ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
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having regard to key International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, including Conventions No 138 of 26 June 1973 concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, No 182 of 17 June 1999 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, No 184 of 21 June 2001 concerning Safety and Health in Agriculture, No 87 of 9 July 1948 concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, No 98 of 8 June 1949 concerning the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, No 141 of 23 June 1975 concerning Rural Workers’ Organisations and No 155 of 22 June 1981 concerning Occupational Safety and Health, and to the United Nations Convention of 20 November 1989 on the Rights of the Child,
25.

Calls on the Member States to improve substantially their tax surveillance, control and collection capacity, thereby generating additional resources to promote growth and jobs as laid down in the EU 2020 strategy; underlines that national best practices in making tax administration more efficient should be compiled in a transparent manner — preferably in a European code of best practice within the EU-wide tax information system — and carefully taken into account; is concerned by the tendency in a number of Member States to cut staff and other resources at tax authorities and similar bodies; stresses that this could weaken the ability to provide fair and efficient service to enterprises and individuals and to counter tax fraud and tax evasion; in light of this, urges the Member States to allocate adequate financial and human resources to their national tax administrations and tax audit staff;
9.

Underlines the need for local responsibility and ownership of the reconciliation process; considers that the Kosovo authorities should take further steps to reach out to the Serbian minority, particularly in the north, so as to ensure broad integration within society while also ensuring that the constitutional principle granting Kosovo Serbs the right to access all official services in their own language is fully implemented; takes the view, at the same time, that cooperation between all Kosovo Serbs should be enhanced and that the Commission should support related projects and promote people-to-people contact; encourages all Kosovo Serbs and their political representatives to use all the possibilities afforded to them by the Kosovar constitution to play a constructive role in politics and society; considers the opening of the administrative office in northern Mitrovica to be a positive step; notes, however, that many civil society activists in northern Mitrovica are experiencing less freedom to do their work, facing a strengthening of mainstream nationalistic sentiment over the past year;
3.

in light of the above, to simplify the command structure of the EEAS and enhance the role of its Executive Secretary General by establishing a clear chain of command to support effective decision-making as well as timely policy response, in this context, to rationalise the posts of Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director in charge of Administration, to reduce and simplify the hierarchical structure of the Managing Directorates, to clearly define the relevant competences within the management structure of the EEAS, and to review the current structure based on the Corporate Board, with a view to achieving efficiency, clarity and coherence in decision-making; in the same spirit, to ensure that the HR/VP receives political advice, for instance through a Political Council, from all the relevant institutional actors, thus allowing him/her to assess the impact of actions to be undertaken by the EEAS;
8.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President/High Representative, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, the UN Secretary-General, the President of the UN General Assembly, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the President, Government and Parliament of India.
E.

whereas the 2014 elections will be the first to take place after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty — which widens significantly the powers of the European Parliament, including its role in the election of the President of the Commission — and, accordingly, will provide a key opportunity to increase the transparency of the elections and strengthen their European dimension;
1.

Recognises that governments have the primary responsibility for guaranteeing and protecting freedom of the press and media; points out that governments also have the primary responsibility for hampering freedom of the press and media and, in the worst cases, are increasingly resorting to legal pressures in order to restrict that freedom, e.g. through the abuse of anti-terrorism or anti-extremism legislation and laws on national security, treason or subversion; notes that a balance between national security issues and freedom of information needs to be struck in order to prevent abuses and guarantee the independence of the press and media; recognises that media empires owned by politicians are sometimes empowered to carry out misinformation campaigns; emphasises that it is essential that the press and the media can operate independently and free of pressure through political and financial means; is alarmed at the general downward trend in the grading of the press and media freedom environments in various countries both within and outside Europe, according to the latest annual Indexes and Analysis Reports (see list in the Annex at the end of report A7-0176/2013);
48.

Notes that the Russian Federation refuses to respect the agreement on the phasing-out of Siberian overflight royalties reached in the framework of the Russian Federation’s WTO accession in 2011; considers that, as the Union carriers are placed under long-term discriminatory conditions by these illegal transit charges, the Union should be able to take reciprocal measures — by denying or limiting transit over its territory or, more generally, by taking any measure related to the use of Union airspace for air carriers of the Russian Federation — in order to motivate the Russian Federation to remove the above-mentioned charges, which are illegal as they contravene international agreements (the Chicago Convention); calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Council to examine possible measures to ensure reciprocity in relation to the use of air space between the Russian Federation and the Union;
10.

Recalls the express commitment made by Norway to the internal market, in particular in the context of recent initiatives such as the Single Market Act I and II; points out that the Norwegian Government has itself recognised that an efficient single market is a foundation for future growth and job creation and that the current crisis should not be used as an excuse for turning to protectionist and trade-distorting measures;
40.

Highlights the recent success achieved by EUNAVFOR Atalanta — which must continue — in curbing the occurrence of pirate attacks in the western Indian Ocean and in enhancing the credibility of the CSDP; notes that Operation Atalanta is the first ever CSDP naval mission and that it should constitute a model for the further development and implementation of the maritime dimension of the CDSP, taking stock of its successes, its shortcomings and lessons learned; welcomes the positive role taken by the EU with EUNAVFOR Atalanta in the SHADE (Shared Awareness and De-confliction) mechanism in promoting coordination between the multinational, national and regional naval forces operating in the area, and notably with NATO’s operation Ocean Shield; also welcomes the good cooperation between EU agencies (such as the EU Satellite centre SatCen and EMSA) and third actors, particularly in the field of satellite vessel imagery interpretation, even when there are no formal arrangements underpinning such cooperation; calls on the EU to formalise the bridging among existing EU tools and bodies, such as that developed among Atalanta, EMSA and SatCen, so as to avoid duplication of tasks, resources and expertise and to reap the clear operational benefits of such synergies;
28.

Asks the Court of Auditors, therefore, to provide Parliament, within a reasonable time frame and at the latest by March 2014, with a special report on the interpretation and translation expenditure incurred by Parliament, the Commission and the Council, assessing the soundness of the financial management involved and updating the findings made in its Special Report No 5/2005; notes, furthermore, that this report could be produced periodically and used for the discharge procedure; reiterates that the report should provide information on whether the institutions involved have adequate tools and procedures to ensure that: — the services provided do not exceed the real needs, — all the services needed can be provided, — the services are provided at the lowest possible cost, — the services provided are of high quality;
16.

Calls on the Commission to provide for the establishing of a longer-term strategy for access for the EU fleet to the EEZs of the countries of the region, based on a regional framework agreement between the EU and the countries of the Western and Central Pacific, negotiated with the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and centring on the following aspects: (a) the agreement should outline the arrangements for access for the EU fleet, which would then be given concrete form in bilateral fisheries cooperation agreements with the countries concerned; (b) the agreement should establish a system of transparent governance which would in particular ensure the combating of IUU fishing and specify the tools that should be used, including the Port State Measures Agreement; (c) the agreement should be based on the VDS, provided that measures are adopted to ensure its transparency, improve its effectiveness and its implementation by all relevant parties, and ensure its compliance with the best available scientific advice; (d) the negotiation of the agreement should explore ways of channelling EDF development assistance for the region through the FFA, since the Pacific ACP countries do not have the human and technical resources to adequately utilise that funding;
14.

Is concerned at the growing number of discrimination cases reported by consumers; urges Member States to enforce correctly and fully Article 20(2) of the Services Directive and calls on businesses to refrain from unjustified discriminatory practices on grounds of nationality or place of residence; highlights, however, that any obligation to sell is against the fundamental principle of freedom of contract; welcomes, therefore, the Commission’s ongoing work on a guidance report on non-discrimination, striking the right balance for the benefit of consumers and businesses; welcomes also the role of European Consumer Centres in identifying and solving the irregularities observed;
20.

Welcomes the use by the Commission of the flexibility offered by the revised SGP to extend the deadlines for the correction of excessive deficits in seven procedures; understands that this extension will make it easier for those countries to implement the structural reforms they need; calls on the Commission and the Council to ensure that the content and the calendar of the fiscal adjustment path are adapted to the specificity of each country and, particularly in ‘deficit’ countries, include the aforementioned flexibility and the full use of European structural and investment funds, sound and sustainable structural reforms and the identification of investments (notably in the CSR) essential to boost competitiveness; welcomes the Commission’s statement that already in this year’s budgetary execution assessment and in the analysis of the national budgets for 2014, the Commission will try to accommodate, in particular within the preventive arm of the SGP, under certain conditions, non-recurrent, public investment programmes with a proven impact on the sustainability of public finances, while fully respecting the EU fiscal surveillance framework; looks forward to the Commission’s communication, expected soon, on the concrete operational framework to be presented to Parliament, in accordance with the declaration annexed to the two-pack;
3.

Is of the opinion that the EU should follow the example of the United States in enacting the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012 and adopt similar legislation at EU level, as an emblematic and operational framework establishing the link between corruption and breaches of human rights; calls, therefore, on the Council to adopt a decision establishing a common EU list of officials involved in the death of Sergei Magnitsky, in the subsequent judicial cover-up and in the ongoing and sustained harassment of his family; adds that this Council Decision should impose targeted sanctions on those officials, such as an EU-wide visa ban and a freezing order on any financial assets that they or their immediate family may hold inside the European Union; calls on the Commission to draw up an action plan, with a view to creating a mechanism for listing and imposing similar targeted sanctions against officials of third countries (including police officers, prosecutors and judges) involved in grave human rights violations and judicial ‘manipulations’ against whistleblowers, journalists reporting on corruption and human rights activists in third countries; stresses that criteria of inclusion on the list should be built up on the basis of well-documented, converging and independent sources and convincing evidence, allowing for mechanisms of redress for those targeted;
10.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to use all EU financing instruments, including those under the cohesion policy and the common agricultural policy, especially Ecological Focus Areas, to promote green infrastructure where appropriate in order to ensure the delivery of a wide variety of ecosystem services and the protection of natural processes in rural and urban areas; calls on the Commission to report regularly to Parliament on the use of CAP funds to support green infrastructure; stresses, in this connection, the important role of green infrastructure in the protection of bees and hence for the effective functioning of pollination;
50.

Is concerned at the contempt shown by the Council towards Parliament’s resolution of 25 October 2012 on the appointment of a new Member of the executive board of the ECB (3), and notes that due consideration should be given to both the expertise and the gender of members in the appointment of ECB top management; takes the view that the EU institutions, including the ECB, should lead by example in the field of gender balance and that it is essential that the gender representation among leading positions within the ECB be improved; disapproves of the fact that the Member States ignored the negative vote in Parliament, both in the ECON Committee and in the plenary, because of the lack of a gender balance perspective in the appointment of Yves Mersch; urges the Member States to incorporate a gender-balance perspective, with the possibility of positive action on the basis of a balanced gender representation, in the appointment of members to the Executive Board;
72.

Calls on the Commission to ensure a fair balance of bargaining power between manufacturers and distributors, while emphasising the following: — the importance of combating discriminatory practices in the field of online distribution as governed by the Vertical Restraints Block Exemption Regulation (Commission Regulation (EU) No 330/2010), so as to safeguard the ability of distributors to use innovative distribution methods and to reach a greater number and spectrum of customers; — the importance of dealers on the markets for the sale of new motor vehicles following the expiry of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1400/2002 on 31 May 2013; asks the Commission to insist on the need to develop principles of good conduct between manufacturers and dealers with regard to vertical agreements in the motor vehicle sector, particularly with regard to the protection of investments after termination of a contract and the possibility of transferring a business to another member of the same brand network, in order to promote transparency in commercial and contractual relations between the parties;
3.

Reaffirms that freedom of religion, conscience or belief is a universal human right that needs to be protected everywhere and for everyone; strongly condemns all forms of violence and intimidation that impair the right to have or not to have, or to adopt, a religion of one’s choice, including the use of threats, physical force or penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to renounce their religion or to convert; highlights the fact that adultery and apostasy are acts which should not be considered to be crimes at all;
10.

Reiterates its call on the Commission, the European External Action Service and the Member States to take specific measures to address the situation of women in Iraq and guarantee their freedom and respect for their most fundamental rights, and to adopt measures to prevent the exploitation of, and abuse and violence against, women and children; is particularly concerned at the increase in all forms of violence against Yazidi women, who are imprisoned, raped, sexually abused and sold by the members of IS; calls, in particular, on the Member States to enhance policies in such a way as to meet the needs of survivors and to establish a mechanism to enable traumatised women from Syria and Iraq, notably Yazidi women, to receive special post-traumatic counselling tailored to their needs;
33.

Calls on Chisinau and Tiraspol to continue to engage constructively in order to find an effective solution for the settlement of the Transnistria issue and to take concrete steps to improve the livelihoods of the population; expresses disappointment that so far the ‘5+2’ framework has failed to offer a solution and demands a greater role for the EU, in particular by upgrading its status to that of a negotiating partner, and calls on all parties involved to use all instruments at their disposal to lay the foundations for constructive dialogue and to facilitate the rapid continuation of official talks; calls on the HR/VP and the EEAS to work proactively towards a comprehensive settlement that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova and promotes confidence-building, working very closely with the competent structures of the OSCE; highlights the need to ensure that Transnistria, as an integral part of the Republic of Moldova, is covered by the reach and effects of the Association Agreement; encourages the Moldovan authorities, to this end, to reach out to the general population, the business community and civil society organisations; notes that any solution should be in line with and fully respect the principles of international law;
63.

Welcomes the Commission proposal to strengthen penalties in order at least to offset the estimated economic advantage sought through the violation, but considers that this is not dissuasive enough; believes that the Member States should set penalties for food fraud which are at least double the estimated amount of the economic advance sought through the fraudulent activity; deems it necessary, as an extra deterrent, that Member States set even higher penalties, including criminal law penalties, for fraudulent cases in which public health is deliberately endangered, or in cases of fraud involving products aimed at vulnerable consumers; proposes, furthermore, that in the event of repeated offences the food business operator’s registration be withdrawn;
41.

Supports the positive steps taken by the Georgian Government towards the improvement of relations with Russia; calls on Russia, as an important actor in the region, to engage constructively in finding a peaceful resolution to the conflicts and particularly with the Geneva Talks, which were mandated to monitor the implementation of the cease-fire agreement of 12 August 2008 between Russia and Georgia; believes that all of the provisions of the ceasefire agreement must be fully respected by both sides, particularly the commitment by Russia to withdraw all of its military forces and the provision which states that Russia must guarantee the EUMM full, unlimited access to the breakaway territories of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia; stresses the need for the safe and dignified return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their places of permanent residence;
21.

Observes that the subsidiarity principle as formulated in the Treaties permits Union action in areas which do not fall within the Union’s exclusive competence only ‘if and in so far as the objectives of the proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States’, either at central level or at regional and local level, but can rather, by reason of the scale or effects of the proposed action, be better achieved at Union level, while, under the proportionality principle, the substance and form of Union action must not exceed what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaties; points out that subsidiarity and proportionality are closely related but distinct: while the former relates to the appropriateness of Union action in sectors which do not come within the Union’s exclusive competence, the latter relates to proportionality between the means and ends stipulated by the legislator and is a general rule governing the exercise of Union powers; notes that consideration of proportionality regarding a draft legislative act must logically follow consideration of subsidiarity, while, at the same time, verification of subsidiarity would not be sufficiently effective without the verification of proportionality;
14.

Calls on the Member States and the Commission, according to their competences, to take steps to combat all forms of discrimination in the labour market, including that against women, and to adopt social protection measures to ensure that women’s pay and welfare entitlements, including pensions, are not lower than those of men doing the same job, to safeguard their maternity entitlements, to take measures to prevent the unfair dismissal of employees during pregnancy and to protect women and men with care responsibilities from unfair dismissal; calls also on the Council to speed up the adoption of the directive concerning the implementation of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of pregnant workers, workers who have recently given birth and women who are breastfeeding;
10.

Believes that the Commission, the Member States, the industry and the trade unions should act jointly to retain and attract qualified workers, talented high-skilled scientists and managers to the steel sector, as well as young talent through apprenticeship schemes, thus ensuring a dynamic and innovative workforce; recalls the role of regional universities and industrial research institutes, whose excellence does much to create the regional preconditions for a competitive steel industry; urges the Commission and the Member States to implement immediate actions to avoid the loss of expertise and minimise the loss of jobs; calls for the improvement of planning and management of change by promoting training, upgrading skills and supporting retraining; is worried about the lack of systematic solutions to the generational change and future skills shortages, and about the loss of know-how and competences, and stresses the need to retain and develop the workforce and the skills vital for the future competitiveness of the sector; urges the Commission to promote, through the Erasmus for All and Erasmus for Entrepreneurs programmes, Sector Skills Alliances which, on the basis of data on skills requirements and their evolution, will be devoted to developing and implementing training programmes and common methods, including work-based learning; calls for steps to be taken to strengthen instruments to assist workers and promote vocational training in order to facilitate and support the redeployment of staff employed in the sector following corporate restructuring;