EIUC Diplomatic Conference 2007

The EIUC DIPLOMATIC CONFERENCE 2007 on The Implementation of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights took place on 14 July 2007 in Venice, Monastery of San Nicolò.

Download here the programme and the list of participants.

Active ImageThe primary purpose of the conference was to evaluate the state of implementation of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights and explore possible means of enhancing such implementation. This involved examining the working relations between the three main EU institutions as well as the role of civil society and academia, etc., in exhorting the EU to work consistently with the guidelines.

The EU Guidelines on death penalty, torture,  children and armed conflict, and human rights defenders were all addressed at the conference. The aim was to explore  cross-cutting issues by drawing on the experience derived from working with the different guidelines.

Following a short round of welcoming speeches, the conference began with an elaboration of institutional perspectives on the main priorities and challenges related to the implementation of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights. This included presentations by representatives of the EU Council, European Parliament, European Commission, and international human rights NGOs. The second morning session was devoted to an evaluation of the state of implementation of each of the four substantive guidelines and an assessment of general prospects for enhancing such implementation. Following lunch, the afternoon was devoted to discussion in working groups on, respectively:

1. How to enhance cohesion and common strategies among EU institutions and EU delegations in third countries?
2. The role of civil society and other human rights institutions: what still needs to be done?
3. How to strengthen EU-Missions abroad in working with EU Guidelines

At the end of the afternoon, reports were presented in plenary from each of the working groups and participants were invited, in closing, to engage in an exchange of viewpoints and ideas on possible future priorities and directions for EIUC.