III European Union
| Author | Mielle Bulterman |
| Published date | 01 March 1999 |
| Date | 01 March 1999 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/092405199901700106 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Human Rights News
loss
of
his land, had upset the fair balance that should have been maintained between the
protection
of
the right to property and the demands of the general interest. There had
therefore been a violation
of
Article I
of
Protocol No. 1. The Court considered that the
members of the Aka family had suffered definite non-pecuniary damage as a result of the
events that had constituted a violation of the Convention. Making its assessment on an
equitable basis in accordance with Article 50, the Court awarded them compensation.
III
EUROPEAN
UNION
Mielle Bulterman
A. Declaration of the
European
Union on the occasion of
the
50th Anniversary
Universal Declaration of
Human
Rights
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration
of
Human Rights, the European
Commission funded a major project undertaken by the European University Institute in
Florence, under the direction of Professor Philip Alston:
'A
Human Rights Agenda for the
European Union for the Year 2000'. One of the elements
of
this project was the
preparation
of
a'Human Rights Agenda' by a
Camire
des Sages consisting of Judge
Antonio Cassese, Mrs. Catherine Lalumiere, Professor Peter Leuprecht and Mrs. Mary
Robinson. In October 1998, the
Camire
des Sages presented its agenda 'Leading by
Example', which contains many proposals for improvement
of
the European Union's
human rights policy. IThe
Camire
des Sages called upon the European Council, meeting
in Vienna on 10 December 1998, to call for the appointment
of
a Human Rights
Commissioner in the next Commission; to request the Commission to prepare a detailed
study, to be transmitted to the European Parliament by December 1999, on the proposal
to establish a fully-fledged European Union Human Rights Monitoring Agency; to call
upon the Commission and the Council to study the Agenda
of
the
Camire
des Sages along
with the Final Report
of
the Project and present their proposals in light of the
recommendations made therein.
On 10 December 1998, the European Council
of
Vienna adopted a formal declaration
to mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Unfortunately,
the declaration does not contain a clear commitment
of
the European Council to implement
any of the concrete measures which were suggested by the Comite des Sages in its 'Human
Rights Agenda'. In fact, the declaration docs not contain any reference to the work of the
Comite des Sages at all. The declaration is to a large extent confined to reiterating the
main principles and priorities of the European Union's human rights policy. In this respect,
the Declaration does not add much to previous declarations such as the Declaration
concerning human rights
of
28 June 1991.
In the declaration, the Union recalls the primary importance that it attaches to the
Universal Declaration
of
Human Rights. Reference is also made to the universality and
indivisibility
of
human rights. According to the Council, the 50th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration is a time to take stock, and a time to redouble efforts to promote the
implementation
of
human rights in all countries in the world. With respect to the
persistence of violations
of
human rights throughout the world, the Union reaffirms that
it is the legitimate and permanent responsibility of the international community and of all
See 1. van der Klaauw, NQHR, Vol. 16,
No.4,
1998, pp. 524-528.
79
To continue reading
Request your trial