Index 
Texts adopted
Thursday, 21 October 2010 - Strasbourg
Instrument for Stability ***I
 Financing instrument for development cooperation ***I
 Financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide ***I
 Financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised countries ***I
 Financing instrument for development cooperation ***I
 Indication of the country of origin of certain products imported from third countries ***I
 Future of European standardisation
 Implemented reforms and developments in the Republic of Moldova
 Integrated maritime policy
 Trade relations with Latin-America
 Forced evictions in Zimbabwe
 Cambodia, in particular the case of Sam Rainsy
 North Caucasus, in particular the case of Oleg Orlov

Instrument for Stability ***I
PDF 320kWORD 62k
Resolution
Consolidated text
European Parliament legislative resolution of 21 October 2010 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability (COM(2009)0195 – C7-0042/2009 – 2009/0058(COD))
P7_TA(2010)0378A7-0066/2009

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2009)0195),

–  having regard to Article 251(2) and Articles 179(1) and 181a of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C7-0042/2009),

–  having regard to the Commission Communication to Parliament and the Council entitled ‘Consequences of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon for ongoing interinstitutional decision-making procedures’ (COM(2009)0665),

–  having regard to Article 294(3) and Articles 209(1) and 212 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to the judgment of the Court of Justice of 20 May 2008 in Case C-91/05 Commission v Council, annulling Council Decision 2004/833/CFSP of 2 December 2004 implementing Joint Action 2002/589/CFSP with a view to a European Union contribution to ECOWAS in the framework of the Moratorium on Small Arms and Light Weapons,

–  having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Development (A7-0066/2009),

1.  Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend its proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 21 October 2010 with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EU) No .../2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability

P7_TC1-COD(2009)0058


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 209(1) and 212 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure(1),

Whereas:

(1)  Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability(2) was designed with the objective of enabling the Community to give a consistent and integrated response to situations of crisis or emerging crisis, using a single legal instrument with simplified decision-making procedures.

(2)  The review under Article 25 of Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 concludes that it is appropriate to propose certain amendments to the Regulation.

(3)  Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 needs to be brought into line with the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Communities (Grand Chamber) of 20 May 2008(3), in which it was held that measures to combat the proliferation and illicit use of, and access to, small arms and light weapons may be implemented by the Community under its development policy, and thus under Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006.

(4)  The pursuit of the objectives set out in point (3) of Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 and consistency should be improved by allowing participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts under point (3) of Article 4 of that Regulation on a global basis, as is already the case for measures under Article 3, so as to bring the provisions on participation and rules of origin for assistance to crisis response into line with those on crisis preparedness.

(5)  The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in respect of Multi-country Strategy Papers, Thematic Strategy Papers and Multi-annual Indicative Programmes, as these supplement Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 and are of general application. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level.

(6)  The share of the financial envelope provided for in Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 for measures under point (1) of Article 4 of that Regulation has proven to be inadequate and should be increased. The areas covered are numerous, and even with multi-purpose programmes only a few can be handled effectively with the scarce resources available. Developing effective actions in the areas of critical infrastructure, public health risks, and global responses to trans-regional threats requires more substantial measures to achieve real impact, visibility and credibility. In addition, developing trans-regional actions which are complementary to national and regional envelopes requires an appropriate level of funding to reach a critical mass. The maximum percentage allocated under the overall financial envelope for measures falling under point (1) of Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 should be raised from 7 % to 10 % in order to enable the objectives set out in point (1) of Article 4 of that Regulation to be further met.

(7)  Since the objectives of this Regulation cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of its scale, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.

(8)  Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 is hereby amended as follows:

(1)  in Article 3(2), point (i) is replaced by the following:"

   (i) support for measures to combat, within the framework of Union cooperation policies and their objectives, the illicit use of and access to small arms and light weapons; such support could also include survey activities, victim assistance, raising public awareness and the development of legal and administrative expertise and good practice;
"

(2)  Article 4 is amended as follows:

(a)  in point (1), the first paragraph of point (a) is replaced by the following:"

   (a) strengthening the capacity of law enforcement and judicial and civil authorities involved in the fight against terrorism and organised crime, including illicit trafficking of people, drugs, firearms, small arms and light weapons and explosive materials and in the effective control of illegal trade and transit.
"

(b)  in point (3), first paragraph, the following point is added:"

   (c) developing and organising civil society and its participation in the political process, including measures to enhance the role of women in such processes and measures to promote independent, pluralist and professional media.
"

(c)  in point (3), the following paragraph is added:"

Measures under this point may be implemented, if appropriate, by means of the EU Peace-building Partnership.

"

(3)  in Article 6, paragraphs 3 and 4 are replaced by the following:"

3.  Where an Exceptional Assistance Measure is costing more than EUR 20 000 000, that measure shall be adopted by the Commission taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council.

4.  The Commission may adopt Interim Response Programmes with a view to establishing or re-establishing the essential conditions necessary for the effective implementation of the Union's external cooperation policies. Interim Response Programmes shall build on Exceptional Assistance Measures. They shall be adopted by the Commission taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council.

"

(4)  Article 7 is amended as follows:

(a)  paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:"

3.  Multi-country and Thematic Strategy Papers, and any revisions or extensions thereof, shall be adopted by the Commission by means of delegated acts in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 22, and subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 22a and 22b. They shall cover an initial period of no longer than the period of application of this Regulation and shall be reviewed at the mid-point.

"

(b)  paragraph 7 is replaced by the following:"

7.  Multi-annual Indicative Programmes, and any revisions or extensions thereof, shall be adopted by the Commission by means of delegated acts in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 22, subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 22a and 22b. They shall be established, where appropriate, in consultation with the partner countries or regions concerned.

"

(5)  Article 8(3) is replaced by the following:"

3.  Annual Action Programmes and any revision or extension thereof shall be adopted by the Commission taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council.

"

(6)  in Article 9, paragraphs 3 and 4 are replaced by the following:"

3.  Special Measures costing more than EUR 5 000 000 shall be adopted by the Commission taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council.

4.  The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council within one month of adopting Special Measures costing up to EUR 5 000 000.

"

(7)  in Article 17, paragraphs 4 and 5 are replaced by the following:"

4.  In the case of Exceptional Assistance Measures and Interim Response Programmes referred to in Article 6, and in the case of measures adopted in pursuit of the objectives referred to in point (3) of Article 4, participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts shall be open on a global basis.

5.  In the case of measures adopted in pursuit of the objectives referred to in points (1) and (2) of Article 4, participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts shall be open, and rules of origin shall extend, to any natural or legal person of a developing country or of a country in transition, as defined by the OECD, and to natural or legal persons of any other country eligible under the relevant strategy.

"

(8)  Article 21 is replaced by the following:"

Article 21

Evaluation

The Commission shall regularly evaluate the results and efficiency of policies and programmes and the effectiveness of programming in order to ascertain whether the objectives have been met and to enable it to formulate recommendations with a view to improving future operations. The Commission shall send for discussion significant evaluation reports to the European Parliament and to the Council. These results shall feed back into programme design and resource allocation.

"

(9)  Article 22 is replaced by the following:

Article 22

Exercise of the delegation

1.  The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 7(3) and Article 7(7) shall be conferred on the Commission for the period of application of this Regulation.

2.  As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

3.  The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 22a and 22b.

Article 22a

Revocation of the delegation

1.  The delegation of power referred to in Article 7(3) and Article 7(7) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council.

2.  The institution which has commenced an internal procedure for deciding whether to revoke a delegation of power shall endeavour to inform the other institution and the Commission within a reasonable time before the final decision is taken, indicating the delegated power which could be subject to revocation and possible reasons for a revocation.

3.  The decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect immediately or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force. It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 22b

Objections to delegated acts

1.  The European Parliament or the Council may object to a delegated act within a period of two months from the date of notification.

At the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council that period shall be extended by two months.

2.  If, on expiry of the period referred on in paragraph 1, neither the European Parliament nor the Council has objected to the delegated act, it shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall enter into force on the date stated therein.

The delegated act may be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force before the expiry of that period if the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission of their intention not to raise objections.

3.  If either the European Parliament or the Council objects to the delegated act within the period referred to in paragraph 1, it shall not enter into force. The institution which objects shall state the reasons for objecting to the delegated act.

(10)  Article 24 is replaced by the following:"

Article 24

Financial envelope

The financial envelope for implementation of this Regulation over the period 2007 to 2013 is EUR 2 062 000 000. Annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial framework.

In the period 2007 to 2013:

   (a) no more than 10 per cent of the financial envelope shall be allocated to measures falling under point (1) of Article 4;
   (b) no more than 15 per cent of the financial envelope shall be allocated to measures falling under point (2) of Article 4;
   (c) no more than 10 per cent of the financial envelope shall be allocated to measures falling under point (3) of Article 4, provided the relevant amount is compatible with the current review of the EU Peace-building Partnership and internal resources.

"

Article 2

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

(1) Position of the European Parliament of 21 October 2010.
(2) OJ L 327, 24.11.2006, p. 1.
(3) Case C-91/05 Commission v Council [2008] ECR I-3651.


Financing instrument for development cooperation ***I
PDF 220kWORD 56k
Resolution
Consolidated text
European Parliament legislative resolution of 21 October 2010 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation and Regulation (EC) No 1889/2006 on establishing a financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide (COM(2009)0194 – C7-0043/2009 – 2009/0060A(COD))
P7_TA(2010)0379A7-0078/2009

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2009)0194),

–  having regard to Article 251(2) and Articles 179(1) and 181a, first paragraph, of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C7-0043/2009),

–  having regard to the Commission Communication to Parliament and the Council entitled ‘Consequences of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon for ongoing interinstitutional decision-making procedures’ (COM(2009)0665),

–  having regard to Article 294(3) and Article 209(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Development (A7-0078/2009),

1.  Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend its proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 21 October 2010 with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EU) No .../2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation ▌

P7_TC1-COD(2009)0060A


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 209(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure(1),

Whereas:

(1)  A new framework for planning and delivering assistance was established in 2006 in order to make the Community's external assistance more effective and transparent. It contains Council Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006 of 17 July 2006 establishing an Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)(2), Regulation (EC) No 1638/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 laying down general provisions establishing a European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument(3), Council Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 of 21 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories(4), Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability(5), Council Regulation (Euratom) No 300/2007 of 19 February 2007 establishing an Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation(6), Regulation (EC) No 1889/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide(7), and Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation(8).

(2)  In implementing Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 inconsistencies have emerged regarding exceptions to the principle of non-eligibility for Union financing of costs related to taxes, duties and other charges. It is therefore proposed to amend the relevant provisions of that Regulation in order to align it with the other instruments.

(3)  The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in respect of Geographic Strategy Papers, Multi-annual Indicative Programmes and Strategy Papers for thematic programmes, as they supplement Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 and are of general application. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level.

(4)  This Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve the objective pursued, in accordance with Article 5(4) of the Treaty on European Union.

(5)  Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 is hereby amended as follows:

(1)  In Article 17(2), the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:"

Further instructions regarding the allocation of the overall amount among beneficiaries shall be defined by the Commission by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 35, and subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 35a and 35b.

"

(2)  Article 21 is replaced by the following:"

'Article 21

Adoption of strategy papers and multiannual indicative programmes

Strategy papers and multiannual indicative programmes referred to in Articles 19 and 20, and any reviews thereof referred to in Article 19(2) and Article 20(1), as well as accompanying measures referred to in Article 17, shall be adopted by the Commission by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 35, and subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 35a and 35b.“;

"

(3)  Article 22(3) is replaced by the following:"

3.  The annual action programmes shall be adopted by the Commission taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council.

"

(4)  In Article 23, paragraphs 3 and 4 are replaced by the following:"

3.  Where the cost of such measures exceeds EUR 10 million, the Commission shall adopt them taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council. For special measures below EUR 10 million, the Commission shall send the measures to the European Parliament and to the Council for information within one month of adopting its decision.

4.  Amendments to special measures, such as those making technical adjustments, extending the implementation period, reassigning funds within the forecast budget, or increasing or reducing the size of the budget by less than 20 % of the initial budget, provided these amendments do not affect the initial objectives set out in the Commission decision shall be communicated within one month to the European Parliament and to the Council.

"

(5)  Article 25(2) is replaced by the following:"

2.  Union assistance shall not in principle be used for paying taxes, duties or charges in beneficiary countries.

"

(6)  In Article 33, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following:"

1.  The Commission shall regularly monitor and review its programmes, and evaluate the results of the implementation of geographical and thematic policies and programmes, and of sectoral policies and the effectiveness of programming, where appropriate by means of independent external evaluations, in order to ascertain whether the objectives have been met and enable it to formulate recommendations with a view to improving future operations. Proposals by the European Parliament, the national parliaments or the Council for independent external evaluations shall be taken into due account. Particular attention shall be given to social sectors and to progress made towards achieving the MDGs.

2.  The Commission shall send its evaluation reports to the European Parliament and to the Council for information. The results shall feed back into programme design and resource allocation.

"

(7)  Article 34(1) is replaced by the following:"

1.  The Commission shall examine the progress made in implementing the measures taken under this Regulation and shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council an annual report on the implementation and the results and, as far as possible, on the main outcomes and impacts of the assistance. This report shall also be submitted to the national parliaments, to the European Economic and Social Committee and to the Committee of the Regions.

"

(8)  Article 35 is replaced by the following:"

Article 35

Exercise of the delegation

1.  The power to adopt the delegated acts referred to in Article 17(2) and Article 21 shall be conferred on the Commission for the period of application of this Regulation.

2.  As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

3.  The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 35a and 35b.

Article 35a

Revocation of the delegation

1.  The delegation of power referred to in Article 17(2) and Article 21 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council.

2.  The institution which has commenced an internal procedure for deciding whether to revoke a delegation of power shall endeavour to inform the other institution and the Commission within a reasonable time before the final decision is taken, indicating the delegated power which could be subject to revocation and possible reasons for a revocation.

3.  The decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect immediately or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force. It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 35b

Objections to delegated acts

1.  The European Parliament or the Council may object to a delegated act within a period of two months from the date of notification.

At the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council this period shall be extended by two months.

2.  If, on expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 1, neither the European Parliament nor the Council has objected to the delegated act, it shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall enter into force on the date stated therein.

The delegated act may be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force before the expiry of that period if the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission of their intention not to raise objections.

3.  If either the European Parliament or the Council objects to the delegated act within the period referred to in paragraph 1, it shall not enter into force. The institution which objects shall state the reasons for objecting to the delegated act.

"

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at ...,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

(1) Position of the European Parliament of 21 October 2010.
(2) OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 82.
(3) OJ L 310, 9.11.2006, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 405, 30.12.2006, p. 41.
(5) OJ L 327, 24.11.2006, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 81, 22.3.2007, p. 1.
(7) OJ L 386, 29.12.2006, p. 1.
(8) OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 41.


Financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide ***I
PDF 217kWORD 51k
Resolution
Consolidated text
European Parliament legislative resolution of 21 October 2010 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation and Regulation (EC) No 1889/2006 on establishing a financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide (COM(2009)0194 – C7-0158/2009 – 2009/0060B(COD))
P7_TA(2010)0380A7-0188/2010

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2009)0194),

–  having regard to Article 251(2) and Articles 179(1) and 181a of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C7-0158/2009),

–  having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council entitled ‘Consequences of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon for ongoing interinstitutional decision-making procedures’ (COM(2009)0665),

–  having regard to Article 294(3) and Articles 209(1) and 212 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (A7-0188/2010),

1.  Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend its proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, to the Commission and to the national parliaments.

Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 21 October 2010 with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EU) No .../2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) ▌ No 1889/2006 on establishing a financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide

P7_TC1-COD(2009)0060B


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 209(1) and Article 212 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure(1),

Whereas:

(1)  A new framework for planning and delivering assistance was established in 2006 in order to make the Community's external assistance more effective and transparent. It contains Council Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006 of 17 July 2006 establishing an Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)(2), Regulation (EC) No 1638/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 laying down general provisions establishing a European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument(3), Council Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 of 21 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories(4), Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability(5), Council Regulation (Euratom) No 300/2007 of 19 February 2007 establishing an Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation(6), Regulation (EC) No 1889/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 on establishing a financing instrument for the promotion of democracy and human rights worldwide(7), and Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation(8).

(2)  In implementing those Regulations inconsistencies have emerged regarding exceptions to the principle of non-eligibility for Union financing of costs related to taxes, duties and other charges. It is therefore proposed to amend the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No ▌ 1889/2006 in order to align them to the other instruments.

(3)  The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in respect of strategy papers, as those strategy papers supplement Regulation (EC) No 1889/2006 and are of general application. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level.

(4)  This Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve the objective pursued, in accordance with Article 5(4) of the Treaty on European Union,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1889/2006 is hereby amended as follows:

(1)  Article 5(3) is replaced by the following:"

3.  Strategy papers, and any revisions or extensions thereof, shall be adopted by the Commission by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 17, and subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 17a and 17b.

"

(2)  Article 6(3) is replaced by the following:"

3.  Annual Action Programmes, and any revisions or extensions thereof, shall be adopted by the Commission taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council.

"

(  3) in Article 7, paragraphs 3 and 4 are replaced by the following:"

Where the cost of such measures is equal to or exceeds EUR 3 000 000, the Commission shall adopt them taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council.

4.  For Special Measures costing below EUR 3 000 000, the Commission shall send the measures to the European Parliament and to the Council for information within 10 working days of adopting its decision.

"

(4)  Article 9(2) is replaced by the following:"

The Commission shall regularly inform the European Parliament and the Council of the ad hoc measures carried out.

"

(5)  Article 13(6) is replaced by the following:"

6.  Union assistance shall not in principle be used for paying taxes, duties or charges in beneficiary countries.

"

(6)  Article 16(2) is replaced by the following:"

2.  The Commission shall send its evaluation reports to the European Parliament and to the Council for information. The results shall feed back into programme design and resource allocation.

"

(7)  Article 17 is replaced by the following:"

Article 17

Exercise of the delegation

1.  The power to adopt delegated acts as referred to in Article 5(3) shall be conferred on the Commission for the period of application of this Regulation.

2.  As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

3.  The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 17a and 17b.

Article 17a

Revocation of the delegation

1.  The delegation of power referred to in Article 5 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council.

2.  The institution which has commenced an internal procedure for deciding whether to revoke a delegation of power shall endeavour to inform the other institution and the Commission within a reasonable time before the final decision is taken, indicating the delegated power which could be subject to revocation and possible reasons for a revocation.

3.  The decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect immediately or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force. It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 17b

Objections to delegated acts

1.  The European Parliament or the Council may object to a delegated act within a period of two months from the date of notification.

At the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council this period shall be extended by two months.

2.  If, on the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 1, neither the European Parliament nor the Council has objected to the delegated act, it shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall enter into force on the date stated therein.

The delegated act may be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force before the expiry of that period if the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission of their intention not to raise objections.

3.  If either the European Parliament or the Council objects to the delegated act within the period referred to in paragraph 1, it shall not enter into force. The institution which objects shall state the reasons for objecting to the delegated act.

"

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at ...,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

(1) Position of the European Parliament of 21 October 2010.
(2) OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 82.
(3) OJ L 310, 9.11.2006, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 405, 30.12.2006, p. 41.
(5) OJ L 327, 24.11.2006, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 81, 22.3.2007, p. 1.
(7) OJ L 386, 29.12.2006, p. 1.
(8) OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 41.


Financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised countries ***I
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European Parliament legislative resolution of 21 October 2010 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories (COM(2009)0197 – C7-0101/2009 – 2009/0059(COD))
P7_TA(2010)0381A7-0052/2010

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2009)0197),

–  having regard to Article 181a of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C7-0101/2009),

–  having regard to the Commission Communication to Parliament and the Council entitled ‘Consequences of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon for ongoing interinstitutional decision-making procedures’ (COM(2009)0665),

–  having regard to Article 294(3) and Articles 207(2) and 209(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on International Trade and the opinions of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Development and the Committee on Budgets (A7-0052/2010),

1.  Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2.  Considers the proposal to be compatible with the multiannual financial framework for 2007-2013; recalls nonetheless that the annual appropriations for the period 2010-2013 will be decided by the budgetary authority as part of the annual budget procedure;

3.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend its proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

4.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 21 October 2010 with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EU) No .../2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories

P7_TC1-COD(2009)0059


[Amendment 3, unless otherwise indicated]

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Articles 207(2) and 209(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure(1),

Whereas:

(1)  Since 2007 the Community has streamlined its geographical cooperation with developing countries in Asia, Central Asia, and Latin America and with Iraq, Iran, Yemen, and South Africa under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation(2).

(2)  The primary and overarching objective of Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 is the eradication of poverty through the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals. The scope of cooperation for the geographic programmes with developing countries, territories and regions established under that Regulation is furthermore limited materially to financing measures designed to fulfil the criteria for Official Development Assistance (ODA criteria) established by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD/DAC).

(3)  It is in the Union's interests to further deepen its relations with the developing countries concerned, which are important bilateral partners and players in multilateral fora and in global governance with whom the Union has a strategic interest in promoting diversified links, in particular in areas such as economic, commercial, academic, business and scientific exchanges. It therefore needs a financial instrument that allows the financing of such measures which, in principle, do not qualify as ODA under the ODA criteria but are crucially important in terms of consolidating relations and make an important contribution to promoting the progress of the developing countries concerned.

(4)  For that purpose, four Preparatory Actions were set up in the 2007 and 2008 budget procedures to initiate such enhanced cooperation in accordance with point (b) of Article 49(6) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities(3) (the Financial Regulation): business and scientific exchanges with India; business and scientific exchanges with China; cooperation with middle-income group countries in Asia; and cooperation with middle-income group countries in Latin America. Under that Article the legislative procedure further to Preparatory Actions must be concluded before the end of the third financial year.

(5)  The objectives and provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006(4) are appropriate to pursue such enhanced cooperation with countries falling under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006. For that purpose, it is necessary to extend the geographical scope of Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 and to provide for a financial envelope to cover cooperation with those developing countries.

(6)  Extending the geographical scope of Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 brings the developing countries concerned within the scope of two different external action financial instruments. Care should be taken to ensure that these two financial instruments are kept strictly separate from each other. Measures which fulfil the ODA criteria will be financed under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006, whereas Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 will apply exclusively to measures which, in principle, do not fulfil those criteria. It is also necessary to ensure that the countries previously falling within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006, in other words industrialised and other high-income countries and territories, are not placed at a disadvantage, particularly in financial terms, by the extension of that Regulation's geographical scope.

(7)  Since the economic crisis has placed budgets under extreme strain throughout the Union and the proposed extension embraces countries which sometimes demonstrate a similar level of competitiveness to that of the Union and have attained an average standard of living which approaches that of some Member States, EU cooperation should take into consideration efforts made by the recipient countries to comply with the International Labour Organisation international agreements and to participate in the general objectives of greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

(8)  The review of implementation of the external action financial instruments has identified inconsistencies in the provisions that exclude costs relating to taxes, duties or other charges as ineligible. For the sake of consistency, it is proposed to bring those provisions into line with the other instruments.

(9)  The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in respect of multiannual cooperation programmes, as these programmes supplement Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 and are of general application. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level.

(10)  Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 is hereby amended as follows:

(1)  the title of the Regulation is replaced by the following:"

Council Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 of 21 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories, and with developing countries falling under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006, for activities other than official development assistance

"

(2)  Articles 1 to 3 are replaced by the following:"

Article 1

Objective

1.  For the purpose of this Regulation, industrialised and other high-income countries and territories shall comprise countries and territories listed in Annex I of this Regulation and developing countries shall comprise countries falling under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation*and listed in Annex II of this Regulation. They are hereinafter referred to as “partner countries”.

Union financing under this Regulation shall support economic, financial, technical, cultural and academic cooperation in the areas set out in Article 4, falling within its spheres of competence with partner countries. This Regulation shall serve to finance measures which, in principle, do not fulfil the Official Development Assistance (ODA) criteria established by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD/DAC).

2.  The primary objective of cooperation with partner countries ▌shall be to provide a specific response to the need to strengthen links and to engage further with them on a bilateral, regional or multilateral basis in order to create a more favourable and transparent environment for the development of relations between the Union and partner countries in accordance with the principles guiding the Union's external action as laid down in the Treaty. This refers amongst others to the promotion of democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, the rule of law, as well as decent work, good governance, and the preservation of the environment, in order to contribute to progress and sustainable development processes in the partner countries.

Article 2

Scope

1.  ▌Cooperation shall be aimed at engaging with partner countries in order to enhance dialogue and rapprochement and to share and promote similar political, economic and institutional structures and values. The Union shall also aim at increasing cooperation and exchanges with established or increasingly important bilateral partners and players in multilateral fora and in global governance. The cooperation also covers partners where the Union has a strategic interest in promoting links and its values as laid down in the Treaty.

2.  ▌In duly justified circumstances and in order to ensure the coherence and effectiveness of Union financing and to foster regional cooperation, the Commission may decide when adopting annual action programmes referred to in Article 6 that countries not listed in the Annexes are eligible for measures under this Regulation, where the project or programme to be implemented is of a regional or cross-border nature. Provisions shall be made for this in the multiannual cooperation programmes referred to in Article 5.

3.  The Commission shall amend the lists in Annexes I and II following the regular OECD/DAC reviews of its list of developing countries, and shall inform the European Parliament and the Council thereof.

4.  For Union financing under this Regulation, particular attention shall be paid where appropriate to the compliance of the partner countries with the core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation and to their efforts to pursue reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.

5.  In relation to countries listed in Annex II of this Regulation, policy coherence with measures financed under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 and Regulation (EC) No 1337/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 establishing a facility for rapid response to soaring food prices in developing countries** shall be strictly observed.

Article 3

General principles

1.  The Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law and seeks to promote, develop and consolidate commitment to those principles in partner countries through dialogue and cooperation.

2.  In the implementation of this Regulation a differentiated approach in designing cooperation with partner countries shall be pursued, where appropriate, to take account of their economic, social and political contexts as well as of the Union's specific interests, strategies and priorities.

3.  Measures financed under this Regulation shall be consistent with and cover areas of cooperation set out notably in the instruments, agreements, declarations and action plans between the Union and the partner countries as well as areas pertaining to the Union's specific interests and priorities.

4.  For measures financed under this Regulation, the Union shall aim to ensure coherence with other areas of its external action as well as with other relevant Union policies, in particular development cooperation. This shall be ensured by formulating policy, strategic planning and the programming and implementation of measures.

5.  Measures financed under this Regulation shall complement and bring added value to the efforts undertaken by Member States and Union public bodies in the area of commercial relations and cultural, academic and scientific exchanges.

6.  The Commission shall inform and have regular exchanges of views with the European Parliament.

_________

* OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 41.

** OJ L 354, 31.12.2008, p. 62.

"

(3)  Article 4 is amended as follows:

   (a) the introductory part is replaced by the following:"
Union financing shall support cooperation actions in accordance with Article 1 and shall be consistent with the overall purpose, scope, objectives and general principles of this Regulation. Union financing shall cover actions that, in principle, do not fulfil the ODA criteria, and which may include a regional dimension, in the following areas of cooperation:"
   (b) points 1 to 5 are replaced by the following:"
   (1) the promotion of cooperation, partnerships and joint undertakings between economic, social, cultural, academic and scientific actors in the Union and partner countries;
   (2) the stimulation of bilateral trade, investment flows and economic partnerships, including a focus on small and medium sized enterprises;
   (3) the promotion of dialogues between political, economic, social and cultural actors and other non-governmental organisations in relevant sectors in the Union and partner countries;
   (4) the promotion of people-to-people links, education and training programmes and intellectual exchanges and the enhancement of mutual understanding between cultures, particularly at the family level, including measures to ensure and increase Union participation in Erasmus Mundus and participation in European education fairs;
   ( 5) the promotion of cooperative projects in areas such as research, science and technology, sports and culture, energy (in particular renewable energy), transport, environmental matters (including climate change), customs, financial, legal and human rights issues, and any other matter of mutual interest between the Union and the partner countries;
"
   (c) point 7 is replaced by the following:"
   (7) support for specific initiatives, including research work, studies, pilot schemes or joint projects destined to respond in an effective and flexible manner to cooperation objectives arising from developments in the Union's bilateral relationship with the partner countries or aiming to provide impetus to the further deepening and broadening of bilateral relationships with them.
"

(4)  in Article 5, paragraphs 2 and 3 are replaced by the following:"

2.  Multiannual cooperation programmes shall cover no more than the period of validity of this Regulation. They shall set out the Union's specific interests and priorities, the general objectives and the expected results. In particular with regard to Erasmus Mundus, programmes shall aim for the most balanced geographical coverage possible. They shall also set out the areas selected for financing by the Union and outline the indicative financial allocation of funds, overall, per priority area and per partner country or group of partner countries for the period concerned. Where appropriate, this may be given in the form of a range. Multiannual cooperation programmes shall be reviewed at mid-term, or ad hoc if necessary.

3.  Multiannual cooperation programmes and any reviews thereof shall be adopted by the Commission by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 14a, and subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 14b and 14c.

"

(5)  Article 6 is amended as follows:

   (a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:"
1.  The Commission shall adopt annual action programmes based on the multiannual cooperation programmes referred to in Article 5 and shall transmit them simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council."
   (b) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:"
3.  Annual action programmes shall be adopted by the Commission taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council. This procedure needs not be used for amendments to action programmes, such as those making technical adjustments, extending the implementation period, reassigning funds between the planned operations within the forecast budget, or increasing or reducing the size of the budget by less than 20 % of the initial budget, provided these amendments are consistent with the initial objectives set out in the action programmes."
  

[Amendment 4]

(6)  Article 7 is amended as follows:

   (a) points (e) and (f) are replaced by the following:"
   (e) joint bodies set up by the partner countries and regions and the Union;
   (f) Union institutions and bodies, insofar as they implement support measures specified in Article 9;
"
   (b) the following paragraphs are added:"
1a.  Measures covered by Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 of 20 June 1996 concerning humanitarian aid*, Regulation (EC) No 1717/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing an Instrument for Stability** or Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006, and eligible for funding thereunder shall not be funded under this Regulation.
1b.  Union financing under this Regulation shall not be used to finance the procurement of arms or ammunition, and operations having military or defence implications.
_________
* OJ L 163, 2.7.1996, p. 1.
** OJL 327, 24.11.2006, p. 1."

(7)  in Article 8, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:"

3.  Union financing shall, in principle, not be used for paying taxes, duties or charges in the partner countries.

"

(8)  Article 9 is amended as follows:

   (a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:"
1.  Union financing may cover expenditure associated with the preparation, follow up, monitoring, audit and evaluation activities directly necessary for the implementation of this Regulation and the achievement of its objectives, and any other administrative or technical assistance expenditure that the Commission, including its Delegations in the partner countries, may incur for the management of operations financed under this Regulation."
   ( b) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:"
3.  The Commission shall adopt support measures not covered by the multi-annual cooperation programmes and shall transmit them simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council."

(9)  Article 12 is amended as follows:

   (a) the title is replaced by the following:"
Protecting the Union's financial interests"
   (b) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:"
1.  Any agreements resulting from this Regulation shall contain provisions ensuring the protection of the Union's financial interests, in particular with respect to irregularities, fraud, corruption and any other illegal activity, in accordance with Council Regulations (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities financial interests* and (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities' financial interests against fraud and other irregularities** and Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)***.
_____________
* OJ L 312, 23.12.1995, p. 1.
** OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2.
*** OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 1."
   (c) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:"
2.  Agreements shall expressly entitle the Commission and the Court of Auditors to perform audits, including document audits or on-the-spot audits of any contractor or subcontractor who has received Union funds. They shall also expressly authorise the Commission to carry out on-the-spot checks and inspections in accordance with Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96."

(10)  Article 13 is replaced by the following:"

Article 13

Evaluation

1.  The Commission shall regularly evaluate the actions and programmes financed under this Regulation, where appropriate or at the request of the European Parliament or the Council by means of independent external evaluations, in order to ascertain whether the objectives have been met and to enable it to formulate recommendations with a view to improving future operations. The results shall feed back into programme design and resource allocation.

2.  The Commission shall send the evaluation reports referred to in paragraph 1 to the European Parliament and to the Council for information.

3.  The Commission shall associate relevant stakeholders, including non-State actors, in the evaluation phase of the Union cooperation provided for under this Regulation.

"

[Paragraph 2 corresponds to Amendment 5]

(11)  Article 14 is replaced by the following:"

Article 14

Annual report

The Commission shall examine the progress made on implementing the measures taken under this Regulation and shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council a detailed annual report on the implementation of this Regulation. The report shall set out the results of implementation of the budget and present all the actions and programmes financed, and as far as possible, set out the main outcomes and impacts of the cooperation actions and programmes.

"

(12)  the following Articles are inserted:"

Article 14a

Exercise of the delegation

1.  The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 5 shall be conferred on the Commission for the period of application of this Regulation.

2.  As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

3.  The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 14b and 14c.

Article 14b

Revocation of the delegation

1.  The delegation of power referred to in Article 5 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council.

2.  The institution which has commenced an internal procedure for deciding whether to revoke a delegation of power shall endeavour to inform the other institution and the Commission within a reasonable time before the final decision is taken, indicating the delegated power which could be subject to revocation and possible reasons for a revocation.

3.  The decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect immediately or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force. It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 14c

Objections to delegated acts

1.  The European Parliament or the Council may object to a delegated act within a period of two months from the date of notification.

At the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council this period shall be extended by two months.

2.  If, on expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 1, neither the European Parliament nor the Council has objected to the delegated act, it shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall enter into force on the date stated therein.

The delegated act may be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force before the expiry of that period if the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission of their intention not to raise objections.

3.  If either the European Parliament or the Council objects to the delegated act within the period referred to in paragraph 1, it shall not enter into force. The institution which objects shall state the reasons for objecting to the delegated act.

"

(13)  Article 15 is deleted. [Amendment 6]

(14)  Article 16 is replaced by the following:"

Article 16

Financial provisions

The financial reference amount for the implementation of this Regulation for the period from 2007 to 2013 shall be EUR 172 million for countries listed in Annex I and EUR 176 million for countries listed in Annex II. The annual appropriations for the period 2010-2013 will be decided by the budgetary authority as part of the annual budget procedure. The Commission shall provide the budgetary authority with detailed information on all budget lines and the annual appropriations to be used for financing the measures under this Regulation. Those appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial framework. Care should also be taken to ensure that the industrialised and other high-income countries and territories listed in Annex I are not placed at a disadvantage by the application of this Regulation to the partner countries listed in Annex II.

Appropriations programmed for use under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 shall not be used for this purpose.

"

[Amendment 1CP]

(15)  in the Annex, the title is replaced by the following:"

ANNEX I ‐ List of industrialised and other high-income countries and territories covered by this Regulation

"

(16)  A new Annex II, the text of which is set out in the Annex to this Regulation, is added.

Article 2

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

ANNEX

"

“ANNEX II

List of developing countries covered by this Regulation

Latin America

1.  Argentina

2.  Bolivia

3.  Brazil

4.  Chile

5.  Colombia

6.  Costa Rica

7.  Cuba

8.  Ecuador

9.  El Salvador

10.  Guatemala

11.  Honduras

12.  Mexico

13.  Nicaragua

14.  Panama

15.  Paraguay

16.  Peru

17.  Uruguay

18.  Venezuela

Asia

19.  Afghanistan

20.  Bangladesh

21.  Bhutan

22.  Cambodia

23.  China

24.  India

25.  Indonesia

26.  Democratic People's Republic of Korea

27.  Laos

28.  Malaysia

29.  Maldives

30.  Mongolia

31.  Myanmar/Burma

32.  Nepal

33.  Pakistan

34.  Philippines

35.  Sri Lanka

36.  Thailand

37.  Viet Nam

Central Asia

38.  Kazakhstan

39.  Kyrgyz Republic

40.  Tajikistan

41.  Turkmenistan

42.  Uzbekistan

Middle East

43.  Iran

44.  Iraq

45.  Yemen

South Africa

46.  South Africa“

"

(1) Position of the European Parliament of 21 October 2010.
(2) OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 41.
(3) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 405, 30.12.2006, p. 41.


Financing instrument for development cooperation ***I
PDF 338kWORD 105k
Resolution
Consolidated text
Annex
Annex
European Parliament legislative resolution of 21 October 2010 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation (COM(2010)0102 – C7-0079/2010 – 2010/0059(COD))
P7_TA(2010)0382A7-0285/2010

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2010)0102),

–  having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 209(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C7-0079/2010),

–  having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to the reasoned opinions sent to its President by national parliaments on the compliance of the draft act with the principle of subsidiarity,

–  having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Development and the opinion of the Committee on Budgets (A7-0285/2010),

1.  Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2.  Considers that the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, by drastically reducing the margin under the ceiling of heading 4 of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for 2007-2013, does not leave sufficient room for manoeuvre to face and to react adequately to a potential upcoming crisis;

3.  Considers that, due to the long-standing issue concerning trade in bananas, the proposed measures could have been integrated at an earlier stage into the MFF;

4.  Reiterates its conviction that any new instrument should not be financed through redeployment as this would jeopardise the existing priorities;

5.  Recalls that the Flexibility Instrument referred to in point 27 of the Interinstitutional Agreement (IIA) of 17 May 2006 on budgetary discipline and sound financial management(1) aims at financing ‘clearly identified expenditure which could not be financed within the limits of the ceilings’, and considers measures relating to trade in bananas to be accompanying measures falling into that category;

6.  Considers therefore that the proposal is not compatible with the ceiling for heading 4 of the MFF, and calls for the revision of the latter by all means provided for in points 21 to 23 of the IIA, or by other means such as those included in points 25 and 27 thereof;

7.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend its proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

8.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 21 October 2010 with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EU) No .../2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation

P7_TC1-COD(2010)0059


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 209(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure(2),

Whereas:

(1)  The Union's development policy aims to reduce and ultimately eradicate poverty.

(2)  The Union, as a contracting party of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is committed to mainstreaming trade in development strategies and to promoting international trade in order to advance development and reduce – and, in the long term, eradicate – poverty worldwide.

(3)  The Union supports the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States on their path to poverty reduction and to sustainable economic and social development, and recognises the importance of their commodity sectors.

(4)  The Union is committed to supporting the smooth and gradual integration of developing countries into the world economy with a view to sustainable development. The main ACP banana-exporting countries may face challenges in the context of changing trade arrangements, notably liberalisation of the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff in the framework of the WTO and the bilateral and regional agreements concluded, or in the process of being concluded, between the Union and Latin American countries. Hence an ACP Banana Accompanying Measures programme should be added to Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation(3).

(5)  The financial assistance measures to be adopted under this programme should aim at improving the living standards and living conditions of people in banana-growing areas and banana value chains, specifically small farmers and small entities, as well as complying with labour and occupational health and safety standards, and environmental standards, notably those regarding the use of and exposure to pesticides, by supporting the adaptation and including, when relevant, the reorganisation, of areas dependent upon banana exports through sector-specific budget support or project-specific interventions. The measures should aim to provide for social resilience policies, economic diversification or investment to improve competitiveness, where this is ▌viable ▌, taking into account the results of and experiences gained through the Special System of Assistance to traditional ACP suppliers of bananas established in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 2686/94(4) and the Special Framework of Assistance (SFA) for traditional ACP suppliers of bananas established in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 856/1999(5) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1609/1999(6). The Union acknowledges the importance of promoting a more equitable distribution of the banana revenues.

(6)  The programme should accompany the adaptation process in ACP countries which have exported significant volumes of bananas to the Union in recent years and which will be affected by liberalisation in the framework of the WTO(7)and by the bilateral and regional agreements concluded, or in the process of being concluded, between the Union and Latin American countries. The programme builds on the SFA for traditional ACP suppliers of bananas. It is in conformity with the Union's international obligations in the framework of the WTO, focuses on restructuring and boosting competitiveness, and is consequently temporary in nature, with a ▌duration of four years (2010-2013).

(7)  The conclusions of the Commission Communication of 17 March 2010 entitled ‘Biennial Report on the Special Framework of Assistance for Traditional ACP Suppliers of Bananas’ indicate that past assistance programmes made substantial contributions to achieving improved capacity for successful economic diversification, although the full impact cannot be quantified, and that the sustainability of ACP banana exports remains fragile.

(8)  The Commission has carried out an evaluation of the SFA programme and has not carried out an impact assessment of the banana accompanying measures (BAMs).

(9)  The Commission should ensure proper coordination of this programme with the regional and national indicative programmes operating in the beneficiary countries, in particular as regards the achievement of economic, agricultural, social and environmental objectives.

(10)  Almost 2 % of the world's trade in bananas is endorsed by fair trade producers' organisations. The minimum fair trade prices are set on the basis of a calculation of the ‘sustainable production costs’, established following consultations with stakeholders, with a view to internalising the costs of meeting decent social and environmental standards and generating a reasonable profit, enabling producers to safeguard their livelihoods in the long term.

(11)  To prevent the exploitation of local workers, actors in the production chain in the banana industry should agree to ensure that the revenue generated by the industry is allocated fairly.

(12)  The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in respect of Geographic Strategy Papers, Multi-annual Indicative Programmes and Strategy Papers for thematic programmes and the accompanying measures, as they supplement Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 and are of general application. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level.

(13)  Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 is hereby amended as follows:

(1)  Article 4 is replaced by the following:"

Article 4

Implementation of Union assistance

Consistent with the overall purpose and scope, objectives and general principles of this Regulation, Union assistance shall be implemented through the geographic and thematic programmes set out in Articles 5 to 16 and the programmes set out in Articles 17 and 17a.

"

(2)  The following Article is inserted:"

Article 17a

Main ACP banana supplying countries

1.  ACP banana supplying countries listed in Annex IIIa shall benefit from banana accompanying measures. Union assistance shall aim at supporting their adjustment process following ▌liberalisation of the Union market for bananas in the framework of the World Trade Organisation. Union assistance shall in particular be used to combat poverty by improving the living standards and conditions of farmers and persons concerned, where relevant small entities, including by means of compliance with labour and safety standards, as well as with environmental standards, including the use of and exposure to pesticides. Union assistance shall take into account the countries' policies and adaptation strategies, as well as their regional environment (in terms of proximity to outermost regions of the Union and overseas countries and territories) and shall pay specific attention to the following areas of cooperation:

   (a) enhancing the competitiveness of the banana export sector, where this is sustainable, taking into account the situation of different stakeholders in the chain;
   (b) promoting the economic diversification of banana-dependent areas, where such a strategy is viable;
   (c) addressing broader impacts generated by the adaptation process, possibly related but not restricted to employment and social services, land use and environmental restoration, and macroeconomic stability.

2.  Within the amount referred to in Annex IV, the Commission shall fix the maximum amount available to each eligible ACP banana-supplying country referred to in paragraph 1 on the basis of the following objective, weighted indicators:

   (a) firstly, trade in bananas with the Union;
   ( b) secondly, the importance of banana exports to the economy in the ACP country concerned, along with the country's level of development.

The measurement of the allocation criteria shall be based on representative data preceding 2010 and covering a period not longer than five years, and on a Commission study assessing the impact on the ACP countries of the agreement reached within the WTO and the bilateral and regional agreements concluded, or in the process of being concluded, between the Union and Latin American countries, which are the leading exporters of bananas.

3.  The Commission shall adopt multi-annual support strategies by analogy to Article 19, and in accordance with Article 21. It shall ensure that such strategies complement the geographic strategy papers of the countries concerned, and the temporary nature of these banana accompanying measures.

The multi-annual support strategies for banana accompanying measures shall include:

   (a) an updated environmental profile paying due attention to the country's banana sector, inter alia focusing on pesticides;
   (b) information on the achievements of past banana support programmes;
   (c) indicators to assess progress in relation to disbursement conditions, when budget support will be chosen as the form of financing;
   (d) the expected results of the assistance;
   (e) a time schedule of support activities and of expected disbursements for each recipient country;
   (f) the ways in which progress will be achieved and monitored in meeting internationally agreed ILO core labour standards and appropriate occupational safety and health conventions as well as relevant internationally agreed core environmental standards.

18 months before the expiry date, the programme and the progress made by the countries shall be the subject of an assessment, which shall include recommendations on any measures to be taken and the nature thereof.

"

(3)  Article 21 is replaced by the following:"

Article 21

Adoption of strategy papers and multiannual indicative programmes

Strategy papers and multi-annual indicative programmes referred to in Articles 19 and 20, and any reviews thereof referred to in Article 19(2) and Article 20(1), as well as accompanying measures referred to in Articles 17 and 17a respectively, shall be adopted by the Commission by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 35, and subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 35a and 35b.

"

(4)  Article 22(3) is replaced by the following:"

3.  The annual action programmes shall be adopted by the Commission taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council.

"

(5)  In Article 23, paragraphs 3 and 4 are replaced by the following:"

3.  Where the cost of such measures exceeds EUR 10 million, the Commission shall adopt them taking into account the opinions of the European Parliament and of the Council. For special measures below EUR 10 million, the Commission shall send the measures to the European Parliament and to the Council for information within one month of adopting its decision.

4.  Amendments to special measures, such as those making technical adjustments, extending the implementation period, reassigning funds within the forecast budget, or increasing or reducing the size of the budget by less than 20 % of the initial budget, provided these amendments do not affect the initial objectives set out in the Commission decision shall be communicated within one month to the European Parliament and to the Council.

"

(6)  Article 25(2) is replaced by the following:"

2.  Union assistance shall not in principle be used for paying taxes, duties or charges in beneficiary countries.

"

(7)  Article 29(1) is replaced by the following:"

1.  Budget commitments shall be made on the basis of decisions taken by the Commission in accordance with Articles 17a(3), 22(1), 23(1) and 26(1).“;

"

(8)  In Article 31(1), the third subparagraph is replaced by the following:"

Participation in the award of procurement or grant contracts financed under a thematic programme as defined in Articles 11 to 16, and the programmes set out in Articles 17 and 17a, shall be open to all natural persons who are nationals of, or legal persons who are established in, a developing country, as specified by the OECD/DAC and in Annex II, in addition to natural or legal persons eligible by virtue of the thematic programme or the programmes set out in Articles 17 and 17a. The Commission shall publish and update Annex II in accordance with regular reviews of the list of aid recipients of the OECD/DAC, and inform the Council thereof.

"

(9)  Article 33(2) is replaced by the following:"

2.  The Commission shall send its evaluation reports to the European Parliament and to the Council for information. The results shall feed back into programme design and resource allocation.

"

(10)  Article 35 is replaced by the following:"

Article 35

Exercise of the delegation

1.  The power to adopt the delegated acts referred to in Article 17(2) and Articles 17a and 21 shall be conferred on the Commission for the period of application of this Regulation.

2.  As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

3.  The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 35a and 35b.

Article 35a

Revocation of the delegation

1.  The delegation of power referred to in Article 17(2) and Articles 17a, and 21 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council.

2.  The institution which has commenced an internal procedure for deciding whether to revoke a delegation of power shall endeavour to inform the other institution and the Commission within a reasonable time before the final decision is taken, indicating the delegated power which could be subject to revocation and possible reasons for a revocation.

3.  The decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect immediately or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force. It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 35b

Objections to delegated acts

1.  The European Parliament or the Council may object to a delegated act within a period of two months from the date of notification.

At the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council this period shall be extended by two months.

2.  If, on the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 1, neither the European Parliament nor the Council has objected to the delegated act, it shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall enter into force on the date stated therein.

The delegated act may be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force before the expiry of that period if the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission of their intention not to raise objections.

3.  If either the European Parliament or the Council objects to the delegated act within the period referred to in paragraph 1, it shall not enter into force. The institution which objects shall state the reasons for objecting to the delegated act.

"

(11)  In Article 38, paragraphs 1and 2 are replaced by the following:"

1.  The financial reference amount for the implementation of this Regulation over the period 2007-2013 is EUR 17 087 million.

2.  The indicative amounts allocated to each programme referred to in Articles 5 to 10, 11 to 16 and 17 to 17a are laid down in Annex IV. These amounts are established for the period 2007-2013.

"

(12)  Annex IIIa, as contained in Annex I to this Regulation, is inserted;

(13)  Annex IV is replaced by the contents of Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

ANNEX I

‘ANNEX IIIa

Main ACP banana supplying countries

1.  Belize

2.  Cameroon

3.  Côte d'Ivoire

4.  Dominica

5.  Dominican Republic

6.  Ghana

7.  Jamaica

8.  Saint Lucia

9.  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

10.  Suriname‘

ANNEX II

‘ANNEX IV

Indicative financial allocations for the period 2007-2013 (in EUR million)

Total

17 087

Geographic programmes:

10 057

Latin America

2 690

Asia

5 187

Central Asia

719

Middle East

481

South Africa

980

Thematic programmes:

5 596

Investing in people

1 060

Environment and sustainable management of natural resources

804

Non-State actors and local authorities in development

1 639

Food security

1 709

Migration and asylum

384

ACP Sugar Protocol countries

1 244

Main ACP banana-supplying countries

190‘

(1) OJ C 139, 14.6.2006, p. 1.
(2) Position of the European Parliament of 21 October 2010.
(3) OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 41.
(4) OJ L 286, 5.11.1994, p. 1.
(5) OJ L 108, 27.4.1999, p. 2.
(6) OJ L 190, 23.7.1999, p. 14.
(7) Geneva Agreement on Trade in Bananas, OJ L 141, 9.6.2010, p. 3.


Indication of the country of origin of certain products imported from third countries ***I
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Resolution
Consolidated text
Annex
European Parliament legislative resolution of 21 October 2010 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the indication of the country of origin of certain products imported from third countries (COM(2005)0661 – C7-0048/2010 – 2005/0254(COD))
P7_TA(2010)0383A7-0273/2010

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2005)0661),

–  having regard to the Commission Communication to Parliament and the Council entitled ‘Consequences of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon for ongoing interinstitutional decision-making procedures’ (COM(2009)0665),

–  having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 207(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union , pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C7-0048/2010),

–  having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on International Trade (A7-0273/2010),

1.  Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend its proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 21 October 2010 with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EU) No .../2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the indication of the country of origin of certain products imported from third countries

P7_TC1-COD(2005)0254


THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 207 thereof,

Having regard to proposal from the European Commission,

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure(1),

Whereas:

(1)  The European Union does not have harmonised provisions or uniform practices on origin marking in the Union, except for some specific cases in the agricultural sector.

(2)  This Regulation should apply to imported industrial products, excluding fishery and aquaculture products as defined in Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 of 17 December 1999 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products(2), and also excluding foodstuff as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety(3).

(3)  Today many companies in the Union already voluntarily use origin marking.

(4)  The absence of Union rules and the disparities between the systems in force in the Member States, as regards the indication on certain products of their country of origin, has given rise to a situation where in a number of sectors a major share of products imported from third countries and distributed within the Union market are found to carry no or misleading information concerning their country of origin. These disparities are also leading to a situation where import traffic from third countries is shifting towards particular Union points of entry which suit the exporting country most.

(5)  The results of the Commission's general stakeholder consultation (which included industry, importers, consumers associations, trade unions) on the possible development of an EU Regulation on origin marking indicate that Union consumers' perception of the relevance of origin marking for informing them in relation to safety and social and environmental concerns is generally high.

(6)  Union regulation of origin marking is perceived by EU citizens to be closely linked with protection of their health and safety.

(7)  In the Lisbon Agenda, the EU set itself the objective of strengthening the Union economy by, inter alia, improving the competitiveness of the Union industry in the world economy and the EU 2020 strategy is committed to building on this need for improving competitiveness; for certain categories of consumer goods, competitiveness may lie in the fact that their production in the EU is associated with a reputation for quality and high production standards.

(8)  Union rules on origin marking would strengthen the competitiveness of Union firms and of the Union economy as a whole by enabling citizens and consumers to make informed choices.

(9)  The economic significance of origin marking to consumer decision and trade is recognised by the practice of other major trading partners which have enacted mandatory origin marking requirements. Exporters in the Union have to comply with those requirements and have to mark the origin on products they wish to export to these markets.

(10)  There have been several cases of health and safety incidents arising from products imported into the EU from third countries. A clear indication of origin will give EU citizens more information and more control over their choices, thus offering them protection from unknowingly purchasing products of potentially dubious quality.

(11)  The Member States' customs authorities should perform border checks and controls on the implementation of this Regulation via a single harmonised procedure so as to reduce the administrative burden.

(12)  In order to ensure that this Regulation is effective and only imposes light administrative burdens whilst granting the maximum flexibility for Union companies, it should be in compliance with existing ‘made-in’ schemes worldwide.

(13)  The Union should be put on equal terms with trade partners by putting in place equivalent legislation which will also contribute to prevent false or misleading claims of origin of certain imported goods.

(14)  According to Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market(4), consumers may attach commercial value to information on the geographical origin of a good. According to that Directive, where false or misleading information about the geographical origin leads a consumer to buy a product which he would not have bought otherwise, this may constitute an unfair commercial practice. That Directive does not mandate that information on the geographical origin of goods be provided, nor does it define the concept of origin.

(15)  An origin marking scheme would enable consumers to identify products with the social, environmental and safety standards generally associated with the country of origin.

(16)  The creation of a common definition of origin for marking purposes, of marking rules, and of common rules on controls would thus create a level playing field, facilitate consumer choice in the sectors covered, and contribute to reducing the level of misleading claims of origin.

(17)  The introduction of a mark of origin can contribute to make demanding Union standards work in favour of the Union industry, especially small and medium enterprises, which often put a genuine effort into the quality of their products and which also preserve traditional and artisanal jobs and methods of production, but which are also greatly exposed to global competition which lacks rules that distinguish between production methods. It will also help to prevent the reputation of the Union industry being tainted by inaccurate claims of origin. Improved transparency and consumer information about the origin of goods will thus contribute to the objectives of the Lisbon agenda and those of the EU 2020 Strategy.

(18)  Article IX of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 provides that WTO members may adopt and enforce laws and regulations relating to marks of origin on imports, notably to protect consumers against fraudulent or misleading indications.

(19)  Rules on origin marking also provide effective protection against counterfeiting and unfair competition, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of Council Regulation (EC) No 1383/2003 of 22 July 2003 concerning customs action against goods suspected of infringing certain intellectual property rights and the measures to be taken against goods found to have infringed such rights(5) providing a further important instrument to protect and enhance Union production.

(20)  Under the Agreements between the European Community and ▌Turkey, and the Contracting Parties to the EEA Agreement, it is necessary to exclude products originating in these countries from the scope of the present Regulation.

(21)  The Union's non-preferential rules of origin are laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code(6) and its implementing provisions in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code(7). It is preferable to rely on these rules of origin to determine the origin of imported goods for the purpose of this Regulation. Using a concept with which trade operators and administrations are well acquainted should ease its introduction and implementation. Non-preferential rules of origin should be applied for all non-preferential commercial policy purposes. The duplication of declarations and documentation should be avoided.

(22)  In order to limit the burden on industry, trade and administration, origin marking should be made mandatory for those sectors for which the Commission, based on prior consultation, found that there was value added. ▌ Provision should ▌be made for the exemption of specific products for technical ▌reasons or where origin marking is otherwise unnecessary for the purposes of this Regulation. This may be the case, in particular, where origin marking would damage the goods concerned, or with regard to certain raw materials.

(23)  Provision should be made so that data on the origin of goods generated and/or verified during controls by the competent authorities can be exchanged, including with authorities and other persons and organisations, for which Member States envisage an enforcement role pursuant to Directive 2005/29/EC. Account should be taken of the protection of personal data, commercial and industrial secrecy, and professional and administrative confidentiality.

(24)  In accordance with Article 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for the control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of its implementing powers shall be laid down in advance by a regulation adopted in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure. Pending the adoption of that new regulation, the provisions of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(8)continues to apply, with the exception of the regulatory procedure with scrutiny which is not applicable.

(25)  The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU in order to determine the cases in which the marking on the packaging may be accepted in lieu of marking on the goods themselves, or when the goods cannot or need not be marked for technical reasons, as well as measures to determine other rules that may be required when goods are found not to be in compliance with this Regulation or to update the Annex thereto where the assessment has changed as to whether origin marking is necessary for a specific sector.

(26)  Goods in travellers' personal luggage for personal use should be exempted from the application of this Regulation within the limits laid down in respect of relief from customs duty, and if there are no indications to suggest that the goods are part of commercial traffic. Provision should be made that the other situations covered by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1186/2009 of 16 November 2009 setting up a Community system of reliefs from customs duty (codified version)(9) may also be excluded from the scope of this Regulation by means of the implementing provisions,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1.  This Regulation shall apply to end consumer products excluding fisheries and aquaculture products as defined in Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000, and foodstuff as defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002.

2.  End consumer products that require marking are those which are destined for end consumers and listed in the Annex to this Regulation, and imported from third countries, except for products originating in the Territory of the European Union, Turkey, and the Contracting Parties of the EEA Agreement.

End consumer products may be exempted from origin marking, when for technical ▌ reasons, it appears impossible to mark them.

The products to which this Regulation is to apply are limited to end consumer products. The scope of this Regulation can be extended by the Commission, subject to the approval of the European Parliament and the Council.

End consumer products in the case of textiles and textile articles (Chapters 50 to 63), footwear, gaiters and the like (Chapter 64), articles of apparel, clothing accessories and other articles of furskin, artificial fur and articles thereof (CN codes 4303/4304), crust and finished leather, saddlery and harness, travel goods, handbags and similar containers, articles of animal gut (other than silkworm gut) (CN codes 4104 41 / 4104 49 / 4105 30 / 4106 22 / 4106 32 / 4106 40 / 4106 92 / 4107 to 4114 / 4302 13 / ex 4302 19 (35, 80)) shall mean a finished product or a semi-manufactured product which requires further processing in the Union before it is marketed.

3.  The terms ‘origin’ and ‘originating’ shall refer to non-preferential origin in accordance with the Articles 22 to 26 of the Community Customs Code.

4.  ‘Placing on the market’ shall mean the making available on the Union market of an individual product intended for end use, with a view to distribution and/or use, whether in return for payment or free of charge.

5.  ‘Competent authorities’ shall mean any authorities involved in the control of goods either at the time of importation or at the time of placing on the market of such goods.

6.  This Regulation shall not apply to goods of a non-commercial nature contained in travellers' personal luggage within the limits laid down in respect of relief from customs duties, and provided that there are no material indications to suggest that the goods are part of commercial traffic.

When imported goods may be granted relief from import duties pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, and there are no material indications to suggest that the goods are part of commercial traffic, these goods shall also be excluded from the scope of this Regulation.

7.  This Regulation must be in compliance with already existing ‘made-in’ schemes worldwide, to ensure an effective regulation with light administrative burdens and more flexibility for Union companies.

Article 2

The importation or placing on the market of goods shall be subject to origin marking under the conditions established in this Regulation.

Article 3

1.  The country of origin of goods shall be marked on these goods. In the event that goods are packaged, the marking shall also be indicated separately on the package.

The Commission may adopt by means of delegated acts measures ▌ to determine cases in which marking on the packaging shall be accepted in lieu of marking on the goods themselves. This should, in particular, be the case where goods do normally reach the final consumer or user in their usual packaging. Such measures and any reviews thereof shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 7.

2.  The words ‘made-in’ together with the name of the country of origin shall indicate the origin of the goods. The marking may be indicated in any official language of the European Union, which is easily understood by the final customers in the Member State in which the goods are to be marketed or in the English language by using the words ‘made-in’ and the English name of the country of origin.

3.  The origin marking shall appear in clearly legible and indelible characters, it shall be visible during normal handling, markedly distinct from other information, and be presented in a way which is not misleading nor likely to create an erroneous impression with regard to the origin of the product.

The marking may not appear in characters other than those of the Latin alphabet for products marketed in countries where the language is written in that alphabet.

4.  The goods shall bear the required marking on importation. Without prejudice to measures taken pursuant to Article 5(3), the marking may not be removed or tampered with until the goods have been sold to the final consumer or user.

Article 4

1.  The Commission may adopt implementing measures, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 6(2), in particular, to:

   determine the detailed form and modalities of origin marking;
   establish a list of terms in all official languages of the European Union languages which clearly express the idea that goods originate in the country indicated in the marking;
   determine the cases where commonly used abbreviations unmistakably indicate the country of origin and can be used for the purposes of this Regulation.

2.  The Commission may adopt by means of delegated acts measures to:

   determine the cases in which goods cannot or need not be marked for technical ▌ reasons;
   determine other rules that may be required when goods are found not to be in compliance with this Regulation;
   update of the Annex to this Regulation where the assessment has changed as to whether origin marking is necessary for a specific sector.

Such measures and any reviews thereof shall be adopted by the Commission in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 7.

Article 5

1.  Goods are not in compliance with this Regulation, if:

   they do not bear an origin marking;
   the origin marking does not correspond to the origin of the goods;
   the origin marking has being changed or removed, or has otherwise been tampered with, except where correction has been required pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article.

2.  The Commission may adopt further implementing measures in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 6(2) as to declarations and supporting documents that can be taken to demonstrate compliance with this Regulation.

3.  The Commission shall propose minimum common standards for the penalties applicable to infringements of the provisions of this Regulation.

4.  The Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the provisions of this Regulation, on the basis of the minimum common standards proposed by the Commission, and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented. The penalties provided for must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. The Member States shall notify those provisions to the Commission within nine months after the entry into force of this Regulation, at the latest, and shall notify it without delay of any subsequent amendment affecting them. The Commission must ensure at least a minimum level of harmonisation of the penalty systems in the Member States so as to prevent differences among them from prompting exporters to use certain points of entry to the Union in preference to others.

5.  Where goods are not in compliance with this Regulation, Member States shall furthermore adopt the measures necessary to require the owner of the goods or any other person responsible for them to mark these goods in accordance with this Regulation and at their own expense. The Member States shall notify these provisions to the Commission by ... (10) at the latest, and shall notify it without delay of any subsequent amendment affecting them.

6.  Where necessary for the effective application of this Regulation, the competent authorities may exchange data received when controlling compliance with this Regulation, including with authorities and other persons or organisations which Member States have empowered pursuant to Article 11 of Directive 2005/29/EC.

Article 6

1.  The Commission shall be assisted by an Origin Marking Committee (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Committee’). This Committee shall be composed of representatives of the Member States, relevant industries and associations.

2.  Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 3 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.

3.  The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 7

Exercise of the delegation

1.  The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Articles 3 and 4(2) shall be conferred on the Commission for the period of application of this Regulation.

2.  As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

3.  The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 8 and 9.

Article 8

Revocation of the delegation

1.  The delegation of power referred to in Articles 3 and 4(2) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council.

2.  The institution which has commenced an internal procedure for deciding whether to revoke a delegation of power shall endeavour to inform the other institution and the Commission within a reasonable time before the final decision is taken, indicating the delegated power which could be subject to revocation and possible reasons for a revocation.

3.  The decision of revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect immediately or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force. It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 9

Objections to delegated acts

1.  The European Parliament or the Council may object to a delegated act within a period of two months from the date of notification.

At the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council this period shall be extended by two months.

2.  If, on expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 1, neither the European Parliament nor the Council has objected to the delegated act, it shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall enter into force on the date stated therein.

The delegated act may be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and enter into force before the expiry of that period if the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission of their intention not to raise objections.

3.  If either the European Parliament or the Council objects to a delegated act within the period referred to in paragraph 1, it shall not enter into force. The institution which objects shall state the reasons for objecting to the delegated act.

Article 10

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Articles 2, 3 and 5 shall apply 12 months after the entry into force of this Regulation. In accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 6 (2), the Commission may extend this period by the time needed for operators to put into practice the origin marking requirements set by the implementing provisions, and in no case by less than six months.

No later than ...(11) the Commission shall carry out a study on the effects of this Regulation.

This Regulation shall expire ...(12)*. One year before the end of the expiry period the European Parliament and the Council, on the basis of a proposal submitted by the Commission, shall decide to extend or amend it.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at ,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

ANNEX

The products on which this Regulation is to apply are identified by their CN codes.

CN Code

Description

4011 92 00

New pneumatic tyres, of rubber, of a kind used on agricultural or forestry vehicles and machines (excluding those having a herring-bone or similar tread)

4013 90 00

Inner tubes, of rubber (excluding those of a kind used on motor cars, including station wagons and racing cars, buses, lorries and bicycles)

4104 41 / 4104 49 / 4105 30 / 4106 22 / 4106 32 / 4106 40 / 4106 92 / 4107 to 4114 / 4302 13 / ex4302 19 (35, 80)

Crust & Finished Leather

4008 21 / 4008 11 / 4005 99 / 4204 / 4302 30 (25, 31)

8308 10(00) / 8308 90(00) /

9401 90 / 9403 90

Heels, Soles, Bands, Parts, synthetics, others

4201 / 4202 / 4203 / 4204/ 4205 / 4206

Saddlery and harness, travel goods, handbags and similar containers, articles of animal gut (other than silkworm gut)

4303 / 4304

Articles of apparel, clothing accessories and other articles of furskin, artificial fur and articles thereof

Ch 50 – 63

Textiles and textile articles

6401 / 6402 / 6403 / 6404 / 6405 / 6406

Footwear, gaiters and the like

6904/ 6905/ 6907 / 6908 / 6911 / 6912 / 6913 / 6914 90 100

Ceramic products

7013 21 11 / 7013 21 19 / 7013 21 91 /

7013 21 99 /

7013 22 10 / 7013 31 10 / 7013 31 90 /

7013 91 10 / 7013 91 90

Glassware of kind used for table, kitchen, toilet, office, indoor decoration or similar purposes (other than headings 7010 or 7018) of lead crystal, gathered by hand

7113/7114/7115/7116

Articles of jewellery and parts thereof, of precious metal or of metal clad with precious metal, Articles of goldsmiths' or silversmiths' wares and parts thereof, of precious metal or of metal clad with precious, Other articles of precious metal clad with precious metal, Articles of natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones (natural, synthetic or reconstructed)

7318

Screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, cotters, cotter pins, washers (including spring washers) and similar articles, of iron or steel

8201/ 8202/ 8203/ 8205/ 8207/ 8208/ 8209/ 8211/ 8212/ 8213/ 8214/ 8215

Tools, implements

8302 20 00

Castors with mountings of base metal

8481

Taps, cocks, valves and similar appliances for pipes, boiler shells, tanks, vats or the like, including pressure-reducing valves and thermostatically controlled valves

9307

Swords, cutlasses, bayonets, lances and similar arms and parts thereof and scabbards and sheaths therefor

Ch. 94

Furniture, bedding, mattresses, cushions, lamps and lighting fittings, illuminated signs and the like, prefabricate buildings

9603

Brooms, brushes ▌, hand-operated mechanical floor sweepers, not motorised, mops and feather dusters; prepared knots and tufts for broom or brush making; paint pads and rollers; squeegees (other than roller squeegees)

(1) Position of the European Parliament of 21 October 2010.
(2) OJ L 17, 21.1.2000, p. 22.
(3) OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 149, 11.6.2005, p. 22.
(5) OJ L 196, 2.8.2003, p. 7.
(6) OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1.
(7) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.
(8) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
(9) OJ L 324, 10.12.2009, p. 23.
(10)* Nine months after the entry into force of this Regulation.
(11)* Three years after the entry into to force of this Regulation.
(12)** Five years following the entry into force of this Regulation.


Future of European standardisation
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European Parliament resolution of 21 October 2010 on the future of European standardisation (2010/2051(INI))
P7_TA(2010)0384A7-0276/2010

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the public hearing on the future of European standardisation held by its Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection on 23 June 2010,

–  having regard to the responses to the Commission's public consultation on the review of the European standardisation system (held from 23 March to 21 May 2010),

–  having regard to the impact assessment study on the ‘Standardisation Package’ carried out for the Commission Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry (9 March 2010),

–  having regard to the report of the Expert Panel for the Review of the European Standardisation System (EXPRESS) entitled ‘Standardisation for a competitive and innovative Europe: a vision for 2020’ (February 2010),

–  having regard to Professor Mario Monti's report of 9 May 2010 to the President of the Commission entitled ‘A New Strategy for the Single Market’,

–  having regard to the Commission communication of 3 March 2010 on ‘Europe 2020: a strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’ (COM(2010)2020),

–  having regard to the study on SME access to European standardisation, entitled ‘Enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to achieve greater benefit from standards and from involvement in standardisation’, commissioned by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC) (August 2009),

–  having regard to the study on access to standardisation carried out for the Commission Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry (10 March 2009),

–  having regard to the Commission report of 21 December 2009 on the operation of Directive 98/34/EC from 2006 to 2008 (COM(2009)0690) and to the accompanying Commission staff working document (SEC(2009)1704),

–  having regard to the white paper of 3 July 2009 on ‘Modernising ICT Standardisation in the EU – The Way Forward’ (COM(2009)0324),

–  having regard to the Council conclusions of 25 September 2008 on standardisation and innovation,

–  having regard to the Commission communication of 25 June 2008 entitled ‘Think Small First’ - A ‘Small Business Act’ for Europe' (COM(2008)0394),

–  having regard to the Commission communication of 11 March 2008 entitled ‘Towards an increased contribution from standardisation to innovation in Europe’ (COM(2008)0133),

–  having regard to the Commission communication of 18 October 2004 on the role of European standardisation in the framework of European policies and legislation (COM(2004)0674) and the accompanying Commission staff working document entitled ‘The challenges for European standardisation’,

–  having regard to the Commission communication of 25 February 2004 entitled ‘Integration of Environmental Aspects into European Standardisation’ (COM(2004)0130),

–  having regard to the Commission staff working document of 26 July 2001 on ‘European Policy Principles on International Standardisation’ (SEC(2001)1296),

–  having regard to its resolution of 12 February 1999 on the Commission report on efficiency and accountability in European standardisation under the New Approach(1),

–  having regard to the Commission report of 13 May 1998 on efficiency and accountability in European standardisation under the New Approach (COM(1998)0291),

–  having regard to Decision No 1673/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 2006 on the financing of European standardisation(2),

–  having regard to Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations(3),

–  having regard to Council Decision 87/95/EEC of 22 December 1986 on standardisation in the field of information technology and telecommunications(4),

–  having regard to the June 1991 Vienna Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN and to the September 1996 Dresden Agreement on exchanges of technical data between CENELEC and the IEC,

–  having regard to Rule 48 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and the opinion of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (A7-0276/2010),

A.  whereas the European standardisation system has been a central element in the delivery of the single market, in particular through the use of standards in key legislative areas under the ‘New Approach’, integrated into the ‘New Legislative Framework’,

B.  whereas the current legal framework has contributed to the success of European standardisation, enabling the development of European standards which are needed by all economic actors in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the internal market, facilitate world trade and market access and boost sustainable growth and competitiveness,

C.  whereas the European standardisation system plays a key role in responding to the increasing need, in European policy and legislation, for standards capable of ensuring product safety, accessibility, innovation, interoperability and environmental protection,

D.  whereas principle VII of the ‘Small Business Act’ underlines the importance of promoting SME participation and defence of SMEs' interests in standardisation,

E.  whereas the development of European standards contributes to the development of global standards,

F.  whereas a modern and flexible European standardisation system is a crucial component for an ambitious and renewed European industrial policy,

G.  whereas European standardisation operates within – and in various relations to – the global ecosystem and relies on specific structures and a dedicated set of processes for standards development as implemented by CEN and CENELEC on the basis of the national delegation principle and by the European Telecom Standards Institute (ETSI) on the basis of direct membership,

H.  whereas the Monti report on a new strategy for the single market affirms that standardisation is key for the governance of the single market and emphasises that it is necessary to review the European standards process, maintaining the benefits of the current system and striking the right balance between the European and national dimensions,

I.  whereas European standardisation – in order to address the future needs of business and consumers and to yield all its potential benefits in support of public and societal objectives – must adapt to the challenges resulting from globalisation, climate change, the emergence of new economic powers and the evolution of technology,

J.  whereas it is necessary to develop a strategic approach to European standardisation and review the current system in order for it to remain successful and respond to the needs of the forthcoming decade, thereby allowing Europe to maintain a leading role in the global standardisation system,

Introduction

1.  Welcomes the Commission's intention to review the European standardisation system with a view to preserving its many successful elements, improving its deficiencies and striking the right balance between the European, national and international dimensions; stresses that the proposed review should build on the strengths of the existing system, which constitute a solid basis for improvement, refraining from any radical changes that would undermine the core values of the system;

2.  Urges the Commission to adopt and submit without delay a proposal for a modern, integrated standardisation policy, including a revision of Directive 98/34/EC laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations, Decision 87/95/EEC on ICT standardisation and Decision 1673/2006/EC on the financing of European standardisation, as stated in the Commission Work Programme for 2010;

3.  Stresses that the review of the European standardisation system must contribute to European innovation and sustainable development, enhance the Union's competitiveness, strengthen its place in international trade and benefit the welfare of its citizens;

4.  Commends the report of the Expert Panel for the Review of the European Standardisation System (EXPRESS); calls on European and national standardisation organisations, the Member States and the Commission to implement its strategic recommendations in order to deliver a European standardisation system capable of responding to societal and economic needs and maintaining its leading role in the global standardisation system;

5.  Asks the Commission to accompany the proposal for the review of the current legal framework on European standardisation with a strategy document establishing a comprehensive framework for action at European and national level, including concrete proposals for those improvements that cannot be implemented through the review of the legislation; stresses that such a strategy document should not be limited to the recommendations contained in the EXPRESS report;

6.  Welcomes the Commission white paper on ‘Modernising ICT Standardisation in the EU – The Way Forward’; calls on the Member States and the Commission to implement the key recommendations outlined in the white paper in order to ensure the development, within the European and international standardisation systems, of relevant global ICT standards for implementation and use in EU policies and public procurement;

7.  Endorses the Commission's intention to integrate into the legal framework of European standardisation the principles of the World Trade Organization's agreement on technical barriers to trade (transparency, openness, impartiality, consensus, effectiveness, relevance and coherence) in order to reinforce their application within the European standardisation system; holds the view that the integration of those principles should not increase the number of recognised European standardisation organisations (ESOs) beyond the three existing ones, namely CEN, CENELEC and ETSI;

8.  Considers that these principles could be complemented by additional attributes such as maintenance, availability, quality, neutrality and accountability; believes that all those principles need to be further detailed and defined, and that a specific monitoring system must be introduced to ensure their implementation at national and European level in the development of standards in support of EU policies and legislation;

9.  Stresses, however, that these principles are not in themselves sufficient to ensure that all stakeholders – in particular those representing health and safety, consumer and environmental interests – are adequately represented in the standard-setting process within the European standardisation system; considers, therefore, that a vital element is the addition of the principle of ‘appropriate representation’, given that it is of the utmost importance, whenever the public interest is concerned, to incorporate all stakeholder positions in an appropriate manner, especially in the development of standards intended to support EU legislation and policies, while acknowledging the need to engage the most relevant technical experts for a given standardisation project;

10.  Stresses that SMEs, although they represent an essential part of the European market, are not adequately involved in the standardisation system and cannot, therefore, exploit entirely the benefits derived from standardisation; believes that it is essential to improve their representation and participation in the system, especially in the technical committees at national level; asks the Commission to identify, through its impact assessment in the context of the revision of the European standardisation system, the best way to reach this aim, evaluating the necessary funding to help SMEs;

11.  Points out that, although standards have contributed to a considerable improvement in the quality and safety of goods, their availability in the area of services is far from commensurate with the economic importance and potential of this sector; notes in particular that the number of national standards for services developed in Europe in recent years exceeds by far the equivalent number of European standards developed in the sector;

12.  Recognises that service standards often respond to national specificities and that their development is related to the needs of the market, the interests of consumers and the public interest; stresses, that the development of European service standards, and the drawing-up by professional bodies of their own quality charters or labels at Union level, as provided for in Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, should benefit further harmonisation in the services sector, increase the transparency, quality and competitiveness of European services and promote competition, innovation, the reduction of trade barriers and consumer protection;

13.  Supports, therefore, the Commission's intention to include service standards in the legal framework of European standardisation, as this will not only ensure the notification of all national service standards that could potentially constitute technical barriers to trade in the internal market, but also provide a proper legal basis on which the Commission can request the ESOs to develop standards in well-defined and carefully assessed areas in the services sector; suggests to the Commission that it encourage service providers to develop standards within the ESOs in order, insofar as possible, to avoid fragmentation among different national standards, while ensuring that service standards are related to the needs of the market and consumers and the public interest; supports actions taken to ensure the quality of service provision, such as quality charters or labels drawn up by professional bodies, and encourages all relevant actors to participate in the European standardisation process;

Empowering the European standardisation system

(a)   General points

14.  Reaffirms that European standardisation in support of ‘New Approach’ legislation has proved to be a successful and essential tool for the completion of the single market; notes that the number of standardisation mandates supporting legislation in areas beyond those covered by the ‘New Approach’ has increased in recent years, indicating that this model has been adopted across a broad range of EU policies; believes that it is desirable to extend the use of standards in other areas of Union legislation and policies beyond the single market, taking into account the specificities of the areas concerned, in accordance with the principles of better regulation;

15.  Maintains that it is of the utmost importance to draw a clear line between legislation and standardisation in order to avoid any misinterpretation with regard to the objectives of the law and the desired level of protection; stresses that the European legislator must be highly vigilant and precise when defining the essential requirements in regulation, while the Commission must clearly and accurately define the objectives of the standardisation work in the mandates; stresses that the role of standardisers should be limited to defining the technical means of reaching the goals set by the legislator as well as ensuring a high level of protection;

16.  Reiterates that it is essential for European standards to be developed within a reasonable period of time, in particular in those areas where standards are needed quickly in order to meet the requirements of public policies and rapidly changing market conditions; invites, therefore, the European and national standards bodies to continue improving their efficiency and effectiveness, bearing in mind that the acceleration of the standardisation process must not take place to the detriment of the principles of openness, quality, transparency and consensus among all interested parties;

17.  Recognises the importance of simplifying the procedure for establishing standards; invites the Commission, in collaboration with stakeholders, to find new ways to optimise the effective adoption of European standards;

18.  Believes that the standardisation process will be partly accelerated through better consultation between the Commission and the ESOs prior to issuing a mandate, which will enable them to respond more quickly, preferably within a two-month period, about their possibility to undertake a standardisation project;

19.  Notes the importance of the Directive 98/34/EC Committee as a forum between the Commission and the Member States in the discussion of issues related to technical regulations and standardisation; considers that European Parliament representatives should be invited to the meetings of this Committee (or its successor body), which, while maintaining the observership of European and national standardisation bodies, should also, where appropriate, be open to the observership of European-level stakeholder organisations, especially during the discussion of standardisation mandates;

20.  Urges the Commission to develop and implement, in cooperation with the ESOs, an improved and coherent system for coordinating standardisation policy and activities, which should cover all aspects of the standardisation process, from the preparation and delivery of mandates, through the monitoring of technical committee work, ensuring that the standards produced are consistent with EU policies and meet the essential requirements of the respective legislation, to the formal adoption, publication and use of the standards; emphasises the role that relevant stakeholder categories could play as an advisory group assisting the Commission in developing a harmonised European standardisation policy platform;

21.  Calls on Member States to implement a coordinated policy on standardisation and adopt a coherent approach with regard to the use of standards in support of legislation; calls on the Commission to make sure that the achievement of EU policy goals is not put at risk through uncoordinated standardisation efforts, competing or unnecessary standards, or a superfluity of certification schemes;

22.  Calls on the Commission to revise and rationalise the process to deliver standardisation mandates to ESOs, so as to include a consultation phase with relevant stakeholders and a thorough analysis that justifies the need for new standard-setting activity, in order to ensure the relevance of standard-setting and avoid duplication and the proliferation of divergent standards and specifications;

23.  Calls also on the Commission to present an action plan aiming at a more integrated EU standardisation system, more efficient and effective standard-setting, better access to standardisation, in particular for SMEs, a stronger EU role in standard-setting at international level and a more sustainable financing system for the development of standards;

24.  Stresses the important role of the ‘New Approach consultants’ in verifying that harmonised standards comply with the corresponding EU legislation; draws attention to the fact that such consultants are currently selected by, and operate within, the ESOs, which places a significant administrative burden on these organisations and, at times, causes concern among stakeholders about the impartiality and independence of the process; calls on the Commission, therefore, to assess the need for a review of the existing procedures; believes, furthermore, that the Commission should identify a procedure for ensuring that mandated standards comply with other EU policies and legislation beyond the scope of the ‘New Approach’; considers that this should take place during the development of the standards in order to avoid delays and inefficiencies due to ex-post rejection;

25.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to check standards against delivery in a more thorough way in order to ensure that they meet the requirements of the mandate, in particular when the standards are used for the purposes of ‘New Approach’ legislation, while ensuring that no significant additional delays are built into the procedure for approving standards; intends to examine – in the context of the forthcoming review of the European standardisation system – the possibility of extending to Parliament the right, currently accorded to the Commission and Member States, to dispute a harmonised standard which does not appear to entirely satisfy the essential requirements of the corresponding legislation;

26.  Asks the Commission, for the sake of transparency, to make decisions on formal objections to standards public in a consolidated way, and make available an updated table of all actions in relation to formal objections; calls also on the Commission to present an annual report on the standardisation mandates and the progress on their fulfilment;

27.  Invites the ESOs to reinforce their existing appeal mechanisms which are meant to be used should a disagreement over a standard arise; notes that the current mechanisms may not always be effective as their composition reflects in practice the position of those that approved a standard; proposes, therefore, enlarging the composition to enable the participation of external independent experts and/or European societal stakeholders that are currently associate members or cooperating partners of the ESOs;

28.  Expresses its support for the Keymark, a voluntary European certification mark, owned by CEN/CENELEC, which demonstrates compliance with European standards; stresses that the Keymark is a valuable alternative to the various national certification schemes that entail multiple testing and marking of products in several Member States and can therefore become a barrier to trade within the Internal Market and cause significant costs for small companies that may be reflected in higher prices for the consumer; encourages, therefore, national standards bodies, and other national certification bodies, to promote the Keymark as an alternative to national certification schemes; calls also for a pan-European information campaign in order to raise awareness amongst businesses and consumers about the benefits of the Keymark;

29.  Is aware that the current system of EU funding in support of European standardisation often leads to frustration in terms of rule changes, the high cost of auditing and delays in the authorisation of payments; stresses that there is an urgent need to reduce these costs and the high administrative burden that at times outweigh the benefits of the financial support provided, while respecting EU financial rules; calls on the Commission and all stakeholders to ensure the financial sustainability of the system, including through public-private partnerships and through multiannual financial planning, which is essential to ensure its effectiveness and efficiency in global competition; considers that the Commission and the ESOs could improve their cooperation in order to guarantee a stable and user-friendly framework for the EU financial contribution to European standardisation which will increase significantly the efficiency of the system;

(b)   Improving access to the standardisation process

30.  Recognises the principle of national delegation as a cornerstone of the European standardisation system, particularly in the standards-development process of CEN and CENELEC; notes, however, that – as confirmed in the study on access to standardisation – in the vast majority of European countries societal stakeholders participate very little, or not at all, in the standard-setting process;

31.  Encourages European and national standardisation bodies, therefore, to promote and facilitate effective participation in the standardisation process by all interested parties, in particular representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and all stakeholders representing the public interest such as consumers (including people with disabilities and vulnerable consumers), environmentalists, workers and bodies representing other societal interests;

32.  Calls also on the Commission to investigate the reasons for the low level of societal stakeholder and SME participation at national level and, where appropriate, to promote measures for the Member States which will give societal stakeholders and SMEs better access to the national standardisation process; welcomes the efforts of CEN/CENELEC and national standards bodies (NSBs) in implementing the ‘Toolbox of 58 recommendations’ of the study on SME access to standardisation and the recommendations of the EXPRESS Report with a view to improving access for all stakeholders;

33.  Stresses the need, which has been recognised since the 1990s, to ensure direct participation by societal stakeholders at European level in order to reflect their views more effectively, given that their representation on national technical committees in most Member States remains weak; affirms that, as very limited success has been achieved in increasing societal stakeholder participation at national level, financial and political support for the European organisations established to represent such stakeholders needs to be maintained and strengthened at least in the period to 2020; calls on those organisations to play a prominent role in providing advice to Member States and national stakeholder associations with a view to strengthening the participation of the respective stakeholders at national level;

34.  Holds the view that these European organisations representing societal interests must obtain a stronger role within the ESOs; calls therefore on the Commission and the ESOs to promote different measures to achieve this purpose, including, without prejudice to the national delegation principle, providing those organisations with an effective membership, but without voting rights, within the ESOs, on condition that they are associate members or cooperating partners; considers also that the NSBs must play a key role in promoting and reinforcing the participation of societal stakeholders in the standardisation process, given the primacy of the national delegation principle;

35.  Notes recent developments in the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), in particular the model used to develop the ISO 26000 standard on social responsibility, in which NSBs were entitled to nominate to the respective working group only one representative from each of six stakeholder categories (industry, consumers, government, labour, NGO, SSRO (service, support, research and others)) that were identified; maintains that the use of a similar model should be thoroughly assessed by the ESOs and the Commission, in cooperation with all interested parties, as an alternative for the drafting of standards in areas of exceptional public interest, and that the findings of this assessment should be reported to Parliament; invites the Commission to propose financial means to support such an alternative model;

(c)   Enhancing the national delegation principle

36.  Points out that, although NSBs constitute a core element in the European standardisation system, there are significant differences among them in terms of resources, technical expertise and stakeholder engagement in the standardisation process; stresses that the existing inequalities create a significant imbalance in their effective participation in the European standardisation system, while limited resources in some NSBs may hamper their effective involvement in the standard-setting process;

37.  Asks the Commission and the ESOs to promote training programmes and to take all measures needed to enable weaker NSBs, which do not currently run technical-committee secretariats, or do not participate in European standardisation at a level commensurate with their economic structure, to assume a more active role in the standardisation process, in order to enhance confidence in the internal market and ensure a level playing field; considers that training programmes are also necessary for the SMEs in order to increase their participation in the standard-setting process and raise the importance of standardisation as a strategic business tool;

38.  Commends the initiative of CEN and CENELEC to introduce a peer assessment process in order to evaluate the correct application by the NSBs of the WTO principles (and additional attributes) and to encourage continuous improvement and exchange of good practice; stresses that this project should serve as an effective tool for the strengthening of the NSBs and the improved participation of all relevant stakeholders at national level; believes that this project should involve all NSBs and be underpinned by independent audits; invites CEN and CENELEC to prepare and make publicly available a report on the results of the peer assessment process;

39.  Urges Member States to ensure effective representation of all relevant stakeholders on national technical committees by establishing monitoring and reporting mechanisms and providing training and financial support to weaker societal stakeholders, and, where appropriate, to federations of SMEs and craft enterprises, in order to ensure their effective participation; stresses the importance of providing digital access to users on information about standards;

40.  Calls on the ESOs and Member States to provide periodically to the Commission a progress report on their actions to ensure appropriate representation of all stakeholders in the technical bodies responsible for the development of mandated standards, which should be based on specific reporting requirements; stresses that these reports should subsequently feed into a Commission report on the efforts undertaken by the European and national standardisation organisations and the results achieved;

41.  Invites NSBs to provide free access to standardisation committees for the weaker stakeholders and develop tools to improve stakeholder involvement, including a free-of-charge, easy-to-use online consultation mechanism for all new standards proposals; encourages those organisations to make full use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to strengthen stakeholder participation through web-based meetings and online discussion; encourages also NSBs to ensure communication beyond the system boundaries, especially for public enquiries on new standards, given that public enquiries are usually directed at the current participants of the system;

42.  Regrets that public authorities in most Member States show limited interest in participating in the standards-development process, notwithstanding the importance of standardisation as a tool to support legislation and public policies; urges Member States – as the representatives of the interests of the citizens – and in particular market surveillance authorities to send representatives to take part in all national technical committees mirroring the development of standards in support of EU policies and legislation; stresses that the presence of national authorities in the debate on standards development is crucial for the proper functioning of legislation in the areas covered by the ‘New Approach’, and for the avoidance of ex-post formal objections to harmonised standards;

43.  Calls on NSBs, in the interests of fair competition in the internal market, to follow the ISO Code of Ethics, in order to ensure that the impartiality of standards is not endangered by other activities such as certification or accreditation; stresses also the importance of developing standards and guides for conformity assessment and promoting their adoption and fair use, in particular as far as requirements for integrity, objectivity and impartiality are concerned;

(d)   Facilitating access to standards

44.  Recognises that European standardisation helps create a level playing-field for all market actors, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, which form the backbone of the European economy and are vital contributors to the system; acknowledges, however, that their involvement in standardisation is not always commensurate with their economic importance, whereas the complexity and cost of standards can represent an obstacle to SMEs;

45.  Emphasises that standards should be designed and adapted to take account of the characteristics and environment of SMEs, in particular small, micro and craft enterprises; welcomes recent initiatives taken by the European and national standardisation bodies to implement the recommendations in the study on SME access to European standardisation, and believes that these must be considered as best practices; welcomes and encourages also the measures proposed in the SME programmes of CEN/CENELEC to facilitate the use of standards by SMEs; stresses that further measures should be taken to ensure that SMEs can participate fully in the development of standards and have better and less costly access to them;

46.  Stresses, in particular, that the Union and Member States should make it possible to take greater account of the interests of SMEs and craft enterprises when drawing up standards by implementing the strategic measures contained in the ‘Small Business Act’, in accordance with its seventh principle: EU financial support, cutting the cost of access to standards, systematic publication of abstracts of European standards, and fair composition of standardisation committees;

47.  Calls also on the Commission to simplify procedures, where possible, and to take the ‘think small first’ principle into account in future changes; recommends that the Commission include the issue of standardisation in the next SME Week;

48.  Maintains that users' access to European standards developed in support of EU policies and legislation is an important issue that needs to be further examined; takes the view that different systems of price setting should be considered for private/industrial standards and for harmonised/mandated standards; calls, in particular, on NSBs to reduce costs through special rates and by offering bundles of standards at a reduced price, and to investigate additional ways of improving access, especially for SMEs;

49.  Recalls, however, that the purchase price of a standard corresponds only to a small proportion of the overall cost incurred by standards users, who usually need to dedicate substantially more resources in order to transpose the required standard into their business process;

50.  Emphasises that standards should be comprehensible, simple and easy to use so that they can be implemented better by users; considers it essential to reduce, where appropriate, the excessive number of cross-references between standards, and to address current difficulties in identifying the group of standards relevant to a given product or process; calls on the national and European standards bodies and trade associations to provide user-friendly guidelines for the use of standards, free online abstracts, better online access to consultation drafts and simple electronic search functions;

51.  Welcomes the ongoing initiative of the ESOs to draw up and publish on-line, without any access restriction, a summary of all their standards, and asks for the fast completion of this project; stresses, however, that this project should be also implemented at national level, in order to enable standards users to obtain information on the items covered by each standard in their own language via the websites of NSBs;

52.  Underlines the importance of providing standards in all EU official languages in order to ensure proper understanding by users; calls on the Commission to further support, and simplify the financial arrangements for, the translation of harmonised standards;

Standardisation in support of innovation and sustainable competitiveness in a globalised environment

53.  Recognises that European standardisation is an important tool for promoting innovation, research and development (R&D) and contributing to the Union's competitiveness and the completion of the internal market; underlines its important economic benefits, enabling companies to achieve faster knowledge transfer, cost and risk reduction, faster time to market and higher value for innovation;

54.  Acknowledges that, although standardisation can be a major facilitator for the exploitation of new technologies, there is a significant gap in the transfer of R&D results into the development of standards; stresses the need to improve mutual awareness and cooperation between standardisers, innovators, academia and the research communities; underlines that the inclusion of new knowledge in standards, in particular from publicly funded research and innovation programmes, will promote innovation and competitiveness;

55.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States, in cooperation with NSBs, to promote the inclusion of standardisation in academic curricula, education (e.g. economic and technical schools), lifelong learning programmes and information campaigns in order to raise awareness amongst current and prospective economic operators and policy-makers about the importance and benefits of standards; invites NSBs to enhance their cooperation with trade associations and to provide plausible information to SMEs on the economic advantages arising from the use of standards; calls also on the Commission to ensure that the issue of standardisation is raised within the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs programme; encourages actions to assess, quantify and communicate the economic and social benefits of standardisation;

56.  Believes that the European framework programmes for research, competitiveness and innovation can provide an important contribution to the standard-setting process by devoting a chapter to standardisation; considers that such a measure would increase understanding of the benefits of standards and help to promote a systematic approach further upstream between research, innovation and standardisation; calls on the Commission to include ‘relevance to standardisation’ amongst the evaluation criteria of EU-funded R&D projects, to promote projects related to standardisation, and raise awareness about those projects via innovative means;

57.  Calls also on the Commission to develop technology-watch activities so as to identify future R&D output that could benefit from standardisation, facilitate the flow and transparency of information necessary for market penetration and the operation of R&D, and, in this connection, promote easily accessible and user-friendly evaluation mechanisms via the internet;

58.  Calls on Member States to use European standards in public procurement in order to improve the quality of public services and foster innovative technologies; stresses, however, that the use of standards should not result in additional barriers, in particular for small businesses seeking to participate in public procurement procedures;

59.  Reaffirms that tackling climate change and other future global energy and environmental challenges implies developing and promoting clean technologies and green products; considers, therefore, that there is an urgent need to integrate environmental aspects into all relevant products and services, and that the European standardisation system needs to develop an improved system to ensure that such aspects are properly addressed when standards are developed; stresses the need to promote the active involvement in standardisation committees – at national and European level – of environmental organisations and public authorities responsible for environmental protection; stresses that the need to bring European innovation efforts to bear on global strategies to combat climate change and respond to the challenges of energy, society and the environment must also be reflected in the establishment of new guidelines for standardisation models;

60.  Stresses that the improvement of human health and living conditions implies developing products that can contribute to the healthy development of the population and improve accessibility, in particular for children and vulnerable people; considers, therefore, that there is an urgent need to integrate health aspects into all relevant products and services and that the European standardisation system needs to develop an improved system to ensure that such aspects are properly addressed when standards are developed; calls in that respect, for instance, for the establishment of European standards for orthopedically sound footwear for children; stresses the need to promote the active involvement in standardisation committees of health experts and public authorities responsible for health issues;

61.  Emphasises that standardisation has great potential to remove barriers that prevent persons with disabilities and elderly people from exercising their capabilities and participating on equal terms in all areas of life; calls, therefore, for the development of standards that take into account the diverse needs of the population and create new opportunities for businesses to provide innovative solutions, with a view to fostering the development of products, services and infrastructures that are accessible to everyone; stresses the importance of the Design for All concept, which constitutes a creative and ethical challenge for standardisers, designers, entrepreneurs, public authorities and policymakers, since its aim is to enable all people to have equal access to, inter alia, the built environment, transportation, education, employment, housing, medical facilities, information and communication, culture, leisure and consumer products and services;

62.  Calls, therefore, on the Commission and the ESOs to develop and support a systematic approach to their standardisation activities in order to ensure that standards incorporate adequate accessibility requirements, in keeping with Design for All principles, including an appropriate verification mechanism to ensure that the standards in question properly reflect the needs of persons with disabilities and elderly people; calls, further, on the Commission, the Member States and the European and national standardisation organisations to develop and support training courses for persons with disabilities, to increase their effective participation in the standards-setting process, and for standardisers, to familiarise them with disability and accessibility issues;

63.  Urges all the Member States to ratify without delay the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and implement effectively its provisions with regard to the promotion of universal design principles in the standards-setting process; calls, further, on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen existing public procurement rules in order to promote the inclusion of accessibility clauses in public contract award procedures, with a view to fostering accessibility and providing incentives for manufacturers to develop and offer accessible products and services; calls for the promotion of EU-funded R&D projects to develop innovative, assistive technology products and for accessibility provisions to be made a criterion in the allocation of structural funding at national and regional level;

64.  Stresses that, in order to further strengthen consumer protection, the procedure for developing standards relating to the General Product Safety Directive should be prioritised;

65.  Draws attention to Parliament's resolution of 6 May 2010 on electric cars, which stresses the need for effective standardisation processes in various areas to accelerate the market introduction of electric cars in the interests of competitiveness and the environment;

66.  Points out that both intellectual property rights (IPRs) and standardisation encourage innovation and facilitate the dissemination of technology; emphasises that a correct balance should be established between the interests of the users of standards and the rights of owners of intellectual property; calls on European and national standards bodies to be particularly vigilant when developing standards based on proprietary technologies, in order to allow broad access to all users; stresses the need to ensure that licences for any essential IPRs contained in standards are provided on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions;

67.  Recognises that fora and consortia contribute considerably to the standardisation system by providing specifications with global relevance, which are often more receptive to innovative technologies; points out that, most notably in the ICT sector, a number of fora and consortia have evolved into global organisations producing widely implemented specifications on the basis of open, transparent and consensus-based development processes; believes that the ESOs and fora/consortia must find ways of cooperating in planning their activities by transferring standards to the most appropriate level, international or European, in order to ensure coherence and avoid fragmentation or duplication;

68.  Calls also on the ESOs to develop and implement an improved mechanism for the adoption of fora/consortia specifications as European standards, whereby consensus on the part of all stakeholders must be guaranteed through the established procedures for consulting all parties concerned in accordance with the national delegation principle; stresses that this should not restrict the possibility of submitting fora/consortia specifications directly to international standards organisations in order to seek more global status, provided that this complies with the principles set out in the World Trade Organization's agreement on technical barriers to trade (transparency, openness, impartiality, consensus, effectiveness, relevance and coherence);

69.  Recognises that interoperability is key to innovation and competitiveness, especially in the ICT sector, where fora and consortia play a role; points out that interoperability depends not only on standards/specifications development but also on their implementation by users; acknowledges the important role played by user-driven fora and consortia to achieve interoperability; calls on the Commission to enhance the coordination between the ICT fora and consortia and the formal standard-developing bodies, which could increase interoperability and minimise the risk of duplication and conflict between standards in the ICT sector;

70.  Stresses the imperative need to adapt ICT standardisation policy to market and policy developments, which will lead to achieving important European policy goals requiring interoperability, such as e-health, accessibility, security, e-business, e-government and transport, and will contribute to the development of standards in support of personal data protection;

71.  Calls on the Commission, in order to support other EU policies, to implement a modernised and extended EU standardisation policy for information technology, which should, inter alia, ensure interoperability, legal certainty and the application of appropriate safeguards, while minimising additional burdens for business, risks for users and obstacles to the free movement of information technology;

72.  Calls on the Commission to make effective use of existing legal bases enabling information technology standardisation, and to identify additional information technology sectors and areas or applications where effective use of EU standardisation could be used to support EU policies, and to present appropriate proposals accordingly; calls also on the Commission to consider using, where appropriate, the ‘New Approach’ and the ‘New Legislative Framework’ as a model for a modernised ICT standardisation policy in support of EU policy;

73.  Stresses that international standards are enablers for a global market by virtue of the use of one identical standard in many countries, centred on a ‘performance-based’ approach, encouraging consumer understanding and market confidence;

74.  Emphasises that the regulatory dialogue is an important aspect of the external dimension of the Internal Market and that there is therefore a need to safeguard and enhance the European standardisation system's position in the international standardisation environment in order to promote the development of international standards with genuine global relevance, facilitate trade and increase European competitiveness, whilst taking into account the legitimate interests of the developing countries and taking care to avoid the unnecessary duplication of work already carried out at international level;

75.  Supports the secondment of two European standardisation experts to China and India with the aim of supporting the ESOs, promoting European standards and providing feedback on the standardisation systems of those countries; asks the Commission to explore the necessity of seconding standardisation experts to other regions of the world in order to promote further the European standardisation system;

76.  Calls on the Commission to coordinate its standardisation activities with our international partners, for instance within the transatlantic dialogue; encourages the Commission, with this in mind, to consider and take the necessary measures to reinforce the influence of European standardisation at world level so as to enhance the competitiveness of Europe's products and services in international trade;

77.  Calls for a renewed commitment to international standardisation on the part of European stakeholders and NSBs, in order to capitalise on European leadership and gain first-mover advantages in global markets; stresses the need for better coordination between European stakeholders and NSBs in international standardisation at technical and political level;

o
o   o

78.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

(1) OJ C 150, 28.5.1999, p. 624.
(2) OJ L 315, 15.11.2006, p. 9.
(3) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37.
(4) OJ L 36, 7.2.1987, p. 31.


Implemented reforms and developments in the Republic of Moldova
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European Parliament resolution of 21 October 2010 on implemented reforms and developments in the Republic of Moldova
P7_TA(2010)0385RC-B7-0572/2010

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed on 28 November 1994 between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union and which entered into force on 1 July 1998,

–  having regard to the Joint Statement of the EU-Moldova Cooperation Council issued on 21 December 2009,

–  having regard to the on-going negotiations for the conclusion of an Association Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union, as well as the negotiations on the liberalisation of the visa regime between the Union and the Republic of Moldova,

–  having regard to the Commission's Progress Report on the Republic of Moldova of 12 May 2010 (COM(2010)0207),

–  having regard to the statements of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on Moldova/Transnistria of 17 May 2010, on restrictive measures against the leadership of the Transnistrian region of 27 September 2010 and on the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by the Republic of Moldova of 14 October 2010,

–  having regard to the outcome of the parliamentary elections of 29 July 2009 and the results of the referendum on the reform of the constitution on 5 September 2010 and to the decision to hold early parliamentary elections on 28 November 2010,

–  having regard to its previous resolutions on the Republic of Moldova and on the Transnistria region,

–  having regard to Rule 110(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and the Eastern Partnership launched in May 2009 recognised the Republic of Moldova's European aspirations and the importance of Moldova as a country with deep historical, cultural and economic links with the Member States of the European Union,

B.  whereas the Association Agreement currently being negotiated between the EU and the Republic of Moldova should significantly enhance the EU-Republic of Moldova common institutional framework, facilitate the deepening of relations in all areas, and strengthen political association and economic integration, involving reciprocal rights and obligations,

C.  whereas EU-Moldova relations have progressed substantially over the last year, a fact that was duly reflected in the Progress Report by the European Commission on 12 May 2010 which found that progress was achieved in most of the sectoral fields covered by the ENP Action Plan,

D.  whereas the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the setting up of the External Action Service and the appointment of the Vice President/High Representative gives the European Union a renewed impetus to take a more pro-active role in dealing with frozen conflicts in its own neighbourhood, including the Transnistria issue,

1.  Welcomes the progress made during the last year by the Republic of Moldova and hopes that the electoral process can further consolidate the democratic institutions and respect for the rule of law and for human rights in Moldova; expects the Moldovan authorities to pursue the reforms needed and fulfil their commitments to keep the Republic of Moldova on track for steady European integration;

2.  Welcomes the start of negotiations on the Association Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova on 12 January 2010 and takes note with satisfaction of the very good results the Commission is obtaining from the Republic of Moldova in this process;

3.  Calls on the Council to invite the Commission to proceed to quickly develop the action plan for visa liberalisation at its next meeting, on 25 October 2010, thus entering into the fully operational phase of the visa dialogue based on the Republic of Moldova's progress following exploratory talks on the four blocks of the visa dialogue;

4.  Welcomes the granting of macro-financial assistance in the form of a grant of a maximum amount of EUR 90 million to the Republic of Moldova with a view to supporting economic stabilisation and alleviating its balance of payments and budgetary needs, as identified in the current IMF programme; stresses the need for the Republic of Moldova to step up efforts to implement structural reforms effectively, notably with regard to the rule of law, the fight against corruption and the business and investment climate;

5.  Recognises the improvements in the business environment and the regulatory framework of entrepreneurial activity as a key measure to attract investments, and expresses its confidence that the negotiations on the Free Trade Area with the EU, as part of the Association Agreement, will swiftly move forward;

6.  Supports the initiative of the ‘Friends of Moldova’, which include several Foreign Ministers from Member States and the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle, which aims at expressing clear EU support for and solidarity with the Republic of Moldova and is a clear signal of a strong commitment to support the country in addressing the challenges it faces; believes that this initiative will effectively assist the Republic of Moldova in implementing internal reforms and bring the country closer to the European Union;

7.  Takes the view that the EU can contribute to the solution of the Transnistrian problem by fostering confidence building, in particular by supporting the implementation of joint projects addressing common needs of the population working with local communities and civil society and by giving assistance to alleviate the economic crisis on both sides of the Nistru river;

8.  Stresses that the resolution of the Transnistrian issue constitutes a crucial element for promoting political stability and economic prosperity in the Republic of Moldova and the region; reiterates its support for the territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova and points out that a more robust EU role in finding a solution to the Transnistrian question is needed, as the prolongation of this issue should not hamper Moldova's EU integration;

9.  Welcomes the informal meetings that took place in the 5+2 format regarding Transnistria settlement efforts since June 2009 and calls upon the parties to return to formal negotiations in this format at the earliest possible opportunity and welcomes the Meseberg initiative on solving the Transnistrian conflict, initiated by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and believes that a foreign-minister-level security forum could contribute to achieving a sustainable solution of the conflict together with its partners;

10.  Underlines the need to strengthen the people's confidence in the institutions of the state and in the judicial authorities, especially after the involvement of some officials and officers from law enforcement bodies in the violence that occurred during the events of April 2009 and expects that all those found responsible for the acts of violence shall be brought to justice;

11.  Encourages all the democratic political forces and ethno-cultural communities to avoid unnecessary confrontations and concentrate on developing a broad vision for the Republic of Moldova with the aim of directing the country towards achieving its European goals;

12.  Hopes that the upcoming elections due to be held on 28 November 2010 will be held in full compliance with international standards and reminds all concerned that the pre-election campaign must provide equal opportunities for all political forces; expects measures to be taken to ensure the effectiveness of the right to vote of Moldovan citizens living abroad and states that the de facto authorities in the breakaway region of Transnistria have no right to prevent Moldovan citizens from taking part in the voting process;

13.  Calls on the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova to take part in the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly according to the Constituent Act of the Assembly;

14.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, the Member States and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the Government and Parliament of Moldova.


Integrated maritime policy
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European Parliament resolution of 21 October 2010 on Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) - Evaluation of progress made and new challenges (2010/2040(INI))
P7_TA(2010)0386A7-0266/2010

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine environmental policy(1),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘An Integrated Maritime Policy for the European Union’ (COM(2007)0575),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘Progress Report on the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy’ (COM(2009)0540),

–  having regard to the European Commission staff working document accompanying the Progress Report on the EU's Integrated Maritime Policy (SEC(2009)1343),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘Towards an Integrated Maritime Policy for better governance in the Mediterranean’ (COM(2009)0466),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘Developing the international dimension of the Integrated Maritime Policy of the European Union’ (COM(2009)0536),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘Towards the integration of maritime surveillance: A common information sharing environment for the EU maritime domain’ (COM(2009)0538),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘Examining the creation of a European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR)’ (COM(2008)0068),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘Europe 2020 - A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’ (COM(2010)2020),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘Commission Work Programme 2010 - Time to act’ (COM(2010)0135),

–  having regard to the European Commission White Paper: ‘Adapting to climate change: Towards a European framework for action’ (COM(2009)0147),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘Roadmap for Maritime Spatial Planning: Achieving Common Principles in the EU’ (COM(2008)0791),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘Guidelines for an Integrated Approach to Maritime Policy: Towards best practice in integrated maritime governance and stakeholder consultation’ (COM(2008)0395),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘The European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region’ (COM(2009)0248),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘The European Union and the Arctic region’ (COM(2008)0763),

–  having regard to the European Commission Staff Working Paper entitled ‘Building a European marine knowledge infrastructure: Roadmap for a European Marine Observation and Data Network’ (SEC(2009)0499),

–  having regard to the European Commission Staff Working Paper entitled ‘Marine data infrastructure, outcome of public consultation’ (SEC(2010)0073),

–  having regard to the European Commission Staff Working Paper entitled ‘Non-paper on maritime surveillance’ (SEC(2008)2337),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘A European Strategy for Marine and Maritime Research: A coherent European Research Area framework in support of a sustainable use of oceans and seas’ (COM(2008)0534),

–  having regard to the European Commission Communication entitled ‘Strategic goals and recommendations for the EU's maritime transport policy until 2018 (COM(2009)0008),

–  having regard to the Council conclusions on integrated maritime policy of 16 November 2009,

–  having regard to the Council conclusions on integrated maritime surveillance of 17 November 2009,

–  having regard to the Council conclusions on integrated maritime policy of 14 June 2010,

–  having regard to the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution and the protocols thereto(2),

–  having regard to the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Maritime and Coastal Package of 17-18 June 2009,

–  having regard to its resolution of 12 July 2007 on a future maritime policy for the Union: a European vision for the oceans and seas(3),

–  having regard to its resolution of 20 May 2008 on an integrated maritime policy for the European Union(4),

–  having regard to Rule 48 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the opinions of the Committee on Fisheries and the Committee on Regional Development (A7-0266/2010),

A.  whereas the oceans and seas are extremely complex and are influenced by many activities, interests and policies; whereas the expertise to deal with the multiple challenges of maritime affairs and also the power to tackle them are spread among numerous public and private players at different levels of governance,

B.  whereas the world's oceans and seas are interlinked and interdependent and whereas, moreover, the ever more intense use of the oceans and seas by sectors such as shipping, fisheries, energy, tourism and research, combined with climate change, have added to the pressure on the marine environment,

C.   whereas shipping and the shipbuilding industry contribute significantly to the economic welfare of EU countries and provide a valuable service to European and global industry and consumers,

D.  whereas the IMP approach represents a clear response to the question of how to achieve greater coherence between actions conducted under the different policies that affect seas and coastal areas and the need for environmentally friendly use of these ecosystems' resources,

E whereas the Marine Strategy Framework Directive forms the environmental pillar of the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP); whereas this approach should be better linked with the other sectoral policies,

F.  whereas a successful IMP should be based on excellence in marine research, technology and innovation and should lead to a one-stop-shop approach in decision-making and therefore to a reduction in duplication of regulatory powers, while taking into consideration regional and local specificities,

G.  whereas these integrated maritime governance structures should enhance the coordinated planning of competing maritime activities, the strategic management of maritime areas, the quality of surveillance activities and the enforcement of laws; whereas this objective calls for measures to identify clearly the whole range of such structures, guarantee their visibility and improve their cooperation,all within a transparent and coherent framework,

H.  whereas the European Union is the world's leading maritime power and should use the IMP and its achievements as a basis for acting as an international driving force to improve the planning of maritime activities, environmental protection and the promotion of good practices within international fora,

I.  whereas Europe's coasts and outermost islands play a special role as regards security and protection against environmental threats and criminal acts,

General

1.  Welcomes the European Commission's October 2009 package on the integrated maritime policy (IMP) as a timely and encouraging stocktake of the implementation of the 2007 Blue Paper action plan, and at the same time acknowledges that the new initiatives already taken and envisaged are fully coherent with, and a logic consequence of, the goals of the Blue Paper; confirms overall the validity of the integrated approach to maritime affairs;

2.  Agrees with the Commission that our ‘strong maritime tradition’ is one of the strengths of Europe; calls therefore on the European Commission and the Member States to further develop the potential offered by the different maritime sectors by drawing up an ambitious ‘blue growth’ strategy;considers that IMP should contribute to achieving a competitive, social and sustainable Union; takes the view in this regard that the development of IMP must harmoniously incorporate efforts to attain economic development, a high level of employment – particularly by making the sector more attractive for young people through training actions and the launch of a ‘Maritime Erasmus’ – and environmental protection; states, therefore, that the IMP should be interconnected with the objectives and initiatives of the EU 2020 Strategy;

3.  Asks the Commission, therefore, to come up with an overarching, cross-sectoral strategy for sustainable growth in coastal regions and maritime sectors by 2013, based on a broad investigation of potentials and policy options and on broad stakeholder consultation; considers that one element of this strategy should be a new, integrated approach to strengthening Europe's world leadership in marine and maritime research, technology development and maritime engineering, across sectors such as shipbuilding, the sustainable development of marine resources, clean shipping and off-shore energy development and technologies; states that solutions need to be found at an international level to eradicate unfair competition practices within the shipbuilding industry;

4.  Calls on the Commission to take action after the oil spill catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, and create legal certainty in the field of offshore oil extraction in Europe by submitting a coordinated European action strategy for emergency preparedness and for tackling disasters caused by drilling rigs and tankers, at an international level especially in cases of cross-border contamination; asks the Commission to encourage Member States to implement fully the already existing international legal framework as defined by the IMO's international conventions in this respect, to identify, in parallel, all possible measures for preventing such disasters and all legislative loopholes at EU and Member State level and to adjust as quickly as possible all relevant EU actions and legislation accordingly, taking into account the differing circumstances of the Gulf of Mexico and European coastal regions and seas;

5.  Urges the Commission to extend the mandate of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) on safety inspections of offshore installations and the cleaning up of oil spills in the review of the EMSA Regulation;

6.  Considers that, in this context, there is an urgent need for action to review Directive 2004/35/EC on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage, as this does not include liability in line with the ‘polluter pays’ principle in the case of offshore oil extraction;

7.  Calls on the Commission in this respect to investigate whether EMSA's remit should be extended and whether it should be assigned responsibility for monitoring compliance with safety standards in offshore oil extraction and reviewing contingency plans in that regard;

8.  Welcomes the Commission study entitled ‘Database on EU-funded projects in maritime regions’(5) and calls on the Commission in its next progress report on IMP to provide a full and systematic overview of all funding made available across all budget lines for activities related to maritime sectors, coastal regions and the seas;

9.  Asks the Commission to insist on the IMP receiving appropriate funding in the next financial perspective and to study all possible options for funding, including both the Committee of the Regions' proposal of a coastal fund and effective coordination of different funding schemes;

10.  Supports the Commission's stated intention to finance the IMP with EUR 50 million over the next two years in order to build upon previous projects in the areas of policy, governance, sustainability and surveillance;

Maritime governance

11.  Congratulates those Member States and regions which have already established integrated maritime governance policies and structures; calls on those Member States whose IMP administrative structures are still highly fragmented, to establish forthwith unified and integrated maritime governance structures;

12.  Agrees with the Commission's guidelines on maritime governance and its analysis of the promising but still not satisfactory progress made in the last years;

13.  Calls on the Commission, the Member States and coastal regions to intensify their efforts in defining integrated maritime policies and in building adequate maritime governance structures, which make it possible to take decisions on the basis of the best information available, involving all interested parties and therefore better respecting the different policy objectives;

14.  Stresses the need to encourage tailored local development strategies driven by a bottom-up consultation process and to discourage the ‘one size fits all’ approach; considers, therefore, that integrated maritime governance is essential in order to avoid any overlapping of competences between different levels of government and to enhance cooperation and dialogue with local and regional authorities, coastal communities, civil-society actors and other maritime stakeholders; favours the establishment and development of strategies for the EU's maritime macro-regions in the context of strategic approaches for regional maritime areas;

15.  Calls on the Commission to evaluate in more detail, based on performance, the quality of maritime governance structures at Member State and regional level and to exchange best practices to achieve the IMP objectives; takes the view that integrated and transparent maritime governance ensures optimum planning, creates a wide range of synergies and contributes to the emergence of a European maritime area without barriers;

16.  Agrees with the Commission that stakeholder involvement in maritime policy-making should also be enshrined more permanently in governance structures; invites to this end all coastal Member States which have not as yet done so to designate as soon as possible national contact points for IMP; thereby responding positively to the Commission's request; stresses the necessity to activate this operational network as soon as possible; supports the formation of a cross-sectoral platform for stakeholder dialogue on maritime affairs; asks for arrangements to be introduced for a concrete partnership between the Commission and the Regions, reiterates its support for the European Maritime Day,and asks for further consideration to be given to provisions for information for EU citizens and public participation regarding all aspects of the IMP;

17.  Welcomes the European Network of Maritime Clusters and asks the Commission, Member States and Regions to support these emerging organisations at all levels, in particular by supporting their innovative capacity and their integration into national and Community policies and programmes, strengthening transnational cooperation, working towards more openness to SMEs and improving their visibility;

18.  Calls on the Member States and the Commission to intensify their dialogue at international level on IMP and other maritime issues in the competent fora, including on the ratification and implementation of UNCLOS; suggests that a meeting on IMP be established at ministerial level of the Member States of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), to be held at least once a year;

19.  Calls on the European Union to campaign within the Union for the Mediterranean for the draft common code of good practice in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors to be integrated into the programme of this new international organisation;

20.  Calls on the Commission to reinforce the international dimension of the IMP and draws the attention of the Commission and Member States to the fact that improvements in working conditions at sea, to safety and the environmental performance of vessels should be placed on the agenda of international fora and ratified by port, flag and coastal States as part of international agreements, in order to make it possible to achieve a worldwide improvement in the field of shipping;

21.  Calls on the Commission and the Council to support the inclusion of IMP in the financial leverage instruments and objectives of the EU's external policy through the development of suitable initiatives aimed at addressing problems such as pollution, illegal fishing and piracy;

Sea basin initiatives and strategies

22.  Welcomes the regional sea-basin initiatives and strategies proposed so far by the Commission and the macroregional strategies of relevance to the sea; recognises that implementation of the IMP principles requires that they be translated into targeted strategies and specific measures tailored to the specificities of each sea basin, and in the case of the Mediterranean, the various sub-regions present therein; calls for further dialogue and cooperation in order to improve governance of the marine space and coastal areas in the framework of a multi-level approach in the different maritime sea basins, including the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Atlantic, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean area, and asks the Commission to take rapid steps in cooperation with Member States to draw up and present actions in these regions;

23.  Calls on the Commission to give special consideration to the specific features of the EU's outermost regions, whose territorial waters ensure that the EU has the world's largest Exclusive Economic Zone; considers, therefore, that these territories could play a pivotal role in the international dimension of IMP and calls on the Commission to incorporate a maritime dimension into its international agreements with regional sub-groups;

24.  Notes that a large part of the waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea are outside the areas under the jurisdiction or sovereign rights of coastal States, and that consequently these States do not have prescriptive and enforcement powers to regulate human activities beyond such areas in an integrated manner;

25.  Asks the coastal states concerned therefore to resolve delimitation issues on the basis of UNCLOS and agree on their maritime zones;

Maritime spatial planning

26.  Understands that stability, predictability and transparency of management of marine spaces is key to securing optimal and sustainable development of economic activities and new growth, and jobs on the sea, including the further development of renewables such as wind and wave energy, without prejudice to more traditional activities;

27.  Is of the view that the management of intensifying and increasingly competing sea uses on an eco-system basis requires coordinated, streamlined and cross-border maritime spatial planning as a neutral tool, which has the potential to contribute significantly to the implementation of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and to facilitate the harmonious coexistence of different sea uses;

28.  Welcomes the road map on maritime spatial planning (MSP), based on an ecosystem approach and the development of the ten planning principles and considers this cross-sectoral policy tool essential for the implementation of IMP; asks the Commission to submit in 2011 a draft directive on MSP or to propose the type of instrument most suitable for ensuring coherence between MSP and the other existing initiatives (ICZM, Natura 2000, Marine Strategy Framework Directive);

29.  Suggests evalutating opportunities for co-utilisation of maritime space by different sectors (e.g. shipping, renewable/wind energy and aquaculture);

30.  Notes the essential importance of European maritime spatial planning and its uses for coastal regions and the outermost regions in particular and points to the need to protect the ecologically most sensitive marine biogeographical regions while enabling the fisheries sector to exploit resources on a sustainable basis;

Maritime Surveillance

31.  Expects that a well coordinated and integrated cross-pillar, cross-sectoral, and cross-border approach towards maritime surveillance will improve protection of the interests of Member States and the European Union and protection against marine pollution and illegal actions by making available to authorities operating at sea, monitoring and surveillance information across various relevant sectors of activity, thereby generating more efficiency;

32.  Calls therefore on the Commission, the Member States, EU agencies and in particular the EMSA, and relevant organisations to speed up their efforts in terms of cooperation and coordination and with regard to the necessary legislative adaptations;

33.  Calls on the Commission in cooperation with Member States to identify obstacles to the exchange of data in EU and national legislation and in the mandates of the agencies, to learn from the experience gained in regional and national initiatives, research projects and in pilot projects and from CSDP operations relating to maritime surveillance, to present in 2010 a roadmap on integrated maritime surveillance and to explore areas for cooperation with third countries, especially those from the Mediterranean that have ratified UNCLOS, as well as with relevant organisations;

34.  Asks the Commission to identify the additional financial needs for creating a common information sharing environment within the framework of integrated maritime surveillance in good time before the next Financial Perspective, for the benefit of both the EU and Member States;

35.  Calls on the Commission to propose a legal framework for the integration of maritime surveillance with a view to a common information sharing environment;

36.  Reiterates its call for improved cooperation between Member States' national inspectorates, coastguards and navies and reminds the Commission to carry out – as requested earlier by the European Parliament for 2005 in Directive 2005/35/EC – a feasibility study on further collaboration or integration between the different coastguard services, with greater interoperability between the different surveillance systems and with the prospect of creating a European Coastguard Service; considers that there is great potential for involving EMSA more fully in monitoring coastal areas and for providing Member States with more support in tracing marine pollution;

Miscellaneous

37.  Reiterates the position and requests expressed in its resolution on strategic goals and recommendations for the EU's maritime transport policy until 2018;

38.  Asks the Commission, in view of the upcoming White Paper on the Future of Transport, to take into account the critical role of maritime freight transport in trade today, to promote the development of secondary and less congested ports and to adequately address the question of maritime transport security measures in the EU and abroad by investing in enhancing multilayered risk management systems for targeting and inspecting dangerous cargo.

39.  Stresses the importance of a maritime space without barriers and calls on the Commission and Member States to:

   evaluate and preserve small ports,
   expand the short sea shipping network in order to minimise the land transport distances,
   support research and innovation on cargo modes, cargo handling and logistic solutions with the aim of finding solutions that reduce time in transport and in handling costs,
   support port infrastructure development;

40.  Asks the Commission to integrate the European Maritime Policy and the inland waterways policies, in order to maximise the potential of the waterway transport and to create efficient and diversified ways of transport;

41.  Encourages the Commission, the Member States and industry to intensify efforts in research and development in the use and application of renewable energy sources for both ship propulsion and onboard electric power;

42.  Urges the Commission to improve the working conditions of seafarers by appropriate means, to implement the ILO Maritime Labour Convention in Community law and to propose a programme for the qualification and training of seafarers and especially the recruitment of young people, including those from third countries;

43.  Asks the Commission to consider a coordinated European industrial policy initiative aimed at increasing competitiveness, supporting the excellence of European shipbuilding, and the safety and environmental performance and competitiveness of shipping in the common maritime space without barriers, while making full use of the competitive shipbuilding capacity of Europe for this purpose and using environmentally sound technologies and alternative shipping fuels to promote ‘green shipping’; calls on Member States to ratify the 2009 Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships;

44.  Considers that, empowered by the reference to territorial cohesion in the TFEU, and with the aim of improving accessibility, it is essential to continue making the mobility of passengers and goods an integral part of internal market policy through the promotion of short sea shipping and maritime cabotage between territories and, at the same time, ensure better links between peripheral maritime regions, outermost regions and islands and mainland and economic centres; point out, in the same context, that it is of crucial importance to deal with the difficulties facing island areas in the EU, in particular small island communities, with regard to the transport of persons and goods by supporting maritime links not adequately served by the market and by guaranteeing the same cost per kilometre for the transport of people, regardless of their location; calls for concrete measures for the outermost regions taking account of their distinctive features;

45.  Draws attention to the particular importance of the maritime economy for those Member States with large Exclusive Economic Zones, and to the need to promote the development of maritime economic clusters and to boost their contribution to growth and employment under the EU 2020 Strategy;

46.  Stresses that both fisheries and aquaculture have a place in the maritime economy and development of often remote coastal regions, whose economic, social and environmental development the IMP should strengthen;

47.  Insists that the constraints and specificities of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors be taken into account in IMP as regards use of the maritime domain, in particular as regards the availability of areas in which to carry on such activities and the need to conserve marine habitats by establishing marine reserves and other measures for that purpose, with special emphasis on better-planned research and full consideration for the geographical and climatological diversity of each sea area;

48.  Recalls the particular vulnerability of coastal regions and islands to the impact of climate change; stresses that planning of all developments along the Community's extensive coastline, including its hinterland, must take into account the consequences of climate change; suggests that vulnerability to climate change be considered when shaping future regional policy in order not to jeopardise implementation the IMP;

49.  Calls on the Commission to coherently integrate the CO2 reduction targets and introduce economic market based instruments, such as emissions trading schemes, into the maritime sector; following the outcome of the 61st session of the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (27 September 2010 to 1 October 2010) and maintaining its call for further substantial progress within the IMO, recalls the commitment made in the ETS Directive (2009/29/EC) for the Commission to act; asks the Commission to develop a strategy to mitigate the specific impacts of climate change on coastal and island regions, as a follow-up to the White Paper on Climate Change;

50.  Reiterates the urgent need to relieve pressures upon the marine environment which originate from land, such as pollution from industrial and agricultural effluents and poor coastal zone management, in the context of an integrated ecosystem-based approach;

51.  Calls on the Member States to comply with their obligations under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and, by 15 July 2012, perform an assessment of the environmental status of their marine waters and establish environmental targets and monitoring programmes; calls on Member States, furthermore, to adopt ambitious programmes of measures to attain a good environmental status for those waters;

52.  Calls on Member States to comply with their obligation under Article 13 of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive to designate marine protected areas; calls, furthermore, on Member States to monitor compliance with the protection measures effectively;

53.  Observes that since 1 July 2010 new limit values for SO2 levels in shipping fuels have been in force in the English Channel, North Sea and Baltic Sea, which have been declared sulphur emission control areas under an IMO decision; considers, accordingly, that all European coastal areas should be similarly protected , and that applying new limit values for SO2 levels to only some areas could lead to distortion of competition; considers that uniform rules covering the whole EU would be preferable and a modal shift from sea to road transport shall be avoided at all costs;

54.  Recognises that the seas have become a disposal site for immense and fast-growing volumes of waste material, much of it of plastic origin, as well as of lost shipping containers; calls on the Commission to promote a European and international debate to explore means by which this can be reduced;

55.  Asks the Commission to come up with a strategy for sustainable coastal, islands and marine tourism in order to enhance their sustainability and attractiveness for inhabitants and tourists this being one of the objectives of protecting nature in marine regions such as the Wadden Sea, and to do so by making full use of the new provisions on tourism in the Lisbon Treaty and by promoting initiatives such as the EDEN Network;

56.  Points out that, taking into account the vast potential for development and the substantial source of growth represented by marine and coastal tourism and related sectors; coastal regions represent the principal tourist destination in Europe and asks the Commission to include these issues in its strategy for sustainable coastal and marine tourism;

57.  Stresses the importance of the added value of the Seas/Maritime Policy in strengthening cooperation between neighbours and especially between Member States and candidate countries;

58.  Welcomes the European Marine and Maritime Research Strategy as well as the joint calls under the Research Framework Programme on ‘Oceans of Tomorrow’ as concrete signs of an integrated approach to implementing the IMP; proposes making sea-related sciences a priority in the 8th Framework Programme for Research as well as the creation of a European Marine Research Institute;

59.  Agrees that building an interdisciplinary scientific and technological knowledge base on Europe's seas and coasts is essential; asks the Commission and the Member States to assess, in cooperation with regional and local actors, the existing databases and observation programmes and to accelerate their efforts to make the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODNET) operational as soon as possible;

60.  Urges the Commission to help Member States to launch a plan to survey and map wrecked ships and submerged archaeological sites – since these form part of the Community's historic and cultural heritage – and hence to facilitate understanding and the study of such sites and help prevent the despoliation to which they are being subjected, thus enabling them to be properly preserved;

61.  Welcomes the Atlas of the Seas recently developed by the Commission and encourages stakeholders to avail themselves of the Maritime Forum as the new instrument for collaboration and to engage the general public more effectively;

o
o   o

62.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the European Commission.

(1) OJ L 164, 25.6.2008, p. 19.
(2) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2010)0128.
(3). OJ C 175 E, 10.7.2008, p. 531.
(4) OJ C 279 E, 19.11.2009, p. 30.
(5) Final report. Framework contract FISH/2007/04, Specific contract No 4. December 2009.


Trade relations with Latin-America
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European Parliament resolution of 21 October 2010 on the European Union's trade relations with Latin America (2010/2026(INI))
P7_TA(2010)0387A7-0277/2010

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its resolutions of 1 December 2005 on preparations for the sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation in Hong Kong(1), of 4 April 2006 on the assessment of the Doha Round following the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong(2), of 1 June 2006 on trade and poverty: designing trade policies to maximise trade's contribution to poverty relief(3), of 27 April 2006 on a stronger partnership between the European Union and Latin America(4), of 12 October 2006 on economic and trade relations between the EU and Mercosur with a view to the conclusion of an Interregional Association Agreement(5), of 23 May 2007 on the EU's Aid for Trade(6), of 12 July 2007 on the TRIPS Agreement and access to medicines(7), of 29 November 2007 on trade and climate change(8), of 24 April 2008 on the Fifth Latin America and Caribbean-European Union Summit in Lima(9), of 24 April 2008 on ‘Towards a reform of the World Trade Organisation(10), of 20 May 2008 on trade in raw materials and commodities(11), of 25 March 2010 on the effects of the global financial and economic crisis on developing countries and on development cooperation(12) and of 5 May 2010 on the EU strategy for relations with Latin America(13),

–  having regard to the resolutions of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, and in particular those of 19 December 2007 on the challenges and opportunities resulting from globalisation for economic and trade relations between the European Union and the countries of Latin America, of 1 May 2008 on the challenges and opportunities of the Doha Round, of 8 April 2009 on trade and climate change and of 14 May 2010 on the reform of the World Trade Organisation,

–  having regard to the final declarations of the sessions of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO adopted in Geneva on 18 February 2003, in Cancún on 12 September 2003, in Brussels on 26 November 2004, in Hong Kong on 15 December 2005 and in Geneva on 2 December 2006 and on 12 September 2008,

–  having regard to the declarations of the six Summits of Heads of State and Government of the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean held to date in Rio de Janeiro (28 and 29 June 1999), Madrid (17 and 18 May 2002), Guadalajara (28 and 29 May 2004), Vienna (12 and 13 May 2006), Lima (16 and 17 May 2008) and Madrid (18 May 2010),

–  having regard to the Joint Statements of the Fifth EU-Mexico Summit (16 May 2010), the Fourth EU-MERCOSUR Summit (17 May 2010), the Fourth EU-Chile Summit (17 May 2010), the Fourth EU-CARIFORUM Summit (17 May 2010), the Fourth EU-Central America Summit (19 May 2010) and the EU-Andean Community Summit (19 May 2010),

–  having regard to the Geneva Agreement on Trade in Bananas between the European Union and Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela and to the Agreement on Trade in Bananas between the European Union and the United States,

–  having regard to the Agreement establishing an association between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Chile, of the other part, and to the EU-Chile Association for Development and Innovation,

–  having regard to the Economic Partnership, Political Coordination and Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the United Mexican States, of the other part, and to the Strategic Partnership between Mexico and the EU,

–  having regard to the conclusion of the negotiations on an Association Agreement between the EU and Central America,

–  having regard to the conclusion of the negotiations between the EU and Colombia and Peru on a Multi-Party Trade Agreement,

–  having regard to the re-launch of the EU-MERCOSUR negotiations with a view to an ambitious and balanced Association Agreement between the two regions, which could strengthen relations between the parties and be greatly beneficial to them in both political and economic terms,

–  having regard to the Declaration on the EU-Latin America bananas agreement and its impact on ACP and EU banana producers that the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly adopted on 1 April 2010,

–  having regard to the joint communiqué of the 14th Ministerial Meeting between the European Union and the Rio Group, held in Prague from 11 to 14 May 2009,

–  having regard to the Commission communication of 30 September 2009 on ‘The European Union and Latin America: Global Players in Partnership’ (COM(2009)0495),

–  having regard to the ‘issue paper’ of 2 June 2010 by means of which the Commission launched a public consultation on the future direction of EU trade policy,

–  having regard to the conclusions of 8 December 2009 of the Council of the European Union on relations between the European Union and Latin America,

–  having regard to its position of 5 June 2008 on the proposal for a Council regulation applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 and amending Regulations (EC) No 552/97, No 1933/2006 and Commission Regulations (EC) No 964/2007 and No 1100/2006(14),

–  having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008 of 22 July 2008 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences for the period from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2011 and amending Regulations (EC) No 552/97, (EC) No 1933/2006 and Commission Regulations (EC) No 1100/2006 and (EC) No 964/2007(15),

–  having regard to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organisation,

–  having regard to the WTO Ministerial Conference declarations adopted in Doha on 14 November 2001 and Hong Kong on 18 December 2005 and to the Chairman's Summary adopted in Geneva on 2 December 2009,

–  having regard to the report of January 2005 of the Advisory Board chaired by Peter Sutherland on the future of the WTO(16),

–  having regard to the United Nations Millennium Declaration of 8 September 2000, which sets out the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as criteria collectively established by the international community for the elimination of poverty,

–  having regard to The Millennium Development Goals Report 2009 and the report of 12 February 2010 by the UN Secretary-General on the implementation of the Millennium Declaration, entitled ‘Keeping the promise: a forward-looking review to promote an agreed action agenda to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015’,

–  having regard to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC and the outcome of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Copenhagen(17),

–  having regard to the 16th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, to be held in Mexico,

–  having regard to the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (IOCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR),

–  having regard to the Lisbon Treaty, notably Articles 3 and 21 thereof, and to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

–  having regard to human rights clauses in the EU's external agreements,

–  having regard to the ILO Decent Work Agenda and to the ILO Global Jobs Pact adopted by global consensus on 19 June 2009 at the International Labour Conference,

–  having regard to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly, and to the Optional Protocol thereto,

–  having regard to the Stiglitz Report and the Outcome Document of the Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development (24 - 26 June 2009),

–  having regard to Rule 48 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on International Trade (A7-0277/2010),

A.  whereas Latin America and the European Union not only share common values and a common history and culture, they also form a strategic partnership,

B.  whereas over the past three decades Latin America has undergone a major process of diversification in its international trade relations, striving to reduce its level of dependence,

C.  whereas the European Union has strengthened its economic and trade relations with Latin America, becoming its second most important trading partner and the leading trading partner for MERCOSUR and Chile; whereas, according to Eurostat, trade volumes doubled between 1999 and 2008, with EU imports of goods from Latin America increasing to EUR 96.14 billion and exports of goods to the region to EUR 76.81 billion, while there was a steady rise in trade in services; whereas, owing to the dramatic effect of the financial and economic crisis, these figures dropped in 2009 to EUR 70.11 billion (imports) and EUR 61.57 billion (exports), but started to grow again in 2010; whereas European countries constitute the largest source of Foreign Direct Investment ( FDI) in Latin America,

D.  whereas, despite being rich in natural resources, Latin America finds itself among the regions which have not been able to expand their share of international trade and has been losing out to more competitive and dynamic economies in Asia,

E.  whereas several Latin American countries have been ranked among the three countries most vulnerable to climate change in the world, and taking into account the notable impact of the processes of desertification and deforestation and the increase in phenomena such as cyclones and species extinction that affect Latin America to a large extent, as well as concrete, alarming and highly significant examples of the global threat posed by climate change, such as the state of the Amazon rainforest and the risk posed by Andean glaciers,

F.  whereas, according to ECLAC, important successes in poverty reduction could be achieved, with the poverty rate in Latin America decreasing from 44.4% in 2003 to 33% in 2010, while poverty and migration are increasingly female, and whereas, according to ECLAC and UNICEF, almost 63% of children and adolescents in Latin America suffer from poverty,

G.  whereas the disparity in levels of development explains why trade between certain EU countries and the Latin American and Caribbean region (LAC) is asymmetric in terms of the type of goods that are exported; whereas trade exchanges between the two regions are highly concentrated and, although they have more than doubled since 1990, are developing at a slower rate than those between the two regions and other parts of the world,

H.  whereas the EU-LAC Summit held in Lima in 2008 resulted in the definition of the main axes of the bi-regional strategic partnership, with the aim of creating a network of association agreements between the EU and the various sub-regional integration groups; whereas the EU-LAC Summit held in Madrid in May 2010 marked a major step forward with this approach and led to the resumption of all EU-LAC trade negotiations that had been on ice for the last few years,

I.  whereas the creation of a network of comprehensive agreements already in force, finalised or under negotiation with the various groups of Latin American countries is intended to contribute to enhancing cooperation between the two continents, while allowing for regional integration processes operating at different speeds,

J.  whereas GDP per capita in the region ranges from USD 1211 in Haiti and USD 2635 in Nicaragua to USD 11225 in Brazil and roughly USD 15000 in Argentina, Chile and Mexico,

K.  whereas, despite significant progress in the management of state finances, the burden of debt, often inherited from a previous epoch, is one of the most serious obstacles to trade-related investments, development and sound state finances in a number of Latin America countries,

L.  whereas there is a general desire in Latin America to increase the region's economic importance in the global economy, and whereas Latin America has reduced its economic dependence by actively diversifying its economic relations; whereas Europe should act wisely in order to strengthen its role as a very important commercial partner for this purpose, and whereas Europe and Latin America remain committed to further strengthening their strategic partnership underpinned by their shared principles, values and interests,

M.  whereas the new EU trade policy adapted to the Europe 2020 strategy should take into account the particular situation in the Latin American region,

N.  whereas the export of smart and high-quality products promoted in the Europe 2020 strategy requires solvent customers; whereas, in the interests of both parties, the agreements between Latin America and the EU must continue to bring tangible benefits for their respective societies,

O.  whereas in 2004 negotiations with a view to creating a free-trade area of 750 million consumers ground to a halt over a dispute which was mainly about Mercosur exporters' access to European agricultural markets,

1.  Emphasises that the Lisbon Treaty defines EU trade policy as an integral and relevant part of the Union's overall external action and that trade policy can play a decisive and positive role in creating wealth, enhancing economic and political relations between peoples and countries, ensuring peace and addressing development, environmental and social objectives, and that these policies must complement each other mutually in order to achieve the objectives set out in the Treaty on European Union; considers that modern European trade policy can play an important role in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals and fulfilling international commitments to human rights, food security and environmental sustainability;

2.  Welcomes the fact that trade relations with partners in Latin America have become a priority for the European Union;

3.  Points out that trade policy is an important tool in achieving the objective of a bi-regional strategic partnership between the European Union and Latin America; supports, in this respect, the creation of a Euro-Latin America interregional partnership area based on a WTO-compatible regionalism model;

4.  Notes that the aim of closer integration of the European and Latin American economic spheres is to create a win-win situation for both sides; stresses that intensified and fair trade relations should create more and better jobs in both regions and must support the aim of more resource-efficient and greener economies; notes, however, that a growth in trade should not lead to deforestation and more green-house gas emissions;

5.  Calls on the Commission to actively support the development of fair trade schemes and trade in sustainably managed resources;

6.  Welcomes the fact that the Madrid Declaration explicitly recognises the principle of the sovereign right of States to manage and regulate their natural resources, while stressing that due attention should be paid to sustainability criteria;

7.  Insists on the fact that all countries have the right to establish the necessary mechanisms to defend their food security and ensure the survival and the development of small and medium-sized food producers;

8.  Believes that, in order to draw greater benefit from their trade relations and appropriately distribute the gains from trade among their populations, governments in both regions should mobilise those gains in order to improve social welfare and need to accompany trade policy with the adoption of appropriate internal and structural reforms, in particular in the social and fiscal fields, while promoting responsibility of trade reforms and further expanding and enhancing trade-related institutional capacity;

9.  Stresses that it is necessary to promote the implementation of country-specific, complementary policies to increase the opportunities for trade exchanges among stakeholders in conformity with the specific development goals; believes that it is crucial to mobilise Aid for Trade and harness trade intensification in order to promote development;

10.  Welcomes the positive developments in those Latin American countries where new trade and resource policies accompanied by internal reforms have contributed to the reduction of poverty and inequality, as documented by the improvement in their Gini coefficients, and considers these developments to be illustrative of the conditions under which trade policy may have progressive distributive effects;

11.  Welcomes the fact that in Latin America new and ambitious forms of economic cooperation which are linked with socio-economic policies, are being explored; calls on the Commission to support such approaches to South-South integration and to avoid clauses in EU trade agreements that would undermine the positive effects of the respective integration approaches;

12.  Stresses that resources and technical assistance must be mobilised to identify and fund programmes that provide local and regional production opportunities, in order to guarantee food security and sustainable access to markets for excluded communities at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid and for small and medium-sized enterprises;

13.  Considers that trade-related assistance should help producers reduce the transaction costs involved in complying with regulatory and quality standards, and that programmes should be developed to help firms with inspection, testing and official certification;

14.  Stresses the importance of applying environmental, traceability and food security standards to imported agricultural products in the context of the cooperation agreements between the EU and Latin American countries;

15.  Considers it crucial for Latin America further to diversify its trade, which is mainly based on raw materials, and to continue to move forward towards sustainable trade in products and services with greater added value, in order to compete globally; considers that global transport related to current supply chains and international labour division should take environmental concerns into consideration;

16.  Calls for closer cooperation between the EU and the Latin American countries, so as to jointly push for the swift conclusion of a fair, ambitious and comprehensive WTO Doha Agreement in accordance with the commitments made in the Madrid Declaration; stresses that an open and fair rules-based multilateral trade system will contribute to the recovery of world economies from the economic crisis and to promoting growth and development, applying a progressive and balanced reduction of tariff and non-tariff barriers, where appropriate and in line with the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries, while contributing effectively to poverty reduction;

17.  Deplores the protectionist measures taken during the financial crisis by some Latin American countries, especially Argentina; urges the Commission regularly to address the issue of market access with countries in Latin America;

18.  Emphasises that the attainment of all eight UN MDGs should be regarded as a crucial task in the current multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations; stresses that keeping the promises reiterated in the Madrid Declaration on attaining the MDGs and eradicating global poverty will require a trade environment in which developing countries in Latin America have real access to the markets of developed countries and can maintain and develop their own competitive manufacturing and food processing industries – an environment in which more equitable trade practices are implemented and strong and enforced rules apply to the protection of the environment and social rights;

19.  Considers that the European Union should seek to make a more attractive offer aimed at serving the economic development interests of our partners, in order to ensure its presence in the region, alongside the US and China; believes that this should include complementary offers, for instance regarding capacity building and technology transfers; stresses also the need for respectful treatment of our partners and acknowledgement of asymmetric needs;

20.  Reiterates the importance of including human rights clauses and environmental and social standards in all trade agreements concluded between the EU and third countries, including Latin American countries, in order for external action to be coherent, both the reflecting the EU's economic interests and promoting its fundamental values;

21.  Stresses that positive market developments along the entire value chain must give rise to appropriate levels of income and that profit margins should benefit all involved actors within the entire value chain;

22.  Considers that it is necessary to give our trade partnership a truly European dimension, increasing the exchanges between Latin American countries and all countries, including countries in Central and Eastern Europe; considers it necessary to integrate a wider range of economic activities in our exchanges;

23.  Emphasises the constructive role that EU-based companies operating in Latin America should play by applying high environmental, social protection and quality management standards and by offering decent wages and job security;

24.  Is aware that in the past some cases of misconduct by companies operating in Latin America have occurred, involving ecological degradation, cases of exploitation of labour, and serious human rights violations; points out that the EU as a whole and EU-based companies operating in Latin America should display exemplary behaviour in environmental, social and employment-related matters within a wider framework of transparency and respect for human rights that ensures the protection of all involved; stresses that European multinationals are responsible to a great extent for the EU's image in the region and must promote its values, whilst observing the principles of corporate social responsibility;

25.  Recognises that the conclusion of the WTO agreements on trade in bananas put an end to a long-term dispute with Latin American and ACP partner countries' banana suppliers, could facilitate progress in the Doha Round negotiations and has contributed to concluding the negotiations on the various agreements with Central America and Colombia and Peru; calls, nonetheless, for account to be taken of the commitments made to ACP partners and the interests of EU producers; calls, in order to avoid further disputes, for fair treatment to be guaranteed to all trade partners in Latin America, including those who have not concluded a trade agreement with the EU;

26.  Points out that the agreements adopted within the WTO and the bilateral agreements under negotiation with certain Latin American countries have consequences for the vulnerable economies of the outermost regions because of the similarities between their agricultural sectors and those on the Latin American continent; supports therefore the approach under which, in trade relations between the EU and Latin America, the strategic and traditional sectors of the outermost regions are preserved and are the subject of both appropriate compensation and particular attention in order not to undermine the obligations that the EU adopted towards these regions in its European strategy for the outermost regions in 2009;

27.  Points out that the implementation of all Association Agreements must take into account the interests of the people concerned and must be subject to ratification by parliaments in respect of all of their pillars, namely political dialogue, cooperation and trade;

28.  Notes the positive conclusion of the negotiations on the EU-Central America Association Agreement which, as a first example of a region-to-region agreement, should contribute, with appropriate accompanying policies, to enhancing not only wealth but also the further integration of Central American countries; takes note of the decision by Panama to begin the process of accession to the Central American Economic Integration Subsystem;

29.  Points out that the negotiations for a Multi-Party Trade Agreement between the EU and Colombia and Peru have come to a positive conclusion; notes that Bolivia has decided to withdraw the claim it presented to the Andean Community Court of Justice regarding the Multi-Party Trade Agreement; calls therefore on the relevant parties to move towards a future Association Agreement negotiated with all the countries of the Andean Community;

30.  Supports the resumption of negotiations on the EU-Mercosur Association Agreement - given that an Association Agreement of this kind, which is of the utmost importance and affects 700 million people, would, if concluded swiftly, be the world's most ambitious bi-regional agreement - and therefore stresses that the European Parliament should be closely involved at all stages of the negotiations; is aware that agriculture issues will probably be one of the sensitive topics in the negotiations; calls for agricultural imports to be allowed into the EU only if they have been produced in a manner consistent with European consumer protection, animal welfare and environmental protection standards and minimum social standards; emphasises that a balanced outcome for both parties has to be achieved in the end by making sure that the negotiations take full account of recent developments in the global economy, global environmental challenges, such as climate change, and the demands and concerns put forward by Parliament;

31.  Calls on the Commission to closely involve Parliament in the negotiations relating to the necessary updating of the agreements with Chile and Mexico;

32.  Strongly supports the approval of the Joint Executive Plan for the Mexico-EU Strategic Partnership and the negotiations with a view to fundamentally modernising trade relations so as to unlock the full potential of the EU-Mexico Association Agreement, which, since entering into force, has led to an increase of 122% in trade flows;

33.  Strongly supports the road map and work programme for the Chile-EU Association for Development and Innovation (ADI) and the mutually beneficial rise in trade in goods and services that the Association Agreement has made possible, as evidenced by the fact that trade between Chile and the EU has more than doubled since 2003;

34.  Stresses the need for a prior assessment of the impact of an agreement with Mercosur in view of the expected increase in the volume of meat exported to Europe – 70% for beef and 25% for poultry –, which is cheaper because of the less stringent sanitary, environmental and social standards governing its production;

35.  Calls on the Commission and its Latin American partners to involve civil society in the assessment of compliance with labour, human rights and environmental standards included in trade agreements and to promote the regular dialogue with civil society that is provided for in the Association Agreements;

36.  Is deeply concerned about the restrictive measures recently adopted by the Argentinian authorities on foodstuffs imported from third countries, including the European Union; considers these measures to constitute a real non-tariff barrier incompatible with WTO obligations; calls, therefore, on the Argentinian authorities to eliminate this illegal burden on foodstuff, which could send out a bad signal and represent a serious obstacle for the ongoing EU-MERCOSUR negotiations;

37.  Calls on the Commission to make trade negotiations more transparent by giving early access to key documents and draft agreements to all social partners in sectors that are potentially affected by the outcome of trade agreements, while applying standard procedures regarding documents subject to confidentiality requirements, and to establish an ongoing and formalised process of consultation with them;

38.  Draws attention to the important role that the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) is playing;

39.  Calls on the Commission to consider the possibility of establishing close cooperation between the two continents in order to develop a new Latin American railways network;

40.  Takes note of the decision to set up the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC); points out that regional integration is a process that is essential in order to help Latin America adjust to the new global challenges;

41.  Believes that trade, energy and climate change frameworks should be mutually supportive;

42.  Calls on the Commission to support the partners in Latin America in establishing competitive value-added production facilities; proposes the establishment of regional trade academies both in Latin American regions and across EU Member States, aimed at building capacity among SMEs by providing training sessions on the preconditions for trading agricultural products, goods and services with the partner region;

43.  Urges the Latin American countries to make sincere efforts to combat climate change and, in particular, to stop deforestation;

44.  Encourages EU support for EU-Latin American trade fairs in the various European and Latin American countries, to provide a platform for contacts and partnership agreements, in particular among SMEs;

45.  Considers that the next reform of the generalised system of preferences (GSP) must make it more efficient and stable so as to ensure that Latin America producers will reap the potential benefit of this preferential scheme; considers that the negotiations for trade agreements with countries already benefitting from the GSP+ scheme should allow for a degree of asymmetry that takes into account to a large extent the level of preferences enjoyed under the GSP + scheme; points out that all countries are free not to enter into the negotiations and may therefore continue to benefit from the GSP+ scheme as long as they continue to fulfil the relevant conditions;

46.  Notes the creation by the EU of a new Latin America Investment Facility, the main objective of which should be to serve as a lever to mobilise additional financing to diversify investment in Latin America that is intended to foster progress in the priority areas, such as sound public transport and mobility systems, energy saving, renewables, education and research;

47.  Welcomes the decision to establish an EU-LAC Foundation, which will promote trade and contribute to strengthening the bi-regional partnership, raising awareness of it and realising its full potential;

48.  Believes that the wording of chapters on investment protection in trade agreements must help shore up the legal certainty of investments made, without affecting the responsiveness of governments to the environmental, health and social demands of their populations;

49.  Recognises the importance of the audit of Ecuador's external debt by an international commission and encourages other countries to undertake similar processes; calls on the Commission and the Council to speed up the solving of the problem of the external debts of some countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, both on a bilateral basis and within the international finance institutions;

50.  Calls on the European Union to support the new concept of supporting environmental protection by compensating for the loss in potential trade revenues and to co-finance the creation of the Yasuni-ITT Trust Fund under the auspices of the UNDP, as proposed by the Ecuadorian Government, which is intended to compensate the Ecuadorian people for refraining from extracting oil from the fields located in the Yasuni National Park;

51.  Reiterates that the EU should actively and concretely support those developing countries that use the so-called flexibilities built into the TRIPS Agreement in order to be able to provide medicines at affordable prices under their domestic public health programmes;

52.  Calls on the Commission to implement the recommendations of this report in its new EU trade strategy, in particular as far as future EU-LAC trade is concerned;

53.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

(1) OJ C 285 E, 22.11.2006, p. 126.
(2) OJ C 293 E, 2.12.2006, p. 155.
(3) OJ C 298 E, 8.12.2006, p. 261.
(4) OJ C 296 E, 6.12.2006, p. 123.
(5) OJ C 308 E, 16.12.2006, p. 182.
(6) OJ C 102 E, 24.4.2008, p. 291.
(7) OJ C 175 E, 10.07.2008, p. 591.
(8) OJ C 297 E, 20.11.2008, p. 193.
(9) OJ C 259 E, 29.10.2009, p. 64.
(10) OJ C 259 E, 29.10.2009, p. 77.
(11) OJ C 279 E, 19.11.2009, p. 5.
(12) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2010)0089.
(13) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2010)0141.
(14) OJ C 285 E, 26.11.2009, p. 126.
(15) OJ L 211, 6.8.2008, p. 1.
(16) ‘The Future of the WTO - Addressing Institutional Challenges in the New Millennium’, Report by the Consultative Board to the Director-General, Supachai Panitchpakdi (WTO, January 2005).
(17) UNFCCC Draft decision -/CP.15, Copenhagen Accord, FCCC/CP/2009/L.7.


Forced evictions in Zimbabwe
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European Parliament resolution of 21 October 2010 on forced evictions in Zimbabwe
P7_TA(2010)0388RC-B7-0583/2010

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its numerous previous resolutions on Zimbabwe, most recently that of 8 July 2010(1),

–  having regard to Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 27(3) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 14(2) of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Articles 7(1)(d) and 7(2)(d) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,

–  having regard to Council Decision  2010/92/CFSP(2) of 15 February 2010, renewing until 20 February 2011 the restrictive measures against Zimbabwe imposed under Common Position 2004/161/CFSP(3), and to Commission Regulation  (EC) No 1226/2008(4) of 8 December 2008 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 314/2004 concerning certain restrictive measures in respect of Zimbabwe,

–  having regard to the Foreign Affairs Council conclusions of 22 February 2010 on Zimbabwe, and to the conclusions of the 10th EU-South Africa Ministerial Political Dialogue of 11 May 2010 on Zimbabwe,

–  having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, which Zimbabwe has ratified,

–  having regard to the July 2005 report by the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues, Anna Tibajuka,

–  having regard to the EU-ACP Partnership Agreement (Cotonou Agreement), signed on 23 June 2000,

–  having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas up to 20 000 people living in an informal settlement known as Hatcliffe Extension, on the outskirts of Harare, have been threatened with forced eviction for failing to pay prohibitively high lease renewal fees charged by the authorities,

B.  whereas the Government of Zimbabwe is demanding lease renewal fees of up to USD 140, without consulting residents about the fees or the renewal process, which sets a restrictively short timeframe within which to renew lease agreements or face forced eviction; whereas a shortage of housing for low-income people has led to the building of backyard cottages or extensions, which are now in apparent breach of building regulations,

C.  whereas the residents of Hatcliffe Extension are some of the poorest people in Zimbabwe, a country with a per capita income of less than 100 USD and chronic unemployment of around 90 %; whereas these forced expulsions are also destroying an informal employment sector, thereby depriving families of a stable income,

D.  whereas most residents were allocated the plots of land after being forcibly evicted by the authorities under the country's 2005 mass forced eviction programme, Operation Murambatsvina, in which around 700 000 people lost their homes and livelihoods,

E.  whereas Operation Garikai, which was designed to cater for the victims of evictions, was wholly inadequate as a remedy for the serious violations of the right to adequate housing perpetrated under Operation Murambatsvina,

F.  whereas, five years after the mass forced evictions, residents of the Operation Garikai settlements are surviving in deplorable conditions without access to basic essential services,

G.  whereas the issue of exorbitant lease fees is not restricted to Hatcliffe, and whereas the residents of other informal settlements around the country are also under threat of state-sanctioned forced eviction,

H.  whereas the appalling humanitarian, political, and economic situation in Zimbabwe is continuing to deteriorate, with millions of Zimbabweans continually at risk of starvation and surviving on food aid, in a country with the world's fourth-highest rate of HIV prevalence, fuel shortages and the sharpest rises in child mortality,

1.  Demands an immediate end to the threat of mass forced evictions in Zimbabwe, and insists that relief and humanitarian agencies be granted unrestricted access in order to assist those under threat and other internally displaced people;

2.  Calls on the Government of Zimbabwe immediately to scrap the arbitrarily imposed lease renewal fees, which residents simply have no means of paying; insists, in this connection, that the Zimbabwean authorities cease to use land-zoning laws coupled with forced evictions for party political gain, as was the case during the 2005 Operation Murambatsvina campaign; calls on the Government of Zimbabwe, therefore, to develop a housing policy that meets residents' needs, in consultation with all the victims of forced expulsions;

3.  Reminds the Government of Zimbabwe of its duty, under international conventions, to provide adequate housing for all those low-income people forcibly evicted from their homes, and to guarantee the rights to life, security and food, as well as providing protection for its citizens from the cycle of insecurity and from further violations by offering security of tenure and affordable payment plans for leases, inter alia by using mining-sector revenue to meet the needs of its people;

4.  Suggests that the Government of Zimbabwe conduct an assessment of the material and social losses caused by Operation Murambatsvina and other forced evictions, with a view to compensating all those who have lost their homes, livelihoods and social networks, including those living on or near the Marange diamond fields, and calls on it to consult local communities before taking any decisions;

5.  Insists that the Government of Zimbabwe review and modify Operation Garikai, in genuine consultation with survivors, so as to address the housing needs of all survivors of Operation Murambatsvina;

6.  Deeply regrets that Zimbabwe's attempts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, which are already severely off track, will only be further jeopardised by such mass evictions;

7.  Recalls that the fight against HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality is being undermined by the government's abusive practices, such as its eviction programme, which has disrupted access to basic health care and education;

8.  Calls on South Africa and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), in their own interests as well as those of Zimbabwe and the wider southern African region, to take further measures to encourage a return to full democracy in Zimbabwe and respect for the rule of law and the human rights of the people of Zimbabwe; recognises that Robert Mugabe and his close supporters continue to be a stumbling block in the process of political and economic reconstruction and reconciliation in Zimbabwe, plundering as they do its economic resources for their own benefit;

9.  Emphasises the importance of dialogue between the European Union and Zimbabwe, and welcomes the progress that has been made in this direction;

10.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States and candidate countries, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Governments and Parliaments of Zimbabwe and South Africa, the Co-Presidents of the EU-ACP Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the African Union institutions, including the Pan-African Parliament, the UN Secretary-General, the Secretary-General of the SADC and the Commonwealth Secretary-General.

(1) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2010)0288.
(2) OJ L 41, 16.2.2010, p. 6.
(3) OJ L 50, 20.2.2004, p. 66.
(4) OJ L 331, 10.12.2008, p. 11.


Cambodia, in particular the case of Sam Rainsy
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European Parliament resolution of 21 October 2010 on Cambodia, in particular the case of Sam Rainsy
P7_TA(2010)0389RC-B7-0550/2010

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its resolutions of 13 January 2005 on trafficking of women and children in Cambodia(1), 10 March 2005 on Cambodia(2), 1 December 2005 on the human rights situation in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam(3), 19 January 2006 on political repression in Cambodia(4) and its resolution of 15 March 2007 on Cambodia(5),

–  having regard to the Cooperation Agreement concluded in 1997 between the European Community and the Kingdom of Cambodia(6), in particular Article 1 (respect for human rights) and Article 19 (suspension of agreement if one party violates Article 1) thereof and Annex I (regarding Article 19) thereto,

–  having regard to the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders,

–  having regard to the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders approved by the Council on 14 June 2004 and updated in 2008,

–  having regard to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

–  having regard to the 17 June 2010 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, which deplores external interference in the work of the judiciary(7),

–  having regard to the decision taken by the Inter-Parliamentary Union's Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians at its meeting of 12 to15 July 2010,

–  having regard to the resolution of 6 October 2010 of the Inter-Parliamentary Union's Governing Council,

–  having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas a worrying authoritarian trend has been noticeable in Cambodia over the last few years; whereas this is reflected in a deterioration in the human rights situation, the stifling of fundamental freedoms, a brutal policy of land-grabbing that affects essentially the poor, the suppression of all forms of criticism and protest, the persecution of the parliamentary opposition and civil society activists, the use of the courts for political ends and a drift toward a one-party system,

B.  whereas Sam Rainsy, a member of the Cambodian parliament and the leader of his country's second largest political party, has been persecuted by the authoritarian ruling party and government of Cambodia,

C.  whereas on 23 September 2010 the opposition leader Sam Rainsy was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison on charges of disinformation and falsifying public documents by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court; whereas his conviction was based on an act of civil disobedience involving the uprooting of six wooden temporary border posts at the Vietnamese-Cambodian border, which is still disputed between the two countries; whereas the action took place in support of villagers who claimed to be victims of land-grabbing, saying that the Vietnamese had illegally shifted the posts onto Cambodian soil, in their rice fields, and that their complaints to the local authorities had remained unanswered,

D.  whereas on 13 October 2010 the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh decided to uphold a two-year handed down on 27 January 2010 by the Svay Rieng provincial court, in absentia, against Sam Rainsy in connection with a protest against alleged Vietnamese encroachment on Cambodian territory, but decided to release two villagers convicted along with Sam Rainsy, after nine months and 20 days in prison,

E.  whereas the strategy of Cambodia's ruling party is to use a politically subservient judiciary to crack down on all government critics,

F.  whereas an alarmingly high number of people are being held in detention in Cambodia owing to various shortcomings in the criminal justice system, and whereas there is still no guarantee of the independence and impartiality of the judiciary,

G.  whereas, according to human rights NGOs, the government has used the courts to silence criticism of its responses to land-grabbing, corruption and border disputes,

H.  whereas on 30 August 2010 a staffer of the NGO Licadho, Leang Sokchoeun, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment by the Takeo provincial court for allegedly distributing anti-government leaflets in January 2010; whereas, however, the trial was tainted by severe procedural irregularities,

I.  whereas Mu Sochua, an opposition member of parliament, has been convicted on a charge of defaming the Prime Minister,

J.  whereas the journalist Hang Chakra was detained for nine months after having denounced corruption in the entourage of Vice-President Sok An,

K.  whereas in 1995 Sam Rainsy was unconstitutionally expelled from the National Assembly, but managed to recover his parliamentary seat at subsequent elections; whereas he has escaped several assassination attempts, including a deadly grenade attack in 1997, but some 80 of his supporters have been murdered,

L.  whereas the ruling party has stripped him of his parliamentary immunity three times on questionable bases in order to have him sentenced to prison terms,

M.  whereas the EU is Cambodia's single largest donor,

1.  Condemns all politically motivated sentences against representatives of the opposition and NGOs, in particular the sentences of 23 September 2010, 13 October 2010 and 27 January 2010 against Sam Rainsy, as well as that of 30 August 2010 against Leang Sokchoeun and those against Mu Sochua and the journalist Hang Chakra;

2.  Reminds the Cambodian Government that it must fulfil its obligations and commitments regarding the democratic principles and fundamental human rights which are an essential element of the above-mentioned Cooperation Agreement, as stipulated in Article 1 of that Agreement;

3.  Calls on the Cambodian authorities to ensure that the NGO law which is currently in preparation will not restrict the activities of Cambodian civil society organisations on grounds of discretionary interpretation and will not be applied in such a way as to disadvantage civil society as well as the opposition;

4.  Calls on all political players to foster good neighbourhood policies within the region and a policy of reconciliation among ethnic and cultural groups in Cambodia;

5.  Notes that the UN Special Rapporteur has drawn attention to progress and efforts being made by the Cambodian Government, and wishes to see practical steps taken to bring about a noticeable and lasting improvement in the situation as regards human rights and the independence of the courts;

6.  Calls on the Cambodian authorities to:

   engage in political and institutional reforms to build a democratic state governed by the rule of law and founded on respect for fundamental freedoms;
   demonstrate their will to combat effectively the endemic scourges of corruption, massive deforestation resulting in the displacement of people, and the sex tourism industry, to reject the current culture of impunity and to bring to justice all those involved in such activities;
   guarantee free and fair political expression without intimidation and harassment;
   draw up an action programme and timetable for implementing the recommendations made in the Special Rapporteur's report;

7.  Is alarmed at the prosecution and sentencing to a 12-year prison term of the opposition leader Sam Rainsy, on account of a gesture which it considers to be of a symbolic and clearly political nature;

8.  Is particularly alarmed that, should it be upheld, this verdict would bar Sam Rainsy from standing in the 2013 parliamentary elections and would have consequences far beyond Sam Rainsy's case, as it is bound to affect the opposition as a whole, all the more so because the recent prosecutions of a number of outspoken opposition members have already narrowed down the political space, and would hence be detrimental to the democratic process in Cambodia;

9.  Calls therefore on the authorities to explore ways and means of resolving the issues at hand through political dialogue and to enable Sam Rainsy to resume his parliamentary activities as rapidly as possible;

10.  Calls on the Cambodian authorities to heed the recommendations made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia; invites the Parliament of Cambodia to debate his report in parliament and to take the necessary measures to ensure implementation of his recommendations;

11.  Calls on the European Union to take steps to ensure that fundamental freedoms, as enshrined in Article 1 of the above-mentioned Cooperation Agreement, are respected and that attacks on civil liberties have consequences; calls furthermore on the European Union to make continuation of its financial aid conditional upon an improvement in Cambodia's human rights record;

12.  Calls for an emergency humanitarian plan to be put in place, with EU involvement and UN coordination, to assist the Cambodians who have been hardest hit by the crisis, in particular those working in the textile and construction industries who have lost their jobs;

13.  Instructs its Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its Committee on Foreign Affairs to monitor developments;

14.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the governments of the ASEAN and ASEM member states, the ASEM secretariat, the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the government and National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

(1) Texts adopted, P6_TA(2005)0012.
(2) Text adopted, P6_TA(2005)0081.
(3) Texts adopted, P6_TA(2005)0462.
(4) Texts adopted, P6_TA(2006)0032.
(5) Texts adopted, P6_TA(2007)0085.
(6) OJ L 269, 19.10.1999, p. 18.
(7) http://www.un.org.kh/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=330:united-nations-special-rapporteur-on-the-situation-of-human-rights-in-cambodia-statement&catid=44:un-speeches-and-statements&Itemid=77


North Caucasus, in particular the case of Oleg Orlov
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European Parliament resolution of 21 October 2010 on the situation of human rights in the North Caucasus (Russian Federation) and the criminal prosecution against Oleg Orlov
P7_TA(2010)0390RC-B7-0549/2010

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to its resolution of 17 September 2009 on the murder of human rights activists in Russia(1),

–  having regard to the award on 16 December 2009 of its Sakharov Prize to Oleg Orlov, Sergei Kovalev and Lyudmila Alexeyeva on behalf of the Human Rights Centre Memorial and all other human rights defenders in Russia,

–  having regard to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the Russian Federation, which entered into force in 1997 and has been extended pending its replacement by a new agreement,

–   having regard to the ongoing negotiations on a new agreement establishing a new, comprehensive framework for EU-Russia relations,

–   having regard to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,

–  having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas, as a member of the Council of Europe and of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and a signatory to UN declarations, Russia has committed itself to protecting and promoting human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law,

B.  whereas there are some 20 000 cases pending at the European Court of Human Rights from the Russian Federation, mainly from the North Caucasus region; whereas the European Court of Human Rights has condemned the Russian Federation for serious human rights violations in the region in over 150 judgments and stresses the importance of the prompt and complete implementation of these judgments,

The situation of human rights in the North Caucasus

C.  whereas the situation of human rights defenders in the North Caucasus region, particularly in the Chechen Republic, Ingushetia and Dagestan, is alarming; whereas independent journalists, civil society activists, lawyers and human rights defenders in the region have often been the victims of threats and acts of violence, harassment and intimidation and their activities have been restricted by members of law-enforcement bodies; whereas the perpetrators of human rights violations continue to enjoy impunity and the rule of law continues to be flouted; whereas the civilian population remains subject to violence from both armed opposition groups and law-enforcement bodies; whereas torture and ill-treatment and arbitrary detention are common; and whereas NGOs which are independent of national governments are important for the development of civil society,

D.  whereas there is a generalised climate of fear in Chechnya, notwithstanding the undeniable successes in the area of reconstruction and the distinct improvement in the region's infrastructure; whereas the human rights situation and the functioning of the justice system and democratic institutions continue to give cause for the gravest concern,

E.  whereas successive disappearances of opponents of the government and human rights defenders have gone unpunished and are not being investigated with due diligence,

F.  whereas despite the constructive dialogue which has developed between the authorities and civil society in Ingushetia since the new President came to power there has been a worrying resurgence of violence since 2009, resulting in some cases in assassinations and disappearances of opponents of the government and journalists, without any prosecutions to date,

G.  whereas a growing number of disappeared residents of the North Caucasus republics have apparently been abducted in other Russian regions; whereas the whereabouts of Ali Dzhaniev, Yusup Dobriev, Yunus Dobriev and Magomed Adzhiev have remained unknown since around midnight on 28 December 2009 in St. Petersburg, and whereas the whereabouts of five people, Zelimkhan Akhmetovich Chibiev, Magomed Khaybulaevich Israpilov, Dzhamal Ziyanidovich Magomedov, Akil Dzhavatkhanovich Abdullaev and Dovar Nazimovich Asadov, three of whom are North Caucasus residents, have remained unknown since the night of 24-25 September 2010, when they went to the Historic Mosque in Moscow,

H.  whereas there are still some 80 000 internally displaced people in the North Caucasus more than 18 years after they were forced to flee their homes following a series of wars that broke out between Ingushetia and North Ossetia in 1992 and in Chechnya in 1994 and 1999; whereas these persons have difficulties in finding accommodation, in extending their residence permits, which limits their access to social services, in renewing internal passports and in obtaining ‘forced migrant’ status, which they need to gain access to jobs, social services and benefits,

I.  whereas on 3 September 2010 President Buzek expressed his deep solidarity with the families of the victims of the Beslan tragedy and urged the President of the Russian Federation to ensure that their rights are fully respected and that the truth behind the events of September 2004 is finally established,

J.  whereas there can be no justification whatsoever for acts of indiscriminate violence against the civilian population,

K.  taking note of the initiative by representaives of Russian and international civil society to establish a ‘Natalia Estemirova Documentation Centre’ for potential war crimes and other serious human rights violations committed in the course of the wars in Chechnya,

Criminal investigation against Oleg Orlov

L.  whereas the work of human rights organisations such as Memorial is essential for the creation of a stable and free society in Russia and the establishment of real and lasting stability in the North Caucasus in particular; whereas the Russian Government and the governments of the North Caucasus republics can therefore be proud of the important role played by such organisations,

M.  whereas Natalia Estemirova, the head of Memorial in Chechnya, was abducted on 15 July 2009 in Grozny and found dead in neighbouring Ingushetia; whereas the investigation of her murder has not made any progress in finding the killers and those ultimately responsible,

N.  whereas on 21 January 2010 Oleg Orlov and the Memorial Human Rights Centre were ordered by the Moscow City Civil Court to pay damages to Ramzan Kadyrov, the President of Chechnya,

O.  whereas on 9 February 2010 Ramzan Kadyrov publicly announced that he would drop the criminal proceedings he had initiated against Oleg Orlov, Chair of the Executive Board of the Human Rights Centre Memorial, and Ludmila Alexeyeva, Chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group, for defamation,

P.  whereas on 6 July 2010 Oleg Orlov was charged under Article 129 of the Russian Criminal Code and could face up to three years in jail if found guilty,

Q.  whereas the Russian Federation's Code of Criminal Procedure (in particular its Article 72) was seriously violated in the criminal investigation against Oleg Orlov,

R.  whereas the offices of several leading human rights organisations, including Memorial, were searched between 13 and 16 September 2010 and the organisations were ordered to provide numerous documents about their activities at short notice,

1.  Condemns all acts of terrorism and underlines that there can be no justification whatsoever for acts of indiscriminate violence against the civilian population; expresses its sympathy and solidarity with the friends and families of all victims of violence, including those of the recent Moscow Metro bombings, the recent attack against the Chechen Parliament, and the countless attacks continually made on the population of the Caucasian republics;

2.  Expresses its deepest concern at the resurgence of violence and acts of terrorism in the North Caucasus; calls, on the one hand, for an end to terrorism and, on the other, on the Russian authorities to put an end to the widespread climate of impunity for human rights violations and the absence of the rule of law in the region;

3.  Recognises Russia's right to fight real terrorism and armed insurgency in the North Caucasus, but urges the authorities to do so while upholding international human rights law; warns that continuing abuses and unlawful counter-insurgency methods will further antagonise the population and, instead of bringing stability, will cause a further escalation of violence in the region;

4.  Urges the Russian authorities to do everything in their power to ensure the protection of human rights defenders, as affirmed in the UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;

5.  Stresses that the lasting impunity in Chechnya contributes to destabilisation across the whole North Caucasus region;

6.  Strongly condemns any form of collective punishment against individuals suspected of having ties to insurgents, including the practice of burning homes belonging to families of active or alleged members of the armed opposition; asks the authorities to take concrete steps to prevent any recurrence of such violations and to punish the officials responsible for them at all levels;

7.  Urges Russia to provide unhindered access to the North Caucasus for international human rights organisations, the media and international governmental institutions, such as the Council of Europe, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the OSCE and the UN; furthermore, calls in particular on the competent authorities to create circumstances that allow Memorial and other human rights organisations fully to resume their activities in the North Caucasus in a safe environment;

8.  Expresses its deep concern at the growing number of disappeared residents of the North Caucasus republics who have apparently been abducted in other Russian regions and looks to the General Public Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation to clarify and confirm the whereabouts of these citizens;

9.  Urges the Russian federal authorities to ensure that long-term solutions for internally displaced persons (IDPs) are translated into action; calls for enhanced national government action to support the UNHCR operations to continue housing programmes for IDPs and to facilitate measures to improve IDPs' access to services and benefits; stresses that ongoing monitoring of IDPs is needed to ensure that their rights are not further violated; urges the Russian Government to formally recognise the concept of IDPs and to adapt its legislation accordingly;

10.  Calls on the Russian federal authorities to investigate the murder of Natalia Estemirova swiftly, thoroughly and effectively and bring both those responsible for and those involved in her brutal murder to justice;

11.  Rejects and condemns the cynical and absurd attempts to implicate Memorial in the crime of aiding terrorist organisations;

12.  Condemns the opening of a criminal investigation against Oleg Orlov and urges the competent authorities to reconsider the decision to open the criminal trial; points out that statements like Oleg Orlov's are legitimate in a democracy and should be subject to neither civil-law nor criminal-law penalties;

13.  Calls on the Russian authorities - should the trial continue - to ensure that there are no further violations of the law in the investigation and the court proceedings against Oleg Orlov and to comply in all circumstances with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international and regional human rights instruments ratified by the Russian Federation;

14.  Recalls that Oleg Orlov was awarded the European Parliament's 2009 Sakharov Prize and is thus under the European Parliament's special moral and political protection; urges the Russian Government to allow Oleg Orlov to attend the 2010 Sakharov Prize award ceremony in Strasbourg without hindrance;

15.  Condemns the intimidating search of the offices of human rights organisations and expects a clarification of the legality and aims of these actions;

16.  Deplores the fact that the continued human rights abuses are having a very negative impact on Russia's image and credibility in the world and casting a shadow over relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation, which are important and should develop into a strategic partnership, given the two sides' mutual dependence and various shared interests, in particular with regard to political, security, economic and energy cooperation, but also to respect for democratic principles and procedures and for basic human rights;

17.  Strongly supports the recommendations of the resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 22 June 2010 on legal remedies for human rights violations in the North Caucasus, which could do much to help put an end to the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of human rights violations and restore the people's trust in law-enforcement agencies;

18.  Calls on the Russian authorities to comply with all the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and to implement measures to rectify violations in individual cases, including by ensuring that effective investigations are conducted and by holding the perpetrators accountable, and to adopt general measures to implement the rulings, including policy and legal changes to prevent similar violations recurring;

19.  Recommends that the state authorities at federal, regional and local level start a constructive dialogue with civil society activists so that functioning democratic structures can develop;

20.  Calls for the EU-Russia human rights consultations to be stepped up and urges that this consultation process be opened up to effective input from the European Parliament, the Duma, the Russian judicial authorities and civil society and human rights organisations; calls on Russia to respect fully its obligations as a member of the OSCE and of the Council of Europe;

21.  Draws particular attention to the situation of thousands of North Caucasus refugees in EU Member States, with special reference to the diaspora from Chechnya living in Austria, which amounts to at least 20 000 people, including many minors; expresses serious concern, in that connection, at the murder of a Chechen refugee in Vienna in May 2010 and the grave allegations regarding the Chechen President's implication in that crime; calls for the EU Member States to implement a more coordinated, coherent and visible policy on the protection of North Caucasus refugees on European soil, in accordance with their humanitarian and human rights obligations;

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22.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Government and Parliament of the Russian Federation, the OSCE and the Council of Europe.

(1) Texts adopted, P7_TA(2009)0022.

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