MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
23 October 2001
pursuant to Rule 37(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Enrique Barón Crespo, Klaus Hänsch, Pervenche Berès, Margrietus J. van den Berg, Hannes Swoboda, Pasqualina Napoletano, Robert Goebbels, Rosa M. Díez González, Anna Terrón i Cusí, Imelda Mary Read, Jannis Sakellariou and Jan Marinus Wiersma
on behalf of the PSE Group
on the European Council meeting on 19 October 2001 in Ghent
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B5-0696/2001
B5‑0697/2001
European Parliament resolution on the European Council meeting on 19 October 2001 in Ghent
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the European Council report and Commission statement on the European Council meeting of 19 October 2001 in Ghent and the three declarations issued by the Heads of State and Government,
– having regard to the conclusions of the extraordinary European Council meeting held on 21 September 2001 in Brussels,
– having regard to, and reiterating, its previous resolution of 4 October 2001 on the terrorist attacks on the United States,
– whereas the tragic events of 11 September have shown the obvious necessity and relevance of adopting the measures required for the institutional reforms essential to enlargement, and of relaunching the Union’s ambitions in the light of the political and economic challenges of the twenty-first century,
– having regard to the Commission’s decision to grant an additional sum of € 25 million in emergency aid for the people of Afghanistan affected by the air strikes,
– having regard to the Lusaka cease-fire agreement in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
– having regard to the arrest of many independent journalists and of opponents of the government in Eritrea, and the continuing policy of land occupation in Zimbabwe,
I. The fight against terrorism
1. Manifests its great concern regarding the international situation resulting from the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and the military action launched by the United States in Afghanistan, and considers that the military action has been taken in accordance with resolution 1368 of the UN Security Council;
2. Confirms its position on the need to give a global and multilateral approach to the fight against terrorism under the aegis of the United Nations and, with this in mind, reaffirms its agreement with the proposals put forward in the conclusions of the Extraordinary European Council held in Brussels on 21 September 2001;
3. Requests that military action should be restricted, as asked for in UN Resolution 1368, to well‑defined and proportionate targets to avoid further suffering of the population, and regrets that there have been civilian victims;
4. Welcomes the determination shown by the European Council to combat terrorism in every form, which includes the ratification and implementation by Member States and candidate countries of all existing international conventions, and the encouragement of the dialogue between cultures at international level and within our societies;
5. Welcomes the examination of the European Union action plan against terrorism and the confirmation that 79 actions have already begun, and calls for the implementation of this action plan;
6. Demands that all actions taken in the fight against terrorism be conducted in observance of human rights and the rule of law;
7. Urges the Council to agree to and adopt without great changes, at its meeting of 6 and 7 December, after consultation of the European Parliament, the proposals on combating terrorism, the European arrest warrant and surrender, joint investigation teams, freezing assets and the setting up of Eurojust;
8. Calls emphatically on all Member States not to raise any legal obstacles which could in any way compromise developments with regard to mutual recognition of judicial decisions;
9. Welcomes the consensus reached on the directive on money laundering and urges its adoption by the Council and its immediate implementation by Member States;
10. Insists that any strengthening of police and judicial cooperation must be accompanied by a strengthening of parliamentary and judicial control and continuing protection of fundamental rights and liberties;
II. Foreign Affairs
11. Expresses its support for the conclusions of the General Affairs Council of 17 October 2001, particularly regarding the priority given to the humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan and invites the Commission to do its utmost to implement all the measures already envisaged, in cooperation with the United Nations and its specialised agencies;
12. Expresses its agreement with the conclusions of the General Affairs Council concerning the guidelines for the European Union’s future action for Afghanistan, whose objective is to favour the establishment of a stable, legitimate and broad-coalition government in that country;
13. Insists in this context that the essential role of the United Nations be maintained and emphasises the need to continue with its aim of humanitarian aid and the reconstruction of the country; stresses the role of the European Union’s international action in the current crisis and invites the Council to assess its consequences in the political and economic field;
14. Condemns the assassination of the Israeli Minister of Tourism and deeply regrets the great number of victims of violence; asks for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian Authorities’ territories; reiterates its appeal to the Israelis and Palestinians, in spite of present difficulties, to do everything possible to negotiate a political settlement based on all the recommendations of the Mitchell Report, respect of the UN Security Council resolutions and the principle of the establishment of a viable Palestinian State and the right of Israel to live in peace and security;
15. Welcomes the statement of the US President, George Bush, in support of a Palestinian State and the similar proposal already expressed by the EU; considers that this commitment must encourage all the parties concerned to reach a new agreement with the aim of revitalising the peace process;
16. Considers it essential in this context that the EU and its Member States, in strict cooperation with the USA and all the partners in the peace process as established at the Conference of Madrid in 1991, take a politico-diplomatic initiative at the earliest opportunity, for example in the form of a new conference with all the countries concerned as a continuation of the first one (Madrid II);
17. Calls on the United Nations to work with all the specialised agencies in the field of humanitarian aid in the Middle East region with the aim of reducing the suffering of the civilian population and to ensure the fullest implementation of the ‘oil for food’ programme for Iraq;
18. Welcomes the next meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary forum as an important opportunity to hold in-depth dialogue between the EU, its Member States and its Mediterranean partners;
19. Reaffirms its commitment to fundamental freedoms and condemns the escalation of violence in Eritrea and Zimbabwe; calls in particular on the government of Zimbabwe to resolve the question of land distribution by means of peaceful, legal, democratic, transparent instruments;
20. Congratulates Namibia on withdrawing its troops from the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo and asks the governments of Angola and Zimbabwe, on the one hand, and of Uganda and Rwanda, on the other, to do likewise, and to stop supporting the armed rebel movements in the Democratic Republic of Congo; asks for support in the form of UN reports in stopping the financing of local conflicts through the trade in diamonds, coltan and oil;
III. The Laeken declaration
21. Expresses first and foremost its satisfaction at the success of the commitment of the Belgian Presidency to carrying forward the idea of a Convention, while at the same time expressing its concern at the limited mandate which the Heads of State and Government apparently intend to give the Convention, namely that of presenting different options, indicating which are majority and which minority options, and even of presenting individual approaches;
22. Demands, with a view to achieving a treaty reform that is capable of meeting the challenges of the future of Europe and of enlargement, that the Convention should have a precise and appropriate mandate to prepare a coherent draft and clear proposals;
23. Reserves the right to give an overall, detailed opinion before Laeken on the constitutional procedure and the future of the Union;
IV. Enlargement
24. Notes the commitment of the candidate countries to bringing the enlargement negotiations to a rapid and successful conclusion;
25. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the negotiations proceed on the basis that no country should have to wait for another before acceding, no country should be able to hold the negotiations hostage, and there should be no backtracking from the conditions which have been set out;
26. Calls on all parties to ensure that the negotiations can be concluded in good time so that citizens of as many countries as possible are able to participate in the 2004 European elections;
V. The introduction of the Euro
27. Welcomes the progress made in preparing the public, and business and public authorities, for the introduction of the euro; recalls, however, that a number of specific bottlenecks deserve special attention;
28. Considers that the information campaign for the public should be speeded up, more specifically as regards the length of the period of dual circulation and for those who do not have easy access to information and vulnerable population groups;
29. Asks for a specific action plan for SMEs, which represents the less well-prepared economic sector;
VI. The economic situation
30. Takes the view that the world economic and financial situation is far from being stabilised and that all medium- or long-term analyses or forecasts are currently premature or unfounded;
31. Takes the view that the EU is not in a phase of economic recession, and that the financial situation of households and businesses in Europe gives reason to believe that recovery will be faster and stronger than in the United States;
32. Notes that the UN’s first growth estimates for 2001 record a drop of between 1 and 1.4% instead of 2.4%;
33. Approves the Commission’s call to the Member States for prudence in preparing their national budgets for 2002; regrets, however, that the Commission is not encouraging all the Member States to allow the automatic stabilisers to come into play in order to provide wider margins for manoeuvre; approves the Keynesian approach adopted by the United States to cushion the damaging effects on the economy of the terrorist attacks of 11 September;
34. Notes that certain sectors such as insurance, aviation and the financial markets will probably face a contraction in investment and employment in the upcoming months;
35. Supports the European Council’s proposals to involve the EIB in helping Member States cope with the economic slowdown by investing in regional development projects, making loans to the worst affected industries and providing risk capital for private investors;
36. Joins in the Commission’s call for the ECB to lower interest rates to support growth in the current context of falling inflation; recalls that the world’s main central banks made their monetary policies more flexible in the wake of the attacks of 11 September;
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37. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the European Council.