15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/1

A.

whereas, in its Green Paper on the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the Commission expressed the opinion that alternative management mechanisms can play a significant complementary role in Community fisheries management,

B.

whereas the Commission has initiated a debate on Rights-Based Management (RBM) in fisheries,

C.

whereas a number of stakeholders have already submitted contributions to the debate,

D.

whereas there have previously been a number of studies of RBM but none of them has covered all the coastal Member States of the EU,

E.

whereas, however, a number of studies have considered the operation and effects of systems both within and outside the EU that allow the transfer of fishing rights for economic value,

F.

whereas the Commission has now issued a call for tender for a study,

G.

whereas the Commission has stated that it has no current plans for altering existing management systems but has, equally, expressed its intention to introduce changes in the operation of the CFP and is therefore seeking viable alternatives,

H.

whereas the current fisheries management systems in the European Union, specifically the system of TACs and quotas, do not provide an answer to the sector's problems, and it is necessary and fundamental to hold a wide-ranging debate on this question, assessing the positive and negative aspects of the possible adoption of new management systems,

I.

whereas it is therefore important to consider ways in which improvements might be made in the operation of the CFP, in particular through the fisheries management policy, whose current shortcomings are evident,

J.

whereas any changes will not amount to improvements unless they ensure that resources are exploited in a manner that provides sustainable economic, environmental and social conditions,

1.

Welcomes the fact that the Commission has opened a debate on RBM in fisheries in anticipation of the necessary modification of the existing management policy;

2.

Considers that marine biological resources are a common public good;

3.

Believes that the rights involved should not be understood as property rights but as a kind of usufruct or a right to harvest and subject, accordingly, to appropriate limitations;

4.

Recognises also, however, that there are separately identifiable systems of RBM that are based on different understandings:

5.

Welcomes the fact that the Commission has put out a call for tenders to allow for a full study of the various management systems;

6.

Considers that the period for debate which has been set is too short and calls for it to be extended to ensure that the various possibilities available are properly explored and studied, along with their consequences;

7.

Recognises, however, even in advance of such a study, that it is evident that there is a wide variety of such systems in place and that most, if not all, employ some form of RBM, if this is taken in its widest sense; recognises, likewise, that experiments with management through fishing rights in Member States which have applied such systems have had very positive consequences in many respects, for example in terms of capacity reduction;

8.

Considers that it is similarly evident that, at Community level and within at least some of the Member States, the forms of RBM employed are hybrid ones, in terms both of the allocation and transferability/tradability of the rights and of the way in which their scope is defined;

9.

Notes the degree of complexity involved and the difficulties this poses for movement toward a single system, whether achieved through harmonising the practices of Member States or by its administration at Community level;

10.

Nevertheless takes the view that, as shown by the fact that RBM in fisheries has been introduced in many of the countries and regions which have the most significant fishing interests in the world, these difficulties are not insurmountable and, given that the system could prove highly positive for the management of certain Community fleets, consideration should at least be given to the possibilities for including it in the CFP;

11.

Considers it necessary to ascertain the effects which changes, particularly the introduction of Community-wide individual transferable quotas and other rights-based access, might have in relation to:

12.

Considers that these concerns must be addressed prior to any move toward a single system, for example the possibility, as shown by existing precedents, of setting a limit on the accumulation of fishing rights;

13.

Considers that emphasis should also be placed on the positive aspects of RBM in fisheries, on which there is fairly widespread agreement, including the following:

14.

Wonders also whether a single system of RBM would in any event be appropriate for different types of fisheries;

15.

Draws attention, in this context, to: the different requirements of single species and multi-species fisheries; and to the special situation of artisanal fleets;

16.

Considers, in relation to artisanal fleets, that separate provision should be made for them, either using criteria linked to geographical distance from the coast or by setting part of the quota aside for them;

17.

Welcomes, therefore, the fact that the Commission has no present intention of intervening in current management systems;

18.

Considers, however, that further consideration should nonetheless be given to the advantages and disadvantages of different RBM systems;

19.

Considers it necessary to prevent economic distortions in the fishing industry to the detriment of small ship-owners, in particular those representing artisanal fishing;

20.

Acknowledges that such systems may promote economic efficiency, provided that they are properly devised; points out that such efficiency is one of the objectives of any economic policy and it is in the CFP's interests to ensure a profitable fishing industry that is less and less dependent on public funds;

21.

Considers that, given that fisheries is a common policy, fishing rights management mechanisms should be adopted at Community level that will make it possible to improve the management of fishery resources;

22.

Believes that economic efficiency is valuable insofar as it promotes the objectives of the CFP;

23.

Calls on the Commission accordingly to ensure that any studies which it initiates on RBM should be directed at:

24.

Urges the Commission to allow a longer period for debate on this issue;

25.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Regional Advisory Councils and the Advisory Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture.

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/5

(a)

the dialogue between the Chinese Government and Envoys of the Dalai Lama (15 February 2007) (1),

(b)

the EU-China Summit and the EU/China human rights dialogue (13 December 2007) (2),

(c)

EU-China relations (7 September 2006) (3),

(d)

the functioning of the human rights dialogues and consultations on human rights with third countries (6 September 2007) (4),

A.

whereas the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising against the Chinese administration led to major demonstrations by Tibetan monks and nuns and ordinary Tibetan citizens protesting against Chinese repression,

B.

whereas, according to the Chinese authorities, 20 people died in the protests; whereas, according to other sources, more than 140 Tibetans died in those clashes, and dozens of others have been arrested,

C.

whereas a state of emergency has been declared by the Chinese Government, and shops and temples have been closed in Lhasa, as well as in other cities, with hundreds of armed police officers and army troops moved to Tibet from the rest of China,

D.

whereas His Holiness the Dalai Lama has called this Chinese over-reaction ‘cultural genocide’, and has at the same time urged Tibetans ‘to practise non-violence and not waver from this path, however serious the situation might be’ (5) whereas His Holiness the Dalai Lama has not demanded Tibetan independence but has instead proposed a middle way of genuine cultural and political autonomy and religious freedom, thereby expressing a view that is supported by the European Parliament,

E.

whereas only peaceful means and sincere dialogue can lead to a lasting settlement,

F.

whereas, save for an official international press trip organised by the Chinese Government, the international press has been denied access to the region of Tibet to report on the events, and all journalists have been expelled; whereas the aforementioned international press trip was heavily controlled and the participating journalists were denied unrestricted access to the Tibetan people,

G.

whereas the Chinese Government appears to be blocking foreign websites inside China and censoring foreign television broadcasts about the situation in Tibet,

H.

convinced that the Beijing Olympic Games represent an extraordinary opportunity for China to open itself up to the world and vice versa, and to demonstrate that it can honour its undertakings as regards the promotion of fundamental rights for all Chinese people, without distinction,

I.

whereas the EU-China human rights dialogue established in 2000 has failed to achieve the expected results,

1.

Firmly condemns the brutal repression visited by the Chinese security forces on Tibetan demonstrators and all acts of violence from whichever source that have taken place in the streets of Lhasa and elsewhere in Tibet, and expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the victims;

2.

Calls on the Chinese Government to guarantee adequate medical care for injured Tibetans and legal assistance for arrested Tibetans; appeals to the authorities to present an account of their detainees, to treat them in accordance with international human rights law and, under all circumstances, to refrain from torture; calls for the immediate release of all those who protested peacefully exercising their legitimate right to freedom of expression;

3.

Criticises the often discriminatory treatment of non-Han Chinese ethnic minorities; calls on China to honour its commitments to human and minority rights and the rule of law; urges China not to misuse the 2008 Olympic Games by arresting dissidents, journalists and human rights activists in order to prevent demonstrations and reports which the authorities view as embarrassing to them; calls, in this regard, for the immediate release of Hu Jia, a prominent human rights activist, sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison on subversion charges;

4.

Calls for an open and independent inquiry, under the auspices of the United Nations, into the recent riots and repression in Tibet; urges the Chinese authorities to issue a standing invitation to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN bodies to visit Tibet;

5.

Welcomes the fact that His Holiness the Dalai Lama has called on the Tibetan people to protest non-violently and has rejected calls for Tibetan independence and instead proposed the middle way of genuine cultural and political autonomy and religious freedom; reaffirms its attachment to China's territorial integrity;

6.

Calls on the Chinese authorities to open up Tibet to the media and diplomats, in particular EU representatives; urges the Chinese authorities to immediately stop censoring and blocking news and information websites based abroad; calls for the release of all journalists, Internet users and cyber-dissidents detained in China for exercising their right to information;

7.

Is concerned about the increasing economic marginalisation of the Tibetan people in Tibet, who are faced with a rising number of Chinese migrant workers coming into Tibet and taking Tibetan jobs and Tibetan land; points to the gross discrimination in the education system, in which Tibetan children learn their native language as a second language;

8.

Calls on China to respect its own public commitments to human rights and minority rights, democracy and the rule of law announced during the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decision to allow China to organise the Games;

9.

Urges China to ratify without any further delay and in any case before the Olympic Games the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (UN, 1966); calls on Beijing to establish a moratorium on the death penalty, as called for by UN General Assembly resolution 62/149 of 18 December 2007 on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty;

10.

Regrets that the six sessions of talks between the Chinese authorities and His Holiness the Dalai Lama have failed to achieve results, and calls for a constructive dialogue to be opened without preconditions, with a view to reaching a comprehensive political agreement, including a sustainable solution with regard to the cultural and political autonomy of Tibet and religious freedom and true minority rights for the Tibetan people in other neighbouring Chinese provinces;

11.

Calls on the Council, and in particular the Presidency, closely to monitor developments, and to ensure that the EU adopts a consistent common position and that decisions taken on the basis thereof are duly implemented, and considers that EU diplomatic representatives in Beijing should take the initiative of visiting the region in order to report back to the Council about the current situation;

12.

Reiterates, in this regard, its call on the Council to appoint a special envoy for Tibetan issues in order to facilitate the dialogue between the parties and closely follow the negotiations once they are resumed;

13.

Endorses the statement by His Holiness the Dalai Lama that the Olympic Games are a great opportunity for freedom for all the Chinese people;

14.

Calls on the EU Presidency-in-Office to strive to find a common EU position with regard to the attendance of the Heads of Government and of State and the EU High Representative at the Olympic Games opening ceremony, with the option of non-attendance in the event that there is no resumption of dialogue between the Chinese authorities and His Holiness the Dalai Lama;

15.

Urges the People's Republic of China to stop scrutinising and judging Olympic athletes on the basis of their political views and threatening to ban them from the Olympic Games if they dissent from the Chinese Government's official position;

16.

Looks forward to His Holiness the Dalai Lama 's visit to the European Parliament to address the plenary session scheduled for late 2008, and calls on its Conference of Presidents to explore the possibility of an earlier visit;

17.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the governments and parliaments of the applicant countries, the President and Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China, the President of the Chinese People's National Congress, the International Olympic Committee and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/7

A.

whereas Croatia is well on the way to full membership of the European Union, continuing to meet the Copenhagen criteria and successfully implementing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement,

B.

whereas Croatia is a democratic European state which supports European integration and is committed to overcoming existing divisions and achieving reconciliation between peoples, all of which entails a voluntary delegation of powers in certain key policy areas, and whereas Croatia has made substantial and successful efforts in this regard, which have produced visible results,

C.

whereas Croatia's EU accession process has wider regional implications, is seen as a test of the commitments made by the EU to the Western Balkans, and may become a significant incentive for all other countries concerned,

D.

whereas Croatia has continued to meet the Copenhagen political criteria, has been recognised as having a functioning market economy, and has largely continued to implement the Stabilisation and Association Agreement without major difficulties,

E.

whereas Croatia's serious commitment to accession negotiations has borne fruit and bodes well for the EU integration process of Croatia as well as of other countries in the region,

F.

whereas in the past two years of negotiation Croatia has made substantial and commendable progress in most areas covered by the corpus of Community law,

G.

whereas increased efforts and renewed political commitment are required in order to address some of the more problematic sectors where serious reforms are necessary before Croatia can join the European Union,

H.

whereas the Presidency Conclusions of the 2003 European Council in Thessaloniki indicate that the future of all the Western Balkan countries lies effectively in the European Union, as confirmed in a number of Parliament's resolutions,

I.

whereas the statement issued by the EU and the Western Balkan countries, unanimously approved by the Foreign Ministers of the European Union and of the Western Balkan countries on 11 March 2006 in Salzburg, underscores the importance of good neighbourly relations and the need to find mutually acceptable solutions to outstanding issues with neighbouring countries,

1.

Congratulates the Croatian authorities on the positive results achieved so far, particularly with regard to the number of negotiation chapters which have been opened;

2.

Considers that the objective of the ongoing accession negotiations is to agree on measures that may be necessary in order to facilitate integration, with a clear commitment on the part of the candidate country to accept and implement the acquis and adhere to the political objectives of the Treaties, and that they should not be used as a lever to settle bilateral political disputes falling outside the scope of the acquis and the objectives of the process;

3.

Welcomes the fact that Croatia has made good progress in meeting the benchmarks for opening new chapters, and support the Croatian government and parliament in their efforts to meet the benchmarks for the remaining chapters;

4.

Is pleased to record that much of Croatia's corpus of law has been aligned with EU standards, but reminds the Croatian authorities that it is now crucial to speed up the development of administrative capacity required in order to implement the new legislation; in this regard, calls on the Croatian authorities to open up this process and involve civil society in the monitoring of the implementation;

5.

Urges Croatia to speed up the process of public service reform in local and regional self-government, and to supply the necessary resources and training for the implementation of these reforms;

6.

Commends the steps which have been taken in the crucial area of judicial reform, but shares the Commission's view that further improvements are necessary, particularly with a view to:

7.

Congratulates the Croatian authorities on their continued efforts towards an impartial prosecution of domestic war crimes, and urges them to exercise continuous vigilance in order to avert the risk of ethnically biased rulings and to ensure that all measures are in place to protect the integrity of the judicial process; calls in this context for urgent additional measures for the protection of witnesses, including the adoption of strengthened legal provisions;

8.

Welcomes the fact that Croatia is continuing to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); is concerned, however, about the negative impact which the judgments of the ICTY in the Vukovar war crimes cases has had on public opinion in Croatia;

9.

In this context, calls on the Croatian authorities to ensure strict compliance with the conditions for the provisional release of defendants arraigned before the ICTY;

10.

Welcomes the strengthening of the mandate of the Office for the Prevention of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) and the increased number of corruption cases which are being prosecuted, and looks forward to successful investigations in high-level corruption cases; calls for these efforts to be maintained in order to eradicate the — in some cases unacceptably high — level of corruption, which undermines the economic development of the country;

11.

Congratulates Croatia on its exemplary Constitutional Law on National Minorities (CLNM) and commends it for the measures taken to facilitate the integration of minorities into mainstream social and political life;

12.

Welcomes the important decision to appoint a representative of the Serb minority as Deputy Prime Minister with responsibility for regional development, reconstruction and refugee returns;

13.

Encourages the government and the parliament to pursue efforts to ensure the elimination of all forms of discrimination and prejudice, including vis-à-vis the Roma community; calls in this context for the adoption by the government of a global anti-discrimination strategy and its effective implementation at state and local level;

14.

Recalls, moreover, the need to ensure effective implementation of the CLNM, particularly with regard to bilingual teaching in schools and bilingualism in public administration and the planned employment guarantees concerning the adequate representation of minorities within the judiciary and public administration; calls on the Commission to ensure that sufficient attention is paid, under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), to the implementation of the provisions of the CLNM;

15.

Considers that international confidence-building measures are a key element in ensuring the stability of the country and of the surrounding Balkan area;

16.

Takes the view that Croatia's educational system, whilst preserving and enhancing the cultural and social traditions of each national community, should strongly promote greater integration and cohesion within Croatian society;

17.

Calls for the sustainable reintegration of wartime refugees, and points out in this respect the need for the development and timely implementation of housing, employment and social measures for refugees which are commensurate with the challenge;

18.

Is pleased to note the sustained growth recorded by the Croatian economy; hopes that this growth will result in increased employment opportunities; commends the work carried out by HitroRez in reducing the administrative burden on business, and looks forward to similar results in other sectors;

19.

Welcomes the reforms adopted in the environmental protection sector; calls on the government to consider measures and policies addressing the detrimental effects of climate change, in line with EU targets; calls for the establishment of a more comprehensive inter-sectoral dialogue to ensure ecologically sustainable development:

20.

Urges the Croatian authorities to re-assess the efficiency of the current system of environmental protection measures, including the development of coastal water-treatment plants, differentiated waste collection and heat recovery plants and the elimination of illegal rubbish dumps, and to increase the coordination between all the accountable bodies; also calls in this context for an awareness-raising campaign aimed at increasing public attention towards the environment;

21.

Welcomes Croatia's Pre-Accession Economic Programme and notes that it envisaged the adoption in March 2008 of the long overdue National Restructuring Programme for the Shipbuilding Industry; reminds the Croatian authorities that progress in this area, besides being a requirement of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, is of crucial importance for accession negotiations; calls on the Commission to facilitate, via the IPA, the implementation of the restructuring programme;

22.

Insists that new legislation should be rapidly implemented, since this provides a reliable yardstick against which to assess the country's preparedness for membership, a preparedness based on facts and not merely on the adopted legislation, especially as far as judicial reform, the fight against corruption and economic reforms are concerned;

23.

Calls on the Croatian government to ensure that public invitations to tender are issued as required by Community law;

24.

Has learned with concern about recent criticism voiced by the Commission with regard to the way in which EU funds are being managed by Croatian authorities and urges them, with the assistance of the Commission, to address as a matter of urgency the administrative weaknesses identified so as to allow the lifting of the temporary suspension of contracting under the Phare 2006 programme (with a total financial envelope of EUR 68,5 million) and the reinstatement of the initial allocation for the financial year 2008 under IPA Component 1, following a reduction of EUR 5 million;

25.

As regards bilateral issues that are still unresolved, reminds all the parties concerned of the principle pacta sunt servanda;

26.

Welcomes the decision of 13 March 2008 by the Croatian Parliament not to apply the Ecological and Fishing Protection Zone to EU Member States until a common agreement in the EU spirit is reached; is confident that, this issue having been finally resolved, decisions on the opening of new chapters can be rapidly taken;

27.

Welcomes the readiness shown by Croatia in resolving its outstanding border issues with Montenegro, as witness the agreement reached between the two Prime Ministers on 12 March 2008; welcomes, moreover, the informal agreement in principle reached by the Prime Ministers of Croatia and Slovenia on the issue of arbitration, and asks both sides to implement that agreement and to endorse the result of the arbitration by a clear decision by the two countries’ parliaments;

28.

Recalls that addressing border-related issues in particular is defined as a priority for Croatia in its Accession Partnership; expresses in this respect concerns which remain over the commencement of the Pelješac bridge construction works in October 2007 despite opposition voiced by Bosnia and Herzegovina over uncertain sea borders; notes that construction work on this project is currently halted, and calls for a negotiated resolution of this issue between the two states;

29.

Commends Croatia on the continual progress it has made in the field of regional cooperation and at the same time urges it to continue on this path in the field of good neighbourly relations, since both these areas are crucial for European integration;

30.

Calls on Croatia to maintain its constructive attitude and continue to play a positive role in the region in order to support and strengthen the consolidation of Bosnia and Herzegovina;

31.

Shares with the Commission the view that, with increased efforts on the part of Croatia and continuous support by the EU institutions, accession negotiations should, in any event, be concluded in 2009;

32.

Calls in this context on the Commission to step up its efforts and increase the resources allocated for the preparation, processing and finalisation of negotiating material so that the EU can respond rapidly and efficiently to progress made by Croatia in meeting the relevant opening and closing benchmarks;

33.

Urges the Croatian authorities to involve civil society groups (NGOs, the academic community, trade unions) in the EU accession process;

34.

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

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/11

A.

whereas, according to estimates by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), one in three Europeans is diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime and one in four Europeans dies from the disease,

B.

whereas in 2006 there were nearly 2,3 million new cancer cases and over 1 million cancer deaths within the European Union; whereas most deaths were in people with lung cancer, colorectal cancer and breast cancer,

C.

whereas cancer is caused by many factors in multiple stages and therefore requires a new cancer prevention paradigm that addresses lifestyle causes and occupational and environmental causes on an equal footing in a manner that reflects the actual combination effects of different causes, rather than focusing on isolated causes,

D.

whereas, according to a recent study by the trade unions, at least 8 % of annual cancer deaths are directly caused by exposure to carcinogens at the workplace; whereas such exposure could be prevented by the substitution of carcinogens with less harmful substances; whereas employers are moreover legally obliged to substitute carcinogens where possible but, unfortunately, these provisions are poorly implemented and enforced, which is unacceptable,

E.

whereas endocrine disrupting chemicals can play an important role in cancer formation, for example in the case of breast cancer or testicular cancer, and therefore require specific action,

F.

whereas the Union's ageing population is one of the reasons for the increase in the cancer burden across the Union,

G.

whereas death rates from cancer in the new Member States are higher than in the EU-15,

H.

whereas the startling and unacceptable differences in the quality of cancer treatment facilities, screening programmes, evidence-based best-practice guidelines, facilities for radiotherapy, and access to anti-cancer drugs are among the reasons for the big differences in the five-year survival rate from most cancers across Europe,

I.

whereas the Parliament's above mentioned Declaration on the need for a comprehensive strategy to control cancer calls on the Council and Commission to formulate a comprehensive cancer control strategy addressing the four basic cancer control factors: a) prevention, b) early detection, c) diagnosis, treatment and follow-up, and d) palliative care,

J.

whereas during the term of the Commission's Action Plans Against Cancer (‘Europe against cancer’, most recently covering the period 1996-2002) favourable trends in cancer mortality were established for several common forms of cancer in many countries,

K.

whereas the WHO estimates that at least one third of all cancer cases are preventable and that prevention offers the most cost-effective long-term strategy for the control of cancer; whereas another third of cancers could be cured if detected early and treated appropriately,

L.

whereas crystalline silica has been classified by the WHO as a class 1 carcinogen and whereas 3,2 million workers in the EU are exposed to this substance during at least 75 % of their working time; whereas 2,7 % of deaths due to lung/bronchial cancers are estimated to be attributable to occupational exposure to crystalline silica,

M.

whereas, according to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data, currently an average of only 3 % of the OECD countries’ total budget for health is spent on prevention as against 97 % spent on healthcare and treatment; whereas this gross imbalance needs urgently to be rectified, all the more so as at least one third of all cancer cases are preventable,

N.

whereas it is estimated that 25 % of all cancer deaths in the Union can be attributed to smoking; whereas smoking causes between 80 and 90 % of lung cancer deaths worldwide,

O.

whereas a well-designed, well-managed national cancer control programme lowers cancer incidence and mortality, in some cases by more than 70 %, and improves the life of cancer patients, no matter what resource constraints a country faces,

P.

whereas nationwide implementation of effective, population-based screening programmes — run in accordance with European guidelines if they already exist — significantly improves the quality and accessibility of cancer screening, diagnosis and therapeutic services to the population and thereby also improves cancer control,

Q.

whereas national cancer registries in all Member States are essential with a view to providing comparable data on cancer,

R.

whereas there are currently considerable, and unacceptable, qualitative inequalities in cancer screening and early detection and follow-up within the EU, particularly with regard to the diagnostic procedures used and the integration of those procedures into Member States’ health policy, and whereas screening programmes facilitate early diagnosis, which contributes to a cost-effective and measurable reduction in disease burden,

S.

whereas oncology is not recognised as a medical speciality in all Member States, and whereas continuing medical education needs to be provided,

T.

whereas EudraCT, the European database for clinical trials at the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), is not open to the general public, and patients have difficulty in locating trials that address their specific condition,

U.

whereas the complexity of cancer requires improved communication between the many and varied healthcare professionals involved in cancer patient treatment; whereas psychosocial care of cancer patients can improve their quality of life,

V.

whereas cancer patients currently have unequal access to medical information and are in urgent need of more information at every stage of their disease,

1.

Calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States to take appropriate action on prevention, early detection, diagnosis and treatment, including palliative care, in order to reduce the significant approaching increase in the burden of cancer resulting from demographic changes in the coming decades, including provision of adequate financial support for coordinated actions and appropriate capacity building;

2.

Calls on the Commission to set up an inter-institutional EU Cancer Task Force composed of Members from the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament which shall meet on a regular basis, to collect and exchange best practice for prevention, (including reducing occupational and environmental exposure to carcinogens and other substances contributing to the development of cancer), screening and treatment and to provide leadership for improved cancer control in Europe; stresses that the EU Task Force should, in particular, promote new measures as well as existing screening projects that can help increase the proportion of the population taking part in cancer screening measures by at least 50 % in each of the Member States by 2018;

3.

Welcomes the Commission's initiative of adopting a Communication on cancer and a Communication on rare diseases, both scheduled for later this year;

4.

Asks the Commission to review the European Code Against Cancer on a regular basis and to promote it by means of awareness, information and education campaigns targeting specific population groups;

5.

Urges the Member States to implement statutory cancer registration with European standardised terminology in order to provide the capacity for population-based evaluation of prevention, screening and treatment programmes, survival rates and comparability of data between Member States;

6.

Calls on the Commission to revise the existing Recommendation on cancer screening to take account of the rapid development of new technologies and to include:

7.

Calls on the Commission to establish a dynamic, flexible and continuous approach to fighting cancer that is based on scientific progress, and to this end to establish:

8.

Calls on the Commission to support, within the framework of the Second Public Health Action Programme, networks of national cancer registries with a view to carrying out an EU-wide study of inequalities in cancer incidence and survival;

9.

Urges the Governments of the Czech Republic and Italy, which have not yet done so, to ratify the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which entered into force in February 2005;

10.

Calls on the Commission and all Member States to develop and support strong protocols and guidelines when implementing the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and to ensure that resources are available to help low-income countries to meet their obligations under the Convention;

11.

Calls on the Commission to act in its role as guardian of the Treaty by taking swift legal action against all Member States that are not fully implementing Directive 2004/37/EC;

12.

Calls on the Commission to take legislative action, where appropriate, and to encourage and support initiatives that include a wide range of stakeholders with the aim to prevent cancer through reduction of occupational and environmental exposure to carcinogens and other substances contributing to the development of cancer and promotion of healthy lifestyles, in particular as regards the major risk factors, tobacco, alcohol, obesity, unhealthy diets, lack of physical activity and sun protection, putting a strong emphasis on children and adolescents;

13.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support and implement comprehensive tobacco control policies including smoke free environments and smoking cessation interventions, as effective methods to reduce the incidence of smoking and thus prevent a large number of cancer deaths, in line with its resolution of 24 October 2007 on the Green Paper ‘Towards a Europe free from tobacco smoke: policy options at EU level’ (13), the recommendations in which must now be fully implemented;

14.

Calls on the Commission, the Member States and the European Chemicals Agency, in the context of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and establishing a European Chemicals Agency (14), to adopt the candidate list of substances of very high concern, which includes substances that are carcinogenic, as a top priority before 1 June 2008, so as to make possible the application of Article 33(2) of REACH, which allows consumers to request information about carcinogens in consumer items, enabling them to avoid such items if they so desire;

15.

Calls on the Commission to encourage and support initiatives to prevent the importing of items containing carcinogenic chemicals; calls, furthermore, for EU measures to strengthen food monitoring for chemicals, including pesticides;

16.

Calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure that EU wide human bio-monitoring surveys are adequately resourced to monitor carcinogenic substances and other substances contributing to the development of cancer, in order to be able to measure policy effectiveness;

17.

Urges the Commission and the Member States to promote information campaigns on cancer screening directed at the general public and all healthcare providers, as well as exchange of best practice on the use of preventive or early-detection measures, such as cost-effective integration of appropriate human papilloma virus (HPV) testing for cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination to protect young women from cervical cancer, or the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test for the early detection of prostate cancer in men over 50 years of age;

18.

Calls on the Commission to initiate a discussion with the Council to ensure that the Recommendation on cancer screening is promoted and implemented effectively; to this end, urges those Member States that have not yet done so to implement the Recommendation, to establish procedures for the adoption of any future changes to the Recommendation and to set up population-based screening programmes in accordance with European quality-assurance guidelines;

19.

Calls on the Commission to guarantee medium- and long-term scientific and professional support for adequate and appropriate assistance to the Member States to help them act on the Council Recommendation on cancer screening and monitor, evaluate and coordinate pilot activities and continuous quality improvement;

20.

Calls on the Commission to support the development of European accreditation/certification programmes in cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment based on European quality-assurance guidelines, which could also serve as an example for other areas of health care;

21.

Calls on the Member States to make nationwide provision for multidisciplinary oncology teams to give optimal individual treatment to all patients, and to improve training of oncologists and healthcare professionals in recognising the psychosocial needs of patients in order to improve their quality of life and reduce anxiety and depression in cancer patients;

22.

Urges the Commission and Member States to recognise oncology as a medical speciality and to make provision for lifelong learning for medical oncologists in accordance with agreed guidelines;

23.

Calls on the Commission and Member States to encourage and promote palliative care and to establish guidelines for its use;

24.

Calls on the Commission to ensure that Community legislation contains incentives for industry and researchers to engage in ongoing research with a view to developing new evidence-based medicines and treatments to combat and control cancer;

25.

Calls on the Commission to provide for dissemination, through networks of health professionals, of best practice in treatment and care, with a view to ensuring that citizens have access to the best available treatment;

26.

Calls on the Commission to deploy funds from the Structural Funds and the Seventh Framework Programme for Research to create and fund reference networks for rare and difficult-to-treat cancers, in order to pool resources and expertise and improve diagnosis and treatment;

27.

Urges the Commission to allocate funds within the Seventh Framework Programme in order to encourage research and innovation in the areas of primary prevention, screening and early detection, and new anti-cancer medicines and treatments;

28.

Calls on the Council and Commission to establish an EU standard for the assessment of new innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches and identification of best clinical and medical practices;

29.

Calls on the Commission to allocate funds under the Seventh Framework Programme to stimulate research on paediatric cancers;

30.

Urges the Commission and Member States to ensure that cancer medicines are uniformly available to all patients who need them in all Member States;

31.

Encourages the Commission and Member States to examine within the high-level Pharmaceutical Forum how innovative life-saving cancer medicines can be made available more speedily to patients by accelerating fast-track marketing approval through the EU Centralised Procedure and to consider a conditional pricing and reimbursement process, while data on the value of the medicine is collected on patients in real-life settings;

32.

Calls on the Commission to submit a proposal to the European Parliament and the Council by June 2008 at the latest to provide for good-quality, objective, reliable, non-promotional information on medicinal products from multiple sources;

33.

Calls on the Commission to revise Directive 2001/20/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 April 2001 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the implementation of good clinical practice in the conduct of clinical trials on medicinal products for human use (15) (the Clinical Trials Directive) to encourage more academic research on cancer, and in particular research into cancer screening and early detection, whilst recognising the impact of the costs involved for the non-commercial research sector, and to improve the availability of information for patients and the general public on ongoing and completed clinical trials;

34.

Calls on the Member States and the Commission to work towards the development of guidelines for a common definition of disability that may include people with chronic illnesses or cancer and in the meantime for Member States, who have not done so, to act quickly possibly to include those people within their national definitions of disability;

35.

Calls on the Commission to draw up a charter for the protection of cancer patients and chronically sick people in the workplace with a view to requiring companies to enable patients to continue in employment during their treatment and to return to their normal professional activities;

36.

Encourages the Member States to adopt national charters of patients’ rights in accordance with European guidelines and to include patient participation and expertise in the development of health policies;

37.

Calls on the Members States and the Commission to develop and strengthen initiatives that provide support for people directly or indirectly affected by cancer, in particular through the initiation and development of psychological care and support throughout the EU for cancer survivors;

38.

Calls on the Commission to increase the information available to cancer patients by encouraging initiatives which inform patients about their treatment options and ways to access such treatments;

39.

Encourages new Member States to make greater use of the Structural Funds to improve healthcare infrastructure, for example by supporting implementation of the Council Recommendation on cancer screening;

40.

Supports the Slovenian EU Presidency, which has made cancer one of its priorities in 2008, and calls on all future presidencies to continue to make cancer a priority;

41.

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

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/18

A.

whereas Europe is not yet on the path towards genuinely sustainable development,

B.

whereas the Commission recognises that there has been only limited progress on the fundamental issues of integrating environmental concerns into other policy areas and improving the enforcement of Community legislation,

C.

whereas the Commission points to the fact that many environmental pressures are actually increasing: global emissions of greenhouse gases are rising, the loss of biodiversity is accelerating, pollution still has a major effect on public health, the amount of waste produced within the EU continues to increase, and our ecological footprint is steadily growing; whereas this raises serious questions about the environmentally counterproductive effects of other major EU policies,

D.

whereas it is unlikely that sustainable development will ever be achieved as long as environmental concerns are not fully integrated into all major policy areas,

E.

whereas a clean and healthy environment is essential for human well-being and good social conditions,

F.

whereas well designed environmental policies can also contribute to other objectives such as increasing competitiveness, stimulating economic growth, enhancing job creation and innovation and fostering scientific progress through the development of new, safe technologies,

1.

Considers it regrettable that the mid-term review of the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme (Sixth EAP) has been delayed by almost a year and deplores the fact that, on the whole, the European Union is not on schedule with the implementation of the measures planned in the Action Programme, contrary to what the Commission claims in its own mid-term review; recalls that, unlike its predecessor, the Sixth EAP was adopted under the codecision procedure, pursuant to Article 251 of the EC Treaty; calls for the EU to do everything in its power to attain the objectives agreed in the Sixth EAP, as failure to attain them would damage the EU's credibility, inter alia in the eyes of members of the public who are concerned about the state of the environment;

2.

Notes that the use of thematic strategies as a new procedural tool has increased the importance of the pre-legislative processes and created additional opportunities for stakeholder involvement and a more strategic approach to EU legislative policy; however, regrets that thematic strategies have also lengthened the duration of the environmental policy-making process by delaying the formulation of concrete policy proposals and the adoption of resulting measures;

3.

Considers, in view of the importance of environmental policy to industry and the fact that it is, in general, implemented by local authorities, that it should be taken into account when legislation is drafted and that the views of industry, small business and local authorities should be represented in and listened to by the relevant consultative bodies;

4.

Considers it essential to strengthen the position of the Sixth EAP as the environmental dimension of the EU's sustainable development strategy;

5.

Believes that, within the EU, competences must be clearly allocated and defined and points out that the Commission's mid-term review shows confusion and internal ambiguity with regard to the competences of the Commission and of the Member States; points out that both the limits of their respective competences and their specific responsibilities must be clearly established and set down in order to ensure that those responsibilities continue to be met;

6.

Points out that thematic strategies are not useful if they coincide in timing with large legislative dossiers, they are useful either before the appearance of the relevant legislative document or on their own;

7.

Stresses the direct connection between the state of the human environment and human health; calls on the Commission, with the aim of implementing the ‘health in all policies’ approach, to draft studies indicating the causal relationship between change in the quality of the environment and change in the state of people's health;

8.

Considers that the EU has acted consistently to attain the climate diplomacy objectives set in the Sixth EAP; recalls, however, that, as far as the objectives and priority actions to halt climate change are concerned, the EU has not succeeded in fulfilling all the commitments; is extremely concerned about the increase in transport emissions and the slow effect of the measures which have been used in an attempt to improve energy efficiency; reminds the Commission to publish a communication on quantified environmental objectives for a sustainable transport system; expects Member States to attain the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for individual countries laid down in the Kyoto Protocol by 2012;

9.

Deplores the fact that the objective of halting the decline of biodiversity by 2010 will probably not be attained and that the proposed strategies for protecting the marine environment and soil will not produce concrete environmental results by 2012; notes that greater effort is needed to assist the integration of biodiversity policy into other policy areas; draws attention to the need for appropriate funding of Natura 2000 and other closely related priority objectives;

10.

Considers that, as far as chemicals are concerned, Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) and establishing a European Chemicals Agency (15) represents progress in reducing risks to human beings and the environment, but that it has yet to prove that it will effectively do so in a significant manner, and regrets that the regulation does not in all respects accord with the objectives agreed in the Sixth EAP; considers it regrettable that the thematic strategy concerning the sustainable use of pesticides has been substantially delayed, and that the measures taken to improve air quality and the urban environment and to reduce noise fall far short of the objectives of the Environment Action Programme; calls on the Commission to present a proposal for a revised National Emission Ceilings Directive (16) as soon as possible; believes that it is necessary to ensure full enforcement of the Environmental Noise Directive (17);

11.

Given that indoor air quality affects health, urges the Commission and the Member States to support the World Health Organisation's work on indoor air quality and calls on the Commission to propose concrete legislative measures on indoor air quality as soon as possible;

12.

Notes no major gaps in the specific objectives for water protection set out in the Sixth EAP; however, calls on the Commission to ensure full implementation of the Water Framework Directive (18) and to re-evaluate the integration of EU water protection commitments into other policies; in addition, urges the Commission to put forward as soon as possible a proposal for a directive on cutting the phosphorus load in agriculture as well as in detergents pursuant to Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on detergents (19);

13.

Emphasises the need for a new water policy that focuses on the saving of water and on the sustainable management of water resources;

14.

Considers it regrettable that the thematic strategies on natural resources and waste have watered down the objectives of the Sixth EAP; regrets that no concrete targets have been formulated at EU level to decouple economic growth from resource use by turning towards a sustainable model of production and consumption; agrees that further action is needed on bio-waste to encourage further diversion from landfill and ensure that the best treatment options, such as those based on mitigating climate change, are followed; further encourages support for environmentally friendly forms of waste management and measures to render more severe the consequences of land-filling of waste, which pollutes the environment;

15.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to take all appropriate action in order to ensure that natural resources are used rationally and efficiently and in a way which does not jeopardise biodiversity;

16.

Recalls that full and correct implementation of the existing legislation is a top priority and considers that binding legislation remains central to meeting environmental challenges; calls on the Commission to strengthen its activities as guardian of the Treaty; therefore also calls on the EU budgetary authority to provide the Commission with all the necessary financial and human resources to ensure that the most efficient monitoring of the implementation and enforcement of existing legislation is carried out in all Member States;

17.

Emphasises the need for effective and accurate implementation of Community environmental legislation and recommends that special support measures be adopted for the benefit of regions which face difficulties in implementing that aspect of the Community acquis; encourages Member State authorities to draw up transposition strategies in order to define clearly the roles and responsibilities of national, regional and local authorities in correctly transposing and implementing Community environmental law;

18.

Is nonetheless concerned at the various proponents’ suggestions that common regulations should be reduced and weakened, or even replaced with voluntary agreements or other non-binding measures; therefore reiterates that better regulation should concentrate on unambiguous and transparent rules and standards based on legislation linked to agreed objectives, and on better enforcement thereof;

19.

Commends the Commission's proposals to strengthen enforcement of environmental legislation at the national level through improved access to justice and harmonised use of punitive law; notes that the preventive aspects of punitive law contribute to better enforcement and protection of the environment;

20.

Calls, furthermore, for EU environmental policies to be designed, and reviewed, so as to focus more on goal prescriptions rather than means descriptions, leaving Member States and farmers free to find the most effective and efficient means for reaching the desired goals;

21.

Considers that the Commission should ensure full implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives; recommends, with due regard for the principle of subsidiarity, that taxation measures be taken to promote best practice and deter people from engaging in activities that generate pollution;

22.

Draws the Commission's attention, however, to the fact that holding out the prospect of consequences under criminal law is not sufficient in every case to prevent illegal and at the same time environmentally polluting behaviour; stresses therefore the importance of penalties after the fact under criminal law, particularly for the illegal dumping of hazardous waste in the territory of other countries;

23.

Welcomes the Commission's green paper on market-based instruments for environment and related policy purposes; believes that wider use of market-based instruments, taking the environmental impact of all production and distribution processes and consumption patterns into consideration, is needed;

24.

Is of the opinion that the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has so far not led to reductions in CO2 emissions because of the overly generous allocation of emission allowances; points out that the EU has committed itself to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels by at least 20 % by 2020; insists that the EU ETS for the post-2012 period should include a sufficiently stringent cap, full auctioning and a quantitative and qualitative limit of the use of certified emission reductions (CERs) and emission reduction units (ERUs);

25.

Nevertheless, notes that the role of eco-taxation remains modest and does not show an increasing trend; calls on the Commission and the Member States to devote more effort to ecological tax reform including a gradual shift of the tax burden from welfare-negative taxes (e.g. on labour) towards welfare-positive taxes, (e.g. on environmentally damaging activities, such as resource use or pollution); points out that, despite the unanimity requirement in the area of taxation, the treaties offer the possibility of enhanced cooperation, and draws attention to the existence of the open coordination method;

26.

Notes the impetus that has been given to removing environmentally harmful subsidies; however, finds it unacceptable that no concrete steps towards the reform of environmentally harmful subsidies are expected in the near future, and therefore calls on the Commission to put forward concrete proposals by the end of 2008 to phase out gradually all environmentally harmful subsidies over the next five years;

27.

Urges the Commission and the Member States to promote stronger and more coherent environmental policy integration in all EU policy-making; with the aim of implementing the ‘health in all policies’ approach which has been proclaimed in the European Union, calls for integration of environmental protection and health protection aspects into all policies and also to involve regions and towns in this; regrets both the lack of integration of these aspects in various environmental legal frameworks and the preparations for new legislation and the lack of their integration into legislation which has primary objectives other than environmental protection;

28.

Considers that, in order to achieve concrete results in the integration of environmental considerations in other economic sectors, there is a need to draw up binding sectoral targets and timetables; at the same time, stresses the responsibility of economic actors in individual sectors of industry for achieving long-term results in terms of climate and energy policy;

29.

Emphasises the fundamental link between an efficient environmental policy and improved quality of life and, in this connection, highlights the importance of the regional dimension in the implementation of the Sixth EAP, especially in actions concerning the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change; highlights the importance of campaigns to raise public awareness of the objectives of the Sixth EAP and its implementation process;

30.

Points to the need for regional development plans to take into account the Natura 2000 programme, so as to reconcile the principle of protecting Europe's biodiversity with the development and improvement of quality of life; with this in view, believes that a wide-ranging information campaign is needed, together with the promotion of good practice, to demonstrate how these two apparently contradictory goals can be reconciled;

31.

Emphasises the need for better coordinated networks of regional and local actors in order to disseminate best practices to less developed regions and implement them; supports the promotion of cross-border environmental cooperation, both among Member States and with countries and regions neighbouring the EU, such as the regions of the Black Sea and Baltic Sea as well as the Mediterranean, particularly with the aim of preventing cross-border pollution;

32.

Is concerned by the findings of various independent studies (20)  (21)  (22)  (23) that the Commission guidelines on impact assessments are not fully respected by Commission DGs, that the assessment and quantification of economic impacts has been emphasised at the expense of environmental, social and international impacts, that the costs of legislation are assessed far more than the benefits, and that short-term considerations overshadow the long-term; considers that such unbalanced impact assessments are counterproductive with regard to environment policy itself and its integration into other EU policies; calls on the Commission to take action to rectify these persistent deficiencies;

33.

Commends the Commission for its strong commitment to enhancing the international dimension of environment policy; believes it is necessary to ensure environmental policy integration into all the EU's external actions and to improve international environmental governance; encourages the Commission and the Member States to continue promoting ambitious environmental policies and requirements, for example by promoting technology transfer and the exchange of best practice with developing countries;

34.

Stresses that ‘climate diplomacy’ should be promoted with greater intensity and consistency in the EU's trade relations with states which are not bound by multilateral environmental protection agreements, such as the United States, China and India, which, for various reasons, are not implementing the Kyoto Protocol; also calls on the Commission to assist developing countries in the deployment of sustainable and efficient technologies through all mechanisms available;

35.

Recommends that a sustainability clause be added to the WTO, setting out principles of environmental policy, such as the precautionary principle and the polluter pays principle, against which trade measures can be judged, in order to ensure that trade rules do not undermine environmental protection and that environmental regulation is not used for the purposes of protectionism;

36.

Calls on the Council and the Commission to use bilateral and regional trade negotiations to address trade commitments that have direct environmental benefits; considers that the EU, together with the Member States, needs to intensify dialogue with emerging economies in order to turn the dialogue in areas of mutual concern, such as climate change, waste management and illegal logging, into the implementation of joint programmes; supports the Commission's proposal to establish a Sustainable Development Forum, open to the participation of civil society, with a strong climate component, in each trade agreement and calls for this to be implemented in the current negotiations;

37.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote a more pragmatic and horizontal exploitation of innovation and new technologies in all EU policies, so that those elements play a pivotal role in strengthening the preservation of the environment; stresses the need to introduce without delay an EU ‘top runner’ approach, a more ambitious ongoing improvement instrument for production and consumption patterns, to ensure that, in future, all EU market products are conceived, produced and used in accordance with sustainability criteria;

38.

Recalls that investing in innovative, environmentally friendly technologies and in eco-design, energy end-use efficiency and energy performance of buildings is very beneficial in the long term, despite possible high short-term costs, and emphasises the need for regions to encourage companies to take full advantage of such investments;

39.

Encourages the Commission and Member States to adopt genuinely ‘green’ public procurement rules in order to promote innovation and sustainable consumption and production patterns;

40.

Calls on the Commission to assist national, regional and local authorities to engage in joint sustainable procurements by providing a clear framework to facilitate the definition of measurable objectives and quality criteria;

41.

Calls on the Commission to intensify its efforts to achieve the 20 % target for renewables and the 10 % target for biofuel consumption keeping in mind that energy crops must not jeopardise food supplies in Europe and elsewhere; stresses that the sustainability mechanism, which is at the development stage, should apply the most stringent sustainability criteria to biofuels;

42.

Points out that agriculture in the EU is increasingly geared to the production of safe, high-quality foods which will protect the health of Union citizens;

43.

Encourages the Member States and their regional and local authorities to make optimal use of the new investment opportunities provided by the Structural Funds and the New European Neighbourhood Policy Programmes and to ensure that their Operational Programmes and projects supported by Structural Funds contribute to improved implementation of Community environmental legislation and the long-term goal of EU-wide sustainable development in a way consistent with the other thematic priorities;

44.

Considers it essential to improve the application of the substitution principle, which takes into account the availability, accessibility, benefits and costs of substitute products; points out that account must also be taken of the design, production and use processes, which enable the use of products that do not represent a risk for human health and the environment, or present a lesser such risk;

45.

Points out that, if better regulation is indeed an aim, there should be a revision of the overlap in legislation that generates a bureaucratic burden and undermines competitiveness;

46.

Considers that the philosophical approach applied to the revision process is devoid of critical reasoning and does not involve analysis of the reasons and grounds for the delays; believes that only by analysing and reflecting on the causes of these delays can the right moves be made in the future;

47.

Points out that if there genuinely is a wish to improve legislative methodology and to produce practicable rules that will be easy for the competent authorities, enterprises and citizens to apply, it is imperative to widen interaction between Community institutions and bodies and civil society so as to respond to their queries and to take into account the decisions and opinion of the regions, town halls, affected industries and related associations; stresses also that short-term costs for transformation of existing equipment must be taken into account;

48.

Points out that new ways to measure welfare based on realistic values for ecological services are needed; considers that GDP, as it cannot alone reflect all facets and needs of a modern society, is no longer an adequate tool to measure well-being and development; encourages the EU to further develop and make political use of a new indicator that integrates the negative impact of economic progress on our environment and health and that contributes to the effort of decoupling economic growth from the exertion of pressure on the environment; considers that this new indicator should promote the development of an integrated society and give the impetus for better integration of environmental considerations in other policies;

49.

Calls on the Commission to treat the protection of human health as an issue of the first importance among environmental protection priorities;

50.

Considers that the European Union should play a leading role in the development of policy options that would pave the way for radical behavioural changes in consumption and production patterns;

51.

Stresses the importance of helping consumers to become more aware in their behaviour, which — going beyond the State legal framework — may have a positive influence on the extent and intensity of the environmental commitments of market actors;

52.

Considers that the provision of proper information to citizens should be considered a priority; strongly supports the development of a clear and comprehensive labelling system as it would greatly contribute to helping consumers to ‘make the right choice’;

53.

Insists that an overall assessment be made of the results of the Sixth EAP before the proposal for the Seventh EAP is finalised;

54.

Takes the view that the final review of the Sixth EAP should be performed by an outside body independent of the Commission;

55.

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

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/25

A.

whereas culture is a public good and an end in itself, fulfilling individuals and benefiting society and at the same time fosters economic growth, employment and social cohesion, and regional and local development, as demonstrated by recent research, particularly as highlighted in the study by KEA European Affairs for the Commission on the economy of culture in Europe,

B.

whereas cultural industries could neither exist nor add to European cultural and economic value without a regular input of new content from a thriving creative community of creators, in all artistic fields, such as film makers, composers, authors, visual artists and designers,

C.

whereas cultural industries are industries that give intellectual works additional economic value and at the same time generate new values for individuals and society; whereas those cultural industries include traditional industries such as the film, music and publishing industries, the media and industries in the creative sector (such as fashion and design), tourist, arts and information industries,

D.

whereas, in the light of the definition given by the Unesco Convention, cultural industries encompass all sectors that combine the creation, production and marketing of goods and services, the distinctive character of which lies in contents which are intangible and cultural in nature; whereas the product of cultural industries is typically protected by intellectual property rights,

E.

whereas, however, greater recognition, the securing of a special legal status and greater support for the entire cultural and creative industries, including micro businesses and SMEs as well as individual artists, are needed to help these sectors to achieve their full potential and contribute also to the Lisbon Strategy objectives,

F.

whereas cultural industries produce and disseminate a wide range of content to inform, educate and entertain the public, based increasingly on new technologies and new digital and audiovisual formats, in regard to which the Member States and the European Union must play their part as promoters and regulators, guaranteeing that just and adequate economic rewards accrue to the creators of original content through ensuring adequate and effective protection of copyright and related rights, thereby securing the sustainability of European cultural industries,

G.

whereas new forms of production, distribution and consumption are emerging in today's information and digital technology society and they are generating new cultural goods and services that need protection from piracy, but also, more generally, suitable entrepreneurial and economic models to ensure the accessibility, opening-up and diversity of products with a cultural content while preserving their specific nature as compared to ordinary commercial products and granting fair remuneration to all categories of right holders for the use made of copyright-protected cultural content,

H.

whereas cultural products and services have special characteristics which distinguish them from other products and services, and which must be taken into account when drawing up and implementing EU policies,

I.

whereas appropriate and effective protection of copyright and related rights is an essential means to enable creators to be fairly remunerated for their creative efforts within the context of the commercial exploitation of their works, and whereas such protection is therefore indispensable to the survival of cultural industries,

J.

whereas cultural industries and the creative community have a vital contribution to make towards promoting cultural diversity, ensuring consumer choice, increasing the diversity of entrepreneurship, democratising access to culture, enhancing European identity and integration, and promoting intercultural dialogue,

K.

whereas cultural industries contribute significantly to local and regional development and cohesion, since they are a magnet for tourist investments, create new categories of commercial products and services of a ‘local’ nature and, by creating new jobs and economic development opportunities, prevent the social marginalisation of remote or disadvantaged regions,

L.

whereas authors play a fundamental part in the activities of the cultural industries and should therefore be provided with an economic, legal and social environment that will enable the development of their creative potential,

M.

whereas there is a need to ally culture closely with education and training in order to increase the productive and creative capacity of the cultural sector,

N.

whereas experience with the ‘European Capitals of Culture’ has shown, in practical terms, how the cultural sector contributes to the economic and social life of the city and the enrichment of its inhabitants,

O.

whereas State aid and other subsidies for the benefit of the creative sector should be seen as an investment and not a luxury and must be evaluated equally in accordance with EU rules on competition, annexed the Protocol to the Treaty of Amsterdam on the system of public broadcasting in the Member States, Article 151 of the EC Treaty, and the Unesco Convention on Cultural Diversity,

P.

whereas private and public investment as well as patronage should be encouraged in the cultural sector,

Q.

whereas concentration in the cultural industries sector poses risks for diversity and the supply of cultural goods to consumers,

R.

whereas creativity is a condition for the development of innovation in Europe and European technology companies would benefit from working in symbiosis with creators within ‘clusters’,

S.

whereas there is a need for further support for small and micro businesses and for the promotion of their networks, and for the individual workers in those businesses, who contribute hugely to creating wealth in an economy, and whereas creators should be assisted in pursuing training as creative entrepreneurs and encouraged to live from their creativity,

T.

whereas the fragmentation of the creative sector in Europe, which can be only partially justified by reasons of language and national identity, and the absence of any genuinely European-scale cultural industries, are liable to limit Europe's cultural role globally,

U.

whereas cultural diversity and the free flow of ideas have their roots in originality, the multiplicity of identities and equality between men and women,

V.

whereas equality between men and women is one of the European Union's core values, which is passed on through culture, and whereas that transmission of values furthers European integration,

W.

whereas gender balance is far from being a reality in the cultural industries,

X.

whereas women hold positions of responsibility in the cultural industry primarily in SMEs or when they establish their own businesses,

Y.

whereas the participation of women in the TIMES sector (telecommunications, Internet, media, e-commerce and software), a basic plank of the cultural industry, is extremely low at only 30 %, and whereas only 20 % of new businesses in that sector are established by women,

1.

Welcomes the fact that the Council and the Commission are ready to recognise the central role played by culture and creativity as important factors in promoting European citizenship, bringing the arts closer to the European public and achieving the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy, thereby bolstering still further their importance in the development of the European project;

2.

Stresses that, within the framework of today's ‘post-industrial economy’, the competitiveness of the European Union will also have to be reinforced by the sectors of culture and creativity; calls, within this framework, on the Commission and the Member States to set as their priorities, policies based not only on entrepreneurial innovation, but on the innovation of cultural actions and creative economies;

3.

Notes that cultural industries are key providers of value-added services, which are the basis of a dynamic, knowledge-based economy and should thus be recognised as an important contribution to competitiveness in the European Union;

4.

Considers that cultural industries, which are an important source of job creation in the European Union, particularly need to harness creative talent; urges the Member States to encourage new, innovative types of life-long learning that foster creative talent;

5.

Calls on the Council and the Commission to clarify what constitutes the European vision of culture, creativity and innovation and to elaborate structured political measures for practical implementation in order to develop European creative industries, incorporating these in a genuine European strategy for culture; considers that, to this end, the identification of the sector of cultural industries and undertakings is a priority;

6.

Calls on the Commission, accordingly, to arrange for the collection of systematic statistics in this area, so that the European Union and the Member States have consistent and comparable statistical data, as these are needed to elaborate suitable targeted policies for promoting the cultural and creative sector;

7.

Calls on the Member States to include entrepreneurship studies in national secondary and higher education programmes, particularly in the humanities, arts and culture fields;

8.

Calls on the Commission and the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy to incorporate Europe's cultural dimension, and specifically its cultural industries and creators, more fully and effectively into the European Union's external relations, as well as into the European Neighbourhood Policy, and at the major forums for dialogue with other regions of the world;

9.

Considers that flourishing cultural industries depend to a large extent on the opportunities for ensuring cross-frontier mobility, and for this reason the problems of the European arrest warrant must be addressed and specific rules drawn up in this regard, and repeats the requests it set out in this connection in the above resolution on the social status of artists;

10.

Welcomes the idea of promoting mobility for the people, goods and services in the creative sector, with due regard for the rules and principles laid down in the Unesco Convention on Cultural Diversity, and calls on the Commission to present Parliament with a Green Paper on this subject, which does justice to the specificity of the sector as both a cultural and economic asset;

11.

Points to the need to develop a social and economic model which provides a suitable safety network for creative entrepreneurs, principally for those who are self-employed, in the sectors of culture and the creative economy, sectors where there has so far been a high percentage of partial employment and unstable working conditions;

12.

Considers that well-organised collective cross-border management of copyright and related rights and business models respectful of the rights of all right holders are essential to allow creative potential to be exploited to the full whilst securing fair remuneration to all categories of right holders;

13.

Reminds the Commission of its abovementioned resolution of 13 March 2007, and calls for a Community approach taking account of the specific nature of the digital era, the importance of safeguarding European cultural diversity, small stakeholders and local repertoires, on the basis of the principle of equal treatment;

14.

Requests the Commission, to proceed systematically and as soon as possible with the full application of Article 151(4) of the EC Treaty, in order to ensure that culture and the cultural sector are taken into account in all the other Community policies, in particular those relating to the internal market, competition, trade, enterprise and research and development, and to take better account of the special nature of the cultural sector in implementing those policies as well as in external policy relating to the conclusion of international treaties in accordance with the Unesco Convention on Cultural Diversity, and to play a proactive role and improve international cooperation;

15.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to inject new life into the Unesco Convention on Cultural Diversity and fully to take into account the principles on which it is based in their internal and external policies;

16.

Calls on the Commission to put in place a structure for strengthening the coordination of activities and policies which have an impact on the cultural and creative sector and to set up a task force for culture and the creative economy, so as to explore more closely the direct contribution of culture and of creativity on innovation, economic growth and social development in the European Union; and to propose concrete measures in cooperation with Parliament in the context of Community policies;

17.

In the context of rapid technological and market evolution, and with a view to ensuring that cultural industries and creators benefit from the development of digital platforms, urges the Commission to rethink the critical issue of intellectual property from the cultural and economic point of view and to invite all those active in the sector, involving in particular telecom operators and Internet service providers, to join forces and seek solutions that are equitable to large and small stakeholders, in the interest of a balance between the opportunities for access to cultural events and content and intellectual property rights that guarantee fair, effective remuneration to all categories of right holders, real choice for consumers, and cultural diversity; draws attention, on this point, to the fact that criminalising consumers who are not seeking to make a profit is not the right solution to combat digital piracy;

18.

Invites the Commission to take measures relating to prevention, education and awareness-raising among consumers, especially among young people in schools on the value of intellectual property and creativity in general and to encourage consumers to respect intellectual property;

19.

Calls on the Commission in particular to support efforts to introduce new business models in the digital age that enable the consumer to reap the full benefits of new technologies and at the same time preserve the legitimate right to payment for artistic and cultural creation;

20.

Calls on the Commission to recognise that, as a result of the Internet, traditional ways of using cultural products and services have completely changed and that it is essential to ensure unimpeded access to online cultural content and to the diversity of cultural expressions, over and above that which is driven by industrial and commercial logic, ensuring moreover, fair remuneration for all categories of right holders;

21.

Is of the opinion that a reform of intellectual property rights is vital for promoting creativity and encouraging the development of cultural works; recommends the ‘Paris Accord’ as a framework for a achieving a fair balance of interests between creators and consumers;

22.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide the necessary resources to ensure that intellectual property rights are respected and protected;

23.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to recognise that the Internet is a vast platform for cultural expression, access to knowledge, and democratic participation in European creativity, bringing generations together through the information society; calls on the Commission and the Member States, to avoid adopting measures conflicting with civil liberties and human rights and with the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness, such as the interruption of Internet access;

24.

Urges the Commission, in the fight against piracy, to make all parties, including consumers, aware of their responsibilities and to put in place awareness-raising and education campaigns;

25.

Considers it essential to have adequate funding for cultural and creative industries as well as for creative communities, and calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to take the action required, recommending mixed methods of funding and financial security, and promoting a regulatory and fiscal framework that favours cultural industries as well as creative communities, and more particularly by applying tax credits and reduced rates of VAT to all cultural products, including online works;

26.

Stresses the significance to the European creative sector of free information infrastructures such as the WorldWideWeb, which are based on open participation models and open standards and asks the Commission to put forward a strategy for more open and interoperable information infrastructures;

27.

Considers it necessary for the Structural Funds, programmes for SMEs and the Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007-2013) to give pride of place to development and allocate sufficient funding for the cultural and creative industries, including SMEs and individual artistic undertakings in the field, and repeats its request that the Commission put forward a study on the impact of funding from the Structural Funds, and the Seventh Framework Programme, for the cultural and educational sectors;

28.

Reiterates the importance, and calls for the prioritisation of the European Investment Bank's objectives within the Innovation 2010 Initiative (i2i); encourages the Commission and the Member States to explore further ways of providing financial assistance for the start-up and growth of SMEs in the cultural and creative sectors (for example by means of the Seventh Framework Programme; encourages the use of the Structural Funds to support traditional art and heritage sectors and cultural and innovative industries; calls on the Commission to monitor those activities and help the dissemination of best practices;

29.

Calls on the Commission to promote access to cultural industries in connection with technical assistance programmes for third countries, in particular with China, India and Latin America;

30.

Calls on the Commission to encourage and support partnerships between the cultural industries sector and the information and communication technology sectors in order to promote synergies between creativity and innovation within the context of the Lisbon Strategy;

31.

Calls on the Commission to look into the possibility of setting up a programme similar to the MEDIA Programme, complete the procedures for implementing the initiative for the European digital library, stimulate and support the music, theatre and publishing industries in order to facilitate the transnational distribution of works, and, as a preliminary step, set up a mechanism under the ‘Culture’ programme allowing non-audiovisual cultural industries to have access to Community funding to promote books (inter alia by way of joint stands at book fairs), and also promote music and professional training;

32.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to increase the amount of aid for translation, as the budgets allocated to the European cultural programmes are not sufficient to enable their aims to be fulfilled;

33.

Considers that there is a need to encourage the cultural and creative sector by improving qualification, apprenticeship and training systems, in particular by seeking to provide students at all levels of education in cultural and artistic disciplines with training that will prepare them for professional life, as well as by encouraging better synergies between businesses in the sector and schools and encouraging closer ties between schools and institutions in the Member States that are already working to that end; considers that there is also a need to make further progress towards the mutual recognition of diplomas in art studies;

34.

Emphasises the special nature of certain professions or crafts and skills in the cultural, creative and craft sectors, the continuity of which must be safeguarded by means of appropriate mechanisms for passing on knowledge;

35.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to take appropriate steps to enhance the status of traditional skills in order to encourage mobility and facilitate access to employment for those occupied in the relevant sectors in the European Union;

36.

Calls on the Member States to pay particular attention to women's earning levels in the cultural industry, with a view to ensuring that pay schemes do not result in gender-related salary discrimination;

37.

Stresses the important role of cultural industries in the fight against gender stereotypes, promoting equality between men and women and changing mentalities; invites the Member States to encourage cultural industries to transmit those ideas through their initiatives;

38.

Calls on the Member States and their local authorities to ensure better communication between the creative industries and the financiers with the development of services for business management consultancy, financial consultancy, information and training for small businesses, entrepreneurs and those working in the cultural and creative sector;

39.

Attaches great importance to the provisions of Directive 2007/65/EC and calls on the Member States to ensure its timely transposition and on the Commission to provide Parliament with information on the implementation of that directive;

40.

Emphasises the opportunities created by far-reaching, high-speed broadband and by new wireless technologies in the development and dissemination of new innovative cultural services and content across both rural and urban areas in each of the 27 Member States; furthermore, calls on the Member States to give priority to the development of broadband networks in rural and peripheral areas in order to overcome the digital divide; notes that technological advances enable consumers to access cultural content more quickly;

41.

Reminds the Commission and the Member States of the position they have so far taken as regards audiovisual services within the framework of international trade talks and calls upon them to continue in future, within the framework of the WTO-GATS negotiations, to make neither offers to liberalise audiovisual services nor demands that they be granted a derogation from the application of most favoured nation treatment;

42.

Welcomes the creation in 2007 of Parliament's annual film prize (PRIX LUX) as a means of strengthening cultural policy, promoting cultural and linguistic diversity, preserving cultural tradition and supporting cultural exchanges; calls for that prize to take account, in particular, of women's participation and creativity in recognition of their contribution to the development and advancement of European cinema;

43.

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

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/32

A.

whereas, without denying the fact that it is wholly desirable to take as open an attitude as possible to every other culture, the European Union has a very special duty to safeguard Europe's cultural richness, implying that the European cultural heritage, in all its dimensions, must, by every means, be preserved, disseminated, and shared both within and outside the Union,

B.

whereas, arts and culture are a means towards achieving greater expression and self-awareness in personal and social development and allow individuals and communities to deal with their heritage and memory, and to conceptualise their individual and collective futures,

C.

whereas, arts and culture open new forms of dialogue, create spaces of cultural understanding and enable individuals and groups to go beyond their own identity stances,

D.

whereas, as a field of exchange, debate and creativity and for the production of ideas, arts and culture encourage civic engagement and participation,

E.

whereas Europe's cultural heritage, encompassing its diverse forms of expression and the combination of its founding sources, such as, for example, Graeco-Latin and Judaeo-Christian antiquity, has, over the course of history, placed Europe in the vanguard of all the continents, proved to be an unrivalled driver of innovation, development and progress, which has spread in every direction, and today still constitutes an essential reference point for humanism, spiritual enrichment and enlivenment, democracy, tolerance, and citizenship,

F.

whereas in an increasingly globalised world, the outstanding specific qualities contained within the nucleus of Europe's cultural richness constitute genuine European added value and their identity-giving role is vital for Europe and the Union in that it helps them to understand the world, bring about cohesion within, emphasise their uniqueness, and assert themselves in relation to other peoples,

G.

whereas flexibility and mobility are both intrinsic to the practice of artistic professions,

H.

whereas artistic productions bring together European and non-European artists alike and whereas the mobility of artists is being impeded by national policies requiring visas from persons moving within the EU,

I.

whereas the particular ways in which the influence of European cultural heritage has over the course of history found expression in other continents must lead to special measures emphasising those factors which serve to build civilisation, mutual understanding, and a constructive approach uniting the peoples represented by such forms of expression,

J.

whereas local and regional authorities play a particularly important role in cultural development and consolidation, especially through safeguarding the cultural heritage and promoting artistic innovation within their boundaries, a factor which should be properly taken into account in reorganising the European agenda for culture in the light of globalisation,

K.

whereas non-European immigrants, tourists and other visitors are obliged to respect Europe's cultural heritage, which has a privileged status in the Member States,

L.

whereas, on the one hand, European creators, artists, and cultural industries have a decisive role in the creation of European cultural identity, the sharing of values, and in the continuous development of European citizenship that both transcends the nation state as well as recognises the cultural diversity on a European, national, regional and linguistic scale,

M.

whereas, on the other hand, European creators, artists, and cultural industries also have a real impact on economic incomes, sources of wealth, and the creation of jobs within the EU,

N.

whereas technological progress means that cultural products are increasingly produced, disseminated and consumed in digital form, and policy must take account of this development,

O.

whereas European cultural industries find themselves in a protected space with regard to trade rules, adequately reflecting European perceptions that cultural products and services differ from other kinds of goods and services, necessitating specific rules,

P.

whereas the EU's major museums and cultural institutions are increasingly carrying out economically significant exchanges with equivalent institutions from elsewhere in the world, which are producing substantial revenue over and above that derived from tourism,

Q.

whereas the historical, cultural and archaeological heritage of the Member States deserves maximum protection from the risks of illegal exports and illicit trade in general, as provided by the Convention of 14 November 1970 on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property and other applicable international instruments,

R.

whereas the EU must show solidarity in protecting the cultural heritage of third countries, in particular those with the weakest cultural sectors, and actively prevent the illegal import of cultural works which are protected in their State of origin,

S.

whereas the EU's trade balance in cultural goods and services is unfavourable,

T.

whereas economic globalisation and the build-up of global cultural industries challenge linguistic and cultural diversity which are values in themselves, therefore making it important to find a European common approach to these challenges,

U.

whereas the tourism industry and related services are one of the points where international trade and culture converge, and in relations between the EU and third countries may be the best means of giving European cultural destinations a higher profile while at the same time benefiting trade, thus helping to ensure social, cultural and environmental sustainability,

V.

whereas there are hardly any reliable and meaningful statistics on international trade in cultural goods and services,

W.

whereas digital technologies are to be understood as a novel way of disseminating cultural products and services globally which can advance cross-cultural understanding under the premise of free and fair access and respect for cultural and linguistic divergences,

X.

whereas new media technologies, including open source based Internet portals and services and their development, are acquiring an increasing amount of content in order to be competitive,

Y.

whereas these developments pose unprecedented challenges that call for new thinking on how to manage and regulate issues that affect the protection of intellectual property rights, piracy and unauthorised digitalisation, taking into account the need for an appropriate balance between fair access to cultural products and services and new forms of artistic and intellectual creation,

Z.

whereas counterfeiting and piracy of cultural products lead to job losses in the EU, and undermine the competitiveness of cultural industries and the quality of products, which particularly affect Member States which derive their basic revenue from the production of cultural goods and their use for economic purposes,

AA.

whereas ultimate power has been conferred on the Commission to protect intellectual property rights of European industries in all international forums as well as before those trade partners that do not have adequate legislation in this field,

AB.

whereas culture is specifically included in the EU's free-trade agreements (FTAs) and other trade instruments,

AC.

whereas culture and language are driving forces behind regional development and greatly help to attract incoming investment, especially in underdeveloped regions, poor in natural resources or tourist attractions, and whereas artists and cultural institutions play a decisive role in forming the identity of regions and increasing their attractiveness in the European integration process,

AD.

whereas culture, as a sector that both provides jobs and fosters economic growth, is particularly important for the development of towns (especially small and medium sized ones) and rural areas, and whereas, in the social sphere, cultural identity is an important factor in fostering integration and greater social cohesion in regions and local communities,

AE.

whereas support can be given under cohesion and rural development policies to restoring the cultural heritage and promoting the artistic trades, with a view to increasing the attractiveness of regions,

AF.

whereas SMEs and private capital should play an increasingly important role in the cultural sector and should be brought into play in the implementation of projects and measures in this field, particularly through public/private partnerships (PPPs),

1.

Welcomes the Commission communication on a European agenda for culture and endorses the aims set out therein; notes that it has pointed on several occasions to the essential role of culture in imparting structure to the implementation of the Lisbon strategy and establishing a new pillar of global governance and sustainable development;

2.

Likewise welcomes the fact that the abovementioned Commission communication has been well received by the Council, as reflected in the Council resolution of 16 November 2007;

3.

Underlines that local, regional and national authorities play a key role in developing and fostering culture, especially in protecting cultural heritage, as well as promoting artistic innovation and creative industries;

4.

Welcomes the fact that the Commission is addressing the mobility of artists and culture sector professionals;

5.

Points to the need to promote the emergence and mobility of young European artists;

6.

Regrets that no reference to the role of the large number of partnerships between cities, local authorities and regions has been made in establishing a European agenda for culture in a globalising world;

7.

Highlights the fact that the cultural sector plays an important part in attaining the objectives of the renewed Lisbon strategy and draws attention to the importance of culture in creating a good and dynamic living environment, notably through the tremendous opportunities afforded by cultural tourism for the economic development of many regions;

8.

Points out that in the light of Article 151 of the Treaty, action in the culture sector, which must not undermine cultural diversity and national identities, has to take the form of cooperation policies and partnership agreements between Member States; also points to the role of the regions of the European Union as an important forum for cultural cooperation;

9.

Is concerned that the communication fails to clarify the ongoing problem concerning misunderstandings about culture in terms of contemporary and traditional arts, European heritage and the profit-driven and profitable ‘creative industries’. Moreover, the objectives set out in the agenda generally represent culture as having important social, economic, political and more generally ‘instrumental’ value but do not incorporate the issue of culture as a value in itself (culture qua culture);

10.

Is concerned that in the debate on intercultural and cultural dialogue and on what is meant by ‘culture’, it is often understood that culture unites people together rather than being a moderator of differences. In this context, Jean Monnet could be quoted: those young people ‘acquainted with all that is great and good in different cultures, without ceasing to look to their own lands with love and pride, they will become Europeans’;

11.

Believes that if Article 151(4) of the Treaty is to be implemented completely and coherently, the specific features of the culture sector, not least its creative and innovative potential and its social significance have to be taken into account as cultural and economic goods so that culture can fully assume its rightful place within the Lisbon strategy;

12.

Believes that the Commission's objective to further develop dialogue with civil society in the cultural sector is crucial to the development of a coherent European agenda for culture, and that only through such structured dialogue could European policies genuinely reflect the realities and demands of European artists and cultural operators;

13.

Calls on the Commission to submit recommendations for the protection of digital rights management systems which take equal account of the requirements of the EU internal market and of the Unesco Convention on the Protection of Cultural Diversity;

14.

Stresses that cultural productivity and artists’ creativity must be guaranteed in a sustainable manner, but that this presupposes a secure social situation for artists, including an appropriate legal framework in the areas of tax, labour, social security and copyright law;

15.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to breathe life into the Unesco Convention on the Protection of Cultural Diversity and to take full account of the Convention's underlying principles in its internal and external policies;

16.

Reminds the Commission that the Community is duty-bound to implement the Unesco Convention on the Protection of Cultural Diversity when exercising the competences it enjoys in policy areas which are covered by the Convention, namely ‘the common commercial policy, development cooperation policy, economic, financial and technical cooperation with third countries, free movement of goods, persons, services and capital, competition, and the internal market, including intellectual property’ (7);

17.

Believes that the existing Community programmes in the culture sector do not fully reflect the implications of Europeans’ common cultural heritage, and calls on the Commission, therefore, to propose that specific programmes be drawn up in order to foster artistic creativity and preserve the links, on a wider scale and at a deeper seated level, with the goods and values, both tangible and intangible, that constitute European cultural heritage and to enable those goods and values to interact according to the humanist conception of identities and differences and in present-day cultural works, thus making it possible to reap and share their benefits;

18.

Stresses that the programmes in the culture sector will all do a great deal to foster cohesion, real convergence, economic growth, sustainable development, innovation, employment and competitiveness;

19.

Points out that the EU has an essential role to play in taking practical measures genuinely conducive to the mobility of European and non-Community artists;

20.

Calls for a specific visa to be introduced for artists to enable them to accept immediately when they are offered a very short professional engagement;

21.

Reiterates the strategic importance of the attractive EU cultural project — the European Capital of Culture scheme — which gives a significant boost to the social and economic development of cities and regions by injecting European added value;

22.

Asks the Commission to pay particular attention to the strong and effective cooperation between the 2007 to 2011 European Capitals of Culture and the 2010 Cultural Cities Network, which brings together more than 20 towns and cities from Hungary, Germany and Turkey to work together on the development of their own European cultural objectives, to join the Capitals of Culture in their preparations for 2010 and to present their projects simultaneously at a wide range of different locations;

23.

Maintains that mobility and flexibility are the only means of both ensuring the survival of creative activity in the individual Member States and of fostering a European cultural identity;

24.

Recommends to the Council and to the Commission that a programme be drawn up with a view to enhancing the prestige of Europe's classical heritage and the historic contributions of national cultures in all their dimensions down through the centuries, and that such a programme should exist alongside and complement the ‘Culture’ framework programme for 2007 to 2013 while also allowing for the needs of the culture sector in the future;

25.

Calls on the Commission to intensify the policies in support of literary translation provided for in the ‘Culture Programme (2007 to 2013)’;

26.

Calls on the Commission to draw up a programme aimed at developing the promotion of European languages in the world and their role in creative artistic activity in other continents, so as to facilitate both mutual knowledge and understanding and the cultural interaction generated and conveyed by those languages in their extra-European dimensions;

27.

Calls on the Commission to enhance and promote international cultural exchanges and the acquisition of cultural skills and multilingualism among the citizens of the European Union;

28.

Stresses that, in view of the designation of 2008 as the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, the European Union should put the values of intercultural dialogue into practice and open itself up to other cultures and promote and develop opportunities for cooperation by proposing an interesting range of cultural programmes to European third countries, in particular those covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy, for whom involvement in joint cultural programmes would have an extremely important mobilising influence;

29.

Proposes that Parliament, the Council, the Commission, and the Member States undertake to establish conditions genuinely conducive to culture and creative activity in every walk of life in the Union, focusing in particular on the family, schools, lifelong learning, the mass media, and the world of digital technologies;

30.

Maintains that specific cultural projects must continue to be promoted at European level, the European digital library being one example; calls for the library to be set up more rapidly;

31.

Supports the numerous cultural partnership arrangements between towns, communities and regions, which are of great importance for the social development of the regions and the promotion of cultural innovation; calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide every support for local, regional and interregional cultural initiatives as an essential factor in the process of regional and European integration in the face of global challenges;

32.

Points out that teaching of the arts and literature has an important part to play in rounding out the personalities of young people, awakening and fostering their vocations, and enabling them to enjoy cultural goods and values to the full;

33.

Stresses the need for the school syllabuses in all Member States to include a common history of the European Union teaching programme to promote European identity and culture in the context of globalisation;

34.

Maintains that it is important, both in schools and in society, to build innovative bridges between culture and research, science, and technology, and to have programmes covering these matters;

35.

Calls on the Commission to devise means in order to identify sectors in crisis in European cultural industries, focusing particular attention on the publishing market, in which the trend has been such that high-quality creative writing is now in danger of being eclipsed by best-sellers, and on the world of music-making, where quality and diversity are likewise under threat due to piracy and the worldwide spread of digital technologies by the concentration processes entailed in collective rights management;

36.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to employ the means needed to enforce and protect literary and artistic property rights, especially in the digital environment;

37.

Believes that the foundations should be laid for genuine European cultural diplomacy and calls on the Member States and the Community institutions to strengthen the cultural element of their diplomatic representation and embark on regular organised initiatives devoted to European culture;

38.

Calls on the Member States and the Community institutions to encourage initiatives aimed at developing cultural tourism;

39.

Recommends that the Council and the Commission compile and promote a list of ‘cultural places of pilgrimage’ in all the Member States with a view to organising specific initiatives and events to take place regularly in these monuments to, and powerhouses of, culture;

40.

Believes that a European heritage label should be established with a view to emphasising the European dimension of cultural goods, monuments, memorial sites, and places of remembrance, which all bear witness to Europe's history and heritage;

41.

Recommends that the Council and the Commission support and promote the Council of Europe's European Cultural Routes programme, launched in 1987, since the routes in question constitute exemplary networks encompassing regions and local communities and bear witness to Europe's heritage and shared history;

42.

Proposes that the Council and the Commission establish a European arts sponsorship scheme and the designation of ‘European patron of the arts’ so as to enable the public and private sectors to enter into effective partnerships consistent with the aims of the Commission's proposed action;

43.

Proposes also that prestigious European prizes, awarded on a regular basis, be established for every sphere of creative artistic activity;

44.

Suggests also that the profile of the existing prizes be raised and their effects assessed;

45.

Suggests that, in view of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Fryderyk Chopin, a brilliant composer who has made an undeniable contribution to world culture, 2010 should be designated the ‘European Year of Fryderyk Chopin’;

46.

Suggests that the year 2011 be designated ‘European Year of the Greek and Latin Classics’ in order to make the peoples of the Union more aware of this essential aspect of cultural heritage now in danger of being forgotten;

47.

Recommends that the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, in the interest of promoting European cultural values and demonstrating its commitment to culture, should start regularly organising and supporting a European Year commemorating a significant European personality, artistic activity or cultural event;

48.

Suggests that improvements be made as regards promotion of, access to, and publicity concerning these measures;

49.

Points out to the Council that the intended budgetary funding for the measures proposed in the Commission communication and those already in existence need to be reviewed immediately and as a matter of urgency;

50.

Urges the Commission and the Council to guarantee that the rules governing commercial relations at both the bilateral and the multilateral level are transparent, fair, open, and market-access oriented; further insists that these rules must allow European cultural industries to develop all their potential, particularly in the audiovisual, musical and publishing sectors;

51.

Calls on the Commission to revise the mechanisms for customs control and exchange of information with the Member States to ensure that they are as effective as possible in combating illegal exports and imports of works of art and other protected cultural goods;

52.

Calls on the Commission to take the appropriate measures to initiate a thorough revision of the protection of intellectual property rights, in order to better balance the conflicting goals of right-holder protection and free and fair access to cultural products and services in the EU's acquis communautaire, World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and EU bilateral agreements in order to eradicate the root causes of counterfeiting and piracy;

53.

Calls on the Commission to use its powers to ensure that all trading partners enforce the obligations of the agreements within the framework of WTO and international trade law, including the potential activation of dispute-settlement instruments provided for by international agreements;

54.

Calls on the Commission to develop a reliable and coherent set of indicators and instruments to measure and evaluate international trade in cultural products;

55.

Taking into account that cultural tourism is an ever growing segment of the cultural industry worldwide, calls on the Commission to incorporate into EU trade policy agreements clauses on the spread of and trade in products with cultural and historical value;

56.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to increasingly take into account the clauses of the EUs FTAs and other trade instruments that deal with trade in cultural products when following up these trade agreements;

57.

Stresses the importance of supporting the transborder flow of cultural products through enhanced mobility of artists and workers in the cultural sector; considers that transborder mobility of European arts and culture has a significant role to play in disseminating European values as well as maintaining and developing cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue;

58.

Calls on the Commission to identify possible non-tariff barriers imposed by third countries in commercial transactions for certain European cultural goods and services and, if necessary, to take steps to eliminate them;

59.

Stresses, in this regard, that the EU should support and facilitate access to its market in cultural products and services as regards developing countries, paying particular attention to the positive impact that this may have on job creation and technological development in their cultural industries,

60.

Calls on the Commission to propose specific cultural actions and events that would promote European culture in developing countries, while giving access to culture priority in development policies;

61.

Supports the systematic integration of the cultural dimension and the various aspects of culture in all external and development policies, projects and programmes, as a means of strengthening the quality of the Commission's diplomatic efforts and the viability and sustainability of all EU cooperation activities and of stepping up measures to raise public awareness of the importance of the cultural aspect of development activities;

62.

Welcomes the establishment of specific cultural cooperation programmes of an inter-dependent nature with some partner countries in the ENP region, in Asia and elsewhere, such as the Culture Fund for India;

63.

Welcomes the Commission's proposal to create an EU-ACP Cultural Fund as a joint EU contribution to supporting the distribution and production of ACP cultural goods, noting that the 10th European Development Fund will provide start-up funds that will be complemented by contributions from the Member States;

64.

Calls on the Commission to promote compliance with international agreements and other legal instruments with a bearing on cultural rights in order to ensure cultural freedom and safeguard diversity and its manifestations in the face of market liberalisation plans that threaten cultural diversity in developing countries;

65.

Calls on the Commission to promote cultural exchanges between the EU and third countries and regions;

66.

Asks the Commission to promote the incorporation of cultural policy in development cooperation policy, in particular with regard to social and economic measures;

67.

Invites the Commission to ensure that all its cooperation programmes and projects take account of local culture and contribute to increasing people's access to culture and to the means of cultural expression, in addition to tackling poverty and reducing social exclusion; underlines the importance of education, including advocacy for the integration of culture in education curricula at all levels in developing countries;

68.

Reminds the Commission that the development of cultural heritage is inextricably linked to public use and enjoyment of it and that cultural heritage should be managed in a sustainable manner in view of its transitory nature; considers, too, that the management of cultural heritage should necessarily be economically viable and consequently play a part in improving the socio-economic conditions in which people live;

69.

Supports the active involvement of the EU in the work of international organisations dealing with culture and in the United Nations ‘Alliance of Civilisations’ process;

70.

Acknowledges the significance of the plans for a European cultural agenda, but notes that the Commission communication on that agenda fails to provide any details regarding its funding or any practical plan for employing the open method of coordination; calls on the Commission to supply those details at the earliest opportunity;

71.

Emphasises the important role played by local and regional authorities in fostering and nurturing culture in their areas, above all in the sphere of cultural heritage and as patrons of artistic innovation, as the bodies responsible for providing and sponsoring cultural amenities and initiatives and education and training and as organisers of festivals and cultural encounters;

72.

Recommends that the Member States involve local and regional authorities in the process not only of monitoring results, but also of implementing any new EU cultural agenda, so that the cultural policy actually implemented reflects the specific expectations and needs of the regions;

73.

Draws attention to the need to promote cultural diversity and to give culture a significant role in dialogue not only between individual countries but also between regions throughout the world, promoting intercultural exchanges and including culture in development programmes; supports the idea of the integrated approach to creating strategies for culture, including all sectors and factors that directly or indirectly influence the development of culture;

74.

Stresses that cultural tourism plays a significant role in regional economic growth and wealth creation and in enhancing the value of Europe's cultural heritage and that regional cultural associations and those active in the arts must be involved in this process;

75.

Regrets the fact that the Commission pays too little attention to twinning arrangements between towns, municipalities and regions, which have for many years provided an excellent forum for cultural cooperation and information exchange;

76.

Calls on the Commission to promote best practices in cultural activities at European level, drawing attention to the fact that most best practices in this area are generated at regional level; suggests that thematic conferences be organised and that publicly accessible best-practice databases be set up in all the official languages of the European Union;

77.

Bearing in mind the forthcoming European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, stresses the role which the regions can play as a genuine cultural meeting point; calls on the Commission to put forward firm proposals for activities for 2008 and to actively involve the regions in the planning and implementation of these activities;

78.

Agrees with the Commission that the EU's cultural and linguistic diversity is a major competitive asset; reminds the Member States that language teaching and educational and cultural exchange programmes within and outside the European Union need continuous support; recalls the role of television broadcasting in the field of intercultural exchange;

79.

Calls on the Commission to support cultural initiatives in regional cooperation projects, including at town level, especially in small and medium-sized towns, inter alia by means of the Interreg IV C programme, and to incorporate a cultural dimension into the regions for economic change initiative;

80.

Calls on the Member States to support culture in the regions by investing in cultural infrastructure, making use of structural funding, and to draw up regional cultural development programmes in consultation with the cultural and education sectors and with civil society;

81.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to lay down straightforward, transparent and clear rules for the implementation of PPPs, so that they may become an effective means of funding cultural ventures in the regions and may facilitate more active involvement on the part of SMEs;

82.

Welcomes the Commission's proposal to set up an EU-ACP Cultural Fund as an EU contribution to the distribution of ACP and OCT cultural goods; takes the view that similar arrangements should be put in place for neighbourhood policy countries in particular,

83.

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

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/41

A.

whereas, according to the contribution of Working Group II to the IPCC AR4, it is expected that nearly all European regions will be negatively affected by future impacts of climate change; whereas these impacts will present challenges to many economic sectors, but will also pose a further threat to European biodiversity and interfere with social development,

B.

whereas regional scientific observation from all continents and many oceans provides evidence that nature is being affected by climate change mostly due to temperature rise but also to other changing climate impacts; whereas that observed temperature rise is caused by human activity and influences physical and biological systems,

C.

whereas the EU should consider to what extent adaptation to climate change can pave the way for a new model for economic growth and development that protects the environment, enhances employment and gives a new dimension to social policies,

D.

whereas climate change is a problem that concerns modern societies as a whole and all levels of governance, from the EU level and public authorities to individual citizens, can and should thus play an important role in adaptation measures,

E.

whereas adaptation measures to prevent damage are not only needed to respond to the future impacts of climate change inside and outside Europe, but also have to be developed and applied now to respond regionally and locally to consequences of current levels of global warming because of historical greenhouse gas emissions; whereas such adaptation measures require a truly cross-cutting approach and the inclusion of social, economic and environmental aspects in the broad sense,

F.

whereas numerous studies and models exist, of a regional or local scale, on the likely impact of climate change; whereas, in many such studies, there is no equivalent examination of the socio-economic dimension and the predictable consequences for the populations concerned,

G.

whereas, at the EU level, the monitoring of climate change and the coordination of measures to tackle it should be a priority in order to facilitate a common strategy as regards the problem,

H.

whereas investment, both public and private, in research and development activities for climate change will be paramount in ensuring that adaptation and mitigation efforts are as effective as possible in limiting the consequences of climate change,

I.

whereas national research into climate change needs to be coordinated with research conducted under the Seventh Framework Programme,

J.

whereas adaptation to climate change has been less in the focus of public debate following a clear emphasis on the necessary mitigation measures to limit global warming,

K.

whereas meeting the EU target to halt global warming at 2 °C would still mean a warming scenario for Europe marked by extreme regional climate changes, with a number of consequences for the populations concerned, the local and regional economy and the environment, leading to a further increase in existing inequalities and regional disparities regarding resources and assets in Europe,

L.

whereas research into the preconditions for, and understanding of, extreme weather events should be stepped up as a necessary basis for preventive measures, including the implementation of early-warning systems, and actions in the future to avoid casualties and harm to people, property, biodiversity and the environment, and whereas tools to evaluate the effectiveness of such measures have to be developed,

M.

whereas an approach towards adaptation mechanisms which is based solely on a cost-benefit analysis does not seem appropriate, as it is foreseeable that in Europe too the poorest will be hardest hit, because they generally lack sufficient insurance, information and mobility to respond to a changing environment,

N.

whereas a bottom-up approach, with communities experiencing the negative consequences of climate change presenting the techniques they have found successful in combating those consequences, would be a helpful indicator for the EU to work as an umbrella in promoting strategies, developing relevant support programmes and leading policy coordination through scientific, regional or local networks and partnerships,

O.

whereas a key component of responding to the impact of climate change is to increase and improve professional and public education regarding adaptation action,

P.

whereas it is evident that climate change affects development achievements and threatens successful development in Europe, but has a much stronger impact on developing countries; whereas the issue of financing adaptation measures has to be further assessed both within the EU and in terms of providing support to developing countries,

Q.

whereas, according to the concept of mainstreaming, adaptation to climate change has to be included in the decision-making process on questions such as how and where to invest; whereas debates during that decision-making process have to involve local and regional stakeholders and decision makers alike,

R.

whereas the Green Paper on Adapting to Climate Change neither specifically recognises the geographic, climatic and developmental exceptions represented by the EU's outermost regions, which are likely to be vulnerable in different ways from those to be expected for mainland Europe, nor specifically examines the climate conditions of urban areas or highly populated parts of Europe,

S.

whereas climate change is likely to affect those regions which, given their topographical features, are particularly dependent on the dynamics of nature (inter alia glacial zones and mountainous regions), thereby exposing the local economy, culture and the population as a whole to great pressures and adaptation costs, while potentially further increasing regional disparities,

T.

whereas southern Europe and the Mediterranean basin are two of the most vulnerable areas in Europe which are already coping with water scarcity, droughts and forest fires,

U.

whereas successful adaptation strategies to meet unavoidable climate change will require the support of education and communication through the involvement of the mass media and of citizens’ participation in environmental issues,

V.

whereas the World Health Organisation estimates that 60 000 deaths per year are already attributable to climate-related natural disasters; whereas the IPCC AR4 highlights the impact of climate change on public health; whereas there are serious concerns about the propagation of tropical diseases and their vectors to temperate regions; whereas, as a particular consequence of this, health care facilities targeted on the most vulnerable sections of society are likely to have to adapt to climate change to the greatest extent,

W.

whereas climate change will cause further serious damage to already vulnerable and threatened ecosystems and will impact on European biodiversity; whereas such damage will be most severely felt indirectly through the degradation of ecosystems fundamental to human wellbeing; whereas the protection of ecosystems must therefore be the basis for an EU adaptation strategy; whereas soil is the largest terrestrial pool of organic carbon and unadapted soil management practices are contributing to reducing that pool; whereas it is necessary to reverse that trend and ensure that appropriate measures to maintain and, where possible, increase soil organic carbon form an integral part of an EU adaptation strategy,

1.

Welcomes the Green Paper on Adapting to Climate Change and the stakeholder consultation process;

2.

Underlines the importance of strong interconnectivity between adaptation and mitigation efforts to use synergies for limiting the consequences of climate change; calls on the Commission to examine how to balance both efforts mutually in order to improve their effectiveness with a view to developing a clear holistic strategy;

3.

Recognises that, although issues are presented in the Green Paper on Adapting to Climate Change on a sectoral basis, many of the sectors referred to therein are strongly interdependent; considers that impacts on, and adaptation decisions made in, one sector will often have an effect on other sectors, and therefore asks the Commission to take into account those interactions in implementing adaptation measures;

4.

Affirms the need for further scientific modelling and studies on a risk-based approach to better analyse, understand and predict the human and social impacts of climate change in relation to the EU mitigation target of 2 °C and the dimension of necessary local or regional adaptation;

5.

Asks the Commission to carry out a study on the economics of adaptation, to develop scenarios establishing a balance sheet of adaptation costs and benefits and to stimulate and anticipate economic action; underlines the importance of using a sectoral bottom-up approach taking into account the differences in Europe's natural habitats such as mountainous areas or island regions; calls on the Commission to chart the shifts in employment in both growing and shrinking sectors;

6.

Invites the Commission to coordinate and support the scientific preparation of a common European database on vulnerabilities so as to understand how societal groups and the European cultural and national heritage would be affected and how societies could react to the consequences of climate change in the future; believes that databases including other important information on adaptation activities and policies, such as indices, policies and measures, should also be established;

7.

Calls on the Commission to coordinate the existing environmental data monitoring networks and, where appropriate, to combine them with new structures, with a view to compiling databases containing homogeneous measurements that can be used to produce models enabling the action most urgently required at continental, regional and local level to be identified;

8.

Invites the Commission to examine how to further develop and support a pan-European network of universities, social partners, civil society organisations, operational organisations, in particular national weather-forecasting organisations, which have extensive data resources, and local or regional decision makers in order to promote cross- sector partnerships on adaptation for the exchange of knowledge and policies as well as for the development of tools measuring the success of measures adopted and communication or dissemination of scientific findings and scenarios on necessary adaptation to climate change to the public;

9.

Considers that, in order to make research into the impact of climate change more effective, research conducted under the Seventh Framework Programme should be coordinated with research conducted at national level (particularly space-based Earth observation programmes);

10.

Considers that the EU has to undertake substantial efforts to increase technological development in adaptation measures in order to support its economy and transfer those technologies to the developing world; believes that development of effective, safe and cheap technologies is an essential way in which to adapt to climate change and considers that the next Conference/Meeting of the Parties in Poznan (COP 14) should focus on that issue;

11.

Asks the Commission to include adaptation when drawing up and modifying existing and all forthcoming legislation, strategies and funding projects with a spatial impact, so as to limit the effects of climate change; calls on the Commission to carry out a comprehensive analysis of existing European financial instruments and their use for climate change adaptation measures in their original fields of application and to indicate where additional funding would be needed;

12.

Strongly urges the Council to reach a decision, without further delay, on the proposal for a regulation establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF), bearing in mind that Parliament adopted its position as long ago as on 18 May 2006 (6); believes that the proposed regulation, which, along with other measures, lowers the thresholds for the mobilisation of the EUSF, will make it possible to address damage caused by natural or man-made disasters in a more effective, flexible and timely manner; insists that such financial instrument is very important, especially since natural disasters are also expected to increase in the future because of climate change;

13.

Invites the Commission to consider including financial measures for adaptation in the next long-term financial framework for regional policies and structural funds, as well as to propose that additional resources be allocated to finding innovative solutions to address climate change;

14.

Points out that strategic guidelines for EU cohesion policy explicitly spell out the need to strengthen synergies between the environment and growth; states that regional policy programmes invest in infrastructure in the areas of water, waste and air, biodiversity, promotion of land-use planning, and public transport; underlines the fact that they contribute to meeting climate commitments and fostering risk prevention measures through innovative public management policies including, for example, preventative monitoring; points also to the need for the Commission and the Member States to step up the coordination of civil protection organisation and contingency planning; points, in this respect, to the work of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Programme;

15.

Stresses the need for Member States to use rural development funds to enhance adaptation to climate change in agriculture and forestry; recalls the role that soil organic matter plays in terms of soil fertility and water retention capacity and as a carbon sink and invites the Community to adopt and support appropriate soil management practices that maintain soil organic matter levels across European soils as an effective way for adapting to increasing temperatures and changes in rainfall patterns; underlines the need for adequate crisis prevention and risk management measures at the Community level as well as at national and regional levels, as the number of crises will clearly rise in the future, with particular reference to a systematic land management effort ensuring longer water retention times and a lower fire burden on forests; believes that risk management should be made an integral and explicit part of EU cohesion policy;

16.

Calls for the Commission to propose an EU-wide framework for adaptation planning and preparedness; emphasises the need to take due account of the subsidiarity principle in tackling the consequences of climate change through concrete adaptive measures, as regions and local authorities in Europe will be more able to respond with political answers to their own experiences; underlines, however, the need for coherence and coordination as regards adaptation plans at EU level;

17.

Underlines the key role which local communities play in fighting climate change; calls, therefore, for the implementation of integrated sustainable urban, regional and rural development strategies which take full account of mitigation and adaptation measures, and for scientific studies to be conducted to analyse the infrastructures most suited to addressing climate change;

18.

Calls for closer cooperation and exchanges of best practises between European institutions and regional and local authorities and among those in the development of construction, utilities and services aiming to achieve a carbon-neutral status in their respective areas, such as district heating schemes, improved recycling services, integrated public transport, energy-efficient and water-efficient buildings, increased production and use of alternative energy, and more provision of public information on energy consumption;

19.

Underlines the fact that the agricultural sector is one of the most vulnerable to climate change but has at the same time been accused of causing environmental damage; believes that adaptation measures in this sector must work towards reducing vulnerability and increasing sustainability from both an environmental and an economic perspective;

20.

Underlines the fact that gradual adaptation of the agricultural sector to the new needs resulting from climate change should be examined as part of the ‘health check’;

21.

Emphasises that the agricultural sector can adapt to climate change and mitigate the effects by implementing legislation that steps up sustainability and promotes new ways to use and manage water and other natural resources;

22.

Stresses the importance of Member States and the Commission in identifying the transport infrastructure which could be most affected by changing climate conditions and where additional efforts and investments are needed to ensure continued and safe functioning;

23.

Applauds the significant outcome of MOP 3 in Bali to put into operation the Adaptation Fund, bringing together concrete adaptation projects with funds from a levy on Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects undertaken in developing countries that are parties to the Kyoto Protocol; underlines the fact that this breakthrough decision to finance adaptation in developing countries independently of donors was taken before the Bali Action Plan was adopted;

24.

Stresses the need to ensure that, as part of environmental impact assessment, all building permits and urban plans take into account different adaptation scenarios to prevent investments in incompatible infrastructure; points out that in many cases it would be more appropriate not to develop vulnerable areas, or to renaturate already developed areas, than to construct defences to prepare for adverse climate effects;

25.

Regards cooperation to support the poorer parts of Europe and the developing world as imperative, since those areas are likely to be the worst hit by climate change but least able to deal with its consequences; regrets that the Green Paper on Adapting to Climate Change does not sufficiently address the need for cooperation on adaptation between the EU and developing countries; highlights in particular the need for technology transfer and capacity building; in this context welcomes the Commission's initiative to launch a Global Climate Change Alliance, but stresses that it is currently grossly underfunded;

26.

Recognises a conditional link between development goals and both mitigation and adaptation to climate change; emphasises that climate change must be mainstreamed into all EU development cooperation, including existing partnership programmes such as the EUROMED dialogue or the EU-Africa energy partnership; emphasises also the great importance of strengthening partnerships with developing countries to enhance efforts to avoid deforestation, providing both mitigation and adaptation benefits;

27.

Calls for significant and predictable financial instruments to be developed in the framework of EU policies, such as the Emission Trading Scheme, in order to assist developing countries to adapt to the impacts of climate change as well as to provide funds for adaptation policies within Member States;

28.

Points out that climate change could accelerate diminishing access to natural resources; invites the Commission to consider further measures for adapting to new challenges in ensuring security of food and energy supplies;

29.

Invites the Commission to examine on a European level, and in the international context, how to incorporate necessary adaptation in response to climate change into development plans and budget negotiations; invites the Commission to investigate how to apply such measures to sectoral policies to steer public and private funding and investments; underlines the fact that such incorporation efforts must cover the fields of science, mainstreaming, awareness raising, information, cooperation and monitoring, clearly following criteria checked regularly for compliance to justify further support and with reporting back to Parliament and the Council;

30.

Stresses the importance of an increased need for rational use of water by means of ‘water demand management’, since water is becoming a scarce resource; calls on the Commission and Member States to adopt integrative measures to ensure the availability, accessibility, use and conservation of water, and to promote innovative technologies and practices, including pilot projects, which will help to reduce drought damage and flooding risks; in this context, recognises the importance of an ecosystem approach in preventing and absorbing the impacts of soil erosion, flooding, desertification, rising sea levels and invasive alien species, and in increasing resistance to forest fires;

31.

Recognises that climate change contributes to the global burden of disease and premature deaths by affecting, in particular, the most vulnerable population groups; invites the Member States to consider measures to strengthen the capacity of health systems to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change; invites the Commission to set up an EU-wide system for the monitoring and surveillance of the effects of climate change on health; calls on the Commission to ensure that the threats posed by climate change to human health are at the centre of EU adaptation and mitigation policy;

32.

Stresses the need for a differentiated climatic and developmental approach regarding areas and regions particularly vulnerable to climate change, such as mountainous or coastal areas, islands or, for example, the seven outermost regions of the EU, which, given their topographical features and their structural disadvantages, are especially dependent on the dynamics of natural events; calls in this context on the Commission to expand the list of most vulnerable areas and to cooperate with existing regional initiatives, such as the Alpine Convention and the Carpathian Convention, in order to make the best possible use of existing knowledge gained through such initiatives;

33.

Calls on the Commission to consider the vital role that healthy ecosystems can play in adaptation policy; highlights the fact that existing EU legislation (i.e. the Birds Directive (7), the Habitats Directive (8), Natura 2000 and the Water Framework Directive (9)) can help to address this issue in Europe; calls on the Commission and Member States to attach the highest priority to implementation of this policy, so as to ensure rapid and efficient adaptation to climate change;

34.

Welcomes the Commission's initiative to establish a European Advisory Group for Adaptation to Climate Change and stresses the need for this expert group to provide capabilities for realising coherent intersectoral strategies at EU level as well as for enhancing policy frameworks that could provide incentives for investing in climate change adaptation and mitigation activities;

35.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission as Parliament's contribution to the stakeholder consultation process on the Green Paper initiated by the Commission.

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/48

A.

whereas the European Union should ensure that citizens have equal access to information, education and culture,

B.

whereas partial or complete loss of hearing is a condition that affects more than 83 million people in Europe; whereas, given the ageing of the European population, this problem will continue to grow,

C.

whereas access to television in Europe is universal; whereas public service television has a public service mission consisting, among other things, in informing and educating viewers,

D.

whereas today's technology enables television programmes (including live programmes) to be subtitled as they go out, one example of this being programmes broadcast by the BBC, which has undertaken to subtitle all of its programmes from April 2008,

1.

Considers the subtitling of all public service television programmes in the European Union to be essential with a view to ensuring that all viewers, including deaf and hard-of-hearing persons, have full access to them; takes the view that this would also help with foreign-language learning;

2.

Calls on the Commission to put forward a legislative proposal requiring public service television broadcasters in the European Union to subtitle all of their programmes;

3.

Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories, to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

Gabriele Albertini, Jan Andersson, Alfonso Andria, Emmanouil Angelakas, Roberta Angelilli, Kader Arif, Stavros Arnaoutakis, Robert Atkins, John Attard-Montalto, Elspeth Attwooll, Inés Ayala Sender, Liam Aylward, Peter Baco, Maria Badia i Cutchet, Mariela Velichkova Baeva, Enrique Barón Crespo, Katerina Batzeli, Edit Bauer, Jean Marie Beaupuy, Christopher Beazley, Zsolt László Becsey, Irena Belohorská, Monika Beňová, Rolf Berend, Sergio Berlato, Giovanni Berlinguer, Thijs Berman, Adam Bielan, Slavi Binev, Šarūnas Birutis, Sebastian Valentin Bodu, Herbert Bösch, Jens-Peter Bonde, Vito Bonsignore, Josep Borrell Fontelles, Victor Boștinaru, Costas Botopoulos, Bernadette Bourzai, Sharon Bowles, Iles Braghetto, Mihael Brejc, Frieda Brepoels, Jan Březina, Elmar Brok, Danutė Budreikaitė, Wolfgang Bulfon, Nicodim Bulzesc, Ieke van den Burg, Niels Busk, Philippe Busquin, Jerzy Buzek, Joan Calabuig Rull, Luis Manuel Capoulas Santos, Marco Cappato, Carlos Carnero González, Paulo Casaca, Michael Cashman, Carlo Casini, Françoise Castex, Alejandro Cercas, Giles Chichester, Giulietto Chiesa, Zdzisław Kazimierz Chmielewski, Ole Christensen, Sylwester Chruszcz, Luigi Cocilovo, Carlos Coelho, Richard Corbett, Giovanna Corda, Titus Corlățean, Paolo Costa, Jean Louis Cottigny, Michael Cramer, Corina Crețu, Gabriela Crețu, Brian Crowley, Magor Imre Csibi, Marek Aleksander Czarnecki, Ryszard Czarnecki, Daniel Dăianu, Dragoș Florin David, Chris Davies, Antonio De Blasio, Véronique De Keyser, Panayiotis Demetriou, Gérard Deprez, Proinsias De Rossa, Marie-Hélène Descamps, Harlem Désir, Nirj Deva, Mia De Vits, Jolanta Dičkutė, Alexandra Dobolyi, Valdis Dombrovskis, Beniamino Donnici, Bert Doorn, Brigitte Douay, Avril Doyle, Mojca Drčar Murko, Petr Duchoň, Bárbara Dührkop Dührkop, Cristian Dumitrescu, Saïd El Khadraoui, Edite Estrela, Harald Ettl, Jonathan Evans, Robert Evans, Göran Färm, Richard Falbr, Claudio Fava, Szabolcs Fazakas, Emanuel Jardim Fernandes, Anne Ferreira, Elisa Ferreira, Ilda Figueiredo, Petru Filip, Věra Flasarová, Alessandro Foglietta, Hanna Foltyn-Kubicka, Nicole Fontaine, Glyn Ford, Brigitte Fouré, Armando França, Monica Frassoni, Urszula Gacek, Milan Gaľa, Gerardo Galeote, Vicente Miguel Garcés Ramón, Iratxe García Pérez, Giuseppe Gargani, Jean-Paul Gauzès, Jas Gawronski, Evelyne Gebhardt, Eugenijus Gentvilas, Bronisław Geremek, Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg, Claire Gibault, Adam Gierek, Maciej Marian Giertych, Neena Gill, Norbert Glante, Robert Goebbels, Bogdan Golik, Ana Maria Gomes, Donata Gottardi, Hélène Goudin, Genowefa Grabowska, Dariusz Maciej Grabowski, Vasco Graça Moura, Ingeborg Gräßle, Louis Grech, Lilli Gruber, Ignasi Guardans Cambó, Ambroise Guellec, Pedro Guerreiro, Umberto Guidoni, Zita Gurmai, Catherine Guy-Quint, Klaus Hänsch, Benoît Hamon, Małgorzata Handzlik, Gábor Harangozó, Marian Harkin, Rebecca Harms, Joel Hasse Ferreira, Satu Hassi, Jutta Haug, Anna Hedh, Gyula Hegyi, Edit Herczog, Jim Higgins, Krzysztof Hołowczyc, Mary Honeyball, Milan Horáček, Richard Howitt, Ján Hudacký, Alain Hutchinson, Iliana Malinova Iotova, Mikel Irujo Amezaga, Marie Anne Isler Béguin, Lily Jacobs, Anneli Jäätteenmäki, Stanisław Jałowiecki, Mieczysław Edmund Janowski, Lívia Járóka, Anne E. Jensen, Karin Jöns, Dan Jørgensen, Madeleine Jouye de Grandmaison, Jelko Kacin, Filip Kaczmarek, Gisela Kallenbach, Othmar Karas, Sajjad Karim, Ioannis Kasoulides, Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann, Piia-Noora Kauppi, Tunne Kelam, Glenys Kinnock, Evgeni Kirilov, Dieter-Lebrecht Koch, Jaromír Kohlíček, Eija-Riitta Korhola, Magda Kósáné Kovács, Miloš Koterec, Sergej Kozlík, Guntars Krasts, Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou, Constanze Angela Krehl, Wolfgang Kreissl-Dörfler, Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis, Wiesław Stefan Kuc, Helmut Kuhne, Jan Jerzy Kułakowski, Aldis Kušķis, Sepp Kusstatscher, Zbigniew Krzysztof Kuźmiuk, Alain Lamassoure, Stavros Lambrinidis, Vytautas Landsbergis, Henrik Lax, Roselyne Lefrançois, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, Lasse Lehtinen, Jörg Leichtfried, Jo Leinen, Katalin Lévai, Janusz Lewandowski, Bogusław Liberadzki, Marcin Libicki, Marie-Noëlle Lienemann, Andrea Losco, Caroline Lucas, Astrid Lulling, Elizabeth Lynne, Marusya Ivanova Lyubcheva, Linda McAvan, Mary Lou McDonald, Mairead McGuinness, Edward McMillan-Scott, Jamila Madeira, Eugenijus Maldeikis, Ramona Nicole Mănescu, Vladimír Maňka, Erika Mann, Mario Mantovani, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Helmuth Markov, Sérgio Marques, David Martin, Miguel Ángel Martínez Martínez, Jan Tadeusz Masiel, Antonio Masip Hidalgo, Jiří Maštálka, Maria Matsouka, Mario Mauro, Manolis Mavrommatis, Manuel Medina Ortega, Erik Meijer, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, Emilio Menéndez del Valle, Willy Meyer Pleite, Rosa Miguélez Ramos, Marianne Mikko, Miroslav Mikolášik, Viktória Mohácsi, Javier Moreno Sánchez, Luisa Morgantini, Jan Mulder, Roberto Musacchio, Cristiana Muscardini, Joseph Muscat, Riitta Myller, Pasqualina Napoletano, Hartmut Nassauer, Robert Navarro, Cătălin-Ioan Nechifor, Catherine Neris, James Nicholson, null Nicholson of Winterbourne, Lambert van Nistelrooij, Ljudmila Novak, Raimon Obiols i Germà, Vural Öger, Cem Özdemir, Jan Olbrycht, Seán Ó Neachtain, Gérard Onesta, Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Josu Ortuondo Larrea, Reino Paasilinna, Borut Pahor, Justas Vincas Paleckis, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Atanas Paparizov, Georgios Papastamkos, Ioan Mircea Pașcu, Vincent Peillon, Maria Petre, Rihards Pīks, Józef Pinior, Mirosław Mariusz Piotrowski, Paweł Bartłomiej Piskorski, Gianni Pittella, Francisca Pleguezuelos Aguilar, Zita Pleštinská, Rovana Plumb, Guido Podestà, Anni Podimata, Zdzisław Zbigniew Podkański, Samuli Pohjamo, Bernard Poignant, Lydie Polfer, Bernd Posselt, Christa Prets, Pierre Pribetich, Jacek Protasiewicz, Bilyana Ilieva Raeva, Miloslav Ransdorf, Vladimír Remek, Karin Resetarits, Teresa Riera Madurell, Frédérique Ries, Karin Riis-Jørgensen, Giovanni Rivera, Bogusław Rogalski, Zuzana Roithová, Luca Romagnoli, Raül Romeva i Rueda, Dariusz Rosati, Wojciech Roszkowski, Dagmar Roth-Behrendt, Mechtild Rothe, Libor Rouček, Martine Roure, Leopold Józef Rutowicz, Eoin Ryan, Guido Sacconi, Aloyzas Sakalas, José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, María Isabel Salinas García, Antolín Sánchez Presedo, Manuel António dos Santos, Daciana Octavia Sârbu, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Christel Schaldemose, Karin Scheele, Olle Schmidt, György Schöpflin, Jürgen Schröder, Inger Segelström, Esko Seppänen, Adrian Severin, Czesław Adam Siekierski, Kathy Sinnott, Marek Siwiec, Csaba Sógor, Søren Bo Søndergaard, Bogusław Sonik, María Sornosa Martínez, Francesco Enrico Speroni, Bart Staes, Grażyna Staniszewska, Dirk Sterckx, Struan Stevenson, Catherine Stihler, Theodor Dumitru Stolojan, Margie Sudre, László Surján, Eva-Britt Svensson, Hannes Swoboda, József Szájer, Andrzej Jan Szejna, Konrad Szymański, Csaba Sándor Tabajdi, Antonio Tajani, Hannu Takkula, Charles Tannock, Andres Tarand, Britta Thomsen, Marianne Thyssen, Silvia-Adriana Țicău, Gary Titley, Patrizia Toia, László Tőkés, Ewa Tomaszewska, Witold Tomczak, Jacques Toubon, Catherine Trautmann, Kyriacos Triantaphyllides, Claude Turmes, Evangelia Tzampazi, Vladimir Urutchev, Inese Vaidere, Nikolaos Vakalis, Adina-Ioana Vălean, Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco, Frank Vanhecke, Anne Van Lancker, Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna, Yannick Vaugrenard, Armando Veneto, Riccardo Ventre, Donato Tommaso Veraldi, Bernadette Vergnaud, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, Kristian Vigenin, Oldřich Vlasák, Johannes Voggenhuber, Diana Wallis, Graham Watson, Renate Weber, Jan Marinus Wiersma, Glenis Willmott, Janusz Wojciechowski, Francis Wurtz, Luis Yáñez-Barnuevo García, Anna Záborská, Zbigniew Zaleski, Andrzej Tomasz Zapałowski, Stefano Zappalà, Tomáš Zatloukal, Tatjana Ždanoka, Roberts Zīle, Jaroslav Zvěřina, Tadeusz Zwiefka

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/50

1.

Approves the appointment of Mrs Androula Vassiliou as a Member of the Commission for the remainder of the Commission’s term of office until 31 October 2009;

2.

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

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/51

1.

Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

2.

Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend the proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and the Commission.

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/52

1.

Approves the Commission proposal as amended;

2.

Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty;

3.

Calls on the Council to notify Parliament if it intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

4.

Asks the Council to consult Parliament again if it intends to amend the Commission proposal substantially;

5.

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and the Commission.

15.10.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 247/60

1.

Approves the draft Commission regulation as amended;

2.

Calls on the Commission to alter its draft regulation accordingly,

3.

Asks to be consulted again if the Commission intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

4.

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and the Commission.