Minaret-banning Switzerland chairing the Council of Europe

Twittering Julien Frisch was the first to make me aware of the matter, and later I saw Carl Bildt mention it on his blog, Alla dessa dagar. I decided to take a look at the web pages of the Council of Europe:

Switzerland has taken over the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, the principal decision-making body of the Council of Europe, for a period of 6 months. From 18 November 2009 to 11 May 2010, Switzerland will focus on 3 main areas: protection of human rights and the primacy of law, strengthening of democratic institutions, and increasing the transparency and the effectiveness of the Council of Europe.

The priorities of the Swiss chairmanship are introduced in the following terms:

Switzerland attaches paramount importance to respect for the values underlying the European identity. Continuing the previous Chairmanships’ efforts, Switzerland will maintain the emphasis on respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law, identified at the Warsaw Summit in 2005 as the Council of Europe’s core objective.

It must be pretty embarrassing for representatives of the Swiss government to chair the decision-making body of the CoE, when the government’s good intentions have been disavowed by its own people.

The other member states may think twice when they hear suggestions along these lines:

Switzerland, a country which possesses a long experience of participatory democracy, undertakes to strengthen democratic structures for citizen participation.

A pretty helvetic confederation, if I may say so.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page, or concentrate on the editors’ choices on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.

EU-USA SWIFT & TFTP agreement materials

The home affairs part of the Justice and EU Home Affairs Council 30 November 2009 contains the following conclusions on the approved EU-US agreement on financial messaging data for counterterrorism investigations (document 16883/09; page 11):

EU-US AGREEMENT ON FINANCIAL MESSAGING DATA FOR COUNTERTERRORISM
INVESTIGATIONS

The Council adopted an EU-US agreement on the processing and transfer of financial messaging data for purposes of the US Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP 16110/09). It also adopted two political declarations on the subject.

The agreement aims to continue to allow the US Department of the Treasury to receive European financial messaging data for counter-terrorism investigations, while ensuring an adequate level of data protection. Requests by the US have to be verified by the competent authority of the relevant EU member states, they have to substantiate the necessity for the data and they have to be tailored as narrowly as possible. The agreement also provides for a joint review procedure, redress possibilities as well as a suspension clause.

The agreement is temporary. It will be provisionally applied as from 1 February 2010 and expire on 31 October 2010, at the latest. The European Parliament must consent to the formal conclusion of this temporary agreement in the coming months.

Any long-term agreement for the time after 31 October 2010 must be negotiated and concluded under the rules of the Treaty of Lisbon. These provide that the European Parliament must be fully informed at all stages of the negotiations and must give its consent to the formal conclusion of an agreement.

Concerning that follow-up agreement for the time after 31 October 2010, a Council declaration calls upon the Commission to submit as soon as possible, and at any rate no later than February 2010, a recommendation to the Council for the negotiation of a long-term agreement. It also states that the current agreement is without prejudice to any provisions in that long-term agreement.

In a second declaration, the Council and the Commission commit themselves to the Lisbon rules, i.e. to inform the Parliament immediately and fully at all stages during negotiations.

The negotiations on the provisional agreement adopted today, started in July 2009 and responded to a decision by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to store its European financial messaging data no longer in a database located in the US, but only in Europe.

Under the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP), the US Department of the Treasury seeks to identify, track and pursue suspected terrorists and their providers of finance. It was set up shortly after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Relevant results of the US analysis have been and will continue to be shared with EU member states. A report by the former French investigating judge Jean-Luis Brugiere, commissioned by the Commission, concluded in December 2008 that the TFTP had generated considerable intelligence value also to the EU member states.

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Council decision




This time the Council published a reference (and link) to the relevant document (16110/09; 26 pages): COUNCIL DECISION on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to the United States for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program.


It contains the decision, a declaration and the agreement comprising 15 Articles, so some improvement has been made under the Swedish Council presidency.


It is now possible to discuss the issue on the basis of the final text of the agreement. Better late than never (despite the earlier, leaked versions).




Ralf Grahn



P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page or concentrate on the editors’ choice of articles on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.

Lisbon Treaty implementation ─ first day

On the first day of the EU Lisbon Treaty in force, some formal implementing decisions have been taken. The Council of the European Union informs us (1 December 2009, document 16919/09:


Implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon

Today, day of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, several decisions were taken in view of the implementation of the Treaty.

Following the political agreement reached by the Heads of State or Government on 19 November the European Council decided:

– To elect Mr Herman Van Rompuy as President of the European Council for the period from 1 December 2009 until 31 May 2012, and

– To appoint, with the agreement of the President of the Commission, Ms Catherine Ashton as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy for the period from 1 December 2009 until the end of the current term of office of the Commission.

The European Council also adopted its rules of procedure and a decision on the exercise of the Presidency of the Council.

Furthermore, the Council decided today to appoint Mr Pierre de Boissieu as Secretary-General of the Council for the period from 1 December 2009 until the day after the European Council meeting of June 2011.

It also adopted its Rules of Procedure, as well as a decision laying down measures for the implementation of the European Council decision on the exercise of the Presidency of the Council.

These final decisions have not been published yet:

• The rules of procedure of the European Council
• The decision of the European Council on the Presidency of the Council
• The rules of procedure of the Council
• The decision of the Council laying down measures for the implementation of the European Council decision on the exercise of the Presidency of the Council

Information note




The Council has published a short information note in French, prepared by the general secretariat, on the Lisbon Treaty.


Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)



The general secretariat has prepared a background note, which outlines the changes brought by the Lisbon Treaty in justice and home affairs, known as the area of freedom, security and justice (FSJ).

The four page document outlines the main changes:

1. changes in the legal framework and the legislative procedures applicable in several areas,

2. the possibility to create a European Public Prosecutor's Office,

3. a new Council standing committee on internal security (COSI), and

4. transitional provisions on the 3rd pillar 'acquis'.



Home Affairs



The conclusions of the first day of the JHA Council meeting, home affairs on 30 November 2009, have been published on the Council website (document 16883/09).

Without being Lisbon Treaty implementing decisions in a narrow sense, these decisions form a hefty package on policies under the reform treaty with regard to home affairs (member states’ ministries of the interior).




The Swedish presidency of the EU Council offers a lot of links to materials on different issues discussed and debated by the two day meeting of the JHA Council.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page or concentrate on the editors’ choice of articles on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.

Bloggingportal challenges Europarties

Bloggingportal.eu has grown considerably since the start. It now brings together 487 Euroblogs in one convenient place on its Posts page. Voluntary editors tag the entries according to their contents (although the system needs improvement) and post their choices on the Home page. RSS feeds are available for all posts or for the editors’ choice on the “front page”.

Here are some of my reflections on Bloggingportal.eu generally, the editors’ choices and blogging politicians representing Europarties.


Multilingualism?

Bloggingportal.eu is multilingual, offering the choice of 25 languages (including Norwegian). In practice, English is by far the dominant language by number of blogs, numerically followed by French, but some of them of high quality.

When we think that German is the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, the rarity of German language EU blogs is striking. On the other hand, there are now a few active quality blogs in Spanish.

Without exaggerating much, one could say that most of the other languages are represented by one or a few individuals.

There are still wide uncovered areas in an EU with 500 million inhabitants.


Editors’ choices

The editors should, in my opinion, look for original content as opposed to boilerplate announcements, journalistic quality, various viewpoints, variety of themes and linguistic diversity.

In practice, professional journalists and some experienced citizen bloggers seem to be highlighted on the Home page most frequently, and there is fairly little linguistic variety.

Bloggingportal.eu offers a Feedback button, so readers can offer their views and suggestions for improvements.


Europarties

Fairly few professional EU politicians blog actively. Interestingly, blogging foreign ministers like Carl Bildt and Alexander Stubb seem to be able to post original content frequently, although their languages – Swedish and Finnish – remain behind the language barrier for most readers.

If we look at the number of MEPs and staffers, relatively few have taken up blogging (or found their way to Bloggingportal.eu). There are a few encouraging examples, but even among them there are some problems from a reader’s viewpoint.

Many politicians’ blog posts are hasty announcements of the “I’ll be in Strasbourg next week” type. Some report events, not only national in scope, but from constituency level, such as the birthday of a local party loyalist. Then there are posts, which rattle off links to parliamentary questions and letters, or reproduce announcements by political groups, without added value or a European dimension.

All in all, there are not many MEP posts with serious, reflected content, inviting political discussion with citizens on issues of common European concern.

Naturally, elected politicians have to tend to their constituents, but do the European level parties – Europarties – step into the breach?

If we discount self-promotion on national or local issues by individual politicians, there is practically only one political party, which bridges the gap to citizens, by offering political discussion with a European dimension.


This exception is the Party of European Socialists [tagged pse on Bloggingportal.eu] and especially the Social Europe Journal, which is not listed on Bloggingportal.eu in the category of MEPs / MPs / Political parties, but among Think tanks / Academic / Federations.

Although some elected politicians write for Social Europe, most of the columnists are intellectuals (academics and party activists), who discuss the future of reformist socialism and social democracy in Europe.

The articles are reasoned and often well written, from a European perspective, which means that many of them are promoted to the front page of Bloggingportal.eu.

Good for them! If they deserve to be highlighted, they should be.

But this still leaves us with some questions. In a European Union dominated by centre-right, liberal and (far) right political forces, with active Greens staking out their visions for the future and uppity newcomers like the Pirate Party claiming the front row on web related issues, where are these other Europarties?

Do they think and act at European level? If so, why is there so little to be seen?

I have no yearning for boilerplate resolutions, but for ideas about our European future, engaging citizens to read, reflect and respond.

It is time for the other Europarties, their political foundations and the EP political groups, as well as staffers and activists, to take up the challenge and for the PES to fight to keep its lead.




Ralf Grahn

Council publishes Questions and Answers on EU-US SWIFT agreement

The Council of the European Union has published a five page document with questions and answers on the so called SWIFT agreement on the US Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP), concluded for nine months one day before the Lisbon Treaty enters into force.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page or concentrate on the editors’ choice of articles on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.

Ethics and law of Swiss minaret ban

First, a few thoughts on how we should try to approach difficult questions concerning freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The general understanding in Europe has been that there are universal rights. In Europe the secular state does its best to guarantee that the rights of all are respected, as long as they do not harm the freedom of others to practice their beliefs. Outside Europe we try to promote human rights.

The Council of Europe and the European Union are built on the premises of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Membership requires respect for fundamental rights.

Switzerland is still a member of the Council of Europe, party to the European Convention on Human Rights and subject to the European Court of Human Rights. The Swiss can contravene the European Convention only by renouncing their membership.

The exact scope for different rights is a difficult issue, where we need discussion at European level to find satisfactory solutions. It is not easy, and we will probably see trial and error.

If we want to find principles applicable to all on issues concerning religious symbols (headscarves or crucifixes in secular state schools, for instance), we have to look towards ethical rules:

The Golden Rule, reciprocity, Kant’s categorical imperative.


Did the Swiss ban church towers and belfries as well? If not, then their vote is discriminatory.


Legal analysis

Here are a few examples of lawyers who have analysed the Swiss minaret ban on their blogs:



Actualités du droit, Gilles Devers: Minarets: C’est illégal, et la Suisse devra renoncer (30 November 2009)



Verfassungsblog, Max Steinbeis: Schweiz: Diktatur der Mehrheit (30 November 2009)




European Union Law, Vihar Georgiev: The Swiss Ban on Minarets: Legal implications (30 November 2009)


***


The blogs discuss the matters from different angles (Swiss, European and international law; referendums and minority rights), but their conclusions are clear. There is a contradiction between the Swiss referendum result and the international obligations of Switzerland.

Let the corrective mechanisms take over. They can at least right the wrong in a legal sense, although they can do little to improve the image of Switzerland and the Swiss.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page, or concentrate on the editors’ choices on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.

EU Lisbon Treaty into force 1 December 2009

The Lisbon Treaty enters into force Tuesday, 1 December 2009. The consolidated (readable and updated ) versions of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), were published in the Official Journal of the European Union 9 May 2008 (OJEU 9.5.2008 C 115), and they are available in 23 treaty languages.



The EU Charter was declared politically binding on the EU institutions in December 2000 in Nice, but it becomes legally binding when the Lisbon Treaty enters into force: The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and the explanations relating to it, were published OJEU 14 December 2007 C 303.

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For EU citizens the world will look pretty much the same after tomorrow morning, but in the areas where the European Parliament gains more equal powers as a law-maker the procedures will become a bit more open for the public.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page, or concentrate on the editors’ choices on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.