Annual report on human rights in the world

Mr Imbeni stressed the importance of making respect for human rights one of the pillars of the CFSP. He indicated two objectives in this respect: stamping out both arms sales and money laundering. The Union and the Member States also had a duty to ensure consistency of their efforts to combat intolerance, and particularly revisionism, within their territory. Commissioner van den Broek commented that specific difficulties had to be faced when moving from principles to actions. The latter included missions organised by the Commission to monitor the legality of national elections in certain countries. He shared the rapporteur’s opinion on the fight against racism and xenophobia, which was also a priority objective within the Union. He supported the European Parliament’s initiative to create a observatory for conflict prevention since it was clear that complementary efforts among the competent institutions could increase the effectiveness of joint actions.