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11 June 1993
Doc. 6864
1403-9/6/93-1-E
REPORT
on the application by the Slovak Republic for
membership of the Council of Europe
(Rapporteur: Mrs HALONEN,
Finland, Socialist Group)
Summary
On 1 January 1993, the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, a member state of the Council of Europe since 21 February 1991 ceased to exist. On that same day, the government of the Slovak Republic, one of the states to emerge from the former federation, expressed the wish to join the Organisation.
The new Constitution, which came into force on 1 January 1993, makes the Slovak Republic a state which recognises the rule of law and guarantees human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The Slovak Republic fulfils the essential conditions for accession to the Council of Europe. In its opinion, the Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers invite the Slovak Republic to become a member of the Organisation.
I. Draft opinion
1. On 1 January 1993, the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (CSFR), a member state of the Council of Europe since 21 February 1991, ceased to exist. On that same day, the government of the Slovak Republic, one of the states to emerge from the former federation, indicated that it wished to join the Organisation.
2. The Assembly has received from the Committee of Ministers a request for an opinion on the Slovak Republic's accession to the Council of Europe (Doc. 6738), in pursuance of Statutory Resolution (51) 30 A. adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 3 May 1951.
3. It notes that the constitutional act on dissolution of the CSFR was adopted by the former Federal Assembly, democratically elected by universal suffrage in a free and secret ballot organised on 5 and 6 June 1992. It further notes that the Czech National Council and the Slovak National Council, the legislative assemblies of the two republics constituting the then CSFR, were also elected in this ballot.
4. The Assembly notes that the new Slovak Constitution, which makes the new republic a state ruled by law, came into force on 1 January 1993.
5. The Assembly welcomes the commitment to Europe expressed by the Slovak Parliament in its declaration of 3 December 1992 on the Slovak Republic's intention of joining the Council of Europe.
6. It appreciates the contribution made to its work by the Slovak Parliament since the latter was granted special guest status on 15 January 1993.
7. It attaches great importance to the Slovak authorities' commitment to signing and ratifying the European Convention on Human Rights and its protocols, and to recognising the right of individual application to the European Commission of Human Rights (Article 25 of the Convention), as well as the compulsory jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (Article 46). It also notes with satisfaction that the Slovak Republic has considered itself bound by the Convention since 1 January 1993.
8. It expects the Slovak authorities to base their policy regarding the protection of minorities on the principles laid down in Recommendation 1201 (1993) on an additional protocol on the rights of minorities to the European Convention on Human Rights.
9. It takes note in particular of the Slovak authorities' commitment to adopt a legislation granting to every person belonging to a minority the right to use his/her surname and first names in his/her mother tongue and, in the regions in which substantial numbers of a national minority are settled, the right for the persons belonging to this minority, to display in their language local names, signs, inscriptions and other similar information, in accordance with the principles contained in Recommendation 1201 (1993).
10. It also takes note that, whatever administrative divisions may be introduced in the Slovak Republic, the rights of minorities will be respected .
11. The Assembly considers that the Slovak Republic is both able and willing:
i. to respect the provisions of Article 3 of the Statute, which states that: "Every member of the Council of Europe must accept the principles of the rule of law and of the enjoyment by all persons within its jurisdiction of human rights and fundamental freedoms";
ii. to play a sincere and effective part in achieving the aims of the Council of Europe, as set forth in Chapter I of its Statute, thereby fulfilling the conditions for membership, as specified in Article 4 of the Statute.
12. The Assembly accordingly recommends that, at its next meeting, the Committee of Ministers:
i. invite the Slovak Republic to join the Council of Europe;
ii. allocate the Slovak Republic five seats in the Parliamentary Assembly.
II. Explanatory memorandum
by Mrs HALONEN1
Contents
Paragraphs
Introduction 1 - 5
Situation of Slovakia with respect to
international law 6 - 8
Slovak institutions 9 - 10
Rule of law and separation of powers 11 - 13
Judicial authority 14 - 15
Human rights 16
Situation regarding the press 17 - 19
Rights of minorities 20 - 22
Use of language 23 - 27
Education 28 - 29
Administrative divisions 30 - 34
Conclusions 35 - 39
Appendix I : Programme for the visit by the Rapporteurs
Appendix II : Letter of the Foreign Affairs Minister
Introduction
1. The Czech and Slovak Federal Republic joined the Council of Europe on 21 February 1991. It was the second country of central and eastern Europe after Hungary to become a member. On 31 December 1992 the Czech and Slovak Republics split up. On 1 January 1993 the Republic of Slovakia applied for membership of the Council of Europe. In Resolution (93) 4 of 13 January, the Committee of Ministers invited the Parliamentary Assembly to express an opinion on the said application for membership. On 15 January, the Bureau referred this request for membership to the three competent committees.
2. Three Rapporteurs were appointed: Mrs Halonen for the Political Affairs Committee to report on the substance of the application; Mrs Severinsen for the Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries and Mr Schwimmer for the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, requested to submit their respective opinions. The Rapporteurs visited the Slovak Republic from 10 to 12 March 1993, accompanied by Mrs Danielle Coin, co-Secretary to the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and by Mr Alfred Sixto, executive assistant in the Office of the Clerk. The programme of their visit is given in Appendix I. The Rapporteurs wish to thank the Slovak authorities who enabled them to carry out their duties under the best possible conditions.
3. After this visit and on the basis of the letter from the Minister for Foreign Affairs of 27 April 1993 (see Appendix II) and other further information, the Rapporteur prepared the present explanatory memorandum.
4. The Assembly Bureau has also requested Mr Pettiti, Judge at the European Court of Human Rights, and Sir Basil Hall, member of the European Commission of Human Rights, to draw up a report on the legislation of the Slovak Republic. This report (AS/Bur/Slovakia (44) 1) concludes that "in general the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Slovakia are compatible with the Council of Europe human rights standards".
5. The Rapporteurs were confronted with an entirely new procedure in the history of the Council of Europe, this being the first time that a report is to be made on an application for membership by a country which was formerly a member of the Organisation, between 21 February 1991 and 31 December 1992, as a constituent part of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic. They therefore endeavoured to determine what changes might have occurred in legislation and practice since Slovakia's independence.
Situation of Slovakia with respect to international law
6. Slovakia, similarly to the Czech Republic, declared itself to be, and has been recognised as, a successor state of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic. Accordingly, the Slovak Republic considers itself to be bound by the legal instruments which had been ratified by the state of which it is a successor, more particularly in the field of human rights, and it has made formal declarations to this effect.
7. One of the consequences of the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (CSFR) concerns the distribution of the population: whereas under the former federation, the Slovaks were in the minority compared with the Czechs, they are now in the Slovak Republic the majority with a large Hungarian minority concentrated in the south of the country along the border with Hungary. According to the latest census which dates from 1991, Slovakia has a population of 5 268 935, broken down as follows: 4 511 679 Slovaks (85,6% of the population), 566 741 Hungarians (representing 10,7%), 80 627 Gypsies (representing 1,5% of the population), 53 422 Czechs (1%), 16 937 Ruthenians (0,3%) and 13 847 Ukranians (0,2%). There are other minority groups living in Slovakia. It is very difficult to establish the exact Gypsy population, a large majority of whom claim Slovak or Hungarian nationality. Their numbers can therefore only be estimated.
8. In order to try to obtain as clear an idea as possible of the true situation, the very short time available to the Rapporteurs was used to meet the top-level national authorities: the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice, the Speaker of the National Council (Parliament), the leaders of the political parties and the chairmen of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on the Environment and Nature Conservation and the Committee on Local Authorities and Minorities, and a representative of the Constitution and Legislation Committee. They also met local authority representatives, namely the municipal councils of three towns situated in the region adjacent to the Hungarian border: Nitra, Surany and Nové Zamky. The Rapporteurs had an interview with Cardinal Korec, Bishop of Nitra. They also met representatives of Hungarian associations and of the Lutheran and Jewish communities. The latter made no complaints to the Rapporteurs. Even the report from the legal experts, mentioned in paragraph 4, notes that "No suggestion was made that there was any interference with their freedom to manifest their religions".
Slovak Institutions
9. The Slovak National Council adopted a Constitution on 3 September 1992. The Charter of Human Rights which was not part of the Constitution of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, was incorporated into this Constitution (Part II - Fundamental Rights and Freedoms: Articles 11 to 54). The Prime Minister stressed that integration with Europe was a priority and that Slovakia was bound by the undertakings of the former CSFR, the legal system having been changed only so far as necessary for the dissolution of the federation.
10. Article 11 of the Constitution provides that international instruments on human rights and freedoms ratified by the Slovak Republic shall take precedence over national laws.
Rule of law and separation of powers
11. The National Council is the cornerstone of the system. It consists of 150 members (127 men and 23 women) distributed as follows (May 1993):
Movement for Democratic Slovakia HZDS 66 seats
Democratic Left Party SDL 28 seats
Christian Democrat Movement KDH 18 seats
Slovak National Party SNS 14 seats
Hungarian Christian Democratic Movement MKDH 5 seats
Coexistence - ESWS 9 seats
Others 10 seats
12. Bills can be introduced by both the National Council and the government. In order to oppose the adoption of a bill, the government must obtain the assent of the President of the Republic. On the second reading of a bill, the decision of the National Council is final.
13. The Constitutional Court is composed of ten judges appointed by the President of the Republic from among twenty nominees approved by the National Council.
Judicial authority
14. Like many countries which have recently readopted a democratic system, Slovakia has a shortage of judges. Judges are elected by the National Council on the advice of the government for an initial period of four years, on completion of which they may be appointed for an indefinite term. Some people were in favour of nominating judges for an indefinite term at the outset, since that practice complies more closely with the principle of the independence of the judiciary, but a "probationary period" was finally chosen to guarantee that judges were of the required qualifications. It was pointed out that, of the judges nominated in February, four candidates belonged to minorities. The legal experts concluded that "the system, sensibly worked, should not cast doubt on the independence or impartiality of judges".
15. The Civil Code, the Penal Code and the Code of Penal Procedure were reviewed to take account of the dissolution of the Federation, since certain powers were vested in the Federal authorities. Remand in custody cannot exceed twenty-four hours nor can detention pending investigation exceed one year. Suspects enjoy the presumption of innocence and convictions are made by judges and not, as previously, by the public prosecutor. The death sentence has been abolished, since Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights had been ratified by the former CSFR. Prisons come under the authority of the Minister of Justice.
Human rights
16. As stated above, the protection of human rights is embodied in the Constitution itself. In addition, Slovakia has declared that it considers itself to be bound since 1 January 1993 by the European Convention on Human Rights and its protocols, including Articles 25 and 46, namely the right of individual petition and the compulsory jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. The Slovak Republic also considers itself to be bound by the United Nations instruments protecting human rights ratified by the Federal Republic. Preparations are now being made to ratify the European Social Charter.
Situation with regard to the media
17. A press bill is being drafted and will be tabled before the National Council during the current year. Council of Europe assistance in preparing this legislation would be appreciated.
18. The journalists who were met by the Rapporteurs said that there was no censorship but they did mention certain practical problems, for example the subsidies granted to certain newspapers without it being known exactly which ones were selected and on what criteria. According to the authorities, subsidies are granted to publications intended for young people and for minority groups.
19. Certain members of the National Council belonging to the Hungarian Christian Democrat Movement claimed that, following the last elections, staff changes had been made in the television service and that the speaking time allocated to political parties was not fairly distributed. Whereas the legal experts found nothing in the legislation which caused concern.
Rights of minorities
20. The Rapporteurs were unable to obtain a complete picture of the situation of minorities, owing to the shortage of time. They nevertheless had brief meetings with representatives of Hungarian associations and took note of the memorandum submitted by Coexistence, the Hungarian Christian Democrat Movement, the Hungarian People's Party and the Hungarian Citizen's Party on the admission of the Slovak Republic to membership of the Council of Europe.
21. The Rapporteurs heard many allegations and rumours, both from the Slovakian side about Hungarian intentions, and from the Hungarian side about Slovakian intentions, the main reason of which was lack of mutual trust. The Rapporteurs are convinced that a better dialogue is needed.
22. The Constitution contains provisions relating to the rights of minorities in Articles 33 and 34, although no list of these minorities is given. Answering a question on this point, the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs said that Gypsies were indeed regarded as being a national minority and consequently benefited from the above mentioned provisions.
Use of language
23. Article 6 of the Constitution provides that the Slovak language is the official language of the Slovak Republic and that the use of languages other than the official language in official communications shall be determined by law. No such law has yet been enacted. In order to be able to use its own language, a minority must represent at least 20% of the population, but it was pointed out that even in a region where this percentage was not reached, the minority could use its language. The Rapporteurs were able to check that in certain localities, street names were bilingual, whereas in others this was not the case.
24. In the talks which the Rapporteurs had with almost all those they met it emerged that the use of Hungarian first names could encounter difficulties with the legislation in force. An official list of first names exists. It should be noted nevertheless that the present rules are the same as those in force until 31 December 1992.
25. The Rapporteurs received further information from the Slovak authorities concerning the right to give first names in the language of the minorities and, where they represented an important percentage of population, the right to display in their language local names, signs and other inscriptions. A new law is now under preparation.
26. Both the parliamentary authorities (all political parties) and the government authorities declared their readiness to ratify the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and to observe the principles set out in the draft protocol on the rights of minorities contained in Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1201 (1993). They also declared their willingness to consider the possibility of setting up an agency responsible for monitoring the rights of minorities.
27. Minorities have their own newspapers and television programmes. They receive subventions from the authorities.
Education
28. Even in a town with a large Hungarian minority — and here again we take the example of Nové Zamky whose mayor, it is worth pointing out, belongs to the Hungarian minority — for a population of 45 000 inhabitants consisting of 66,8% Slovaks and 31,3% Hungarians, only one of the nine existing schools provides teaching in Hungarian. It appears that parents prefer to send their children to Slovak schools to give them better access firstly to University and secondly to employment. Schools in Hungarian language are opened in accordance with requests for teaching that language. The teaching of the Slovak language is nonetheless obligatory.
29. At the College of Education in Nitra there is a department of Hungarian and one for Gypsy culture. Those responsible said they will improve the training of Hungarian teachers. This institution was, in the days of the former CSFR, and is still the only one which trains teachers for minority languages and cultures.
Administrative divisions
30. The Rapporteurs were informed that new administrative divisions were being prepared which would result in changing existing districts. They were unable to obtain details of the new boundaries and expressed the hope that information would be provided on this subject, since representatives of the Hungarian minority had expressed the fear that the new system would be to their disadvantage.
31. In this respect, the Slovak authorities promised, that no matter which administrative divisions were introduced, the rights of the minorities would be respected.
32. The State Secretary for Foreign Affairs told the Rapporteurs that a joint committee was to be set up between Hungary and Slovakia to discuss the situation of minorities in both countries.
33. Furthermore, the CSCE High Commissioner for Minorities, Mr Van der Stoel, has visited Slovakia and has addressed recommendations to the Slovak authorities which committed themselves to follow them.
34. The High Commissioner for Minorities also made proposals concerning their respective minorities to the Slovak and Hungarian Governments. The latter have accepted the creation of an observer group who will study the situation of these minorities.
Conclusions
35. The Rapporteurs found that all those consulted, especially parliamentarians of all political parties, were very keen to see the Slovak Republic join the Council of Europe as quickly as possible and also to accept the international instruments in the field of human rights ratified by the Federal Republic.
36. The Slovak Republic possesses a constitution and institutions commensurate with a state recognising the rule of law, respecting the separation of powers and guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms to individuals.
37. The Constitution also secures a number of rights for minorities. In this respect, the Rapporteurs noted that in practice certain improvements were necessary and a number of recommendations were made in this respect, particularly with regard to the use of the Hungarian language in regions with a large Hungarian population. They were assured by the National Council and all the political parties belonging to it and by the government that, as soon as it became a member, the Slovak Republic would ratify the European Convention on Human Rights together with Articles 25 and 46 and all its additional protocols as well as the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
The authorities resolved to make every effort to find solutions to the problems which might arise for minorities, basing itself on the draft protocol on minority rights contained in Recommendation 1201 (1993).
The Slovak Republic was prepared to dialogue with the Hungarian Government. Lastly, the Slovak authorities undertook to ratify the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe and its protocol.
38. The Rapporteurs requested written undertakings by the authorities on these points and were assured these would be forthcoming.
39. In the light of the foregoing, the Rapporteurs consider that the Slovak Republic fulfils the essential conditions for membership of the Council of Europe and they recommend the Assembly to express a favourable opinion to the Committee of Ministers with regard to the Slovak Republic's application for accession.
APPENDIX I
Programme for the visit by the Assembly Rapporteurs
to the Slovak Republic
10-12 March 1993
Wednesday 10 March 1993
Talks with:
— Mr Laluha, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic
— Mr Vajda, member of the Constitutional and Legislative Committee of the National Council
Thursday 11 March 1993
Visit to the area inhabited by the Hungarian minority
— Meeting with his Eminence Cardinal Korec, Bishop of Nitra
— Meeting with the Mayor of Nitra, Mr Stefanka, and with municipal councillors of the political parties represented, together with members of the National Council in the Nitra constituency
— Meeting at the Nitra College of Education with the Rector, Mr Liba and, inter alia, MM. Alaban and Seman, respectively in charge of the Department of Hungarian and the Department of Gypsy Culture
— Meeting with the Mayor of Surany and the municipal councillors of the political parties represented
— Meeting with the Mayor of Nove Zamky, Mr Csanda, and municipal councillors of the political parties represented, together with members of the National Council of the Nove Zamky constituency
— Meeting with representatives from the Culture and Interior Ministries, members of the National Council, representatives of the Protestant and Jewish religious communities and of the association "Matica Slovenska"
— Mrs Severinsen also met Mr Zlocha, Minister of the Environment
Friday 12 March 1993 (Bratislava)
— Meeting at the National Council with the Deputy Speaker, Mr Prokes, and parliamentarians representing the different political parties, including members of the Constitutional and Legislative Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee (with its Chairman, Mr Laluha), the Local Government and Minorities Committee, (with its Chairman, Mr Rea) and the Environment Committee
— Meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Meciar
— Meeting with the Speaker of the National Council, Mr Gasparovic
— Meeting at the Ministry of Justice with the Minister, Mrs Tothova, and other ministerial officials and magistrates, including the President of the Supreme Court and the Public Prosecutor, together with members of the National Council
— Meeting with Mr Lisuch, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
— Meeting with representatives of the media
_________________________
N.B. Two members of the National Council, MM. Fogas and Vajda, of the Constitutional and Legislative Committee, accompanied the Assembly delegation in all its visits.
APPENDIX II
Letter from Mr Jozef Moravčík,
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic
Bratislava - April 1993
No. 1879/93/KM
Your Excellency,
One of the Slovak Republic's foreign policy in the sphere of multilateral development, is to become a member of the Council of Europe.
Slovak membership in the Council of Europe would enable the Slovak Republic to play a fully participative role in all the Council's spheres of activity. The positive results and experiences to be learnt and their impact upon own domestic political progress would allow Slovakia to eventually become a full Contracting Party to the conventions and documents of the Council of Europe.
According to the preliminary results of the visit of the Rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Mrs Halonen, Mrs Severinsen and Mr Schwimmer — during the period from 10 to 12 March 1993, and based on the visit of Sir Basil Hall and Mr Hartland — the legal experts of the Council of Europe, during the period from 17 to 20 March 1993, let me provide you with certain additional information:
1. The National Council of the Slovak Republic declared on 6 December 1992, in its desire for Slovak membership in the Council of Europe and for admission into all the international conventions where the Czech and Slovak Republic was the contracting party. The National Council also declared its readiness to take on all the obligations following from membership as laid down in the conventions of the Council of Europe. The declaration is attached in Appendix I.
2. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic, on behalf of the Slovak Government, officially requested on 1 January 1993, to become a member of the Council of Europe. The readiness of the Slovak Republic to respect and to fulfil the principles of the Council of Europe is declared in this request. It declares, also, that Slovakia is ready to fulfil all obligations of the Statute and other conventions of the Council of Europe, particularly of the European Convention on Human Rights including its protocols and appendices — including Article Nos. 25 and 46. This document forms Annex No. 2.
3. Annex No. 3 consists of the Ministry of Interior's standpoint and its explanation concerning the use of Christian names of foreign origin when putting down names for registration. This standpoint also includes information about new legislation that will be presented to the Legislative Committee of the Slovak Government allowing for this possibility.
4. Annex No. 4 consists of the Ministry of Interior's standpoint and explanation concerning the bilingual naming of villages, their parts, streets and public places. The possibility of such administrative reforms is not excluded in the preparation of new legislation.
5. Annex No. 5 consists of information from the Ministry of Education and Science concerning the possibilities that exist for children of people of Hungarian nationality to study in the Hungarian Republic.
The annex also includes information about the number of schools where the language of teaching is Hungarian with Slovak taught as a foreign language.
6. A map of the Slovak Republic with information on mixed Hungarian-Slovak regions and the numbers of ethnic Hungarians and Slovaks in these regions forms Annex No. 6. It is very clear from the map that these regions are not homogeneous territories. As the attached scale shows, in just two of the eleven mixed regions do Hungarians form the majority.
Clearly, under such circumstances, the demands of certain elements within the Hungarian minority for territorial autonomy creates — in a region where overall 560 000 people of Hungarian minority and 1 300 000 Slovaks live — a difficult situation.
The annex further consists of information about the results of elections in the mixed regions.
7. Annex No. 7 consists of information about negotiations between representatives of the Slovak Republic and the Hungarian Republic.
8. Annex No. 8 includes the resolution of the Slovak Government concerning the Romanies minority.
9. Annex No. 9 consists of information about changes in the legal system of the Slovak Republic enacted after 1 January 1993, and comparisons with the legal system as valid in the former CSFR.
10. Annex No. 10 consists of information on the latest political membership of deputies in the Slovak Parliament.
In the meantime, please, allow me to inform you that the European Charter on Regional and Minority Languages is in the process of being examined by experts of parliament, government and scientific institutions. At this present time it is possible to declare that Article Nos. 8 to 14 of the Charter are included in the Constitution of the Slovak Republic.
Furthermore I would like to ask you kindly to exclude Article No. 29 from the report of the group of Rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly as the article is formulated unclearly. Article No. 29 could create unwanted reactions following from incorrect interpretations.
I believe that the information in all the annexes will enable you to gain more detailed information and clearer explanations of uncertain details which were not classified on spot because of the short visit of the Rapporteurs to the Slovak Republic.
Finally, I would like to reaffirm you of Slovakia's wish to become a member of the Council of Europe and of its readiness to implement the recommendations of the group of Rapporteurs and of the legal experts in the Slovak Republic. The Slovak Republic guarantees respect for the principles of the pluralistic democracy, legal, judicial and executive system of governance, the protection of human rights and the rights of minorities. We are building the basic conditions for membership of the Council of Europe and for inclusion into the community of democratic states in Europe.
Yours sincerely
(signed) Jozef Moravčík
Her Excellency
Tarja Halonen
Deputy to the Assembly
Parliamentary Assembly
Council of Europe
Strasbourg
Reporting committee: Political Affairs Committee.
Committees for opinion: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights and Committee on Relations with European Non-Member States.
Budgetary implications for the Assembly: none.
Reference to committee: Doc. 6738 and Reference No. 1841 of 1 February 1993.
Draft opinion adopted by the committee on 13 May 1993, with three abstentions.
Members of the committee: Mr Reddemann (Chairman), Sir Dudley Smith (Vice-Chairman), Mrs Baarveld-Schlaman (Vice-Chairperson), MM. Agnelli, Alvarez-Cascos, Andreotti, Antretter, Baumel, Björn Bjarnason, Bokov, Bratinka, Cimoszwics, Efraimoglou, Espersen (Alternate: Mrs Severinsen), Lord Finsberg, MM. Fiorini, Flückiger (Alternate: Bloetzer), Galanos (Alternate: Hadjidemetriou), Mrs Haller, Mrs Halonen, MM. Hardy, Hellström, Irmer, Kaspereit, Kelchtermans, Kenneally, König, Mrs Lentz-Cornette, MM. van der Linden, Machete, Martins, Maruflu (Alternate: Dinçerler), Masseret, Mimaroglu (Alternate: Güner), Moya, Oehry, Pangalos, Panov, Psaila Savona, Schieder, Seeuws, Mrs Suchocka, MM. Szent-Ivanyi, Tarschys, Thoresen, Trabacchini.
N.B. The names of those members who took part in the meeting are printed in italics.
Secretaries of the committee: MM. Sorinas and Kleijssen.
1 1In co-operation with Mrs Severinsen (Denmark, Liberal), Rapporteur for an opinion of the Committee on Relations with European Non-Member Countries and Mr Schwimmer (Austria, European Peoples' Party), Rapporteur for an opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.