B4-0598, 0612, 0627, 0644 and 0653/96

Resolution on the first EU-Cambodia agreement

The European Parliament,

A. whereas a donor Consultative Group meeting on aid to Cambodia will take place in Tokyo in July 1996,

B. whereas the European Union is to negotiate its first cooperation agreement with Cambodia,

C. noting that the peace and democratisation process is progressing in the kingdom of Cambodia, with the democratic elections in 1993 and the adoption of a new constitution,

D. noting that foreign and multinational aid accounts for 40 per cent of Cambodia's national budget, and that - after two decades of war - the country's need for assistance still is high, for example to clear mines,

E. gravely concerned by the murder of Mr Thun Bunly, the publisher of the independent newspaper 'Odemkiek Khmer¨ which has been suspended for anti- government articles,

F. alarmed by the lack of press freedom in Cambodia, where four journalists have been killed since the United Nations-supervised elections ushered in a democratically elected government three years ago,

G. concerned by the threat to the environment, and in the long run to the Cambodian economy, posed by the current large-scale logging,

H. noting that the Cambodian government announced a total ban on new logging and exports of cut timber in the spring of 1995, but that a huge logging concession (1.3 million hectares) all the same was given to an Indonesian company at the end of the year,

I. concerned by the environmental harm and by the loss of tax revenue that illegal logging is causing,

J. whereas trade in Cambodia's timber in Thailand has provided much of the funding for both sides in the civil war,

The European Parliament,

1. Calls on the Commission to include a clause which refers to democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the cooperation agreement, enabling the Union to suspend its assistance in case of serious violations of human rights and fundamental democratic principles;

2. Invites the Cambodian authorities to do all in their power to bring to justice those responsible for the murder of Mr Thun Bunly;

3. Asks the Cambodian government to fully respect press freedom and the right of expression;

4. Calls on the Commission to exert pressure on the Cambodian government to save its forests by:

- enforcing, without exception, the timber cutting and export ban,

- improving forestry practices, reforestation, training, monitoring and enforcement,

- implementing of a moratorium on all timber concessions as long there is no adequate forest inventory and legislation;

5. Calls on the Commission as a donor member of the Consultative Group to press for application of the abovementioned points on the basis of mutually acceptable targets, agreed between the donors and the Royal Government of Cambodia;

6. Calls on the Commission to impress on the Cambodian authorities the need to develop sustainable logging practices, based of the fulfilment of the abovementioned points, in the upcoming negotiations on the cooperation agreement;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Government of Thailand, the Government of Cambodia, the governments of all member states of the Consultative Group on Cambodia, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.