The European Parliament,

-  having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

1.  Criticises the European Council for not having taken full account of the outcome of the European Parliament debate on the investiture of the designated Commission and for adopting a list with minimalist reshuffle only;

2.  Invites the Council to take up negotiations with Parliament on new procedures for the nomination and election of the Commissioners in order to avoid a situation where Parliament has to threaten to reject the whole Commission due to dissatisfaction with only a few members of the designated team;

3.  Reiterates its support for the proposal made by the Convention that every Member State should propose as Commissioners three personalities including both genders, from whom the president-designate chooses one; suggests, furthermore, that confirmation of the Commission by Parliament be done by individual vote on each Commissioner-designate;

4.  Shares the European Council's deep satisfaction that the 'Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe' was signed in Rome on 29 October 2004 and commits itself to doing the utmost to guarantee successful ratification in all Member States and to push for further strengthening of common policies at the European level;

I.  THE LISBON STRATEGY: PREPARING FOR THE MID-TERM REVIEW

5.  Welcomes the fact that the European Council came to the conclusion that the competitiveness of the European economy has to be developed through a balanced strategy having economic, social and environmental dimensions; reiterates its view that this balance is far from being already achieved, and urges for major efforts in all three dimensions which will materialise in concrete actions; commits itself to close monitoring to ensure that all three dimensions of the Lisbon strategy are treated on an equal footing;

6.  Notes that the heads of state charged the Commission to come forward, by the end of January 2005, with comprehensive proposals, taking due account of the review of the sustainability strategy, on the mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy;

7.  Is amazed that the European Council did not sketch out what political consequences it intends to draw from the work of the high-level group on the mid-term evaluation of the Lisbon process; insists that more focus is needed on social targets, in particular on social exclusion and employment, and that reduction of the 'administrative burden' must not endanger proper environmental assessment and participation of citizens;

II.  AREA OF FREEDOM, SECURITY AND JUSTICE: THE HAGUE PROGRAMME

8.  Takes note of 'The Hague Programme'; regrets its lack of ambition, in particular the absence of new policies and the fact that it is broadly limited to a commitment to the implementation of the instruments adopted since 1999 and to a vain attempt to relaunch the Tampere dynamics;

9.  Welcomes the commitment to implement qualified majority voting and codecision for almost the whole Title IV of the Treaty by 1 April 2005; regrets nevertheless the decision to exclude legal immigration from the 'passerelle' under Article 67.2; considers that such a decision gives an extremely negative signal by showing that the 25 EU Member States are able to progress only in the fight against illegal immigration without going further in a positive policy of legal immigration and of integration;

10.  Takes note of the commitment to a truly common asylum policy by 2010 on the basis of an evaluation by the Commission of the implementation of the first phase of the European asylum policy, to be made in 2007;

11.  Regrets that 'The Hague Programme', i.e. the external management of the asylum policy, is the only genuine innovation on the Tampere programme; stresses that support in the region of origin and transit must complement a common asylum procedure within the EU based upon high standards of delivery and in full recognition of the international obligations of the EU and its Member States;

12.  Believes that nationals from the main refugee-producing countries should not be submitted to strict visa requirements when entering the EU, but should be authorised to identify themselves with proper travel documents only;

13.  Insists that, as part of a common asylum policy, the EU should also explore the issuing of humanitarian visas to persons who justifiably want to seek asylum from countries where serious human rights violations are taking place, so that they can travel here legally; such persons would subsequently have their asylum claims considered through an asylum procedure within the Union;

14.  Regrets the Council's lack of commitment to implementing the principle of transparency regarding its legislative work without waiting for the Constitution to be ratified; affirms that this principle is already covered in the current Treaty (Article 207 TCE) and there is no reason for further delays;

15.  Takes note that, as regards judicial cooperation, the Council restricted itself to reaffirming the need to increase mutual confidence, considers essential to this end the rapid adoption of the legislative instruments aiming at guaranteeing a common basis for procedural safeguards and defendants' rights;

16.  Points out that the harmonisation of substantive criminal law must not in any case imply an obligation on EU Member States to set higher penalties for criminal offences that could damage public perception of justified penalties;

III.  EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

The US presidential elections

17.  Hopes strongly that the new US Administration will act constructively along with the international community in a multilateral framework and in compliance with international law; expects, in this regard, a deep political shift aimed at supporting the international organisations and abiding by the relevant treaties with regard, in particular, to the Kyoto Protocol and the International Criminal Court;

18.  Is convinced that a genuine transatlantic partnership can only be built on shared values leading to a community of action focused on peace-building, poverty-reduction, the fight against global diseases and collective security; reaffirms, in this respect, that the fight against terrorism cannot be carried out at the expense of human rights and must also address the root causes of the problem;

Sudan

19.  Expresses its concern about the widening instability in the Darfur region due to increased rebel activity in the area, which has triggered responses from the Sudanese military and police, as well as militia forces; stresses that the escalating violence is undermining humanitarian aid organisations' ability to provide effective food and other aid to the population;

20.  Calls on all parties to respect human rights and international humanitarian law by allowing humanitarian aid organisations to continue their work, refraining from any activity that prevents distribution of food and other aid to the population;

21.  Calls on all parties to find a peaceful and democratic solution rather than a military one, as the only way to put an end to the conflict;

22.  Considers that the root causes of the conflict in Darfur are underdevelopment, economic and political marginalisation of the population of the region, absence of the rule of law, and the undemocratic nature of the present regime;

23.  Calls on the Government of Sudan to agree to the establishment of an international human rights commission to independently assess the crimes committed in the Darfur region since April 2003;

Côte d'Ivoire

24.  Believes that the violence which recently erupted in Abidjan - after the Ivorian defence forces had bombarded a French base and French forces had destroyed almost the entire airforce of France's former colony - cannot be attributed to the ethnic factor alone, but has complex and multidimensional origins, including in particular poverty, unequal distribution of wealth, social injustice, human rights violations, the oppression of minorities, religious discrimination and the dysfunctional state; calls on all belligerents to resume negotiations with a view to ending a conflict that threatens to destabilise the entire region; condemns all aggression against foreigners living in Côte d'Ivoire; recommends, considering the breakdown in mutual trust between Côte d'Ivoire and France, the phased replacement of the French peace-keeping force under UN auspices by other, neutral forces;

Iraq

25.  Welcomes the fact that the Netherlands, Hungary and Bulgaria have announced the reduction or withdrawal of their troops, and regrets that the Council does not call for a specific plan for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq;

26.  Welcomes the EU-supported initiative for a large international conference on Iraq involving Iraq's neighbours, the Arab League, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the UN and the G8, to take place in Sharm-el-Sheikh on 22 and 23 November 2004;

27.  Regrets that the future participants could not agree on a univocal condemnation of violence against civilians in their preparatory negotiations for a final declaration, and calls on the EU Member States' troops engaged in Iraq to apply the utmost restraint towards civilians;

28.  Is saddened by recent American surveys which estimate at 100 000 the number of Iraqi casualties since the beginning of the war, and demands that the Iraqi Interim Government and the involved troops render civilian and military casualties on all sides public;

29.  Reiterates its strong condemnation of all hostage-taking and deliberate killings of civilians by armed groups in Iraq, and calls in this context for the immediate and unconditional release of Margaret Hassan, who has been engaged for decades in a struggle to improve the situation of the Iraqi people;

30.  Supports the plea of the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, for a negotiated solution on Falluja, and shares his concern that a large-scale offensive could further destabilise Iraq, a country already deeply divided along religious and ethnic lines, and might jeopardise elections;

31.  Warns that an assault on Falluja could be in breach of the laws of war and the Geneva Conventions in exceeding proportionality in terms of means and ends and having grossly indiscriminate effects on civilians and civilian homes; is concerned in this context at reports that the local hospital has been occupied by the attacking troops in order to block information on the number of casualties;

32.  Deplores the Council's failure to take a position on the warnings issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding the imminent dangers of nuclear proliferation and contamination in Iraq, due to 'the widespread and apparently systematic dismantling that has taken place at sites previously relevant to Iraq's nuclear programme';

33.  Calls on the multinational forces and the Iraqi Provisional Government to immediately grant unimpeded access for the IAEA to all of Iraq's nuclear installations in order to perform an overall assessment of the sites, as well as of possible radioactive contamination of people and the environment, and to fully inform the IAEA of all their activities in connection with Iraq's known former nuclear sites;

34.  Calls on the Council to take the initiative for a decontamination and support programme to come to the aid of the affected population; calls on the Commission to mobilise ECHO in order to provide emergency aid to this end;

35.  Demands that all concerned states comply with the IAEA's request to provide information on nuclear material originating I Iraq;

36.  Supports the EU's proposal for an 'integrated police, rule of law and civilian administration mission' to strengthen Iraq's police, judiciary, penitentiary system and criminal investigation capacities;

37.  Recalls in this context the serious reservations that international human rights organisations have raised over the capacities of the special tribunal for the prosecution of members of the Saddam Hussein regime to deliver justice, and calls on the EU Presidency to discuss with the Iraqi Interim Government the setting-up of a joint Iraqi/international commission for missing persons and a similar body to oversee the handling of documents of the former government;

The Middle East

38.  Urges the Council and Commission to make every effort to ensure that the transition within the Palestinian National Authority takes place in a smooth and transparent way, and calls on the Council to take the initiative in the Quartet to define a timetable leading in a short time to elections in the occupied territories, so as to fully enable a new and legitimate Palestinian leadership to resume negotiations with its Israeli counterpart;

39.  Points out, in this respect, that the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza strip must be made consistent with the Road Map, of which it could represent only a first step with a view to a final, comprehensive and negotiated agreement;

40.  Draws attention to the dramatic situation of the Palestinian population, and calls on the Council to raise with the Israeli government the issue the respect for all clauses of the Association Agreement, with regard in particular to the human rights clause; urges the Commission to increase humanitarian assistance in the occupied territories; calls on the Israeli authorities not to hinder the action of the international organisations;

Iran: nuclear issues

41.  Underlines its conviction that the use of all forms of nuclear energy should be phased out in the EU and elsewhere, and expresses its strong concern over the nuclear ambitions of the Iranian government;

42.  Welcomes, however, the Council's conclusions on Iran, which offer the possibility for a peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis with Iran;

43.  Agrees with the Council's approach regarding the resumption of negotiations on an EU-Iran trade and cooperation agreement in exchange for the suspension of all attempts at nuclear enrichment by the Iranian authorities; believes, however, that such enhanced EU-Iran relations should at the same time lead to an open and public debate on issues of disagreement, notably on democracy and human rights, in line with 's position of 28 October 2004;

Ukraine

44.  Deplores the way the Ukrainian authorities managed the first round of the presidential elections, marred by massive falsifications and irregularities; calls on them to make all efforts to avoid such misconduct in the second round; urges the Kiev government not to miss the opportunity of developing stronger political and contractual relations with the EU in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy;

Mediterranean

45.  Welcomes the end of the negotiations between the Commission and Syria over the association agreement; expects Damascus to show concrete and substantial progress in the field of human rights; calls on the Council and Commission to make this the core issue for all the partner countries in the development of the Common Strategy on the Mediterranean.

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