The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Transatlantic Declaration on EU-US relations of 1990 and the New Transatlantic Agenda of 1995,

–  having regard to the Conclusions of the Brussels European Council of 16/17 December 2004 and in particular to those on an international order based on effective multilateralism and on working with partners,

–  having regard to its resolution of 22 April 2004 on the state of the Transatlantic Partnership on the eve of the EU-US Summit in Dublin on 25-26 June 2004(1),

–  having regard to the results of the EU-US Summit held on 25-26 June 2004 in Dublin,

–  having regard to its resolution of 13 January 2005 on Transatlantic Relations(2),

–  having regard to its previous resolutions of 17 May 2001 on the state of the transatlantic dialogue(3), of 13 December 2001 on EU judicial cooperation with the United States in combating terrorism(4), of 15 May 2002 on Reinforcing the Transatlantic Relationship: Focusing on Strategy and Delivering Results(5) and of 19 June 2003 on a Renewed Transatlantic Relationship for the Third Millennium(6) and to its Recommendation of 10 March 2004 on the Guantánamo detainees’ right to a fair trial(7),

–  having regard to House Draft Resolution 77 of 9 February 2005 on Transatlantic Relations,

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

A.  whereas democracy, human rights and the rule of law, sustainable economies and sustainable development have proven to be common values able to form a solid basis for both the transatlantic partnership and European integration, which together have brought about stability, peace and prosperity in our societies during the last 60 years,

B.   whereas, as stated in the European Security Strategy, the transatlantic partnership is irreplaceable,

C.   whereas, however, new threats and conflicts challenge those values and achievements in the new international environment to such an extent that only cooperation between the transatlantic partners based on a firm institutionalised structure can bring any hope of success,

D.  whereas the New Transatlantic Agenda has succeeded in preventing the outbreak of a transatlantic trade war but has also proved insufficient to resolve high-level political issues such as decisions regarding the use of force and issues regarding world order,

E.   whereas the moment has therefore arrived for the New Transatlantic Agenda of December 1995 to be urgently revised in order to take account of current realities and further deepen transatlantic relations on the clear assumption that working together brings more benefits to each partner than working in different, or indeed opposite, directions,

F.   whereas this resolution provides an initial response to the Commission's recent Communication on EU-US relations,

1.   Strongly welcomes the improving climate of transatlantic relations, as evidenced in the recent handling of both global and bilateral issues by governmental and legislative leaders on both sides of the Atlantic; believes that this positive backdrop offers serious opportunities for the European Union and the United States to work closely together in the years to come on a wide range of policy challenges of common concern;

2.   Stresses that, on the tenth anniversary of the Madrid Declaration, new impetus should be given to transatlantic relations by expanding the agenda of global cooperation through the completion of the transatlantic market by 2015 and the updating of the New Transatlantic Agenda to be replaced by a Transatlantic Partnership Agreement operational from 2007; undertakes in this regard to make every effort to ensure real success at the forthcoming Summit in Washington DC on 20 June 2005;

3.   Takes the view that the above-mentioned Transatlantic Partnership Agreement should expand the existing Agenda in both the political and economic fields, on the understanding that the cornerstone of the partnership should primarily remain political engagement, and considers that completing the Transatlantic Market by 2015 should be the goal of a stronger economic relationship;

4.   Believes that a broader framework of this nature will allow the EU and the US more effectively to combine their efforts to encourage others to move towards upholding the vital principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law around the world;

5.   Recommends that both partners should also enhance their cooperation in the security field by intensifying their political dialogue on the security strategies of each side in order to better ensure complementarity when appropriate;

6.   Recognises that the EU-US Summit process should be a vital forum for the discussion of major priorities of both a global and bilateral nature, imparting strategic impetus to the relationship, rather than sometimes being side-tracked by issues of minor importance;

7.   Welcomes in this respect the recent Communication from the Commission on a stronger EU-US Partnership, which represents a valuable first step towards the concept of a Transatlantic Partnership Agreement, but criticises its lack of courage; notes that, besides boosting EU-US trade and investment relations, the Transatlantic Partnership Agreement should go wider;

8.   Reiterates its rejection of the proposed lifting of the embargo on arms exports to China, unless and until the human rights situation in that country substantially improves; believes that it would be helpful for a high-level group to be established at the EU-US annual summit on 20 June 2005 to develop a joint EU-US approach to the question of exports involving technology transfer;

9.   Believes that the current visa obligation for new EU Member States is contrary to the spirit of the strengthening transatlantic relations between the US and unified Europe; therefore recommends that visa requirements for citizens of new EU Member States in Central and Eastern Europe travelling to the US be abolished;

10.  Recommends that the proposed Transatlantic Partnership Agreement establish a transatlantic 'community of action' for regional and global cooperation and address challenges through joint action in fields such as:

(a)  the advancement of the peace process in the Middle East in agreement with the governments and people of the region and on the basis of the Quartet's Road Map,

(b)  the quest for global security in working together on the following issues in the light of the shared goal of achieving the objective set out in paragraph 4 above:

(i)  fighting international terrorism and non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and in particular Iran's nuclear programme and North Korea's nuclear ambitions,

(ii)  promotion and development of common approaches to relationships with other major geopolitical actors such as China, India, Japan, Latin America and Russia,

(iii) rapid reactions to sudden and unexpected uprisings and conflicts, such as recently experienced in the Ukraine, Lebanon and Kazakhstan,

(iv)  effective responses to global challenges, including poverty reduction, climate and environmental protection and natural disasters,

(v)  development of military capabilities in accordance with common NATO commitments and support for the democratic transformation of authoritarian regimes,

(c)  enhancement of the transatlantic economic partnership in the framework of the above-mentioned Transatlantic Partnership Agreement, reducing regulatory and other non-tariff barriers to transatlantic trade and investment with the goal of establishing a barrier-free Transatlantic Market by 2015, complemented by a Transatlantic Aviation Agreement and an effective Financial Market Regulatory Dialogue; furthermore, recalls that the conclusion of the multilateral WTO Doha Development Agenda is a real priority for sustainable global growth, to which end the EU and the US should fully work together; considers that bilateral EU-US economic initiatives will be complementary to this process, especially in the regulatory field;

11.  Believes that, notwithstanding the difficulties with respect to the ratification of the Treaty establishing a European Constitution, the political impetus towards updating the NTA remains powerful and that this process should underpin the whole partnership;

12.  Considers it equally essential that political issues on which there is profound disagreement, such as Guantánamo Bay, or where there are strong differences of opinion over certain international instruments, be discussed by both partners in a spirit of cooperation; stresses to this end that the importance of a full understanding of the values at stake, such as strict respect for human rights provisions and the quest for an effective multilateral approach, must be the basis for the joint discussions, as they have been the distinctive characteristics of our democratic approach towards the rest of the world since we jointly founded the United Nations system;

13.  Reiterates the view that NATO, as the cornerstone of collective defence, should become a forum for political debate in a true partnership of equals, where a sensible balance must be struck between the instruments of prevention, crisis management and military capability; recommends to this end a closer security relationship between NATO and the European Union; believes that a stronger EU-US partnership will complement, rather than undermine, this relationship;

14.  Considers it, in addition, to be vital that the EP and the US Congress adopt common positions on certain global issues and priorities, such as those mentioned above; declares itself to this end ready to fully revive the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue and to activate a common early warning system for legislative, political and commercial purposes;

15.  Calls on the Summit to reinforce the parliamentary dimension of the Transatlantic Partnership by transforming the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue into a Transatlantic Assembly able to jointly deal with the political, security, trade, economic and social aspects of the partnership.

16.  Believes that the role of other dialogues under the New Transatlantic Agenda should also be reassessed; believes in particular that the Transatlantic Business Dialogue will need to be reshaped in order to provide effective business input on technical issues in view of the aim of completing the transatlantic market;

17.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments of the Member States and the President and Congress of the United States of America.

(1) Texts Adopted, P5_TA(2004)0375. (2) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0007. (3) OJ C 34 E, 7.2.2002, p. 359. (4) OJ C 177 E, 25.7.2002, p. 288. (5) Texts Adopted, P5_TA (2003)0243. (6) Texts Adopted, P5_TA (2003)0291. (7) Texts Adopted, P5_TA (2004)0168.