participate in society and to have their voices heard.
That participation must be inclusive and conscious of the intersectionality of class, race and climate justice. Participation cannot be dominated by the loudest voices or by those who have greatest access. Diversity, inclusion and strengthening the advocacy skills of children from disadvantaged backgrounds must be front and centre.
Climate injustice does not only occur between the global south and global north but climate injustice happens within State boundaries too.
Children living in poverty can have less opportunities to advocate on their own behalf and are more likely to suffer the consequences of climate change and to be excluded from climate mitigation measures like warmer energy efficient homes.
A recent report in Ireland showed how children living in poorly heated and damp homes have lifelong impacts on their health and ability to participate in society.
All Children regardless of household income should have the right to fulfil their full potential in life.
I welcome the report’s reference to voting rights for young people and I am fully supportive of the call in Ireland by youth organisations for the voting age to be reduced to 16.
Ensuring that young people have a right to vote and participate in the decision making processes would go a long way to address the increasing sense of helplessness and fatalism that climate inaction is having on the mental health of our young people.
It also might help focus the minds of some of our politicians to the climate emergency. We are running out of time on climate change, we owe it to our children and young people to change that, history will show who failed them.
(Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2)
Dear Ms Rapporteur, dear ladies and gentlemen,
Being fully supportive for the 2 Resolutions which is really great, congratulations to the colleagues, I do believe that “listening to children and be sustainability can help us make our societies a better place for everyone”. I have a huge experience and background of running youth NGO in Ukraine and doing projects for children and with children. I know how much they can contribute and bring with their creativity, openness and diversity.
In Ukraine we have a positive experience of promoting children participation. In order to implement state policy in the field of adoption, social protection, protection of children's rights the State Service of Ukraine on children - a dedicated central executive body was established. This new body will also facilitate children’s participation. The other example, under the UNICEF aegis, children and young people take part in Programs where they can see how they can be involved in important decision making and changes processes, how they can make communities better. They are able to learn what it is like to work in local governance and develop local democracy.
The idea of children’s empowerment is important for democratic societies, but at the same time we should also stress the education and training part here. It is crucial when the education system prepares young children for living in a democratic society, and trains them to participate in decision-making, developing and strengthening knowledge, skills and competences to be able to participate effectively.
We should remember that children unfortunately can be easily manipulated politically and used by purpose in the “adult” political games, and what’s even worse - militarised and trained for war not for peace - we see it’s happening in the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. It’s really harmful and damaging for their young and sensitive minds. Maybe we should highlight that also.
It’s our adults’ role to introduce instruments to protect children from direct interference and manipulation. That’s why education and training for democracy is so crucial. There are many brilliant examples of informal training activities in the report.
Education by its essence is not democratic, quite often it doesn’t appreciate individuality, but rather collectivity and fitting to one size, so the idea of children’s participation can really help us to think about changes in education system itself, in teachers’ training, in the organisation and management of education systems to make it more democratic, more creative, more open and free and inclusive to serve the idea of educating young citizens in a democratic society.
Speech not pronounced (Rules of Procedure, Art. 31.2), only available in French
(Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2)
We reached a crossroad today. If no action taken we don't have much time left.
Our major mistake about climate crisis is the “bystander effect”. We believe that this problem will go away on its own or someone else will do something and this will be enough. Our consciousness accepts slow changes as normal. This is not normal!
I was in Glasgow for COP26. The decisions taken there were our last chances. We are the last generation to prevent the crisis from turning into a disaster. But all I have seen there was the bystander effect.
Climate change is more than just an ecological problem. It affects the living spaces of humanity.
If society continues to ignore calls for change, the human rights of 2.2 billion children, more than three times of the all countries of PACE, could be changed within next decade.
Having no responsibility but withstanding the worst of climate crisis, children have the fewest resources to respond and cope with. Any effort which guarantees the right of children to be heard is necessary including but at the same time it is a statement of elders’ disability in solving environmental issues.
We were unable to overcome our daily political issues and to resist political pressure of anti-environmental interest groups. We said that we will not leave anyone behind but we altogether have left everyone behind
because of our selfish daily political concerns. Now we accept our failure and ask for children’s and youths help.
The lowering of voting age is simply the call to our children to save us.
Another important issue is the legal status for environmental refugees.
Legal status is important but sincerity in sharing the burden, taking necessary actions is more important.
The forced migration in Syria and the insincere and insensitive response of all PACE countries has been and still is disappointing.
As deputy of Mersin, 1.8 million people living, quite close to Syrian border, and hosting 400 000 Syrians, I have the right to question your sincerity.
Shortly, rules and regulations are effective only if you also take your part in responsibilities.
So there should be a clear statement of obligations as well. Otherwise it will be just a fake relief for your conscience
but you will not be helping to disadvantaged children.
Everyone says, “Am I going to save the world?”. This is our world.
Yes, you will, We must altogether save this world!
Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2
I have right! Three words that symbolize the three pillars on which the world must stand. They are guaranteed by the UN General Assembly Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention combines the full range of human rights that apply to children - public, political, economic, social.
Still, we must admit, that often child participation is not given sufficient priority and support by us, adults. We can see it from amendments to report of Baroness Doreen Massey “The right to be heard: child participation, a foundation for democratic societies” that propose to delete from the draft resolution some parts and sentence, for example, the one that considers lowering the voting age to 16.
Recently the law on ensuring the rights of citizens over the age of 16 was registered in Ukrainian Parliament. These rights include the right to address authorities, the right to participate fully in citizens' associations and political parties, and the right to participate directly in local governance processes.
I am convinced that demographic change, access to education, greater access to information and political awareness have improved decision-making among young people and their ability to make informed choices.
What worries me most today is compliance with Article 28 of the Convention on the rights of the child, which states that "The child has the right to education". Even this obvious right is violated often recently. I would like also to draw your attention on what is happening in most Ukrainian schools last 2 weeks of January 2022, concerning the right to education with the wave of false reports of mine laying in hundreds of Ukrainian schools.According to Security service of Ukraine, false Reports of mine laying came from temporary-occupied territories in the East of Ukraine.
Last week, all 569 schools in Kyiv were reported to have been mined. The children were evacuated and forced to stop studying. Therefore, today not only Covid-19 deprives our children from normal studying but threat of terrorism. The purpose of this informational terrorism is to keep Ukrainians in tension and in insecurity in so called “hybrid war”. I believe that here in PACE by adopting such reports with resolutions we will show the world that human rights especially of children are stronger than weapons, than terrorism. I believe, that our children will live fair with dignity and in peace, because they deserve it.
Thank you Mr President, dear Commissioner Ylva Johansen, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
The European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum elaborated by the European Commission is an important set of proposals aimed at improving asylum and migration management procedures in Europe.
In the present political context in Europe there is a real threat of a new wave of military invasion by Russian troops in Ukraine, which can provoke millions of refugees.
The recent political crisis in Afghanistan and weaponising of migration by Mr Lukashenko's regime at the European Union's border with Belarus has shown that an efficient reaction mechanism to migration and asylum challenges in Europe, that is fully consistent with a human rights obligation, is urgently needed.
The new pact should propose a new policy and legislative framework for more effective migration governance in Europe based on the respect of human rights.
We can only welcome the European Union's commitment to put forward, quote, "a more human and more effective migration and asylum system".
We also believe that the new asylum and migration management system will contribute to minimising the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe by reducing the length of procedures and providing states with emergency funding to address COVID-19 in reception facilities and public hospitals.
The EU Migration Preparedness and Crisis Blueprint could be an effective tool for information exchange between member States and the responses to the pandemic in Europe.
For us, in the Council of Europe, the main concerns related to the pact are human rights concerns.
Therefore, my report is focused on five key areas to examine the pact's impact on human rights obligations on screening, immigration detention and expulsion, asylum procedures, solidarity, and vulnerable groups.
During the preparation of the report I visited Brussels, where I had meetings with principal officials who were working on the pact at the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament.
I also had discussions with major human rights protection organisations working in the field of migration, which expressed their concerns about some aspects of the new proposals.
Firstly, screening, which is specifically foreseen for the purpose of determining whether the individual will be treated as an asylum seeker and admitted to their asylum procedures stream, or not. In the latter case, where the determining officer finds the individual has not sought asylum, the individual will – bearing exceptional circumstances – be channeled into an expulsion procedure.
The legal analysis of the proposal on screening confirms that it does not comply with Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to an effective remedy – which may result in European Union member States breaching their non-refoulement obligations in European and international law.
Therefore, in the draft resolution we propose to amend the screening regulation to ensure that it includes an effective suspensive remedy against incorrect screening categorisation, so as to fully respect the obligations arising out of the right to an effective remedy. The screening provisions also provide the possibility of detention for the border return procedure. On numerous occasions, the Assembly reiterated in its resolutions that detention in the context of migration should only be used exceptionally.
The pact also encourages the externalisation of asylum procedures, which in practice will mean that neighbouring countries – frequently, a Council of Europe one – should prevent asylum seekers from arriving in the European Union.
Further, a new ground for the application of accelerated procedures is proposed, which is based on the success rate of previous applicants from the same country at a 20% threshold. This proposed criterion has been heavily criticised as both arbitrary and unjust.
The pact also fails to propose concrete actions to prevent people's disappearance in the sea.
Now, on to solidarity mechanisms: a new regulation in asylum and migration management which includes new mechanisms to improve solidarity among member States in the field of asylum and migration suggests two forms of solidarity.
One, in solidarity through the relocation of persons from receiving states, the frontline states, to other states when there is pressure or risk of pressure, such that national asylum and return capacities are unable to cope.
The second is return sponsorship where member states sponsor the expulsion of a person who is present in another member state which is overburdened with the assistance of Frontex, the EU border agency or in default, the relocation of the person to the sponsoring state for procedures to be completed.
We recommend the EU states to reconsider this proposal and to agree on a mandatory relocation system as a measure of solidarity, prioritising the cases of family reunion and unaccompanied migrant children.
The pact also fails to address the situation of vulnerable persons and completely ignores gender mainstreaming considerations.
Beyond those who fit within the predetermined categories of vulnerability, elements of the pact risks placing individuals in situations which generated additional vulnerability.
I welcome the fact that the pact dedicates significant attention to migrant children, but it is not clear why the pact makes a difference between children who are under and over the age of 12, when the Convention on the Rights of Children defends a child as a person until the age of 18.
Finally, the analysis provided in the report allowed me to formulate a set of recommendations proposing a comprehensive review of all measures proposed in the pact in light of the constant case law of the European Court of Human Rights in respect of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees.
We believe that the European Union must ensure that every asylum seeker of the EU border or within its jurisdiction sees a fair and effective determination of their claim to international protection in recognition of non-refoulement obligations, as identified by this Assembly.
Provisions related to restrictions and deprivation of liberty must be precise, sufficiently clear and unambiguous to protect migrants and refugees from unlawful detention to ensure conforming to the obligations flowing from the right to liberty.
We paid special attention to people in vulnerable situations, including the mainstreaming of disability, age and gender sensitive considerations throughout all migration and asylum processes.
Dear colleagues, I think that we have chosen a timely moment for this discussion. The agreement on the pact has not yet been reached. We shall make sure that the proposed EU Pact on Migration and Asylum integrates human rights concerns in all its components. The pact should provide an opportunity to promote cooperation and solidarity where Council of Europe states can play a key role.
Thank you.
Thank you Mr Rapporteur.
I now should like to warmly welcome to our debate the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Madam Ylva Johansson.
Madam Johansson has been a European Commissioner since 2019 with the Home Affairs portfolio.
One of our main responses includes the European Union pact on migration and asylum presented in 2020.
The proposed pact seeks to address migration issues in a holistic European way and to provide a comprehensive approach bringing together policy in the areas of migration, asylum, integration, and border management.
For our Parliamentary Assembly it is fundamental that respect for human rights is embedded also in the migration policy.
Migration is a complex matter but it's clear that any sustainable solution must be compatible with international human rights law.
Colleagues, we are very pleased that Madam Johansson can join us today.
Madam Commissioner, we look forward to hearing your views on the European Union pact from a human rights perspective.
You have the floor.
Thank you.
Thank you very much and thank you for inviting me here today.
The European Union and the Council of Europe share a dedication to human rights, democracy and the rule of law; principles and values that are part of who we are. You have a long-standing record in protecting and promoting human rights.
I would like to thank you, especially thanks to Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO, the rapporteur, for your report on the human rights perspective on the new pact on migration and asylum.
I think this is really timely to focus on fundamental rights and the right for everybody to have access to the fair asylum process.
We are living in a time where we can hear voices are being raised that people should not be able to enter and have access to their asylum process. We are hearing voices of building walls and fences to protect Europe from migrants.
I think that we are living in an age where you sometimes hear voices that are afraid of migration.
But migration is something normal. Migration has always been there, will always be there. It's a part of our being, of our humanity. But we need to manage migration in an orderly way.
I think that we are we are paying a price every month where we do not reach an agreement on a common European asylum and migration policy. Those that are paying the highest price are the migrants themselves.
We can see lives being lost in the Mediterranean, along the Atlantic route, but we have also seen people losing their lives at our own external borders towards Belarus recently.
To manage migration we need to co-operate. Of course all the member states need to co-operate in the European Union. All member states are facing different kinds of challenges when it comes to migration and no one can face them alone. We need to co-operate.
But we can't do it alone as the European Union. We have to co-operate with other countries. This is essential.
We should not build a fortress Europe. We should build partnership with other countries. We've seen that this works.
What we're seeing in Belarus, for example, where we see the de-escalation that really started to happen where we managed to reach out to the international community, to airline companies, to stop people being tricked and lured into a dangerous situation, and returns taking place.
Another key goal of the pact is to manage arrivals at our border efficiently. To welcome people in need of international protection and to return those that are not eligible to stay.
It's important also to stress that even though all people that would like to come to the European Union do not have the right to stay here, but they do have fundamental rights. They are human beings and they have to be treated according to their rights and their dignity.
No matter how good co-operation we have with third countries we will still have a lot of people coming. They have the right to have a fair process and to have their asylum application process decided upon.
What we need to avoid is to leave people in limbo. That is actually the case right now. A lot of people are facing very long processes before they reach and they get a proper decision on whether they will be given international protection or not, and then wait even longer before a return decision.
The pact provides faster procedures. We introduced a screening at the border to identify vulnerable people in need of aid, and people likely in need of international protection who will go into the normal asylum procedure, as well as children under the age of 12 and their families.
In the screening process there will also be a decision regarding which member states will be responsible for the asylum procedure.
People are likely to face rejection under a border procedure but with all necessary safeguards and guarantees. Negative decisions can be contested before judicial authorities in compliance with Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
These procedures are effective and fair and bring quick clarity about asylum or return so people don't need to spend years in uncertainty.
It's essential for the legitimacy of the asylum system that people who don't have the right to asylum are returned.
The pact promotes voluntary returns and better support for people who return and re-integrate. If your asylum claim is rejected you still deserve to be treated as a human being, as I said.
Return must be carried out with respect, dignity, and humanity.
We must always be ready for the unexpected. A sudden crisis. A sudden large number of arrivals. Few people predicted Lukashenko's state-sponsored smuggling of migrants or the rapid collapse of Afghanistan. So in the pact we expect all member states to show solidarity.
Solidarity is mandatory in the pact. In many cases solidarity will need to be relocation, but member states can also offer support by helping with returns or in other ways like building capacity.
With a pact I don't only want to prevent irregular migration but also increase possibilities for regular migration. We all need more migrants in the European Union for many reasons, but we need to manage it in an orderly way.
Negotiation has started on the pact, but I have to be honest. They are really difficult negotiations that are going on. But step by step we are making progress on the pact.
The Blue Card is a major achievement, and we have also agreed on the European Union Agency for Asylum that started with a new mandate last week.
We have also put emphasis on re-settlement and to give protection to Afghans in need of international protection.
Member states have agreed to do that to 60 000 people in need of international protection.
You are guardians of fundamental rights, and I can assure you that the pact fully upholds the right to apply for asylum. It's necessary to do that because it's actually threatened right now. The right to an individual procedure and the principle of "non-refoulement."
Push-backs are neither normalised nor legalised, and I will never accept any externalisation of the asylum procedure. It's not in my proposal.
All asylum procedures take place on European territory. The European Union will not outsource asylum to third countries. It's our responsibility to deal with asylum applications and people have the right to apply for asylum and the right to have a fair process.
Vulnerable people are protected. The needs of women are taken into account. The pact provides for asylum applications by victims of gender violence, gender sensitive interviews and gender sensitive reception conditions to prevent gender-based violence.
The interest of children is paramount. Their needs must be taken into account in every step of the way. Swift family reunification, adequate accommodation and assistance, including legal assistance, and they need to be able to go to school. Detention must always be a measure of last resort.
Conditions must be adequate, and legal safeguards apply like being able to contest the decision before a judge. Children must be treated as children. They may never be locked up in prison.
You have written a very important report. My speech today and our discussion is not the end of our engagement with your report, but only the beginning.
As negotiations on the pact continue, your report will be studied with great interest in the (European) Parliament, the Council, and of course, by me and us and the Commission. Of that you can be sure. And you can be sure I will take your views into account.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Madam Commissioner.
I really appreciate, we really appreciate that you are willing to participate in our debate on human rights perspective with regard to your European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum.
We cherish very much that our neighbours from the European Union are willing to participate in this debate when you are in that command. So, thank you very much. It helps our debate. Now I call in the debate.
First the five speakers on behalf of the political groups. And the first speaker on our list is Mr John HOWELL from the United Kingdom who speaks on behalf of the EC/DA group.
John, you have the floor.
United Kingdom, EC/DA, Spokesperson for the group
18:43:30
Thank you, Mr President.
I think this issue is so important that it cannot be underestimated and what we have just heard from the commissioner was a very good example of that. Migration and asylum can come from a huge number of places. We have already heard that Afghanistan is playing a big role, that Belarus is also playing a big role. But I have pointed out, on a number of occasions in this Assembly, that there is one other source that we need to watch with great care. And that is Africa. For many years, I was the British trade envoy for Nigeria and what I saw there was quite frightening. What I saw there was the potential for Nigerians to want to come north up to the Mediterranean and from there across into Europe. And that frightened me to a great extent and made me re-double my efforts to make sure that they had legitimate work where they stay.
Now, this report, I am sure that I am not reading too much into it, but this report says that the Pact on Migration and Asylum is very complex. And I am sure that that is an excuse for saying that it is too complex and it will be very difficult to make it work. But I do welcome the European Union's commitment to integrating European human rights standards fully into their Pact. It is our job to look after human rights. It is our job to make sure that the European Union, and indeed, other countries as well include those human rights when they come to deal with asylum and migration.
And the rapporteur has already mentioned the difficulty of dealing with vulnerable people. And I think that that is one of the ways in which we can play a bigger part in helping the EU shape its Pact by making sure that the human rights that we put forward to go into that Pact take account of the needs of vulnerable people.
So what we are required to do here, it seems to me, is to make not just a little bit of flim-flam about human rights, what we are required to do is to make concrete proposals that the EU can take into account and can fully include within their Pact.
Thank you, Mister HOWELL.
The next speaker on our list is Ms Stephanie KRISPER from Austria speaking on behalf of the ALDE group.
You have the floor, Madam KRISPER.
Austria, ALDE, Spokesperson for the group
18:46:50
Thank you, dear President, dear Madam commissioner, dear colleagues.
The new impact on migration and asylum sounds ,for many, fine on the first sight, but on asylum when we see the current situation of refugees and their chance for protection, what we should have in mind for them to be possible to have on European soil, it is time to become attentive and put things straight.
Also in writing in the new Pact, what situation do I mean besides many other human rights violations? I mean those violations you talked about Madam Commissioner: pushbacks. Many member States tolerate or even encouraged pushbacks or other kinds of inhuman treatment at their borders. Fewer eyes see these grave human rights violations because access to the suffering individuals is decreasing. I want to remind you of pushbacks that have been documented on the Greek-Turkish borders, on the Croatian-Bosnian borders and now also at the EU borders with Belarus; where often the access for NGOs, journalists and sometimes for international organisations have been refused by state authorities. It is very regrettable that therefore we have to even underline the respect for an unconditional and absolute right, which leaves no space for derogation, meaning Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
All the more, we are very thankful for the considerate work that you, dear rapporteur, Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO, did on the resolution. This resolution, luckily, asked the European Commission not only to undertake a comprehensive human rights assessment in order to make sure that it complies with human rights, the new Pact, but also recommends to ensure that relevant NGOs working in the field of migration can provide legal assistance and take part in monitoring; that it is ensured that both the European border and coastguard agency, Frontex, and the new EU agency for asylum carry out their respective duties in full compliance with fundamental rights. Also, it is recommended to enlarge the scope of the monitoring by independent monitoring mechanisms. Seeing the reality of such control and responsibility measures are necessary and also the further recommendations are very welcome, and therefore, thank you for your elaborate work, dear rapporteur.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, Madam KRISPER.
The next speaker on our list is Mr Paul GAVAN from Ireland who speaks on behalf of the UEL group.
Mr GAVAN, you have the floor.
Good evening. Thank you chair on behalf of the United European Left group I want to welcome this debate on the European Union Pact on migration.
The rapporteur acknowledges that this pact raises significant issues for the human rights protection of migrants and refugees. Concerns expressed that the proposed accelerated asylum procedures will reduce their quality and fairness and thus lead to higher rejection rates are well-founded. The call for true solidarity across all EU member States in place of the fiction that is so called "flexible solidarity" is also welcome.
The UEL group believes that this pact will reinforce current failed policies by focusing on externalisation, deterrence, containment and return. The Pact also means that frontline member states in the Mediterranean will once again have to face most of the challenges head on. Far from protecting the right to seek asylum, the proposals contained in the pact will reinforce the moves towards a "fortress Europe" policy. The new mandatory pre-entry screening will in practice be used to send people back without due regard for their human rights. In fast-track procedures, the actual idea of the human being gets lost. The applicant is dehumanised and becomes just a number which the system can overlook.
The claim by the Commission that they will end pushbacks with the setting up of a monitoring mechanism during the screening procedure does not stand up to scrutiny. What is needed is a truly robust and independent monitoring mechanism, properly funded and based within existing independent national human rights institutions.
The claim by the EU that this pact will ensure no more examples of a Maria Camp scenario where a camp of the capacity of 3 000 people ended up hosting 25 000 people, also lacks credibility. In fact, the newly proposed asylum border procedure will continue the hot spot approach at or near borders but without granting entry into member state territory before the screening is over. I believe this will lead to detention quickly becoming the norm.
As regards the EU's relationship with so-called third countries, the EU's silence over a rights violations at Sudan, Libya, Egypt, Turkey and Morocco are deafening and should have been highlighted more strongly. It also needs to be stated to the EU's co-operation with the Libyan Coast Guard has meant that member states are complicit in crimes against humanity. The mission for this coast guard is clear: intercept all those trying to flee Libya and send them back into detention where torture is endemic. The major beneficiaries of this pact will not be desperate human beings seeking shelter and safety but rather the construction companies building fences, the maritime and defence companies that provide ships, aircraft, helicopters, drones, as well as the security companies, which are contracted to develop biometric systems in the EU and third countries.
To conclude, the United European left believes that the right to international protection should be effectively guaranteed across EU member states instead of lowering standards the European Commission must ensure that existing asylum aquis is upheld and should focus on its actual implementation. The European Commission must open safe and legal channels to the EU, they must stop criminalising humanitarian assistance at sea or land and establish state-run search and rescue operations to stop the mass drownings in the Mediterranean. Finally, the European Commission should reverse the outsourcing of EU border management, search and rescue and assign asylum to processing to third countries including the immediate suspension of the agreement with a Libyan Coast Guard.
Thank you.
Thank you Mr Paul GAVAN.
The next speaker on our list is Mr Domagoj HAJDUKOVIĆ from Croatia.
He speaks on behalf of the Socialist Group.
You have the floor.
Croatia, SOC, Spokesperson for the group
18:53:32
Thank you Mr Chair and congratulations on almost perfectly pronouncing my name, and congratulations on your election of course.
Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, migration is here to stay. As the recent events have shown, it was not an isolated outburst in 2015. Migration is here to stay as the situation on the Eastern borders of the European Union clearly shows.
Maybe I take from somebody else, somebody outside the European Union, is what the discussion on the EU asylum pact and migration pact really needs. In that respect I wish to thank Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO for his very comprehensive and thorough work. I think that not only the topic but also the real problems the report deals with are really well-defined, well outlined, and they are calling on action in the right direction.
What do I mean by saying this?
As the rapporteur rightfully said, the report examines five most pressing human rights issues that arise from the perspective of our house when it comes to human rights. That is screening, immigration, detention and expulsion, asylum procedures, solidarity, and vulnerable groups.
Let me remind you, dear colleagues, that this house has debated on several occasions various reports dealing with certain perspectives, or indeed, with entire issues outlined in this report.
Especially immigration detention and expulsion has become a great problem of rate, as have the asylum procedures. But it does not mean that there are no problems in the other aspects of migration.
Indeed, the report calls for solidarity across Europe. Sometimes that called needs to be reiterated.
But let me just focus on immigration detention and expulsion, the so-called push-backs, which are happening on the borders of the European Union as we speak.
My country Croatia, for example, was also a spot where tragic events happened and occurred because of the alleged push-backs when little Madina Hussiny, a young girl from Afghanistan lost her life when a train hit her because she and her family were pushed back from the Croatian border back to Serbia. That is not the only problem. The problem is with the transit countries as well. For example, many migrants entering Croatia and not only Croatia, but for example Greece, Bulgaria, and other countries, only wish to transit through the stated country. Even if they make an asylum claim, when they are put in the centres for asylum seekers, they usually disappear very quickly.
To make the thing short, we in the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group welcome the debate about the problems and the issues of the EU asylum and migration pact and hope this will not be the last discussion.
The report is well outlined and pointed and therefore deserves our support.
Thank you very much.
Thank you very much Mr Domagoj HAJDUKOVIĆ.
I'm happy that I almost pronounced your name correctly, but I also have to pronounce the name of your group correctly. That is the Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group. That mistake is now done with.
The next speaker on our list is Mr Bernard FOURNIER, from France, on behalf of the Group of the European People's Party.
You have the floor, Mister FOURNIER.
France, EPP/CD, Spokesperson for the group
18:57:27
Mr President,
Dear colleagues,
I would like to thank our colleague Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO for the quality of his report, as well as the European Commissioner, Ms JOHANSSON, for her participation in our work.
The question of borders and the management of migration issues is a major political issue within the European Union. The Union has put in place a system of free movement of citizens and, in a voluntary form, which covers 22 of the 27 Member States, has abolished the control of internal borders within the Schengen area.
But the migration crises we have experienced in recent years have shaken the system and, given the magnitude of the challenges and despite all the difficulties involved, we know that the temptation to go it alone is not a solution.
France, which has held the presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months, has made migration issues an essential point to contribute to a more sovereign Europe. It is therefore advocating the strengthening of the Schengen area, the protection of its borders, greater control of migration and an improved asylum policy, in accordance with the values of the EU and its international commitments.
The French Parliament will organise, on 15 and 16 May, as part of the parliamentary dimension of this Council Presidency, an interparliamentary conference specifically devoted to the migration challenge, which will take place in the Senate. Our former colleague Mr André REICHARDT, together with his colleague Jean-Yves Leconte, presented last September a comprehensive communication and published an information report on the Pact on Asylum and Migration presented by the European Commission in September 2020. In it, they underline the challenges linked to the respect of fundamental rights, but also the internal tensions and the tensions between the member states of the European Union, which have been severely tested over the last few years.
Let us be clear: this makes us less optimistic about the ability to adopt The Pact quickly. The balance between the need to protect the Union's external borders, which are essential elements of sovereignty, and the appropriate consideration of the human dimension of migration is always a delicate one.
Respect for human rights must be our compass and I share many of these considerations in this report. However, I am aware of the complexity of the subject. I am aware of the political sensitivity of the issue and the stakes for the countries on the front line of the migration flow. I am aware of the differences between Member States and the very difficult nature of the negotiations underway within the European Union.
I therefore hope that this report and the exchanges between the European Union and the Council of Europe will make it possible to find the best possible balance.
Thank you very much.
Thank you Mr Bernard FOURNIER.
Now we continue with the rest of our list.
I have not seen signs that Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO wants to answer already now, but at the end of the debate I asume. Thank you very much.
The next speaker in our debate is Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ from Switzerland.
The floor is yours.
Thank you Mr. President.
After all the years I have spent on the Migration Committee, I can claim to have a certain amount of experience. And I must say that I have a bitter observation. We are here in the Council of Europe. The Council of Europe is the temple of human rights, of the rule of law, of democracy; and the fate of migrants is a very important issue for us. We know that they are the poorest of the poor but the management of migration problems has deteriorated in Europe in recent years in many European countries, especially since the major migration in 2015, following the war in Syria and the generous acceptance of many refugees in Germany. 2015 was a year of some shock and since then, this whole issue frightens people.
The management of migration and the reception capacities in Europe have deteriorated, and the current and future challenges are enormous. There are still conflicts, unfortunately, in the Middle East, in Afghanistan; there is still extreme poverty and, in addition global warming has entered the debate.
During all these years, my observations are clear. We talk about these tragedies in the Mediterranean, in the Atlantic, in The English Channel; these people who drowned without sufficient help; the lack of solidarity between European countries, the countries of arrival in the first line, Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Malta and the countries of the North who do not do what they should do, who wait, who look on, who do not show enough solidarity.
There is a great need for a joint effort, based on solidarity, to encourage re-location. We are all in this together.
Then there is Fortress Europe, with two opposing logics: the intangible respect of borders on the one hand and, on the other, the absolute respect of the right to apply for asylum, to ask for help and assistance. And what do we see? Walls are being built at Europe's borders; the phenomenon of pushbacks, the repression which we have just talked about; Frontex, which sometimes turns a blind eye to certain practices or looks the other way; refoulment to unsafe states, such as Libya; migrants used as objects of destabilisation - I am thinking of Belarus or Ceuta.
During these years, I have seen 15 year-old children locked in a camp with barbed wire and watchtowers. In Lesbos, I have seen hundreds, thousands of families with small children, living in undignified conditions waiting for hope. And I met recently, last November, a family on the border between Poland and Belarus, a Kurdish family, a father with his five young children who were crying for their dying mother. These people had in fact left their country and the woman was six months pregnant; after four days and nights in the freezing cold, she miscarried and subsequently died.
Dear colleagues, Europe must pull itself together and remain true to its values of humanity and solidarity. But I am afraid. In the French elections, for example, migration issues are being outbid in the race to reject migrants. I have just learned that many European Union states are calling for the construction of walls around Europe.
Dear colleagues, I can feel the icy coldness of intolerance in our countries. This report seems to me to be more than necessary, Mr. GONCHARENKO, to ensure that the European Union's pact on migration goes in the right direction.
Behind the words, let us not forget that there are always people.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:04:32
Many thanks to Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ.
Now the floor is given to Mr. Zsolt CSENGER-ZALÁN for the Group of the European People's Party.
Thank you for the floor, Madam Chairperson.
Dear colleagues, in line with her international obligations, Hungary is deeply committed to guaranteeing human rights. As far as asylum seekers are concerned, the belief is that their human rights should be ensured as close to their countries of origin as possible. Migration forces migrants to live in a new cultural environment and migration flows change the cultural fabric of receiving societies. Changing this around an individual is indeed frought with enormous dangers.
It is bad for the migrants who have to leave his or her homeland and it is a bad model for host societies as migration causes tension between the latter.
Our basic assumption is that everyone can do best in the land where they were born. Our responsibility is to create livable conditions locally for everyone. We believe that certain human rights-related elements of the Pact of migration and asylum are reflecting a flawed approach. For example, the pre-screening and the border procedure also serve the interest of the asylum seekers as their requests are channelled much faster.
We cannot support either the concept of relocation or the idea of return sponsorship, as this does not serve but should be our strategic purpose stopping the flow of migration to Europe. Instead, these elements serve as yet further invitations for migrants and are essentially pull factors. We will not accept such concepts. Instead, we should consider different forms of solidarity, for example, Hungary has spent 1.9 billion USD on its fences along all of its borders in the six years up to 2021. This is a structure that protects not only Hungary but also the whole of Europe. We believe that our request to gain financial support after having devoted enormous resources to protecting Europe is perfectly justified and legitimate.
Thank you very much for your kind attention.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:07:50
This was the opinion of Mr Zsolt CSENGER-ZALÁN.
I go now to Mr Tural GANJALIYEV from Azerbaijan.
You have the floor.
Thank you.
Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
We support the European Pact on Migration and Asylum and believe that it is essential to ensure the safety of the inhabitants and immigrants of our continent.
Unfortunately, we have experienced forced migration unintentionally. I and my family members were forced to leave our home in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and move to another region in the face of aggression from the neighboring country. As a result of this ethnic cleansing and forced migration, I experienced firsthand the importance of humanitarian assistance and managing irregular migration.
As members of the Council of Europe, we are also experiencing the flow of migrants from the conflict-ridden regions of the Middle East. Azerbaijani governmental agencies, especially the State Border and Migration Services of Azerbaijan play a very important role in dealing with the issue.
With the increase in the number of migrants, some countries are likely to face more difficulties depending on their geographical location. In this sense, I would like to emphasize Italy, Spain and Turkey in particular because it was the first country to receive migrants from North Africa and the Middle East due to their geographical location.
We believe that it is necessary to show solidarity with these border countries. We are interested in maintaining stability and security in the region and the issue of immigration plays an important role in ensuring the maintenance of stability in the member states of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Thank you for your attention.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:09:59
Thank you very much, Mister GANJALIYEV.
I now give the floor to Ms Nicole TRISSE.
Thank you, Madam President,
Mr Rapporteur, Dear Colleagues,
On many occasions, our Assembly has dealt with the sensitive and difficult issue of the attitude of European States towards migrants and asylum seekers. Between the imperatives of sovereignty and the respect of the most elementary human rights, this is a fragile ridge to say the least.
On our continent, the European Union has been working since the Amsterdam Treaty of 1999 to provide a framework in this area. Five years after the 2015 refugee crisis, on September 23, 2020 to be exact, the Von der Leyen Commission presented the third European Pact on Migration and Asylum, the other two dating from 2008 and 2014.
Consisting of a "package" of five legislative proposals and several recommendations on crisis management, rescue at sea and the prevention of illegal entry in particular, the package aims to establish common principles, at the European Union level, for the governance of migration and asylum in the 27 States that make it up.
Echoing the Marrakech Global Compact, which set the objective of "a fair and reasonable immigration policy", these texts have several objectives: to harmonize the right to asylum; to organize compulsory solidarity between arrival states under excessive migratory pressure and the others; to accelerate border deportations and make them more effective; to strengthen external border controls with Frontex; to welcome migrants rescued at sea and to stop prosecuting NGOs that carry out rescue missions in the Mediterranean.
As explained by our colleague Mr. Oleksii GONCHARENKO, whom I thank for his excellent report, this new European Pact on Migration and Asylum is not perfect. In fact, the whole point of our debate today is to put into perspective the questions that may exist about the new procedures.
However, I still believe that this new Pact is welcome and that it responds to the glaring difficulties that emerged in 2015. Recent events in Afghanistan and on the EU's borders with Belarus have shown that the migration issue will be one of the main concerns in the years to come. It is therefore essential that we have a common doctrine, procedures and means to deal with this issue without ignoring human rights.
But in addition, we need a reform of the Schengen area, similar to what exists for the euro zone. This is precisely the ambition expressed by the French Presidency of the Union, which I fully support. Because although there is still a long way to go before we reach a consensus, everyone is well aware of what is at stake today. We should be able to make rapid progress: it is in any case a necessity and an emergency.
Thank you.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:13:03
Thank you very much.
I would like to give the floor now to Ms Serap YAŞAR from Turkey.
Not yet.
Then I will give the floor to Ms Ada MARRA from Switzerland.
Is she online?
Yes.
Thank you very much for giving me the floor.
I would like to emphasise the importance of what I believe is the core of this European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum, which is, basically, to verify the different provisions contained in this Pact against the values of the Council of Europe and with the instruments it has at its disposal, such as its different charters and conventions.
This Pact was necessary because it states the need to have a policy, as much as possible, global and united, when there are movements of populations. However, we all know that migration is taken hostage by many governments in order to put pressure on neighboring states. This works because, in the collective imagination, migration would be an evil for our countries, a threat to our fellow citizens, especially in countries that do not have real arrivals of foreigners. We heard this again with our Hungarian colleague just now.
This is why I would like to emphasise the positive idea of this Pact, which is that migration policy cannot be reduced to a restrictive, repressive and non-welcoming vision, as has become the discourse and the facts in the European Union.
The Migration Pact is not free of its political time and pitfalls can appear within it. I find the axes of the report and the recommendations necessary and good. No one can ignore the violations of human rights and international rules on migration and asylum: pushback, refusal to register applications, degrading settlement conditions, equally problematic detention conditions, insufficiently differentiated policies for minors, harsh and illegal expulsions and so on.
There is one point that could be added: this mania and tendency to grant temporary residence permits when people finally arrive in our lands, which are temporary in name only, since people stay for years in our countries without being really recognised as refugees and with particularly cruel living conditions, such as the restrictive conditions for family reunification.
I think that this Pact has been an awareness of the need for action and the way we precariousize refugees. Our resolution guarantees, somehow, that it will take a good direction, because there will not be a thousand opportunities to do this thing.
I want to thank the rapporteur. I would also like to say that I am not very optimistic about the outcome, unfortunately, by the committee, because until now it has been a game of politicians. The European Parliament gave me hope when it retained a budget for Frontex before knowing what is really happening in this agency. That was also a positive side.
Thank you to the rapporteur.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:16:50
Thank you very much.
I give the floor now to Mr Nicos TORNARITIS from Cyprus, online.
No, not yet.
I go on with Lord Leslie GRIFFITHS from the United Kingdom.
Is he online?
Otherwise, we didn't have Ms Serap YAŞAR from Turkey.
Is she online?
Yes, good afternoon.
Good evening, dear President, dear colleagues,
I would like to thank the rapporteur for his work on this extremely important issue, the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum, which will replace the current EU migration regime.
Unfortunately, we have seen so many cases of human rights violations against asylum seekers and refugees in recent years. There have been so many horrific moments, including refoulements in the Mediterranean and, on land, attacks on refugees, seizure of their property, inhumane and degrading treatment at the borders of European countries.
We all hope that the new Pact will provide a legal framework for all EU countries and a standard of protection for asylum seekers and refugees based on the human rights obligations of all member states.
I am saddened that the Pact currently under negotiation does not address the needs and rights of the most vulnerable, especially children, in accordance with human rights applications.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child sets the standard for the protection of all children. According to the Convention, everyone under the age of 18 is accepted as a child and, therefore, all states must provide procedural guarantees and protection to all children, without resorting to a distinction based on age. However, the new Covenant simply ignores this well-established standard.
In addition to the UN Convention, PACE has also produced comprehensive reports on unaccompanied children and missing migrant and refugee children in recent years. This Assembly has consistently advocated for the best interests of children in asylum procedures and the highest standards of protection for all children, especially for missing and unaccompanied children.
The current proposal, unfortunately, does not meet the standard set by both the UN Convention and the relevant PACE resolutions. I hope that the ongoing negotiations will advance the rights of children and result in the adoption of the highest standards of protection for the best interests of children.
Thank you.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:21:35
Thank you very much Ms Serap YAŞAR.
I give a try to Mr Nicos TORNARITIS.
Is he present now?
No?
So we won't come back on him.
We come to Lord Leslie GRIFFITHS online.
Not yet.
So I come to Mr Mehmet Mehdi EKER from Turkey also online.
No?
Then I come to Mr Markus WIECHEL from Sweden.
He's here. He should be here.
He's connected.
You have the floor.
Madam President,
In this debate, we are asked to take a stand on a report entitled the European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum, presented by our esteemed colleague Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO. It is an interesting account and the rapporteur is to be commended, however, the report also raises a number of questions.
Firstly, the so-called "Pact" is not written for the Council of Europe and its 47 member States. It is written for the EU and its 27 member states, all of which are also members of the Council of Europe and this Assembly. In other words, 20 Council of Europe member states are not EU members, so it would seem somewhat unnatural for them to take a stand on a text of another institution, although the EU is the one with which we have many links.
Secondly, what is less widely known is that the Pact is still only a rough draft, which has been in the state of a draft for a very long time. And this is said to be due to the fact that many EU member states have serious objections to it. So we are asked to give our approval to a pact which is only a draft pact, and this draft is not ours, and its wordings may well disappear in the future because of revised versions.
Meanwhile, new content that we know nothing about, may yet be added. For example, the report repeatedly informs us that so-called "pushbacks" of would-be immigrants by the police are not allowed but when Polish and Lithuanian forces last autumn engaged in pushbacks of thousands of would-be immigrants, flown in from distant countries by the Belarus regime, then governments around Europe did not protest but called for the actions necessary under the circumstances. And rightly so, I must add. Many of the reports' objections to their individual points made in the draft pact are based on the rapporteur's doubts; whether these points are compatible with the Council of Europe's Human Rights Convention. Therefore, it gives the impression that the report wants to draft a pact to move in a more open direction in future drafts. And that this is also the Assembly's opinion. This would must surely not correspond with a major shift with regard to the public opinion on unrestricted migration in recent times.
I have three questions for Ms Ylva JOHANSSON, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, whom we welcome here today. Firstly, how does Ms JOHANSSON view the chances for eventual future adoption by the EU of a final pact on migration and asylum and for when?
Secondly, will the pact, in her view, be more open and liberal than today's draft version or will it be more restrictive?
Finally, has she during her time in her present function ever been seized by the feeling that immigration and asylum may in fact after all the areas that should be left for EU member states to handle by themselves rather than being run by Brussels?
Madam President and dear colleagues thank you for your attention.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:26:02
Thank you very much.
I don't see that the Commissioner is answering because it is not foreseen.
I would like to call now Mr Jeremy CORBYN from the United Kingdom.
You have the floor.
Thank you Madam Chair.
Can you hear me now?
First of all, thank you very much and also my congratulations to Mr Tiny KOX on being elected as our President. I'm very pleased. I'm sure he will do a fantastic job.
This report is very disappointing in many ways. One of which is it doesn't take into account the global situation facing refugees. 70 million people around the world are refugees. Whilst it obviously is an issue for a number of European countries, particularly Turkey, Greece, Italy, Ukraine, and Poland, it is also a much bigger issue to many very poor countries around the world.
Bangladesh, for example, has to host over a million refugees from Myanmar. Other countries in Africa host far more refugees than any country in Europe does.
Those people that seek asylum in Europe, in the Mediterranean or English Channel, and try to get to a place of safety, are often victims of war and environmental disaster, and of unbelievable levels of poverty in some cases created by economic policies being followed by European countries as well as the wars that some European countries have been involved with.
As an earlier speaker pointed out, the disaster on the borders between Poland and Belarus where children are freezing to death in forests in sight of a place of safety and of warmth, is a shame on all of us. Just as much as those people that are dying in the Mediterranean trying to get from Libya to Italy are also a shame on all of us.
Anyone that has visited the terrible camps in Calais and other places in France of largely undocumented migrants looking for a place of safety, must realise just how bad the situation is.
So a report that calls for push-backs seems to me to be in line with what the British government is sadly attempting to do, which is to use the Navy in the English Channel to reduce the number of migrants coming to Britain. These are all human beings looking for a place of safety.
The loss of life by refugees in all parts of the world, but particularly in Europe, is quite shocking.
If we allow the politics of intolerance, the politics of hatred and the politics of fear to take over, then sadly, refugees died at the end of the line as a result of that.
I would have preferred it if we weren't pushing back and instead we were seeking agreements across Europe to ensure that we do share the hosting of refugees and recognise the massive contribution the refugees make later in their lives to our society. They are the doctors, the teachers, the engineers of tomorrow. Instead we're allowing human resources to be wasted and people to die as a result of our intolerance.
Let's treat refugees as the human beings that they are, trying to survive in a difficult world. It's up to us to reach out a hand of friendship and support to them.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:29:38
Thank you, Mr Jeremy CORBYN.
I now give the floor to Ms Mariia MEZENTSEVA. You have the floor.
Thank you, Madam President, thank you very much.
I would like to thank the rapporteur for the very important and timely report, which outlines, I would say, very revolutionary suggestions to a very famous Dublin document into the very famous standard framework of asylum for the new waves of refugees we are facing currently at the sub-continent of Europe and we might face in the future.
We are talking, of course, beyond the European borders. Many of my colleagues referred to the case of Afghanistan. I would like to inform you, dear colleagues, that in a military sense it was our army who had the best of courage to take out international journalists from all over the world in a safe place. It was our army, who jointly with European forces, tried to help the refugees that, growing in numbers, were forming over there in the heart of Afghanistan. Not only that case, but we do also understand that screening might not be accepted, and the new frame of the screen might not be accepted by all member States or there might be a sign just of a lack of solidarity. If that is the case, then I am very upset. We do understand that the new two options that the rapporteur outlines like return sponsorship and relocation are getting us back to a mutual understanding of solidarity. We have mentioned the case of Turkey which has received a sufficient amount of funds from the EU but remains within its borders and does not grow beyond there. As a Ukrainian delegate, I cannot forget to mention the case of Ukraine because it is very much linked to its northern borders with Belarus the Baltic States and Poland. These are the borders of our common Europe. Therefore, I will be very much in favour if this very report is taken seriously by the member States of the Council of Europe, the European Union and beyond.
What we are here for is to draft the solutions. What the functionalities of others are is to implement them.
Thank you very much, Madam President and I salute the rapporteur and the Secretariat of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, which I also belong to, for this brilliant work.
Thank you.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:32:35
Many thanks Ms Mariia MEZENTSEVA.
We go now to Mr Thomas PRINGLE.
He's not in the hemicycle?
Then, Ms Lucie MONCION from Canada. She's online.
Thank you very much, Madam President.
Dear parliamentarians,
At the end of 2020, there were almost 83 million people in the world who were uprooted from their homes.
Of these people, approximately 35 million were children, representing 42% of those displaced worldwide due to conflict, violence, human rights violations or events that seriously disrupt public order.
These facts must be taken into consideration when we debate and legislate on immigration issues in our own parliaments.
Although Canada does not face the same immigration issues as Europe, Canadian parliamentarians are very much aware of the major issues facing the member countries of the European Union.
In the report on the European Union's Pact on Migration and Asylum, from a human rights perspective, the rapporteur notes that The Pact does not integrate gender considerations, even though the European Union has a gender mainstreaming policy.
Let me tell you about gender-based analysis "ACS plus" in Canada, known as GBA+. Internationally, this process is known as gender mainstreaming.
The Government of Canada uses GBA+ to assess the impact of legislation, policies, programs and budgetary measures on different groups of women, men and people of diverse gender identities, taking into account sex, gender and other identity factors. The word "plus" in GBA+ encompasses a wide range of intersecting identity factors, including age, disability, education, language, sexual orientation, culture, place of residence, ethnicity, Aboriginal origin, religion, class and income.
Over the past decade, the Canadian government has increasingly applied GBA+ in all its programs and public policies. Parliament has also been doing so increasingly diligently throughout the legislative cycle.
Canada is not the only country to emphasise identity factors in policy and legislative development, resource allocation, and program and project planning and implementation.
Therefore, I support the recommendation of the rapporteur that the European Union undertake a cross-cutting assessment of the impact of these proposals on women and girls - and I would add children in general - in vulnerable situations. This assessment should identify the differential impact of the proposals, taking into account pre-existing disadvantages, and be accompanied by initiatives to address these inequalities.
I conclude by thanking the rapporteur and the members of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons for their work on these issues which are so important for the European Union.
Thank you for your attention.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:36:15
Thank you very much, Madam.
I now give the floor to Mr Lukas SAVICKAS, from Lithuania, also online. No, he is not here.
Mr Ionuț-Marian STROE, from Romania, online? No?
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:36:32
No?
Then Fiona O'LAUGHLIN.
Mr Ionuț-Marian STROE is there. Okay, he's coming in. You have the floor Mr STROE.
You cannot manage it now?
I have to go on first with Fiona and then we come back to Mr STROE?
Thank you Madam Chair.
I would like to extend my congratulations to the rapporteur on this very well documented report which raises some important questions about the way forward for the European Union's policies on migration and asylum.
I am sure that it will be an important advisory tool for the EU lawmakers.
Out of all the issues raised, I'm particularly concerned about migrant children. Unfortunately, in this current version of the pact there is a real threat of lowering the existing protection standards to worsen them.
In the European Commission's proposal we see children over the age of 12 are not accepted from border procedures. Such a classification dividing the children in two categories is inconsistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and should be reconsidered.
The EU is an organisation that holds human rights close to its core, and it cannot allow itself to endanger children's rights in any way. You must continue to ensure that the child's best interest takes precedence over any other consideration.
How can you tell the world that a 13 year-old child is less of a child than a 12 year-old. We cannot ignore the risks that this categorisation entails.
And what is more, when we also consider the new screening procedure, even more question marks appear. For example, let us imagine a scenario where a child is incorrectly screened as an adult. They would no longer benefit from the safeguards and the systems applicable to children, and could even be placed in detention.
We must make all the necessary efforts to ensure that such a scenario never becomes a reality.
Speaking of efforts, NGO's can and should play an important role in monitoring and signalling any irregularities and possible instances of abuse at the borders.
Special attention, from my point of view, must be paid to creating the framework for NGO's to continue being our partners on this issue.
As I said in the beginning, I'm sure this report will contribute to a better version of the EU pact, one where the human rights issues mentioned are correctly addressed and dealt with.
Thank you very much.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:39:58
Thank you very much, Mr Ionuț-Marian STROE.
I come now to Ms Fiona O'LOUGHLIN. She should be in the plenary, I do not see her.
Okay, then we go to Ms Arusyak JULHAKYAN from Armenia. No? Not online.
Okay, Mr Fourat BEN CHIKHA from Belgium. He is here, I saw him. I think so, yeah, he is here.
Thank you Madam Chair. Dear colleagues,
I would like firstly to thank the rapporteur for his report.
Asylum seekers are human beings, not numbers. It's exactly the premise that the European pact on migration should build on.
The Pact on Migration and Asylum was established in September 2020. Fast forward to more than a year later, and we have witnessed the painful shortcoming of the EU approach to asylum.
It's imperative to ask ourselves whether each measure complies with human rights. There have been ongoing reports of pushbacks through sound cannons, floating walls, fences and overcrowded detention centres. The pandemic has only exacerbated the already inhuman and indignant conditions faced by asylum seekers who are stuck in these centres, on for example the Greek Islands.
We need to offer safe and regular pathways for asylum seekers to seek protection in the EU. Seeking asylum is a human right, colleagues – there's still too much of a focus on preventing people from entering the EU's external borders and it's isolating them upon arrival, trapped in overcrowded centres at borders.
Detention should be the exception not the norm. Vulnerable groups need to be detected carefully. Migration policy should clarify the concrete support that has to be made available to identify and support persons in vulnerable situations.
I want to emphasise how NGOs in the field of migration play a crucial role in providing legal assistance and monitoring fundamental rights at the borders. NGOs are still too often criminalised for protecting and promoting human rights. This was also evident during my fact-finding mission in Lesbos, where I asked the authorities for their criteria to blacklist NGOs. No answer came at that time.
We have to acknowledge that the current approach to migration has painful shortcomings, but more importantly we have to establish action and policy that no longer result in any human suffering. Governments must take the lead; member states should show solidarity and cooperation to build a fair, effective and human asylum policy.
Maybe a last point: if I were born at the other side of the Mediterranean sea, where my parents are from, in Tunisia, I can assure you that I would do everything that I could to flee, because everybody has the right to dignity and to a life where freedom is at the centre of their existence.
Thank you.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:43:32
Thank you very much, Mr Fourat BEN CHIKHA.
I now give the floor to Ms María Valentina MARTÍNEZ FERRO, EPP group, but she is online, if so. We cannot see her.
Then I come to the ALDE group Mr Damien COTTIER. He should be here, Switzerland. Yes!
You have the floor.
Thank you, Madam President of the session.
This subject, this proposal, this Pact, basically gives a global vision, and the report rightly points this out, of migration management. It is important to do so. It is also important, as mentioned in the report and as we insist that the European Union should do more to take into account the respect of human rights at all levels of this report.
My country, Switzerland, is not a member of the European Union, but it happens to participate in the Schengen Area and Dublin Regulation and therefore in the common management of the question of asylum. It participates fully in the European Union's discussions on this subject. There is something a little paradoxical, I must say, because it is one of the countries that is very committed to a distribution mechanism, to better European solidarity in the management of asylum. It is a non-member of the European Union that is putting pressure on the countries of the European Union, and some of them are having difficulty listening to this need.
I am very happy that the report – and I thank the rapporteur for making this proposal – insists on this notion of relocation, of compulsory resettlement, because if there is no distribution mechanism and solidarity in the management of asylum, it will simply be impossible for the European continent to respond to the challenge that is posed and will be posed even more strongly in the future.
In saying this, we are still not saying – and it is important to underline this, in the public debate, we sometimes hear things to the contrary – we are not saying, by far, that we must open the doors of Europe wide, because asylum or migration is not, by far, an answer to all crises. The best answer is often and almost always to act and help on the spot, because most of the people who flee do not want to leave their country or their family, but want to have a better life or simply to be able to live without threats where they are.
Here again, it is not the Migration Pact that answers as such, but it is a global vision of migration that we must have. It is absolutely essential that all of our countries also have this in mind. What does this mean? It means that we need political responses to political crises in this world, because what we see throughout the world is an increase in the number of crises without any political response. Then another crisis comes along, and each time they have migratory consequences.
We therefore need a strong political commitment from our States, and this goes hand in hand with this commitment in the field of migration management. We also need a strong humanitarian commitment; here, let me say a word about Afghanistan. The situation is catastrophic from a humanitarian point of view, and the United Nations has said it very clearly: our States, the donors, are not doing enough. If we do not do enough, we will be guilty of having allowed the situation to deteriorate and to evolve from a humanitarian crisis into a migratory crisis that can take on considerable proportions. Here, too, we must act, and we must act more than we do today.
Thank you, Madam President.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:47:07
Thank you very much, Mr Damien COTTIER.
And now I have Mr Pablo HISPÁN from Spain. Is he in the room? No, I do not see him.
Then, I have Mr Aleksander POCIEJ. No?
Then, I come to Mr George LOUCAIDES online. Not yet?
Then, I come to Ms Salma ZAHID from Canada, an observer, she is online.
Okay, you have the floor.
Good afternoon, dear colleagues.
Thank you to the rapporteur and the members of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons for their report entitled European Union Pact on Migration and Asylum: a human rights perspective.
As chair of Canada's House of Commons Standing Committee on Ctizenship and Immigration, I would like to focus my remarks on children which were one of the five focus areas of this report, and share Canada's policies regarding unaccompanied and separated children.
Like many member States, Canada's treatment of unaccompanied and separated children reflects its obligations under several international and domestic legal texts, which includes the following: the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its protocol, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Global Compact on Refugees and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, as well as the immigration and refugee protection regulations.
Under Canadian law as in international law, any individual under the age of 18 years old is considered a minor. For domestic migration purposes children are recognised as dependants up to the age of 22.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child enshrines the principle of the best interests of the child and guides states in their immigration policies. These policies are expected to consider the vulnerabilities faced by unaccompanied and separated children on the move.
This principle is also a foundational element in the Global Compacts. Canada treats children as vulnerable and expedites their cases accordingly, ensuring that the resolution of their cases, such as resettlement for example, is in their best interest.
Overall, Canadian decision-makers must take into account factors related to the child's best interests. These include the child's age, how well they are established in Canada, the impact on the child's education, as well as any medical issues or special needs.
Canada's preferred solution for most unaccompanied and separated child refugees is to reunite them with their immediate family or place them with their extended family.
In November 2017, Canada also issued new directives to the Canada Border Services Agency to keep migrant children out of detention as much as possible. Since then, when minors are housed or detained, the Canada Border Services Agency ensures that they have access to services like healthcare and programmes that include outdoor and indoor recreation. If they are in detention for more than seven days, they are provided with educational programming.
As part of our national immigration detention framework, Canada is committed to reducing the number of children and other vulnerable persons in immigration detention and to finding alternatives.
I hope Canada's best practices and lessons learnt on unaccompanied and separated children can inform today's debate.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:51:15
Thank you very much.
You are also the last speaker in this debate, because I mustn't interrupt the list of speakers.
The speeches of members on the speaker's list who have been physically or remotely present during the debate, but who have not been able to speak – there are not so many – may give their speeches to the Table Office for publication in the official report.
I remind colleagues that the texts are to be submitted in typescript, electronic if possible, no later than four hours after the list of speakers is interrupted.
I would like to call Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO, who is the rapporteur, to reply to the debate.
You have 3 minutes.
Thank you very much Madam Chair.
Thanks to all of you for your comments.
Thank you Commissioner Ylva Johansson for your intervention and comments.
Thanks for ensuring that this report will be used by the European Commission and European Union and for the high estimation of our work, thank you.
I would also like to thank especially Mr. Bernard FOURNIER and Mrs. Nicole TRISSE. I welcome the initiative of the French Parliament to organise the Conference on Migration. It is very important, especially now that France holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Thank you, Mr COTTIER, for your also very rightful words about crisis management, which we need to do, not to have millions of refugees here on our continent. That is why such things as the Afghanistan crisis or possible new wave of intervention of Russia against Ukraine, which can cause millions of refugees, is so important for us to discuss, not only to watch it but to work to prevent it.
Special thanks also to Mr HOWELL from the United Kingdom. I absolutely agree that the defence of human rights is our job. We will do it, and Commissioner JOHANSSON heard it and also agreed on this.
Thanks again to everybody. I would like to thank our experts, Ms Elspeth Guild and Ms Nicolette Busuttil, for providing a legal analysis of the pact, which is an essential contribution to our work.
Special thanks to the Secretariat of our Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons and special thanks to Ms Olga KOSTENKO for the work which was done.
I am very much happy that this report caused such interesting debates in our Assembly. I am proud that we do not have any amendments; it means that our work is considered by our colleagues as really useful and up to time.
Thanks again to everybody.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:54:22
Thanks very much Mr Rapporteur
I would now ask the new elected chair – congratulations Mr Theodoros ROUSOPOULOS – if he wants to have the floor. You also have three minutes.
Greece, EPP/CD, Chairperson of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
19:54:41
Thank you, Madam President. Dear colleagues,
This report is very important for our committee and for me as the new chair – thank you for your congratulations – and as a Greek parliamentarian. I would like to thank Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO for his substantial work on this report.
Yes, the European Commission has a very difficult task to create a legislative framework for effective migration management in Europe. We all agree that we need to improve the current situation of humanitarian response in Europe and to ensure effective protections of the rights of migrants.
As a Greek, I want to reiterate that Greece and other Mediterranean countries are awaiting from our EU partners a genuine responsibility and solidarity in the relocation of migrants.
All persons arriving and seeking asylum should be eligible for relocation under the solidarity contributions, including those who have been directed into an asylum procedure at the border.
Let's be honest. We can't consider as a solidarity contribution the support a member State provides through Frontex.
I agree with our rapporteur that the present proposals of the Pact need substantial revision, in particular its part regarding the asylum procedure, solidarity and protection of vulnerable persons.
For us in this Assembly, representing 47 European countries, the main concern of the pact is the reply to the following question:
Does this pact guarantee basic human rights to refugees and other persons entitled to protection?
I believe that our report gives a clear reply: not yet.
The Covid-19 pandemic amplified our concerns. Thousands of asylum seekers were blocked in Greek camps, despite our calls for relocation. The virus attacked migrants and the staff of the camps.
Unfortunately, the current situation fuels xenophobia and discrimination among the local population. It affects not only our economy, in particular tourism, but social life in general.
The pact should help release the pressure from our countries. Is it fair that Greece, representing 2% of the European Union's population, has been compelled to respond to 13% of the EU asylum applications? We await from the new pact effective solutions to our problems and not more complicated procedures.
I think that our report is a good reminder to all of us that in our policy and legislative documents we shall be guided by the main principles of non-discrimination, security, and justice, and let me add solidarity again as Commissioner Ylva Johansson pointed out a little bit earlier.
Let's hope that the final pact will deliver such results as well.
I encourage you, dear colleagues, to support the draft resolution.
Thank you, Madam President.
Netherlands, EPP/CD, President of the Assembly
19:58:14
Thank you very much.
The debate is now closed.
We go now to the vote on the draft resolution.
The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons has presented a draft resolution, Document 15438, to which no amendments have been tabled.
So we can now proceed to the vote on the draft resolution.
I open the vote.
We can close the vote.
I would like to have the results be displayed.
(Applause)
The resolution is accepted. Congratulations to the rapporteur and the committee.
70 votes in favour, 4 against, 22 abstentions.
Thanks very much.
I close this sitting. The Assembly will hold its next public sitting tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. with the agenda that was approved this morning.
The sitting is adjourned.
I wish you all a nice evening.
Thanks very much.
Speech not pronounced (Rules of Procedure, Art. 31.2), only available in French
Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2
The migratory phenomenon is structural and requires a comprehensive response.
This European Pact on Migration and Asylum causes a lot of concern as it insists on measures that do not work. It presents an approach based on border control: Europe is a fortress in which there happen refoulement, expulsions without legal guarantees and rescuing in the sea is difficult. In addition to outsourcing to third countries that are not always guarantors of respect for human rights.
People and the respect for their rights must be at the centre of the migration policy but this pact raises doubt about this issue.
In addition to the ethical dimension, we must bear in mind that, with the aging of the European population and the ongoing demographic challenge, the need to receive new citizens is obvious. But the policies proposed to date deny migrants to develop their life project (one more violation of rights).
We must not forget different issues such as the existence of vulnerable groups.
In addition, all the discourses focus on asylum but forget other types of migrations that do not fit into the figures of international protection. Considering these policies implemented so far, people cannot find another way to enter Europe. We must also reassess profiles of asylum seekers.
Constant and focused work in the countries of origin is fundamental (people, in general, leave their countries out of obligation, in search of a better life).
Solidarity and co-responsibility between the different States of the Union is essential. However, the fundamental role of sub-state governments, of the regions, should not be forgotten. They are the ones that welcome, care for, and integrate migrants. These regions have shown themselves (for example, the Basque Country) to be willing to collaborate and coordinate (the “SHARE” proposal presented by the Basque Government serves as an example).
It is also necessary to address what happens at internal borders. Many territories are transit. I am Basque, my country is divided between French and Spanish territory. Many migrants are passing through and we see how the border crossings are closed. Arbitrary returns are happening in the Schengen area. There is more insecurity for migrants and there has been a rise of human trafficking with the refusal to create humanitarian corridors.
Finally, the fight, from all areas, against the xenophobic discourse that is growing in Europe is necessary.
Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2
Dear President, Dear Colleagues,
I would like to congratulate the rapporteur for his timely and successful report.
This pact, which is still under negotiation, requires a delicate analysis from the perspective of human rights law. EU’s current asylum system led to many cases of human rights violations. Many lost their lives in Mediterranean Sea, many were trapped in the borders of European states where they were beaten and deprived of their most basic needs and rights.
Our hope is that new Pact would improve the human rights situation of the asylum seekers and refugees. However, I would like to express my concerns regarding the recent proposed pact.
Right to asylum is key to the international humanitarian law and is set and defined back in 1951 Refugee Convention. However, we still observe serious flaws and shortcomings in the protection and exercise of the right to asylum.
Sadly, right to asylum seems to be in danger in the current configuration of the new Pact.
As rightly stated in the report, screening system with accelerated procedure pose a threat. It is clear that the new Pact aims at accelerating asylum and return procedures and therefore converges asylum and return procedures.
This leads to the risk of refoulement without safeguarding their right to asylum and principle of non-refoulement. In fact, this is also in clear contravention with “right to effective remedy” set forth in the European Convention on Human Rights.
In addition, this report rightly calls Frontex and the new EU Agency for Asylum, to comply with human rights obligations while undertaking their duties. Furthermore, I would like to remind you that EU needs an independent mechanism for safeguarding the rights of those applying for asylum and monitoring these institutions and their compliance with human rights.
Thank you.
Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2
Dear Colleagues,
I should like to express my appreciation to the Rapporteur for delivering such a timely Report that highlights the need to mainstream migration policies with fundamental human rights law and considerations.
The New EU Pact on Migration and Asylum should not seek to normalize existing deficiencies and loopholes but on the contrary seek to tackle and rectify them, whilst abiding by the respective international legal framework. We cannot but deplore any attempt to militarize the EU’s external borders or seek to legalize pushbacks which are illegal actions that run counter to our human rights obligations and international law.
At the heart of this discussion is human dignity. Let us not forget that we are discussing the lives and fates of real persons. Each refugee and migrant’s claim should be assessed on the basis of his/her individual circumstances and no one should be denied the right to asylum. Articles 13 and 14 of the UN Declaration on Human Rights are clear on this as is also relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights. We should prioritize cases concerning family reunification and unaccompanied minors and take additional measures to accommodate persons belonging to vulnerable groups or needing additional protection.
Portraying migrants as a threat to our economies and societies must stop. Demonizing these people and their numbers not only marginalizes them - and this has numerous devastating consequences - but also poisons our societies and provides a dangerous leverage to the rise of the extreme right, its racist policies and hate speech.. We cannot and do not want to override existing international asylum laws but we can improve our own standards, also by allocating sufficient resources to this effect.
Our focus needs to shift. Rather than finding ways to prevent people from reaching Europe, we must concentrate on the root causes of migration, stop instrumentalizing migrants for political reasons, stop outsourcing border controls to third countries, provide safe and legal pathways to Europe and insist on solidarity as the only collective way forward to meet current challenges.
It is unfortunate that currently, our scarce resources are increasingly used to police, monitor, sanction and pushback migrants, a practice which has led even to deaths. Rather, these funds should be used to improve our procedures in line with the relevant international law, provide decent reception conditions and facilities, provide access to much needed social services including healthcare and targeted assistance to vulnerable migrants facing multiple trauma and discrimination.
Lastly, we need to push for the establishment of a robust mechanism that will closely monitor member states obligations and EU agencies compliance with the rule of law and human rights standards as regards the treatment of refugees and migrants, including infringement procedures against member states falling short of their human rights obligations.
Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2
Dear President, Dear Colleagues,
I would like to convey my sincere thanks to the Rapporteur for undertaking such a task in reviewing this complex proposal from a human rights perspective.
While referring the complexity of the new Pact on migration and asylum, I would like to raise my concerns regarding the Pact.
I believe that all people who are in need of international protection require and deserve legal pathways to Europe. This is not just a conscientious duty but also a requirement of international human rights law. In fact, European Commission issued a recommendation on legal pathways to protection in the EU two years ago.
However, this report suggests that EU should increase legal pathways for only migrant laborers. I have to say that limiting the scope of legal pathways to solely migrant laborers is unfair and it could only worsen the humanitarian crises we are facing. This Assembly must advocate legal pathways and safeguards for those in need of international protection.
Furthermore, narrowing legal pathways to migrant workers pose another threat for the humanitarian situation of refugees. It may encourage some EU member States to implement the new Pact in a way to return asylum seekers in need of international protection without sufficiently safeguarding their rights and their vulnerable situations. Therefore, I believe that this Assembly should advocate access to safety for those fleeing persecution and other forms of serious human rights violations.
Regarding vulnerable groups, new Pact casts doubt whether it guarantees necessary safeguards for vulnerable groups. As indicated in the report, new Pact has its shortcomings in procedural safeguards in both identification of vulnerable groups and protection of their rights.
If EU does not address these shortcomings, I am afraid that current humanitarian crises in the borders of European countries would persist for long years.
Thank you.
(Undelivered speech, Rules of Procedure Art. 31.2)
Dear Colleagues,
I should like to thank the Rapporteur for his Report that illustrates the many different problems linked to the current European migration policy.
In reshaping the Union’s Pact on Migration and Asylum we must focus on making it more efficient whilst fully encompassing a human rights approach.
These two parameters are interlinked: if we allow weaknesses in its structure and functioning to persist, then it will be much harder to provide the necessary safety, protection and assistance to vulnerable refugees and migrants, thereby facilitating human trafficking and smugglers in their criminal activities.
We must ensure that a high level of security and the protection of the EU’s external borders are secured, so that we do not find ourselves in a situation where the EU is unable to help people in need. We need to work closer with countries of origin and transit to address the causes and drivers of migration. By reducing the numbers of irregular migrants through fair and swift procedures, we will ensure an asylum and migration management that is sustainable over time and provide ourselves the tools and experience to handle future crises.
Most importantly, we need solidarity and equitable burden sharing among Member States to tackle this huge challenge together.
Thank you.
