Seanad debates
Tuesday, 10 June 2003
Convention on the Future of Europe: Statements.
Though the full text is not available, and I am not sure what form the incorporation of the charter of fundamental rights takes, I have one small reservation. As I understand it, there are horizontal provisions there which relate the operation of the charter to the agencies and instruments of the EU rather than to what is done domestically. I was rather shaken by the last clause, clause 54, which purports to say that none of these rights can be used to question the rights that are already there, or to secure any limitation of those rights. I know what is meant, but it is a long way from the language of the first amendment to the American Constitution. This is one of those cases where I would rather be closer to Philadelphia, so to speak, than to Berlin. The Minister of State might look at the impact of that and consider whether or not there is a danger of a truncation of the right to free speech enshrined in our own Constitution. I know why the clause I refer to is in the document, but robust democracy should be strong enough to take robust criticism.
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