Tag: Fundamental rights

A European Parliament debate over Hungary's controversial media law, scheduled to take place at a Strasbourg plenary, had to be rescheduled in a smaller room after the EU assembly's two biggest political groups voted against the plan.

The EU's commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, Viviane Reding, reassured her staff that the European Commission will remain in the driving seat in communicating Europe but not without citizens, sources told EurActiv after an in-house presentation on Friday (12 February).

The European Parliament has reminded Commission President José Manuel Barroso of his commitment to put forward a directive outlawing discrimination on a whole range of grounds, including disability, age, religion or belief and sexual orientation, as Brussels finalises preparations for a social policy package to be presented in June. 

For the first time, the European Communities have signed a human-rights charter, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. But, in a last-minute move, the Commission refrained from signing an additional Protocol establishing a complaints procedure, which some member states consider too far-reaching.

EU citizens suspected of petty crimes in another Member State would be allowed to return to their home countries to avoid overcrowding prisons, according to a Commission proposal.

Commissioner Frattini supports the Council of Europe's (CoE) appeal to its member states to better respect the fundamental rights of suspects and control secret services in the fight against terrorism.

Under a proposal outlined by EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini, suspects in criminal proceedings would be guaranteed common basic rights across the European Union.

The first annual report by the EU's independent expert group on fundamental rights highlights the often unsatisfactory conditions in EU prisons and warns that counter-terror measures must not lead to discrimination.

The Convention on the Charter of Fundamental Rights is under fire from UK and German employers organisations.

The draft Charter of Fundamental Rights is "the foundation for an EU superstate", according to some UK political commentators.