Capacity building towards an EU internal human rights strategy
Social Platform’s objective for 2014 is to ‘advocate for an EU internal strategy on human rights that ensures consistency between EU external and internal human rights standards and delivers on their implementation to combat the existing violation of human rights’. As a first step in our work we are inviting members and possible partners to a capacity building workshop on March 12 at Social Platform.
Guest speakers are: Friderike Tschampa, Counsellor and Deputy chair for the Council Human Rights Working Group (COHOM) presenting the EU Strategic Framework and Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy and Natacha Kazatchkine, Chair of the Human Rights and Democracy Network (HRDN)/ Amnesty International EU Office presenting Human Rights NGOs position for an internal human rights framework.
The current situation shows that the EU institutions are not responding to human rights problems and violation in laws and practices by member states in an adequate and coherent way. In 2010 Ms Reding was appointed as the first Commissioner with an explicit mandate for fundamental rights. Together with the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty and the Charter of fundamental rights all these changes gave rise to expectations by civil society that the obligations of the EU and its member states would be reinforced. Four years later we can conclude that while the Commissioner has presented specific legislative initiatives (e.g. gender equality, data protection and Roma rights) fundamental rights has not been addressed in a coherent and comprehensive way as we expected.
Please register with Annica Ryngbeck by Friday March 7
