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TITLE: Patten Plea to EU on Human Rights |
AUTHOR: Judy Dempsey |
PUB: |
DATE: May 4 2001 |
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Chris Patten, the European Union's commissioner for external affairs, will on Saturday ask EU foreign ministers to apply strictly human rights clauses included in EU trade agreements with countries such as Israel and Russia. If applied, the clauses would lead to partial or total suspension of agreements hat grant countries favourable trade terms. The move follows pressure from human rights organisations and parliaments that have accused the Commission and member states of failing to apply pressure on some countries, particularly Israel and Russia, for violating human rights. Mr Patten's request, spelled out in a letter ahead of Saturday's informal meeting of foreign ministers in the Swedish town of Nykoping, signals a shift as the Commission seeks political means and leverage to complement its economic clout. It is, however, highly unlikely that foreign ministers will apply any of Mr Patten's ideas when they also discuss the Middle East on Saturday. EU member states have been reluctant to discuss any kind of sanctions against Israel, which enjoys generous tariff preferences from its trade agreement with Brussels. Instead, Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, will present the findings of the Mitchell Commission, of which he is a member. Set up to investigate the causes of the latest Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the commission describes in blunt terms the widespread violations of human rights by both sides. Anticipating a mixed reception to his letter, Mr Patten said it was time that member states stood up for the principles of the rule of law and democracy that should underpin the EU's common security and foreign policy. "Some countries would maintain that they represent a clash between hard-nosed realpolitik and unrealistic principle. I do not buy that," he said. "Democratic societies which res- pect human rights are also the EU's best trading partners and the least likely to sink into expensive conflict." The EU has suspended parts of trade agreements, mostly with African and Caribbean, or ACP, countries but it has never revoked those with non-ACP countries. There, said Mr Patten, "parliament and some NGOs have on occasion called on the EU to invoke the suspension clause". END |