51995IP0391

B4-0391, 0396, 0397, 0400, 0403, 0404, 0408 and 0409/95

Resolution on the Commission's work programme and legislative programme for 1995

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Rule 49 of its Rules of Procedure,

- having regard to the Interinstitutional Declaration of 25 October 1993 on democracy, transparency and subsidiarity ((OJ C 329, 6.12.1993, p. 133.)),

- having regard to the Commission's programme for 1995 (COM(95)0026) and the indicative calendar for legislative proposals and priority international agreements (SEC(95)0244),

- having regard to the debate of 17 and 18 January 1995 on the political guidelines of the nominated Commission and its decision of 18 January 1995 approving the nominated Commission ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 1.)),

- having regard to the statement of 15 February 1995 by the President of the Commission on the latter's programme and the debate on that subject,

- having regard to the priorities for the first half of 1995 announced by the Council Presidency at the January 1995 part-session,

A. whereas the Commission's programme is a useful instrument for planning the legislative activities of the Union's institutions,

B. whereas the legislative programme is an interinstitutional programme which can be implemented effectively only if it is accepted by the Union institutions,

Procedure

1. Welcomes the form and structure of the programme and the prospects opened up by it; in particular, welcomes the inclusion in the programme of a large number of White and Green Papers which will enable the European Parliament to express its views on new measures and intervene in the decision-making process at an early stage; hopes that these strategic documents will serve as the basis for future legislative proposals;

2. Welcomes the announcement by Mr Santer, President of the Commission, that the legislative programme will be assessed each autumn, and calls for the findings of that assessment to be forwarded to it so that the Commission, the European Parliament and the Council can reach a joint decision on the action to be taken on the various proposals;

3. Notes that the Commission failed to complete the 1994 legislative programme and that Parliament has not been informed of the reasons which prompted it to abandon, transform or postpone a number of proposals; takes the view that explanations for each individual case are vital to the credibility of the whole legislative programme exercise; takes the view that an interinstitutional assessment should be carried out, each autumn, of proposals which have been held up in the Council for more than a year; calls for a procedure similar to the present budget procedure involving the Council, Parliament and the Commission to be instituted as a means of settling disputes and monitoring the implementation of the legislative programme;

4. Points out that during the last parliamentary term 23% of the legislative proposals had to be dealt with by Parliament under the urgent procedure, as requested by the Council or the Commission; this figure would have been even higher if, in more than 200 cases, Parliament had not been forced to reject the request for the urgent procedure owing to the excessively short time limits or the lack of the requisite documents; hopes that this figure will be considerably reduced in the future, by means of improved joint legislative planning, in order to avoid the disputes inherent in such urgent procedures which prevent the European Parliament from giving the proposals concerned proper attention;

5. Takes the view that any decision-making procedure concerning the legislative programme must seek to secure an agreement between the Commission, Parliament and the Council; in this connection, calls on the Council to take part in the efforts to draw up a transparent, effective legislative programme and to decide upon and communicate each autumn its legislative priorities for the following year as part of a responsible interinstitutional cooperation procedure;

6. Hopes that the effectiveness of the legislative programme as a working instrument can be increased by expanding the indicative calendar to include information concerning

- the legal bases for proposals

- the likely date on which proposals will be submitted;

7. Reminds the Commission of its undertaking in principle to submit the annual programme in October; is aware of the exceptional circumstances which prevented observance of this timetable for 1995; calls, however, on the Commission to give a firm undertaking to draw up future legislative programmes in the autumn of the previous year, in close cooperation with the relevant committees of the European Parliament; hopes that the priorities outlined by the European Parliament during that procedure will be incorporated into the legislative programme;

The programme

8. Notes shortcomings in the Commission's programme for 1995, in particular in the following areas: measures to combat unemployment, citizens' rights, social policy, consumer protection, environmental protection, equal opportunities and anti-fraud measures; lays down its priorities for the 1995 legislative programme, calling for:

- the European Union's first priority to be the fight against unemployment, which is rife in Europe, bringing with it social exclusion and an increase in the number of poor people;

- the measures needed to modernize the economy not to jeopardize the fundamental principle of economic and social cohesion, equal opportunities and equal access to public services (health, education, transport, energy and telecommunications);

- the Commission to launch an internal debate with the objective of achieving better coordination of all the Union's policies and instruments to strengthen economic development, economic and social cohesion, environmental objectives and regional solidarity;

9. Calls in particular:

(a) with regard to employment and economic and social cohesion

(aa) on the Commission to propose economic guidelines designed to transform growth into jobs and prepare an overall plan for the creation of 15 million jobs between now and the year 2000. This plan should incorporate a new development model based on the ideas set out in Chapter 10 of the 'Delors White Paper', taking into account the principles of ecologically sustainable economic growth which should be outlined in a 'White Paper on the environment and employment'. This whole matter should be discussed at an employment conference to be organized by the European Parliament and the Commission in autumn 1995;

(ab) for a genuine industrial policy to be drawn up with the aim of making all sectors of European industry competitive and for that policy to take into account the views of the two sides of industry; a Bangemann II working party should be set up so that all those affected by information superhighways can take part in the discussions; for the activities of cooperatives, mutuals and associations to be strongly encouraged, since the social economy has an important part to play in job creation; for the Commission to urge the Council to establish its common position on the proposals concerning the status of the social economy as soon as possible;

(ac) on the Commission to organize the monitoring of national employment policies, and reminds the Commission of its promise to involve Parliament in carrying out the multilateral monitoring exercise, and in formulating the recommendations to be issued to the Member States; calls on the Commission, in collaboration with the European Parliament, to firm up its proposals on social convergence;

(ad) on the Commission to acknowledge the role of structural funds in job creation and, to this end, to undertake to ensure effective management and horizontal integration of programmes to optimize their impact on employment policy;

(ae) on the Commission to ensure cooperation between the relevant Commissioners and their balanced input into policy development where the information society is concerned;

(af) for the revival of the social dialogue at European level to lead to negotiations on a European social pact;

(ag) for the blocking tactics affecting the social Europe programme to be overcome through the application of the Social Protocol signed by 14 Member States in respect of all proposals pending in the Council;

(ah) on the Commission to review the strategies laid down by the Ecofin Council and the 'Molitor' Group, taking as its basis the report published by the International Labour Organization challenging the effectiveness of labour market deregulation as a job creation instrument;

(b) with regard to economic and monetary policy and with particular attention to its effects on employment

(ba) on the Commission to initiate a common approach to closer international monetary cooperation with the ultimate aim of price stability, thereby leading to stable exchange rates;

(bb) on the Commission to draw up a proposal to improve participation by Parliament, which must be consulted on the draft texts before they are submitted to the Council, the broad guidelines of economic policies (Article 103(2) of the EC Treaty), reports on multilateral surveillance (Article 103(3)) and the reports and recommendations concerning the existence of an excessive government deficit (Article 104(c)) and receive the final texts at the same time as the Council;

(bc) on the Union to take part in a global harmonization of regulation and surveillance of the financial system to preserve its stability and avoid negative effects on the real economy;

(bd) for European Monetary Union to be carefully prepared and for national economic policies to be conducted towards fulfilment of the convergence criteria, thereby enabling the greatest possible number of Member States to participate;

(be) for the legislative measures needed to move to the final stage of EMU to be prepared and presented without delay so that EMU can be launched as soon as the conditions for it are met; calls for the details not to suffer when the work is speeded up;

(bf) for the Green Paper on the introduction of a single currency to be presented well before the European Council in June 1995 and to be accompanied by an explanatory document summarizing the advantages of EMU;

(bg) on the Commission to speed up its presentation of measures to complete the internal market, in particular those aimed at tax harmonization:

- harmonizing VAT rates and adopting a definitive and efficient system,

- continuing with the harmonization of excise duties,

- adopting the directive on cross-border payments without delay;

(c) with regard to the environment

(ca) on the Commission to initiate in 1995 the procedure laid down in Article 20 of Council Regulation (EEC) 1210/90 for the establishment of a European Environment Agency and to put forward a proposal on the allocation of monitoring powers with regard to the Community legal provisions (environmental inspectorate);

(cb) on the Commission to put forward new proposals to bring Community legislation into line with the higher standards obtaining in the new Member States;

(cc) for a proposal for revision of the Fifth Environmental Action Programme pursuant to the procedure set out in Article 130s(3) of the EEC Treaty;

(cd) on the Commission to take action, pursuant to Parliament's demand in its resolution of 2 March 1995 on a strategy for climatic protection in the EU ((Minutes of that date, Part II, Item 3.)), to forward a communication to Parliament and the Council on the reduction aims for carbon dioxide emissions in the EU in 2005 and 2010 and insists that such reductions should attain 20% by 2005;

(ce) for a directive on least-cost planning;

(cf) for revision of the existing law on waste and the Community waste strategy by means of a general action programme for an integrated European waste management policy;

(cg) for a directive on soil protection incorporating strict rules on protection against pollutants and provisions governing sustainable soil use (land use, erosion, compression);

(ch) for a comprehensive strategy on the reduction of CO2 emissions and the progressive introduction of a European energy and CO2 tax which respects the principle of fiscal neutrality;

(ci) for a directive on the reduction of the proportion of benzene in petrol, stipulating that the proportion of benzene, which is regarded as carcinogenic, should be cut to less than 1%;

(cj) for work, with the help of a commitment given by the industrial sectors concerned, towards the introduction of the 'five-litre car' (maximum average fuel consumption of five litres per 100 kilometres for newly-registered cars by the year 2005);

(ck) on the Commission to include in its work programme the old proposal for NOx norms for aeroplanes, promised in 1993 but never presented;

(cl) for a general, comprehensive action programme to combat noise;

(cm) for legal provisions on the protection of lakes, rivers and streams against phosphates and the reduction of coastal and maritime pollution;

(cn) for a directive on the transport of dangerous substances by pipeline;

(co) for a directive making the law on environmental liability effective;

(cp) for a directive which gives environmental NGOs the right to institute class actions before the Court of Justice on environmental matters;

(cq) for a White Paper on the environmental aspects of the accession of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to the European Union;

(cr) for a Green Paper on trade and the environment as well as measures supporting fairness and solidarity in trade as requested by Parliament's resolution of 19 January 1994 on promoting fairness and solidarity in North- South trade ((OJ C 44, 14.2.1994, p. 119.));

(d) with regard to consumer protection policy

(da) for the Commission, in the Green Paper on legal provisions relating to foodstuffs, to give a clear commitment to harmonization of consumer-friendly systems for the labelling of the quality of foodstuffs and to amplify the law on labelling in force in the Community in order to ensure that consumers receive clear, readily understandable information, not least as regards advertising claims;

(db) for a directive on protection against unfair advertising;

(e) with regard to health policy

(ea) on the Commission to present a comparative analysis of the health systems of the Member States in order to establish efficiency criteria for improved cooperation between the Member States in accordance with Article 129 of the EC Treaty;

(eb) for common European Union standards to be defined to ensure minimum levels of health care;

(f) with regard to human rights and citizens' rights and transparency

(fa) for the necessary steps to be taken to enable the European Union to accede to the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in 1995;

(fb) on the Commission to propose all the necessary measures to ensure the free movement of persons and recalls that the European Parliament has been obliged to initiate proceedings for failure to act in order to protect this essential right of European citizens;

(fc) for a directive to be adopted to combat racism, xenophobia and anti- Semitism, and revisionist acts and denial of the holocaust;

(fd) for a framework directive on immigration to be drawn up, followed by specific directives on reuniting families, access to the labour market, vocational training, return to the country of origin and the status of temporary workers;

(fe) for a proposal to follow up the Green Paper on legal redress for consumers, with the aim of simplifying and speeding up the settlement of transfrontier disputes and improving access to and the quality of legal aid;

(ff) on the Commission to work with Parliament on establishing a code of conduct concerning the activities of lobbyists, guaranteeing transparency for these activities;

(fg) on the Commission to take a decision on the right of citizens to be kept informed, in which it undertakes to publish in the Official Journal any plans for legislation together with a schedule, thereby enabling citizens and undertakings to make their opinion known, and to set up a public register listing all those who have been consulted by the Commission or who have delivered an opinion;

(fh) on the Commission to take a decision in which it undertakes to bring proceedings before the Court of Justice with a view to imposing fines whenever a Member State fails to take the necessary measures to comply with a judgment of the Court of Justice within one year (Article 171 of the EC Treaty);

(g) with regard to legal affairs

for a directive to coordinate the laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the reorganization and liquidation (insolvency) of businesses operating in several Member States;

(h) with regard to equal opportunities

for the principles fundamental to equal opportunities to be observed in all sectoral policies; more particularly, for the submission at the earliest opportunity, as part of the fourth action programme for equal opportunities between men and women, of measures to allow the rapid adoption of the directives pending in the following areas:

- atypical forms of work,

- equality of treatment for men and women in statutory and complementary social security schemes,

- the reversal of the burden of proof,

- sexual harassment, and

- parental leave,

in order to eliminate discrimination to which women are still subjected in the labour market;

(i) with regard to public services

(ia) for equality among the citizens of the Union to entail equal access for all to basic services. The modernization of the economy must not be carried out at the expense of consumers; the Commission should propose a definition of 'universal service' for all sectors, and not just postal services, a sectoral approach being unacceptable;

(ib) for a political solution along the lines proposed by Parliament in its opinions of 17 November 1993 on the proposals for directives on common rules for the internal market in electricity and natural gas (( OJ C 329, 6.12.1993, pp. 150 and 182.)); insists that this proposal be based on Article 100a of the EC Treaty and rejects all attempts to establish these rules on any other legal basis (i.e. by means of directives or decisions based on Article 90 of the EC Treaty);

(ic) for the formal recognition of the role of public services and public administration in the implementation of Community regional policy and in achieving the goal of economic and social cohesion;

(id) on the Commission to refrain from using Article 90(3) of the EC Treaty except in exceptional cases, after consultation of Parliament, and to avoid using it in any matter connected with the drafting of directives;

(j) with regard to media concentration and the pluralism of information and culture

(ja) on the Commission to propose as quickly as possible a directive to regulate and restrict media concentration and encourage pluralism in the European Union; to adopt the revised 'Television without frontiers' Directive in April 1995, maintaining and improving the measures on the application of the distribution quotas for European audiovisual production; to propose the establishment of a guarantee fund for the film industry and the audiovisual sector;

(jb) on the Commission to propose, in the process of developing the information society, a Green Paper on intellectual property and take into account the impact of the information society on democracy, employment, education, data protection and the protection of privacy, civil liberties and culture;

(jc) for a programme to safeguard the architectural heritage, making use of European audiovisual media;

(k) with regard to energy and research

(ka) for a special proposal covering all measures to promote renewable energies;

(kb) for a communication on the future of the ECSC and EURATOM Treaties;

(kc) for the proposal on the refinancing of the fourth framework programme of research to be made available in good time so that Parliament can consider it under democratically acceptable conditions;

(kd) for significant improvements in administrative procedures for involving small and medium-sized enterprises in R& TD programmes, in particular by introducing efficient information measures and simplifying rules;

(ke) for a long-term policy on space and the aeronautics sector;

(l) with regard to transport and tourism

(la) for directives on working time in the transport sectors and the revision of Regulation (EEC) No 3820/85 which incorporates the concept of 'service time';

(lb) for immediate proposals for the measures still needed to complete the internal transport market and urges the Commission to make rigorous use of the powers conferred on it by the Treaty to compel the Member States to transpose Community legislation into national law;

(lc) on the Commission immediately to submit instead of a White Paper a proposal for the institutional and technical regulation of air traffic management and control and agreements with third countries;

(ld) on the Commission to present its long overdue Green Paper on tourism as soon as possible;

(m) with regard to the budget, budgetary control and the fight against fraud

(ma) for detailed practical proposals:

- to strengthen budgetary discipline, both in the Commission and in the Member States;

- on the role of the reorganized anti-fraud unit (UCLAF) in spearheading the fight against fraud;

- on the role of the Member States in combating fraud against the Union budget;

- on improving financial management and control, in particular of the structural funds, which constitute 36% of the Union budget;

(mb) for a proposal on the classification of expenditure;

(mc) for a report on the cost of enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe in the agricultural field;

(md) on the Commission to take positive initiatives to budgetize Lomé funding, which would give Parliament much needed democratic control;

(me) for the unilateral suspension of the payments to be made in all spheres of Community policy where Member States, in breach of Article 209a of the EC Treaty, fail to protect the financial interests of the Union;

(mf) on the Commission to give priority to following up the reports to be prepared in response to the Essen Council showing the action which Member States themselves are taking to protect the financial interests of the Community in the same way as their own;

(n) with regard to agriculture and fisheries

(na) for the legislative programme to be completed by the following elements:

- a framework regulation to be drawn up laying down the basic principles of a proper integrated rural development policy;

- support for Parliament's legislative initiative (Article 138b) aimed at establishing a global strategy on Union forestry policy;

- a simplification of the rules reforming the CAP, as requested by the European Parliament;

- stronger promotion of renewable raw materials and better coordination of research and demonstration projects to allow this sector to be exploited efficiently;

(nb) for a Green Paper to be drawn up on working conditions and safety on board fishing vessels;

(nc) for proposals for a specific Mediterranean policy;

(nd) for specific proposals to deal with unemployment in the fisheries sector caused by the depletion of fish stocks as a result of environmental and economic problems;

(ne) on the Commission to take the necessary measures to integrate the fisheries agreements with developing countries into the development policy of the EU;

(o) with regard to foreign affairs and development policy

(oa) on the Commission to draw up a White Paper on the common foreign and security policy; to put forward, in preparation for the 1996 IGC, proposals to remove the democratic deficit in foreign policy; to work, in the meantime, towards the conclusion of an interinstitutional agreement allowing Parliament to be involved as closely as possible in formulating and implementing the CFSP;

(ob) for the establishment of a proper common security policy. Ensuring that there is peace in Europe is primarily the responsibility of Europeans themselves. NATO, the WEU, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council and the OSCE are important components in this common security system for the whole of Europe;

(oc) for the continuation of the pre-accession strategy for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Malta and Cyprus, and asks to be involved fully in this work;

(od) for the establishment of peace through cooperation. The Commission is therefore urged to take the initiative in persuading the Union to cancel the multilateral and bilateral debt of the developing countries, particularly the ACP States. With regard to the trade aspects, a meaningful system of trade preferences for the ACP countries must be retained. As far as the countries of Central and South America and Asia are concerned, efforts must be made to bring about the conclusion of the cooperation agreement with MERCOSUR, and the partnership agreement with Mexico, and vigorously to pursue the implementation of the new strategy for Asia. Education, health, job-creation and rural and urban development measures taken by the developing countries must be encouraged via the European reconstruction and development programme;

(oe) on the Commission to propose legal bases allowing Parliament to participate fully in the conclusion of the agreements with South Africa and the signatory states of the Lomé Convention;

(of) on the Commission to make its contribution to establish a new framework for relations between the EU and non-member countries in the Mediterranean; this framework, based on the experience of the Helsinki process, should give rise to a Euro-Mediterranean conference on security, cooperation and development;

(p) with regard to internal affairs

(pa) on the Commission to make more active use of the means granted to it under Title VI of the EU Treaty and to provide for proposals under Article K.3(2); for Parliament to be properly informed and consulted in accordance with Article K.6 and for a full overview to be made available to it;

(pb) on the Commission to use the potential of the third pillar to the full, including application of the Article K.9 procedure;

(q) with regard to the Community civil service

on the Commission to submit a proposal for a regulation introducing special measures to terminate the service of officials and temporary staff of the European Parliament following the enlargement of the European Union on 1 January 1995;

(r) with regard to the 1996 IGC

(ra) on the Commission to take into account the fact that the two European Parliament representatives in the Reflection Group are full members with the same status as the representatives of the Member States and the Commission;

(rb) on the Commission, in its report, and through its representatives on the Reflection Group, to demonstrate its solidarity with Parliament concerning the important institutional reforms which must be carried out at the Intergovernmental Conference in 1996 in order to strengthen Parliament, in particular by extending the co-decision procedure;

10. Calls on the Council to express its views and play a full part in the negotiations which will be required to implement the 1995 legislative programme;

11. Instructs its President to reach agreement, on this basis, with the President of the Commission on the annual legislative programme for 1995;

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