"It is a great step forward for European citizens that the draft Constitution gives the possibility for the Union to accede to the European Convention on Human Rights," said the European Ombudsman, Jacob Söderman in the Convention plenary meeting.

As currently drafted, however, the Constitution seems to bar the Union from acceding to other international human rights instruments such as the Council of Europe Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation's Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour. According to the Ombudsman, the Constitution should leave open the possibility for the Union to follow the good example of most of the Member States by also joining these international agreements for the protection and promotion of human rights.

The Ombudsman welcomed Article 7 of the draft Constitution which clearly outlines citizens' rights. Supporting the proposal made by the representative of the Irish government, Mr. Dick Roche, the Ombudsman argued that the citizen's right to good administration should be included among these rights.

Finally, the principle in the existing Treaties whereby decisions are taken as openly as possibly and as closely as possible to the citizen should be included in Article 1 of the Constitution. This is because "European citizens believe that the Union is too secretive and bureaucratic," said the Ombudsman.

 

The Ombudsman's speech to the Convention can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/activities/speech.faces/en/270/html.bookmark

 

For further information, please call Ms. Rosita Agnew, Press Officer, tel. +33 3 88 17 24 08.