ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
51.

Welcomes the increase in the number of female mayors from zero to four, out of 81 mayors in the country, and in the number of women in parliament, which is in accordance with the gender quota; is concerned, however, over persistent practices of voluntary withdrawal of women from political decision-making; welcomes the changes made to the labour law to afford better legal protection for women who are pregnant or have just given birth, but is concerned at the high unemployment rates among women; welcomes the adoption of the gender equality strategy, but notes that the public mechanisms for gender equality are still not functioning properly, and calls on the government to improve their functioning and increase their human and financial resources; calls on the authorities to ensure a gender perspective in all policy areas and to increase support for and initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of gender equality; regrets the fact that important amendments to the Law on Termination of Pregnancy were adopted by the parliament in a shortened procedure without a broader public debate;
42.

Underlines the fact that the low level of payment appropriations and the tight ceiling on payments remain a crucial problem for the EU budget which has a particularly negative effect on economic recovery, as late payments are harmful primarily to the direct beneficiaries; underlines, moreover, that this low level of payments in the 2014 EU budget is in total contradiction with the measures agreed by the co-legislators to increase temporarily EU co-financing rates for EU programmes under shared management in Member States experiencing or threatened with serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability; recalls the need to ensure, in the light of implementation, an orderly progression of payments so as to avoid any abnormal shift of outstanding commitments (‘RAL’) onto the 2015 budget and, in this connection, to make use, where appropriate, of the various flexibility mechanisms included in the MFF Regulation; intends to continue its in-depth monitoring of the overall situation on payments, especially in relation to the very high level of payments still needed for the completion of the programmes of the previous MFF;
13.

Highlights the fact that both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognise the right to self-determination, which is defined as the right of all people to dispose freely of their natural wealth and resources, and that both stipulate that no person may be deprived of his or her own means of subsistence; stresses, in this connection, that the negotiation of large-scale leases and the acquisition of lands must entail transparency, adequate and informed participation on the part of the local communities concerned by land leases or purchases, and accountability in the use of revenues that should benefit the local population;
(ak)

to recognise that significant and substantial progress has been made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals; to make the best use of the preparatory phase ahead of the September 2015 Summit on the post-2015 agenda, to ensure coherence and coordination between EU Member States on focus areas and goals the EU wants to promote, with a view to avoiding the inconsistency and illegibility stemming from too wide a list of objectives; to emphasise that special focus has to be directed towards the needs of the least developed countries and of conflict and post-conflict countries; to ensure ownership of these goals by developing countries;
22.

Stresses that no exceptions from the absolute prohibition of torture and practices involving cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment can be justified, and that states have an obligation to implement safeguards to prevent the perpetration of torture and ill-treatment, and to ensure accountability and access to effective remedies and reparations at all times, including in the context of national security concerns and counterterrorism measures; considers it worrying that some countries are assigning parallel policing tasks to paramilitary groups in an attempt to elude their international obligations; emphasises that the prohibition also applies to the transfer and use of information where it is either obtained by or likely to result in torture; recalls that the prohibition of torture is a binding norm under international human rights law and international humanitarian law, which means that it is valid both in peacetime and in wartime;
10.

Expresses its particular concern at the continuing severity of the food situation in the country and its impact on the economic, social and cultural rights of the population; calls on the Commission to maintain existing humanitarian aid programmes and channels of communication with the DPRK, and to secure the safe delivery of such aid to the target population groups; calls on the DPRK authorities to ensure access for all citizens to food and humanitarian assistance on the basis of need, in accordance with humanitarian principles; calls, furthermore, on the DPRK to invest its resources in improving the appalling living conditions of its people instead of in the further build-up of its military arsenal and nuclear programme;
35.

Reiterates that continuous updating of knowledge and skills is essential for successful labour market integration, and notes that OERs can contribute to facilitating the lifelong learning that is necessary in order to remain competitive on the labour market; encourages a more gender-balanced use of ICT with a view to ensuring that women who remain outside the labour market for a given period, for example for maternity or other family care tasks, are also able to benefit from this type of training to update their skills and educate themselves, thereby improving their future re-employment opportunities on the labour market;
18.

Underlines the vital importance of collective defence guaranteed by NATO for its members; urges the Member States, as a matter of urgency, to step up their ability to contribute to territorial defence, commit more resources and take the Pooling and Sharing methodology seriously by cooperating more closely to build synergies; stresses that all the Member States must enjoy the same level of security, in line with Article 42(7) TEU; stresses that a credible EU foreign policy needs to be underpinned by adequate defence capabilities in the Member States and an effective Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP); takes the view that the CSDP is an important component of European defence and security and contributes to it in many ways, including by promoting the creation of a European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB), by fostering cooperation concerning the development of defence capabilities, and by directly intervening in crisis areas through its civilian missions and military operations; stresses, therefore, that the CSDP should be deepened further in cooperation with NATO; reiterates that the EU is a partner of NATO and that the strategies of both organisations should be complementary; underlines the important role of security and defence cooperation between the EU and partners such as the UN, NATO, the African Union and the OSCE; welcomes the HR/VP’s commitment to actively engage on defence matters, including by chairing meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council in the Defence Ministers configuration;
13.

Commits itself to work towards the finalisation of an EU PNR Directive by the end of the year; therefore urges the Commission to set out the consequences of the ECJ judgment on the Data Retention Directive (5) and its possible impact on the EU PNR Directive; encourages the Council to make progress on the Data Protection package so that trilogues on both — EU PNR Directive and Data Protection Package — could take place in parallel; encourages the Commission to invite independent experts from the law enforcement, security and intelligence communities and representatives of Working Party 29 to contribute views and principles, in light of security needs, regarding the necessity and proportionality of the PNR;
8.

Invites Armenia and Turkey to use examples of successful reconciliation between European nations and to focus on an agenda that puts cooperation between peoples first; trusts that this will contribute to the historic reconciliation of the Armenian and Turkish people in a spirit of truth and respect; supports civil society initiatives between Turkey and Armenia working towards the normalisation of relations; urges Turkey and Armenia to proceed to a normalisation of their relations by ratifying and implementing, without preconditions, the protocols on the establishment of diplomatic relations, by opening the border and by actively improving their relations, with particular reference to cross-border cooperation and economic integration;
K.

whereas, owing to the nature of the crime and the age of the victims, most areas of child sexual exploitation and abuse — to a greater extent than other forms of crime — suffer from chronic underreporting to law enforcement authorities; whereas, therefore, the available data on the number of crimes committed do not accurately reflect the extent of the problem; whereas, according to information provided by NGOs concerning web pages containing child abuse material, more than 80 % of the victims are aged younger than 10; whereas data from the International Association of Internet Hotlines show an increase in the number of infant victims of sexual abuse and in abuse of an extreme and sadistic nature;
23.

Stresses the importance of knowledge transfers and multi-stakeholder knowledge sharing, including cross-border, through informal networks, especially for SMEs and microenterprises, to raise awareness of existing and new innovative techniques, best practices, ways to acquire proper financing, possible government support schemes and the relevant legislative frameworks entailing the least burdensome administration, and recalls that the existing national contact points for the EU funding programmes and the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) have to be fully involved in the support of SMEs and proactively inform, coach and support SMEs in identifying financing possibilities at EU, national or regional level; supports the organisation of a European Resource Efficiency Campaign to inform SMEs about the benefits and opportunities offered by resource efficiency and how industrial synergies on recycling can be created; calls on the Commission and the EEN to cooperate on resource efficiency with industry associations, trade unions, SMEs, NGOs and academia, as well as regional initiatives; welcomes, in this regard, the Commission’s focus on symbioses and clusters and encourages the Commission to come forward with concrete initiatives to facilitate cross-sectoral cooperation and resource management;
14.

Reiterates that the powers of the European Public Prosecutor's Office should extend to offences other than those affecting the Union’s financial interests only where cumulatively: (a) the particular conduct simultaneously constitutes an offence affecting the Union’s financial interests and other offences; and (b) the offences affecting the Union’s financial interests are predominant and the others are merely ancillary; and (c) the other offences would be barred from further trying and punishment if they were not prosecuted and brought to judgment together with the offences affecting the Union’s financial interests; believes, also, that in case of disagreement; between the EPPO and the national prosecution authorities over the exercise of competence, the EPPO should decide, at central level, who will investigate and prosecute; believes, furthermore, that the determination of competence, in accordance with those criteria, should always be subject to judicial review;
57.

Invites the stakeholders in this necessary next step of the EMU to take into account foreseeable future enlargement of the euro area and to explore all options to deepen and strengthen the EMU and make it more resilient, conductive to growth, jobs and stability, such as: (a) enhanced democratic accountability mechanisms at both the EU and national levels, whereby responsibilities must be assumed at the level where decisions are taken and based on the adoption of convergence guidelines under co-decision, while formalising the scrutiny role of the European Parliament in the European Semester in an Inter-Institutional Agreement and ensuring that all euro area National Parliaments follow each step of the European Semester process; (b) a social dimension aimed at preserving Europe's social market economy, respecting the right to collective bargaining, under which coordination of the social policies of the Member States would be ensured, including a minimum wage or income mechanism proper to and decided by each Member State and supporting the fight against poverty and social exclusion, the reintegration of workers into the job market, voluntary mobility and flexibility between professions and Member States; (c) a euro area fiscal capacitybased on specific own-resources which should, in the framework of the Union budget with European parliamentary control, assist Member States in the implementation of the agreed structural reforms based on certain conditions, including the effective implementation of the National Reform Programmes; welcomes in this regard the work of the EU Group on own resources chaired by Mario Monti; (d) increase the resilience of the EMU to face economic shocks and emergencies directly connected to the monetary union while avoiding any form of permanent fiscal transfers; (e) on taxation, a commitment to European-wide measures against tax fraud and evasion and aggressive corporate tax planning, cooperation of the national tax authorities in order to exchange information regarding tax avoidance and tax fraud, measures to bring about convergence of taxation policies of the Member States, a common consolidated corporate tax base, simpler and more transparent tax systems and country-by-country reporting for corporates, excluding SMEs; (f) completing the Banking Union step by step; (g) the inclusion of the ESM and the TSCG in Union law going hand in hand with enhanced economic policy coordination, real convergence, enforcement of common rules and a clear commitment to economically and socially sustainable structural reforms; (h) addressing weaknesses in the current framework that enables certain parts of the Treaty to be overseen by the Court while others are excluded; (i) an increased external role of the euro area, including the upgrading of its representation;
F.

whereas, pursuant to Article 5(1)a, exemptions shall be included in Annex III, provided that such inclusion does not weaken the environmental and health protection afforded by Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 and where any of the following conditions is fulfilled: their elimination or substitution via design changes or materials and components which do not require any of the materials or substances listed in Annex II is scientifically or technically impracticable; the reliability of substitutes is not ensured; or the total negative environmental, health and consumer safety impacts caused by substitution are likely to outweigh the total environmental, health and consumer safety benefits thereof;
12.

Stresses the increasing potential of PPPs, as one option among others, to foster innovative solutions and mobilise long-term private finance and domestic resources for development objectives, given that massive investments are required in developing countries — in terms of infrastructure, water supply and energy — that the public sector will not be able to provide on its own, and the majority of which would profit from private sector involvement; believes that PPPs can also generate innovation in technologies and business models, and build mechanisms for holding the private sector accountable; points, however, to instances in which the participation of the private sector in PPPs in some developing countries has not delivered the expected results; notes that, in consequence, a contribution of technical assistance is needed to reinforce the legal and institutional frameworks in which PPPs are developed, in particular as regards the capacity to evaluate, plan and supervise the execution of such projects in a proper manner, and provide the option for public partners to claim compensation from private companies in case of contractual non-compliance;
9.

Welcomes the EU’s commitment — in the spirit of differentiation between Israel and its activities in the occupied Palestinian Territory — to ensuring that all agreements between the EU and Israel must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, as reiterated in the Foreign Affairs Council conclusions of 20 July 2015; takes note of the Commission Guidelines of 19 July 2013 on the eligibility of Israeli entities and their activities in the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967 for grants, prizes and financial instruments funded by the EU from 2014 onwards, and of the letter sent to the VP/HR by 16 EU Foreign Ministers on 13 April 2015, encouraging her to take the lead within the Commission with a view to completing the work on EU-wide guidelines on the labelling of Israeli settlement produce;
23.

Advocates the reinforcement and stronger implementation of the single audit through the coordination of the control activities carried out by the various institutions, and calls for the administrative burden arising from audits to be lightened so that farmers are not subjected to different visits on separate occasions by the bodies responsible or to excessive or multiple controls by the Commission and the Court of Auditors in the same year, under any and all regulations, which would thus reduce the burden on farmers by decreasing the number of inspections; calls for the bundling of the audit tasks and controls carried out by certifying bodies and other Member State bodies; notes that the advice given by both national authorities and the Commission in guidelines to farmers for implementing the CAP is often contradicted by the assessment criteria used by the Court of Auditors, resulting in fines that are both disproportionate and unexpected;
16.

Welcomes the decision to dismiss the criminal defamation case against Andy Hall, and his subsequent release; calls for the computer crime and criminal defamation cases initiated against him at Southern Bangkok Criminal Court also to be dropped, given that his actions as a human rights defender were aimed at exposing instances of human trafficking and improving the legal situation of migrant workers in Thailand, which confirms his right to carry out research and advocacy without fear of reprisals; expresses its concern, with regard to the civil defamation cases, that his trial may not be fully impartial, as there have been reports of ownership links between the suing company and high-ranking Thai politicians; asks the EU Delegation to continue to follow his legal situation closely and to attend his trial;
9.

Calls on the Commission to send Parliament the minutes and conclusions of meetings of the Joint Committee provided for in Article 9 of the Agreement, the multi-annual sectoral programme referred to in Article 3 of the new Protocol and the findings of the related annual assessments, and the minutes and conclusions of the meetings provided for in Article 4 of the new Protocol; calls on the Commission to enable representatives of Parliament to attend Joint Committee meetings as observers and to promote the participation of Guinea Bissau fishing communities; and requests that, during the final year of application of the Protocol and before negotiations are opened for its renewal, the Commission submit a full report to Parliament and the Council on its implementation, without imposing unnecessary restrictions on access to that report;
D.

whereas complicated procedures can place a significant burden on beneficiaries, in particular small and medium-sized businesses, NGOs and municipalities, which are in need of EU funding, and whereas, in general, these entities do not have the financial and human resources, nor the expertise, to successfully apply for and manage EU grants; whereas the Commission and the Member States are invited to continue their efforts to make the ARACHNE risk-scoring tool operational and easier to use for the managing authorities and control systems of operational programmes, which need to ensure a proper balance between simplification on the one hand, and the detection and prevention of irregularities, including fraud, on the other;
30.

Stresses the need for constant, clear and transparent collaboration at interinstitutional level, and considers that such a procedure should include, at least, the following steps: — the Commission should immediately inform Parliament of the CSRs and Council recommendations that are relevant in the context of the ESI Funds, as well as of the programmes of financial assistance, or respective modifications, that may trigger a reprogramming request under Article 23(1) CPR; — the Commission should immediately inform Parliament of any reprogramming request under Article 23(1) CPR or of any proposal for a decision suspending payments under Article 23(6) CPR, allowing Parliament to state its position in the form of a resolution before taking any further steps; — the Commission should take into account the position expressed by Parliament and any elements arising from or opinions expressed through the structured dialogue under Article 23(15) CPR; — the Commission should be invited by Parliament to explain whether Parliament’s opinions have been taken into consideration in the process, as well as any other follow-up given to the structured dialogue; — the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee should be informed of and heard on reprogramming requests; — Parliament, the Council and the Commission should establish a dialogue in the context of the application of Article 23 CPR, by ensuring interinstitutional coordination and a proper flow of information, allowing for the monitoring of the application of any of the procedures under Article 23 CPR;
M.

whereas the Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts, in accordance with Article 29 of the IAS Regulation, to further specify the type of evidence acceptable for the purposes of point (b) of Article 4(3) of that regulation and provide a detailed description of the application of points (a) to (h) of Article 5(1) thereof, and whereas the detailed description must include the methodology to be applied in risk assessments, taking into account relevant national and international standards and the need to prioritise action against invasive alien species associated with, or that have the potential to cause, a significant adverse impact on biodiversity or related ecosystem services, as well as on human health or the economy, such adverse impact being considered as an aggravating factor;
A.

whereas according to UN estimates one billion children live in conflict-affected areas, of whom 250 million are under the age of five and are denied their fundamental right to education; whereas an estimated 65 million children aged 3 to 15 are most affected by emergencies and protracted crises, with the risk of disruption to their education, and approximately 37 million children of primary and lower secondary age are out of school in crisis-affected countries; whereas around half of the world’s out-of-school children live in conflict-affected areas; whereas 87 % of out-of-school children in the Arab States are affected by conflict, and an estimated 175 million children are likely to be affected by natural disasters every year; whereas certain groups, such as poor children, girls and children with disabilities, see their already low prospects decline even further in conflict-affected areas or fragile contexts;