Cristian Dan Preda, Parliament's rapporteur on the EU's Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2014, answers questions from citizens.

What can the EU do to improve the state of human rights worldwide?

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/11937017/n004-0037-en.srt

The EU's report on the state of  human rights in the world in 2014 is out.

Parliament's rapporteur Cristian Dan Preda  answers citizens' questions on the subject.

We have three questions for you, from  two non-EU citizens and one EU citizen.

Most ordinary people are far  from enjoying political freedoms,

so maybe it would better for you to focus  on violations of social and economic rights.

A wider public would react to your report,  more productively. What do you think?

For us, all rights are important. We don't  distinguish between political rights

and what we call social  and economic rights.

When we defend people  who are imprisoned by their regimes,

we don't distinguish between journalists

and those who defend poor people  in a quartier in some country in difficulty.

You mention journalists, which is nice,  since the next question is about them.

What does the European Parliament plan to  do about human rights violations in Turkey

and the journalists  who are in prison in Turkey?

We create maximal publicity  for these issues,

but at the same time we cannot ignore  the fact that Turkey is a candidate country

So I think we cannot improve  the position of journalists

if we make Turkey - if we ignore Turkey,

if we leave it stuck, without negotiations,

and maintain the attitude of some  who are saying, 'the EU is not for you'.

What will be your contribution  to ending unfair trading practices?

For example, you could promote  an international legally binding instrument

on transnational corporations and other  businesses with respect to human rights.

Trade is very important for the EU,  for our societies, for our citizens.

We all expect the benefits  that ensue from these trade relations.

Still, we pay close attention to the question  of rights, and I'll give you an example.

Some years ago there was  a tragedy in Bangladesh

where hundreds of people died  in a textile factory.

Of course we cannot have  perfectly equal working conditions,

or compare the working conditions  in Bangladesh,

since I took this example of  the terrible Rana Plaza accident,

Because that's why these companies  go to Bangladesh.

Because it's more profitable  to operate there.