Index 
Texts adopted
Thursday, 16 November 2006 - Strasbourg
EC-Mauritania fisheries agreement
 The situation in Gaza
 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention
 A Baltic Sea Strategy for the Northern Dimension
 The implementation of the European Security Strategy in the context of the ESDP
 Succession and wills
 Women in international politics
 Fighting trafficking in human beings
 Ombudsman's 2005 annual report
 European communication policy
 Ethiopia
 Bangladesh
 Iran

EC-Mauritania fisheries agreement
PDF 113kWORD 31k
European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council regulation on the conclusion of the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (COM(2006)0506 - C6-0334/2006 - 2006/0168(CNS))

(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the proposal for a Council regulation (COM(2006)0506)(1),

−   having regard to the draft Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania,

−   having regard to Articles 37 and 300(2) of the EC Treaty,

−   having regard to Article 300(3), first subparagraph, of the EC Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C6-0334/2006),

−   having regard to Rules 51, 83(7) and Article 134 of its Rules of Procedure,

1.  Approves conclusion of the agreement;

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

(1) Not yet published in OJ.


The situation in Gaza
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European Parliament resolution on the situation in the Gaza Strip
P6_TA(2006)0492RC-B6-0588/2006

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its previous resolutions on the Middle East, in particular those of 2 February 2006 on the result of the Palestinian elections and the situation in East Jerusalem(1), 1 June 2006 on the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories and the role of the EU(2) and 7 September 2006 on the situation in the Middle East(3),

–   having regard to UN Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973),

–   having regard to the Quartet's "Roadmap for Peace" of 30 April 2003,

–   having regard to the conclusions of the General Affairs and External Relations Council of 15 September 2006, 16 and 17 October 2006 and 13 November 2006,

–   having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.   whereas the Israeli military operation in The Gaza Strip has resulted in over 350 deaths, including many civilians, since June 2006 and whereas the Israeli attack in Beit Hanun on 8 November 2006 resulted in the death of 19 Palestinians, mostly children and women,

B.   extremely concerned about the fact that, as a result of the massive devastation of public facilities and private homes, the disruption of hospitals, clinics and schools, the denial of access to water, food and electricity, the destruction of agricultural lands and the total blockade on the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian crisis has reached a catastrophic level,

C.   whereas attacks targeted directly at civilian assets and disproportionate or indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population represent a flagrant breach of fundamental rights as laid down by international law and the Geneva Conventions,

D.   whereas Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed his distress and voiced sorrow for what he said was the result of a "technical failure" at Beit Hanun on 8 November 2006 and the Israeli Army has decided to initiate an internal investigation,

E.   whereas the right of a state to defend itself cannot justify any disproportionate or indiscriminate use of force, and international humanitarian law strictly prohibits attacks on civilians,

F.   whereas the new cycle of violence is threatening the efforts made by the Palestinian National Authority to form a new Palestinian government of national unity,

G.   whereas the international community and the European Union are providing considerable support for efforts to solve the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with special regard to the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM); whereas, however, this assistance cannot meet all needs,

H.   deeply concerned at the implications of the recent appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel,

I.   whereas the Middle East peace process is in political and diplomatic deadlock, although a comprehensive and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is essential to the establishment of peace and security in the whole region,

J.   whereas the European Union, as a member of the Quartet (which also comprises the United Nations, the United States of America and Russia), has a special responsibility for peace and security in the Middle East, which is in Europe's neighbourhood, and whereas the instruments and methods for the coordination of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) must therefore be improved, inter alia through the adoption of a common position in the framework of the CFSP on the basis of Articles 15 and 16 of the Treaty on European Union,

1.  Expresses its deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims of the recent bombing in Beit Hanun and to all other innocent casualties;

2.  Expresses its deep indignation at the Israeli military operation carried out in Beit Hanun and in the Gaza Strip, and condemns the Israeli army's use of disproportionate action, which is undermining attempts to initiate the peace process;

3.  Calls on the Israeli government to halt its military operations in the Gaza Strip immediately, and reaffirms that there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;

4.  Calls on the Palestinian militias to bring to an end the firing of rockets into Israeli territory, which is indiscriminate and deliberately targets civilians, to respect the truce and to refrain from further escalating the conflict; condemns the recent rocket attack in Sderot and the killing of innocent Israeli civilians;

5.  Expresses its deep concern about the possible grave consequences of the current crisis, including further military and terrorist attacks, undermining the fragile political situation in the region as a whole;

6.  Notes the blocking in the UN Security Council of a draft resolution on the situation in the Gaza Strip by a US veto, and regrets the lack of a strong and clear stance by the international community on the current crisis;

7.  Calls on the US Government to reassess its role in the Quartet and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a view to supporting an end to the violence and a new and genuine dialogue between the parties;

8.  Calls on the Council and the Member States to adopt a common position pursuant to Article 15 of the Treaty on European Union, in order to make an appropriate assessment of the current situation and to promote a serious attempt to halt the violence and bring the parties concerned to the negotiating table;

9.  Invites the Quartet to act urgently for the resumption of negotiations with and between the parties concerned and for the full implementation of all parts of the Roadmap; declares once again, at this particular stage, that a solution to the Middle East conflict will only be possible through the negotiation of a firm and final peace agreement as set out in the Roadmap, without prior conditions, based on the existence of two democratic, sovereign and viable states, living peacefully side by side within secure and recognised international borders, and that the continuing loss of civilian lives is intolerable;

10.  Reiterates its suggestion that the presence of a multinational force in Lebanon could be taken as an exemplary model to be followed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, in order to protect the civilian population on both sides; invites the Council, in the meantime, to launch an initiative to dispatch international military observers to the Gaza Strip, and calls on all parties to endorse and fully cooperate with such a proposal;

11.  Calls on the Council urgently to convene the EU-Israel Association Council in order to express the position of the European Union after the Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, with regard, in particular, to full compliance with Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement(4);

12.  Calls on the Council to address itself, within the framework of the EU-Palestinian Interim Association Agreement(5), to the new Palestinian government of national unity in order to confront the issue of violence and security;

13.  Stresses that human rights must be fully respected and that the violation of international humanitarian law must be halted immediately in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank;

14.  Supports the EU Presidency's statement urging the Israeli government to cease all provocative activities in the Palestinian territories, including building settlements, constructing the separation wall, conducting indiscriminate military operations and demolishing Palestinian homes;

15.  Calls on the Commission and the Member States to supply extra medical aid to Palestinian hospitals, in particular in the Gaza Strip;

16.  Welcomes the agreement reached by the President of the Palestinian Authority to promote a national dialogue between the Palestinian political parties and the appointment of a new Palestinian Prime Minister to form a new Palestinian government, which should act as a negotiating partner for the international community; considers that this could lead to the restoration of economic aid to the Palestinian Authority;

17.  Calls on the Council and the Commission to continue to guarantee, together with the international community, essential humanitarian aid for the Palestinian population; demands that the TIM be reinforced and extended in terms of duration and resources; calls on the Israeli government urgently to resume the transfer of withheld Palestinian tax and customs revenues;

18.  Calls on Israel to lift its economic blockade of the Gaza Strip, to facilitate trade between the Palestinian territories, Israel and the world as a whole, to promote economic development in the Gaza Strip for the benefit of both Palestinians and Israelis, and to permit the movement of people at Rafah, in compliance with the Agreement on Movement and Access and the EU Border Assistance Mission, as well as at Karni and at other border crossings in the Gaza Strip; calls on the EU to face its full responsibility on the implementation of this agreement;

19.  Reiterates its call for the immediate release of the Palestinian ministers and legislators in Israeli custody and of the abducted Israeli soldier;

20.  Calls on the Council to make every effort to convene an international peace conference – along the lines of the 1991 Madrid Conference – in order to find a comprehensive, lasting and viable solution to the problems in the area, based on the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and considers that a unilateral approach by any of the parties concerned must be rejected;

21.  Considers the involvement of the League of Arab States to be essential in this context; considers the League's 2002 "Beirut Plan", as well as the 2003 Geneva Initiative, to be important contributions to the negotiations, which should be duly taken into account;

22.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the High Representative for the CFSP, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the UN Secretary-General, the President of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian Legislative Council, the Israeli Government and Knesset, the governments and parliaments of the United States and the Russian Federation, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States.

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0041.
(2) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0237.
(3) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0348.
(4) OJ L 147, 21.6.2000, p. 3.
(5) OJ L 187, 16.7.1997, p. 1.


Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention
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European Parliament resolution on the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological and Toxin Weapons (BTWC), cluster bombs and conventional arms
P6_TA(2006)0493RC-B6-0585/2006

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Third Review Conference on the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), taking place in Geneva from 7 to 17 November 2006,

–   having regard to the Sixth Review Conference on the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) to be held in Geneva from 20 November to 8 December 2006,

–   having regard to Council Joint Action 2006/184/CFSP of 27 February 2006 in support of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention, in the framework of the EU Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction(1), the objectives of which are to promote the universality of the BTWC and support its implementation by State Parties in order to ensure that State Parties transpose the international obligations of the BTWC into their national legislation and administrative measures,

–   having regard to the EU Action Plan in respect of the BTWC, which was agreed in parallel with the Joint Action and in which Member States undertook to submit confidence-building measures returns to the United Nations and lists of relevant experts and laboratories to the United Nations Secretary-General to facilitate any investigation into alleged chemical and biological weapons use,

–   having regard to Council Common Position 2006/242/CFSP of 20 March 2006 relating to the 2006 Review Conference of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)(2), the objectives which are to strengthen further the BTWC and promote a successful outcome to the Sixth Review Conference,

–   having regard to the European Security Strategy and the EU Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, adopted at the Brussels European Council of 12 to 13 December 2003, and its resolution of 17 November 2005 on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: a role for the European Parliament(3),

–   having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.   whereas the BTWC, which was opened for signature in 1972 and entered into force in 1975, is the first multilateral disarmament treaty banning an entire category of weapons, and whereas it currently has 155 States Parties, with a further 16 having signed but not yet ratified the Convention,

B.   whereas the Sixth Review Conference, which will take place in Geneva from 20 November to 8 December 2006, will be the first opportunity for States Parties to examine the operation of the Convention since the Fifth Review Conference ended in 2002, and whereas it will provide the States Parties with the opportunity to reconfirm their commitment to the complete prohibition of biological weapons and to address any problems or shortcomings in the operation of the Convention,

C.   whereas the first part of the Fifth Review Conference ended in failure, largely owing to the US Administration's withdrawal from the negotiations on devising a legally-binding compliance-strengthening mechanism,

D.   whereas, although the number of signatories is steadily growing (100 to the introductory framework agreement in January 2006), the CCW is far from universal and whereas the number of signatories is substantially lower for its five protocols which contain the practical implementing provisions of the Convention,

1.  Stresses that the objective of the European Union should be to build on the success of the BTWC regime, to further strengthen the BTWC and to promote a successful outcome to the Sixth Review Conference;

2.  Welcomes the Council and Commission's continuous diplomatic action to keep alive international efforts to strengthen the BTWC and recognises the EU's role in promoting the exploration of voluntary non-binding inspections as 'confidence-building measures' and the strengthening of national legislation in the run-up to the Review Conference;

3.  Attaches, therefore, great importance to a thorough and full review of the operation of the BTWC in order to identify, discuss and agree on the measures to be taken to further strengthen the Convention;

4.  Calls on the Council and Member States to promote the accession of all States to the BTWC, including by calling on all States not party thereto to accede to the BTWC without further delay and working towards a declaration that the ban on biological and toxin weapons is a universally binding rule of international law;

5.  Encourages the EU, therefore, to take up this issue in the transatlantic fora, in particular NATO, and to persuade the US administration to move away from its unilateral point of view and to contribute to the relaunch and enhancement of the multilateral framework;

6.  Calls on the Council and Commission to promote full compliance with the obligations under the BTWC and, where necessary, the strengthening of national implementation measures, including penal legislation and control over pathogenic micro-organisms and toxins in the framework of the BTWC;

7.  Calls on the Council and Member States to contribute to the improvement of the mechanisms for verifying compliance by the States Parties by promoting efforts to enhance transparency through increased exchange of information among States Parties, including identifying measures to assess and enhance the country coverage and the usefulness of the Confidence Building Measures mechanism;

8.  Calls on the Council and Member States to promote compliance with obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 1540, in particular to eliminate the risk of biological or toxin weapons being acquired or used for terrorist purposes, including possible terrorist access to materials, equipment and knowledge that could be used in the development and production of biological and toxin weapons;

9.  Calls on the Council and Member States to promote consideration of, and decisions on further action on, the work undertaken to date under the intersessional programme during the period 2003 to 2005 and the efforts to discuss and promote common understanding and effective action in particular on: enhancing international capabilities for responding to, investigating and mitigating the effects of cases of alleged use of biological or toxin weapons or suspicious outbreaks of disease; strengthening and broadening national and international institutional efforts and existing mechanisms for the surveillance, detection, diagnosis and combating of infectious diseases affecting humans, animals and plants; the content, promulgation and adoption of codes of conduct for scientists in the field relevant to the BTWC in order to raise awareness of the BTWC and to help relevant actors to comply with their legal, regulatory and professional obligations and ethical principles;

10.  Calls on the Council and Member States to support a further intersessional work programme during the period between the Sixth and Seventh Review Conferences, to identify specific areas and procedures for further progress under this work programme and to promote the convening of a Seventh Review Conference of the BTWC to be held no later than 2011;

11.  Calls upon the EU and its Member States to work hard to ensure that the scope of Protocol III to the CCW on Incendiary Weapons is expanded in order to prevent the further use of white phosphorus shells against military and civilian targets and to stop the use of (depleted) uranium warheads;

12.  Welcomes the fact that Protocol V to the CCW on Explosive Remnants of War entered into force on 12 November 2006 and has therefore become binding international law; stresses that this means that States must clear their territories of unexploded ordnance to reduce the number of civilian casualties following conflicts; also stresses that this Protocol obliges those parties responsible for the remnants to assist in their clearance, even if the territory concerned is not under their control; insists that this Protocol applies to all types of unexploded ordnance, including cluster munitions;

13.  Is nevertheless convinced that many more States should sign and ratify the CCW and its five Protocols, and calls upon the Council and the Commission to do everything possible to ensure that all Member States duly sign and ratify Protocol V and that all countries receiving disarmament assistance sign and ratify the protocol as well, even if so far they have not acceded to the CCW (e.g. Lebanon);

14.  Calls upon the EU and the Member States to demand – in the spirit of the CCW's aim of establishing protocols on relevant weapon-systems when the need arises and pending a specific Convention on this issue – the creation of a specific Protocol VI to unambiguously ban the production, stockpiling, transfer and use of all types of cluster munitions (fragmentation bombs);

15.  In this light, welcomes in particular the positive response by a coalition of more than 30 States (amongst them many Member States, including Belgium, Sweden, Germany, France, Austria, Denmark, Spain and the Czech Republic) to the call made by both Kofi Annan and Jan Egeland at the beginning of the CCW Review Conference for negotiations to start without delay to establish a comprehensive and effective convention to ban cluster munitions worldwide, in the same way as has been done for anti-personnel mines; calls on the EU and all Member States to support this initiative as actively as possible;

16.  Calls upon all Member States, the Council and the Commission to work hard to ensure that, within the foreseeable future, both the BTWC and the CCW are equipped with a permanent secretariat to oversee their successful implementation, along the lines of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which was created for that purpose under the Chemical Weapons Convention;

17.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments and governments of the Member States, the parliaments and governments of the States Parties to the BTWC and CCW and the appropriate specialised NGOs.

(1) OJ L 65 7.3.2006, p. 51.
(2) OJ L 88 25.3.2006, p. 65.
(3) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0439.


A Baltic Sea Strategy for the Northern Dimension
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European Parliament resolution on a Baltic Sea Region Strategy for the Northern Dimension (2006/2171(INI))
P6_TA(2006)0494A6-0367/2006

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its resolution of 16 November 2005 on the future of the Northern Dimension(1),

–   having regard to the Guidelines for the Development of a Political Declaration and Policy Framework Document for the Northern Dimension policy from 2007, as approved by the Northern Dimension Ministerial Meeting held in Brussels on 21 November 2005,

–   having regard to the Commission's 2005 Annual Progress Report of 2 June 2006 on the Implementation of the Northern Dimension Action Plan (SEC(2006)0729),

–   having regard to the Second Northern Dimension Action Plan 2004-2006, as endorsed by the European Council held in Brussels on 16 and 17 October 2003,

–   having regard to the Chairman's conclusions of the 6th Baltic Sea States Summit held in Reykjavik on 8 June 2006,

–   having regard to the EEA Consultative Committee's resolution and report on the Future of the Northern Dimension Policy of 25 June 2006,

–   having regard to the work of the "Baltic Europe" Intergroup in the European Parliament,

–   having regard to Europe's Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region adopted by the "Baltic Europe" Intergroup in the European Parliament,

–   having regard to the work of the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference,

–   having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (A6-0367/2006),

A.   whereas the Northern Dimension forms a wide framework covering all the Northern Regions - the Baltic Sea and Barents Regions and the Arctic - and all policy areas, both external and internal,

B.   whereas the Northern Dimension policy has the potential to help to promote regional and cross-border cooperation for further economic growth and to identify joint responses to common challenges, but has not to date been able to fully fulfil its potential to address the variety of issues pertinent to the region,

C.   whereas the Baltic Sea region is a historically significant gateway area uniting the West and the East and should, as such, be at the core of the new Northern Dimension policy,

D.   whereas the Baltic Sea has almost become an internal sea, a mare nostrum, of the European Union following the 2004 enlargement, and whereas the Baltic Sea Strategy may serve as a substantial contribution to the reappraisal of the scope and activities of the Northern Dimension to reflect the changes since that enlargement,

E.   whereas the Baltic Sea Strategy could make an important contribution to the achievement of better coordination between the regional bodies operating in the Baltic Sea region,

Aim of this resolution

1.  Aspires, by means of this resolution, to:

   a) support the Northern Dimension policy by defining the Baltic Sea region as one of the main priority areas, thereby promoting deeper regional integration in the Baltic Sea region, which is a viable and dynamic part of a wider European economic and political area; underlines its ongoing support for work in other areas, specifically the Barents and Arctic regions, in co-operation with the partner countries Norway, Iceland and the Russian Federation;
   b) make the most of the opportunities offered by the dynamic economies of the Baltic Sea region and systematically create a brand for the region as one of the most attractive and competitive areas in the world;
   c) help to improve the ecological status of the Baltic Sea, which is currently one of the most polluted sea areas in the world; reduce pollution and eutrophication and prevent further releases of oil and other toxic and harmful substances;

Against that background, makes the following proposals:

2.  Urges the Commission to come up with a proposal for an EU Baltic Sea Strategy in order to reinforce the internal pillar of the Northern Dimension, cover horizontally different aspects of regional cooperation, promote synergies and avoid overlapping between different regional bodies and organisations; invites the Commission and the Member States to adjust the responsibilities of their administrations in order for them to be able to employ a horizontal approach when devising and implementing the Northern Dimension policy;

3.  Supports the work of the Council of the Baltic Sea States; proposes an annual Baltic Sea Summit to be held before the Summer European Council; supports the work of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, the yearly meeting of the national parliaments' Speakers from the region and the upcoming Northern Dimension Parliamentary Forum;

4.  Underlines that the Baltic Sea Strategy includes both measures to be implemented by the European Union and its Member States alone and measures to be implemented in cooperation with the Russian Federation;

5.  Recalls the need to establish a full-scale regional bureau of the European Investment Bank in the Baltic Sea region;

6.  With a view to achieving transparency and coherence, calls for an own EU budget line for the Baltic Sea Strategy, possibly under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument, supplementing the current funding of the Northern Dimension by the European Union, Member States, third countries, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Nordic Investment Bank and others; stresses that the Strategy must receive adequate funding from all relevant budget lines in order to be able to fulfil its objectives;

7.  Notes that the responsibility for the pollution of the Baltic Sea lies with both the Russian Federation and the Member States; stresses that protecting the marine environment with regard, in particular, to the reduction of eutrophication is one of the most important aspects to be considered in the implementation of the Union's agricultural and structural programmes in the region; notes with satisfaction that most of the Baltic Sea region has been granted the status of a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) by the International Maritime Organization (IMO); proposes the establishment of a network of ecologically representative and valuable off-shore and coastal protected areas;

8.  Points out that a major oil disaster caused either by transportation or by exploration and exploitation could effectively kill most of the marine life in the Baltic Sea; calls for greater coordination to prevent such accidents and, should one nonetheless take place, to agree on joint mechanism to combat its effects; is of the opinion that the norms for classification of oil tankers must take account of conditions in the region, such as the thickness of the ice during winter-time;

9.  Underlines the need to protect and strengthen the fish stocks in the Baltic Sea region; asks the Commission to prepare a comprehensive plan for conserving and restoring the natural salmon stocks in the Baltic Sea water system by utilising all the spawning rivers;

10.  Stresses the need to reduce the region's dependency on Russian energy and encourages the Member States in the region to examine the possibility of a common energy market; calls on the Commission, the Member States and the partners to promote joint projects on energy efficiency and renewable energy resources, in the light of the region's potential as a source of bio-energy, and to encourage the usage of biomass, solar, wind and hydro energy; supports the work of the Baltic Sea Region Energy Co-operation;

11.  Calls for an approach based on fairness and shared responsibility in the implementation of energy policy at national level, so that strategic decisions such as the construction of new energy networks are taken after consulting those partners among EU Member States which might be affected by those decisions;

12.  Underlines that proper environmental impact assessments should be a prerequisite for all energy-related infrastructure projects, in order to guarantee that international standards of environment protection are met; calls in this regard on the Russian Federation to ratify the Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context;

13.  Stresses the importance of respecting the internationally recognised principles of sustainable development, good governance, transparency and participation, gender equality, the rights of minorities, and the protection of indigenous peoples, and of the adoption of mutually reinforcing economic, employment and social policies by all partners involved, in line with the Lisbon Strategy;

14.  Recalls the role of the Baltic Sea as a uniting factor in the region; suggests a new programme, to be entitled "Borderless Baltic Sea", designed to facilitate smooth border crossing in the region, including between the Member States and the Russian Federation; supports the establishment of a "Baltic Sea motorway" linking the Baltic Sea region with Member States in central and western Europe by 2010;

15.  Takes the view that, in order to fulfil their responsibility to lessen the pollution of the Baltic Sea, Member States should have the right to maintain or introduce more stringent protective measures than those proposed by the EU;

16.  Recognises the increase in maritime traffic, mainly due to the strong economic growth of the Russian Federation; regards maritime safety as one of the most pressing concerns of the region; proposes the gradual expansion of the joint Vessel Traffic Management and Information Systems (VTMIS) to cover the whole of the Baltic Sea instead of just the Gulf of Finland; underlines the need for a common commitment to rapid implementation of the classification of the Baltic Sea by the IMO as a PSSA, including a ban on single-hull oil transports;

17.  Suggests that the Trans-European Network (TEN) Nordic Triangle be enlarged to cover the whole region and inclusion of the road and railway routes of the Barents Corridor and the Bothnian Corridor within the TEN system; calls for the realisation of the Rail Baltica project; envisages a high-speed train connection linking up the whole region;

18.  Calls for the realisation of the Via Baltica highway by 2013 as a priority project linking the Baltic Sea region with Member States in central and western Europe; stresses the importance of European funding for the realisation of the project;

19.  Recognises that most national markets in the region are relatively small, which has in many cases resulted in a low level of competition; points out the exceptional economic interdependence of the Member States in the region; calls for full implementation of the four basic freedoms (freedom of movement of persons, freedom of movement of goods, freedom of establishment and the free movement of capital) as between the EU Member States located in the region;

20.  Notes that the status of the Kaliningrad Oblast enclave surrounded by the European Union calls for genuine cooperation between the regional authorities, the Russian Federation and the European Union; urges the Russian Federation and the European Union to examine the possibility of developing the Kaliningrad Oblast into a more open and less militarised pilot region with improved access to the internal market; stresses the need for full implementation of freedom of navigation in the Baltic Sea, including the Vistula Lagoon and Kaliningradzkij Zaliv, and free passage through the Pilava Strait/Baltijskij Proliv;

21.  Points out that the Northern Dimension Partnership in Public Health and Social Wellbeing (NDPHS) should become more practical in combating major diseases as well as enhancing and promoting health and socially rewarding lifestyles; calls on the Russian Federation and the EU to examine the possibilities of practically engaging the Kaliningrad Oblast in NDPHS activities;

22.  Stresses that the Kaliningrad Oblast is still an enclave plagued with many social, economic and ecological problems, such as the significant ecological risk posed by the presence of the military bases and weapons in the region, the substantial health risk and the high levels of organised crime and drug addiction;

23.  Calls on the Baltic Sea Region to actively support programmes aimed at generating new forms of art and communication and fostering multinational mobility and cultural exchange programmes;

24.  Supports student exchanges within the region; suggests that the universities in the region form networks and agree on a division of labour in order to foster centres of excellence capable of competing at international level;

25.  Is concerned that the region's Eastern border is serving as a conduit for a significant level of organised crime, with trafficking in humans and drugs giving cause for particular concern; urges a strengthened European Police Office (Europol) involvement and reinforced cooperation at both EU and intergovernmental levels on these issues;

26.  Stresses the need to redouble efforts to improve the efficiency of border controls on the Eastern border, in particular as regards upgrading the existing infrastructure and promoting legal border crossing, and calls for sufficient funds to be earmarked from the proposed European External Borders Fund;

o
o   o

27.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, the government of the Russian Federation and the Presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States.

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0430.


The implementation of the European Security Strategy in the context of the ESDP
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European Parliament resolution on the implementation of the European Security Strategy in the context of the ESDP (2006/2033(INI))
P6_TA(2006)0495A6-0366/2006

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the European Security Strategy (ESS) adopted by the European Council on 12 December 2003,

–   having regard to the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, signed in Rome on 29 October 2004,

–   having regard to the Presidency conclusions of the European Councils of 16-17 June 2005 and 15-16 December 2005, and in particular to the Presidency reports on ESDP,

–   having regard to its resolution of 14 April 2005 on the European Security Strategy(1),

–   having regard to the EU Strategy against proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, endorsed by the Council on 9 December 2003,

–   having regard to the report entitled 'For a European civil protection force: europe aid' presented in May 2006 by former Commissioner Michel Barnier,

–   having regard to the conclusions of the meeting of the Steering Board of the European Defence Agency of September 2005,

–   having regard to its resolution of 2 February 2006 on the annual report from the Council to the European Parliament on the main aspects and basic choices of CFSP, including the financial implications for the general budget of the European Communities - 2004(2),

–   having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (A6-0366/2006),

General considerations

A.   whereas the ESS is part of the overall Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), under which the full range of possible political action by the European Union – including diplomatic, economic and development policy measures – can be deployed,

B.   whereas opinion polls over the last 10 years have shown a consistently high level of approval as it has emerged that more than 60% of EU citizens are in favour of a common European Union foreign policy and more than 70% are in favour of a common European Union defence policy; whereas, moreover, other polls show that there is no support for increasing military expenditure,

C.   whereas security and combating the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), as well as international terrorism are considered as a priority for the EU; whereas a joint response and common strategy are needed in the ESDP,

D.   whereas controls over arms exports must be tightened up by the European Union and also internationally,

1.  Recognises that the ESS of December 2003, based on an initiative by the Greek presidency, contains an excellent analysis of the threats to the modern world and states the fundamental principles of the EU's foreign policy; emphasises, however, the need to monitor its implementation on a regular basis, in order to be able to react to geopolitical developments;

2.  Notes that, as stated in the ESS, international terrorism, the proliferation of WMD, regional conflicts, state failure and organised crime represent nowadays the main threats facing the European Union and its citizens; emphasises that the increasing worldwide competition for sources of water and energy, as well as natural disasters and the security of the Union's external borders, must be included as a strategic objective in the further development of the ESS; is concerned about the prospect of renewed arms races at global and regional levels and the ongoing proliferation of conventional arms;

3.  Recognises that the fight against international terrorism cannot, however, be pursued by military means alone, and that the prevention and repression of terrorism require a whole range of non-military measures such as intelligence-sharing and police and judicial cooperation, for which full interinstitutional and inter-pillar cooperation is needed, and that the building of democratic institutions, infrastructure and civil society in failed or failing states is required; stresses that one of the greatest contributions of the European Union to preventing international terrorism is its capacity to be effective in the building or rebuilding of democratic institutions, social and economic infrastructure, good governance and civil society and in successfully combating racism and xenophobia;

4.  Points out that the task of the CFSP is to protect the citizens of the EU from those threats, defend the justified interests of the EU and promote the objectives of the United Nations Charter by acting as a global responsible actor for worldwide peace and democracy; strongly supports the idea of the ESS that the best means of attaining these objectives is "effective multilateralism", meaning international institutions and international law;

5.  Reiterates its position that the EU, through the ESDP, must fulfil its tasks by civil and peaceful means in the first place and by military means only if all avenues for negotiation have been thoroughly explored and found to be a dead end; in carrying out these legitimate tasks, the primary consideration should be unequivocal respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of citizens within and outside the EU's borders;

6.  Considers that the geopolitical challenges have evolved considerably since the adoption of the ESS in 2003, making its revision necessary in 2008 at the latest; is of the opinion that the ESS should be revised every 5 years and that it should be debated in the European Parliament and the parliaments of the Member States;

7.  Points out that it is of the utmost importance to effectively coordinate the civilian and military elements of the international community's response to a crisis;

8.  Urges the Member States to support the parliamentary dimension of the ESDP in which developments at the institutional and financial level go hand in hand with an extension of parliamentary rights of control; recalls that responsibility for parliamentary monitoring of the ESDP is shared between the parliaments of the Member States and the European Parliament on the basis of their respective rights and duties under relevant treaties and constitutions;

9.  Advocates initiatives for closer relations and an intensified exchange of information between the parliaments of the Member States and the European Parliament in relation to questions concerning the ESDP, in order to make more structured and regular dialogue between the parliaments possible;

10.  Stresses that the European Union must be in a position to make a major contribution, in order to:

   a) defend itself against any real and unequivocal threat to its security;
   b) secure peace and stability first and foremost in its geographical neighbourhood and in other parts of the world, in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter;
   c) carry out humanitarian interventions and rescue operations;
   d) prevent and manage conflicts and promote democracy and respect for human rights;
   e) promote regional and global disarmament;

11.  Emphasises that, in the event of an attack by the armed forces of a third country on the territory of the EU, NATO remains the guarantor of collective defence, but that the EU is expected to act in solidarity and to provide the Member State attacked with all necessary assistance in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter; welcomes NATO's increasing capability of playing a role in out-of-theatre operations; also regards NATO as the appropriate forum for transatlantic dialogue on security issues;

12.  Recognises that the capabilities of the Member States" armed forces and their availability to the EU are influenced by the fact that most Member States are members of both the EU and NATO and maintain one set of armed forces at the disposal of both organisations; demands, therefore, that the EU should continue to work intensively with NATO, especially in the area of capabilities development;

13.  Stresses the "strategic autonomy" inherent in the ESS, namely the ability to carry out operations within its scope independently of other actors, which requires interoperability and a more sustainable and reliable supply chain based on mutual support and assistance, avoiding duplication and suboptimal use of scarce resources at European level or between Member States; warns against unnecessary duplication of effort between NATO and the EU, and between the Member States of the EU;

14.  Considers that the ESDP currently has at its disposal limited resources for civilian and military operations; therefore demands that the EU - in order to develop its credibility as a global actor - concentrate its capabilities on its geographical neighbourhood, particularly the Balkans; envisages at the same time the development of further capabilities to enable the EU to make an active contribution to conflict resolution in other parts of the world as well, in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter;

Integrated civil-military cooperation

15.  Welcomes the EU's emphasis upon strengthening civil and military cooperation in crisis management and recognises that the development of civilian crisis management capabilities has been a distinct feature which provides added value in the development of the ESDP and across the spectrum of responses to conflict prevention, humanitarian intervention, post-conflict reconstruction and peace-building; underlines the need to involve specialised international and local NGOs and their networks; urges the EU to further strive for the implementation of a coherent policy concerning conflict prevention in the spirit of the conclusions of the Göteborg European Council held on 15 and 16 June 2001;

16.  Is encouraged by recent attempts under the Civilian Headline Goal 2008 to redress the previous lack of emphasis on developing civilian capacities and capabilities; is further encouraged by the potential for the Civilian and Military Cell and the Operations Centre to play an important role in developing the EU's approach to integrated civil-military cooperation and coordination; recommends, therefore, that the Civilian and Military Cell and the Operations Centre be upgraded to become a European Headquarters for carrying out civil-military missions;

17.  Recognises that the key enabling capabilities in the area of satellite-based and airborne intelligence systems, integrated telecommunications systems and strategic sea and airlift are essential to both civilian and military crisis management operations; calls for integrated research and development processes to be initiated by the European Defence Agency (EDA) together with the Commission in areas that reinforce integrated and coordinated civil-military approaches, and in particular in the areas of satellite-based and airborne intelligence systems and integrated telecommunications systems;

Crisis management

18.  Welcomes the setting-up of the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, which has been funded by the Commission in close cooperation with the United Nations; points out that this system should considerably improve the EU's capacity to react;

19.  Notes the activities of the Health Emergency Operations Facility set up by the Commission; stresses the importance of this facility with regard to both its stock of information and data and its ability to provide warnings about pandemics and epidemics, and also biological and chemical threats; therefore calls on the Council and the Commission to make the requisite arrangements whereby the Commission will be involved in coordinating measures in the event of health emergencies and cross-border bio-terrorist attacks;

20.  Welcomes the Commission's efforts to set up a Community procedure for disaster protection, including in the case of a serious terrorist attack; notes that this procedure is based primarily on the information in a database which holds details about national resources available to provide help; notes that the time-saving effect of this database, which also promotes synergies, could be substantially improved if it took over the content of the database set up by the EU Military Staff, which contains details of all the resources available for crisis management; therefore calls on the Council and the Commission to hold the necessary talks and adopt the requisite measures to enable this take-over to take place;

21.  Welcomes the Council's efforts to ensure the speedy and effective deployment of the many ESDP resources available in the event of a disaster; in this connection, stresses how urgent it is to fill the gaps with regard to strategic transport coordination; therefore urges the Member States to make the funding needed to resolve this problem available as soon as possible; also calls on the Council to examine very seriously the proposals made in the above-mentioned report presented by Michel Barnier, including in particular the creation of an informal European Civilian Security Council, an integrated European approach to anticipate crises, the pooling of existing national resources and the setting-up of European consulates to assist EU citizens abroad; and asks the Council and the Commission to work together to gradually implement these proposals;

22.  Considers that the development of the ESDP has contributed to the emergence of 'grey areas' regarding the powers of the Council and the Commission relating to the performance of primarily civilian missions; expects that the adoption of the Stability Instrument will provide some clarification, without this having a negative effect on the flexibility in crisis management which has been demonstrated to date in practice;

23.  Welcomes the progress made in connection with the Civilian Headline Goal 2008 and, in particular, the development of the plans for the use of civilian response teams and integrated police groups; also notes the development of expertise relating to the fight against organised crime and human trafficking; likewise welcomes the setting-up of a crisis platform at the Commission, which has set itself the goal of speeding up the start-up phase of on-the-spot ESDP missions; calls on the Council and the Commission to coordinate their efforts and therefore proposes that a joint training programme be set up for all staff who work on planning missions;

Homeland security

24.  Points out that the first task of any security policy is to secure one's own territory; acknowledges that Europe's citizens expect from a European defence policy, first and foremost, a major contribution to the protection of their personal security, accompanied by respect for their fundamental human rights;

25.  Points out that the EU has to secure its external borders, protect its vital infrastructures, eliminate international terrorist funding networks and fight against organised crime; in this regard, calls on the Commission and the Member States to develop a system of integrated management of the EU's external borders, without limiting respect for human and fundamental rights, as well as humanitarian law, especially with regard to refugees and asylum seekers;

26.  Points out that the EU has to:

   - secure the free flow of supplies for industry and individual consumers, and of hydrocarbons in particular, which entails the security of shipping, flights and pipelines;
   - defend itself against a cyber attack which may disrupt vital communications, financial or energy systems;

Rapid action on the basis of the UN Charter

27.  Endorses the fact that the ESS, while assuming that the EU, in the light of new threats, must be ready to act before crises break out and take early preventive action to deal with conflicts and threats, bases itself in doing so unreservedly on the UN Charter, as the fundamental framework for international relations;

Rules of conduct/training

28.  Greatly welcomes the fact that the behaviour of personnel in all ESDP operations is governed by a range of guidelines and general rules of conduct which are set out in documents; welcomes the initial signs in these guidelines and rules of their observance of human rights standards and rules; insists that compliance with such rules should be totally mandatory and that field commanders should be made accountable for the discipline and conduct of their personnel, even under conditions of extreme stress in war situations; also takes favourable note of the efforts to ensure that the gender dimension will enjoy a higher profile in the various ESDP policies, programmes and initiatives in future;

29.  Takes note of the Council's efforts to develop further the targeted ESDP training programmes – both strategic and operational – for diplomatic, military and civilian personnel; expects it to be made possible for European Parliament experts to participate in these programmes; endorses the approach of establishing minimum standards for the training of personnel on on-the-spot ESDP missions, and calls on the Council to work together with the Commission and the Member States towards standardising all training measures at all levels;

30.  Is of the opinion that soldiers will be exposed to unnecessary risks if their chain of command, equipment or armaments do not meet the requirements of the operation; considers it particularly important, therefore, to ensure that the units to be placed under EU command are adequately equipped;

31.  Is of the opinion that the effective use of military capabilities will not be possible without serious enhancement of European's power projection capacity, including air and sea lift; in this context, acknowledges the efforts of different countries to increase their air transport and amphibious capabilities as well as plans to acquire more aircraft carriers;

32.  Takes note that, in multinational operations, the use of different – and often incompatible – equipment and armaments by the participating units leads to extra costs and reduced efficiency; therefore considers that the EU should promote measures to harmonise equipment and armaments with a view to optimising resources and the effectiveness of multinational operations;

Intelligence

33.  Criticises the particularly serious fact that the battle groups currently under development do not all have the same access to airborne and space-based intelligence, and regrets that the output of the national satellite intelligence-gathering systems Helios, SAR–Lupe and Cosmo-Skymed are not available to all Member States on a common basis;

34.  In order to meet these shortfalls:

   a) strongly requests that the battle groups under development receive common or at least compatible equipment in the fields of intelligence and telecommunications;
   b) demands that the next generation of satellite intelligence-gathering systems be integrated into a European system whose output would be available for military, police and disaster management purposes using the satellite centre in Torrejón;

35.  Points out that NATO is currently developing the airborne intelligence-gathering system Airborne Ground Surveillance (AGS) in addition to the national systems that already exist or are under development; insists that this system be made available for all EU Member States, especially in the EU battle groups context;

36.  Considers that, in the telecommunications field, it is necessary to develop a joint system for the command of multinational units; therefore expresses the view that the equipment used by the military, police and emergency services should comply with the same technical standards, as is the case, for example, in Finland;

Border surveillance

37.  Stresses the importance of enhancing the EU's collective capacity to protect its external borders; remains particularly concerned about the incompatibility and quality of border surveillance equipment and underlines the need for new technology to remedy this situation;

Transportation

38.  Considers that, since transportation, in particular strategic lift, is an essential shortfall in any EU crisis management action, a European self-standing arrangement ensuring access to conventional civil multi-modal transport, building on an integrated civilian/military approach and ensuring economies of scale for all European actors in crisis management for both ESDP and disaster relief purposes, would be of great interest;

Weaknesses in the ESDP decision-making procedure

39.  Considers that the political decision-making procedure preceding the decision to carry out an ESDP mission displays a number of weaknesses, as was seen in the case of the mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo; therefore calls on the Council to review the various stages of that procedure and, if appropriate, to take steps to eliminate those weaknesses; in this connection, reminds the Council and, in particular, its Political and Security Committee, of its obligation to consult the Parliament;

40.  Reaffirms its demand for unrestricted involvement and also its right to be consulted annually, in advance, on forthcoming aspects of and options for the CFSP, as provided for in the existing Treaties; calls emphatically on the Council to pursue a much more open and transparent information policy, vis-à-vis Parliament, with regard to the CFSP and the ESDP; in this connection, criticises the current procedure for access by Parliament to the Council's "confidential documents", which in most cases contain only very general information;

41.  Reaffirms its position that no military mission in which the EU is involved should start before the European Parliament has been appropriately informed and consulted;

42.  Demands that expenditure on military equipment and armaments be adopted in budgets which are subject to parliamentary control; is therefore of the opinion that parallel budgets and mechanisms, which cannot be effectively supervised either by national parliaments or by the European Parliament, should be avoided;

43.  Notes that the European Union budget contains various headings with security aspects such as appropriations for crisis management, the security of external borders and vital infrastructures, security research and implementation of the Galileo and Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) programmes;

44.  Urges, in particular, that the budget available for crisis management missions, external border security, security research and Galileo be further increased; in the long term, the area of security research should be geared to the funding requirements determined by the High-Level Group on Security Research;

45.  Demands also that military crisis-management operations be financed from the EU budget and that, for that purpose, additional EU resources be made available by the Member States;

46.  Criticises the fact that, due to the ATHENA mechanism and other ad hoc mechanisms financed by the Member States or even the European Development Fund, the European Parliament is not in a position to exercise any budgetary scrutiny over ESDP military operations; points out that there is also a need for transparency in civil-military operations (such as police missions) which fall within a grey area between ad hoc arrangements and CFSP budget financing;

47.  Consequently, calls for a new budgetary methodology to enhance transparency in ESDP spending and to support the development of the military and civilian capabilities needed to fulfil the aims of the ESS:

   a) in an initial phase, which should start in 2007 and not exceed two years in duration, the Council should draw up a budgetary document reflecting the commitments made by the Member States to fulfil the Civilian Headline Goal 2008 and the Military Headline Goal 2010 and based on the existing catalogues (requirements catalogue, force catalogue and progress catalogue);
   b) in a second phase, the Member States should commit themselves to the ESDP through a virtual 'budget' in which they would commit funds on a multi-annual basis to finance the equipment and personnel needed for ESDP operations. This document, whilst not legally binding, would nevertheless become an important political document next to the EU budget, and would indicate what the Member States are prepared to spend on the ESDP. It should facilitate "burden sharing" between the Member States by securing greater transparency as regards military spending, and should be jointly debated by the European Parliament and the parliaments of Member States on an annual basis;
   c) final decisions about the rationalisation of the budget for the CFSP and the ESDP, including the accounting of national expenditure at EU level in the security and defence dimension, should form a part of the revised financial system of the Union envisaged for 2008-09;

European defence equipment market and cooperative research

48.  Emphasises that the ESS presupposes a strong and independent European defence industry and autonomous technology research and development capacities that are capable of adequately protecting the essential security interests of the EU and the Member States; concludes from the public debate that in order to foster the competitiveness of the European defence industry and develop an autonomous industrial base providing the necessary defence capabilities it is necessary to adopt internal market rules for defence-related products which are adapted to the specificities of this sector; underlines that such rules must facilitate industrial cooperation and trade within the Community; recalls that the derogation provided for in Article 296 of the EC Treaty leaves intact the duty of the Community institutions to legislate on the development of the internal market for defence-related equipment and services, provided such legislation protects the essential security interests of the Member States and of the EU; claims that a high level of protection needs to be achieved;

49.  Looks forward therefore to the Commission's interpretative communication on the application of Article 296, to the Commission proposal for a specific directive on defence procurement, and to the creation of a binding legal instrument on the facilitation of intra-Community transfers of defence-related products that will substitute a simplified common system in place of the existing national export licences; holds that this system should protect the essential security interests of the EU and of the Member States by defining principles of a European export policy on the basis of the European Union Code of Conduct on Arms Exports;

50.  Recalls that rules such as Article XXIII of the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement recognise the possibility of protecting essential security interests related to defence procurement; emphasises that, in order to ensure the protection of those interests of the EU and of the Member States, the common rules to be adopted should grant preference to defence-related products of European origin over those originating from third countries, give full effect to the principle of reciprocity in trade relations, and favour the use of technology protected by European industrial property rights;

51.  Welcomes the EDA's Code of Conduct on defence procurement and calls on all Member States to subscribe to it; insists that the practice of offsets and 'juste retour' should be abolished; considers it necessary that the work of the EDA be stepped up in the context of the ESDP;

52.  Recognises the importance of cooperative research for the competitiveness of the European industry; demands, therefore, greater complementarities between the work of the Commission and the EDA, through more effective dialogue on civilian, security and defence-related research in Europe; emphasises that the provision of dual-use technologies and multifunctional capacities, and also overcoming the division separating research for civilian and defence purposes, should be aims and objectives of the EU; considers it necessary, given the diversity of company structures in this sector by comparison with other areas of research, to adjust the definition of small and medium-sized businesses in the area of European security research;

53.  Calls for the 1998 Code of Conduct on Arms Exports to be given the force of law and to be correctly applied and implemented in all Member States; is of the opinion that the decision as to which countries of destination meet the criteria of the Code of Conduct should be taken on a common basis;

WMD/Iran

54.  Realises that there can be no guarantee of success with the attempts to stop Iran producing weapons-grade enriched uranium; considers, however, that the joint negotiating offer made by the EU Three, the United States, Russia and China represents the most promising course; welcomes the multilateral approach underpinning this offer; is pleased to note Europe's part in bringing it into being; welcomes the willingness of the United States to take part in the same negotiations with Iran; regrets that the talks between the EU High Representative and the EU Three on the one side and Iran on the other have so far not achieved satisfying results; therefore accepts as a consequence that the matter be dealt with at the level of the UN Security Council; underlines that negotiations can be resumed at any time provided that there are indications from the Iranian side that they can be successful; would welcome the willingness of the United States to join in such negotiations with Iran;

Towards a Security and Defence Union

55.  Points out that the EU is on the way to developing into a Security and Defence Union as well, covering external security as well as various aspects of internal security, combating terrorism in all its forms and natural disaster management with the following elements:

  a) the commitment of the Member States to be able to:
   - deploy 60 000 soldiers within 60 days and sustain them for one year for peacekeeping and peacemaking operations as decided at the Helsinki European Council, and to build up 13 battle groups deployable at short notice, with two permanently on standby from 2007;
   - develop capabilities for civilian crisis management in the area of police operations, the rule of law, civilian administration and civil protection, as decided at the Santa Maria da Feira European Council on 19-20 June 2000;
   b) a European structure of command consisting of a Political and Security Committee, a Military Committee, a Military Staff (all of which have been operational since 2001) and a Civilian and Military Cell with a nascent Operations Centre;
   c) the European Gendarmerie Force with its Headquarters in Vicenza, which should be used for the future police mission in Kosovo;
   d) the EDA proposed by the European Council, which has been operational since 2004;
   (e) Europol and the European arrest warrant;
   f) common rules for arms procurement and arms exports;
   (g) European security research as a free-standing thematic priority under the 7th Framework Research Programme;

56.  Is of the opinion that this process should be strengthened by means of the following elements:

   a) the establishment of a common market in the field of defence, as a means of creating a truly integrated European defence technological base in accordance with the principles of interdependence and specialisation among EU Member States;
   b) a common system of satellite and airborne intelligence and common telecommunications standards, to be at the disposal of the military, the police and the disaster management services;
   c) the setting up of a European standing naval force including a coastguard service, active in the Mediterranean sea in order to demonstrate a European presence and enhance the EU's crisis management potential in this region of utmost importance for its security interests;
   d) a European budget covering not only the civil but also the military aspects of security;
   e) a European deputy foreign minister in charge of security and defence policy;
   f) more frequent meetings of the EU's Defence Ministers;
   g) a European civil protection force as proposed in the above-mentioned report of Michel Barnier, as well as a European Civil Peace Corps and the Peace Building Partnership;
   h) an available European capability for air and sea transport in cases of disaster relief, rescue operations and defence operations (multimodal transport combining the most appropriate assets);
   i) adequate parliamentary scrutiny by the parliaments of the Member States and the European Parliament;

57.  Stresses the importance of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, which will bring about major progress towards a Security and Defence Union, in particular through:

   a) the office of a European Foreign Minister who is at the same time Vice-President of the Commission;
   b) the solidarity clause, for cases in which a Member State is affected by a terrorist attack, a natural disaster or a man-made disaster;
   c) a clause on mutual assistance between Member States in the event of armed aggression against a Member State's territory;

o
o   o

58.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Governments and Parliaments of the Member States and the Secretaries-General of the United Nations, NATO, the OSCE and the Council of Europe.

(1) OJ C 33 E, 9.2.2006, p. 580.
(2) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0037.


Succession and wills
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Resolution
Annex
European Parliament resolution with recommendations to the Commission on succession and wills (2005/2148(INI))
P6_TA(2006)0496A6-0359/2006

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Green Paper on succession and wills presented by the Commission on 1 March 2005 (COM(2005)0065) and the annex thereto (SEC(2005)0270),

–   having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 26 October 2005(1),

–   having regard to Article 192, second paragraph, of the EC Treaty,

–   having regard to Rules 39 and 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A6-0359/2006),

A.   whereas, according to the report drawn up in 2002 by the Deutsches Notarinstitut at the Commission's request, between 50 000 and 100 000 transnational successions are opened every year in the European Union,

B.   whereas this estimate will obviously have to be revised upwards in the light of the recent accession of ten new Member States to the European Union and its forthcoming further enlargement,

C.   whereas at present there are significant differences between the Member States" systems of private international law and their respective substantive law on succession and wills,

D.   whereas those differences, in so far as they are capable of making it difficult and expensive for heirs to take possession of the estate, could create obstacles to the exercise of the freedom of movement and the freedom of establishment referred to in Articles 39 and 43 of the EC Treaty and the enjoyment of the right to own property, which is a general principle of Community law(2),

E.   whereas it would be advisable to draw up a Community legal instrument relating to private international law on successions and wills, as already called for in the 1998 Vienna action plan(3), the programme of measures for implementation of the principle of mutual recognition of decisions in civil and commercial matters(4), adopted by the Council and the Commission in 2000, the Hague Programme of 4 November 2004 for strengthening freedom, security and justice in the European Union, and the Council and Commission Action Plan implementing the Hague Programme on strengthening freedom, security and justice in the European Union(5),

F.   whereas the adoption of legislative initiatives dealing with succession and wills would appear to be consistent with the objectives of Community law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of nationality and aims to foster the social integration of all individuals whose principal residence and centre of interests is situated in one of the Member States, regardless of their nationality,

G.   whereas, while the harmonisation of the Member States" substantive law on succession and wills falls outside the scope of the European Community's competence, the Community is competent, under point (b) of Article 65 of the EC Treaty, to adopt measures "promoting the compatibility of the rules applicable in the Member States concerning the conflict of laws and of jurisdiction",

H.   whereas, pursuant to the second indent of Article 67(5) of the EC Treaty, any Community act dealing with succession and wills should be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the EC Treaty,

I.   whereas, when dealing with the subject of succession and wills, it is essential to uphold certain fundamental tenets of public policy which impose limits on testamentary freedom for the benefit of a testator's family or other dependants,

1.  Calls on the Commission to submit to Parliament during the course of 2007 a legislative proposal under Article 65, point (b), and Article 67(5), second indent, of the EC Treaty in order to deal with succession and wills; calls for that proposal to be drawn up in the light of interinstitutional discussion and in keeping with the detailed recommendations set out in the annex hereto;

2.  Calls on the Commission, in the context of the current deliberations on the Civil Justice Funding Programme 2007-2013, to launch a call for proposals for an information campaign regarding cross-border wills and succession matters, targeted at legal practitioners in the field;

3.  Calls on the Commission to identify as a priority, within the Civil Justice Funding Programme for 2007-2013, the establishment of a network of civil practitioners to develop mutual confidence and understanding between professionals in this field, share information and develop best practice;

4.  Notes that the recommendations set out in the annex hereto accord with the subsidiarity principle and citizens' fundamental rights;

5.  Considers that the requested proposal has no financial implications for the Community budget;

6.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the accompanying detailed recommendations to the Council and the Commission, and to the parliaments and governments of the Member States.

ANNEX

DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE SUBSTANCE OF THE REQUESTED PROPOSAL

Recommendation 1 (on the form and minimum content of the instrument to be adopted)

The European Parliament considers that the legislative act to be adopted should aim to regulate succession exhaustively in private international law and at the same time:

   - harmonise the rules concerning jurisdiction, the applicable law (the "conflict rules") and the recognition and enforcement of judgments and public instruments issued abroad, except for the material substantive law and procedural law of the Member States;
   - introduce a 'European Certificate of Inheritance'.

Recommendation 2 (on the criteria for establishing jurisdiction and the objective connecting factor)

The European Parliament considers that the legislative act to be adopted should in principle ensure that 'forum' and 'ius' coincide and thus make it less difficult to apply foreign law.

For those reasons, the European Parliament tends to prefer the habitual place of residence as the criterion for establishing both principal jurisdiction and the connecting factor, where habitual residence means either:

   a) the habitual residence of the deceased at the time of his death, provided that it was his habitual place of residence for at least two years before his death, or, where it was not,
   b) the place where the deceased had his main centre of interests at the time of his death.

Recommendation 3 (on the freedom of choice to be accorded to individuals)

The European Parliament considers that the legislative act to be adopted should allow a degree of freedom of choice, in particular by permitting:

   - the parties concerned to choose, subject to certain conditions, the competent court, along the lines laid down in Articles 23 and 24 of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters(6),
   - the testator to choose which law should govern the succession, the law of the country of which he is a national or the law of the country of his habitual residence at the time the choice is made; this choice should be indicated in a statement taking the form of a testamentary clause.

Recommendation 4 (on the law applicable to the form of wills)

The European Parliament is of the opinion that the legislative act to be adopted should lay down specific rules concerning the law applicable to the form of testamentary clauses – which clauses are to be regarded as valid if they are considered as such by the law of the State in which the testator drew them up, or by the law of the State in which the testator had his habitual residence at the time when he drew up the will or died, or by the law of one of the States of which the testator was a national at the time when he drew up the will or died.

Recommendation 5 (on the law applicable to agreements as to future successions)

The European Parliament considers that the legislative act to be adopted should lay down specific rules concerning the law applicable to agreements as to future successions, which should be regulated:

   a) in the case of one individual's succession, by the law of the State in which that person has his habitual residence at the time the agreement is concluded;
   b) in the case of several persons" succession, by the laws of each of the States in which each of those persons has his habitual residence at the time the agreement is concluded.

For agreements as to future successions the legislative act to be adopted should also allow some scope for freedom of choice, permitting the parties to agree, by means of an explicit statement, that the agreement as to future successions is to be made subject to the law of the State in which the person or one of the persons involved has his habitual residence at the time when the agreement is concluded or of which he is a national at that time.

Recommendation 6 (on general issues regarding the applicable law)

The European Parliament considers that the legislative act to be adopted should also deal with general issues regarding the applicable law.

In particular, the European Parliament considers that:

   - the law specified in the legislative act to be adopted should be competent to cover, regardless of the nature and location of the estate, the whole succession, from the beginning of the procedure to the transmission of the inheritance to the persons entitled;
   - the legislative act to be adopted should be erga omnes, that is to say, applicable even if the designated law is the law of a third country;
   - for the purposes of coordinating the Community system of conflict rules governing succession with those of third countries, the legislative act to be adopted should lay down specific rules concerning renvoi, establishing that, where the law applicable to the succession is the law of a third country and that country's conflict rules designate the law of a Member State or the law of another third country which, according to the system of international private law, could also apply its own law to the case in question, the law of that other Member State or, if appropriate, of that other third country, should apply;
   - the legislative act to be adopted should specify the ways and means by which the authorities required to apply a foreign law are to ascertain its content, as well as the remedies in the event of failure to ascertain that content;
   - the legislative act to be adopted should make the settlement of a preliminary issue subject to the law designated by the relevant conflict rules of the law applicable to the succession, making it clear that the solution will be valid only as regards the proceedings in which the preliminary issue arises;
   - the legislative act to be adopted should specify that application of a provision of the applicable law may be ruled out if such application would produce an effect manifestly contrary to the public policy of the forum;
  - the legislative act to be adopted should specify that, where a State has two or more systems of law or sets of rules concerning succession and wills applicable in different territorial units, each territorial unit is to be considered as a country for the purposes of identifying the law applicable to the succession. Furthermore, the legislative act to be adopted should specify, with regard to such a State, that:
   a) any reference to habitual residence in that State is to be construed as a reference to habitual residence in a territorial unit;
   b) any reference to nationality is to be construed as a reference to the territorial unit designated by the law of that State. In the absence of such rules, the reference shall be construed as a reference to the legal system with which the person in question had the closest connection.

Recommendation 7 (on the European certificate of inheritance)

The European Parliament considers that the legislative act to be adopted must aim to simplify the procedures to be followed by heirs and legatees in order to gain possession of the property comprising the estate, particularly by:

   - providing for rules of private international law to ensure effective coordination between legal systems with regard to the administration, liquidation and transmission of estates, as well as identification of heirs, with provisions stating: that these aspects of succession, subject to exceptions due to the nature or location of certain assets, are to be regulated by the law applicable to the succession; that if that law provides for the intervention of an authority indicated by the law itself, or appointed pursuant to it, that authority's powers shall be recognised in all the Member States; that, if the law applicable to the succession is the law of a Member State, the powers of such authorities are to extend, unless otherwise specified by the testator, to the whole estate, wherever it may be situated, even if, according to the law applicable to the succession, those powers are confined to movable property; that the measures relating to the activity of those authorities prescribed by the law applicable to the succession may be requested from the courts of the Member State the law of which is applicable to the succession or on the territory of which the deceased person had his habitual residence at the time of his death, or on the territory of which the property comprised in the estate is located;
   - introducing a "European certificate of inheritance" indicating, with binding effect, the law applicable to the succession, the beneficiaries of the estate, the persons responsible for administering the estate and their powers and the property comprising the estate, to be issued by an authority empowered to issue or authenticate official documents under the relevant national legislation.

The certificate, which is to specify the law applicable to the succession, shall be drawn up in accordance with a standard model to be laid down in the legislative act to be adopted and shall constitute appropriate title on the basis of which the acquisition of the property inherited may be entered in a public register of the Member State in which the property is located, without prejudice to compliance with the rules of that Member State on the functioning of such registers and the effects resulting from the information contained therein.

Furthermore, the legislative act to be adopted should ensure protection for third parties acting in good faith who, for valuable consideration, have entered into a contract with the person who appears to be entitled to dispose of the property comprised in the estate on the basis of the certificate, thereby safeguarding the acquisition thereof, unless that person knows that the details given in the certificate are inaccurate or the competent authority has taken steps to revoke or amend the certificate.

Recommendation 8 (on the 'lex loci rei sitae' and the 'reserved portion' principle)

The European Parliament considers that the legislative act to be adopted should:

   - ensure the coordination of the law applicable to the succession with the law of the place in which the property is situated, so as to make the latter applicable in particular as regards the procedures for acquiring the property comprised in the estate and any other tangible entitlements thereto, accepting or refusing the succession and the relevant formalities concerning publicity;
   - ensure that the law applicable to the succession does not affect the application of any provision of the State where certain immovable property, enterprises or other special categories of assets are located and whose rules institute a particular inheritance regime in respect of such assets on account of economic, family or social considerations;
   - ensure that the ability to choose the law applicable does not contravene the fundamental principles of reserving a proportion of the estate for the deceased person's closest relatives laid down by the law objectively applicable to the succession.

Recommendation 9 (on trusts)

The European Parliament points out that the rules on property ownership come under the competence of the Member States, pursuant to Article 295 of the Treaty, and therefore requests that the legislative act to be adopted should not apply to trusts. However, that act should specify that, when a trust is created as a result of death, the fact that the law specified by the instrument in question applies to the succession does not prevent another law from being applicable to management of the trust and that, by the same token, the fact that the law governing the trust applies to it should not prevent the law governing the succession by virtue of the legislative act to be adopted from being applicable to it.

Recommendation 10 (on 'exequatur')

The European Parliament suggests to the Commission that the legislative act to be adopted should, with regard to the recognition and enforcement of decisions, reproduce the system established by Regulation (EC) No 44/2001, which requires "exequatur" only in the event of a ruling made by the courts in one Member State having to be enforced on the basis of enforcement proceedings in another Member State.

However, if a decision is to be entered in public registers, provision should be made, in view of the widely differing rules in the various Member States, for that decision to be accompanied by a "certificate of conformity" with public policy and the imperatives of the Member State addressed, issued - in accordance with a standard form - by a local judicial authority.

Recommendation 11 (on public instruments)

The European Parliament considers that it is appropriate to regulate similar effects for public instruments relating to succession, which, in particular, should be recognised in all the Member States, by means of proof of the facts and of declarations by issuing authorities that the instruments were drawn up in their presence, where the law of the Member State of origin so provides.

In accordance with Article 57 of Regulation (EC) 44/2001, the document must meet all the requirements of authenticity laid down in the Member State of origin, and will not be recognised if its recognition would produce an effect manifestly contrary to public policy in the Member State addressed.

Furthermore, when a public instrument is to be entered in public registers it should be specified, as stated in the case of judicial decisions, that the document has to be accompanied by a "certificate of conformity" with public policy and the imperatives of the Member State addressed, issued - in accordance with a standard form - by the authority competent to draw up the instrument in that country.

Recommendation 12 (on the European network of registers of wills)

The European Parliament hopes that, eventually, a European network of national registers of wills will be set up by linking up existing national registers, to simplify the task of finding and ascertaining the content of a deceased person's will.

(1) OJ C 28, 3.2.2006, p. 1.
(2) Case C-368/96 Generics (UK) and others [1998] ECR I-7967, paragraph 79, and the case-law referred to therein.
(3) OJ C 19, 23.1.1999, p. 1.
(4) OJ C 12, 15.1.2001, p. 1.
(5) OJ C 198, 12.8.2005, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 12, 16.1.2001, p. 1.


Women in international politics
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European Parliament resolution on women in international politics (2006/2057(INI))
P6_TA(2006)0497A6-0362/2006

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the principles laid down in Articles 2, 3(2), 13, 137(1)(i), and 141 of the EC Treaty,

–   having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union proclaimed in 2000(1), and, in particular, Article 23 thereof, pursuant to which "Equality between men and women must be ensured in all areas, including employment, work and pay. The principle of equality shall not prevent the maintenance or adoption of measures providing for specific advantages in favour of the under-represented sex",

–   having regard to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950,

–   having regard to the recommendations of the Council of Europe and in particular its resolution and action plan adopted at the 6th European Ministerial Conference on Equality between Women and Men in Stockholm on 8-9 June 2006, and in particular Part I, point F of the Appendix concerning the balanced participation of women and men in decision-making,

–   having regard to the Ministerial Declaration of Athens in 1992 at the European conference on Women in Power, which proclaimed that "women represent half the potential talents and skills of humanity and their under-representation in decision-making is a loss for society as a whole",

–   having regard to the Ministerial Declaration of Paris in 1999 at the European conference on Women and Men in Power - a caring society, a dynamic economy and a vision for Europe,

–   having regard to the Final declaration of the Annual conference of the Network of Parliamentary Committees for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men (NCEO) adopted in Rome on 21 November 2003,

–   having regard to the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs, of March 2000, and in particular its emphasis on the positive impact that gender-sensitive economic policies will have on the overall strategy for growth and competitiveness of the EU,

–   having regard to the Council Resolution of 27 March 1995(2) and Council Recommendation 96/694/EC of 2 December 1996(3) on the balanced participation of women and men in the decision-making process,

–   having regard to its resolutions of 18 January 2001(4) on the Commission report on the implementation of the abovementioned Council Recommendation 96/694/EC and of 2 March 2000 on women in decision-making(5),

–   having regard to the Ministerial Declaration of the Conference of Ministers of Gender Equality held in Luxembourg on 4 February 2005,

–   having regard to the Commission roadmap for equality between women and men (2006-2010) (COM(2006)0092) and in particular its proposal to support a network of women in decision-making,

–   having regard to the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,

–   having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of 1979, which provides, inter alia, that signatory states shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of their country,

–   having regard to the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW, adopted in 1999, stating that individuals or groups of individuals claiming to be victims of a violation of any of the rights set out in the Convention may submit communications under the jurisdiction of a signatory state,

–   recalling that the Convention on the Political Rights of Women of 1952 provides that women shall be on equal terms with men and shall be, without any discrimination, entitled to vote in all elections, eligible for election to all publicly elected bodies established by national law and entitled to hold public office and to exercise all public functions established by national law,

–   recalling the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, and in particular Article 25 thereof, which provides that every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives and to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections,

–   having regard to the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in September 1995, the Declaration and the Platform for Action adopted in Beijing as well as the following outcome documents adopted at the successive UN Beijing + 5 and UN Beijing +10 Special Sessions on further actions and initiatives to implement the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action adopted respectively on 9 June 2000 and on 11 March 2005,

–   having regard to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in particular MDG3 on promoting gender equality and empowering women as a prerequisite to overcoming hunger, poverty and disease, reaching equality at all levels of education and in all areas of work, equal control over resources and equal representation in public and political life,

–   having regard to UN Security Council Resolution 1325 adopted on 31 October 2000 ("UNSCR 1325(2000)"), in particular paragraph 1 thereof, which urges Member States to ensure increased representation of women at all decision-making levels in national, regional and international institutions and mechanisms for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflict, as well as the Presidential Statement adopted on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of UNSCR 1325(2000) in October 2005,

–   having regard to its resolution of 30 November 2000 on participation of women in peaceful conflict resolution(6),

–   having regard to its resolution of 1 June 2006 on the situation of women in armed conflicts and their role in the reconstruction and democratic process in post-conflict countries(7),

–   having regard to the Conclusions of the General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting of 23 and 24 May 2005 on the European Security and Defence Policy and to the draft guidelines on the implementation of UNSCR 1325(2000) in the context of European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), approved by the European Council on 16 December 2005,

–   having regard to the decision by the Norwegian government to introduce by law a 40% quota for women's representation on the governing boards of joint stock companies,

–   having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (A6-0362/2006),

A.  A considering the milestone reached by the 1995 Beijing conference in advancing the gender equality agenda including with regard to women's representation in politics,

B.   whereas balanced participation by women and men in the political process and decision-making will more accurately reflect the composition of society and is essential for future generations and the proper functioning of democratic societies,

C.   whereas good governance includes respect for fundamental freedoms and treating women's rights as basic fundamental rights,

D.   whereas the situation of women in international politics depends primarily on the situation of women nationally and on the strategies for the advancement of women put in place at national level,

E.   considering the significant role that the United Nations Secretary-General plays through the UN staffing policy in setting an example for a more gender-balanced political scene worldwide,

F.   whereas of the 191 countries that are currently members of the United Nations, only 47 are signatories of and 115 are parties to the Convention on the Political Rights of Women of 20 December 1952 and whereas, as a result, women cannot fully exercise their political rights and are banned from participating in elections or from holding public office in a number of countries,

G.   whereas, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, of the 43961 members of parliaments worldwide (lower house and upper house combined), only 16.4% are women (i.e. 7,195); whereas Scandinavian countries have the highest number of female MPs (40%), followed by the Americas (19,6%) and Europe (OSCE countries, excluding Scandinavian countries) for an average of 16,9 %, slightly above sub-Saharan African (16,4%), Asia (16.3%) the Pacific (12%) and the Arab States (8.3%),

H.   whereas these percentages indicate a democratic deficit both at European level and in the wider international context,

I.   whereas, in spite of the existence of de jure equality in most European countries and worldwide, de facto inequalities remain regarding the distribution of power, responsibilities and access to economic, social and cultural resources between women and men, owing to the persistence of prevailing gender roles and their impact in the unequal sharing of family responsibilities and the reconciling of family and professional lives for most women,

J.   whereas despite Community and national legislation introduced over the past 30 years, the gender pay gap across the EU remains on average 15% for jobs of equal value,

K.   whereas more women than men now hold a university degree,

L.   whereas a requirement to introduce gender-balanced candidate lists would not be effective if the women were all placed at the bottom of the lists and whereas a perfectly zippered list may not achieve the desired results if the country uses an "open list" voting system, which allows voters to change the order of the candidates on the list,

M.   having regard to the crucial role played by political parties in preventing an increase in or in increasing women's representation in politics through various means; noting that while more and more political parties claim that their general membership is gender balanced, the upper levels of political parties seldom reflect this, with only 11% of party leaders worldwide being women,

N.   noting with great interest that a whole range of other tools are available to ensure increased participation of women in politics, such as positive discrimination measures aiming at ensuring women's presence and activity in parliaments and other elected positions,

O.   stressing that countries that have been the scene of conflict and have had their electoral systems designed and elections organized by the UN are more likely to have more women holding elected office because of the UN imposition of a more balanced gender representation;

P.   considering the importance of changing the cultural acceptance of balanced decision-making through awareness-raising campaigns and whereas achieving gender balance in politics often requires changes in public attitudes,

Q.   bearing in mind the fact that the sharing of family responsibilities between women and men has an impact on the full participation of women in politics,

R.   recognising the key role of non-governmental and voluntary associations in attempting to influence society as a whole to accept a more equitable gender balance in politics,

S.   considering that women can and have made a positive contribution to bringing about a culture of change on gender issues and on essential societal and political issues as a whole through their involvement at grassroots level,

T.   considering the importance of early education and training to ensure that women develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to fully participate in society and politics,

U.   considering the contribution made by women in shedding light on the particular needs of women so that future policy integrates a gender perspective and better serves democracy as a whole,

V.   stressing that women's recognition by their peers for their positive contribution to international politics is essential in contributing to a more gender-balanced political culture and noting that only 12 of the 92 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates have been women,

1.  Recalls that it has already been recognised at European level - in its abovementioned resolution of 2 March 2000 - that balanced participation by both sexes in decision-making is an essential condition for democracy;

2.  Notes that recent elections have brought women to the highest functions as Heads of State and Government in some Member States and third countries;

3.  Congratulates the Heads of Government that have used objective and non-discriminatory criteria for the selection of the members of their cabinets;

4.  Deeply regrets that in spite of a large number of political statements and recommendations, programmes of actions adopted worldwide and specific legislation introduced at national level, inequality and gender discrimination and under-representation of women in politics still persist in Europe and worldwide; notes in particular that the percentage of women elected to the European Parliament ranges from 58% to 0% depending on the Member State (with an average slightly above 30%) and that the percentage of women elected to the Member States" national parliaments varies between 45% and 9%;

5.  Draws attention to the fact that the low level of participation by women in centres of decision-making and governance is often linked to problems with combining work and family life, to the unequal distribution of family responsibilities and to discrimination at work and in occupational training;

6.  Stresses the need to look beyond numbers, and actually focus on how women active in politics influence the shaping of governance and conflict resolution, and how they contribute towards ensuring that governance reforms, accountability and the rule of law are highly placed on the political agenda at national and international level;

7.  Stresses that the low proportion of women in politics deprives Europe of a precious human potential;

8.  Supports the work carried out by the Inter-Parliamentary Union towards a more gender-balanced political scene;

9.  Welcomes the inclusion of the issue of equal participation of women and men in decision-making processes at all levels in the work programme of the CEDAW for 2006 and is looking forward to its findings and recommendations; requests that the Commission and the Council Presidency brief the Parliament on the CEDAW negotiations;

10.  Regrets that women are under-represented as Special and Personal Representatives and Envoys and Personal and Special Advisers of the United Nations Secretary-General and in other high-level positions in the United Nations as a whole;

11.  Encourages the UN Secretary-General to appoint more women to the positions of Special and Personal Representative and Envoy, and Personal and Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General; stresses that it would be appropriate for UN Member States to submit names of female candidates alongside those of male candidates when the UN Secretary-General is considering filling such high-level positions;

12.  Encourages UN Security-Council delegations to include women, to ensure a gender focus in all peace-keeping, conflict resolution or peace building missions, and also to meet women's organisations at local level while on visits to conflict areas;

13.  Welcomes the Council's decision to send out a questionnaire to the Member States requesting information on the steps they have taken towards the implementation of UNSCR 1325(2000); calls on the Council to share its findings with the Parliament;

14.  Strongly encourages the inclusion of female police, civilian and military officers in EU and UN peace-keeping missions in order to enhance communication with women in local communities and local communities in general;

15.  Regrets that there is only one woman currently serving as Personal Representative of the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) out of 14 positions of EU Special Representative/Personal Representative/Special Envoy or Special Coordinator(8); urges the EU High Representative for the CFSP to appoint more women to the positions of Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), Representative or Special Envoy; calls upon the EU High Representative for the CFSP to request that Member States submit to him the names of female candidates alongside those of male candidates when he is considering filling such high-level positions;

16.  Calls upon the EU's High Representative for the CFSP, the Commission and all the Member States to recruit more women as civilian, military and police officers, and to appoint a gender focal point in all ESDP missions, as initiated in the EUFOR mission for the Democratic Republic of the Congo;

17.  Strongly encourages gender-specific training for all staff deployed as part of ESDP missions; also encourages the publication of a gender tool-kit dedicated to the implications of gender in conflict and post-conflict situations for all staff forming part of ESDP operations;

18.  Welcomes the higher number of women commissioners under Commission President Barroso but deplores the fact that full parity is not yet attained at Commissioner level so as to set an example in Europe and worldwide;

19.  Welcomes the Commission's new roadmap for equality between men and women, in particular its decision to promote a network of women in decision-making;

20.  Welcomes the fact that a European Institute for Gender Equality is to be created, which should take the initiative to promote greater representation of women in international politics;

21.  Calls on the Commission to keep it regularly informed of the progress of the work of the Commissioners Group on Fundamental rights, Anti-discrimination and Equal opportunities;

22.  Deplores the fact that out of 107 Commission delegations and offices in third-countries, only 7 women are currently serving at the level of Head of such delegations; urges the Commission to appoint more women to top positions in external delegations;

23.  Calls on the Commission to use the EU external relations and development and cooperation policy instruments as vectors for the promotion of women in politics, in particular the participation of women as voters and political candidates, the inclusion of gender issues on political parties' programmes during election campaigns, including in its dealings with other regional organisations, in particular with respect to capacity-building;

24.  Calls on the Commission to increase its support for projects designed to ensure women's participation in political life in and outside the EU, namely in developing countries;

25.  Recommends that its competent committee establish and support permanent and regular cooperation between female Parliamentarians from all over the world; calls for resources to be provided so that the Women's Forum under the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, and similar "fora" in other Parliamentary Asssemblies in which the EU participates, may take place and conduct joint initiatives;

26.  Calls on the Member States and the Commission where appropriate to promote educational programmes to make citizens, with particular attention to young people, aware of the equal rights of women to participate fully in political life from an early age;

27.  Calls on the future European Institute for Gender Equality to report regularly to the European Parliament about its collection of data and the impact of national parity legislation and gender equality policies carried out by Member States and the best practices of European and national political parties;

28.  Calls on the future European Institute for Gender Equality to monitor and evaluate progress in achieving balanced participation of women and men in political and public life across Europe by setting up and applying indicators for monitoring and evaluation based on internationally comparable gender-segregated data, and then to publish reports on the measures taken and progress made in women's involvement in decision-making and disseminate these reports widely;

29.  Calls on the future European Institute for Gender Equality to liaise with independent bodies, such as a parity observatory or a special independent mediation body established at national level, with a view to monitoring governmental policies in the field of balanced participation of women and men in political and public life;

30.  Encourages the future European Institute for Gender Equality to collaborate with research institutions to further study the barriers to women's access to high-level public appointments and political life, including through research on stereotypes of women in politics;

31.  Encourages the future European Institute for Gender Equality to look beyond numbers, and actually measure how women influence political agendas, at both national and international level, namely in promoting good governance, accountability and the rule of law;

32.  Acknowledges that states are the main motor for effective change in political representation; urges all states to follow up on their commitments made under the Declaration and the Platform for Action adopted in Beijing in September 1995 and during the Beijing +5 and Beijing + 10 meetings, as well as their commitments under international law, in particular with regards the implementation of UNSCR 1325(2000) and the Lisbon Strategy;

33.  Calls on all Member States to encourage women to apply for high-level positions on the international scene and urges Member States to provide names of female candidates along the names of male candidates for high-level positions in international negotiations and policy making, namely in international organisations;

34.  Calls on the Commission to analyse and disseminate best practices on international and national measures aimed at enhancing the participation of women in the highest-level positions of international politics;

35.  Calls on Member States to attract, train and appoint more women to diplomatic careers and to promote gender balance for their delegations to the United Nations and other international meetings and conferences;

36.  Calls on the Member States raise public awareness in their countries with a view to ending negative societal attitudes about women's capacity to participate equally in the political process at national and international levels; encourages Member States to promote the goal of gender balance in all public positions;

37.  Calls on the Member States to put in place measures aiming at the reconciliation of social, family and professional life in line with the conclusions of the Barcelona European Council of 15 and 16 March 2002 and the Lisbon Strategy, thereby creating an enabling environment for women's full participation in politics;

38.  Calls on the Member States to adopt appropriate legislative and/or administrative measures to support elected representatives in the reconciliation of their family and public responsibilities and, in particular, encourage parliaments and local and regional authorities to ensure that their timetables and working methods enable elected representatives of both sexes to reconcile their work and family life;

39.  Calls on the Member States to offer women more training opportunities to enable them to acquire the skills needed to make it easier to pursue a career in politics and attain high-level posts;

40.  Calls on political parties across Europe to promote balanced participation of both sexes on their lists of candidates;

41.  Encourages political parties across Europe to remove all barriers that, directly or indirectly, discriminate against the participation of women, in order to ensure that women have the right to participate fully at all levels of decision-making in all internal policy-making structures and nominating processes and in the leadership of political parties on equal terms with men;

42.  Encourages competent authorities to provide political training, including training in public speaking, to women and men who wish to get involved in politics;

43.  Urges political parties to include qualified women and men on party lists for elective office;

44.  Encourages political parties to appeal to women to participate and vote in elections and to raise awareness of the specific needs and aspirations of women in their party programmes;

45.  Encourages its inter-parliamentary delegations and Committee missions and delegations to take into consideration, within the framework of their activities, the issue of gender equality and sufficient female representation in their institutional cooperation;

46.  Reaffirms its commitment to its gender mainstreaming approach and to a gender-balanced representation on all delegations and missions, including election observation missions;

47.  Encourages election observation missions headed by some of its Members to be particularly attentive to the issue of women's participation in political campaigns, be it as candidates or as voters;

48.  Encourages the promotion of young women in civil society organizations to enable them to acquire experience, skills and capacities that are transferable to the field of political participation;

49.  Encourages the establishment of NGOs, particularly those aiming to promote female empowerment, that provide training in leadership, decision-making, public speaking skills, use of information and communication technologies, confidence-building and political campaigning and the support of such NGOs where they exist;

50.  Encourages the media to recognize the importance of women's participation in the political process, provide fair and balanced coverage of male and female candidates and also to pay attention to the impact of party programmes on promoting women's needs and rights and democratic representation;

51.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the other EU institutions and bodies, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and of members of the UN, and to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

(1) OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 168, 4.7.1995, p. 3.
(3) OJ L 319, 10.12.1996, p. 11.
(4) OJ C 262, 18.9.2001, p. 248.
(5) OJ C 346, 4.12.2000, p. 82.
(6) OJ C 228, 13.8.2001, p. 186.
(7) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0245).
(8) Annalisa Gianella, Javier Solana's Personal Representative on non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction


Fighting trafficking in human beings
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European Parliament recommendation to the Council on fighting trafficking in human beings - an integrated approach and proposals for an action plan (2006/2078(INI))
P6_TA(2006)0498A6-0368/2006

The European Parliament,

-   having regard to the proposal for a recommendation to the Council by Barbara Kudrycka on behalf of the PPE-DE Group on fighting trafficking in human beings - an integrated approach and proposals for an action plan (B6-0613/2005),

-   having regard to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially Articles 4 and 5 thereof, which highlight the fact that the slave trade shall be prohibited in all its forms,

-   having regard to the Beijing Declaration of the Fourth UN World Conference on Women, the Bejing+5 and +10 follow-up and its resolution of 10 March 2005 on the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women – Platform for Action (Beijing + 10)(1),

-   having regard to the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, particularly Articles 1, 7, 32, 34 and 35 thereof and to the 2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, in particular Article 3 thereof,

-   having regard to the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women(2) (CEDAW), particularly Articles 5 and 6 thereof,

-   having regard to the 2000 UN Palermo Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime,

-   having regard to the International Labour Organization Convention No 29 concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour (1930) and No 182 concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour adopted by the conference at its eighty-seventh session (1999),

-   having regard to the 2005 ILO "A Global Alliance Against Forced Labour" Global Report Under the Follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental principles and Rights at Work 2005,

-   having regard to the 2004 US Department of State Report on "The link between prostitution and sex trafficking"(3),

-   having regard to the 1997 European Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and the Article 22 of the 2002 Additional Protocol thereto concerning Transplantation of Organs and Tissues of Human Origin,

-   having regard to the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 3 May 2005,

-   having regard to the Council of Europe Organised Crime Situation Report 2005 - Focus on the threat of economic crime,

-   having regard to Council of Europe Recommendation 1611/2003 on trafficking in organs in Europe,

-   having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union(4), particularly Articles 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 thereof,

-   having regard to the Brussels Declaration on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, adopted on 20 September 2002 at the European Conference on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings - Global Challenge for the 21st Century,

-   having regard to the Hague Programme(5) on freedom, security and justice that invites the Council and the Commission to develop a plan on best practices, standards and mechanism in the fight against trafficking,

-   having regard to the Council Conclusions on Trafficking in Human Beings of the 2725th Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting of 27 and 28 April 2006(6),

-   having regard to Council Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA of 19 July 2002 on combating trafficking in human beings(7),

-   having regard to the Council Framework Decision 2004/68/JHA of 22 December 2003 on combating the sexual exploitation of children and child pornography(8),

-   having regard to the Council Directive 2004/81/EC of 29 April 2004 on the residence permit issued to third-country nationals who are victims of trafficking in human beings or who have been the subject of an action to facilitate illegal immigration, who cooperate with the competent authorities(9),

-   having regard to the Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament based on Article 10 of the Council Framework Decision of 19 July 2002 on combating trafficking in human beings (COM(2006)0187),

-   having regard to the EU plan on best practices, standards and procedures for combating and preventing trafficking in human beings(10) (the "Action Plan"),

-   having regard to the Commission communication of 18 October 2005 entitled "Fighting trafficking in human beings - an integrated approach and proposals for an action plan" (COM(2005)0514),

-   having regard to its resolution of 17 January 2006 on strategies to prevent the trafficking of women and children who are vulnerable to sexual exploitation(11),

-   having regard to its resolution of 19 May 2000 on the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament 'For further actions in the fight against trafficking in women(12),

-   having regard to the report and the recommendations of 22 December 2004 of the Experts Group on Trafficking in Human Beings, set up in 2003 by the Commission,

-   having regard to the DAPHNE programmes to combat violence against children, young people and women(13),

-   having regard to Europol's reports on trafficking in human beings, particularly to its 2005 EU Organised Crime Report,(14)

-   having regard to the UNICEF Guidelines on Protection of the Rights of Child Victims of Trafficking (2003) and the Reference Guide on Protecting the Rights of Child Victims of Trafficking in Europe (2006),

-   having regard to Rule 114(3) and Rule 94 of its Rules of Procedure,

-   having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the opinions of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (A6-0368/2006),

A.   whereas trafficking in human beings is a modern form of slavery, a serious crime and a severe violation of fundamental human rights and reduces people to a state of dependency via threats, violence and humiliation,

B.   whereas trafficking in human beings is a global problem which occurs within and across national borders, regardless of whether a country is one of origin, transit or destination, and ranks as one of the most lucrative forms of international organised crime,

C.   whereas, according to the Council of Europe, trafficking in human beings represents the third largest source of income for organised crime(15),

D.   whereas the measures taken so far to reduce trafficking in human beings have not yielded results in the form of a reduction in the number of victims; whereas, on the contrary, trafficking in human beings is the fastest-growing criminal activity(16) in comparison with other forms of organised crime in the EU,

E.   whereas it is therefore necessary to adopt clear and specific goals such as halving the number of victims of trafficking in human beings over the next ten years, although the overriding aim should be to eliminate this type of crime completely without delay,

F.   whereas five Member States have still not ratified the United Nation's International Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, five Member States have not ratified its supplementary Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, ten Member States have not ratified the UN's Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and only one Member State has ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings,

G.   whereas trafficking in human beings is committed not only for the purpose of sexual exploitation, but also labour exploitation, illegal adoptions, forced domestic servitude and selling organs, which means that fighting trafficking must go far beyond fighting forced prostitution and take all related forms of exploitation and oppression into account,

H.   whereas human trafficking is not necessarily a gender-specific crime as men, and particularly boys, are also victims of sexual and labour exploitation; whereas, however, most victims of trafficking are still women and girls,

I.   whereas women and children are particularly vulnerable and thus run a greater risk of becoming victims of trafficking,

J.   whereas victims of trafficking, many of whom are minors, are exposed to physical and psychological violence and abuse, are denied dignity, freedom from slavery, torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, security of the person, freedom of movement and labour rights, and often find themselves in a forced and unwanted relationship of dependency on their traffickers,

K.   whereas, in spite of the fact that, pursuant to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, each child shall be registered immediately after birth, according to UNICEF(17) over half of all births in the developing world - excluding China - are unregistered (more than 50 million children); whereas these invisible children, together with millions of orphans and street children are the most vulnerable to trafficking, becoming easy prey for illegal adoption or for use in the trade of human organs; whereas conflicts, disasters and post-conflict and post-disaster situations likewise expose children to greater risks of exploitation in trafficking in human beings,

L.   whereas the causes of illegal immigration are different from those of trafficking in human beings, and therefore these issues should be treated separately,

M.   whereas the US Department of State "Trafficking in Persons Report 2005" showed that of the estimated 600 000 to 800 000 people trafficked each year, approximately 80 % are women and girls,

N.   whereas most women and girls who are trafficked are subjected to different kinds of exploitation, in particular sexual exploitation, which is the primary purpose for trafficking, forced labour and organ trafficking,

O.   whereas the 2005 ILO(18) report estimates that 80% of victims of trafficking are women and girls; whereas the report also estimates that between 40 to 50% of all victims are children; whereas, according to the report, 56% of victims specifically in forced labour are women and girls; whereas 98% of those trafficked into sexual exploitation are women and girls,

P.   whereas the sex industry is based on the principle of supply and demand; whereas the 2003 report of the International Organisation for Migration recognizes that "growing consumer demand is undoubtedly one of the factors contributing to the phenomenon of forced labour in the sex industry",

Q.   whereas the UN Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights aspects of the victims of trafficking in persons, especially women and children, entitled, "Integration of the human rights of women and a gender perspective" states that "while the human rights of women and children are violated in many forms of trafficking, sex trafficking is a particular form of trafficking in which the human rights of women and children are violated as women and children",

R.   whereas access to the labour market of the EU is complicated or even restricted and overregulated, while at the same time there is a clear demand for labour, which factors result in illegal migration, smuggling and trafficking,

S.   whereas handling the issue of supply of services is a high political priority; whereas the existence of labour exploitation is often widely tolerated by public opinion,

T.   whereas the demand for low-cost, undocumented and docile workers in the EU contributes to the illegal trade of trafficking in human beings; whereas the existence of such a workforce may drive down costs but does so at the expense of human dignity and whereas it undermines labour standards, health and safety measures, fair pay and local and/or state income through a failure to pay taxes and social contributions,

U.   whereas the high profits from human trafficking are often laundered, enabling other organised criminal activities, including bribery and fraud and allowing perpetrators to gain illegitimate economic, social or even political power,

V.   whereas demand for services provided by trafficked people, for example, the demand from men who wish to purchase or who purchase women and children for sexual purposes, in combination with poverty, social exclusion and lack of viable alternatives for decent work, is the main driving force behind trafficking in human beings, and without strengthening the political will and making a joint effort in order to reduce such demand, it will be almost impossible to stop or even substantially reduce trafficking(19),

W.   whereas the lack of sustainable economic and social prospects, high levels of unemployment and the spectre of constantly growing poverty in certain countries of origin, together with the level of economic and social development existing in Europe, contribute to a climate which makes it easy for criminal organisations to profit from trafficking,

X.   whereas strengthening law enforcement by criminalising traffickers and middlemen is a crucial aspect of the fight against trafficking; whereas law enforcement should also include the possibility of confiscating the proceeds of crime; whereas it is necessary to strengthen labour inspections, including punishment of labour exploitation and illegal work; whereas the creation of a network of national labour inspections, harmonising the penalisation of labour exploitation could lead to a reduction in these offences; whereas, to ensure the effective investigation and prosecution of cases of trafficking it would be useful to set up specially equipped and trained units within national police forces and prosecutors" offices,

Y.   whereas the prompt identification of victims is crucial in the fight against trafficking,

1.  Addresses the following recommendations to the Council:

   Legal framework and law enforcement
   a) trafficking in human beings must be tackled by means of a coherent policy approach (migration, gender, employment, social, development, external, neighbourhood and visa policy) and consequent criminalisation, at least reaching the standards of EU legislation in accordance with Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA;
   b) calls upon the European Community to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings as soon as possible; urges the Commission to initiate without further delay the internal procedure making it possible for the European Community to sign and ratify this Convention; likewise asks the Council to take the decision to sign and ratify the Convention,
   c) the Commission and Member States should adopt a strategy for implementing the Action Plan,
   d) the Council and Member States should strengthen the human rights-based, gender-equality and victim-centred approach in implementing the Action Plan,
   e) considers that an anti-discrimination approach to trafficking is required in addition to a human rights approach and that, therefore, references to equality and non-discrimination are critical,
   (f) Member States should, if they have not already done so, ratify and implement all relevant international Conventions, including the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, its supplementary Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children and the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and their Families, the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, International Labour Organisation Conventions and core labour standards, in particular No 29 concerning forced labour, No 182 concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, and those relating to freedom of association, labour inspection and employment agencies,
   (g) Member States should implement as soon as possible Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA and Directive 2004/81/EC and, at a minimum, ensure that victims of trafficking, whether or not they cooperate with the competent authorities during investigations and as witnesses in criminal procedures, are granted short-term residence status, including a reflection/recovery period for victims lasting no less than 30 days, and access to information on the legal and administrative procedures in a language that the victims understand, together with free legal assistance,
   (h) Member States should make full use of Council Framework Decision 2005/212/JHA of 24 February 2005 on Confiscation of Crime-related Proceeds, Instrumentalities and Property(20), in particular Article 3 thereof, as a part of fight against trafficking in human beings,
   (i) Member States should shoulder their responsibility for victims of trafficking in human beings, by giving them the opportunity to receive assistance, either in returning to their home country if they so desire or in remaining in the Union(21); they should also receive assistance and encouragement to cooperate with the competent authorities during investigations and as witnesses in criminal proceedings,
   (j) Member States should consider the introduction of mechanisms to encourage, support and protect informants who may face reprisals,
   (k) Member States should adopt measures to ensure that the identification of victims of trafficking, especially children, is carried out by trained law enforcement agency staff qualified in the prevention of trafficking, by making a more consistent distinction between smuggling and trafficking in human beings; government agencies should develop guidelines to ensure that, when undocumented migrants are interviewed, the appropriate questions are asked so as to ensure that victims of trafficking can be identified as such,
   (l) Member States should minimise the risk of organ trafficking in Europe including by reducing demand, promoting organ donation more effectively, maintaining strict legislation as regards living unrelated donors, guaranteeing the transparency of national registers and waiting lists and establishing legal responsibility for irregularities,
   (m) Member States should improve the analysis of the current situation by implementing uniform methods to collect comparable data relating particularly to the routes of trafficking and victims" profiles in accordance with existing protocols and Community legislation on data protection,
   (n) Member States should implement consistently Article 4 of Framework Decision 2002/629/JHAto ensure that legal persons can be held liable for offences committed for their benefit by any person, acting either individually or as part of an organ of the legal person, who has a leading position within the legal person, connected with trafficking in human beings or using the services of victims of trafficking,
   (o) Member States should adopt measures to ensure that the kidnapping and transport of persons, including housing and keeping them and the transfer of control over them, is defined in law as a crime and considered an imprisonable offence,
   p) considers that good company practice, which includes requiring sub-contractors to fulfil their contractual and legal obligations (supply-chain compliance), has an important role in reducing demand, and the role of companies, as well as other social agents, is vital in ensuring the application of all existing labour and social laws and in particular making sure that workers receive the benefits to which they are legally entitled; welcomes the Athens Declaration, which seeks to ensure that companies do not tolerate forced labour,
   q) takes the view that extremely severe penalties must be imposed on companies found to have been employing cheap labour supplied through human trafficking, particularly where the companies concerned have been acting fraudulently,
   (r) Member States should adopt the necessary measures to ensure that the financial penalties imposed under criminal law or of an administrative nature on legal persons found guilty of trafficking shall include the confiscation or seizure of the proceeds of trafficking, with a view, as a matter of priority, to ensuring compensation and reparation for the victims for the financial, physical and psychological damage suffered,
   (s) Member States should implement mechanisms which offer integrated solutions to allow the police to tackle international trafficking in women and children for purposes of sexual exploitation, with measures for prevention, awareness-raising, education and training, assistance and protection for victims, and evaluation of the resources needed for carrying out the measures concerned,
   t) considers that inspection and enforcement mechanisms relating to labour law should be strengthened in all Member States; considers also that Member States should ensure that they have the necessary legal framework in place and that the relevant mechanisms, training and adequate technical resources are available to enable Member States to fulfil their legal obligations, giving responsibility to officials from inspection bodies and providing them with information and awareness training to enable them to recognise victims of trafficking whose labour is being exploited; considers that a transnational network of inspectorates relating to employment could serve a useful purpose in the exchange of best practice and fighting labour exploitation; Member States should strengthen cooperation and coordination at an EU level in this area,
   (u) Member States should better control the activities of labour agencies and agencies for recruitment of seasonal workers; the Council should consider the networking of national labour inspections,
   (v) Member States should support job-matching services, through monitoring of private employment agencies, which are often disguised as bridal or tourist agencies and can lead to abusive recruitment practice and, as a consequence, to trafficking,
   (w) Member States should ensure that their consulates' staff exchange experience and receive adequate training in how to recognise visa applications which could involve human trafficking; the Council and the Commission should as soon as possible complete the development of a common Visa Information System,
   x) the Council and the Commission should establish EU guidelines on the fight against trafficking in human beings, as a further instrument for conducting a coherent EU human rights and child rights policy,
   Prevention and reducing demand
   y) discussion of trafficking in human beings should form part of education in schools and address the reduction of social and gender inequalities; the provision of information to the public and the raising of public awareness of trafficking as an unacceptable crime should be recognised as vital elements in fighting trafficking; Member States should support the introduction of life skills education in all classrooms as a way of preventing child trafficking,
   z) the Commission should, no later than 2007, launch a study on both the causal correlation between the various Member States' legislation on prostitution and trafficking for sexual exploitation and on the causal correlation between the various Member States' legislation and policy on migration and trafficking in human beings, as envisaged by Commissioner Frattini on 8 March 2006; in order to ensure the scientific credibility of the study, it must be based on comparable figures; a standardised data collection method should therefore be designed and implemented as soon as possible; the results should subsequently be used to implement best practice for fighting trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation,
   aa) anti-trafficking initiatives from governments or civil society, in particular practical awareness-raising campaigns, should be supported by the Commission, the Council and Member States,
   ab) the Commission should evaluate and disseminate best practices for reducing demand in the Member States for services provided by persons trafficked for the purposes of labour or sexual exploitation or any other purpose,
   (ac) Member States should implement measures to reduce demand and to address other causes such as marginalisation and lack of equal opportunities for employment and decent work on the basis of best practices and to encourage the business sector, in particular the tourism sector and Internet providers, to develop and adhere to codes of conduct with a view to preventing trafficking in persons,
   ad) the Commission should establish an anti-trafficking day on the 25th of March, starting in 2007, to mark the abolition of the slave trade in many countries across the world,
   ae) measures should be taken to improve legal mechanisms for safe migration, to ensure access to information about safe migration opportunities and to guarantee transparency of procedures as being the best ways of reducing trafficking,
   af) the Commission and the Member States should, in their internal policies and in neighbourhood, development and aid policies, consider measures which address the root causes of trafficking in human beings in the countries of origin, including measures to strengthen national child protection systems and to encourage registration of children to reduce their vulnerability to illegal adoptions, forced marriages, trade in human organs and trafficking in children for any purpose, including sexual exploitation,
   ag) the Commission and the Member States should pay particular attention to preventing the improper use of the new communication and information technologies for trafficking in women and children, and should promote compliance with all legal and technological initiatives that are necessary to tackle this problem,
   ah) the Commission should adopt a proposal for a Code of Conduct for officials of the EU institutions and bodies, particularly for officials on an EU mission to third countries, similar to the "Code of Conduct" issued by the UN; the Code should express clear disapproval of the purchase of sexual services, other forms of sexual exploitation and gender-based violence, and should contain necessary sanctions in the case of misconduct; officials should be given detailed information on the content of the Code of Conduct before being sent on mission,
   ai) the Council and the Commission should regularly raise trafficking in human beings in political dialogue with third countries (particularly with those countries whence come most victims of trafficking(22)), drawing on the human rights essential elements clause included in EU agreements with those countries,
   aj) the Commission and the Member States should address the issue of trafficking in human beings within the Union and within individual Member States and support research to enhance the understanding of this phenomenon and inform the development and implementation of effective policy measures;
   ak) the Council and the Commission should follow up all allegations of trafficking of organs within the framework of the EU human rights dialogue with third countries,
   Protecting victims
   al) the Commission and the Member States should establish a multilingual hotline with a single European number with the aim of providing first assistance to the victims,
   (am) Member States should take action against trafficking in human beings while respecting prostitutes and preventing discrimination against them or their further marginalisation or stigmatisation, which increases their vulnerability to trafficking and other forms of violence or abuse,
   an) the Council should encourage the creation of a European website with the data and pictures of missing persons with close cooperation with national coordinators,
   ao) measures are required to ensure the protection not only of victims of sexual exploitation but also victims of labour exploitation and other types of trafficking,
   ap) the Commission and Member States should establish and implement clear European standards and guidelines on assistance and protection for victims, irrespective of their ability or willingness to act as witnesses, including special standards for the protection of children's rights and a victim referral mechanism ensuring that identification of victims is an integral part of support and assistance,
   (aq) Member States should ensure access to short and/or long-term assistance to victims; this support should include, among others, specialised shelters in the first instance, with the possibility of having access to housing at a later stage, medical services and counselling, legal assistance, information on their rights and involving victims as witnesses, language and vocational training courses, cultural induction courses, financial assistance and assistance in finding work, including special legal guardianship for children,
   ar) support for victims of trafficking should be tailored to their particular needs, given that victims of trafficking do not form a homogenous group; in this respect, gender equality, the rights of children, indigenous people, and minority groups are particularly relevant, as many victims or potential victims of human trafficking are women, children and individuals belonging to ethnic and minority groups, who may have been subject to discrimination in their places of origin,
   (as) Member States should provide victims with access to education, training programmes and the labour market as well as protection of rights during civil, criminal and administrative procedures and access to legal remedies,
   at) victims of trafficking should not be returned to the country of origin when it may be reasonably suspected that they may suffer further harm through stigmatization and discrimination, risk reprisals or risk being re-trafficked; stresses the importance of safe return, reintegration and social inclusion programmes for victims with full respect of victim's rights to safety and privacy, including ensuring that states are responsible, where victims are identified, for conducting individual risk assessment prior, during and after the return of a victim,
   (au) Member States should respect in their legislation as well as in their administrative practice the UN definition of the child,(23) i.e. every human being below the age of 18 years; decisions on a long-term solution to trafficking in children should therefore be made either by an authority with a statutory responsibility for children's welfare or by a judicial authority whose primary responsibility is to ensure the best interests of the child during the whole decision-making process; in all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration; Member States shall ensure that a child who is capable of forming his or her own views has the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child and that the views of the child are given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child,
   (av) Member States should guarantee that child victims of trafficking are protected from criminal prosecution or sanctions for offences committed in relation to their status as victims of trafficking; child victims should not, as a general rule, be deprived of their liberty, including on the basis of the child being unaccompanied or separated, or of their migration or residence status, or lack thereof,
   (aw) Member States should ensure that child victims and witnesses of trafficking benefit from safeguards of their human rights, receive special protection, assistance and support in order to prevent additional hardship as a result of their participation in the criminal justice process and in order to ensure that their human rights, their best interests and dignity are fully respected at all stages; Member States should also protect children from the effects of giving evidence in open court (Article 8(4) of Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA of 15 March 2001 on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings(24));
   ax) special protection measures for children and a child protection policy according to the abovementioned UNICEF Guidelines and Reference Guide should be implemented in both countries of origin and destination, including more street social work, family assistance, building a safety net for children, more information on the risks of unsafe migration, and assisted returns according to the views and best interest of the child,
   (ay) Member States should fully implement the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in respect of Intercountry Adoption to avoid illegal adoption,
   (az) Member States should strengthen public-private partnership in the field of victim protection, including sustainable funding of their activities,
   Coordination of actions at national and EU level
   (ba) Member States should establish and strengthen national anti-trafficking coordination structures and pursue the integration of these structures into an international network,
   bb) underlines the importance for EU institutions and Member States to promote gender-specific prevention strategies as a key element in combating trafficking in women and girls, apply gender-equality principles and eliminate the demand for all forms of exploitation, including sexual exploitation and the exploitation of domestic labour,
   bc) the Commission should encourage and support the establishment and implementation of national plans to fight trafficking in human beings,
   (bd) Member States should ensure financial support for special units investigating cases of trafficking in human beings;
   be) coordination and cooperation between source, transit and destination countries of trafficking is paramount; the Council, the Commission and Member States should coordinate anti-trafficking strategies in order to complement the work of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the International Organization for Migration, the Beijing review process, the Stability Pact for Southern Europe and the G8,
   bf) the Council, the Commission and Member States should continue to promote regional initiatives that complement and provide inspiration for EU-wide cooperation, e.g. the Nordic Baltic Task Force against Trafficking in Human Beings, the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, the pan-European Budapest Process, the "5+5 dialogue" between the Western Mediterranean countries, the Mediterranean Transit Migration Dialogue, and regional action plans in Africa and the Middle East and the Economic Community of West African States region,
   bg) while recognising the need for a specific report dealing with trafficking in human organs and tissue, the Commission and the Council should consider human organ trafficking as part of their overall strategy to deal with human trafficking from an internal and external policy point of view,
   bh) the Commission and its Expert Group should initiate, promote and evaluate research into new trends of trafficking, the links between trafficking and the demand for cheap labour, trafficking and migration and research with a view to evaluating the effectiveness of existing anti-trafficking programmes, including their impact on the promotion and realisation of children's rights and particularly in view of the Action Plan,
   bi) the Commission and the Council should take into account the importance of early identification of victims of trafficking in human beings during the process of the development of the common Visa Information System and at the same time fight trafficking within the borders of each Member State and the EU as a whole,
   (bj) Member States should strengthen cooperation within the EU in fighting human trafficking by regularly involving EU bodies such as Europol, Eurojust and Frontex,
   bk) the Commission, the Council and the Member States should monitor the application of the democracy and human rights clause in agreements with third countries, also with reference to the legislative adaptations required in order to prosecute and fight trafficking in human beings,
   bl) the Financial Task Force, and especially the Working Group on Typologies, should continue the work on money laundering methods linked to trafficking in human beings,
   bm) a European Anti-Trafficking Network consisting of contact points designated by each Member State and by the Commission, including governmental and non-governmental agencies and covering prevention, victims' assistance, law enforcement and police and judicial cooperation, should be established,
   bn) the Commission and the German government should collect and analyse information gained in relation to forced prostitution and other forms of exploitation related to trafficking in human beings during the 2006 Football World Cup and share these experiences with a view to developing best practices for future events,
   bo) the Commission should address the problem of child trafficking in the sports sector in the context of Framework Decision 2002/629/JHA, paying particular attention to cases where some clubs might consider giving contracts to very young children in order to circumvent the home-grown players rule,
   bp) calls on the Member States to consult and work closely with NGOs and associations which are active in this field in countries of origin, transit or destination, especially by providing long-term financing for their activities,
   bq) the Council and the Member States should encourage cooperation with NGOs working in the countries of origin, which should aim to collect data, implement activities, train social workers, and work with the mass media in order to raise public awareness of human trafficking,

2.  Instructs its President to forward this recommendation to Council and, for information, to the Commission and the governments of the Member States and accession countries.

(1) OJ C 320 E, 15.12.2005, p 247.
(2) http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html.
(3) US Department of State (2004), http://www.humantrafficking.org/countries/eap/united_states/news/2005_05/tip_factsheet_response.html.
(4) OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p. 1.
(5) The Hague Programme endorsed by the European Council in November 2004.
(6) http://www.consilium.europa.eu.
(7) OJ L 203, 1.8.2002, p. 1.
(8) OJ L 13, 20.1.2004, p. 44.
(9) OJ L 261, 6.8.2004, p. 19.
(10) OJ C 311, 9.12.2005, p. 1.
(11) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0005.
(12) OJ C 59, 23.2.2001, p. 307.
(13) Decision No 293/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 January 2000 adopting a programme of Community action (the Daphne programme) (2000 to 2003) on preventive measures to fight violence against children, young persons and women (OJ L 34, 9.2.2000, p. 1.) and Decision No 803/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 adopting a programme of Community action (2004 to 2008) to prevent and combat violence against children, young people and women and to protect victims and groups at risk (the Daphne II programme) (OJ L 143, 30.4.2004, p. 1).
(14) www.europol.eu.int.
(15) Council of Europe Convention on action against trafficking in human beings - Explanatory Report, 2005.
(16) "Lost kids, lost futures" The EU´s response to child trafficking, 2004.
(17) "The State of the World's Children 2006: Excluded and invisible", UNICEF 2005.
(18) International Labour Organisation (2005), A global alliance against forced labour http://www.ilo.org/dyn/declaris/DECLARATIONWEB.GLOBALREPORTSLIST?var_language=EN 
(19) Gabal, I. Potírání obchodu s lidmi v ČR a možnosti optimalizace bezpečnostní politiky státu., Policy paper of the MHA of the Czech Republic, 2006, Prague.
(20) OJ L 68, 15.3.2005, p. 49.
(21) In accordance with opinion PE 362.828 by its Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.
(22) See the countries listed in the U.S. State Department's Trafficking in Persons Report of 5 June 2006.
(23) Article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN, 1989.
(24) OJ L 82, 22.3.2001, p. 1.


Ombudsman's 2005 annual report
PDF 212kWORD 49k
European Parliament resolution on the annual report on the European Ombudsman's activities in 2005 (2006/2117(INI))
P6_TA(2006)0499A6-0309/2006

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the annual report on the European Ombudsman's activities in 2005,

–   having regard to Article 195 of the EC Treaty,

–   having regard to Article 43 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

–   having regard to Decision 94/262/ECSC, EC, Euratom of the European Parliament of 9 March 1994 on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman's duties(1),

–   having regard to the Commission communication of 5 October 2005 on "Empowerment to adopt and transmit communications to the European Ombudsman and authorise civil servants to appear before the European Ombudsman" (SEC(2005)1227),

–   having regard to its previous resolutions on the European Ombudsman's activities, in particular, its resolution of 4 April 2006 on the special report from the European Ombudsman following the draft recommendation to the Council of the European Union in complaint 2395/2003/GG concerning the openness of the meetings of the Council when acting in its legislative capacity(2),

–   having regard to Rule 195(2), second and third sentences, of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Petitions (A6-0309/2006),

A.   whereas the annual report on the European Ombudsman's activities in 2005 was formally submitted to the President of Parliament on 13 March 2006 and the Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, presented his report on 3 May 2006 to its Committee on Petitions,

B.   whereas the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union was proclaimed at the Nice European Council on 7 December 2000 and whereas the political will exists to give it binding force in law,

C.   whereas Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights provides that "Every person has the right to have his or her affairs handled impartially, fairly and within a reasonable time by the institutions and bodies of the Union",

D.   whereas Article 195 of the EC Treaty and Article 43 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights provide that "any citizen of the Union and any natural or legal person residing or having its registered office in a Member State has the right to refer to the Ombudsman of the Union cases of maladministration in the activities of the Community institutions or bodies, with the exception of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance acting in their judicial role",

E.   whereas it is essential that the Community institutions and bodies be equipped with the necessary budgetary resources in order to fulfil their obligations to ensure that citizens receive prompt and substantive responses to their enquiries, complaints and petitions,

F.   whereas the Ombudsman has advocated that all Community institutions and bodies pursue a common approach with regard to the Code of Good Administrative Behaviour and its resolution of 6 September 2001(3) thereon,

G.   whereas 2005 saw the highest number of complaints to the European Ombudsman received so far(4), and whereas in 2005 the Ombudsman provided effective assistance in over 75% of all cases referred to him, including inadmissible complaints, either by opening an inquiry into the case, transferring it to a competent body, or giving advice on where to turn for a prompt and effective solution to the problem;

H.   whereas, however, almost 70% of all complaints received still fall outside the terms of reference of the Ombudsman and, in 93.7% of cases, this is due to the fact that, in terms of content, they do not fall within those terms of reference since they are not directed against a Community institution or a Community body,

I.   whereas the activities of the Ombudsman and its Committee on Petitions may overlap, in particular, where the Ombudsman is examining whether the conduct by the Commission of infringement proceedings against a Member States has complied with general principles of EC law and good administration, and its Committee on Petitions, at the same time, is examining petitions that allege infringements of Community law by that Member State on the same subject,

J.   whereas in 2005 the Ombudsman dealt with a total of 627 inquiries; and whereas the findings of the completed inquiries show that in 114 cases no maladministration could be ascertained; whereas 89 cases were settled by the institution or body itself following a complaint to the Ombudsman and 22 friendly solutions were proposed;

K.   whereas the Ombudsman's inquiries often produce positive results for complainants and help to improve the quality of administration through the adoption and implementation of suitable measures by the institutions and bodies concerned,

L.   whereas the Ombudsman submitted to Parliament three special reports in 2005; whereas submitting a special report to Parliament represents a valuable means by which the Ombudsman can seek the political support of Parliament and its Committee on Petitions in order to bring satisfaction to citizens whose rights have been infringed, and promotes the improvement of standards of European administration,

M.   whereas the largest number of inquiries into complaints concerned alleged lack of transparency; and whereas this is a matter of concern with respect to the democratic accountability of the Union;

N.   whereas 68% of the Ombudsman's inquiries concerned the Commission; whereas the Commission adopted new internal procedures on 4 October 2005 for responding to the Ombudsman's inquiries,

O.   whereas in 2005 the Ombudsman continued to build constructive working relations with other Community institutions and bodies through meetings and joint events; whereas in 2005 the Ombudsman continued to extend and energise the European Network of Ombudsmen by developing information exchanges and the sharing of best practice; whereas its Committee on Petitions participates in this Network;

P.   whereas in 2005, the institution of the Ombudsman marked its tenth anniversary; whereas the Ombudsman's communication activities on the occasion of that anniversary had the objective of raising citizens' awareness of their rights and of how to exercise those rights and of the terms of reference of the Ombudsman,

1.  Considers that the Ombudsman has continued successfully to pursue the objectives of enhancing the effectiveness of his institution towards promoting good administration and respect for the rule of law and human rights;

2.  Regards the role of the Ombudsman in enhancing openness and accountability in the decision-making processes and administration of the European Union as an essential contribution towards a Union in which decisions are taken 'as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen', as provided for by Article 1(2) of the Treaty on European Union;

3.  Would welcome a tightening up of internal parliamentary procedures in order to guarantee in future swifter processing of the Ombudsman's annual report by its Committee on Petitions;

4.  Calls upon all Community institutions and bodies to be equipped with the necessary budgetary resources in order to ensure that citizens receive prompt and substantive responses to their enquiries, complaints and petitions;

5.  Repeats its call as expressed in previous resolutions for all Community institutions and bodies to adopt a common approach with regard to a Code of Good Administrative Behaviour on the basis of its abovementioned resolution of 6 September 2001;

6.  Agrees with the Ombudsman that the manner and method by which an administration responds to legitimate complaints are the yardstick for the degree of proximity to the citizen of the institutions and bodies and that there is still much room for improvement;

7.  Welcomes the fact that, even in cases where no maladministration could be ascertained, the complainants were provided with assistance and the inquiry was at the same time used as an opportunity to improve the quality of administration;

8.  Declares its satisfaction with the public profile of the Ombudsman, whose aim is to provide the public with information, and considers that information of quality may help to reduce the number of complaints which do not fall within the Ombudsman's terms of reference; at the same time, calls on the Ombudsman to forward immediately those complaints which do not fall within his terms of reference by way of the most appropriate network, from the subsidiarity point of view, at national and local level;

9.  Welcomes the generally constructive cooperation between the Ombudsman and the Community institutions and bodies and endorses him in his role of external control mechanism and, in addition, as a valuable source of ongoing improvement to European administration;

10.  Notes that the Ombudsman has submitted three special reports, two of which have already been considered by Parliament, while consideration of the remaining report can now commence on the conclusion of judicial procedures;

11.  Is convinced that the necessary adaptation of the Ombudsman's Statute of 9 March 1994, as already called for in its Committee on Petitions" last report on the Ombudsman's annual report for 2004, should be carried out as soon as possible; welcomes the Ombudsman's submission to the President of Parliament of a substantive proposal for such adaptation on 11 July 2006;

12.  Appreciates the Ombudsman's good cooperation with its Committee on Petitions;

13.  Stresses the need, however, for a clear definition and demarcation of the role of the European Ombudsman vis-à-vis the role of its Committee on Petitions and urges the Ombudsman to continue to remain within his terms of reference when seeking to assist citizens;

14.  Considers, nevertheless, that when the Ombudsman and its Committee on Petitions, acting within their respective mandates and competences, investigate overlapping issues, such as, respectively, the manner in which the Commission has conducted infringement proceedings and the alleged infringement itself, they can achieve useful synergy through close cooperation;

15.  Calls on the European Ombudsman to exercise ex officio his powers of scrutiny with a view to ensuring transparency and the proper functioning of all recruitment procedures, whether carried out through the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO) or directly through a European body, including the Ombudsman's own personnel service;

16.  Welcomes the special report on the openness of meetings of the Council when acting in its legislative capacity and calls on the Council to comply with its abovementioned resolution of 4 April 2006 and, in future, for all the meetings in which it acts in its legislative capacity to be open and accessible to the public;

17.  Calls on future Council presidencies, as part of the efforts to boost transparency, to do their best to provide Internet pages in all the official languages of the EU (in accordance with Annex I to the conclusions of the European Council meeting in Brussels on 15-16 June 2006) in order to allow and facilitate access to its activities for as many citizens as possible;

18.  Proposes also, as part of the efforts to achieve greater proximity to the citizen, that the entry portal http://europa.eu be established as the uniform entry page for all Community institutions in order to ensure a better overview for citizens of institutional arrangements, allocation of responsibilities and decision-making procedures within the European Union through as clear and simple a structure as possible and to avoid unnecessary confusion from sites existing in parallel;

19.  Welcomes the introduction of new internal procedures at the Commission as the main body concerned with answering inquiries from the Ombudsman, whereby individual Commissioners assume sponsorship for a specific case, and calls on the Commission to introduce this kind of procedure for the processing of petitions as well;

20.  Welcomes the European Network of Ombudsmen and the collaboration between the European Ombudsman and ombudsmen and similar bodies at national, regional and local levels in the Member States and urges further strengthening of the exchange of best practice;

21.  Calls on the Ombudsman to inform its Committee on Petitions at regular intervals about his activities in the Member States and his contacts with the national Ombudsmen;

22.  Welcomes, in particular, the special written procedure whereby national or regional ombudsmen receive written answers to queries about Community law and its interpretation via the European Ombudsman as a valuable contribution towards better transposition and application of Community law;

23.  Encourages the European Ombudsman to continue to place great emphasis on events involving citizens and, hence, potential complainants, since clearly the demarcation of responsibilities and decision-making processes between the European, national and regional levels are still too hard to grasp for many citizens and businesses;

24.  Acknowledges the efforts of the Ombudsman to enhance the citizens" awareness of their rights to lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman; however, urges him in the light of the large number of complaints falling outside his terms of reference to intensify his efforts to provide clear information about those terms of reference on a more regular basis;

25.  Welcomes the increasing participation of the media in publicising the work of the Ombudsman;

26.  Approves the annual report for 2005 presented by the European Ombudsman and appreciates, in particular, the detailed breakdown of complaints by procedure adopted, nature of alleged maladministration, institution concerned, etc;

27.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the report of its Committee on Petitions to the Council, the Commission, the European Ombudsman, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and their ombudsmen or similar competent bodies.

(1) OJ L 113, 4.5.1994, p. 15. Decision amended by Decision 2002/262/EC, ECSC, Euratom (OJ L 92, 9.4.2002, p. 13).
(2) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0121.
(3) OJ C 72 E, 21.3.2002, p. 331.
(4) A total of 3920 or an increase of 5% over the previous year. However, 335 concerned the same subject and were dealt with in a single joint inquiry.


European communication policy
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European Parliament resolution on the White Paper on a European communication policy (2006/2087(INI))
P6_TA(2006)0500A6-0365/2006

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the communication from the Commission "White Paper on a European communication policy" (COM(2006)0035),

–   having regard to Part II of the EC Treaty,

–   having regard to Articles 195, 211 and 308 of the EC Treaty,

–   having regard to Articles 11, 41, 42 and 44 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

–   having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents(1),

–   having regard to the communication to the Commission entitled "Action Plan to improve communicating Europe by the Commission" (SEC(2005)0985),

–   having regard to the communication from the Commission entitled "The Commission's contribution to the period of reflection and beyond: Plan-D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate" (COM(2005)0494),

–   having regard to its resolution of 13 March 2002 on the Commission communication on a new framework for cooperation on activities concerning the information and communication policy of the European Union(2),

–   having regard to its resolution of 10 April 2003 on an information and communication strategy for the European Union(3),

–   having regard to its resolution of 12 May 2005 on the implementation of the European Union's information and communication strategy(4),

–   having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture and Education and the opinions of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (A6-0365/2006),

A.   whereas communication is an important element of both representative and participatory democracy,

B.   whereas, for this reason, one of the strengths of the democratic elements of the EU is connected to communication structures at the European level which link the institutions with citizens,

C.   whereas the right to information and freedom of expression should be at the heart of democracy in Europe and underpin the political systems at European and national levels and thus, insofar as possible, information should be made available to the public,

D.   whereas the experience of European elections and referenda is that those who were aware and interested in EU issues were more likely to participate, whereas those lacking information were less likely to do so,

E.   whereas there is no consolidated European public sphere at present but very lively national public spheres; whereas those national public spheres reveal deep variations as regards the range and content of the debate on European issues,

F.   whereas it would be an important improvement if in the national public spheres European issues were more prominent,

G.   whereas in order to create a European public sphere, a first step would be to overcome the isolation of national spheres through European communicative action; whereas this is closely related to pan-European or at least transnational media structures,

H.   whereas there is clear evidence of under-information of citizens on European issues, as reflected in the results of various Eurobarometer polls,

I.   whereas communication is also linked to the issue of transparency, simplified procedures, citizenship and shared values,

J.   whereas European issues and the added value of Community legislation are rarely acknowledged during national debates, with national politicians often taking credit for European success stories while, conversely, being quick to criticise the EU, often for failures in policy that arise at national level,

K.   whereas the Brussels European Council of 16 and 17 June 2006 put the issue of institutional reform back on the agenda,

L.   whereas the aim of a 'period of reflection' is to make the Union more democratic and effective and to 'reconnect' it with its citizens,

Communication policy and the European public sphere

1.  Welcomes the presentation of the White Paper and endorses the Commission's intentions to make communication policy a policy in its own right;

2.  Sees the need to improve communication between the EU and its citizens; therefore supports the attempt to overhaul the way communication with citizens is organised; stresses that better communication cannot compensate for inadequate policies but can improve the understanding of the policies conducted;

3.  Welcomes the Commission's recognition of the fact that communication can never be divorced from what is being communicated and that it should be a two-way process that involves listening to citizens, but regrets that these principles, asserted at the beginning of the White Paper, do not find any practical expression; calls on the Commission, therefore, to specify how it intends to take into account citizens' views and suggests, to this end, that possible initiatives launched by other institutions, such as 'Agora', a body that Parliament has decided to set up for the purpose of consultation with civil society representatives, are incorporated;

4.  Urges the Commission to support the creation of a European public sphere, primarily structured through national, local and regional media, though without losing sight of the important role played by quality national and regional newspapers and television news in dedicating sufficient coverage to European affairs; and to that end, calls on the Member States to encourage the national public audiovisual channels adequately to inform the citizens about the policies conducted at European level;

5.  Notes that the aim of a European communication policy should not be the creation of a communication sphere that competes with the national public spheres, but rather a close alignment of national debates with the debates at EU level;

6.  Urges the Commission to take into consideration the concrete proposals set out in its above-mentioned resolution of 12 May 2005 when designing a communication policy;

Definition of common principles

7.  Supports the idea of setting up a two-way communication between the EU and its citizens, which is able and willing to listen more closely to what citizens wish to say about Europe; points out, however, that the idea of citizens becoming drivers of participation and dialogue does not seem reasonable, since it is not citizens who should seek out information, but rather information that should seek out the citizens;

8.  Does not consider it appropriate to submit Parliament to a code of conduct that regulates its communication with EU citizens;

9.  Asks the Commission to propose a draft interinstitutional agreement defining the common principles that could channel cooperation between the European institutions as regards communication;

10.  Urges the Commission to explore the possibility of launching of a genuine Community programme, for information and communication on Europe, in order to improve existing interinstitutional partnership mechanisms in this field; states that should the Commission come forward with a corresponding proposal, Parliament will be fully involved in defining and framing the precise content and scope of the programme;

11.  Is of the opinion that stronger reference be made to the principles and values enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights in order to determine the scope of a European communication policy;

12.  Stresses that the Charter of Fundamental Rights already lays down citizens' rights regarding information and that any new instrument should respect the prerogatives of Parliament as an elected assembly, in particular its power to freely address citizens from across the Union; calls for its Committee on Constitutional Affairs to examine the possible form and content of an interinstitutional instrument of this kind;

13.  Points to the importance of a Constitution for Europe to make the Union more political and democratic and capable of attracting citizens; points out that Parliament, the Council, and the Commission have a political responsibility to support this process;

Reinforcing the role of citizens

14.  Welcomes the desire shown by the Commission to take Europe to all levels, in other words, to communicate European issues to national, regional and local level in order to decentralise the message, and insists on the need for such communication to take place on a very regular basis; welcomes the Commission's Action Plan and expects its prompt implementation;

15.  Considers that the development of a local European administration, able to support the numerous existing European Union information points, would help to form strong direct links between the Union and its citizens, in particular by improving citizens" access to the European initiatives and programmes that affect them; believes that the Commission's and Parliament's information offices in the Member States play an important role in this connection; sees a need in this connection for a thoroughgoing review and rethink of the work carried out to date in the Member States by these information offices, since their public relations activities do not appeal to citizens and the resources earmarked for them could be used far more efficiently; feels, therefore, that they should be more political and less bureaucratic;

16.  Welcomes the transparency initiative launched by the Commission in November 2005, which stresses that high standards of transparency are part of the legitimacy of any modern administration; the European public is entitled to expect efficient, accountable and service-minded public institutions;

17.  Sees regions and cities as the most suitable platforms for promoting the idea of Europe among citizens and calls for the involvement of the Committee of the Regions in the implementation of a future communication policy;

18.  Supports the idea of enhancing debates in national and regional parliaments;

19.  Encourages the national parliaments to enhance the scrutiny role of their governments when they act at the Council, thus raising awareness and thereby the democratic accountability of the EU institutions;

20.  Stresses that national parliaments should strive to pay more attention to European legislative projects much earlier in the decision-making process;

21.  Draws attention to the Presidency Conclusions of the Conference of the Speakers of European Union Parliaments (Budapest, 6 and 7 May 2005), which called upon the national parliaments to hold an annual debate, preferably in plenary session, on the Commission's annual legislative and work programme;

22.  Points to the importance of convening interparliamentary forums on the future of Europe, one of which will be meeting to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome; calls, as far as European communication policy is concerned, for the discussions among the representatives of the European people to be taken into account;

23.  Underlines the importance of civic education on EU integration; considers that having a certain level of understanding about Europe is a prerequisite for successful interactive communication with the EU, and for contributing to a sense of European citizenship;

24.  Regrets that support for sectoral programmes with a strong multiplier effect such as Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates and Erasmus has been cut, since they accentuate the European dimension and facilitate the establishment of transnational networks;

25.  Is of the opinion that in order to reach the citizen, it is important to communicate better and show the relevance and impact of EU decisions for daily life through cooperation with regional and local institutions; suggests that emphasis be placed on communicating regularly to the citizens about relevant regional and local projects in which the EU has participated, with the objective of favouring a common European project;

26.  Considers that the debate should take into account the specific needs and activities of disabled people and minority groups as well as national and local audiences and specific target groups; points out that more attention should be paid to channelling relevant, as well as regionalised information, to defined target audiences, thereby connecting European issues with citizens' daily lives;

27.  Welcomes the initiatives taken by certain Commission representations and by national administrations so as to collaborate on EU-related information campaigns; points out that such collaboration could contribute to the creation of a more direct link between citizens and institutions;

28.  Calls on the Commission to ensure consultation with stakeholders and the public at an early stage of policy shaping; considers that key proposals could be accompanied by an additional section in the impact assessment specifying how citizens´ concerns have been taken into account when drafting the proposal; points out that the impact of public consultations on the EU's decision-making process should be clarified;

29.  Calls on the Commission to develop a dynamic and reactive communication policy, which, instead of mostly reporting the final consensus achieved, is more focused on reporting the evolution of decisions that are adopted at different stages in the decision-making process; considers that the aim of the Union's communication policy is to give citizens a clear understanding of how European law is made;

Working with the media and new technologies

30.  Stresses the importance of the media as intermediaries, opinion formers, and carriers of messages to the citizen in the European public sphere which the Commission is aiming to develop; in that context, urges the Commission to support concrete initiatives such as discussion forums on European cultural and political issues where materials would be available in several languages so that many European citizens could interact and exchange;

31.  Emphasises that the informed citizen is the basis of a functioning participatory democratic system;

32.  Asks the Commission to define, with the greatest precision possible, which role it would like to assign to the media and stresses the need to find a formula that involves national, regional and local media more closely in communication policy, for which the use of alternative media as a communication channel should also be considered;

33.  Takes the view that cross-border cooperation on European policy projects between regional and local media must be stepped up; believes that European cooperation between media and journalists benefits reporting on the European Union, and asks the Commission to set up, as part of the budget, a European Fund for (Investigative) Journalism that supports projects in which journalists from several Member States together explore a European subject in depth and apply it to the differences in local and regional situations;

34.  Welcomes the withdrawal of the proposal on the creation of an EU news agency;

35.  Recommends that the Commission use clear and concise language when communicating with the media and citizens, and that it does so systematically in the official languages of their Member State of origin or residence; believes that EU jargon increases rather than closes the gap between the EU institutions and citizens;

36.  Recommends the creation of regular exchanges of views on European communication matters between the European institutions, particularly Parliament, and the media;

37.  Sees it as the responsibility of the Commission in general, and the Member States in particular, to provide objective, reliable and impartial information on European policies as a basis for well-informed debate; accordingly calls on the latter to improve efforts to inform the Member States" civil servants about policies conducted at European level;

38.  Welcomes the fact that with respect to the new technologies, the White Paper is in line with Parliament's last report on the EU information and communication strategy;

39.  Welcomes the Commission's proposals for a better use of new communication technologies, but calls for measures to be taken to prevent the "digital divide" making access to information about the Union even more difficult for a section of the population; underlines the need, in the interests of ensuring a coherent approach, to incorporate the means of communication peculiar to each institution, such as Parliament's planned "Web TV", while respecting its autonomy; maintains also that the traditional mass media, such as television, must be turned to account;

Understanding European public opinion

40.  Asks the Commission to inform Parliament about the assessment of the consultation it has undertaken;

41.  Sees as questionable the establishment of an Observatory for European Public Opinion in the short term and considers that before such a task is carried out, more coordinated use should be made of the data and resources already available;

42.  Notes that no satisfactory communication policy is possible without exact knowledge of the gaps in the information which Union citizens have, whether relating to the substance of Community action or to the institutions and procedures that serve to implement it; calls, therefore for Eurobarometer personnel to be instructed to carry out an exhaustive specific opinion survey in order to gauge exactly how well informed Community citizens are, distinguishing them according to their country of origin, socio-professional category, and political leanings;

Collaboration

43.  Asks the Commission to draw up concrete proposals for the implementation of the communication policy and to evaluate its legal and financial implications;

44.  Considers that the work of the Interinstitutional Group on Information (IGI) should be analysed to see if improvements are possible;

45.  Stresses the need for closer involvement of pan-European political parties in dialogue with their constituencies on EU matters;

46.  Attaches special importance to the role of political parties in sustaining parliamentary democracy at all levels; regrets that the potential of the transnational political parties remains unfulfilled; deplores the reluctance of many national political parties to embrace the European dimension in a coherent or convincing way; urges political parties to address EU politics in their policy-making and electoral campaigning, and to promote on behalf of the citizen real political choices about the future of Europe;

47.  Emphasises that a communication policy must take into account the 'pace' of European affairs, which is often far removed from that of national political agendas, and cannot really develop separately from the specific Union policies and measures, which each have their own particular timetable; considers that the Commission, the Council, and Parliament should agree on a timetable for the key issues likely to be of more direct interest to the different sections of European public opinion in order to channel their communication efforts into these subjects;

48.  Calls on the institutions to examine the possibility of setting up a second-level coordination group, on which the competent DGs of the various institutions and representatives of Parliament's committees are represented, to coordinate the specific activities implementing the guidelines laid down by the IGI;

49.  Reiterates that the European Union is often viewed as a single whole by citizens, who are not thought to understand the finer distinctions between the institutions, and that the respective communication policies of each institution should therefore be coordinated in a joint approach, while respecting the responsibilities and autonomy of each of them; repeats its call for a large-scale annual interinstitutional debate to be held in plenary for the purpose of adopting a joint declaration on the objectives and means of implementing this policy;

50.  Endorses the strengthening of dialogue, and jointly organised public debates, among the European institutions and national and regional bodies; stresses the importance of basing communication on initiatives promoted through popular communication channels such as cultural programmes (literary or film prizes), sporting events etc.; considers that communication should not lose sight of the strategic need to be aimed at "target audiences" such as universities, local and regional authorities, or professional associations;

51.  Supports the strengthening of the role of the European Ombudsman in giving greater credibility to transparency;

52.  Points out that the Prince Programme has traditionally been based on a partnership between the Commission and the Member States; in its most recent report on the EU's communication strategy Parliament underlined the need for parliamentary involvement in establishing the Prince Programme's priorities, and therefore takes the view that its Members should be fully involved in the events organised under the programme's auspices;

53.  Recommends increasing the appropriations allocated to existing funding programmes for the purpose of better communication of European integration, such as Lifelong Learning, Youth, Europe for Citizens, Media, and Culture, provided that the objectives of the individual programmes are fully respected;

54.  Supports replacing the five budgetary lines for the Prince Programme that exist at present with a single programme run by the Directorate-General for Communication, as this would bring greater flexibility and a central interlocutor;

55.  Maintains that the financial support granted by Union needs to be made as visible as possible and hence that every institution, association, or scheme subsidised under a Union programme should be obliged to publicise the aid received;

56.  Stresses that for successful communication, the active involvement of the Member States is essential and therefore invites them to find the technical and financial means for contributing to the joint communicative efforts of the EU;

57.  Urges the Member States to transpose Community legislation appropriately and promptly in order to ensure that all EU citizens enjoy the same level of rights as conferred by Community legislation; calls on the Commission to ensure more actively that provisions of Community legislation are applied; encourages the Commission to work in partnership with Member States´ governments to inform citizens of their right of access to justice and redress should their rights be infringed;

58.  Calls on the Commission to prioritise better its communication partnerships by pursuing special relationships with partners with a "transnational mission", such as the organisations representing the emerging European civil society, European political parties and journalists; affirms the importance of including media aimed at young people, with a view to consolidating a European citizenship area;

59.  Points to the need to adapt and further the strategies and substantive areas set out in the White Paper, taking into account the ongoing debates in European society and among the Member States;

o
o   o

60.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Committee of Regions, the European Social and Economic Committee and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

(1) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.
(2) OJ C 47 E, 27.2.2003, p. 400.
(3) OJ C 64 E, 12.3.2004, p. 591.
(4) OJ C 92 E, 20.4.2006, p. 403.


Ethiopia
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European Parliament resolution on Ethiopia
P6_TA(2006)0501RC-B6-0596/2006

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its previous resolutions on the post-election crisis and serious human rights violations in Ethiopia, in particular those of 7 July 2005 on the human rights situation in Ethiopia(1), 13 October 2005 on the situation in Ethiopia(2) and 15 December 2005 on the situation in Ethiopia and the new border conflict(3),

–   having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.   disturbed by the arrest and expulsion from Ethiopia of two Commission officials on the alleged grounds that they tried to help Yalemzewd Bekele, a lawyer and women's rights campaigner, working for the Commission in Addis Ababa, to leave the country,

B.   whereas there are reports of continuing arrests, harassment, arbitrary detention, humiliation and intimidation of opposition politicians, civil society activists, students and other ordinary citizens,

C.   whereas, following high-level EU intervention on her behalf, Yalemzewd Bekele was released on 27 October 2006 after being held incommunicado for a few days,

D.   whereas the Ethiopian Parliament established a government-backed Commission of Inquiry in late November 2005 with the task of investigating the June and November 2005 killings,

E.   whereas the Ethiopian Government has put pressure on the members of the Commission of Inquiry to alter the findings and whereas three of the members, including the chairman and vice-chairman, have left the country after refusing government orders to alter the findings of the final report,

F.   whereas the members of the Commission of Inquiry managed to leave the country with the final report, and whereas the report overwhelmingly condemns the government's handling of the crisis, which left 193 citizens dead following demonstrations in June and November 2005,

G.   whereas, following the mass arrests of government opponents, human rights activists and journalists during demonstrations in June and November 2005, 111 opposition party leaders, journalists and human rights defenders are still in custody and are facing trial on charges including 'outrage against the constitution', 'inciting, organising or leading an armed rebellion' and 'attempted genocide',

H.   recalling that post-election political detainees include Hailu Shawel, President of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, former Chair of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, Dr Yacob Hailemariam, former UN Special Envoy and former prosecutor in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Birtukan Mideksa, former judge, Dr Berhanu Nega, Mayor-elect of Addis Ababa, Netsanet Demissie, Director of the Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia, and Daniel Bekele, of ActionAid Ethiopia,

I.   concerned at the recent arrest of Wassihun Melese and Anteneh Getnet, members of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association, and that these new arrests seem to be a response to Ethiopian Teachers' Association complaints about government interference in its activities and intimidation of its leaders,

J.   whereas Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is one of the Commission's guests at the European Development Days, which are being held in Brussels from 13 to 17 November 2006,

K.   whereas Ethiopia is a signatory to the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement, Articles 9 and 96 of which stipulate that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is an essential element of ACP-EU cooperation,

1.  Welcomes the EU's efforts to secure the release of Yalemzewd Bekele and regrets deeply the expulsion from Ethiopia of Commission officials Björn Jonsson and Enrico Sborgi;

2.  Calls on the Ethiopian Government to publish unamended and in its entirety, and without any further delay, the final report of the Commission of Inquiry; calls for the relevant courts to be supplied with the report, and urges them to take due account of it so that fair trials can be conducted;

3.  Calls on the Ethiopian authorities to refrain from acts of intimidation and harassment against national leaders, including court judges and members of the Ethiopian Teachers' Association, carrying out their professional obligations;

4.  Calls on the Ethiopian Government immediately and unconditionally to release all political prisoners, whether journalists, trade union activists, human rights defenders or ordinary citizens, and to fulfil its obligations with respect to human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law;

5.  Calls on the Ethiopian Government to disclose the total number of persons detained throughout the country, to allow visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and to allow all detainees access to their families, legal counsel and any medical care that their health may require;

6.  Calls on the Ethiopian Government to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Union Charter on Human and People's Rights, including the right of peaceful assembly, freedom of opinion, and an independent judicial system;

7.  Deeply regrets the Commission's invitation to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to address the European Development Days, especially on governance issues, a decision which sends out the wrong signal with regard to EU policy on respect for human rights, democratic principles, the rule of law and good governance;

8.  Asks the Council and the Commission to monitor closely the situation in Ethiopia, and considers that development cooperation programmes under the Cotonou Agreement should be contingent on respect for human rights and good governance, as clearly set out in Articles 9 and 96;

9.  Calls on the Council and the Commission to explore ways of organising an all-inclusive inter-Ethiopian dialogue with the participation of political parties, civil society organisations and all stakeholders in order to work out a lasting solution to the current political crisis;

10.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Ethiopian Government, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Chairperson of the African Union.

(1) OJ C 157 E, 6.7.2006, p. 495.
(2) OJ C 233 E, 28.9.2006, p. 116.
(3) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0535.


Bangladesh
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European Parliament resolution on Bangladesh
P6_TA(2006)0502RC-B6-0595/2006

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its previous resolutions on Bangladesh, in particular its resolution of 14 April 2005 on Bangladesh(1),

–   having regard to the visit to Dhaka by the EU Troika of Regional Directors from 23 to 25 January 2006,

–   having regard to the declaration of 16 March 2006 by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union welcoming the arrest of two terrorist leaders by the Bangladeshi authorities,

–   having regard to the statement of 30 October 2006 by the UN Secretary-General on Bangladesh,

–   having regard to the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the People's Republic of Bangladesh on Partnership and Development(2),

–   having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.   welcoming the fact that a caretaker government has been formed and is entrusted with the task of preparing for the next parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, but noting with concern that many of the necessary preconditions in terms of the neutrality of electoral preparations have yet to be met,

B.   welcoming the fact that Bangladesh is a very important partner of the European Union, which has made progress in its economic performance; noting, however, that the country continues to suffer from serious political difficulties, massive corruption, poverty, widespread popular discontent and Islamist militancy,

C.   whereas the compilation of the electoral register has been heavily criticised by domestic and international observers; whereas according to an estimate by the Commission, 13 million invalid names have been added to the register,

D.   whereas in 2006, three journalists were killed and at least 95 others were attacked, and 55 press correspondents were the targets of intimidation because of articles considered to be "non-Islamic"; and whereas in the course of the year, more than 70 journalists have been forced to flee the country following threats, according to reports of "Reporters sans Frontières" on press freedom in Bangladesh,

E.   having regard to the particularly shocking case of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, director of the Bangladeshi newspaper Weekly Blitz, journalist who advocates dialogue between religions and recognition of Israel, who was arrested on 29 November 2003 and is in danger of being condemned to death at his trial for sedition, which was due to open on 13 November 2006,

F.   whereas violence perpetrated by paramilitary organisations with an Islamist orientation decreased as a result of steps taken by the former government in the latter part of its tenure,

G.   whereas Bangladesh has had a longstanding tradition of secular democracy, including respect for human rights and women's rights, independence of the judiciary and freedom of the press;

H.   whereas the EU has welcomed the arrest of two suspected terrorist leaders, and considers this to be a significant achievement which demonstrates Bangladesh's commitment to the fight against terrorism,

I.   whereas in spring 2006, the government took drastic measures to curb extremism, but whereas Islamist groups continue openly to target members of religious minority communities,

1.  Deplores recent acts of violence and strongly condemns the physical attacks on journalists, NGO staff, trade unionists and others, and the violence related to the forthcoming general election and the transitional arrangements;

2.  Recognises the importance of the elections and calls for a strong and decisive caretaker government, which will counteract instability and instil confidence in free and fair parliamentary elections conducted in accordance with international standards, with the participation of all parties and within the planned timeframe;

3.  Calls on the Bangladeshi Caretaker Government, led by President Iajuddin Ahmed, to take immediate steps to reconstitute the Election Commission, so as to ensure that it can perform, and can be seen to perform, its work in a truly neutral manner;

4.  Calls on the Caretaker Government to create a climate in which all members of the electorate will feel genuinely free to use their right to vote, notably by disarming supporters of Islamist groups engaged in actions and propaganda characterised by religious intolerance;

5.  Calls on the Election Commission, in cooperation with domestic and international experts, to improve the quality and accuracy of the voter register;

6.  Calls on the BNP, the AL and all other political parties to reach agreement on all controversial electoral issues, to avoid political violence and instability and to develop political programmes which will improve the standard of the population's living conditions;

7.  Calls for a review of the trial, and for the acquittal, of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, the charges against whom run counter to all the standards of international law and the conventions against violations of press freedom;

8.  Calls on the authorities to put an end to the climate of impunity and to bring to justice the perpetrators of violence and harassment directed towards journalists in Bangladesh;

9.  Calls on the Council and the Commission to monitor carefully the human rights situation, the political situation and press freedom in Bangladesh and to draw up programmes in the framework of EU-Bangladesh cooperation to promote freedom of the press and freedom of speech;

10.  Calls on the Caretaker Government to guarantee media balance during the election campaign;

11.  Reaffirms its commitment to Bangladesh's unique tradition of religious tolerance and secularism, as enshrined in the country's longstanding cultural traditions and artistic heritage, and as endorsed in Parliament's previous resolutions;

12.  Welcomes the recent conviction by a court of two Islamic militants for murdering a Christian convert, but condemns the imposition of a death penalty;

13.  Welcomes the Commission's decision to send an EU Election Observation Mission to observe the forthcoming general election, and urges the rapid establishment of a short-term political Election Observation Mission by Parliament;

14.  Calls on the Commission to use its good offices with other donors and with the Bangladeshi Government to promote the adoption of effective measures in line with the provisions of this resolution;

15.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh, the Election Commission of Bangladesh and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

(1) OJ C 33 E, 9.2.2006, p. 594.
(2) OJ L 118, 27.4.2001, p. 48.


Iran
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European Parliament resolution on Iran
P6_TA(2006)0503RC-B6-0597/2006

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran, notably those concerning human rights,

–   having regard to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to all of which Iran is a party,

–   having regard to the EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogue,

–   having regard to the 8th EU Annual Report on Human Rights (2006), adopted by the Council on 17 October 2006,

–   having regard to the EU Presidency statement of 20 December 2005 on the EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogue,

–   having regard to the Council Conclusions of 10 to 11 April, 15 to 16 May and 17 July 2006, the Council statement of 26 July 2006 on Freedom of Expression, the Council statement of 5 May 2006 on Human Rights in Iran, the Council statement of 24 August 2006 on the death of Akbar Mohammadi and the imprisonment of Manouchehr Mohammadi and the Council statement of 5 October 2006 on Freedom of the Press,

–   having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

General situation

A.   whereas the situation in Iran regarding the exercise of civil rights and political freedoms has deteriorated in the last year, notably since the presidential elections of June 2005, despite several commitments by the Iranian authorities to promote universal values,

B.   whereas Iran has undertaken to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms under the various international instruments in this field,

Political prisoners

C.   whereas the Iranian authorities have announced that a report prepared by the judiciary had produced detailed evidence of human rights violations, including torture and ill-treatment of prisoners and detainees in prisons and detention centres, but also had confirmed that measures had been taken to address the problems identified,

D.   whereas nonetheless the practice of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners, solitary confinement, clandestine detention, cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment and impunity for State agents continue to be widespread,

E.   concerned that the Centre for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), co-founded by the 2003 Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi and provider of pro-bono legal defence to Zahra Kazemi, Akbar Ganji and Abdoulfatah Soltani, was declared an illegal organisation by President Ahmadinejad in August 2006 and that the Ministry of the Interior has threatened those who continued their activities with prosecution,

Prosecution of juvenile offenders

F.   deeply concerned about the increasing reports regarding the sentencing to death and execution of juvenile offenders, while noting that Iran accounts for the highest number of juvenile executions worldwide,

Minority rights

G.   whereas some minority rights are granted by the Iranian Constitution, such as the right of minorities to their own language, but to a large extent such rights cannot be exercised in practice; whereas in recent months minority groups have demonstrated, calling to be allowed to exercise such rights, which has led large-scale imprisonment of participants,

H.   whereas the Azeris, the largest ethnic minority in Iran, were openly offended by cartoons as an ethnic minority grouping by a State-owned daily newspaper in May 2006; whereas other minorities continue to be discriminated against and harassed due to their religious or ethnic background, such as the Kurds and the inhabitants of the area around Ahwaz city, the provincial capital of the ethnic Arab-dominated Khuzestan province, who are for example being displaced from their villages according to statements by Miloon Kothari, UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, while some of them remain in detention or have been sentenced to death,

Freedom of religion

I.   whereas, apart from Islam, only Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Judaism are recognised as religions by law, while those who practise unrecognised religions, such as Baha'is and Sufis, are discriminated against and violently repressed; whereas notably the Baha'is cannot exercise their religion and are moreover consequently deprived of all civil rights, such as their rights to property and access to higher education,

J.   whereas even members of the clergy opposing Iran's theocratic regime are at risk, as witnessed by the case of Ayatollah Sayed Bouroujerdi, who was arrested with his followers in October 2006, and whereas they are still detained,

Freedom of the press

K.   particularly concerned about the increasing reports of arbitrary arrests of and threats against journalists, cyber-journalists and webloggers; whereas at least 16 journalists have reportedly been arrested since the beginning of the year, ranking Iran among the very worst countries in the world for the prosecution of journalists and for its crackdown on press freedom by closing virtually all critical newspapers and online magazines, in which connection family members are being harassed, travel bans imposed on journalists and satellite dishes confiscated,

L.   whereas, according to reports, the Iranian authorities are increasingly filtering internet sites and blocking access to several dozen online publications and political, social and cultural weblogs; whereas, by preventing free use of the internet, the Iranian authorities are cracking down on the Iranian public's only means of access to uncensored information,

Women's rights

M.   whereas Iran is still not a party to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

N.   whereas demonstrations for legal reforms to end discrimination against women have been broken up and participants have been arrested, although later released again,

Violation of other rights

O.   whereas in September 2006 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad openly called for a purge of liberal and secular academics in the universities, whereas the Iranian Government is increasingly barring university students from pursing their higher education despite the fact that they have passed competitive entrance exams, and whereas the judiciary has prosecuted numerous students and sentenced them to imprisonment, fines or flogging during the past year,

P.   whereas people are still imprisoned and at times executed for sexual offences, inter alia for adult consensual sexual activity between unmarried persons and homosexuals,

Q.   whereas in 2005 Iran accounted for the second highest number of executions worldwide, 282 sentences of capital punishment being reported, of which 111 cases were executed between October 2005 and September 2006; highly concerned, moreover, that people are still being condemned to death by stoning despite the moratorium on stoning imposed in December 2002, and notably in this regard women for crimes of sexual misconduct,

R.   having regard to the announcement by the Head of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran in April 2004 that torture would be banned and to the subsequent reform of legislation by the Iranian Parliament, approved by the Guardian Council in May 2004,

S.   whereas in December 2006 there will be elections to the Assembly of Experts, a pillar of the clerical establishment which chooses and supervises the work of the supreme leader, as well as Council elections; whereas for the Council elections it has been reported that in the electoral districts of Rey and Shemiranat nominees have been refused registration and for the Assembly elections the reformists have threatened an election boycott if all nominees are not admitted,

T.   deeply concerned at the failure to comply fully with international standards in the administration of justice, the absence of guarantees of due process of law and the absence of respect for internationally recognised legal safeguards,

Violation of international obligations

U.   whereas Iran has not agreed to a further round of the EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogue that was established in 2002 and whereas, after the fourth round held on 14 to 15 June 2004, Iran ceased participation, despite repeated efforts by the EU over the last year and the current year to offer dates for a fifth round,

V.   whereas EU relations with Iran have been based on a threefold approach, characterised by negotiations on a trade and cooperation agreement, political dialogue and a human rights dialogue, and whereas the political dialogue has been suspended because of the current Iranian position on its nuclear programme,

General situation

1.  Expresses its serious concern about the deterioration of the human rights situation in Iran since President Ahmadinejad took office in June 2005;

2.  Calls upon Iran to grant all persons the right to exercise their civil rights and political freedoms and hopes that the Iranian authorities will fulfil their commitments to promote universal values, which Iran is also obliged to do by international conventions that it has ratified;

Political prisoners

3.  Calls on the Iranian authorities to accelerate the process of investigation into the suspicious deaths and killings of intellectuals and political activists, to bring the alleged perpetrators to justice and to unconditionally provide adequate medical assistance to those prisoners who are in poor health;

4.  Calls on the Iranian authorities to unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience, notably Keyvan Ansari, Keyvan Rafii, Kheirollah Derakhshandi, Abolfazl Jahandar and Koroush Zaim;

5.  Welcomes in this context the recent release of former Member of the Iranian Parliament Sayed Ali Akbar Mousavi-Kho'ini, as well as the earlier releases of Ramin Jahanbegloo and Akbar Ganji; expects that Mr Ganji, who was invited to the European Parliament in October, will be able to return to Iran freely and without any obstacles;

Prosecution of juvenile offenders

6.  Is appalled that there are still cases of executions of minors and sentences of stoning and that, despite government assurances, at least two sentences of stoning have been carried out;

7.  Strongly condemns the death penalty as such, condemns in particular death sentences passed against and executions of juvenile offenders and minors, and calls upon the Iranian authorities to respect internationally recognised legal safeguards with regard to minors such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;

Minority rights

8.  Calls upon the authorities to respect internationally recognised legal safeguards with regard to persons belonging to religious minorities, officially recognised or otherwise; condemns the current lack of respect for minority rights and demands that minorities be allowed to exercise all rights granted by the Iranian Constitution and international law; further calls upon the authorities to eliminate all forms of discrimination based on religious or ethnic grounds or against persons belonging to minorities, such as Kurds, Azeris, Arabs and Baluchis;

9.  Remains concerned about the fate of the lawyer Saleh Kamrani, who defended Azeri Turks in a law suit and disappeared on 14 June 2006; calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt the imminent execution of the Arabs Abdullah Suleymani, Abdulreza Sanawati Zergani, Qasem Salamat, Mohammad Jaab Pour, Abdulamir Farjallah Jaab, Alireza Asakreh, Majed Alboghubaish, Khalaf Derhab Khudayrawi, Malek Banitamim, Sa'id Saki and Abdullah Al-Mansouri;

Freedom of the press

10.  Reminds the Government of Iran of its obligations, as a signatory to the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to safeguard fundamental human rights, notably the freedom of opinion, and calls for the release of all imprisoned journalists and webloggers, including Motjaba Saminejad, Ahmad Raza Shiri, Arash Sigarchi and Masoud Bastani;

11.  Condemns the arrests and imprisonment of cyber-journalists and webloggers and the parallel censorship of several online publications, weblogs and internet sites, as these are the most uncensored source of news to the Iranian people; also condemns the wave of arbitrary arrests of journalists as well as the severe restriction and, in particular, the closure of media in Iran;

12.  Calls on the Iranian Parliament to amend the Iranian Press Law and the Penal Code to bring them into line with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and notably to repeal all criminal provisions dealing with the peaceful expression of opinions, including in the press;

Freedom of religion

13.  Calls on the Iranian authorities to eliminate all forms of discrimination based on religious grounds; notably calls for the de facto ban on practising the Baha'i faith to be lifted;

14.  Expresses its concern about the arrest of the two lawyers Farshid Yadollahi and Omid Behrouzi, who received prison sentences while defending Sufis in Qom; expresses equally its concern for the safety of Ayatollah Sayad Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, who has been advocating for years the separation of religion from the political basis of the State and who has been rearrested, reportedly with more than 400 of his followers;

Women's rights

15.  Expresses its concern about the continuous discrimination in law and in practice against women, despite some progress; condemns the use of violence and discrimination against women in Iran, which remains a serious problem; further condemns the use of violence by the Iranian security forces against women who had gathered earlier this year to celebrate International Women's Day on 8 March 2006; condemns furthermore the Iranian security forces' violent disruption of a peaceful demonstration on 12 June 2006 by women and men advocating an end to legal discrimination against women in Iran;

16.  Urges Iran to sign the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and moreover demands that the legal age of majority for women in Iran be changed to 18 years;

Violation of other rights

17.  Strongly condemns the open call by President Ahmadinejad for a purge of liberal and secular academics in the universities and calls for all those expelled to be allowed to return and to teach according to the elementary rights of academic freedom;

18.  Deeply deplores the deaths of student activist Akbar Mahdavi Mohammadi and political prisoner Valiollah Feyz as a result of their hunger strikes and calls for the release of Manoucher Mohammadi; requests that students should not be barred from higher education due to their peaceful political activities;

19.  Demands that adult consensual sexual activity by unmarried persons should not lead to prosecution; further demands that people should not be imprisoned or executed on grounds of their sexual orientation;

20.  Calls on the Iranian authorities to give evidence that they are implementing their declared moratorium on stoning, and demands the immediate and strict implementation of the ban on torture as announced, passed by the Iranian Parliament and approved by the Guardian Council; moreover demands that the Islamic Penal Code of Iran be reformed in order to abolish stoning;

21.  Is deeply concerned that for the upcoming elections nominees once again have not been able to register and that reformists will boycott the elections due to the undemocratic procedures for the listing of candidates for the elections;

22.  Calls upon the Iranian authorities to make efforts to ensure the full application of due process of law and fair, transparent procedures by the judiciary, to ensure respect for the rights of the defence and the equity of verdicts in all types of court;

European initiatives

23.  Calls on Iran to recommence the EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogue with the European Union and, further, calls upon the Council and the Commission to closely monitor developments in Iran and also to raise concrete cases of human rights abuses as the basic condition for progress in EU-Iran economic and trade relations;

24.  Calls on the Commission, in close cooperation with the European Parliament, to make effective use of the new Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights in order to ensure democracy and respect for human rights in Iran, for example by supporting uncensored media;

25.  Calls on the Council to examine the way in which Parliament may become involved in the regular updating of Council Common Position 2001/931/CFSP of 27 December 2001 on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism(1), taking into account developments from 2001 onwards;

26.  Welcomes the first visit by a Majlis delegation to the European Parliament in October and expresses its hope that these fruitful exchanges, as well as this resolution, will form part of a continuous dialogue which will lead to a gradual rapprochement between Iran and the European Union on the basis of shared values as enshrined in the UN Charter and Conventions;

o
o   o

27.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the High Representative for CFSP, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Head of the State Supreme Court of Iran and the Government and Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

(1) OJ L 344, 28.12.2001, p. 93.

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