MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
16.2.2005
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Monica Frassoni and Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
on the Commission's legislative and work programme for 2005
B6‑0109/2005
European Parliament resolution on the Commission's legislative and work programme for 2005
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Commission work programme for 2005 (COM(2005) 15),
– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
Prosperity
1. Welcomes the statement by the Commission that sustainable development is 'the overarching objective'; insists that the so-called three 'pillars' of economic, environmental and social policy should be addressed in an integrated way as equally important and interdependent dimensions of the Lisbon Process; wishes this to be reflected in the coordination of the Commission services and the preparation of the Spring Councils, with equal rights given to all Council formations related to sustainability and, consequently, proposes to rename the Spring Councils as "Spring Sustainability Councils",
2. Is aware that environment policy must take account of economic needs, but also of environmental and social needs; believes that, far from being only a threat to European competitiveness, strict environment policy opens major economic opportunities:
- ∙first, environment policy creates both direct and indirect jobs on a large scale; it has been calculated that the eco-industries sector employs more than 2 million people in Europe, and continues to grow at around 5% a year, thus performing better than the rest of the economy;
- ∙secondly, export opportunities in this sector, not least to fast-growing developing countries looking to improve their environmental performance, are huge, giving particular chances to 'first movers'; asks therefore for proposals to shift subsidies from environmentally harmful to environmentally promising areas;
3. Insists that increased competitiveness should not be pursued at the expense of social or environmental standards; asks the Commission, in this respect, to withdraw the current proposal for a services directive, especially because of the country-of-origin principle contained therein and its scope, and instead to submit first a directive on services of general interest; welcomes, on the other hand, the Commission's commitment to its REACH proposal and to following the regular codecision procedure, awaiting Parliament's first reading before modifying its proposal;
Solidarity
4. Is of the opinion that social cohesion, social inclusion, social dialogue and combating discrimination and inequality are cornerstones for an effective policy to create more and better jobs leading to higher productivity and increased competitiveness, and stresses that these considerations should remain at the basis of measures taken by Member States and the Commission in implementing the Social Policy Agenda; welcomes the Commission's intention to adopt a 'European Pact for Youth', but stresses that this generation should be able to offer the next generation more prospects than just an 'employment' perspective in an ageing society, and underlines the importance of culture, sports, education, anti-discrimination and integration policies in this respect;
Security
5. Believes that security and freedom are mutually reinforcing objectives: security depends as much on the level of freedom that citizens enjoy as freedom depends on the level of security that citizens enjoy; regrets therefore that the Commission legislative and work programme is mainly focused on a security approach (fight against terrorism) aimed at reinforcing cooperation between law enforcement services and improving the exchange of information, including personal data;
Better law making, implementation, simplification and interinstitutional relations
6. Reiterates that impact assessments need to take social and environmental concerns into account on an equal footing with economic concerns; points out that such assessments are to be distinguished from cost-effectiveness assessments and that the latter should not call into question the initial objectives of proposed legislation; welcomes the fact that the Commission intends to consult civil society and other interested parties when preparing policy;
7. Considers that Parliament should be fully involved in the selection of laws that can be simplified and in the monitoring of the effects and results; insists that simplification should not lead to the circumventing of the objectives of adopted legislation, notably legislation adopted in codecision, and should not reduce the level of protection of human health and the environment;
8. Expects the Commission to hold true to its commitment of 'rigorous treatment of infringement' and assumes that the Commission, in line with this new priority, will take the necessary measures to strengthen its administrative capacity, especially as regards infringement procedures concerning environmental legislation, which constitute a large share of infringement cases;
9. Is concerned about a series of proposals for financial action programmes for the period 2007-2013 that are to be decided in codecision but lack concrete content and leave it up to the Commission and the Council to decide alone on the choice of actions for the implementation of the programme (e.g. the Development Cooperation Instrument); takes the view that Parliament should be fully involved in policy making in those areas (notably the multi-annual and country strategy papers), and asks the Commission and the Council to enter into dialogue with Parliament to find solutions to fill this democratic gap; warns that, in the absence of a solution to this problem , Parliament may well decide to reject or substantially modify the current proposals;
10. Reiterates its request for the administrative burden to be reduced where possible as regards both the Commission and beneficiaries of EU funding, especially where it concerns small grants that offer a high value for money, and awaits appropriate proposals in this respect from the Commission when coming forward with a revision of the Financial Regulation and its implementing rules;
Financial perspective
11. Considers the Commission proposal for a new financial perspective, set at an average level of 1.14% of EU GNI in payment appropriations, as a minimum level to achieve the tasks and ambitions of an enlarging EU and consequently holds proposals by certain Member States to set the future financial framework at 1% of EU GNI to be unacceptable; recalls that the future financial framework must allow for sufficient flexibility to cope with new needs and events that cannot be foreseen in 2006; asks for a more coherent interinstitutional dialogue to be held by the Commission, the Council and Parliament on the Annual Policy Strategy, including adaptations to the annual budget, multi-annual programmes and/or the financial perspective, where necessary;
12. Is concerned that a lower level of funding than that proposed by the Commission will not only lower support for the poorer regions in the EU, but also destroy ambitions in the field of rural development, environment, culture and education programmes, programmes that have a high visibility and a positive impact on the quality of life; criticises the Commission for not having proposed a separate fund for Natura 2000 and for not providing for adequate funding, within Life + or in structural and rural development funds, for Natura 2000;
13. Believes that the agreement reached at the European Council in Brussels in October 2002 on the first pillar of the CAP budget (market expenditure and direct payments) should be renegotiated, with a view to strengthening environmentally friendly farming practices, management of Natura 2000 sites and other rural activities; points out that further modulation and the introduction of national co-financing of direct and market expenditure could shift funds in the EU budget towards these purposes;
Environment and public health
14. Welcomes the fact that the Commission sees tackling climate change as a prerequisite for sustainable growth; fails to understand, in that light, why the Commission is not recommending binding targets for emission reductions for the post-2012 period, in particular a 2020 target;.
15. Finds it unacceptable that the Commission does not foresee legislative action in the priority area of climate change; finds it unacceptable that three of the seven Thematic Strategies foreseen are limited to non-legislative communications, meaning that no legislative action is foreseen in the priority areas of natural resources and waste; finds it unacceptable that the Commission does not foresee legislative action to halt bio-diversity decline by 2010;
16. Calls on the Commission to present legislative action to halt climate change, bio-diversity decline and further increases in waste generation; stresses that the programme of simplification should not lead to a reduced level of protection of human health and the environment;
17. Welcomes the Commission's intention to present a Green Paper on nutrition and health in order to combat obesity, but regrets that the legislative proposals on food labelling and nutritional labelling are not to be found in the work programme, although these legislative actions were announced already in 2004;
Transport
18. Expects the Commission, within its global assessment of the 'White Paper on a Future Common Transport Policy up to 2010', to reflect on a better modal shift from road and air transport to more sustainable modes, especially in sensitive areas, to carefully consider the development of the public service in the transport sector and to include the principle of real costs as a matter of priority into road (eurovignette) and air transport (kerosene taxation) as well as into airport charging;
19. Emphasises the need, within the third package of maritime safety, for avoidance of accidents and marine pollution by devising prevention strategies and more efficient controls and including this in its promotion of short sea shipping and maritime highways;
Culture, youth, citizenship
20. Welcomes the decision of the Commission to propose a revision of the Television without Frontiers directive; recalls, in this framework, the importance of preserving public service broadcasting and stresses that,despite the new technological developments, the new regulation should take into account general interest objectives such as access to information, cultural diversity and media pluralism (follow-up to the Boogerd Quaak report);
21. Recalls the decisions taken under the Ebner report asking for the creation of a European Agency for Linguistic Diversity and Language Learning aiming at the promotion of multilingualism; ss disappointed that the Commission has not yet issued a proposal for this purpose; awaits the proposal for a new citizenship programme and believes that the group of beneficiaries should be widened so as also to encompass e.g. social platforms, organisations working against racism and discrimination and political foundations; recalls the importance of improving the information policy of the EU so that citizens are more aware of what the EU is doing and how it functions;
22. Believes that the new programme for life-long learning is a step in the right direction of making these programmes accessible to a larger number of students, pupils and teachers, but would like to see a programme that gives all students and pupils the possibility to go abroad for study;
Industry, research, energy, software patents and ICT
23. Recommends that environmental technologies be strongly supported, given their positive impact not only on the environment but also on innovation, growth and employment, and therefore underlines the importance of ETAP (Environmental Technologies Action Plan);
24. Welcomes the creation of the High-Level Group on the automotive industry (CARS-21) and recommends that it take into account sustainable mobility and specifically R&D on energy-efficient cars;
25. Considers that the Framework Programme is one of the most important tools for achieving the objectives contained in the Lisbon Strategy, but underlines that the quality of the future research programme and access to research funds for smaller research units are just as important as the quantity of the future research budget; recommends that funds be given as a priority to research programmes that match the EU economic, environmental and social standards lying at the core of the Lisbon Strategy, as well as to intensify its efforts on sustainable surface transport research and sustainable energy economy; believes that there is no added value in reaching the Lisbon and Gothenburg objectives through research into nuclear power, and proposes that these funds be redirected inter alia into research and market development of renewable energies and other eco-technologies; recommends an active policy of support for the use of information commons-based schemes for the dissemination of research results in all fields for which they prove adequate;
26. Calls for the promise by Commissioner Piebalgs to make energy savings, energy efficiency, including mandatory targets, and renewables a priority to be swiftly followed by implementing policies and an independent action programme on 'intelligent energy', and considers that the Green Paper on energy supply should focus on measures to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, thus reducing CO2 emissions, in the transport sector as elsewhere;
27. Requests the Commission to re-draft the directive on the patentability of so-called 'computer implemented inventions' in order to establish a clear legal distinction between what is technical and can be patented and what is not; recommends that the Commission give more support to the development of free and open source software within the strategy for the European Information Society up to 2010;
Agriculture and Fisheries
28. Believes that sustainable rural development measures must increase the variety of sources of employment or income in line with the Lisbon and Gothenburg goals and provide a set of investment offers for these purposes, preferably based on a bottom-up approach like LEADER, with special consideration for Natura 2000 and high nature value farming areas;
29. Is of the opinion that the EU sugar market must be reorganised through a sound supply management system and a qualified tariff protection in order to fully apply social/environmental standards in trade, in line with the principle of cross compliance, which apply to other farming sectors since the latest reform of the common agricultural policy; reiterates its request that all forms of EU export subsidies be abolished, including 'C sugar', that the money stemming from implementing qualified external protection should be paid into a fund for the developing countries to promote food security, sustainable production methods, agricultural diversification and sustainable rural development, and that preferences and quotas should remain as instruments for fairer distribution of sugar production and trade;
30. Considers it most unfortunate that the Commission's proposal for a second financial instrument for fisheries, covering external policy action, scientific research, governance, data collection and control and surveillance, has not yet been published, over six months after the proposal for the European Fisheries Fund was released; considers that the many links between the objectives and measures of these two instruments mean that it is not possible to properly evaluate one in the absence of the other; calls on the Commission to finalise the proposal for the second instrument as soon as possible;
31. Notes the large number of third-country fisheries agreements to be negotiated or renewed during 2005 and notes that many of the Commission's evaluations describe the extent of over-exploitation of certain fish stocks in these countries; insists that agreements must only be negotiated when there is scientific evidence of a surplus of fish beyond the needs of the local fishing industry and where the third country can demonstrate its ability to effectively control fishing operations in its waters; further regrets that the Commission has not produced its paper on evaluating fish stocks outside Community waters, promised in 2002;
Justice, liberty and security (JLS)
32. Considers that the Commission should, as a matter of urgency, in view of the adoption of the framework decision on data retention and of the setting up of VIS and SIS II, submit a framework decision on data protection providing in the 3rd pillar the same level of protection as provided in the first pillar (Directive 95/46CE); asks the Commission to take an initiative for the setting up of a common data protection supervisory authority in the third pillar;
33. Is worried about the fact that the main proposals concerning asylum concern return policy and expulsions; affirms that return policy must be seen as part of a comprehensive approach to migrations providing for legal channels of immigration in the EU; affirms that return policy must be based on full respect for the international obligations of the EU and its Member States as well as on a humanitarian approach;
34. Is of the opinion that the question of the new trend in some Member States to refuse and/or withdraw refugee status in the case of people suspected of terrorism should be addressed by the draft directive on asylum procedures;
35. Affirms that it is desirable, under the current treaty and without waiting for the entry into force of the Constitution, to transform Europol into a European agency based on a framework decision guaranteeing full competence of the Court of Justice and parliamentary scrutiny; this should be a precondition for a widening of its tasks, e.g. to host the Law Enforcement Network;
36. Asks the Commission to help the Council to adopt the framework decision on racism and xenophobia as a matter of urgency, while expressing its reservation about Commissioner Frattini's recent proposal on a European ban on Nazi symbols, because prohibitionist policies can be counterproductive;
37. Asks the Commission to take legislative initiatives pursuant to Article 13 of the EC Treaty for the rights of third-country nationals and minorities, to table a legal instrument for renewing Regulation 1049/01 on access to EU institutions' documents and asks for the action plan on drugs to be based on the recommendation adopted by the EP on 15 December 2004;
External relations
38. Points out that stability, security and prosperity in neighbouring countries can only be achieved through lasting and comprehensive settlements of the existing conflicts; calls, in this respect, on the Commission to engage more deeply in the search for a solution to the conflicts in Transnistria, South Caucasus and the Middle East providing the framework for an enhanced EU assistance to parties conditional to the resumption of dialogue and the establishment of confidence-building measures;
39. Urges the Commission to discuss with the European Parliament the concept of 'strategic partnerships' with third countries, which must be based on the sharing and promotion of common values; calls, in this regard, for an overall assessment of the strategic partnerships with the Russian Federation and China;
40. Takes the view that every possible effort should be made to achieve the reunification of Cyprus, which is still an open wound in the enlargement process; calls on the Commission to strengthen inter-community projects thus building up the momentum for the resumption of negotiations;
41 Stresses that the entire Western Balkans constitute a region of the highest priority for the EU, and that the future of the region is certainly one of European integration; calls on the EU to develop a clear supportive strategy for gradual integration, depending on the democratisation process of respective countries, and proposes that the EU, acting in cooperation with the UN, play a decisive role in establishing a clear roadmap and time frame with the aim of reaching a conclusion on the final status of Kosovo; further calls on the EU to take initiatives for thoroughly evaluating and revising the Dayton agreements with the aim of establishing a roadmap and time frame to ensure self-governance of BiH; believes that the massacre that took place 10 years ago in Srebrenica is a permanently open wound in the history of Europe that should be duly remembered so that it never happens again; calls in this regard on the Council to declare 11 July the European Day of Remembrance, whilst taking appropriate initiatives to commemorate this tragedy in all Member States, in the European institutions and in the Western Balkan countries;
42. Stresses the need for a concrete action plan for the achievement of the Millennium Development goals by 2015 to be presented to the 60th UN General Assembly in September 2005, including inter alia: a Council decision to achieve within the European Union the 0.7% line of GDP in ODA by 2010, concrete EU proposals to carry forward the five-country initiative on innovative financial instruments and a clarification of the structures within the RELEX family in order to preserve a clear and important role for development and human rights within the new financial programmes;
43. Believes that every effort should me made to give more consistency and coherence to the external action of the European Union, fully integrating in its policies the human rights dimension and conflict prevention aspects; calls, in this regard, on the Commission to evaluate and define a clear mechanism for implementation of the human rights clause included in contractual relations with third countries, including the Cotonou Agreement, Euro-Mediterranean association agreements and the action plans in the European Neighbourhood Policy, and to redefine, in light of this, present and future strategic partnerships;
44. Urges the Commission to promote urgent WTO reform in order to put sustainability and poverty eradication before market opening requirements, enhance real Special and Differential Treatment (S&D) and revise negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements with ACP partners to ensure they are instruments for ACP development and poverty eradication;
45. Insists on the necessity, in view of the tenth anniversary of the Barcelona process, to review Article 2 of all association agreements with Mediterranean countries in order to evaluate whether respect for human rights and democratic principles is fully implemented in those agreements; calls on the Commission to fully implement its ten priority action plans; reiterates its call to give civil society a central role in the partnership with the Mediterranean countries and recalls that the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly should also play a key role in addressing the question of democracy and human rights in the region; insists on the need to preserve EIDHR, which should be used within the Wider Europe-Neighbourhood strategy as part of the measuring mechanism for compliance with human rights and democracy criteria;
46. Agrees with the Commission that security and stability can only be obtained by addressing the roots of conflicts; points out that this means that conflict prevention must be the main purpose of any external action of the European Union; is convinced that the European Union's 'full credible capability for (global) action' cannot be reached without fully developing the capabilities for civil crisis intervention; reiterates in this perspective the need for the establishment of a fully fledged European Civil Peace Corps;
47. Underlines that the Commission's initiative concerning the 'Green Paper on defence procurement' must urgently be complemented by initiatives to establish regulations to ensure that no irresponsible arms exports can take place any longer; encourages the Commission to come forward with proposals to substantially improve the Community regime for the control of exports of dual-use items and technology; stresses that future regulations should include both conventional technologies and technologies which can be used for all types of weapons of mass destruction;
48. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and the Council.