A4-0396/96

Resolution on the report of the European Council to the European Parliament on the progress achieved by the European Union in 1995 (pursuant to Article D of the Treaty on European Union) (C4-0409/96)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Article D of the Treaty on European Union,

- having regard to the report of the European Council to the European Parliament on the progress achieved by the European Union in 1995 (C4- 0409/96) and to the activities of the European Council in 1996,

- having regard to its resolution of 18 July 1996 on progress in implementing the common foreign and security policy (January-December 1995) ((OJ C 261, 9.9.1996, p. 154.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 17 May 1995 on the functioning of the Treaty on European Union with a view to the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference - implementation and development of the Union ((OJ C 151, 19.6.1995, p. 56.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 14 December 1995 on the agenda for the l996 Intergovernmental Conference with a view to the Madrid European Council ((OJ C 17, 22.1.1996, p. 149.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 14 December 1995 on the progress made in 1995 in the implementation of cooperation in the fields of justice and home affairs pursuant to Title VI of the Treaty on European Union ((OJ C 17, 22.1.1996, p. 179.)),

- having regard to the final report of the Reflection Group,

- having regard to its resolution of 13 March 1996 embodying: (i) Parliament's opinion on the convening of the IGC and (ii) an evaluation of the work of the Reflection Group and definition of the political priorities of the European Parliament with a view to the Intergovernmental Conference ((OJ C 96, 1.4.1996, p. 77.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 27 March 1996 on the report from the European Council to the European Parliament on the progress of the European Union in 1994 (pursuant to Article D of the Treaty on European Union) ((OJ C 117, 22.4.1196, p. 16.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 19 June 1996 on the Florence European Council and the Intergovernmental Conference ((OJ C 198, 8.7.1996, p. 78.)),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Institutional Affairs (A4- 0396/96),

A. whereas the most important challenge of the Treaty has been to base the Union on the strengthening of democratic legitimacy, of which the European Parliament is the most visible expression, and of the legitimacy of states, of which the European Council is the highest expression,

B. whereas the dialogue between the European Council and the European Parliament pursuant to Article D of the Treaty on European Union is, therefore, a key element in the new architecture of Europe,

C. whereas the construction of this architecture calls for the strengthening of European citizenship and for the genuine practice of subsidiarity as between the Member States and the European institutions,

D. whereas the debates in plenary on the state of the Union must not be used by the European Council as a pretext for not fulfilling its formal obligations towards the European Parliament,

E. whereas the Treaty has so far not been working satisfactorily in the field of social policy; whereas economic recovery in Europe must take place in a context of social integration,

F. whereas the present climate of uncertainty arising from the difficult economic and social situation is increasing the risks of nationalism, and the sole appropriate response is to move ahead with European integration,

G. whereas the necessary realization of EMU seems to be reinforcing monetarist policies, and democratic management of the economy is therefore increasingly necessary,

1. Regrets deeply the failure of the European Council's report to go beyond the mere formal enumeration of the legislative and other measures adopted during the period in question; considers that the European Council is effectively not complying with the responsibility laid on it by the third paragraph of Article D of the Treaty;

2. Recalls that the European Council's duty under the Treaty is to provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development and to define its general political guidelines; stresses that the functions of the European Council are, therefore, different from those of the Council of the European Union;

3. Considers that the nature of the annual report which the European Council is obliged to submit to Parliament should, therefore, be in keeping with its functions as thus defined; calls on the European Council, accordingly, in future to include in its annual report a political assessment of the progress achieved and the problems which have arisen;

4. Calls for the report to be forwarded to Parliament by March each year, and to be accompanied by a description of the measures adopted to deal with the deficiencies pointed out by Parliament in its resolution on the previous year's report;

5. Considers that the above areas merit special assessment given that the absence of measures required for their functioning impairs the credibility of the Union and its institutions;

Economic and monetary union

6. Welcomes the decisions reached by the European Council concerning the introduction of the single currency; considers that these decisions confirm the irreversible nature of the EMU process, in line with the convergence criteria, the timetable and the procedures laid down in the Treaty; considers that the mechanisms that will allow increased cooperation in the economic, social and fiscal fields must also be strengthened;

Employment

7. Reaffirms its conviction that an effective instrument in the common fight against unemployment would be created by including a chapter on employment in the Treaty, setting out the objectives, principles and procedures required to ensure that the Community and the Member States pay due attention to employment when applying all their policies, and creating an 'employment committee' with a similar status to that of the Monetary Committee; reiterates its conviction that more is required than simple coordination between the Member States and that the Union must be given the means to implement common policies in this field;

Internal market

8. Considers that the internal market remains a fundamental asset of the Union, and that the maximum of benefits should be obtained from it through the removal of the remaining obstacles; considers that the Council should come to a decision on the European company statute and on the legal framework for biotechnological inventions;

9. Believes that the national administrations should act to simplify life for business people by eliminating costly and bureaucratic obstacles to job creation;

10. Considers that liberalization must not be introduced to the detriment of the hard-won gains of our society, and that the Treaty text should include a reference to the promotion of services of general interest as an objective;

11. Deplores the questioning of the Union's established and necessary status as a community in law, and the paralysis of the work of the institutions which became a governmental method during the BSE crisis;

Action to combat fraud and protect the Community's financial interests

12. Considers that the effectiveness of action to combat the fraudulent use of Community funds requires that the Treaty should include rules enabling the Union to adopt, by democratic process, the necessary sanctions or other measures;

Transparency

13. Considers that the transparency of the decision-making process and public access to the information it entails constitute basic democratic rights that must be explicitly enshrined in the new Treaty; calls for publication of the result of votes taken in the Council, and calls on the Council to make its meetings open to the public when acting in its legislative capacity;

Citizenship

14. Welcomes the decision adopted in application of Article 8c of the EC Treaty on the protection of Union citizens by diplomatic and consular representations, and recalls that citizenship must acquire a specific legal content and should, therefore, be more precisely defined;

15. Recalls that Article 8a EC states: 'every citizen of the Union shall have the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States', but that the essential accompanying measures which should have been adopted via the intergovernmental procedure provided for in Title VI of the EU Treaty are still awaited, while it was not even possible to realize the objective of free movement of persons under Article 7a EC by 1 January 1993, a matter which Parliament has accordingly brought before the Court of Justice;

16. Considers it necessary to define rules on relations with third countries, to determine the rights and duties of third-country citizens residing in the Union and encourage their integration, and to combat racism, xenophobia, intolerance and all forms of discrimination based on religion, belief or sex;

Legislative process and interinstitutional relations

17. Considers it necessary to redefine what has become an overly complex and inefficient decision-making process, via the simplification of the procedures at present existing under the Treaty, reducing them to codecision, assent and consultation;

18. Reaffirms the need to extend the scope of the codecision procedure to all legislative acts in order to guarantee democratization and simplification of the European legislative process;

19. Considers that, on the evidence of the year under review, the codecision procedure is working well and promisingly, thus demonstrating its vitality and potential; believes, however, that this procedure should be improved and simplified, without modifying its nature;

20. Notes that the problems in respect of codecision in most cases concern the conciliation procedure, and points out that Parliament's delegation has on many occasions had to deal with a Council unwilling to engage in dialogue and bound by a very pronounced 'solidarity' whenever the interests of a Member State or the Council itself were at stake;

21. Regrets the Council's tendency to seek a consensus even where it could proceed to a qualified majority vote, since this factor substantially complicates the negotiations;

22. Deplores the fact that the Conciliation Committee is attended only irregularly by the ministers themselves, and the practice of their being represented by the permanent representatives;

External actions

23. Notes that the Union is the world's largest donor in terms of both multilateral development aid and humanitarian aid and the first to send forces for peace-keeping operations, but that its visibility remains very limited on the international scene because of its lack of powers to implement a real common foreign and security policy;

24. Considers that the Union's external identity must be strengthened; the Union should speak with a single voice on economic matters, ceasing to apply different treatment to trade in goods and trade in services;

CFSP

25. Considers 1995 to have marked a step backward in the implementation of the CFSP, especially as the Union was particularly active in the external field; deplores the fact that the common positions and joint actions were fewer in number and less substantial than in 1994;

26. Stresses the need to set up an analysis centre for evaluating risks and threats from a European perspective;

27. Deplores the failure to reach an interinstitutional agreement on the application of Article J.7 of the EU Treaty, and calls on the Council to keep Parliament regularly informed on CFSP developments and to consult Parliament beforehand on its proposed common positions and joint actions;

Justice and home affairs

28. Notes that Union action in this field is still pointing up the deficiencies of the existing system: lack of democratic control (Article K.6 of the Treaty is being systematically flouted); absence of any legal controls; and the unanimity requirement, which is an obstacle to decision-making;

29. Stresses that decisions adopted under Title VI of the Treaty directly affect citizens and must therefore in all cases be made public;

30. Regrets that the convention setting up Europol, whose adoption has been marked by a whole series of delays, should have admitted the principle of opting out of the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice;

31. Welcomes the efforts which have been made to coordinate anti-terrorist action, in the shape of the La Gomera declaration and the Convention on a simplified procedure for extradition between Member States, and considers that these efforts should be continued in the future; considers that further efforts must be made to coordinate anti-terrorist action;

Enlargement

32. Considers that enlargement is a remarkable opportunity for the political unification of Europe and the strengthening of the guiding principles of the Union, namely liberty, peace, democracy, the protection of human rights and harmonious economic and social development; stresses, however, that the IGC must give the Union the necessary means to enable it to handle enlargement; considers, in addition, that the candidate countries should be aware that the Union is more than the single market and also entails a process of political, economic and monetary unity of the Member States;

Intergovernmental Conference

33. Regrets, accordingly, the Council's decision to exclude Parliament, which is the only Community institution elected by its citizens by direct universal suffrage, from the work of the IGC, even as an observer, despite the endeavours of the Italian presidency;

34. Deplores the lack of goodwill thus far manifested by the IGC negotiators and the repeated declarations by government figures tending to destabilize the Conference;

35. Reaffirms that there can be no enlargement without far-reaching institutional reform of the Union and categorically rejects any attempt to defer what is really at stake in the IGC until a subsequent reform;

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