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'I am impressed by the delegates of the EuroCOP Committee', said Ben
Fayot, Member of the European Convention, after discussing for two hours
with members of the EuroCOP Committee. "Police officers do have a lot to
contribute to the project of European Integration and I think we should
listen to their voice'.
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Ben Fayot, Member of the European Convention |
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Mr. Fayot had informed the EuroCOP Committee about the latest developments
in the European Convention. The EuroCOP Committee had listened to his
impressions from the work of the Convention with great interest.
The European Convention is a body that was created by the European Council
in 2001 and is asked to draft a constitutional treaty for the EU that
overcomes the present structure, where the EU's fundamental values, its
relation towards the national institutions and objectives are either not
clearly defined or spread out through a large number of treaties.
A good example for unclear objectives surely was the area of Justice and
Home Affairs.
'An ambitious goal' Mr. Fayot admitted, but he was confident that the
delegates from national governments, national parliaments and EU
institutions will be able to complete their task towards autumn 2003. Upon
the final result though, there is no sure guess at present. 'The most
important question is, how far the governments want to go,' Mr. Fayot
explained. 'Finally, the constitutional treaty will have to be approved by
the governments of the EU member states in order to become effective'. This
fact introduced a subtle hierarchy into the proceedings of the Convention,
though there is no formal distinction between the different members.
'There are some more important differences to the working method of a
democratic parliament', Mr. Fayot reported: 'One is, that the Convention
regularly adopts a top-down approach. Its proceedings are led by the
secretariat under Giscard d'Estaing, who answers to the European Council.
Another difference is that the Convention does not decide by voting. Instead,
it decides by consensus, which means that the most important players have to
agree.'
Following Mr. Fayot's report, members of the EuroCOP Committee engaged in a
fruitful discussion with Mr. Fayot, ranging from questions about the freedom
of association and coalition in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU
to details of the final report of the Convention's Working Group on Justice
and Home Affairs.
With great interest Mr. Fayot listened to the viewpoints of the EuroCOP
Committee on the implications of the EU Charta of Fundamental Rights for the
freedom of association of police officers in Europe. Though both the EU
Charta and the Council of Europe's European Convention on Human Rights
acknowledge the freedoms of association, coalition and collective bargaining
in general, the extent to which police officers are entitled to this right
remains unclear.
Mr. Fayot encouraged EuroCOP to bring the matter to the attention of the
Convention via a contribution. This would assure that what he had heard
today would also reach the ears of other members of the Convention. He
emphasized that, at this stage, it was still possible to exert influence
onto the final text of the charter and other provisions of the
Constitutional Treaty. A contribution from EuroCOP could also include
thoughts on the relationship between the EU and Trade Unions in general as
well as recommendations on such specific issues like problems resulting from
joint border control operations.
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