B4-0460, 0463, 0466, 0492 and 0493/97

Resolution on the preparation of the European Council meeting on 16/17 June 1997 in Amsterdam

Economic and Monetary Union

1. Stresses the importance of the broad economic guidelines and calls, in this respect, on the Council to recognize the need for strengthened coordination of national economic policies as a necessary complement to a pact for stability and growth and as a means towards stronger growth and employment, in accordance with existing Treaty provisions as laid down in Article 103 of the EC Treaty; reiterates the importance of Parliament's proposed amendments to the Commission's recommendation, particularly those concerning investment;

2. Urges the Council, in this context, to accept Parliament's amendments put forward in the framework of the trialogue concerning the two stability pact regulations, and in particular those relating to public investment so as to give the pact a genuine growth dimension;

3. Hopes that the firm political will of the Member States to ensure that EMU enters the finishing straight will be solemnly confirmed by the Amsterdam European Council;

4. Urges, in the interests of creating the best conditions to promote investment, growth and job creation, the adoption of the Stability Pact and enhanced credibility, which will be possible thanks to budgetary discipline;

5. Affirms that the introduction of a single currency is a necessary step towards the completion of the single market and European integration;

6. Welcomes the current level of economic convergence achieved among the Member States, notwithstanding the existence of a difficult economic climate with low levels of growth and high levels of unemployment;

7. Reaffirms its position that a flexible application of the convergence criteria, as provided for in Article 104c of the EC Treaty, should be applied when assessing the state of convergence of Member States for the third stage of Monetary Union;

8. Considers that renegotiation of EMU would weaken the credibility of the European Union; calls on all the Member States to confirm the European commitments entered into in this connection;

Social aspects and employment

9. Reaffirms that the fight against unemployment and for job creation are among its highest priorities; calls for steps to be taken, over and above the inclusion of a chapter on "Employment¨ in the Treaty, to help increase productive investment, with particular reference to SMEs, and to promote competitiveness and create jobs;

10. Repeats its urgent demand for an efficient implementation of the conclusions of the Essen European Council regarding employment policy and asks for effective coordination of national measures to assist employment and bring relevant employment data in line with criteria that are the same for all Member States;

11. Calls on the Council to incorporate the results of the Essen procedure into the broad economic guidelines; stresses the need for better coordination and joint planning of policies which affect employment;

Internal market

12. Welcomes the action plan for completion of the single market presented by the Commission for the Amsterdam European Council and the four strategic objectives on which the plan is based, which accord with its own assessment of the deficiencies which will have to be resolved in order to increase the confidence of businesses and citizens in the single market and improve its functioning before the introduction of the single currency; points out that only a properly functioning single market can generate the economic progress necessary to create new employment in the European Union;

13. Stresses the imperative need for full and comprehensive implementation of the single market legislation in all the Member States, which is of vital importance if the internal market is to operate effectively and generate sufficient economic growth to create a large number of new jobs within the European Union;

Fraud

14. Stresses, with regard to the huge scale of VAT fraud perpetrated in the European Union, estimated to be worth some ECU 70 billion, that as part of its specific responsibility to European taxpayers, the Community should have the power to establish the conditions for the detection and uniform prosecution in the Member States of fraud involving the Community budget;

Environmental protection

15. Regrets that European environmental policy is not a priority topic at the Amsterdam European Council, and calls on the Heads of State or Government to apply and to secure the adoption of the principle that environmental protection should be integrated into all other Community policies;

Agriculture

16. Reiterates its endorsement of the guidelines in the final declaration of the Cork conference on rural development and once again calls on the Council to give consideration to a European rural policy, on the basis of that declaration;

17. Calls on the Council and the Commission to submit a clear strategy and a firm position for the future of the CAP in the context of the WTO;

Justice and Home Affairs

18. Calls on the European Council not to adopt the action programme on organized crime until Parliament has been consulted and until consideration has been given to the strengthening of democratic and legal guarantees that closer collaboration in the fight against crime would require;

19. Notes that Parliament was not consulted on the recent joint action on synthetic drugs ("designer drugs¨) on which political agreement was recently reached in the Council; will give its views on the policy implications of the growing consumption of these drugs by young people in the context of the forthcoming Commission communication on the subject; regrets the way in which drugs policy has been handled by a plethora of bodies and the fact that Parliament has not been properly informed and consulted;

Enlargement

20. Recognizes that the pre-accession strategy must, on the one hand, be broadened to include all areas of the legal systems which are to be harmonized and implemented and, on the other hand, become more focused on the promotion of good government and on core areas such as strengthening the rule of law, democracy and respect for human and minority rights;

Foreign affairs

21. Calls on the European Council to intensify diplomatic and economic pressures on the signatories of the Dayton accord so as to ensure full implementation, with particular regard to extraditing war criminals charged at the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague, and identifying mass graves and the whereabouts of those who have disappeared;

22. Calls on the European Council to take the initiative to organize an international conference concerned specifically with Kosovo;

23. Is appalled at the inhuman fate which has befallen the Rwandan and Burundian refugees and displaced persons in the Kivu region, involving not only massacres, but also a refusal to allow humanitarian organizations to come to the aid of those refugees;

24. Notes the undertakings given by Mr Kabila at the OAU Summit on allowing an international inquiry into the accusations of the massacre of refugees in the east of the country;

25. Welcomes the recent adoption by the General Affairs Council of conclusions and a common position defining the European Union's strategy for conflict prevention in Africa, and calls on the European Council to enter this matter in the agenda of its meeting in Amsterdam so that the guidelines in those documents can be considered and approved; calls on the European Union to do everything in its power to have an International Committee of Inquiry set up as quickly as possible to throw all possible light on acts of violence perpetrated against the refugees in the Kivu region;

26. Calls on the AFDL to remove all the obstructions preventing humanitarian organizations from coming to the aid of the refugees and displaced persons; calls also for the repatriation of refugees to be organized under acceptable and humane conditions;

27. Condemns the decision of the AFDL to ban all political activity in the country;

28. Calls on the Council to take the necessary measures in order to establish a common policy with a view to reactivating the peace process in the Middle East;

29. Considers it a matter of urgency that the Council take a firm stand on human rights violations in Turkey, especially as regards the invasion by the Turkish army of Iraqi Kurdistan;

30. Urges the Council to undertake joint action on Albania under Article J.3. of the EU Treaty, involving not only certain Member States but the whole of the Union in order to contribute to securing stability and democracy there;

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