9. Strongly urges the Council and the Member States to make rapid progress with the proposal for a
directive on the activities of institutions for occupational retirement provision, which will ensure mutualrecognition of occupational pension schemes and will significantly contribute to effective tax coordinationaction;
10. Calls on the Member States to make progress in assessing the possibilities for co-ordination of their
tax policy in respect of occupational pension provision while continuing to respect the Member States’specific conditions for the granting of tax concessions for non-migrant workers;
11. Calls on the Commission, together with the Member States and the Pension Forum, to find an
adequate solution to the tax obstacles hindering the transfer of accumulated pension rights to pensionfunds within and outside the Member States, a solution which combines the maintenance of pension rightswith greater worker mobility;
12. Supports the proposal for pan-European pension institutions as reflected in the Commission’s com-
munication; calls on firms wishing to set up pan-European pension funds to launch initiatives to that end;calls on the Member States to facilitate and encourage this in other firms and sectors; asks the Commissionto address the specific situation of frontier workers in the framework of this proposal; calls furthermore fora statute for a pension fund to be set up for migrant and frontier workers;
13. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to grant migrant and frontier workers easier access
to information on the benefits and the drawbacks of cross-border pension schemes, so as to enable themto become more aware of their rights and also the difficulties which they might encounter concerning thetax treatment of cross-border occupational pension schemes; considers that such information should beprovided inter alia within the framework of EURES; calls for the EURES network to be strengthened to
enable those tasks to be carried out more effectively;
14. Urges the Commission to submit to the special European Council in Barcelona next spring an
action plan for the coordination of taxation on pensions, as a follow-up to the plans which are to be
prepared at the Laeken European Council;
15. Suggests that the Commission set up a scoreboard, adjusted regularly, to assess progress with the
automatic exchange of information, assistance with collection and mutual recognition and supervision;
16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission and the govern-
ments and parliaments of the Member States.
18. Zimbabwe
B5-0759, 0774, 0787, 0788, 0799 and 0801/2001
European Parliament resolution on Zimbabwe
The European Parliament,
jdash having regard to its resolutions of 13 April 2000(1), 18 May 2000(2), 6 July 2000(3), 15 March
2001(4) and 6 September 2001(5) on the situation in Zimbabwe,
jdash having regard to the Agreement reached in Abuja on 6 September 2001 between the Committee of
Commonwealth Foreign Ministers, including a number of African States, and the Zimbabwean Gov-ernment to return Zimbabwe to the rule of law and end all illegal occupations of farmland,
(1) OJ C 40, 7.2.2001, p. 425.
(2) OJ C 59, 23.2.2001, p. 241.
(3) OJ C 121, 24.4.2001, p. 394.
(4) OJ C 343, 5.12.2001, p. 304.
(5) ‘Texts Adopted’, Item 13.25.7.2002 EN C177E/305 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 13 December 2001
jdash having regard to the General Affairs Council conclusions of 25 June 2001, 8 October 2001,
29 October 2001 and 10 December 2001, which noted that no visible progress had been made toend political violence, expressed its hope that the Government of Zimbabwe would invite the EU tosend observers to monitor the presidential elections in March 2002 and launched the consultationprocedure provided for in Article96 of the Cotonou Agreement(
1),
jdash having regard to further repressive legislation put forward by the Mugabe regime since September
2001, including the Land Acquisition Act, the Public Order and Security Bill, amendments to theElectoral Act, and the Access to Information and Privacy Bill,
jdash having regard to the meeting of the SADC Task Force on developments in Zimbabwe which took
place in Harare on the 10/11 December 2001,
jdash having regard to the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Bill passed by the US Congress
on 4 December 2001, which paves the way for the US Administration to introduce targeted travel andfinancial sanctions against Mugabe and his associates, including the freezing of assets,
jdash having regard to UN Security Council Resolution 1376, adopted on 9 November 2001, which called
for all states to withdraw their forces from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and condemnedall illegal exploitation of natural resources in that country,
jdash having regard to the visit of the EU Troika to Harare on 23 November 2001, when President Mugabe
refused to accept EU monitors at the forthcoming presidential elections,
jdash having regard to the proposed meeting of the EU Presidency and Commission with representatives of
the Government of Zimbabwe in Brussels during the week beginning 17 December 2001, under theterms of Article96 of the Cotonou Agreement,
A. whereas the further deterioration in the rule of law and human rights in Zimbabwe is the direct result
of the deliberate and reprehensible actions of the Mugabe regime, taken in flagrant defiance of the
commitments it made at the Abuja Conference, with at least 20new farm invasions,
B. whereas mobs of ZANU-PF activists have been running riot, unconstrained by police intervention, for
example in Bulawayo on 16 November 2001, when two people were killed, hundreds injured and theheadquarters of the Movement for Democratic Change set on fire,
C. whereas the Mugabe regime has systematically pursued a policy of persecution against the MDC in
recent months, including trumped-up charges against its leader Morgan Tsvangirai and imprisonmentof its treasurer and member of parliament, Fletcher Dulini, with members being routinely subjected toharassment and violent intimidation, and going in fear of their lives,
D. whereas the various legislative measures and actions taken in recent months by the Mugabe regime are
clearly designed to intimidate the political opposition and to subvert the democratic process in Zimb-abwe in the run-up to next year’s presidential elections,
E. whereas the Supreme Court judgement of 3 December 2001, that supported President Mugabe’s Land
Acquisition Act, indicates the extent to which the rule of law has been subverted by the partisanappointment of a new Chief Justice and three new judges to the Supreme Court in recent months,
(1) OJ L 317, 15.12.2000, p. 3.C177E/306 EN 25.7.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 13 December 2001
F. whereas on 29 November 2001 the Government of Zimbabwe approved the Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy Bill, which is designed to impose significant restrictive and punitivemeasures on the media, with licensing of Zimbabwean journalists, penalties for those who breach astrict code of conduct and restrictions on foreign journalists, and has the potential to destroy theindependent press,
G. whereas amendments to the Electoral Act are clearly designed to disenfranchise groups like itinerant
farm-workers and will effectively deny the vote to hundreds of thousands of young people withoutjobs, and whereas calls for Zimbabweans living overseas to return home to claim their right to voteshould be supported,
H. whereas a disproportionate share of land taken from the 1700 white-owned farms has gone to sup-
porters of President Mugabe, and whereas a UNDP technical team is currently in Zimbabwe assessingthe possibility of a credible land reform programme,
I. whereas Mugabe’s policies have created a humanitarian disaster that is impoverishing Zimbabwe as
nearly three-quarters of Zimbabwe’s 12,5 million people live in abject poverty, inflation is at 98%, theeconomy is set to shrink by 7,3% in 2001, arrears on foreign debt stand at €766 million, and adramatic decline in food production has forced the World Food Programme to mount a massive reliefoperation to feed over 500000 Zimbabweans, who now face hunger and starvation,
J. whereas on 2 December 2001 President Mugabe arrived in Spain to receive medical treatment,K. whereas the international criticism and reaction to recent events in Zimbabwe has grown increasingly
resolute, as seen in the refusal of traditional allies like South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesothoand Zambia to back Zimbabwe at the most recent ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly session,
1. Deplores the intensification of violence, intimidation and murder which President Mugabe and the
ruling Zanu-PF party have unleashed against political opponents and farmers in spite of pledges at Abuja;
2. Abhors the measures to restrict freedom of expression, particularly the Public Order and Security Bill
and the death threats against journalists in Zimbabwe, which are little more than a cynical attempt to gag
the activities of the media and opposition;
3. Condemns the Government’s ongoing attacks on the lives and livelihoods of farmers, particularly the
amendment to the Land Acquisition Act of 12 November 2001 that requires farmers issued with acquisi-tion orders by the government to stop farming immediately and to remain confined to their houses untiltheir forced departure from their property three months later;
4. Condemns the actions of the Mugabe regime to control the judiciary for selfish political ends and
urges the Zimbabwean Government to do what is necessary to guarantee the independence of the judiciarysystem;
5. Demands that the Mugabe regime immediately fulfil its international obligations to withdraw its
troops from the DRC and cease its involvement in the exploitation of the mineral resources of thatcountry;
6. Applauds those politicians and citizens of Zimbabwe who, often in fear of their lives, continue to
stand up for freedom of expression and democratic values;25.7.2002 EN C177E/307 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 13 December 2001
7. Urges the Presidency of the Council and the Commission now to take urgent and resolute action and,
in their forthcoming dealings with Zimbabwean Government representatives, to insist upon:
(i) an immediate end to political violence and a return to the rule of law in Zimbabwe, with guarantees
for the basic democratic and human rights, including the safety of opposition politicians,
(ii) free and fair presidential elections to be held in March 2002 at the latest, with full support for inter-
national monitoring, including by the EU,
(iii) an end to the arbitrary seizure of farms and the initiation of a fair process of land redistribution in
accordance with the Abuja Agreement,
(iv) measures to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and the impartiality of the police,
(v) concrete action to protect the freedom of expression of the media,
(vi) guarantees that international agencies and NGOs will not be impeded in the distribution of food and
other humanitarian aid;
8. Calls on the Presidency of the Council and Commission to commence the 60-day countdown to
further action, as stipulated in Article96 of the Cotonou Agreement, and to seek the widest possible inter-national agreement for tough action against the Mugabe regime;
9. Calls on the European Council urgently to adopt so-called ‘smart sanctions’ against Zimbabwe includ-
ing the identification and freezing of assets held in European countries and countries closely associated byPresident Mugabe, his family, and named close associates, and EU-wide visa restrictions on PresidentMugabe, his family, and named close associates;
10. Condemns the Zimbabwe Government’s refusal to establish an Independent Electoral Commission
(IEC) to conduct next year’s presidential election announced for March 2002, stresses that the establish-
ment of an IEC is a minimum condition for a free and fair election, and calls for Electoral Commissioners
to be vetted by a bipartisan Parliamentary Select Committee before confirmation;
11. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to urge President Mugabe to implement urgently
the recommendations adopted by all SADC countries at the SADC Parliamentary Forum in March 2000,on norms and standards for elections, including the establishment of an Independent Electoral Commis-sion, equal access to the state-owned media, the impartiality of government security forces, foreignobservers, the introduction of new secure ballot boxes, and the preparation of an accurate and transparentvoters’ roll;
12. Congratulates the SADC for its resolute stance in recent months against the excesses of the Mugabe
regime and urges the heads of government of the neighbouring states to increase their pressure uponMr Mugabe by refusing to recognise a victory for Mr Mugabe if he fails to abide by the norms andstandards on elections agreed in March 2000;
13. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments
of the Member States and of the candidate countries, the Government and Parliament of Zimbabwe, theSecretary-General of the United Nations, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the Secretary-Generalof the OAU, the Secretary-General of the SADC, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and thePresident of the World Bank.C177E/308 EN 25.7.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 13 December 2001