ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
14. Earthquake in El Salvador
B5-0068, 0074, 0079 and 0084/2001
European Parliament resolution on the earthquake in El Salvador
The European Parliament,
A. having regard to the scale of the disaster caused by an earthquake in Central America, in particular in
the Republic of El Salvador, which has led to an enormous number of deaths, people reported miss-ing, wounded, displaced and a great deal of material damage,
1. Expresses its sympathy with the families of the victims and shares the grief of the people of
El Salvador and Central America at the vast scale of the tragedy;
2. Shares the distress and despair of the population of El Salvador who, after managing to achieve
peaceful and democratic coexistence and before having recovered from the effects of hurricane ‘Mitch’,once again sees its hopes of economic and social development dashed;
3. Welcomes the spontaneous and rapid reaction on the part of the international community and civi-
lian organisations and calls on the Member States of the European Union to implement as soon as possiblethe necessary mechanisms to alleviate as far as possible the sufferings of the populations affected;
4. Congratulates the Commission on its prompt initial response to the disaster and asks it, in collabora-
tion with the Salvadorian authorities, to provide enough humanitarian aid to help meet the needs of thevictims;
5. Calls on the Commission, once the scale of the disaster has been ascertained, and as a joint response
on behalf of the European Union, to draw up a plan for the reconstruction of the region focused ontangible objectives, allocating the resources needed to make it effective and ensure maximum efficiencyand swift execution;
6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the President of the Republic of El Salvador, the
National Legislative Assembly, Parlacen, the Council, the Commission and the governments of the MemberStates.
15. Long-stay visa *
A5-0388/2000
Initiative of the French Republic with a view to adopting a Council Regulation on freedom of
movement with a long-stay visa (9667/2000 wdash C5-0374/2000 wdash 2000/0810(CNS))
The initiative was amended as follows:
TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE FRENCH REPUBLIC(1)AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT
(Amendment 1)
First citation
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com-
munity, and in particular Articles 62(2)(b)(ii) and 63(3)(a)
thereof,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com-
munity, and in particular Article 62(3) thereof,
(1) OJ C 200, 13.7.2000, p. 4.C 262/264 EN 18.9.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 18 January 2001
TEXTSADOPTED
P5_TA(2004)0247
ApprovaloftheCommissioninitsnewform
EuropeanParliamentdecisionapprovingtheCommissioninitsnewform
TheEuropeanParliament ,
/dash havingregardtoArticle214(2),thirdsubparagraph,andArticle215oftheECTreaty,/dash havingregardtoRule33(4)ofitsRulesofProcedure,
/dash havingregardtotheresignationofMrsAnnaDiamantopoulouasaMemberoftheCommission,
tenderedon10March2004,
/dash havingregardtotheappointmentbytheGovernmentoftheHellenicRepublicon12March2004of
MrStavrosDimasasaMemberoftheCommission(1210/B/1975),
/dash havingregardtothehearingoftheCommissioner-designatebytheparliamentarycommitteesrespon-
sible,
A. whereastheCommissionshouldundertaketofullyrespectthespiritoffairinterinstitutionalcoop-
erationandtoavoidgivinganyimpressionofanticipatingParliament’sapprovaloftheCommissioninitsnewform,
1. ApprovestheCommissioninitsnewformfortheremainderofitstermofofficeuntil31October
2004;
2. InstructsitsPresidenttoforwardthisdecisiontothegovernmentsoftheMemberStates.
P5_TA(2004)0248
Draftamendingbudget4/2004
EuropeanParliamentresolutiononDraftamendingbudgetNo4oftheEuropeanUnionforthe
financial year2004 /dash Revision of the Staff Regulations (7683/2004/dash C5-0165/2004/dash 2004/
2022(BUD))
TheEuropeanParliament ,
/dash havingregardtoArticle272oftheECTreatyandArticle177oftheEuratomTreaty,
/dash havingregardtoCouncilRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1605/2002of25June2002ontheFinancial
RegulationapplicabletothegeneralbudgetoftheEuropeanCommunities(1)andinparticularArti-
cles37and38thereof,
/dash havingregardtothegeneralbudgetoftheEuropeanUnionforthefinancialyear2004,asfinally
adoptedon18December2003(2),
/dash havingregardtotheInterinstitutionalAgreementof6May1999betweentheEuropeanParliament,
theCouncilandtheCommissiononbudgetarydisciplineandimprovementofthebudgetarypro-cedure(
3),
(1) OJL248,16.9.2002.
(2) OJL53,23.2.2004.
(3) OJC172,18.6.1999,p.1.AgreementasamendedbyDecision2003/429/EC(OJL147,14.6.2003,p.25).C103E/762 EN29.4.2004 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion
Thursday1April2004
52005IP0178

European Parliament resolution on the situation in Sudan



Official Journal 092 E , 20/04/2006 P. 0387 - 0390
P6_TA(2006)0416

Future action in the field of patents

European Parliament resolution on future patent policy in Europe

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission's Green Paper of 24 June 1997 on the Community patent and the patent system in Europe — Promoting innovation through patents (COM(1997)0314),

- having regard to Directive 98/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 1998 on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions [1],

- having regard to its resolution of 26 October 2005 on patents on biotechnological inventions [2],

- having regard to the consultation launched by the Commission on 9 January 2006 on future patent policy in Europe,

- having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the deficiencies of the Community patent proposals are unlikely to be resolved in the foreseeable future,

B. whereas an efficient, competitive and cost-effective patent system accessible to all is a key requirement of the Lisbon strategy for a competitive, knowledge-based society and crucial for the thriving of small and medium-sized enterprises as well as large companies,

C. whereas there have been growing concerns about undesirable patents in various fields and about a lack of democratic control over the processes by which such patents are granted, validated and enforced,

1. Urges the Commission to explore all possible ways of improving the patent and patent litigation systems in the EU, including participation in further discussions on the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA) and accession to the Munich Convention, as well as revision of the Community patent proposals; as regards the EPLA, considers that the proposed text needs significant improvements, which address concerns about democratic control, judicial independence and litigation costs, and a satisfactory proposal for the Rules of Procedure of the EPLA Court;

2. Reminds the Commission that all legislative proposals should be accompanied by an in-depth impact analysis related to patent quality, governance of the patent system, judicial independence and litigation costs;

3. Requests that Parliament's Legal Service be asked to provide an interim opinion on EU-related aspects of the possible conclusion of the EPLA by Member States in the light of overlaps between the EPLA and the acquis communautaire and to clarify legislative competences in this field;

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

[1] OJ L 213, 30.7.1998, p. 13.

[2] Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0407.

--------------------------------------------------
19.

Recommends that alternative penalties to imprisonment, such as community-based sentences, should be favoured to a greater extent, particularly for mothers, provided that the sentence imposed is short and the risk to public safety low, where their imprisonment could result in serious disruptions to family life, in particular if they are single parents or have young children, or are responsible for looking after dependent or incapacitated persons; underlines that the judicial authorities should take account of these factors, in particular the best interests of the accused parent's child, when deciding on the sentence; recommends, likewise, considering the possibility of adopting similar measures to those established for mothers for male prisoners with custody of children or who have other family responsibilities;
6.

Urges China to reform its criminal law to allow greater freedom of expression to journalists, writers, freelancers, reporters etc., who will report to the world on such an important event as the 2008 Olympic Games; considers that such reform will also make it possible to clarify the scope of certain unclear legal provisions (e.g. Article 105 of China's Criminal Code), and give the world a positive signal that the Seventeenth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party paved the way for greater respect for different opinions;
30.

Proposes the following series of steps for each fishery concerned: (i) develop an accurate estimate of the quantities and species composition of fish and other species discarded by each segment of the fishery; these data should be accepted as reliable and objective by fishermen, scientists and all other stakeholders; (ii) establish an appropriate setting to ensure full consultation, involvement and cooperation of all stakeholders before deciding upon the quantitative targets for discard reduction in a given period (for instance a 50 % reduction in two years); participants would include Regional Advisory Councils (RACs), fishermen, scientists, national government, the Commission and environmental NGOs; their role would be to explore all ideas for eliminating discards, including landing by-catch, technical measures, temporary closures, closed areas and others, as well as to propose positive incentives for fishermen experimenting with different techniques; (iii) at the end of the planned period of implementation, assess the results and evaluate whether the objectives have been achieved; successful methods would be added to CFP provisions; if targets for the reduction of discards are not reached appropriate sanctions will be applied, amongst other proportionate measures; (iv) revise quantitative discard objectives on a regular basis with a view to ultimately eliminating discards; (v) a discard ban to be adopted for a fishery only if all of the previous steps fail to achieve the desired reduction in discards within five years of beginning these steps for each fishery;
38.

Stresses the need for incremental and predictable funding from the Commission and the Members States, in the form of multi-year (3 years or more) aid commitments, which are based on clear and transparent criteria and poverty eradication outcomes including specific sectoral outcomes, agreed with partner countries, and which are delivered on schedule, in a transparent manner so as to allow investment in building the human resources so vital for improving aid effectiveness; welcomes the initiative of MDG contracting to ensure a more predictable form of budget support in the longer term; insists however that this involves a strong commitment to achieving the MDGs by partner countries and that continuous monitoring with a strong focus on results is needed; welcomes the MDG contract as one of the possible ways to increase the predictability of aid;
14.

Notes the greater stability that has come to Burundi since the entry into force of a new constitution followed by general elections, but calls for the establishment of a peace and reconciliation commission as a confidence-building measure that will help restore a climate of confidence and stability among the various interested parties, and calls on the governments of the Member States to support such an initiative financially and logistically;
15.

Calls on the Council and the Commission to take further steps towards the facilitation and liberalisation of visa procedures for Belarusian citizens, as only such action can help to fulfil the main goal of EU policy towards Belarus, namely to facilitate and intensify people- to-people contacts and to democratise that country; urges them, in this context, to consider the possibilities for lowering the cost of visas for Belarusian citizens entering the Schengen territory, which is the only way to prevent Belarus and its citizens from becoming increasingly isolated;
—

having regard to Regulation (EC) No 549/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 laying down the framework for the creation of the single European sky (2), Regulation (EC) No 550/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 on the provision of air navigation services in the single European sky (3), and Regulation (EC) No 551/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2004 on the organisation and the use of airspace in the single European sky (4),
34.

Calls on the Afghan Government to ensure that the National Action Plan for the Women of Afghanistan (NAPWA), which was recently adopted, will receive satisfactory funding and be implemented in cooperation with civil society and women's organisations; calls also on the Commission to ensure that its gender equality actions are transparent and harmonised with other actions of this type undertaken by the other donors in Afghanistan; calls, in this connection, for the Commission to submit a report analysing the extent to which gender equality has been taken into account to date in the programming of the overall financial assistance allocated by the EU;
7.

Urges the government to give urgent attention to the clearance of land-mines, the presence of which may present a serious obstacle to rehabilitation and economic regeneration; calls on the Sri Lankan Government in this connection to take the very positive step of acceding to the Ottawa Treaty (The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction);
22.

Commends the progress that Turkey as a candidate country has made towards fulfilment of the Copenhagen political criteria; urges the Turkish Government and all parliamentary parties in Turkey to establish consensus on the formulation and implementation of key reforms; welcomes the government's approval of the judiciary reform strategy and points out the crucial importance of its swift implementation for the functioning of the Turkish State and society; is concerned about the situation in the area of freedom of expression and freedom of the press, particularly following the unprecedented fine imposed on a media group; notes with satisfaction the increasingly open public debate in Turkey about previous taboos; regrets the limited progress made in the area of freedom of religion, and urges the government to establish a legal framework in line with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms enabling all non-Muslim religious communities and the Alevi community to function without undue constraints; deplores the continued non-fulfilment of commitments stemming from the Additional Protocol to the EC-Turkey Association Agreement and urges Turkey to proceed to its full, non-discriminatory implementation; calls on the Turkish Government, as well as on all the parties concerned, to contribute actively to the swift devising of a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus question, based on UN Security Council resolutions and the principles on which the EU is founded; welcomes the efforts to resolve the Kurdish issue in the context of the ‘Democratic Opening’ project; encourages the Turkish Government to take concrete measures to address the situation of citizens of Kurdish origin and asks all political forces to support this process; commends the diplomatic efforts made to normalise relations with Armenia and urges the Turkish Grand National Assembly, as well as the Parliament of Armenia, to ratify the relevant protocols; welcomes Turkey's signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Nabucco gas pipeline, the implementation of which remains one of the EU's highest energy security priorities, and calls for the opening of the energy chapter in the accession negotiations; takes note of the resumption of negotiations on a EU-Turkey readmission agreement, and urges Turkey to fully implement, in the meantime, the existing bilateral readmission agreements with the Member States; calls on the Turkish Government to intensify the foreign policy coordination with the EU, in particular regarding Iran; regrets, however, that the NATO-EU strategic cooperation extending beyond the ‘Berlin plus’ arrangements continues to be blocked by Turkey's objections, which has negative consequences for the protection of the EU personnel deployed, and urges Turkey to set aside those objections as soon as possible;
P.

whereas Afghanistan is not only the world’s leading source of opium production and the main supplier to heroin markets in the EU and the Russian Federation, but also one of the world’s leading cannabis producers, according to a recent UNODC report; whereas, however, opium production in Afghanistan has dropped by 23 % in the last two years and by a third since its peak in 2007; whereas UNODC has established that there is a clear correlation between opium cultivation and the territories where the insurgency is in control, and that in the parts of Afghanistan where the government is more able to enforce the law nearly two-thirds of farmers have said they do not grow opium because it is banned – whereas in the southeast, where the authorities’ reach is weaker, just under 40 % of farmers have cited the ban as a reason for not cultivating poppies,
5.

Stresses that multi-level governance allows better exploitation of the potential of territorial cooperation thanks to the relations developed among private and public actors across borders; urges those Member States which have not yet done so to adopt as soon as possible the necessary provisions allowing the setting up of European Groupings of Territorial Cooperation; recommends that the Commission promote exchange of information between the EGTCs already created and those in the process of being set up in the framework of existing programmes; congratulates the Committee of the Regions on the quality of its work on EGTCs and calls for its available instruments, in particular its Lisbon Monitoring Platform and its Subsidiarity Monitoring Network, to be used to promote the exchange of best practices between regions and Member States with a view to the joint identification and determination of objectives, subsequent planning actions, and, finally, a comparative evaluation of the outcomes of cohesion policy;
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 349/91

Thursday 11 March 2010

The case of Gilad Shalit

P7_TA(2010)0066

European Parliament resolution of 11 March 2010 on Gilad Shalit

2010/C 349 E/18

The European Parliament,

having regard to the Third 1949 Geneva Convention and to Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions,

having regard to the 1979 International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages,

having regard to the Declaration by the Presidency of 18 November 2009, on behalf of the European Union, on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which ‘[calls] on those holding the abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to release him without delay’,

having regard to US Congress Resolution 921 of 18 July 2006,

having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in the Middle East which have included a call for the release of Gilad Shalit,

having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas Corporal (now Sergeant) Gilad Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas on Israeli soil on 25 June 2006,

B. whereas Sergeant Shalit is a European (French) and an Israeli citizen,

C. whereas, since being taken hostage, Sergeant Shalit has been held incommunicado in Gaza and deprived of basic rights in accordance with Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Third 1949 Geneva Convention,

D. whereas Hamas has claimed responsibility for Sergeant Shalit’s continuing detention and has declared that he is being held in accordance with the Third 1949 Geneva Convention,

E. whereas international humanitarian law and international human rights law must be respected by all parties to the Middle East conflict and in all circumstances,

F. whereas trust-building between Israelis and Palestinians is an essential part of a peace process leading to a situation where two states can live side by side in peace and security,

G. whereas a video, received in October 2009, showing the captured soldier holding a Gaza newspaper dated Monday, 14 September 2009, is the most conclusive proof that Sergeant Shalit is alive,

1. Calls for the immediate release of Sergeant Gilad Shalit;

2. Calls upon Hamas to be as good as its word and grant Sergeant Shalit rights and privileges in accordance with the Third 1949 Geneva Convention;

3. Deplores the continued disregard for Sergeant Shalit’s basic human rights and the fact that his family and the Israeli and French authorities have been prevented from obtaining information regarding his well-being; therefore urges Hamas to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Sergeant Shalit without delay, and to permit him to communicate with his family in accordance with the Third 1949 Geneva Convention;

4. Stresses the importance of progress towards a two-state solution and welcomes the relaunching of proximity negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority;

5. Stresses that mutual trust-building measures by all sides, including a significant release of Palestinian prisoners, may help to create a constructive atmosphere leading to the release of Sergeant Shalit;
1.

Stresses the main arguments in favour of accession of the Union to the ECHR, which may be summarised as follows: — accession constitutes a move forward in the process of European integration and involves one further step towards political Union — while the Union's system for the protection of fundamental rights will be supplemented and enhanced by the incorporation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights into its primary law, its accession to the ECHR will send a strong signal concerning the coherence between the Union and the countries belonging to the Council of Europe and its pan-European human rights system; this accession will also enhance the credibility of the Union in the eyes of third countries which it regularly calls upon in its bilateral reports to respect the ECHR, — accession to the ECHR will afford citizens protection against the action of the Union similar to that which they already enjoy against action by all the Member States; this is all the more relevant because the Member States have transferred substantial powers to the Union, — legislative and case law harmonisation in the field of human rights of the rule of law of the EU and the ECHR will contribute to the harmonious development of the two European courts in the field of human rights, particularly because of the increased need for dialogue and cooperation, and thus will create an integral system, in which the two courts will function in synchrony, — accession will also compensate to some extent for the fact that the scope of the Court of Justice of the European Union is somewhat constrained in the matters of foreign and security policy and police and security policy by providing useful external judicial supervision of all EU activities, — accession will not in any way call into question the principle of the autonomy of the Union's law, as the Court of Justice of the European Union will remain the sole supreme court adjudicating on issues relating to EU law and the validity of the Union's acts, as the European Court of Human Rights must be regarded not only as a superior authority but rather as a specialised court exercising external supervision over the Union's compliance with obligations under international law arising from its accession to the ECHR; the relationship between the two European courts shall not be hierarchical but rather a relationship of specialisation; thus the Court of Justice of the European Union will have a status analogous to that currently enjoyed by the supreme courts of the Member States in relation to the European Court of Human Rights;