The European Commission has been attacked for threatening legal action against a proposed Lithuanian law that, among other things, would ban ‘public information’ aimed at minors and promoting “homosexual, bisexual or polygamous relations.”
Critics say the threatened action amounts to unwarranted interference by the European Union in the sovereignty of a member state in the area of family law which is not a direct competence of the EU.
The proposed law, called ‘Law on the protection of minors against the detriment effect of public information’ was condemned in a resolution passed by the European Parliament yesterday.
The resolution was proposed by the Liberal grouping in the parliament which Fianna Fail has just joined. However, the Fianna Fail members voted against the resolution.
Lithuania is accused of being in breach the Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as Article 13 of the EC Treaty which bans discrimination on multiple grounds including sexual orientation
Asked by the European Parliament to respond to the Lithuanian law, Commissioner Jacques Barrot said the Commission “will not hesitate to take all appropriate measures to ensure compliance with Community law, including human rights.”
Several MEPs condemned the resolution for interfering in Lithuanian law and for breaching the principle of subsidiarity which respects member-state sovereignty.
The proposed Lithuanian law aims to protect minors in a whole range of areas, including from violent or pornographic imagery of all kinds and even from information that would lead to unhealthy eating.
The prohibition on public information that would promote homosexual relations is part of this wider ban.
The law is not due to come into effect until March 1, 2010 and it may yet be amended before then.
Care for Europe, a Christian lobby-group based in Brussels, was among the organisations attacking the resolution condemning Lithuania.
In a statement it said: “At a time when the people of Ireland are being reassured that voting for the Lisbon Treaty will not put in jeopardy dearly held national constitutional provisions which include upholding the institution of Marriage as the basis for the Family and protecting it against attack, and respecting the rights of parents to be the prime movers in the moral education of their children, we are surprised that the right of another Member State to legislate to protect precisely these values is being questioned by some factions in the European Parliament to the extent of asking for sanctions to be taken against that State under Article 7 of the Treaty of the European Union.
“We would submit that the right of Member States to decide what is suitable for their children to be exposed to by way of broadcasts and publications originating on their national territory should not be questioned in this way. – freedom of expression cannot be totally unlimited when it comes to communications aimed at children.”
