ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
8.

Is concerned, in the absence of a fully functional Constitutional Tribunal, about the recent and rapid legislative developments taking place in other areas without proper consultations, and urges the Commission to carry out an assessment of the legislation adopted as regards its compatibility with primary and secondary EU law and with the values on which the Union is founded, taking into account the recommendations issued by the Venice Commission on 11 June 2016 and by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe on 15 June 2016 and the Commission’s Rule of Law Recommendation of 27 July 2016, in particular: — the Act on Public Media, bearing in mind the need for a framework governing public service media which would ensure that they provide independent, impartial and accurate content that reflects the diversity of Polish society, as well as the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the EU acquis in the audiovisual media field; — the Act amending the Police Act and certain other acts, bearing in mind its disproportionate interference with the right to privacy and the incompatibility of blanket mass surveillance activities and bulk processing of citizens’ personal data with the case law of the EU and of the European Court of Human Rights; — the Act amending the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Prosecution Act, bearing in mind the need to comply with the EU acquis in the field of procedural rights as well as the fundamental right to a fair trial; — the Act amending the Civil Service Act, bearing in mind the serious risk of politicisation of the Polish administration, which would undermine the impartiality of the civil service; — the Act on Counter-terrorism, bearing in mind the serious threat to the right to privacy and the right to freedom of expression represented by the expansion of the powers of the Internal Security Agency without any appropriate judicial safeguards; — other issues that are of concern because they may constitute breaches of EU law, of ECtHR case law and of fundamental human rights, including women’s rights;
7.

Expresses particular concern regarding the misuse of anti-terrorism laws in Bahrain and, especially, the revocation of nationality as a means of political pressure and punishment; calls strongly on the Bahraini authorities to revoke the decision to denaturalise Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, to amend the country’s citizenship law and to restore Bahraini citizenship to those individuals who have been unfairly stripped of it, so as to comply with international standards and international law on the matter;
25.

Calls for cross-border capacity mechanisms to be authorised only when the following criteria, inter alia, are met: (a) the need for them is confirmed by a detailed regional adequacy analysis of the production and supply situation, including interconnections, storage, demand-side response and cross-border generation resources, on the basis of a homogeneous, standardised and transparent EU-wide methodology which identifies a clear risk to uninterrupted supply; (b) there is no possible alternative measure that is less costly and less market-intrusive, such as full regional market integration without restriction of cross-border exchanges, combined with targeted network/strategic reserves; (c) their design is market-based and is such that they are non-discriminatory in respect of the use of electricity storage technologies, aggregated demand-side response, stable sources of renewable energy and participation by undertakings in other Member States, so that there is no cross-border cross-subsidisation or discrimination against industry or other customers, and it is ensured that they only remunerate the capacity strictly necessary for security of supply; (d) their design includes rules to ensure that capacity is allocated sufficiently in advance to provide adequate investment signals in respect of less polluting plants; (e) sustainability and air quality rules are incorporated in order to eliminate the most polluting technologies (consideration could be given to an emissions performance standard in this connection);
10.

Notes that in the 2007-2013 programming period several obstacles, such as the effects of the economic crisis, the complex management of structural funds and administrative burdens, as well as limited access to financing for SMEs and complexity of implementation of support schemes, led to an insufficient absorption of such funds by SMEs; warns that the underlying reasons for the low absorption rate need to be addressed in order to avoid any recurrence of the same problems in the 2014-2020 programming period, and that excessive bureaucracy prevented some SMEs from applying for the available funds; regrets the too general and incomplete nature of the existing studies on the efficiency and real impact of the ESI Funds on SMEs and asks the Commission to rapidly prepare an assessment of this issue, in cooperation with the Member States, and submit it to Parliament; stresses that poor administrative capacity may hinder the successful and timely implementation of TO 3;
32.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the urgent need to enhance the road infrastructure network along the eastern border of the EU, starting in Estonia, passing through Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria and ending in Greece; considers that such efforts should build on the long-standing planning done already under the Via Carpatia project on which representatives of the countries concerned signed a declaration in Warsaw on 3 March 2016 on further cooperation on the development of the corridor and updating the route; takes the view that, with the construction of the Via Carpatia, outlying regions of the EU will have the opportunity of accelerated development and will be able to catch up more quickly with more developed areas of the EU; points out that the construction of the route will also stimulate investment and business growth, and improve security for the EU as a whole, in particular in the context of the armed conflict in Ukraine; believes that the possibility of opening the Rhine-Danube corridor to the north of the EU through the Via Carpatia should be exploited and believes that Via Carpatia should receive a proper budget allocation; calls therefore for the ‘Via Carpatia’ project to be incorporated into the TEN-T core network in order to ensure appropriate EU funding; encourages the Member States as well to set up financing for that project using every possible financial instrument, such as the Connecting Europe Facility and the European Fund for Strategic Investments;
C.

whereas the Turkish Government’s repressive measures under the state of emergency are disproportionate and in breach of basic rights and freedoms protected by the Turkish Constitution, of democratic values upon which the European Union is founded and of the ICCPR; whereas since the attempted coup the authorities have arrested 10 members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly belonging to the opposition party HDP and some 150 journalists (the largest number of such arrests worldwide); whereas 2 386 judges and prosecutors and 40 000 other people have been detained, of whom more than 31 000 remain under arrest; whereas 129 000 public employees either remain suspended (66 000) or have been dismissed (63 000), according to the Commission’s Turkey 2016 report, most of whom have had no charges brought against them to date;
4.

Recognises the importance of coherence between cohesion policy instruments and the wider economic governance framework, with a view to supporting the recovery efforts needed to achieve compliance with the European Semester rules; underlines, however, that the legitimacy of cohesion policy derives from the Treaties, and that this policy is the expression of European solidarity, having as its main objectives strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion in the EU by reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions, financing investment linked to Europe 2020 goals and bringing the EU closer to its citizens; is therefore of the opinion that measures linking the effectiveness of ESI Funds with sound economic governance should be applied judiciously and in a balanced way, but only as a last resort, and that their effects should be reported; recalls, moreover, that the application of such measures should always be justified, transparent and take into consideration the economic and social circumstances of the Member State concerned, in order to avoid restricting regional and local investments, which are absolutely essential for the Member States’ economies, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as these investments maximise growth and job creation and stimulate competitiveness and productivity, especially in times of strong pressure on public expenditure; as regards the cases of the two Member States that were the subject of Council decisions of 12 July 2016, which triggered sanctions under the excessive deficit procedure on the basis of Article 126(8) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), points to the Commission proposal of 27 July 2016 and the subsequent Council decision of 8 August 2016 to cancel the fines which could have been imposed, taking into account the Member States’ reasoned requests, the challenging economic environment, both countries’ reform efforts and their commitments to comply with the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact; believes, in this context, that the proposal to suspend part of the 2017 commitments for the ESI Funds under the measures linking their effectiveness to sound economic governance should take into consideration the views of Parliament, expressed during the Structured Dialogue;
Q.

whereas an issue is listed as a critical area of concern where there is enough information available to perform an assessment for the representative uses in line with the Uniform Principles in accordance with Article 29(6) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 and as set out in Commission Regulation (EU) No 546/2011, and where this assessment does not make it possible to conclude that for at least one of the representative uses it may be expected that a plant protection product containing the active substance will not have any harmful effect on human or animal health or on groundwater or any unacceptable influence on the environment;
16.

Recalls that two applications were rejected in 2014 under the former EUSF Regulation, on the grounds that the disasters in question could not be deemed ‘extraordinary’, in spite of the fact that they caused serious damage and had direct repercussions for the economic and social development of the regions concerned, and welcomes, therefore, the clarifications made in this regard in the revised EUSF Regulation; suggests, nevertheless, with regard to future reforms, and taking into consideration the possibility of redefining regional natural disasters, that single applications be allowed to be submitted jointly by several eligible states affected by a natural disaster at cross-border level, whereby the cause of the disaster is the same and the effects occur at the same time, and that indirect damages be taken into consideration in the assessment of the applications;
102.

Welcomes the adoption of the Gender Action Plan (2016-2020) which provides a comprehensive list of actions to improve the situation of women with regard to equal rights and empowerment; stresses that it should be implemented together with the Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy, to ensure the recognition of women’s rights as such; welcomes as well the adoption of the Strategic Engagement for Gender Equality (2016-2019), which promotes gender equality and women’s rights across the world; reaffirms that women’s rights cannot be compromised in deference to specific proscriptions by any religion or belief; requests that the EU step up its support to the implementation of the obligations and commitments in the area of women’s rights arising from the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action, the Cairo Declaration on Population and Development and their respective outcome reviews, and the Sustainable Development Goals; stresses the importance of not undermining the acquis of the Beijing and Cairo Platforms for Action regarding access to education and health as a basic human right, and the protection of sexual and reproductive rights, and to ensure that all necessary safe medical and psychological assistance and services are provided to female war rape victims, including safe abortion, as foreseen under IHL; points out that family planning, maternal health, easy access to contraception and safe abortion, and the full range of sexual and reproductive health services are important elements in saving women’s lives, as well as in reducing infant and maternal mortality; highlights the need to place these policies at the core of development cooperation with third countries; stresses that upholding all rights of women, safeguarding the respect of their human dignity, and eliminating violence and discrimination against them are essential to realizing their human rights; stresses the right of every individual to decide freely on matters related to their sexuality, sexual and reproductive health; recognises, in this regard, the inalienable rights of women to autonomous decision-making, including on access to family planning;
11.

Recalls the importance of the EU raising the issue of human rights violations in China, in particular the case of minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang, at every political and human rights dialogue with the Chinese authorities, in line with the EU’s commitment to project a strong, clear and unified voice in its approach to the country, including the yearly Human Rights Dialogues; further points out that, as part of its ongoing reform process and increasing global engagement, China has opted into the international human rights framework by signing up to a wide range of international human rights treaties, and therefore calls for dialogue to be pursued with China to live up to these commitments;
E.

whereas, according to the OHCHR, the executions took place in serious violation of fair trial standards; whereas the three men were accused of a bombing in Manama in 2014 which killed several people, including three police officers; whereas, however, all three were reportedly tortured into confessions which were then used as primary evidence for their convictions; whereas they were stripped of their nationality, refused access to a lawyer and executed less than a week after the verdict, with no prior information given to their families and no chance to apply for pardon;
—

having regard to Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC (1), in particular Articles 9(2) and 64(5) thereof,
14.

Stresses that a fully functioning Capital Markets Union (CMU) can, in a longer perspective, provide alternative financing to SMEs, complementing that of the banking sector, and bring about more diversified sources of financing for the economy in general; calls on the Commission to accelerate its work on the CMU with a view to creating a more efficient allocation of capital throughout the EU, improving the depth of EU capital markets, increasing diversification for investors, stimulating long-term investment and making full use of the EU’s innovative financial instruments designed to support access to capital markets for SMEs; stresses that the completion of the CMU should not undermine the achievements obtained so far, but should strive to be of ultimate benefit to the European citizens;
8.

Welcomes the initiative on a reform of the justice system presented by the executive, judiciary and legislative powers to the Congress in order to further develop a professional democratic justice system based on effective judicial independence; calls for joint efforts by the Guatemalan Congress in order to conclude the judicial reform in its entirety and full integrity in 2017; to that end, calls on the Guatemalan authorities to allocate sufficient funding and human resources to the judiciary and in particular to the Attorney General’s office; supports the important work of the International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG);
17.

Requests that the Commission provide all the legal and technical details of the agreement of 1 December 2016 between the President of the Commission and the German Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, and clarify all relevant legal and political aspects regarding why the agreement of 1 December 2016, which still does not impose an additional burden on German users and thus maintains an indirect discrimination based on nationality, has been considered as a sufficient basis to put on hold the infringement procedure against Germany, which was launched based on exactly the same discrimination concerns, and that it keep Parliament adequately informed thereof;
10.

Suggests that the questionnaire under Annex III of Commission Decision 2009/358/EC needs to be improved by obliging Member States to report exhaustive, up-to-date and reliable data on extractive waste facilities hosted on their territories; proposes that the chosen reform approach should allow for a European database of extractive waste facilities to be established and easily updated, as this would be instrumental in ensuring that the full picture regarding practical implementation of the Directive can be outlined, monitored and assessed at EU level; notes that other approaches could also be given consideration, such as the use of an exemplary completed national report under Article 18(1) of the Directive as a model to be followed, and that such improvements should no longer allow for different interpretations by Member States on the data to be provided;
15.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to facilitate the exchange of best practices in this area; calls for focusing on those preventive measures which are consistent with the principle of equality between women and men, as recommended for example in the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention), which are not limiting to women’s liberties and which concentrate primarily on addressing potential perpetrators rather than modifying women’s behaviour as potential victims; notes that the Istanbul Convention states that ‘the realisation of de jure and de facto equality between women and men is a key element in the prevention of violence against women’ and, therefore, calls on the Member States and the Commission to follow this comprehensive approach in their policy aimed at eradicating violence against women, including the implementation of the anti-harassment provisions outlined in the Directive; calls on the Member States who have not yet done so to ratify the Istanbul Convention and on the Commission and the Council to advance the process of the EU’s accession to the Convention;
5.

Notes the efforts of the Civil Society Forum and of the domestic advisory groups set up in accordance with the provisions set out in the chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development, which is an integral part of the overall package of the Free Trade Agreement; recalls that both parties have committed under Article 13.4 of the Agreement to respect, promote and realise in their laws and practices the principles following on from their obligations deriving from membership of the ILO and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, notably of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining; emphasises, however, that progress made by Korea on the objectives enshrined in the Trade and Sustainable Development chapter is not satisfactory and that there are still cases of violation of freedom of association, including troubling examples’ of imprisonment of trade union leaders, and interference in negotiations, which should rest within the autonomy of the bargaining partners; in this respect, urges the Commission to take up formal consultations with the Korean Government in accordance with Article 13.14 of the Agreement and, if such consultations should fail, calls on the panel of experts referred to in Article 13.15 of the Agreement to take action and to continue the dialogue with regard to the failure of the Korean Government to comply with some of its commitments, and in particular to make continued and sustained efforts, in line with the obligations enshrined in the Agreement, towards ensuring the ratification by Korea of the fundamental ILO Conventions which this country has not ratified yet;
10.

Calls for reinforced regional cooperation among all states in fisheries management for a sustainable and equitable exploitation of migratory species, especially regarding scientific stock assessments, monitoring, surveillance and control of fishing activities as called for by the UN Fish Stocks Agreement of 1995 and the three Review Conferences of 2006, 2010 and 2016; believes that all commercially exploited species should be covered by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) with increased powers to efficiently enforce management decisions and sanctions;
14.

Calls for this European Union peace initiative to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the aim of achieving tangible results within a set timeframe, in the framework of the two-state solution, and with an international monitoring and implementation mechanism; stresses the importance of engaging with other international actors in this regard, in the framework of the Middle East Quartet and with regard to the Arab peace initiative in particular; calls for the effective use of existing European Union leverage and instruments in dealings with both parties in order to facilitate peace efforts, as coordinated EU action can deliver results;
2.

Notes with concern that overall public awareness and perceptions about the effectiveness of the EU’s regional policy have been declining over the years; refers to Eurobarometer survey 423 of September 2015, in which just over one third (34 %) of Europeans claim to have heard about EU co-financed projects improving the quality of life in the area in which they live; notes that the majority of respondents mentioned education, health, social infrastructure and environmental policy as important domains; considers that not only the quantity but mainly the quality of projects funded under the ESI Funds and their added value in terms of tangible results are pre-requisites for positive communication; underlines, therefore, that the assessment, selection, implementation and finalisation of projects must focus on achieving the expected results, in order to avoid ineffective spending which could lead to negative publicity for cohesion policy; draws attention to the fact that communication measures must be selected with special consideration for their contents and scope, while reiterating that the best form of advertising is to illustrate the significance and usefulness of the implemented projects;
15.

Points to and is concerned about the findings of the Court’s Special Report No 2/2013, in which the Court concludes that the Commission’s processes are geared to ensuring that funding is invested in high-quality research; however, there has been less focus on efficiency; — the existing information technology (IT) tools did not allow efficient implementation of the projects, and in the eight Commission services more than 2 500 staff members are employed to implement FP7, among whom 1 500 (60 %) are directly assigned to manage the implementation of the Cooperation Specific Programme, — the time-to-grant should be further shortened, and — the FP7 financial control model does not sufficiently take into account the risk of errors;