German CDU defends European values, benefits and euro currency

The Christian Democratic Union CDU party conference adopted a resolution equating a strong Europe with the good fortunes of Germany: Starkes Europa – Gute Zukunft für Deutschland (23 pages).

What does the leading government party of the largest member state of the European Union (proportionately even bigger in the eurozone) say, when the financial, debt and growth crises in the eurozone have worsened into a crisis of the euro itself?


European values

Europe is a community of values, says the resolution, referring to the founding values of the European Union (as in Article 2 TEU) and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (enshrined in Article 6 TEU).

The CDU still rejects a unitary European state, but the EU works according to federal principles in areas of conferred powers. The European idea has brought people unprecedented peace, freedom, prosperity and social justice.


Benefits of Europe

The political and economic benefits of EU membership surpass the costs for Germany by a wide margin.

In order to master the challenges of the 21st century, the CDU wants to complete the economic and monetary union (EMU) and mould the EU into a strong political union.

In the globalised world of the 21st century, Europe needs to promote universal human rights, international law and freedom for all.

A strong Europe can shape international rules to counter climate change and protect biodiversity, as well as regulate energy and trade issues, but this requires European unity.

Despite the rise of China and the other BRICS, the 500 million people of the European Union remain the largest internal market in the world and offer the opportunity to promote democracy and the social market economy globally.


Defending the euro

The CDU wants all the 17 eurozone states to defend the common currency. The euro has brought Germany jobs - 9 million depend on the internal market – and growth (€50 billion extra in the last two years).

The euro is the safeguard of low inflation and high purchase power. The euro brings predictability to international trade and global currency policy. The euro also brings political stability.

The euro is a great community project, necessary for the good fortunes of Europe.

The CDU wants to strengthen Europe and widen the scope of action by turning the monetary union into an enduring stability union, as intended from the start. For the common euro currency to succeed, we need to stick to firm rules (stability and growth pact SGP).

The CDU is prepared to learn the lessons from the current crisis and to prepare Europe for the future challenges.

The CDU congratulates itself for having brought back financial stability and budget disciplin to Germany, and the party wants a stronger Europe to emerge from the debt crisis.

***

European values, benefits from European integration and the will to improve the euro project lay the foundation for the CDU (and Germany) in European politics.

The foundation gives the analysis focus and shapes the remedies proposed.



Ralf Grahn

Are EU founding values effective? (Hungarian media law)

In the Social Europe Journal, Gabor Gyori explained that the tribulations of democracy in Hungary could not be framed in the terms of dictatorship or its opposite. There were many other problems besides the new media law. For the sake of Hungary and the whole EU, the union must start taking democracy and the rule of law as seriously as economic issues: For Hungary, the Issue is not Dictatorship but the Quality of Democracy (10 January 2011).

The 47 member states of the pan-European Council of Europe have committed themselves to the European values enshrined in many treaties, most notably the (European) Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR).

There are at least three lines of defence. First, the member states are supposed to live up to their promises voluntarily. Second, the CoE officials and intergovernmental bodies try to deal with emerging problems politically. Third, ultimately the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) rules on applications ”after all domestic remedies have been exhausted”, so it is a slow and laborious road, but the member states have undertaken to abide by the final judgment of the Court. Abidance is monitored by the CoE.

As I tried to explain yesterday, there are pan-European values, common to all CoE members, not Western European, Central European or Eastern European values and norms designed to give people in Central or Eastern Europe less protection than their more fortunate counterparts in the older CoE members in the West: European values and Hungarian media law: ECHR (10 January 2011).


European Union values

The European Union (EU) is a tight and deep political union, as opposed to the intergovernmental Council of Europe, so it would be natural to expect the EU to be better equipped to deal with deviant behaviour against the freedoms and rights of its citizens.

In addition, the Lisbon Treaty was marketed as an improvement for citizens in many respects: more democratic, fundamental rights, citizens' initiative etc.


EU founding values

Let us look at the bright side of life. In my view, the founding values of the European Union are admirable (OJEU 30.3.2010 C 83/17):

Article 2 TEU

The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.

(You can notice the inclusion among the founding values of ”the rights of persons belonging to minorities”, treasured by a Hungary solicitous about 3.5 million ethnic Hungarians outside its borders.)


Outsiders

As long as states remain candidates for EU accession, they have to convince all the member states that they respect these founding values and that they are committed to promoting them (Article 49 TEU).


Insiders

Once inside, a member state is less at risk legally, because the hurdles against sanctions are still quite high. According to Article 7 TEU, the Council needs to determine by a four fifths majority that there is a ”clear risk of a serious breach” of the founding values by a member state.

The process can be initiated by a third of the member states, by the European Parliament or by the European Commission. The procedure can lead to recommendations.

Real legal sanctions are possible only when a unanimous European Council determines a ”serious and persistent breach” by a member state.

Legally, we have a blunt weapon, not especially well adapted to minor but important infringements by member states' governments.

Politically, already serious discussion about the commencement of proceedings is an embarrassment for a wayward government, despite the slender risk of condemnation.

However, it requires a degree of moral courage from the institutional players involved to get even a principled discussion going.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. The Daniel Mason writes The Endless Track, a British Euroblog refreshingly interested in actual EU policies and the place of South Yorkshire within the European Union. You can follow @danmason21 on Twitter when he hopefully returns with new tweets.

European values and Hungarian media law: ECHR

The discussion about the Hungarian media law prone to arbitrary implementation has revealed profound ignorance about or lack of care for European values, even outright denial of their existence.

For the legal text (to the extent that the Act has been translated) you can go to Politics.hu:

Act CLXXXV of 2010 on media services and mass media (in English)

The text on Politics.hu is followed by a lot of comments discussing the law (48 by now), even if they reflect only a tiny proportion of an ongoing discussion in many media articles and blog posts.


Grahnlaw

I have tried to shed some light on political and legal aspects of freedom of speech in Europe in earlier blog posts:

Help EPP group leader Joseph Daul defend media freedom (5 January 2011)

EPP president Wilfried Martens versus Free Press for Hungary (5 January 2011)

Hungarian media law and EU Council presidency: Evolving European opinion (8 January 2011)

Hungary: Is free speech a socialist issue? (9 January 2011)

Presidency or Troll? Describing itself as the unofficial troll blog of the Hungarian presidency, EUphobia made its confused and confusing appearance on the Euroblog scene: The Party has Started (8 January 2011). If I understand the blog entry and the following discussion correctly, the Hungarian media law is bad, but press freedom needs to be suppressed in Hungary for partisan reasons. EUphobia seems to imply that there are no European standards to uphold.


Council of Europe (CoE)

All the members of the European Union (EU) are members of the pan-European Council of Europe (CoE) and thus parties to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), an evolving system of protection of the rights of citizens against abuse by governments and public authorities, as shown by the preamble:

The governments signatory hereto, being members of the Council of Europe,

Considering the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10th December 1948;

Considering that this Declaration aims at securing the universal and effective recognition and observance of the Rights therein declared;

Considering that the aim of the Council of Europe is the achievement of greater unity between its members and that one of the methods by which that aim is to be pursued is the maintenance and further realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

Reaffirming their profound belief in those fundamental freedoms which are the foundation of justice and peace in the world and are best maintained on the one hand by an effective political democracy and on the other by a common understanding and observance of the human rights upon which they depend;

Being resolved, as the governments of European countries which are like-minded and have a common heritage of political traditions, ideals, freedom and the rule of law, to take the first steps for the collective enforcement of certain of the rights stated in the Universal Declaration,

Have agreed as follows: ---

The ratifying states have not only declared their profound belief in the fundamental freedoms, but pledged a common understanding and observance of human rights, which are legally binding in every member state of the CoE.

In short, the purpose is to give citizens' rights and freedoms teeth:

Article 1 – Obligation to respect human rights

The High Contracting Parties shall secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in Section I of this Convention.

Key word ”secure”.


Freedom of expression

Section 1 of the ECHR contains Article 10, which enshrines the freedom of expression:

Article 10 – Freedom of expression

1.Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

2.The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.

This text binds national legislators, governments and public administrations, as well as Courts. Ultimately observance of the engagements undertaken by the member states is ensured by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). (See Article 19)

As we see, some restrictions are possible on freedom of expression, but they have to be strictly justifiable. Let me make just two points: 1) ”Interference” by public authority is a much wider concept than crude prior censorship; 2) Conditions have to be prescribed by law, ”necessary in a democratic society” and they have to be based on the enumerated grounds.

Rich pickings are available on the ECtHR's search portal Hudoc for those who are interested in case law can find. I link to newer cases concerning ECHR Article 10.


The good fight

In the end governments miss the whole purpose of protecting the health of their democratic system and the rights of individuals if they propel themselves into a race to the bottom and a competition who can get away with the least.

We are, at least hopefully, dealing with the rights of humans, not maximising those of governments at the expense of citizens, despite the obvious temptations.

Individual politicians, politcal parties at national and European level, legislatures, governments and public authorities should compete to improve the standards and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including free speech, in order to be able to claim at the end of the day: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.

This is what European values are about.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Anarchic in spirit, but vigilant for the rights of EU netizens is @telecomix on Twitter, describing itself in the following terms: The Telecomix News Agency aims to inform about the telecoms package, ACTA, data retention, net neutrality and censorship within EU and the rest of the world. Worth following.

Treaty of Lisbon Preamble

The Conference of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States has published the text of the so called Reform Treaty, dated 3 December 2007. The subject of the CIG 14/07 text is the Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community.

The Preamble is a good point to start thinking about the European values, said to have become universal, and about the process of European integration, marked by different stages of development and steps to be taken.

This Preamble is part of the final text of the intergovernmental conference, intended for signing in Lisbon on 13 December 2007.


***

His Majesty the King of the Belgians et al.

DESIRING to complete the process started by the Treaty of Amsterdam and by the Treaty of Nice with a view to enhancing the efficiency and democratic legitimacy of the Union and to improving the coherence of its action,

HAVE RESOLVED to amend the Treaty on European Union, the Treaty establishing the European Community and the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,

and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries:

-----

The Treaty on European Union shall be amended in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

Treaty of Lisbon consolidated version of the Preamble:

RESOLVED to mark a new stage in the process of European integration undertaken with the establishment of the European Communities,

DRAWING INSPIRATION from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe, from which have developed the universal values of the inviolable and inalienable rights of the human person, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law,

RECALLING the historic importance of the ending of the division of the European continent and the need to create firm bases for the construction of the future Europe,

CONFIRMING their attachment to the principles of liberty, democracy and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and of the rule of law,

CONFIRMING their attachment to fundamental social rights as defined in the European Social Charter signed in Turin on 18 October 1961 and in the 1989 Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers,

DESIRING to deepen the solidarity between their peoples while respecting their history, their culture and their traditions,

DESIRING to enhance further the democratic and efficient functioning of the institutions so as to enable them better to carry out, within a single institutional framework, the tasks entrusted to them,

RESOLVED to achieve the strengthening and the convergence of their economies and to establish an economic and monetary union including, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty and of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, a single and stable currency,

DETERMINED to promote economic and social progress for their peoples, taking into account the principle of sustainable development and within the context of the accomplishment of the internal market and of reinforced cohesion and environmental protection, and to implement policies ensuring that advances in economic integration are accompanied by parallel progress in other fields,

RESOLVED to establish a citizenship common to nationals of their countries,

RESOLVED to implement a common foreign and security policy including the progressive framing of a common defence policy, which might lead to a common defence in accordance with the provisions of Article 17, thereby reinforcing the European identity and its independence in order to promote peace, security and progress in Europe and in the world,

RESOLVED to facilitate the free movement of persons, while ensuring the safety and security of their peoples, by establishing an area of freedom, security and justice, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty and of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

RESOLVED to continue the process of creating an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity,

IN VIEW of further steps to be taken in order to advance European integration,

HAVE DECIDED to establish a European Union and to this end have designated as their Plenipotentiaries:

-----


***

The second recital is new, taken from the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004 and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 16 December 2004 (C series, No 310).

In the now eighth and twelfth recitals the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union has been added.


Ralf Grahn


P.S. There are consolidated versions of the Treaty of Lisbon, in English by the Institute of European Affairs (IIEA), in Ireland, and by professor Steve Peers (Statewatch), as well as in French (Assemblée nationale) and in Spanish (Real Instituto Elcano). I am grateful for information on existing or forthcoming consolidations in different languages.