European Parliament
Bernadette Vergnaud (PSE ),
in writing
. –
(FR)
I believe it is important to create an Agency for Fundamental Rights that is both independent and accountable. It is necessary to strike a balance between these two requirements while bearing in mind that the main objective is to devise a functional and effective body.
If that objective is to be achieved, active cooperation among the three European institutions will be indispensable. It is, first and foremost, a matter of reaching a political consensus. The Council, however, has let it be known that it does not wish the powers of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights to be extended to the third pillar, in other words to intergovernmental cooperation in the fields of policing, justice, immigration and anti-terrorist activities. The Netherlands has even announced that it will use its veto to prevent the agency from starting its work on 1 January 2007 because it would duplicate the efforts of the Council of Europe.
For this reason, while I voted in favour of the whole package of amendments to Mrs Gál's report, I nevertheless came down in favour of deferring the final vote to let the Council reconsider its position.

