We invite you to include them in the agreements that you are currently negotiating with countries of Central America and of the Andean Community. They would be as follows :
1. Include the realisation of human rights in the aims of the Agreements
Article 1 of the Association Agreements traditionally mentions the promotion of democratic principles and fundamental human rights and fundamental freedoms as « essential elements» of the Agreement. FIDH believes that the promotion, the protection but also the realisation of human rights should be included within the aims of the Agreement. This would not only enable human rights to be discussed between partners to the Agreements (the «promotion» of human rights), but it would orientate the whole content of the agreement towards the realisation of human rights. This would allow to get a proper balance, defeated in most of the existing Association Agreements, between trade and human rights. (See hereunder Section II.)
2. Specify a list of core international human rights conventions as body of reference International human rights and labour standards that are considered as the basis within the agreements should be explicitly listed in Annex of the Agreement, as they are to the current GSP Plus regulation. Excluding such requirements would constitute a step backwards on the part of the European Union towards its trading partners of the two regions. To the list that was adopted for the GSP Plus regulation, we would like to add three new international instruments that were recently adopted by the United Nations General Assembly : the UN Convention on the protection of Migrant Workers and their Families, the UN Convention on the Protection of Persons Against Enforced Disappearances and the UN Convention on Persons with Disabilities. The ILO Convention 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries should also be taken into account.
3. Set up a Human Rights Committee, within the institutions of the Agreements
The committee would monitor the realisation of human rights by the parties to the Agreements. This would enable the parties to discuss more in depth the human rights issues and to identify the steps that should be taken in that field. Involving in those working groups not only officials but also NGOs specialised in human rights from both regions would further allow the parties to go beyond the mere declarations on human rights, and to draw concrete programmes in that field. Such mechanism should be based on the list of Conventions mentioned hereabove.
4. Foresee a reactive tool to Human rights crisis
The Agreements should foresee the possibility to invoke the human rights clause as a basis for consultation or suspension of part, or all, of the Agreement if one of the parties was to be involved in grave human rights violations. In this matter, inspiration should be sought from Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, which establishes a useful precedent in establishing a consultation procedure and suspension measures.