Article 1 of the EU constituent treaty states that Europe was established reflecting the will of the citizens and states of Europe to build a common future. The European Union’s goal is to help its members to attain objectives they share. It also coordinates the policies with which the members will obtain these objectives.
The Union was founded on the values of respect for human dignity, liberty, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values, which are set out in Article I-2, are considered common to the Member States. The main objectives of the Union are now to promote peace, the EU’s values and the well-being of its people. However, although the EU tries to demonstrate full protection of people’s rights, it seems unable to do so successfully.
The most recent and important example is Greece which is a clear case of human rights’ infringement. This is also confirmed by a report published in 2014 by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). There was also a report released in March in which the UN independent expert on foreign debt and human rights warned that the impact of the austerity measures in Greece had been particularly severe on the most vulnerable.
The FIDH report confirms the violation of the political, personal, economic and social human rights in Greece. Since the economic crisis started in 2008, austerity measures have been adopted that were supposed to have saved the country from bankruptcy. However, this did not happen. Instead, the Greeks’ human rights were violated and democracy is not functioning properly.
Europe strongly endorses the current motto that ‘’austerity is superior to every known measure”. This has proven to be a curse on the growth and development of Europe. It is as yet unclear how far this behaviour violates international treaties on human rights (The European Convention of Human Rights and United Nations Human Rights).
It is strictly confirmed, according to the terms of these treaties, that non-state bodies including the international financial institutions have a number of obligations. These are designed to ensure that their policies and activities have nothing to do with the creation, funding, promotion or application of programmes that directly or indirectly restrict people’s human rights in respect of employment, social security, health, housing, poverty and diversity.
At first, it was the cuts on salaries, then the huge increase in VAT, the raising of various taxes, the cuts on pensions. Greece seems like a developing country and not a developed one. The rate of suicide has gone up dramatically. The country is unable to provide its citizens the right to health and education.
For instance, the access to basic healthcare has been severely impaired by the cuts to the public health budget and essential public health services and programmes. Doctors sometimes have had to refuse patients or postpone important surgeries due to fewer hospital beds and cuts in an already understaffed and over-strained workforce. This, coupled with increased difficulties in taking out health insurance, especially for the unemployed, has come despite recent reforms aimed at ensuring access to public services to the uninsured. Whilst there are some options on the market (learn more here) that can help many, this situation still remains on a governmental level. Again, vulnerable groups including women, migrants and young suffer a disproportionate burden.
As far as Greece is concerned, all these rights are trampled underfoot, putting at risk the EU’s ethical integrity.
The study of history shows that all especially severe programmes raise crucial issues about the long-term protection of economic, social and educational values. What is crucial is that economic progammes should be more compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) article that proclaims that it is every state’s duty to use its available funds r to satisfy its fundamental obligations. This is underlined as well as in the report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The blind troika
Greece’s example is striking. It embodies the complete absence of interest in rights that the financial institutions should have shown. The European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank (‘troika’) have been applying their excessively strict measures for years and these have led to huge financial and social costs for all Greek citizens.
And all these savage costs have not been recognized or calculated and, as a result, haven’t counted towards reducing Greek debt.
One choice would be a ‘’haircut” of Greek bonds by the ECB. The new financial programme for Greece consists of many draconian measures that will lead to cuts in the funding of the public sector and to higher taxation of Greek people. Since we still have capital controls and we don’t know how long they will remain in place, the only thing that is going to happen is that the country will amass more debts and growth will decline even more than before.
Owing to all these new economic measures, the unemployment rate – already sky-high – will rise even higher and this might lead to even greater social unrest which will undermine human rights in Greece even more profoundly.
It seems that the EU has forgotten its origins, the reason why it was constructed and why Europe as a whole created the ECHR. And this applies to its current citizens as well as those potential ones fleeing wholesale violation of their rights in their countries of origin and seeking peace and prosperity here.
Yannis says
and the tragic is that the last people that believe in Europe are the ones that invented democracy.
p.s our place in the world is hard earned through the millenia, not once europe or foreigns from the east let us breath free of trouble and in peace