Speech van Sophie in 't Veld in het Europees Parlement

4 september, Straatsburg

Mr President,

Mr Barroso, the President of the Commission, often speaks of a Europe of results, but he seems to be referring exclusively to economic policies. I would like to ask the Commission to be equally ambitious when it comes to fundamental rights. I am thinking of a number of incidents in particular that took place this summer, when gay people wanted to go out on the streets and demonstrate for gay rights. In a number of cases, those gay pride marches were banned and the authorities failed to protect the marchers' rights. There have been other cases of homophobia, for example, involving the Minister for Education in Poland.

I am very surprised to see how reluctant and timid the Commission is when it comes to such incidents, which are clear violations of fundamental rights.

I would like to ask the Commission to make use of Article 7 of the EU Treaty, which makes it possible to start an investigation into such incidents - I am not even talking about sanctions - but I would like there to be an investigation to see if these ministers can be held responsible for violations of fundamental rights.

Meer over...

Deel dit item: