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BRUSSELS - The European Union launched an agency today to monitor human rights across the bloc.
But civil rights groups criticised a move by some member states to ensure it had no say on police and criminal justice matters.
EU justice ministers agreed the agency will monitor from January next year how basic human rights are respected in the EU in matters such as asylum, consumer protection and the environment, but not on extradition or criminal convictions.
The EU's executive Commission had originally proposed an agency whose scope would include criminal justice and police matters, but an EU diplomat said six countries including Britain, Ireland and several new EU states blocked the move, arguing there was no legal base for it to have such powers.
Ministers decided they would re-examine by the end of 2009 the possibility of extending its scope to police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, but rights groups were disappointed by the outcome.
"It's a shame for Europe," said Amnesty International's human rights expert for Europe Natacha Kazatchkine.
"It is interesting to see that at a time when there are reports on extraordinary renditions in Europe ... it will not have competence on judicial cooperation," Kazatchkine said.
Senior EU lawmakers said last week that there had been secret CIA flights and jails in Europe and that EU states knew about it.
The agency will also be able to monitor the respect of fundamental rights in countries who have applied to join the EU if the EU and the country decide on that jointly.
The agency will collect data, provide expertise to EU states and institutions, and publish an annual report on the respect of basic rights. It will be based in Vienna where it will replace a European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia.
- REUTERS
