Immediately after President Juncker’s State of the Union address on 12 September, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) will face an historic choice: to confront Hungary’s derailment from the path of respect for fundamental rights and freedoms on which EU member states have chosen to walk together, or to allow the EU to move away from this path with member states openly violating EU founding principles.

On 12 September, members of the European Parliament will be facing an historic choice: to confront Hungary’s derailment from the path of respect for fundamental rights and freedoms or to allow the EU to move further from this path, with member states openly violating the EU’s founding principles without consequences.

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states. An important human rights actor, both within Europe and globally, the EU is built on shared goals and values, laid out in the Lisbon Treaty and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The Council of Europe (CoE), based in Strasbourg (France), comprises 46 member states across Europe and is an international organisation independent of the European Union. Founded on 5 May 1949, the CoE seeks to create a common democratic and legal area throughout the continent, based on human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Its member states are bound by the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR).

The EU comprises various decision-making bodies. The European Commission is the EU’s executive body which proposes EU laws and ensures that member states follow them. The two legislative bodies are the European Parliament, directly elected by the public throughout the EU, and the Council of the European Union, comprising representatives from member states.  

Amnesty International is a global independent and impartial organization that pursues the fulfillment of all human rights through research and action. Our activists are driven by outrage over serious human rights violations and hope for a world in which all human reality for all people.

We lobby EU and CoE policy-makers to influence how they set standards on human rights-related issues, to encourage them to change policies where necessary and react to unfolding human rights crises.

Amnesty International has no political affiliation, endorses no political party, accepts no funds from governments or any political party. Amnesty International is independent of any government, political persuasion or religious creed. It does not support or oppose any government or political system, nor does it support or oppose the views of the victims whose rights it seeks to protect. It is concerned solely with the protection of the human rights involved in each case, regardless of the ideology of the government, opposition forces or the beliefs of the individual. Its independence is recognised through its observer status with the United Nations and regional inter-governmental organisations. Amnesty International does not grade countries according to their human rights record; instead of attempting comparisons it concentrates on trying to end specific violations of human rights.

We are calling on European leaders to urgently agree on a predictable and reliable search and rescue system that ensures the prompt disembarkation of survivors at the closest safe port, upholds the law of the sea and the primacy of saving lives in the Mediterranean. Coastal States must ensure their ports are open to those who have been rescued, and other European governments must share the responsibility of processing asylum claims by taking in asylum-seekers.