B4-0582, 0583, 0585 and 0586/97

Resolution on the meeting of the European Council on 16/17 June in Amsterdam

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the conclusions of the Amsterdam European Council,

A. noting that the conclusion of the revision goes along with the time-frame set for the IGC by recent European Councils, thus opening the way for the start of enlargement negotiations in six months,

Intergovernmental Conference

1. Notes, subject to detailed examination of the final text, that the agreed Treaty revisions, while bringing about progress in some important fields, fall short of what was necessary in a number of other areas, and fail to conclude issues which must be settled prior to the accession of new members to the Union;

2. Welcomes the reduction in the number of decision-making procedures, the considerable extension of the codecision procedure, the elimination of the third reading stage, the extension of the assent procedure, and the decision that the Commission President will be elected by the European Parliament on the basis of a proposal from the European Council;

3. Welcomes the decision of the heads of state or government to place employment as the main priority of this European Council, notably by:

- the inclusion of a new employment title,

- the incorporation in the Treaty of the Social Protocol as well as the reference made on fundamental social rights in the preamble and Article 117 of the new Treaty;

4. Furthermore welcomes the progress made in areas such as:

- respect for human rights by the Union including judicial review through the European Court of Justice,

- the new non-discrimination clause,

- the strengthening of the policy on equal opportunities and equal treatment between men and women,

- the environment, public health and consumer protection policy,

- furthering the fight against fraud affecting the financial interests of the Community,

- the strengthening of customs cooperation,

- more transparency and openness,

- the declaration on sport and on voluntary service activities, as a new step to reinforce an integrated youth policy,

- the agreement by the European Council on the Interinstitutional Agreement on provisions regarding financing of the CFSP;

5. Welcomes the insertion of a new Article Fa in the Treaty, which lists the steps to be taken in the event of a breach by a Member State of the principles on which the Union is founded, namely freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law;

6. Welcomes the efforts made to achieve progress on cooperation in the area of freedom, security and justice, in particular:

- the decision to communitarize important fields of justice and home affairs,

- the incorporation into the Treaty of the Schengen Agreement,

- the fact that Europol will in due course have a measure of operational capability;

7. Regrets, however, the number of decisions to be taken by unanimity and the lack of adequate parliamentary and judicial control, the complicated arrangements for the incorporation of the Schengen Agreement in the Treaty, and for accommodating the positions of some Member States;

8. Notes the new provisions concerning a uniform electoral procedure for European elections and the statute of Members of the European Parliament;

Common foreign and security policy and external economic relations

9. Expresses its concern on the lack of real progress in the decision-making process in the common foreign and security policy which still allows for blocking and is not clear as to the role and status of the High Representative of the European Union in this policy area;

10. Remains doubtful as to whether the new Treaty framework for the CFSP and defence policy, while integrating the Petersberg tasks into the Treaty, will facilitate any real progress;

11. Welcomes the creation of a policy planning and early warning unit within the CFSP and asks the Council and Commission to take an initiative with a view to implementing this element of the Treaty before its full ratification;

12. Welcomes the fact that the Commission is part of the new troika and is represented in the planning and early warning unit;

13. Regrets that it proved impossible to move towards a binding timetable for the integration of WEU in the EU and welcomes the fact that the EU can issue guidelines for the WEU;

14. Expresses its disappointment at the reform of Article 113 regarding external economic relations, more specifically the inability to achieve a complete commercial policy with adequate parliamentary control and the threat to the efficacy of this policy;

15. Expresses its disappointment that the institutional reforms, in particular the extension of qualified majority voting, are not sufficient for a future enlargement and formally requests that a further reform of the treaties be adopted before any enlargement, in accordance with a more democratic and transparent procedure;

16. Regrets that the proposals concerning the legal personality of the Union have not been accepted;

17. Is opposed to the Protocol on the seats of the institutions and underlines that it should have the right to decide for itself where and when it meets;

Economic and monetary union

18. Expresses its satisfaction that agreement was reached by the European Council on a number of issues related to EMU, in particular the compromise found on the Pact for Stability and Growth, as this will contribute to ensuring a successful start of EMU on 1 January 1999; believes, however, that further work remains to be done; maintains that this commitment to ongoing budgetary discipline constitutes a 'sine qua non' on which to establish the credibility of the euro;

19. Welcomes the European Council resolution on growth and employment as a decisive step towards complementing the Pact for Stability and Growth, both by recognizing the need to enhance the effectiveness and to broaden the content of the coordination of Member States' economic policies geared towards the fight against unemployment;

20. Expects the European Council to take account of Parliament's amendment proposing that proceeds from penalties which can be imposed under the excessive deficit procedure should not be divided up but instead paid into the Community budget;

21. Regrets that the need for coordination of economic policies has not yet been sufficiently taken into account in the broad economic policy guidelines as submitted to the European Council; supports strongly, in this respect, the European Council's call on the Council to strengthen the employment focus of the guidelines and notes that this could already have been achieved if its own recommendations on the guidelines had been duly taken into account by the Council;

Employment, competitiveness and growth

22. Welcomes the decision by the European Council to hold an extraordinary meeting on employment under the Luxembourgish Presidency; is mindful, however, of the failure of previous initiatives to produce real results and issues a warning to the European Council that public expectations have been raised and must not be disappointed again; therefore signals its intention to monitor closely the implementation and results of the initiatives which will now be taken;

23. Welcomes the actions envisaged by the European Council to reinforce industrial competitiveness and the completion of the internal market, but stresses that these actions should be considered as means towards achieving the overriding goal of high levels of employment;

24. Points out that the solution to the problem of unemployment in the EU cannot be based purely on strengthening the EU's economic pillars;

Single market

25. Welcomes the European Council's approval of the action plan for the single market which has been submitted by the Commission and hopes that it will be swiftly implemented with a view to making the current single market provisions more comprehensive and effective;

26. Welcomes the fact that the European Council stated its particular concern to see Community law simplified, but points out that such simplification must strictly respect both the procedures provided for in the Treaties and Parliament's prerogatives;

Enlargement

27. Notes the commitment by the European Council to launch the enlargement process in accordance with the conclusions of the Madrid European Council; looks forward to the Commission presenting its opinions on the accession applications to Parliament by mid-July; expects the European Council meeting in December 1997 to take the necessary decisions;

Justice and home affairs

28. Welcomes the fact that the European Council considers the fight against organised crime as one of its priorities in the field of justice and home affairs; is however, highly concerned at the democratic deficit caused not only by the fact that negotiations and agreements in this field remain entirely in the hands of governments, but also by the fact that it remains unclear which court, if any, can excercise judicial controls;

29. Welcomes the setting up of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia in Vienna;

Foreign policy

30. Welcomes the call launched by the EU for peace in the Middle East and the proposals made, notably the possibility of creating a Palestinian state, considering that 'a viable and peaceful Palestinian sovereign entity is the best guarantee for Israeli security¨;

31. Stresses the importance of the proposal for an international conference on peace and stability in the Great Lakes region in Africa, under the aegis of the UN and the OAU, in which it invites the EU to participate actively;

32. Notes the reference made by the Council to the positive role of the Multinational Protection Force in Albania, but insists on the need for a joint action according to Article J.3 of the EU Treaty in order to better coordinate the Union's aid in the reconstruction of the country;

33. Welcomes, together with the Council, the signing of the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security between NATO and Russia; considers that this constitutes a contribution to the new European security architecture which is opening up towards Russia and also opens up the perspectives for a coherent policy towards further enlargement;

34. Welcomes the Council's commitment to finalize a coherent policy on the control of arms exports in the whole Union, on the basis of common criteria defined by the European Councils of Luxembourg (June 1991) and Lisbon (June 1992);

35. Concerning Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Croatia:

- notes with concern the slow implementation of the Dayton Agreements in Bosnia-Herzegovina and calls on all parties concerned to work for full implementation, including the arrest and trial of suspected war criminals;

- reminds the FRY authorities of the conditions set by the EU for further development of relations, including progress in respect of Kosovo (respect for human rights, granting of a large degree of autonomy);

- welcomes the local elections in Croatia and the progressive reintegration of Eastern Slavonia into Croatia, while emphasizing the need for strict respect for human and minority rights throughout the country;

36. Regrets that no position was announced by the Council on the situation and the violation of human rights in Turkey, and particularly on the military action of Turkey in Iraqi Kurdistan;

Other areas

37. Welcomes the statement by the European Council on the banning of human cloning and takes the view, therefore, that it will be incumbent on the Council and Commission to confirm this clear determination by incorporating into the proposal for a Directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions the legislative amendments which Parliament will adopt;

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