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Home arrow newsitems arrow CoE New Chief Buric to EF on BioEthics Treaty Interpretation by ECHR: Trust, but Sensitive=>careful

CoE New Chief Buric to EF on BioEthics Treaty Interpretation by ECHR: Trust, but Sensitive=>careful

Parašė ACM
Tuesday, February 11, 2020

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*Strasbourg/Angelo Marcopolo/- Replying Today to an "Eurofora" Question, CoE New Secretary General, Marija Buric (2019-2024), reacted to ECHR President's anouncement, in EU Parliament Yesterday, about EuroJudges starting to be Consulted for Interpreting CoE's BioEthical Rules, "for the 1st Time in History", by Expressing her "Trust" to Strasbourg's PanEuropean Court, in general, even when it notoriously adapts its methods of interpretation to the needs of nowadays Society (Comp. Infra), But, also Warning that there are "Sensitive" Issues in this particular area, inviting to be Careful.

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 - "Eurofora" pointed to the Fact that Buric had Concluded her Speech by a Call to "Defend CoE's Rules" and Values, and we observed that BioEthics come Nowadays at the Forefront of Topical and "Hot" Contradictions. while ECHR's President had just announced, Yesterday in EU Parliament in Strasbourg, that, "for the 1st Time in History", EuroJudges Start to be Consulted on the interpretation of CoE's 1997/8 "Oviedo" Convention on Human Dignity and Bioethics, (See: http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/coesgburiconechrbioethicsinterpretation.html), Knowing that ECHR uses, generaly, since 1970, to Adapt somehow the Interpreted Texts to the Living Society of our Times. Even if this might be, in general, Interesting, (particularly for Long-living Texts, as that of ECHR, which Date More than 70 Years), nevertheless, given also the Fact that BioEthics raise certain particularly "Sensitive" Issues for Humankind, (while CoE's Rules there Date "Only" around 20 Years-Time: Since 1998), wouldn't we all, Better be "Carefull" on the way they might be Interpretered ?

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 -  " I CanNot Commend on what ECHR's President said", the New CoE's SG observed from the outset, Carefuly.

-  "But  it's true that the Court tries to Adapt itself on the Needs of the Society" in general, "in order to go forward, and ameliorate certain things".

 - "As far as I'm personally concerned, I am inclined to Trust the Court, because it did always well, and made advance certain issues".

- However, "as You said, this (BioEthics) is a very Sensitive matter", she Warned.

- "But also a too Complex one, for me to say more" now, she modestly concluded Carefully, (Comp. Supra).

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ECHR has been Already Consulted on BioEthics also, f.ex;, by French Supreme Courts on "End of Life" Cases ("Lambert", etc), "Surrogate Mothers"' cases, etc., But Only in order to interpret the PanEuropean Convention on Human Rights' classic general text, (particularly Article 2 = end or beginning of "Life", and Article 8 = "Private life/Family").

+ "Very Recently", CoE's Committee on BioEthics asked ECHR to give a Consultative Interpretation about Article 7 of CoE's "Oviedo" Treaty, on "Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Person in Medicine and Biology" (1997-1998), concerning Measures on Persons suffering from "Mental Disorders", revealed Yesterday at EU Parliament ECHR's President Alexandros Sicilianos.

Any Member-State can also do so, in Addition to that Committtee itself, but it's "the 1st Time in History", until now, that ECHR would Interpret anOther, Different Text from that of the 70 Years Old PanEuropean Convention on Human Rights, and, meanwhile, it's Competent Committee just Started to Adopt the required New Rules of Procedure, for this new era, he revealed; (See : ..., etc). "Hot" Topical BioEthical Issues, such as a Global Ban on "Human Cloning" (since 1998), Heritable Human Genome Editing, etc., are included among the Many and Various "Oviedo" Convention BioEthic matters.

+ By the way, President Alexander Sicilianos' Birthplace : Greece, which is due to take over CoE's rotating Chairmanship during the Period of May - November 2020, has notoriously proposed the ECHR for this same year's (which coincides with CoE's 70th Anniversary) prestigious "Nobel" Peace Prize.

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 CoE SG Catherine Lalumière's (with whom, "Eurofora"s co-Founder had Started to work at the CoE) Bureau and of the Congres of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE), as well as Denis Huber, President of CoE's Staff Association, and former Director of CoE's "North-South" Center (Lisbon).


Other Questions concerned well-known Issues, (such as "BREXIT", Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, OSCE, Budget, etc), and the Replies were mostly Familiar to those who had followed Buric's recent interventions at CoE's Assembly, etc.

 

 

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("Draft-News")

 

(NDLR: Original = in French. => Fast Translation in English)

 

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    Scientific innovation joined to Faith for Human Rights, Eastern Partnership and fight against the Crisis, but above all, the need to overcome the "Crisis of Trust" from EU Citizens, are the main priorities for new EU Parliament's President, Polish Jerzy Buzek, that a 555-votes-strong majority of MEPs on July 14,  Strasbourg made a living symbol of the fact that, 20 years after the fall of Berlin Wall (1989 - 2009) there is no more an Eastern or Western Europe, but only one Europe, as the head of the largest group of MEPs, ChristianDemocrats/EPP, Joseph Daul, stressed after the event.

    Speaking later to a group of Strasbourg's Journalists, including "EuroFora", the new EU Parliament's President clarified his stance on concrete topical issues, as f.ex. that of Turkey's controversial EU bid, which was one of the main issues of the June 2009 Electoral campain, clearly won by his party of ChristianDemocrats/EPP :  - "At present, Turkey does not fullfil none of EU conditions", he stressed, (See infra).

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    Buzek is well known in Strasbourg and to "EuroFora" as EU Rapporteur for the Framework Program of Scientific Research and Development of Technologies. A Natural Science Professor from the Historic and Religious landmark Polish City of Częstochowa, active in the famous Solidarnosk grass-roots social movement, he served 4 years as Prime Minister (1997-2001), before being elected as MEP in 2004 and 2009, after he brillantly won the latest EU Election at the head of his party (EPP) almost doubling the number of its MEPs from 15 to 28 !

    - "Innovation" and "Energy safety", as well as fight against the "Cimat change", but also "Eastern Partnership", the "Mediterranean", "Strategic partnerships" with Russia, the USA, etc, and the search for "solutions to the Economic Crisis" that EU Citizens "expect" from us, will be his "priorities", announced from the outset the new EU Parliament's President, reminding also that the quest for "Human and Civic Rights" played an important role in his experience with the Solidarnosc grass-roots social movement in Poland's History

    But, the most important of all, is the urgent need to overcome the "Crisis of Trust" between EU Institutions and the People he stressed : - EU "Citizens often don't understand us", denounced Buzek, launcing a call to "do anything for EU Citizens to understand our work" in EU Parliament : "We (MEPs) need to make EU Citizens involved" in "what we are doing every week, in Strasbourg and Brussels", he proposed. Pointing f.ex. to the hot "Debates" with "strong arguments" exchanged between MEPs during the preparation of their Legislative Decisions, in Committees, delivering often hard struggles between initially opposed points of view, long before forging a majority at the final vote, sometimes more than a year..

    Therefore, EU Parliament will be "open to your criticism, for discussion and exchange of views", he promissed to Journalists in Strasbourg.

    In this way, Buzek, in fact, highlighted "EuroFora"s main idea, that we strongly advocate since 1997-2007, to systematicaly and actively involve EU Citizens in public debates during the decision-making process of important EU measures, which affect their lives and the society in which they live, (and not only just a few weeks each 4 or 5 Years at the eve of EU Elections)...
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    This is related also to the symbolic gift that Buzek chose to give to the out-going former EU Parliament's President, Hans Gert Poettering, (2007-2009), his collegue in the ChristianDemocrats/EPP, who brillantly won 2009 EU Elections in Germany : A genuine statute of sainte Barbara crafted in Silesia's black Coal by Polish Miners : Those simple but strong people who fought for social change against some technocrats and bureaucrats disguissed into so-called "real-socialists" of old times. (PHOTO).

    It's enough to have seen a popular open air mass, at Warsaw's center, with many thousands of people, old and young, simple workers and intellectuals mixed together, with references to Poland's history and struggles for survival and liberty, through various ages, (as fex. that organized at the eve of CoE's 2005 panEuropean Heads of State and Government for the beatification of late Pope John-Paul II), in order to understand what such symbols mean..

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    But, overcoming the "Crisis of Trust" with EU Citizens obviously implies also to rectify any errors done in the past, fex. on Turkey's controversial EU bid, with controversial decisions taken in 1999 and 2004 to give a "candidate" status and to start EU negotiations, provoking an unprecedented series of 3 "No" to EuroReferenda and 3 Majoriy Abstentions in EU Parliament Elections : 1999, 2005 and 2009, (even if the latest one succeeded to decelerate and almost stop the drop of participation rates, opening hopes for vote's revival after an electoral campaign clearly critical to Turkey's claims in several mainstream EU countries)
    
    Therefore, Buzek was faced with manifold critical Questions on EU Enlargement, most of them citting concrete examples of certain political problems  :  But his replies were almost always given as a matter of general principle :

    F.ex. Questioned on the suspension of EU - Croatia talks because of a Border conflict with EU Member Slovenia, Buzek prefered to speak about principles :

- "We know that during Enlargement, the process can be blocked by failure to resolve this kind of issues",  This concerns also other enlargments' cases", and "these rules are always in force" he warned.


But Buzek avoided to directly reply to a queston on "French and German EPP' calls to define the Borders of Europe", as a German journalist asked him by making a reference to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and German Chancellor Angie Merkel's, critical statements on Turkey at the June 2009 Electoral campain.    

- "Concerning Enlargement, there's always the same rules : There have to be Criteria, which have to be respected if a Country wants to join the EU", he started to simply reply.

- "For my country (Poland) it took us 15 Years to fullfil these Criteria", Buzek reminded, indicating, if proportions are kept, that Turkey, fex. would have to spend some 25 years before eventually joining the EU..

- "Countries wishing to join the EU need to Change their Systems", as we (Poland and other former Eastern European Countries) did, he stressed.

- "'For me, meeting the condition of Human Rights is one of the Key conditions for membership in the EU", preferring again to speak from the point of view of General Principles, on the occasion of an untimely question on Serbia (which is not even a candidate yet)...

- "Turkey" has, "first of all", to fullfil (EU) Copenhagen criteria". Bevause, currently, none of them is fullfiled by Turkey", New EU Parliament's President, denounced, speaking later to a group of Journalists, including "EuroFora".

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In particular, on Human Rights :  - "We (EU) can never forget Human Rights", because "this is at the very Foundations of the EU", Buzek added.

On the contrary, when he referred to EU Enlargment for the  "Western Balkans Countries ", Buzek appeared upbeat, finding "promising situations", despite "difficulties" in the Past, since "Countries are queuing to become EU members", and this "generated changes", as he said.

As for Russia, Buzek observed that it was a "very important" country, located "in the same Continent", Europe,  "close to our borders", and "we need eachother". "But Russia' has 'differend poblems : "They claim that their system is Democratic, but rules are differend", and we must be "aware of such differencies", fex. "on Human Rights", that we can't ignore, as he said;

Concerning China, where a journalist observed that the recipient of EU Parliament's latest "Sakharov prize" for freedom of thought is "still in prison", Buzek found that since the 1999 events in Tien Amin square, "we see differencies on Human Rights still today", and expressed his "support" for those who try to ameliorate the situation.

On the contrary, speaking recently to "EuroFora" he strongly supported the idea for an EU - Ukraine cooperation, fex. between Airbus and Antonov, in order to build a  less costly but more performant than the old and problematic A400M, new Military Transport Airplane : - "They (Ukranian Antonov Company) can certainly do it. I'm sure they can. It's a good Idea, and I'd be glad if it was done", he told us. (See : http://www.eurofora.net/newsflashes/news/airbusantonov.html )


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