ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
28.

Highlights in this context the positive impact of secondary metals, which help to significantly reduce energy and raw material input; calls therefore on the Commission to facilitate the development and functioning of secondary metal markets; encourages the establishment of a circular economy at every base metals production plant in order to link the exploitation of by-products and recycled metals with the aim of increasing their competitiveness; calls for it to be made mandatory to establish a circular economy at every base metals production plant in order to link the exploitation of by-products and recycled metals with the aim of increasing their competitiveness; adopts the aim of making rapid progress in the recycling of rare earths and critical metals consumed in the Union; calls for the development of strong links between the base metal recycling sector and other industries in order to strengthen the size and resilience of the industrial base, in particular in regions affected by deindustrialisation; emphasises in this context the large potential of product and material substitution and increasing the use of scrap metal inter alia in steel and aluminium production; stresses that most base metals can be recycled many times for a fraction of the energy used for primary production; is concerned by the large energy loss for Europe caused by the legal and illegal export of aluminium and copper to countries such as China and India, states which have established aluminium export bans themselves; believes that high environmental standards and circular economy principles should be fundamental to development and innovation investments in the base metals industry sector in Europe; calls on the Commission to develop economic incentives for recycling metals, including currently uneconomical critical raw materials such as rare earths, to investigate how markets for recycled materials can be supported by inter alia green certificates for recycled materials, eco-design requirements and fiscal incentives, and to ensure that cohesion policy and European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) budgets are also leveraged to promote resource efficiency and recycling; believes that waste legislation should be improved to sustain the functioning of the EU scrap metals market through, for instance, a revision of the End-of Life Vehicles Directive and other waste legislation; suggests that measures be taken to set collection targets, strengthen producer’s responsibility and widen the scope of end-of-life legislation, for instance relating to lorries, buses and motorcycles; stresses the need for qualified and skilled people to cope with the transition towards more sustainable production processes and products, and calls for a European training and education strategy supporting companies, research institutes and the social partners in the efforts to jointly investigate skills needs for environmental sustainability;
C.

whereas the provisions contained in part 3 of Annex I are contrary to all health advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) (4) — which recommends limiting the intake of free sugars to less than 10 % of total energy intake, with a further reduction to less than 5 % of total energy intake for additional health benefits — and from scientific committees in Member States, which have recommended significant reductions in total sugar intake; whereas the introduction of such foods — especially at such an early stage — is likely to contribute to rising levels of childhood obesity and may affect the developing taste preferences of children; whereas, in the case of infants and young children in particular, added sugar levels should be kept to a minimum;
8.

Calls on the Commission, upon the entry into force of the Regulation on Transmissible Animal Diseases (Animal Health Law), to adopt a delegated act forthwith, laying down rules pursuant to Articles 109 and 118 of the regulation concerning detailed, compatible systems for the means and methods of identification and registration of dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and cats (Felis silvestris catus); underlines that the personal data of owners and sellers of pet animals should be respected in line with the relevant EU legal standards on personal data protection;
16.

Supports the mobility of young people and teachers as well as all forms of cooperation between schools and universities, for example common educational platforms, joint study programmes and joint projects, as a means to foster understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity and to provide young people with social, civic and intercultural competences and skills; is of the opinion, in this regard, that exposing children to other cultures at a very young age helps them obtain basic life skills and competences necessary for their personal development, future employment and active EU citizenship; stresses that including targeted educational school visits in different Member States and transnational mobility of young children is also a tool for laying down the foundations of European cultures, arts, languages and values; encourages mobility specifically for teachers from primary and secondary levels in order to share experiences and develop their own tools to face and answer evolving societal challenges; emphasises the role and importance of the Erasmus+ programme which fosters a European awareness among young people and creates a sense of common belonging and a culture of intercultural dialogue by facilitating their mobility, as well as increasing their employability; encourages in particular further measures to facilitate the access and integration of disadvantaged groups and people with special needs in Erasmus+ mobility actions;
29.

Encourages the Member States to strengthen efforts to eradicate the gender pay gap and to take more active measures to strengthen women’s participation in the labour market; calls on the Member States and the Commission, where appropriate in line with the principle of subsidiarity with the help of social partners, to promote family-friendly policies that enhance the care of other dependents as well as parents’ capacity such as, adequate maternity and paternity leave provisions and access to affordable childcare to ensure children’s wellbeing, enabling those with caring responsibilities to have equal access to the labour market in order to achieve a better work-life balance, which is of particular importance for the inclusion of women in the labour market; encourages the Member States to examine the persistence of low birth rates in the EU and to consider applying more favourable fiscal differentiation in line with the number of children in a household; calls on the Member States to provide families with assistance not only by means of financial support but also in the form of services;
2.

Expresses grave concern at the airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition and the naval blockade it has imposed on Yemen, which have led to thousands of deaths, have further destabilised Yemen, are destroying the country’s physical infrastructure, have created instability which has been exploited by terrorist and extremist organisations such as ISIS/Daesh and AQAP, and have exacerbated an already critical humanitarian situation; strongly condemns, also, the destabilising and violent actions taken by the Houthis, who are supported by Iran, including the siege of the city of Taiz, which has also had disastrous humanitarian consequences for its inhabitants;
11.

Emphasises that, when first concluded in 2004, the PMI agreement was an innovative instrument in tackling the illicit tobacco trade, but stresses that the market and regulatory environment have experienced substantial changes since then; stresses that the agreement does not address important characteristics of the illicit tobacco trade today, in particular the high proportion of the trade that is now made up of ‘cheap whites’; is therefore of the opinion that all the elements covered in the agreement with PMI will be covered by the new legal framework made up of the Tobacco Products Directive and the WHO FCTC Protocol;
36.

Highlights the vast potential for PPPs in agriculture, under a clearly defined and strong legislative framework for property rights and land tenure security, to prevent land grabbing and ensure increased and effective agricultural production; welcomes the launch in 2014 of an EU programme to strengthen land governance in African countries; recommends that the EU and its delegations play an increasing role in working with the partner governments, as well as the EIB, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and other similar bodies, in engaging the private sector to develop market-based solutions to agricultural challenges; stresses the need to establish financial incentives to avoid exclusion of poor remote populations and farmers who grow crops that are not of any major commercial interest or that are unlikely to be attractive to agribusiness partners; emphasises that safeguards should include social and environmental risk assessment, consultation with legitimate representatives of the affected communities, with their free, prior and informed consent on the respective project and legal support for these communities when they so need; asks the Commission to accompany projects with monitoring procedures and to negotiate a revision of contracts in cases that have turned out to be harmful to the local population;
4.

Believes that where such NTBs can be justified as proportionate, information on differing national regulatory requirements should be easily accessible and the related provision of notification information and completion of procedures as user-friendly as possible; considers that the implementation of the present system built around a diverse range of contact points, including Product Contact Points and Single Points of Contact, has been inconsistent across Member States and is overly complex; recalls the importance of strengthening and streamlining existing single market tools for SMEs in order to simplify their cross-border expansion; urges the Commission and the Member States to place greater emphasis on streamlining and improving these systems, in particular the need for rapid improvement of the Single Points of Contact, and calls on the Commission to report to Parliament on the progress and next steps by the end of 2016; highlights that by being more open and accessible as regards regulatory requirements the Member State in question becomes more attractive for inward investment;
31.

Stresses that the effects of poverty and social exclusion on children can last a lifetime and result in the intergenerational transmission of poverty; stresses that in all Member States the risk of poverty and social exclusion among children is strongly linked to the level of education of their parents, in particular that of their mothers, and to their parents’ situation in the labour market, their social situation and the forms of family support provided by the Member States; recommends that Member States ensure that all young people have access to high-quality free public education at all ages, including early childhood; stresses the role of educational guidance for children aimed at allowing them to realise their full potential; stresses the need to support, with targeted programmes, the ongoing education of teenage mothers for whom leaving school early is a first step towards poverty; stresses the need to establish a comprehensive set of measures for tackling child poverty and promoting child wellbeing, to be based on three pillars: namely, access to adequate resources and reconciling work and family life; access to good quality services; and children’s participation in decisions that affect them as well as in cultural, leisure and sporting activities; reiterates the need to ensure ease of access to information on an equal basis, especially with regard to social security, adult education, healthcare and available economic support;
12.

Recalls its serious concerns over the tension in the South China Sea; considers it regrettable that, contrary to the 2002 Declaration of Conduct, several parties are claiming land in the disputed waters; is particularly concerned at the massive scale of China’s current activities in the area, including building military facilities, ports, and at least one airstrip; urges all parties in the disputed area to refrain from unilateral and provocative actions and to resolve the disputes peacefully based on international law, in particular the UNCLOS, with impartial international mediation and arbitration; urges all parties to acknowledge the jurisdiction of both UNCLOS and the Court of Arbitration, and calls for respect for any eventual decision by UNCLOS; supports all steps that will enable the South China Sea to become a ‘sea of peace and cooperation’; also supports all endeavours to ensure that the parties agree on a code of conduct for the peaceful exploitation of the maritime areas in question, including the establishment of safe trade routes, and encourages confidence-building measures; believes that the EU should engage in bilateral and multilateral cooperation in order to effectively contribute to security in the region;
24.

Recognises the need to maintain and use genetic resources for long-term food security and to broaden the genetic base of modern plant and animal breeding programmes; recognises that organic farms face a shortage of new varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases and which could be cultivated without the use of plant protection products; supports the concept of access and benefit sharing, but urges implementation of the Nagoya Protocol, under Regulation (EU) No 511/2014, and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1866, so that breeders are not deterred by the complexity and cost arising from using wild material to introduce new traits such as pest and disease resistance, nutritional quality and environmental resilience; notes that this should be done without disempowering rural communities that have stewarded species and bred varieties throughout the years;
79.

Insists on the need for the EU to enhance police and judicial cooperation between Member States and with third countries — in particular with countries of origin and transit of victims of trafficking in human beings — in the prevention, investigation and prosecution of trafficking in human beings, in particular via Europol and Eurojust, including information sharing, particularly with regard to known trafficking routes, participation in joint investigation teams and in combating the recruitment of people for trafficking in human beings through the internet and other digital means; stresses the importance of systematic exchanges of data by Member States and their input into Europol’s data bases, Focal Point Phoenix and Focal Point Twins; encourages greater cooperation between Europol and Interpol in the fight against trafficking in human beings and recalls that exchanges of data between Member States and with third countries should fully respect EU standards on data protection; calls on the Member States to collect more comparable data on the fight against trafficking in human beings and to improve the exchange of data between them and with third countries;
13.

Stresses that in some cases the Directive’s flexibility has allowed many Member States to embark on energy efficiency measures, and believes this flexibility in alternative measures is crucial for Member States to implement energy efficiency programmes and projects in the future; demands that the loopholes in the existing Directive which are responsible for underachievement of the Directive, especially in Article 7, be removed while keeping adequate flexibility for the Member States to choose among the measures; notes that the EPRS study on the implementation of Article 7 (8), which is based on figures notified by the Member States, comes to the conclusion that measures such as allowing Member States to phase in the target, to take early actions into account or to exempt the transport and ETS sectors from the calculation of their target have in almost all cases led to an annual overall energy saving target of only half (0,75 %); notes that the authors have declared that the analysis can only be as good as the data provided; insists that alternative measures under Article 7(9) must be better defined and should be easily quantifiable;
1.

Notes that ETC has become one of the two equally important goals of cohesion policy for 2014-2020, with its own regulation; underlines, however, that the ETC budget of EUR 10,1 billion represents 2,8 % of the cohesion policy budget, does not match the great challenges that ETC has to meet, and does not reflect the high level of its European added value; recalls, in this connection, Parliament’s disappointment at the outcome of the negotiations on the MFF 2014-2020 regarding the cut in appropriations for ETC; believes that an increased budget for ETC in the next programming period will boost the added value of cohesion policy; calls for greater respect for Article 174 TFEU on territorial cohesion, in particular as regards rural areas and areas affected by industrial transition, and regions that suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as outermost regions, northernmost regions with low population density, and island, cross-border and mountain regions; asks the Commission and the Member States to pay particular attention to the most geographically and demographically disadvantaged areas when implementing cohesion policy;
34.

Urges both the Member States and the Commission, in the framework of a holistic approach to SME support, to make significant progress in the further simplification of EU funding by 2017 with regard to the application, management and monitoring/control of projects, in particular by introducing a uniform EU-wide electronic public procurement procedure, complete e-cohesion, a single audit based on the risk principle, the reduction of data and information requirements, and the elimination of gold-plating through extensive regulatory optimisation; stresses, however, the need to ensure a proper balance between simplification on the one hand, and the detection and prevention of irregularities, including fraud, on the other; asks the Commission to come forward with proposals for legislative changes to the regulations on cohesion policy during the mid-term review/revision, with the aim of facilitating access to finance for SMEs and in particular for start-ups wanting to scale up; recalls that, on the basis of the Commission’s calculations, European e-procurement, transparency and reductions in administrative expenditure could make it possible to save as much as EUR 50 billion per annum;
11.

Calls on all parties to the conflict to abide by international humanitarian law during and after hostilities and, in the conflict, to abide by the principles of proportionality, distinction and precaution; urges all parties to the conflict to open humanitarian corridors in order to allow and help civilians to flee the conflict, to avoid civilians remaining trapped in Mosul and being used by ISIS/Daesh as human shields, to provide access to safety and humanitarian assistance, and guarantee assistance and protection for civilians during the security screening process, in accordance with national and international standards, in particular to ensure that families are not separated and that children are not put at risk, and to establish a UN third-party monitoring mechanism; calls, in particular, for all the necessary precautions to be taken to ensure that children and their families are protected from bombing, and to minimise casualties and protect civilian infrastructure, notably schools and hospitals;
59.

Calls on the Union to adopt specific guidelines on the rights of migrants to complement its guidelines on human rights and, in that context, to carry out impact assessments and establish arrangements for monitoring policies on development and migration in order to ensure that public policies on migrants are effective; emphasises the importance of mainstreaming respect for human rights in all migration-related policies in the EU’s external relations, with particular reference to foreign affairs, development and humanitarian aid; draws attention to the need for all the EU’s external policies, in particular policies on trade, development, the environment and migration, to respect human rights, to pursue the objectives set out in Article 21 of the Treaty on European Union and to implement the human rights clauses in all EU agreements, including trade agreements; calls, in that connection, for all cooperation with third countries on migration to involve an assessment of those countries’ systems for helping migrants and their ability and willingness to tackle human trafficking and smuggling; calls on the EU and its Member States to liaise more closely with countries such as Canada, which are implementing effective resettlement policies; stresses that no policy in this area should undermine development aid policies;
18.

Calls on the Commission to draft minimum rules concerning the definition of offences and penalties; calls, in particular, for: (a) general definitions of ‘public official’, the crime of fraud and the crime of corruption, to be horizontally applicable; recalls that in the context of the negotiations on the PIF Directive, definitions of these terms are included but only for the purposes of that directive; notes that those negotiations are currently blocked in the Council, and calls for them to be resumed without delay; (b) a new legislative proposal on a particular type of criminal organisation whose participants take advantage of the intimidating power of the association and of the resulting conditions of submission and silence to commit offences, to manage or in any way control, either directly or indirectly, economic activities, concessions, authorisations, public contracts and public services, or to obtain unlawful profits or advantages for themselves or any other persons; (c) a legislative proposal instituting a dedicated European programme to protect witnesses and persons who cooperate with the judicial process by reporting criminal organisations and organisations as described in paragraph (b); (d) a legislative proposal defining and instituting common rules for the protection of whistleblowers; calls for such a proposal to be issued before the end of 2017; (e) additional legislative initiatives for strengthening the rights of suspects or accused persons in criminal proceedings, with respect inter alia to pre–trial detention, in order to ensure the right to fair trial, as recognised in the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights; (f) specific legislation to fight the export of radioactive materials and hazardous waste and the illegal trade in fauna and flora, given that, according to environmental protection associations and NGOs, both wildlife and forest crime and the trafficking and export of radioactive materials and hazardous waste to third countries play a serious role in financing organised crime;