RECOMMENDATION on the proposal for a Council and Commission decision concerning the conclusion of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part

17.7.2006 - (8161/2006 - C6‑0197/2006 – 2006/0044(AVC)) - ***

Session document
Rapporteur: Toomas Hendrik Ilves

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a Council and Commission decision concerning the conclusion of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part

(8161/2006 - C6‑0197/2006 – 2006/0044(AVC))

(Assent procedure)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the proposal for a Council and Commission decision (8161/2006),

–   having regard to the request for assent submitted by the Council pursuant to Article 300(3), second subparagraph, in conjunction with Article 300(2), first subparagraph, second sentence and Article 310 of the EC Treaty (C6‑0197/2006),

–   having regard to Rule 75 and 83(7) of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the recommendation of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on International Trade (A6‑0246/2006),

1.  Gives its assent to conclusion of the agreement;

2.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and the Republic of Albania.

OPINION of the Committee on International Trade (11.7.2006)

for the Committee on Foreign Affairs

on the proposal for a Council and Commission decision on the conclusion of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part
(8161/2006) – C6‑0197/2006 – 2006/0044(AVC))

Draftsman: Panagiotis Beglitis

SHORT JUSTIFICATION

INTRODUCTION

The proposal for a Council and Commission decision on the conclusion of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part, requires the assent of the European Parliament.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The draftsman, confirming the conclusions of the Thessaloniki European Council of June 2003 which formalised Albania's European perspective, considers that this agreement is the best way to help maintain the momentum of political and economic reform, and to encourage Albania to continue using its constructive and restraining influence in the region. He acknowledges the progress already made and thus recommends that the European Parliament agree to the conclusion of the above-mentioned Stabilisation and Association Agreement. The draftsman would nevertheless point out to the Albanian authorities that they should pay special attention to trade-related fields.

Free movement of goods

Raise awareness among economic operators of the concepts of standards and certification, and their importance in the context of international trade;

Ensure that the accreditation service has sufficient material infrastructure and staff, and adopt a full work programme with a view to Albania's future participation in European Cooperation for Accreditation;

Ensure that the bodies responsible for standardisation, accreditation and certification work more efficiently, taking into consideration Community practices;

Make the Albanian Consumers' Association operational by increasing its staffing levels, and make sure that Albanian products comply with European safety standards;

Right of establishment

Amend current legislation on the right of establishment, to ensure that there is equal treatment for foreign and national companies;

Customs and taxation

Continue aligning legislation and customs procedures with the body of existing Community legislation (acquis communautaire), ensuring in particular that the rules and procedures relating to transit, customs warehouses, customs valuation, physical checks and risk analysis comply with Community standards and, where necessary, with international conventions;

Ensure that Albanian customs and taxation law is increasingly approximated to the acquis communautaire, and further increase the administrative capacity to implement customs law and combat corruption, cross-border crime and tax evasion;

Adopt all necessary measures to ensure that the rules of origin are properly implemented;

Intellectual property rights

Strengthen the administrative capacity with regard to intellectual property rights, including the establishment of the Albanian copyright office;

Adopt new industrial property laws, raise awareness of intellectual property-related issues among the business world and law-enforcement bodies, including the judiciary, and designate the court having jurisdiction over intellectual property disputes;

Ensure that intellectual property rights are correctly implemented and achieve better results in the fight against piracy and counterfeiting;

Industry and SMEs

Remove administrative obstacles to investment and ensure that the law, rules and procedures relating to businesses are appropriately implemented, in a non-discretionary and
non-discriminatory way;

Agriculture

Strengthen the food safety system and relevant monitoring systems;

Improve phytosanitary and veterinary conditions in line with EU requirements, especially with regard to products with strong export potential; bring the system of animal registration and identification into line with EU requirements;

Develop a strategy for rural development and the diversification of agricultural activities; improve competitiveness in this sector and make it easier for farmers to obtain credit;

Energy and transport

Implement a national action plan in the energy sector, in particular with a view to resolving the problem of power cuts, which are considered to be too frequent;

Implement a national action plan concerning the transport sector, in order to take measures to improve safety, infrastructure and maintenance;

******

The Committee on International Trade calls on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, as the committee responsible, to propose that Parliament gives its assent.

PROCEDURE

Title	Proposal for a Council and Commission decision on the conclusion of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part
Procedure number	8161/2006 – C6 0197/2006 – 2006/0044 (AVC)
Committee responsible	AFET
Opinion by Date announced in plenary	INTA 4.7.2006
Enhanced cooperation – date announced in plenary
Draftsperson Date appointed	Panagiotis Beglitis 19.4.2006
Previous drafts(wo)man
Discussed in committee	19.6.2006
Date of adoption	11.7.2006
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	17 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Jean-Pierre Audy, Enrique Barón Crespo, Daniel Caspary, Christofer Fjellner, Béla Glattfelder, Sajjad Karim, Javier Moreno Sánchez, Georgios Papastamkos, Peter Šťastný, Robert Sturdy, Gianluca Susta, Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna, Zbigniew Zaleski
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Panagiotis Beglitis, Albert Deß, Antolín Sánchez Presedo, Jonas Sjöstedt
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote
Comments (available in one language only)	...

PROCEDURE

Title	Proposal for a Council and Commission decision on the conclusion of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Albania, of the other part
References	8161/2006 - C6-0197/2006 - 2006/0044(AVC)
Date of request for Parliament’s assent	21.6.2006
Committee responsible   Date announced in plenary	AFET 4.7.2006
Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)   Date announced in plenary	INTA 4.7.2006
Not delivering opinion(s)   Date of decision
Enhanced cooperation   Date announced in plenary
Rapporteur(s)   Date appointed	Toomas Hendrik Ilves 19.10.2005
Previous rapporteur(s)
Simplified procedure – date of decision
Legal basis disputed   Date of JURI opinion
Discussed in committee	20.6.2006		11.7.2006
Date adopted	12.7.2006
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	50 2 2
Members present for the final vote	Vittorio Agnoletto, Angelika Beer, Panagiotis Beglitis, André Brie, Elmar Brok, Marco Cappato, Simon Coveney, Véronique De Keyser, Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos, Camiel Eurlings, Jas Gawronski, Maciej Marian Giertych, Ana Maria Gomes, Alfred Gomolka, Klaus Hänsch, Richard Howitt, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Georgios Karatzaferis, Ioannis Kasoulides, Bogdan Klich, Vytautas Landsbergis, Cecilia Malmström, Willy Meyer Pleite, Francisco José Millán Mon, Pasqualina Napoletano, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, Raimon Obiols i Germà, Cem Özdemir, Tobias Pflüger, Mirosław Mariusz Piotrowski, Paweł Bartłomiej Piskorski, Bernd Posselt, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Michel Rocard, Raül Romeva i Rueda, José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, Jacek Emil Saryusz-Wolski, István Szent-Iványi, Konrad Szymański, Antonio Tajani, Paavo Väyrynen, Inese Vaidere, Geoffrey Van Orden, Josef Zieleniec
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Laima Liucija Andrikienė, Árpád Duka-Zólyomi, Milan Horáček, Georg Jarzembowski, Doris Pack, Athanasios Pafilis, Aloyzas Sakalas, Anders Samuelsen
Substitute(s) under Rule 178(2) present for the final vote	Mario Mauro, Francesco Musotto
Date tabled	17.7.2006
Comments (available in one language only)	...