Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I welcome this opportunity to discuss the charter which I believe will be one of the most important elements introduced into European law if we vote "Yes" next week. I intend to explain the background of the charter which is often overlooked. I will also take this opportunity to respond to a number of extremely erroneous and false claims set before the public.

The Lisbon treaty will confer legal status on the charter of fundamental rights. This will mark a significant development for the status of fundamental rights under the current treaties. Ireland has been extremely supportive of the charter since its agreement in 2000 and since the convention was established in 1999 to draft its provisions. The charter is the first formal EU document to combine and declare all the values and fundamental rights to which EU citizens are entitled in their dealings with EU institutions and member states in the application of EU law.

If the treaty is ratified the charter becomes law and makes our rights as citizens more visible. The preamble of the charter speaks of a common resolve of the people of the EU "to share a peaceful future based on common values". It continues:

Conscious of its spiritual and moral heritage, the Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity; it is based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. It places the individual at the heart of its activities, by establishing the citizenship of the Union and by creating an area of freedom, security and justice.

I fail to understand how any person calling himself or herself civilised or a democrat could find anything to which to object within it. The charter is uplifting in its language and noble in its intent. The fact that it has been demonised during the campaign, particularly by the Libertas group, speaks to the credibility of some in the "No" campaign. The extent to which Libertas is willing to distort the Lisbon treaty and to demonise the charter is demonstrated by the two most outrageous claims made in this campaign, namely, the assertion that the charter could lead to the detention of children under three years of age and that it could lead to the reintroduction of the death penalty. I will speak more about both claims later.

It takes a very negative organisation to convey its messages in such a grotesque form. However, that is what Libertas has set out to do. These must be just about the most monstrous charges that have ever been made during 35 years of referendum campaigns in this country, and that is saying something. It is ludicrous to suggest that the European Union is interested in incarcerating children and even more outrageous to suggest it wishes to reintroduce the death penalty.

It is ludicrous also to suggest that the 27 member states, their Governments and the batteries of lawyers who follow treaty negotiations would all have agreed to or, alternatively, missed out on these wild notions. Are we seriously to believe that Libertas is so inspired that it alone spotted these while they passed by everyone else? I suggest not. I suggest that the Irish people are being fed the most far-fetched notions about this treaty by this organisation.

What is more, I believe the Irish people are now alert to them. We have heard their claims about taxation, abortion and the world trade talks. These claims have been rejected by, amongst others, the independent Referendum Commission, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, the Catholic bishops speaking through the Archbishop of Dublin, IBEC, the American Chamber of Commerce and the European Commission to mention a few.

The rights identified in the charter are drawn from the Union's own law, such as equal pay for men and women, existing international treaties, most notably the European Convention on Human Rights, and the constitutional traditions common to Member States, such as the right to property.

The charter is important because it highlights the values on which the Union is founded. It brings together in one document the fundamental rights available to citizens under EU law. Its primary significance is, therefore, that it provides clarity to citizens and to the court of justice of the European Union on the range of rights available. This point was made recently by a letter from Mr. John Monks, the general secretary of the ETUC, the organisation representing trade unions from all over Europe in Brussels. Mr. Monks called for the early ratification of the treaty to give effect to the charter.

The original European Communities treaties drafted in the 1950s did not contain a comprehensive set of fundamental rights. However as the Union developed, it became apparent that it would be necessary for Community law to protect the human and fundamental rights of individual citizens. In the absence of fundamental rights in the original EC treaty, the European Court of Justice, ECJ, therefore, began to formally recognise the existence of fundamental rights as one of the "general principles of Community law". The concept of fundamental rights as a "general principle of Community law" was well recognised at the time of Ireland's accession to the Community in 1973.

Although the European Court of Justice was the first EU institution to recognise fundamental rights, other EU institutions drafted catalogues of rights in the 1970s. Member states also acknowledged fundamental rights in preamble to the Single European Act. In the Maastricht treaty on European Union, it was stated the EU would respect fundamental rights, as guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights and the constitutional traditions common to the member states. Following this, the June 1993 European Council adopted conclusions containing the so-called Copenhagen criteria, which made respect for human rights a condition of membership of the EU. The Amsterdam treaty made it a legal requirement that candidate countries would have to respect fundamental rights to join the Union. It also introduced a provision for sanctioning member states that seriously and persistently breached human rights, while the Nice treaty introduced a preventative mechanism to deal with member states where there is a serious risk of such breaches occurring.

While the Union acknowledged the existence of fundamental rights, no authoritative catalogue of rights was available. When the Nice treaty was being drafted, a convention was established and asked to draft a charter to bring together the fundamental rights protected in the EU. The Government representative at the convention was Michael O'Kennedy, and the Oireachtas was represented by the current chairman of the Joint Committee on European Affairs, Deputy Bernard Durkan, and Des O'Malley. The Charter of Fundamental Rights was adopted initially by the EU institutions at Nice as a political commitment to fundamental rights. During negotiations on the constitutional treaty, it was agreed the charter should be given legally binding force. There was considerable enthusiasm for this measure in the convention because members such as myself saw the move as adding considerably to the Union's social dimension. I recall sitting through long sessions, particularly on the social Europe section, where there was enthusiastic support for the incorporation of the charter in European law. For example, I recall Proinsias De Rossa saying we were making one of the most important fundamental breakthroughs, a sentiment with which I agreed completely. It was decided the charter would be given the same legal status in the Lisbon treaty but that it would not form part of its text. That is one of the answers to those who say we can vote "No" for a better "Yes". The position of the charter slipped between the first and second treaties because the UK had difficulties with it being included.

The original convention that drafted the charter also provided a set of explanations explaining the provenance and background to the rights set out in the charter. They were also drafted at the request of a number of member states, including Ireland, which wished to ensure the charter consolidated existing rights rather than radically altering them. The explanations are not legally binding, but will provide useful guidance for the European Court of Justice. The explanations were amended during the negotiations on the constitutional treaty to reflect the changes to the so-called horizontal clauses in the charter.

Having explained the background to the charter, I will highlight its contents because they have been grotesquely misrepresented in the debate in Ireland. The charter sets out in clear terms the rights that must be respected by the Union's institutions and the Member States when they are implementing EU law. The charter comprises 54 articles, divided into seven sections entitled dignity, freedoms, equality, solidarity, citizens' rights, justice and general or horizontal provisions governing the interpretation and application of the charter. The rights covered are diverse and include the prohibition of torture, respect for private and family life, the right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial and citizens' rights such as the right to vote and stand as a candidate at elections to the European Parliament.

For example, from a trade union point of view, the charter provides clarity on the extent of workers' rights. The general secretary of IMPACT has described it as a "prize" that trade unions across Europe had pursued for "many, many years". He is correct. I refer to the letter from Mr. John Monks in which he said he wanted member states to ratify the treaty quickly because it would give legal effect to the charter and that had the charter been law prior to the recent court cases it would have informed the judgments handed down. He recently stated he wants to see a social progress clause added to the treaty but that it would be a separate measure. He made clear, "To reopen the Treaty at this stage is neither practical nor desirable". He acknowledged there is an inherent danger in reopening the treaty. Ireland has achieved absolute equality, for a small state, in the negotiations. One cannot do better than equality in negotiations. From the point of view of workers and people interested in human and fundamental rights, we have a charter. It will not be improved by a return to negotiations. David Begg, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said it would "be a serious error of judgment to miss the opportunity to give legal effect to the Charter".

The charter has been the subject of some of the most destructive and untruthful commentary in the debate in Ireland. Among other areas, the charter deals with the prohibition of child labour, fair and just working conditions and protection in the event of unfair dismissal. The provisions highlight the Union's values in the area of workers' rights and will have relevance in the event of future cases at the European Court of Justice on labour issues. The charter also contains a number of so-called horizontal provisions clarifying the scope of its application, for example, providing that the charter does not extend the scope of application of EU law.

Bearing in mind these horizontal provisions and the explanations of the charter, I will underline what the charter does not do, particularly in light of the more extraordinary claims that have been made to date. These are dishonest claims that define the type of campaign that some opponents are running. They are wild-eyed claims which, in the past few days, have given the electorate cause to take a closer look at the people making them and to question the agenda behind the case they are advancing.

It is important to be clear that the charter does not introduce new rights previously unrecognised by member states. It does not replace or dilute the constitutions of member states, as it applies only to the EU institutions and to the member states when they are implementing Union law nor does it extend in any way the competences of the EU. In recent weeks, I have heard an expanding list of scare-mongering claims about the charter such as it will be used to introduce abortion — which, thankfully, the Referendum Commission hit on the head earlier — hard drugs, prostitution, the detention of children or the death penalty in Ireland. I reassure the public this will not happen.

The charter will not extend the capacity of the EU to interfere in areas of domestic competence. For example, where the member states act within their own competence with regard to the prohibition on drugs, the EU has no jurisdiction. As far as abortion is concerned, Ireland's position is protected by the Maastricht protocol on the right to life of the unborn which is unaffected by the Lisbon treaty. I am delighted that Archbishop Martin has confirmed this in the clearest language. The EU institutions have fully respected Ireland's position in this regard and will continue to do so. Any suggestion that the charter overrides the provisions of the protocol, which specifically states that nothing in the EU treaties or any further amendments to them can affect the application in Ireland of our constitutional protection of the unborn, is at best wilfully misleading. It is simply a distortion of the facts, the truth and the reality and is intended to confuse and mislead. Sadly, those people who propagate this particularly mendacious approach have had unfortunate effects in some parts of the public

I find it extraordinary that opponents claim that the Charter of Fundamental Rights could re-introduce the death penalty in Ireland. Such a claim, based on a spurious misreading of the explanations of the charter, leaves the public nonplussed and questioning the credibility that attaches to those who make the claim and to the other far-fetched claims on issues such as taxation and abortion. Nothing could be further from the truth. The European Union actively campaigns for the universal abolition of the death penalty. Indeed, abolition of the death penalty is a requirement for countries seeking EU membership. This is the bizarre thing about the claim by Libertas. One cannot even apply to become a member of the EU if one retains the death penalty. The death penalty was completely abolished in Ireland in 2001 on foot of a constitutional referendum.

The opponents are using the explanations to the charter on which to base this claim and others, including the detention of young children. The explanations simply outline in certain areas the permissible limitations set out in the European Convention on Human Rights, ECHR, which Ireland ratified as far back as 1953. The claim about the detention of children goes back to a document which we ratified back in 1953 and which we incorporated into domestic law in this country in 2003. Significantly, the convention and protocols set out minimum standards for the protection of human rights and do not prevent more extensive protection under domestic law. Furthermore, they do not prevent more stringent standards emerging in international law. For example, the 13th protocol to the ECHR wholly outlaws the death penalty, even in time of war. Ireland and 22 of our fellow EU member states have ratified this protocol and the other four have signed it, subject to ratification.

There is absolutely no suggestion under either the ECHR or the charter that any member state would be required either to impose the death penalty or to detain children. Moreover, the EU does not even have competence in respect of the use of the death penalty or the detention of young children by member states. Once more, opponents of the treaty are attempting to mislead the voters with these wilfully unfounded allegations.

We must continue to embrace and protect the freedoms and principles as set out in the charter. To do otherwise is to reject the statement of fundamental values on which the Union is founded, values which are sacred to the Irish people. Conferring legal status on the charter is a progressive step for the Union and it is my view that the Government's endorsement of the charter will be shared by the Irish people when they vote next week. It is just one of the many positive aspects of the Lisbon treaty. Next week's referendum is an opportunity for Ireland to reaffirm our place in Europe and our standing as a guardian of human rights.

I will quote from the preamble of the charter which sets out clearly the principles and values which are central to the document and to the EU envisaged in the Lisbon treaty. It states:

Conscious of its spiritual and moral heritage, the Union is founded on the indivisible, universal values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity; it is based on the principles of democracy and the rule of law. It places the individual at the heart of its activities, by establishing the citizenship of the Union and by creating an area of freedom, security and justice.

It takes a very perverse and fevered mind to find anything to fear in those positive statements of human rights which most civilised people hold dear.