A4-0357/98

Resolution on the European Council report to the European Parliament on the progress achieved by the Union in 1997 (pursuant to Article D of the Treaty on European Union) (C4-0411/98)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union (formerly Article D),

- having regard to the European Council report to the European Parliament on the progress achieved by the Union in 1997 (C4-0411/98),

- having regard to its resolution of 28 May 1998 on the role of the Union in the world: implementation of the common foreign and security policy for 1997 ((Minutes of that sitting, Part II, Item 10.)),

- having regard to its resolution of 19 November 1997 on the Amsterdam Treaty (CONF 4007/97 - C4-0538/97) ((OJ C 371, 8.12.1997, p. 99.)),

- having regard to the conclusions of the Cardiff European Council,

- having regard to the letter signed on 5 June 1998 by President Chirac and Chancellor Kohl,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Institutional Affairs (A4-0357/98),

A. whereas the signing of the Treaty of Amsterdam, Agenda 2000, and the continued preparations for economic and monetary union enabled European integration to take important steps forward in 1997,

B. whereas the above three events, which have still to find expression at the practical level, already seem to be causing anxiety among the Heads of State or Government and whereas the Union therefore needs to be consolidated in order to operate effectively,

C. whereas the dialogue between the European Council and the European Parliament, established under Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union (formerly Article D), is central to the European system,

D. whereas if they are to give effect to the system, as laid down in the Treaty of Amsterdam and discussed in the letter from Mr Chirac and Mr Kohl to the Cardiff European Council, the Member States will have to demonstrate firmer political resolve,

E. whereas, under the Treaty, the European Council has the task of generating the impetus required for the Union's development and charting the overall policy directions,

1. Decides to deal with the European Council¨s Annual Report on European Union by a different procedure in future years: Parliament will debate the Report as soon as it is presented by the European Council (instead of referring it to its committee responsible for a report on the report);

2. Regrets that the European Council's 1997 report again misinterprets the brief set out in Article 4 (former Article D) of the Treaty on European Union and disregards Parliament's criticisms, since it adopts the purely perfunctory approach of listing the legislative or other activities carried out in the period under review;

3. Regrets that the European Council makes no political assessment of the progress achieved, the problems encountered, or the shortcomings still to be remedied;

4. Believes that, before objectives can be defined, minds must concentrate on the political nature of the European enterprise; maintains that the Union's objectives still hold good and must be restated as well as redefined and adjusted to take account of the far-reaching transformation that the Union will undergo, driven by the single currency and enlargement;

5. Considers that the areas mentioned above warrant specific assessment, given that the Union has reached a stage at which its future depends to a crucial degree on a higher public profile;

Treaty of Amsterdam and institutional balance

6. Draws attention to the call made in its resolution of 19 November 1997 mentioned above for institutional reform to be completed as the first step, thus ensuring that the accession of new Member States any time thereafter can proceed without delay or risk of failure;

7. Notes with satisfaction that the need for institutional reform before any enlargement is beginning to be widely recognised and that the letter from Mr Chirac and Mr Kohl explicitly recognises that such reform is necessary;

8. Notes that the intergovernmental method has failed to bear fruit at institutional level; calls on the Council to learn the lessons of that failure and consider what other method might be employed; points by way of example to the ground-breaking experiences of the Delors and Spaak committees and the Spinelli Draft Treaty; considers that it is now necessary to reactivate the Community method in order to deal with both the substance of reform and the related procedures;

9. Points to the need to preserve the institutional balance by clearly restating the role and powers of each institution:

- the Commission, the guardian of the Treaties and the one institution permitted to exercise the right of initiative, must have its independence reaffirmed;

- the role of the Council, acting as legislative authority in public and voting by a qualified majority, must be strengthened, with unanimous decisions being required for constitutional matters only;

- Parliament must bring the necessary democracy to decision-making in all legislative matters and tighten its supervision of the Commission;

- the Court of Justice must continue to play the role it has performed to date in fostering European integration;

10. Considers that the power conferred on Parliament by the Treaty of Amsterdam, whereby it may endorse or refuse to endorse the nominee for the Commission presidency, will strengthen the Union's democratic legitimacy and raise its profile on account of the specific policies that the nominee will have to put forward;

11. Considers that the Commission should undertake to draw up a preliminary draft reform plan by the end of the year and that the informal European Council should in turn lay down that task and set a deadline for its completion to ensure that Parliament will have a preliminary draft to debate when the European Council meets in December 1998;

12. Believes that democratic legitimacy would be strengthened by better cooperation with the national parliaments aimed at making up lost time and exerting pressure on the Vienna European Council;

The euro, enlargement, and Agenda 2000

13. Maintains that revitalisation of European integration to bring about political union will be impossible unless the single currency and enlargement are carried through to a successful conclusion;

14. Considers it essential to make a success of the agricultural and structural policy reform measures, the pre-accession measures, and the future financial provisions of Agenda 2000;

15. Considers that the new financial framework must serve to meet the cost of enlargement without jeopardising the continuity of the solidarity and cohesion policies and demonstrate by hard evidence that further enlargement will not work to the detriment of deeper integration;

16. Points out that, in the medium term, completion of a market consisting of 500 million consumers can only help trade and employment and that the financial aspect must consequently be seen in the proper proportion;

The CFSP

17. Points out that the common foreign and security policy has to be implemented to satisfy the legitimate expectations of the public, who are keenly aware that the Union should play a major role in international crisis management and conflict prevention;

18. Hopes, therefore, that the institutional reforms will also extend to the common foreign and security policy to ensure that the Union's political weight is commensurate with its status as the principal donor of aid;

19. Regrets that, as the Kosovo crisis has shown, the Member States are failing to invoke the Treaty provisions that would enable them to act together on the international stage;

20. Hopes that the provisions laid down in the Treaty of Amsterdam will be implemented prior to its ratification with a view to:

- making the CFSP coherent and effective by setting up a planning and analysis unit, which must operate in accordance with a genuine joint approach, and raising the public profile of the common foreign and security policy by appointing the Secretary-General to represent the Union;

- encouraging the Commission to exercise its right to submit proposals to the Council;

- clarifying the procedures for informing and consulting Parliament;

- speeding up progress as regards defence policy coordination and integration of the WEU into the European Union, bearing in mind that membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation does not debar the European Union from taking independent action;

- establishing the principle that respect for human rights is a corner-stone of the CFSP and must be mentioned in all EU agreements with non-member countries and creating adequate legal bases for an EU human rights policy;

- guaranteeing consistency between the CFSP and the common commercial policy;

21. Is convinced that EU foreign policy has to take a higher profile in order to be credible in the eyes of the public; draws attention to its proposals to set up European civil intervention corps and establish diplomatic representation at Union level in non-member countries where fewer than four Member States have diplomatic posts;

Justice and home affairs

22. Hopes that entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam can pave the way for progress in this difficult area and calls for an action plan to explore the political implications of the opportunities afforded by the new provisions of the Treaty;

23. Draws attention to the principle set out in the Protocol annexed to the Treaty of Amsterdam whereby the Schengen acquis is to be integrated into the framework of the Union and hopes that:

- the Council will give effect to integration by determining which elements of the Schengen acquis should be integrated into the Union framework, distinguishing between first- and third-pillar elements; notes that the procedure for incorporating the Schengen Secretariat into the Council's working machinery has still to be specified;

- the preparatory work will be completed in such a way that the above measures can be adopted as soon as the Treaty of Amsterdam has entered into force; considers that explicit provision should be made for consultation of Parliament;

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