MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the Commission delegated decision of 15 April 2016 amending Annex III to Decision No 466/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council granting an EU guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under financing operations supporting investment projects outside the Union, as regards Belarus

29.6.2016 - (C(2016)2164 – 2016/2669(DEA))

pursuant to Rule 105(4) of the Rules of Procedure

Anna Elżbieta Fotyga, Charles Tannock on behalf of the ECR Group
Petras Auštrevičius, Gérard Deprez, Jean Arthuis, Pavel Telička on behalf of the ALDE Group
Heidi Hautala, Indrek Tarand, Rebecca Harms on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

B8‑0870/2016

European Parliament resolution on the Commission delegated decision of 15 April 2016 amending Annex III to Decision No 466/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council granting an EU guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under financing operations supporting investment projects outside the Union, as regards Belarus

(C(2016)2164 – 2016/2669(DEA))

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission delegated decision (C(2016)2164),

–  having regard to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to Decision No 466/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 granting an EU guarantee to the European Investment Bank against losses under financing operations supporting investment projects outside the Union[1], and in particular Articles 4(2) and 18(5) thereof,

–  having regard to Rule 105(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas on 15 February 2016 the Council decided that the EU would not extend the major restrictive measures, namely those applied for 170 individuals and three companies of Belarus, following the release on 22 August 2015 of all the remaining political prisoners as demanded by the EU;

B.  whereas since the decision to lift sanctions the overall human rights situation in the country has shown only a very limited improvement; whereas to date the Belarusian authorities have ignored all the major expectations of the abovementioned Council meeting, given that:

–   they have not implemented the recommendations set out in the final report of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) concerning the conduct of the presidential elections of 11 October 2015, which would allow the upcoming national elections scheduled for 11 September 2016 to be conducted in accordance with internationally recognised standards;

–   they have not reinstated the civil and political rights of former political prisoners or taken any formal institutional steps to ensure freedom of association and assembly;

–   they have not ensured full cooperation with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus and other UN special procedures and mechanisms;

–   they have not taken any steps towards the abolition of the death penalty, and have in fact passed or executed three death sentences in 2016 alone;

–   they have not taken the necessary measures to ensure nuclear safety standards within their territory, including just beyond the border of the EU, or to engage in constructive cooperation with the relevant international authorities, the EU and its Member States, and are continuing, in violation of the UN Espoo and Aarhus Conventions, to construct the Ostrovets nuclear power plant, which is de facto led and financed by Russia and its national companies representing the nuclear and financial sectors;

1.  Takes the view that the forthcoming general elections on 11 September 2016 represent an opportunity for Belarus to end its long-standing practice of fraudulent elections, and constitute a decisive test with which to measure the genuine will of the Belarusian authorities to reconcile with their own citizens and to engage constructively with the EU;

2.   Considers, in the light of the aforementioned facts and in view of the forthcoming general elections, that granting an EU guarantee at this stage would be untimely and premature;

3.  Objects to the Commission delegated decision;

4.  Calls on the European External Action Service to report to Parliament on the conduct and outcome of the elections on 11 September 2016, including on the basis of the OSCE/ODIHR mission; stresses that only after these elections will Parliament be in a position to assess any new delegated act on the matter;

5.  Calls on the Commission to ensure that an EU guarantee to the European Investment Bank could not be used to finance the Ostrovets nuclear power plant, and to assess whether such a guarantee is in compliance with the EU sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation;

6.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and to notify it that the delegated decision cannot enter into force.

 

• [1]  OJ L 135, 8.5.2014, p. 1.