The EU and human rights in Mediterranean countries

Ambassador Joseph Licari was one of the lecturers at a seminar organised by the Council of the European Union in Brussels on October 8 for officials of its secretariat. He spoke on the place of human rights in the Wider Europe policy being promoted by the EU to underpin its relations with neighbouring countries that at present do not have any prospect of becoming full members.

Dr Licari said that labelling the policy as "Wider Europe" was misleading. First of all, it included non-European Mediterranean countries. Admittedly, Morocco had applied to join the EU in 1987, but it had been turned down.

The European Court of Justice had laid down that only European countries could join the EU and a country was European if the whole or a part of its territory was in Europe. So Turkey and Russia were European, but not the countries of Northern Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Secondly, the Wider Europe approach put in one bag Mediterranean countries and those of Eastern Europe, like Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus. The two groups of countries had little in common. They had different cultures and historical experiences. So the attempt to treat them uniformly needed to be corrected. This was especially so as regards the EU's attempt to raise standards of human rights protection and good governance.

The Council of the EU had endorsed the strategic guidelines set down by the Commission in its communication "Reinvigorating EU actions on Human Rights and democratisation with Mediterranean partners". (1) These recall that the EU is founded on the principles of democracy, the rule of law and respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms, which also constitute the core objectives of the EU's external policies.

As far back as 1967, the then EEC had suspended its Association Agreement with Greece after the colonels had set up a dictatorship in that country. Human rights have been a constant issue in the relationship between the EU and Turkey, which have been bound by an Association Agreement since the 1960s, and an obstacle to Turkish ambitions to join the EU.

Foreign interference

In the last several years, the EU has taken an even more pro-active approach.(2) Since 1992, it has included a clause defining respect for human rights and democracy as "essential elements" in all its agreements with outside countries and this provides the basis for bilateral discussions.

More specifically, the Barcelona declaration of 1995, setting up a Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, states that all participating states undertake to develop the rule of law and democracy in their political systems, and to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms. The bilateral Association Agreements between the EU and individual Mediteranean partners make similar provisions.

Ambassador Licari noted that the promotion of democratisation and human rights in non-member countries could be criticised as interference in the domestic affairs of foreign countries. This had been one of the bones of contention within the old Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, founded in the 1970s and later replaced by the OSCE.

However, respect for human rights was incorporated in many international treaties to which all countries had subscribed, including the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. So any country or individual had the right to call on any other to honour its commitments.

The EU recognises that it is difficult to strengthen democracy in Arab countries. The UNDP Arab Human Development Report for 2002, written by a group of Arab scholars and intellectuals,(3) had acknowledged that Arab countries suffer from a freedom deficit characterised by a poor record in terms of governance, gender equality and fundamental freedoms. Of the six variables used in the report, Arab countries fall considerably below the world average as regards five (quality of institutions, corruption, regulatory burden, governance effectiveness and political instability); they exceed the average only as regards the rule of law.

The report notes that political participation is less advanced in the Arab world than in other regions. Representative democracy is not always genuine and sometimes absent. Obsolete norms of legitimacy prevail.

Mass mobilisation type of regimes still exist, freedom of association and freedom of expression are restricted and the ballot box is not a common means of transfer of power. Non-governmental organisations face numerous constraints and advocacy organisations are mistrusted and sometimes obstructed by the authorities.

A report issued last month by the World Bank(4) concluded that the Arab countries' governance gap was at the root of their slow economic growth. In the past two decades they have had annual average growth of less than 1 per cent and a very low level of foreign investment. The public sector in Arab countries, though large and strong, has not delivered the goods expected of it, whether public services or a favourable investment climate. "The region falls far short in the index of public accountability which measures the openness of political institutions and participation, respect of civil liberties, transparency of government, and press freedom."

EU strategic guidelines

Ambassador Licari said that, in these circumstances, the EU would be undertaking a delicate task in putting improvement of human rights protection at the centre of its approach to Mediterranean countries and its merit was all the greater for it. Conditionality was always difficult to apply, but implicit in all international relations.

The EU is expected to include the subject systematically in all its dialogues with these countries at all levels and to propose greater co-operation on legal reforms and on upgrading the legal framework governing the operation of non-governmental organisations.

EU embassies will be keeping an up-to-date inventory of the state of democracy and human rights in the partner countries. The EU aims to develop national action plans with willing countries to take stock of the legal context and draw up a list of timebound objectives. It will be willing to contribute financially and technically to meeting these targets.

Regional action plans will also be possible where two or more countries wish to undertake a joint programme on a common problem, such as improving women's empowerment and co-operation in the field of justice.

Ambassador Licari concluded that the actual implementation of these initiatives will depend on the political context, which may thwart their effectiveness. The current climate emphasises fighting terrorism; concern for security may in some cases be given higher priority than human rights.

The EU's tendency to concentrate on willing countries may attract attention to easy targets and spare the worst offenders. The same applies to the choice of rights and freedoms to be promoted. Above all, EU member states, both old and new, must maintain their determination to keep human rights and democratisation at the forefront of the Union's relations with Mediterranean countries.

References

1. COM (2003) 294 final Brussels, May 21, 2003.

2. The EU's role in promoting human rights and democratisation in third countries, COM (2001) 252 final.

3. The Arab Human Development Report 2002, Creating opportunities for future generations, UNDP, July 2002.

4. Better governance for development in the Middle East and North Africa, World Bank, September 2003.