RESOLUTION ON THE STATEMENT BY THE COMMISSION ON THE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAMME FOR 1994 (94/C 60/04)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT,

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

- Having regard to the Interinstitutional Declaration on democracy, transparency and subsidiarity of 25 October 1993,

- Having regard to the Commission's proposal for the legislative programme for 1994 (COM(93) 0588),

- Having regard to the priorities set out by the Presidency of the Council for the first six months of 1994,

- Having regard to its resolution of 10 February 1993 on the appointment of the new Commission and the Commission President's statement on its programme of work (1),

- Having regard to the Joint Declaration of 22 April 1993 on the legislative programme for 1993 by the European Parliament, represented by the Enlarged Bureau, and the Commission in the presence of the Council,

- Having regard to the Commission's report on the adaptation of the existing legislation to the principle of subsidiarity,

- Having regard to the Commission communication on implementation of the protocol on social policy,

A. Whereas the annual legislative programme represents an important instrument in the planning of legislative activities, rendering them more transparent;

B. Whereas in 1994, the action still required to complete the internal market will coincide with implementation of the Treaty on European Union, the last year of the current Commission's term of office and elections to the European Parliament;

C. Whereas the Commission has not fully completed its legislative programme for 1993 and a number of proposals for last year are therefore still outstanding,

1. Notes that the proposed legislative programme lacks, in certain areas, the necessary dynamism to carry out the legislative tasks of the Community/Union, and calls on the Commission to carry over its outstanding proposals and make them the central point of its legislative activities, so that the proposed legislative programme will be equal to the challenges facing the European Union and, in its final year of office, the present Commission can play its properly central role;

Implementation of the legislative programme 2. Notes that due to the special circumstances of 1994 it will be impossible for Parliament to conclude its examination of proposals before the elections if thay are presented after the end of February, except in very exceptional and important cases;

3. Calls therefore on the Commission to bring forward the presentation of all new proposals which need to be decided in the first half of 1994;

4. Calls therefore on the Council to indicate to which proposals, either pending or to be presented, it gives priority for adoption during the first half of 1994;

5. Notes that the implementation of the 1993 legislative programme has been significantly delayed and some proposals have apparently been dropped, transformed or postponed for an indefinite period without Parliament being informed; requests the Commission to give regular information about the implementation of the 1994 programme; notes in particular that in total 26 proposals and 12 codifications have had to be carried over from the 1993 legislative programme and are contained in the draft under consideration; notes the lack of information on or justification for changing the legal nature of a series of initiatives as compared with the measures announced;

6. Considers that now that the Treaty on European Union has entered into force the time has come for a review of the 'code of conduct` thus giving practical effect to the joint undertaking given in the joint declaration on the 1993 legislative programme;

Formal aspects 7. Voices its regret not only as to the content of the programme but also its formal shortcomings, which detract from the requisite transparency and reduce the annual programme's effectiveness as a working basis, particularly,

- the delay in submitting the proposal: the Commission had agreed to submit it in October, as stated in the Interinstitutional Declaration, which would have allowed the joint programme to be adopted before the year in question,

- the incorrect description: according to the above Interinstitutional Declaration, the document is the annual legislative programme proposed by the Commission, which would correspond to the practice of previous years, whereby the text has always been considered as a preliminary to the joint programme,

- failure to indicate the proposed legal basis: this means the parliamentary committees responsible will have difficulty in setting to work without delay and interinstitutional disputes as to the legal basis will be encouraged,

- failure to indicate the estimated timetable for submitting the proposals announced;

B. Welcomes, however, the clear mode of presentation, the introduction as planned of 'strategic` documents (Green and White Papers); stresses that, whilst Green Papers and White Papers do represent essential groundwork, they do not constitute legislative initiatives, and would like to see greater coherence between strategic documents and the annual legislative programme;

9. Notes the submission of a table setting out the proposed codification measures and of a table summarizing the deadlines for submission of documents scheduled for the first quarter and views this as a constructive contribution to agreement on the joint annual legislative programme to be published in the Official Journal;

10. Stresses the need to conclude the Interinstitutional Agreement on the method of codification of Community law;

Content 11. Calls for all the institutions and the Member States to give priority to measures to implement the White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment, so as to achieve progress in combating unemployment as quickly as possible, and to increase the impact of the 'gronth initiative`; calls on the Commission to submit without delay specific proposals on infrastructure and the trans-European networks;

12. Continues to expect that the Commission will systematically include the proposals concerning the legal basis of the budgetary items entered by the budgetary authority in this legislative programme, in accordance with the 1982 Interinstitutional Agreement; this is particularly true of the funds made available for the employment initiative;

13. Proposes, for its part, that the Commission proposal be complemented by the following initiatives, with a view to being able to meet the demands of the Communities/Union and the challenges facing them:

- implementation of the Community charter on basis social rights of workers and use of the Protocol on Social Policy with regard to the Agreement of 11 Member States, which allows for voting by a qualified majority, particularly on the following proposals:

- atypical work,

- parental leave,

- reversal of the burden of proof,

- consultation of and provision of information to employees,

- posting of workers,

- protection of young people in the workplace,

- economic and monetary policy:

- improving the procedure for multilateral surveillance pursuant to Article 103 (5) of the EC Treaty,

- provisions establishing the details of the convergence criteria referred to in Article 109j of the EC Treaty, pursuant to Article 6 of the Protocol on these criteria,

- proposals for fiscal harmonization (VAT, excise duties) and completion of the internal market,

- proposal for digital high definition television,

- improving the campaign against counterfeit goods and for the protection of industrial design within the framework of implementation of the GATT agreements;

- environmental policy, consumer protection and public health:

- the relationship between employment and sustainable growth by using the benefits of environmental research and technology,

- proposals for stricter measures for improving water and air quality,

- proposals for preventing the export of dangerous waste from the European Union to third countries,

- further proposals for binding legislation in the field of financial services,

- immediate adoption and publication of the complete draft of the directive on quality requirements for foodstuffs,

- proposal concerning financial cover for the decisions contained in the fifth framework programme and in the Rio agreements which have not yet been honoured,

- initiation of the process described in Article 20 of Regulation (EEC) No 1210/90 on setting up a European Environment Agency and a proposal on the allocation to it of responsibility for monitoring Community legislation (environment inspectorate),

- proposal to bring about substantial progress in the area of transfrontier payments;

- energy and research:

- trans-European networks in the energy sector,

- industrial application of the results of the Thermie Programme pursuant to Article 130 of the EC Treaty,

- definition of technical cooperation agreements with all the countries of eastern Europe and the CIS to improve the safety of nuclear power statiens:

legal issues:

- measures for the freedom of movement of persons, with a view to finally achieving the most powerful symbol of completion of the internal market,

- Community accession to the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,

- report on citizenship referred to in Article 8e of the EC Treaty which the Commission should have submitted by 31 December 1993,

- proposals pursuant to Article 8c of the EC Treaty en establishing uniform diplomatic and consular protection in third countries,

- revision of the directive on money laundering,

- proposals on the prudential supervision of financial groups and of credit and insurance institutions and companies providing investment services,

- revision of the proposal on pension funds,

- revision of the proposal on liability for the provision of services,

- consideration of the directive on the application of the principle of equal treatment of men and women in the independent profession pursuant to Article 11 of the directive which requires a proposal before 1 July 1993,

- recommendation for a code of conduct for the protection of pregnant women as provided for in the social action programme,

- proposal for a directive establishing a genuine right of establishment for lawyers,

- exploitation of the 'bridge` contained in Article K.9 of the Treaty on European Union, allowing fields falling under Article K.1, (1)-(6) of the Treaty to come under the procedure pursuant to Article 100c of the EC Treaty (legal cooperation, asylum policy, immigration, etc.);

- transport policy:

- proposals on road safety, particularly for and in coaches, on the regulation of working hours for those working in the transport sector; revision of the Regulation of 20 December 1985 on driving and rest times (see the preliminary ruling of the European Court of Justice of 5 January 1994) in accordance with the timetable set out in its resolution of 18 January 1994 on the future development of the common transport policy (1);

- other:

- conclusion of the GATT agreement pursuant to Article 22B(3), second subparagraph, of the EC Treaty,

- proposals on general and vocational training and youth pursuant to Articles 126 and 127 of the EC Treaty,

- proposals on cultural matters pursuant to Article 128 of the EC Treaty,

- proposal for the introduction of a social clause ensuring respect for international labour organization conventions, particularly as regards the employment of children,

- proposals to combat racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism,

- creation of the legal instruments required for the social protection of volunteers in developing countries,

- use of the new rights of initiative granted to the Commission in the areas of the common foreign and security policy and in the fields of justice and internal affairs,

- proposal for the speedy conclusion of partnership agreements with Russia and the other States of the CIS, free-trade agreements with the Baltic Republics and the Association Agreement with Israel,

- consideration of the new relations to be established with South Africa;

- commitology - proposal to revise the provisions on commitology which the Commission has agreed to as part of the legislative programme for 1993 and the Council has agreed to in the Interinstitutional Agreement on the new financial perspective.

&{Nonchar};14. Instructs its President to seek, on this basis, agreement with the Commission on a joint annual programme, and calls on the Council, which gave an undertaking in the Interinstitutional Declaration of 25 October 1993 to submit an opinion and to participate fully in negotiations to finalize the legislative programme;

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

(1) OJ No C 72, 15. 3. 1993, p. 85.

(1) Minutes of that sitting, Part II, item 9.