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On 30 March, the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) committee organised a public hearing to discuss with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and other stakeholders the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union (EU). Contributions came from First Vice-President of the European Commission Frans Timmermans, the Chair of Council’s Working Party on Fundamental Rights LICE, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights Muižnieks, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Laura Ferrara MEP, lead author of the LIBE own-initiative report on the situation of fundamental rights in the EU, stressed the need to develop an Internal Strategic Framework on fundamental rights – as it is already applied in the EU’s external relations – in close cooperation with other institutions and civil society. Such a Strategy should include mechanisms to undergo an ex ante and ex post assessment of the impact of European policies (including fiscal consolidation dictates) on fundamental rights as well as improving monitoring of the situation of fundamental rights in collaboration with the Fundamental Rights Agency.

SOLIDAR welcomes the fact that the European Parliament dedicated a public hearing and a report to the situation of fundamental rights in the EU, especially in the current context of increasing threats to fundamental rights as a consequence of austerity policy measures. Undeniably, austerity measures have led to the deterioration of the conditions that enable people to exercise fundamental rights, violations of these rights and decreasing of protection standards with migrants, people with disabilities and women being disproportionally affected – as also explained in the findings of the report on the impact of the crisis on fundamental rights carried out at LIBE’s request and presented on 30 March.

SOLIDAR is ready to engage in the ongoing debate on mechanisms to better safeguard the rule of law and fundamental rights in the EU and member states and will provide input to the LIBE report and to the new Agenda on Migration on the basis of the following principles:

• Guarantee that under no circumstances obligations imposed by the so called Troika (such as economic adjusting programmes in some member states) lead to restriction and violation of fundamental rights guaranteed in the EU Charter.
• Further strengthen the role of the EU in the protection and promotion of social, economic and cultural rights – which the above mentioned report indicates to be the most drastically undermined by austerity measures. This should also possibly include the extention of social rights in the EU Charter to other social rights mentioned in the revised Social Charter of the Council of Europe such as the right to work, the right to fair remuneration, the right to be protected from poverty and social exclusion.
• Ensure that solidarity and a human rights-based approach are put at the heart of the upcoming EU comprehensive agenda on migration. In this regard, SOLIDAR calls for this new agenda to include more effective measures to stop the ongoing human tragedies of thousands of people losing their lives in the attempt to reach the EU borders, for example by investing in search and rescue operations and promoting legal and safe roots for people fleeing wars and seeking international protection.
• Ensure and promote the involvement of civil society organisations in shaping the fundamental rights policy of the EU by guaranteeing them a central role in monitoring applications of fundamental rights in member states.

Today [1 April] Conny Reuter (Secretary-General, SOLIDAR) will be addressing the joint hearing of the Development (DEVE) and LIBE committees on the nexus between migration and development. He will address the challenges related to facts and realities, not on myths that are nourishing anti-migrant and racist tendencies, by defending a rights-based approach to migration.

Full article.