Intergrup LGBT del Parlament Europeu: garant de drets i llibertats
Finalment,
després de sis mesos de funcionament del Parlament, havent passat per l’elecció
del President i els membres de la Comissió
Europea, havent entrat en vigor el Tractat de Lisboa (amb tot
allò que comporta, en quant a feina i responsabilitat per part del PE), és el
moment en què comencen a funcionar els intergrups, els quals hem anat creant al
llarg dels darrers mesos. Són col.lectius de diputats i diputades de diferents
grups polítics que tenim interessos afins en un tema determinat. Un dels més
actius, i al qual pertanyo des que vaig començar a treballar al Parlament és l’Intergrup
que treballa a favor dels Drets de les persones LGBT (Lesbianes, Gais,
Bisexuals i Transexuals), del qual en sóc un dels vicepresidents. Una de les
funcions de l’Intergrup és, precisament, exercir de controladors de les altres
dues institucions europees: el Consell i la Comissió. Ho fem a través de
interlocucions directes, interpel.lacions parlamentàries, cartes, preguntes
escrites i orals, informes, i d’altres vies. L’objectiu és procurar que la
sensibilitat pels temes LGBT, i especialment la garantia dels Drets i les
Llibertats d’aquestes persones, estigui present en tota l’activitat política,
legislativa i declarativa de les institucions europees. En el text que adjunto
més avall expliquem quina és la funció de l’intergrup: (segueix…)
“In
the European Union, three institutions share the role of creating new
legislation and ensuring implementation of European law. They are: the European
Council of Ministers, the European Commission, and finally the European
Parliament. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) can also play a critical role,
in particular when legislation is challenged or incorrectly implemented. By
far, the most important institutions to look at when it comes to actual
implementation of European legislation are the Council and the Commission. The
Commission, because the Treaties have pinned it the role of guardian of the
Treaties… and the Council, because the Council is composed of all the Member
States whose national resources are the true implementers of European
legislation.
The European Commission employs as many civil servants as large European cities
do. With such small resources, the European Commission is constantly engaged in
an exercise of prioritising. It relies heavily on the Council to ensure that
legislation is implemented correctly at the lowest levels of the European
Union. The Commission relies on the Council’s reports and the Council’s
goodwill to form an image of what is going on in the European Union. Whilst it
does have a number of tools at its disposal to ensure that the Council does
comply to European prerogatives correctly, there have been numerous incidents
when stronger action ought to have been taken but were not because the Council
did not want to hear of it.
The European Council of Ministers attempts whenever possible to be a consensual
institution. The Member States rarely wish to be seen fighting with one
another. Nor do they wish to name and shame specific Member States; because
they know that in the next Council it may very well be their own Government
that is named and shamed. In this ‘old boys club’ where each Member State is
watching the others’ back, politically charged issues and incidents tend to be
responded to with a soft voice rather than a firm gesture. Homophobia is
certainly one such politically charged issue, and as a result, the Council has
rarely taken a strong position when it comes to challenging it.
In this context, the role of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and
Lesbian Rights is to ensure that both the Council of Ministers and the European
Commission take the matters of homophobic discrimination, violence and hatred
very seriously. We monitor both the Council and the Commission ensuring that
they abide to their obligations as regards to the European Charter on Fundamental
Rights as well as Article 13 of the Treaty of Amsterdam, and a number of
international agreements concerning human rights. Through Parliamentary
Questions, the Intergroup can oblige the Council and the Commission to look at
an incident and to offer a clear response to the incidents and cases of LGBT
discrimination taking place in Europe and beyond.
On top of Parliamentary Questions, the Intergroup regularly discusses and often
meets representatives from both institutions to discuss incidents and cases. We
frequently address letters to the Commissioners under whose dossier a
particularly worrying incident has taken place. By regularly communicating with
both institutions, and by continually monitoring their actions and reactions,
LGBT issues are at the very least discussed. Our press releases ensure that the
European press gets wind of situations when neither the Council nor the
Commission are reacting. In this way, we ensure that discrimination on the
basis of sexual orientation is not forgotten or ignored. The Intergroup is a
lookout on a continual mission to ensure that homophobia is dealt with
convincingly by all EU institutions.