Text tabled : A6-0020/2007

  Manuel António dos Santos (PSE), in writing. (PT) I abstained from the final vote for the following reasons:

1. This report is ill-timed and ineffective;

2. A decision that reconciles the need for commitment to protect human rights with support for the fight against terrorism and its causes is only acceptable if it engenders broad consensus;

3. This report has not engendered such consensus and has not produced the political analysis of this issue that is required;

4. The document focuses too much on the investigation into what has happened in the Member States, and fails to draw the salient conclusion that the citizens’ inalienable right to protection and the integrity of the Member States needs to be upheld within a framework of respect for individual human rights;

5. Lastly, a report on this sensitive issue should be coordinated with the intervention of the European Council and should take account of any decisions made by the Council of Europe.