Summary of EU Presidency’s human rights efforts
On 30 November, the head of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs Department for International Law, Human Rights and Treaty Law, Elinor Hammarskjöld, reported to the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights on the Presidency’s work in the area of human rights.
Photo: Gunnar Lundmark / SvD / SCANPIX
A demonstration against the harassment of LGBT people was held at Odenplan, Stockholm in April 2008. The Day of Silence is observed all over the world.
This final report was a follow-up to the presentation of the Presidency programme on 30 August, and addressed the Presidency’s actions and achievements area by area.
In the introduction, it was observed that the Swedish Presidency has been proactive in the area of human rights – reflecting the growing importance of human rights in the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy.
Ms Hammarskjöld subsequently reported on human rights dialogues that have been held with a range of different countries, work on the EU human rights guidelines and the integration of human rights into the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy. The EU’s work in international organisations was also mentioned, along with efforts to increase coherence in EU actions and increase the visibility of EU policy in the area of human rights. Efforts concerning the human rights of disabled people, support for democracy, LGBT issues and human rights and freedom of expression/new technologies were other areas highlighted.
Following the Presidency report, a representative of the Amnesty International EU Office in Brussels gave its view of the Swedish Presidency’s actions in the area of human rights. A discussion of our human rights efforts was then held with the members of the Subcommittee.
