In the proposed declaration, the EU and the Council of Europe "stress the importance of persevering in the pursuit of actions aimed at abolishing the death penalty in the world" and "invite European citizens to support the abolition of the death penalty in the world and thereby contribute to the development of fundamental rights and human dignity".
But Poland objected to the notion that "development of fundamental rights and human dignity" can take place without being placed in the context of the "right to life". "We think that whenever anybody wants to discuss a problem of death in the context of the law it is also worth discussing euthanasia and abortion in this context," declared a spokesman for the Polish delegation.
EPP-ED Group Chairman Joseph Daul MEP, who oversees Parliament's largest group (278 MEPs), expressed his support for the Portuguese EU Presidency proposal to have a 'European Day Against the Death Penalty' on 10 October, the same day as the World Day Against the Death Penalty, which has been commemorated since 2003.
Daul expressed his regret, however, that Poland had rejected the proposal, a sentiment echoed by Finnish fellow MEP Piia-Noora Kauppi, who said that she was "astonished" by the Polish government's position. Kauppi said: "EU leaders should condemn with firmness the position of the Polish government. Already at the beginning of this year, President Kaczynski spoke about relaunching the debate on the use of death penalty in Europe. Luckily, he was forced to withdraw his suggestions then, but now Poland seems to want to block the inauguration of the European Day Against the Death Penalty."
The death penalty has not been completely abolished from Europe, since Belarus continues to apply it and Russia is only applying a vague moratorium until 2010. In addition, many EU countries, such as France, have not yet ratified all regional and universal Protocols against the death penalty (for example Protocols 6 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Protocol 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of the UN).
The Polish position anticipates the 18 September meeting of EU justice ministers, which would formally give the go-ahead for the anti-death penalty day. Member states' ambassadors were expected to discuss the declaration further on 7 September - since the declaration is subject to unanimous agreement in the EU Council, Poland's continuing rejection of the proposal would effectively scupper any chance of its introduction.
