A4-0196/97

Resolution on the Commission communication on the Baltic Sea Region Initiative (SEC(96)0608 - C4-0362/96)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Commission communication on its Baltic Sea Region Initiative tabled at the Conference of Heads of State or Government of the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) - Visby, 3-4 May 1996 (SEC(96)0608 - C4- 0362/96),

- having regard to the Final Declaration of the Presidency of the Baltic Sea States Summit 1996 in Visby and the Action Programmes for the Baltic Sea States Cooperation adopted by the CBSS Fifth Ministerial Session in Kalmar, 2-3 July 1996,

- having regard to the Stockholm Declaration on Growth and Development in the Baltic Sea Region of the Baltic Sea Business Summit (Stockholm 24-25 April 1996),

- having regard to its resolutions of 14 July 1995 on the Commission communication to the Council 'Orientations for a Union approach towards the Baltic Sea Region' (SEC(94)1747 - C4-0011/95) ((OJ C 249, 25.9.1995, p. 215.)), 18 April 1996 on the summit of the Council of the Baltic Sea States ((OJ C 141, 13.5.1996, p. 199.)) and 20 September 1996 on the Commission report on the current state of and the prospects for cooperation in the Baltic Sea region (COM(95)0609 - C4-0017/96) ((OJ C 320, 28.10.1996, p. 248.)),

- having regard to the work done by the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC), where three EU Member States (Denmark, Finland and Sweden) and the Commission participate, and the recently established Arctic Council, of which these three countries are also full members,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy and the opinion of the Committee on External Economic Relations (A4-0196/97),

A. whereas, for hundreds of years, the Baltic Sea region has been an area of rich contacts and communication; whereas the end of the Cold War reopened borders and raised high hopes of increased human welfare, ecological conversion and stability, in a new era based on respect for human rights and the construction of democracy,

B. whereas the Baltic Sea Region has great potential for political and economic development and before the Communist revolution was the fastest growing region in Europe and a region of emerging prosperity,

C. whereas the EU and Russia now have a common land frontier and direct contacts in the Baltic Sea which give special significance to this potential,

D. whereas a failure of policies for reform, growth, integration and stability would pose dangerous threats of destabilization,

E. whereas the three Baltic Republics, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, long occupied by the Soviet Union and made part of the Soviet command economy, are facing extraordinary challenges, have special security concerns and face more difficult transitional problems than most former communist countries,

F. whereas cooperation at many levels - personal, private organization and NGOs, corporate, and governmental - creates a finely meshed network of integration of great importance for stability and development throughout the Baltic region,

G. whereas non-binding cooperation in defence matters and cooperation over peace- keeping and confidence-building security issues are emerging among the Baltic Sea States,

H. whereas Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have applied for membership of the European Union and NATO,

I. whereas through its association agreements, its aid programmes and its full membership of the CBSS the European Union can make a crucial contribution to the efforts of creating stability and development, the goal being successful accession negotiations on EU membership,

J. whereas the CBSS had its first meeting of Heads of State and Government in Visby in Summer 1996, which opened up a new political dimension for cooperation in the region,

K. whereas the Commission presented its initiative report to this summit meeting; whereas the Council of Foreign Affairs Ministers adopted three concrete action programmes on stable political development, economic integration, and the Baltic Sea environment,

L. regretting that the Union still maintains barriers against imports of certain products from the Baltic Sea States,

M. whereas, in its first Baltic Sea report (SEC(94)1747), the Commission took a comprehensive view of the northern regions by including the Russian Euro-Arctic areas of the Republic of Karelia and the Murmansk Region in the geographical area of the Baltic Sea Region,

1. Calls on the Council and the Commission to use their influence to promote the ratification of the Europe Agreements for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which were signed on 12 June 1995 but have not yet been ratified by a number of EU Member States, with the aim of turning the Baltic into an intra-European sea marked by close cooperation among all the adjoining states, including Russia;

2. Recalls that, for the Baltic States, access to a number of Community programmes, i.e. in the field of education and research, is dependent on the ratification of the Europe Agreements; observes that these programmes would further improve the accession strategy;

3. Regrets that the Commission's Initiative Report to the CBSS summit in Visby did not represent any truly new initiatives; recognizes, however, its value as a summary of and a starting point for regional policies;

4. Calls on the Commission to improve the quality and efficiency of its aid efforts in the region and to use its membership of the CBSS to take new initiatives in order to promote stability and sustainable development in the region and to strengthen the reform efforts of the applicant states;

5. Notes the important role the Commission plays in the concrete implementation of already agreed action programmes, and urges it to continue and deepen this commitment;

6. Urges the Commission to provide continued incentives for the transformation and reform efforts by adopting a strategy whereby negotiations for EU membership will proceed according to an 'order of merit¨ in which all applicant countries start on the same starting line, meaning that the countries which have best fulfilled the conditions for membership will also be among the first to be admitted as new members; as reforms are typically painful in the short run, such incentives may play an important role in overcoming obstacles in the political process and in safeguarding the continuity of the reform policy;

7. Notes the great progress that the applicant states in the region have made, in spite of difficult circumstances in reforming and transforming their political and economic systems;

8. Notes also the ambitious developments in cooperation on political and economic levels between the three Baltic States, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and therefore urges the pre-accession countries to develop their own mutual cooperation in order to strengthen their joint position in anticipation of EU membership;

9. Calls on the Commission to support educational programmes and institution building which form the basis for democracy, a free market system, and the rule of law; this would facilitate the adoption of adequate legislation and the implementation and enforcement of law, guarantee the protection of human rights and the rights of minorities and immigrants, facilitate the protection of property and contract rights, make possible the protection of what should become part of the common external border, and enable the incorporation of the 'acquis communautaire¨ and facilitate negotiations for EU membership;

10. Welcomes the decision of CBSS Heads of State to set up a task force of personal representatives on combating organized crime; expects the presentation of concrete results at the next summit in summer 1997;

11. Encourages the Commission to pay special attention to the challenges and concerns of the three small Baltic Republics, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and to recognize their potential in a successful development scenario to contribute through their bilateral contacts with Russia to a more secure Europe;

12. Encourages the Council to use its influence with the Russian Federation to sign without delay the already agreed border agreement between Russia and Estonia;

13. Notes the special difficulties which Estonia and Latvia encounter as a result of the large influx of Russian-speaking people during the period of occupation and who now form a large minority; reiterates that this situation must be handled in conformity with the Council of Europe's statute and the European Convention on Human Rights and refers to the latest Council of Europe Resolution (No 1117/1997) in this respect;

14. Recognizes the advantages which EU membership for the applicant Baltic Sea States would bring in the form of increased political stability for the region as a whole and - as security is indivisible - also for Europe as a whole;

15. Recognizes also the large economic gains which EU membership would bring in the form of scope for increased trade and investment for present member countries also but, of course, especially for the applicant countries where economic reforms and increased confidence would stimulate growth;

16. Encourages the Commission to take additional measures in order to:

- facilitate reforms,

- increase aid flow and make aid policies more effective,

- support the Kalmar action programmes,

- improve regional infrastructure, including cross-border transport networks, and investment conditions;

17. Recognizes the importance of pursuing as part of the Kalmar programme ambitious efforts to improve the environment of the Baltic Sea Region, which is heavily polluted; stresses that it is essential to improve nuclear safety so as to comply with Western standards;

18. Asks the Commission to assist in the strengthening of administrative support for the CBSS, particularly when the action programmes are transposed into separate individual programmes;

19. Calls for a full survey of nuclear waste and other sources of radiation in the Baltic Region as a necessary first step toward protective measures;

20. Urges the Commission to cooperate directly and through the CBSS with other international organizations - for instance the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the Barents Council - which are committed to promoting stability in the region, economic development and efficient environmental protection;

21. Asks the Commission to report to Parliament on the next CBSS summit, which is scheduled to take place in Latvia in the summer or early autumn of 1997, and to report on the progress made with regard to the implementation of the action programmes;

22. Asks the Commission to participate in the work of the Arctic Council and to coordinate this work with its activities in the CBSS and BEAC;

23. Suggests that its President should, jointly with the presidents of the parliaments of the states bordering on the Baltic, explore the possibilities of holding parliamentary meetings at regular intervals to discuss problems of political cooperation, the desired economic integration into the EU and the strengthening of regional networks; members of the European Parliament and of the parliaments of the Member States and the associated countries in the Baltic region should participate;

24. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States and the governments of the member states of the Council of Baltic Sea States, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and the Arctic Council.