Translation of "Albania Selected Political and Human Rights Issues " (English → French) :

92. Notes the existence of human rights subcommittees involving countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean (Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority) in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy and calls on the Council and the Commission to set up human rights subcommittees with all neighbourhood countries; reiterates its call for parliamentarians to be associated with the preparations for meetings of such subcommittees and to be informed of their outcome; welcomes the consultation with civil society, both before and after, by the Commissi ...[+++]on delegation in the country concerned and by the Commission's relevant departments in Brussels; questions, however, the effectiveness and coherence of the methodology used, and, in particular, of the criteria for evaluating the discussions held in these subcommittees; believes that these subcommittees should allow the human rights issues included in the action plan to be specifically followed up but stresses that discussions on human rights should certainly not be confined to these subcommittees, and emphasises the importance of coordination with other subcommittees dealing with human rights-related issues, such as migration; highlights the need to include these issues in the political dialogue up to the highest level so as to increase the coherence of the EU's policy in this field; is convinced that the European Neighbourhood Policy as designed and structured (action plan, follow-up report and subcommittees) could give real leverage for the promotion of human rights were the European Union to demonstrate a genuine political will to ensure respect for the primacy of human rights in a coherent, systematic and wide-ranging manner; believes, therefore, that respect for human rights and democratic principles must be a precondition for strengthening relations between the Union and a third country; in the context of concluding a framework agreement with Libya, calls on the ...

92. Notes the existence of human rights subcommittees involving countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean (Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority) in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy and calls on the Council and the Commission to set up human rights subcommittees with all neighbourhood countries; reiterates its call for parliamentarians to be associated with the preparations for meetings of such subcommittees and to be informed of their outcome; welcomes the consultation with civil society, both before and after, by the Commissi ...[+++]on delegation in the country concerned and by the Commission's relevant departments in Brussels; questions, however, the effectiveness and coherence of the methodology used, and, in particular, of the criteria for evaluating the discussions held in these subcommittees; believes that these subcommittees should allow the human rights issues included in the action plan to be specifically followed up but stresses that discussions on human rights should certainly not be confined to these subcommittees, and emphasises the importance of coordination with other subcommittees dealing with human rights-related issues, such as migration; highlights the need to include these issues in the political dialogue up to the highest level so as to increase the coherence of the EU's policy in this field; is convinced that the European Neighbourhood Policy as designed and structured (action plan, follow-up report and subcommittees) could give real leverage for the promotion of human rights were the European Union to demonstrate a genuine political will to ensure respect for the primacy of human rights in a coherent, systematic and wide-ranging manner; believes, therefore, that respect for human rights and democratic principles must be a precondition for strengthening relations between the Union and a third country; in the context of concluding a framework agreement with Libya, calls on the ...

The political and human rights issues are intertwined and again I welcome the assurances given this afternoon by the President-in-Office in this respect.

78. Reiterates its call for human rights issues to be reviewed at the highest political level in order to give greater political weight to human rights concerns and for Member States or third countries to be prevented from isolating human rights issues from the political dialogue; considers that this dialog ...[+++]ue should therefore never be used to confine the subject to experts' meetings and thereby relegate it to a secondary position in relation to other political issues; consequently, calls on the Council and the Commission to take the following measures:

The Commission should also take a more proactive role in the initiation of discussion within geographic Council working groups on Human Rights issues, including when issues of a political nature arise which are linked to the implementation of co-operation in the area of Human Rights and democratisation.

I assure the honourable Member that we are doing far more than is our duty and, in fact, far more that what is actually politically permissible within the framework of accession negotiations. I do, however, admit that we are doing so because, in my view, it is also a human rights issue which must be considered in accordance with the political criteria governing accession.