MEPs backed plans to expand the use of the EU's eco-label or "EU flower" labelling scheme by making it less costly and easier to use. The symbol has already been awarded to over 3,000 products. Thursday they also approved more investment in energy efficient houses. MEPs called for 23 August to be a Europe-wide day of remembrance for victims of totalitarianism.

 

The proposed new eco-label rules set minimum requirements for goods and services in order to be sold in the EU. In theory all products, except food and medicine should be eligible. In order to get the eco-label stringent environmental criteria set at a European level after consultation with industry and consumer organisations will have to be met.

 

The European Parliament also supported the simplification of rules for the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) - certification for companies and other organisations showing their positive environmental performance.

 

 

MEPs called on European governments to establish 23 August as a Europe-wide Remembrance Day for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. It would mark the date of the infamous Hitler-Stalin pact of 1939 which enslaved millions. In a resolution on European conscience and totalitarianism they say "there can be no reconciliation without truth and remembrance". They want the past to be documented and archives opened.

 

Other topics discussed Thursday included: Regional development funding for energy efficient housing, recommendations on the new EU-Russia agreement, the right of EU citizens and their families to move and reside freely within the Union and finally equal treatment irrespective of religion, belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. 

 

 

European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering expressed sadness at the deaths of over 300 migrants who drowned off the Libyan coast this week, at the opening of the two-day plenary session in Brussels. MEPs called for renewed negotiations on an EU-Russia partnership agreement to improve respect for human rights and ensure the security of gas supplies. They also debated a possible international treaty for the protection of the Arctic region.

 

As the migrants were hoping to reach Europe, "we are all challenged to find solutions," said the President. The House observed a minute's silence in respect of the victims.
 
New EU-Russia agreement
 
Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee is recommending that a number of issues are included in the EU's cooperation agreement with Russia:
 
a ban on the suspension or reduction of energy supplies in the case of disputes more focus on human rightsa commitment from Russia not to use force against its neighbours
The debate showed clear difference between the biggest groups: The Christian Democrat EPP-ED and Liberal ALDE group welcomed the report, but the Socialists found it "unbalanced", particularly in its attribution of responsibility for recent conflicts between Russia and its neighbours and said they would only support the report if their amendments are accepted.
 
Liberal Janusz Onyszkiewicz, who is guiding the report through the EP, said, "No strategic partnership is possible if the values of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law are not fully shared and respected."
 
"We must not forget the role of Russia in the Georgian war of last summer or in the January gas crisis," said Josef Zieleniec for the EPP-ED. The agreement must include "the requirement for clear assurances that Russia does not apply force against any of their neighbours."
 
Hungarian Socialist Csaba Tabajdi said, "as for as gas supplies are concerned, we are mutually dependent, because Russia wouldn't be able to sell its gas to anyone else."
 
Liberal  leader Graham Watson said, "Europe today has a population three and a half times the size of Russia’s. We have military spending that is 10 times bigger, and an economy 15 times the size. We have no reason to cower from the Kremlin."
 
Protection of the Arctic region
 
MEPs debated a possible international treaty for the protection of the Arctic region, which is mostly sea, but where Norway, Canada, the US, Russia and Denmark have claims. It is important because it accounts for 20% of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves and because melting ice and a rising sea show that the global warming in the Arctic region is much higher than in the rest of the world
 
There was agreement that the world must find a way to reconcile the conflicting territorial and resource demands made on this fragile region with its long-term environmental security, but not everyone agreed that there should be a treaty.
 
Other topics:
 
MEPs also discussed included: European Funds, Equal treatment of persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, educating the children of migrants and health concerns associated with electromagnetic fields