ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
12.

Notes that only one Member State has made use of the opportunities offered by axis 4 of the European Fisheries Fund to finance projects whose beneficiaries are women, and urges the Member States to seize the opportunities offered by the EMFF in order to: — apply the principle of equal opportunities, both when drawing up and when developing or implementing operational programmes; — make the fisheries sector more women-friendly by redesigning the sector and providing suitable facilities (such as changing-rooms on vessels and in ports); — support associations of women and their organisation in networks (e.g. net-makers, port workers, packers); — support projects to mitigate the problems arising from the working conditions of women harvesting shellfish on foot, including measures to balance work and family life; — support projects to promote, diversify and raise the profile of the role played by women in fisheries and aquaculture; — offer women and girls easier access to training by financing specific training and vocational education and professional recognition of their activity; Member States should, for this purpose, launch processes for obtaining officially recognised skills certificates and set up training centres for the professional activities traditionally carried out by women in the various communities; — offer girls improved employment opportunities and support continuity between generations, in particular by developing activities that are sustainable for the marine environment; — boost vocational training, in particular for women working in the fisheries and aquaculture sector, with a view to increasing their opportunities for accessing management posts and skilled technical and managerial jobs related to fisheries, on the basis of equal pay; — enhancing women’s role in fishing, in particular by granting support for activities carried out on land and activities associated with fishing, both in production and in processing, marketing and sales; — promote business initiatives launched by women, including, where appropriate, the economic diversification of certain activities related to the fisheries sector, among them activities such as museology, cultural traditions, crafts, gastronomy and the restaurant industry; — promote business initiatives in areas of activity unrelated to fishing in coastal areas where jobs have been lost as a result of implementation of the fisheries reform;
28.

Urges the KSA authorities to revoke the male guardianship system, and warns that the implementation of the law protecting women against domestic violence, adopted on 26 August 2013, will only be effective if the male guardianship system is removed, since the latter impedes the ability of women to report incidents of domestic or sexual abuse; urges the KSA authorities to also eliminate all restrictions on women’s human rights, freedom of movement, health, education, marriage, employment opportunities, legal personality and representation in judicial processes, and all forms of discrimination against women in family law and in private and public life in order to promote their participation in the economic, social, cultural, civic and political spheres; welcomes the global campaign in support of lifting the ban on women driving; calls on the authorities to stop exerting pressure on those who campaign for the right of women to drive; further reminds the Saudi Government of its commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and of those which are incumbent upon it under UN General Assembly resolution 53/144 adopting the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders; draws attention to the need to promote awareness-raising campaigns and to also direct these at men, so that they too are aware of women’s rights and of the overall repercussions on society if those rights are not respected; stresses that this information should also reach rural areas and areas that are isolated from the rest of the country;
4.

Believes that this logic also prevailed in the way the MFF agreement was struck by the European Council on 8 February 2013; considers it regrettable that this was reflected in the fact that the national allocations, especially from the two biggest areas of expenditure in the EU budget, agriculture and cohesion policy, were determined at that moment; criticises, in particular, the increased number of special allocations and ‘gifts’ granted in the course of negotiations between Heads of State and Government, which are not based on objective and verifiable criteria, but rather reflect the bargaining power of Member States, trying to secure their national interests and maximise their net returns; denounces the lack of transparency in striking this agreement and the reluctance of the Council and the Commission to provide Parliament with all relevant documents; highlights that the European added value should prevail over national interests;
14.

Welcomes the release of several prisoners of conscience in Iran, including the human rights lawyer and Sakharov Prize winner Nasrin Sotoudeh, and calls on the Iranian authorities to release all imprisoned human rights defenders, political prisoners, trade unionists and labour activists, and those detained after the 2009 presidential elections; notes with interest President Hassan Rouhani’s initiative of formulating a Charter of Citizens’ Rights; expresses continued grave concern, however, regarding the human rights situation in Iran, in particular the widespread allegations of torture, unfair trials –– including of lawyers and human rights defenders — and impunity for human rights violations; expresses alarm with regard to the high number of executions in 2013 and 2014, including of minors; notes that most of the 2013 executions were carried out during the last five months of the year; condemns the restrictions on freedom of information, freedom of association, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, academic freedom, freedom of education and freedom of movement, as well as the repression and discrimination on the basis of religion, belief, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation that persist, inter alia against the Baha’i community, Christians, apostates and converts;
3.

Calls on the Tanzanian Government to immediately implement the VGGT and grant the effective justiciability of the rights enshrined therein; to uphold the first fundamental principle of the Guiding Principles on LSLBI, which includes respecting the human rights of communities and customary land rights and contributes to the responsible governance of land and land-based resources in compliance with the rule of law; and to improve land rights for women, who account for at least half of the workforce in farming and trading, but whose access to property rights and the services that accompany such rights (e.g. access to banks and participation in associations) remains constrained, as well as land rights for vulnerable communities and social groups, such as pastoral communities;
11.

Notes that a large majority of inquiries conducted by the Ombudsman over the past year (64,3 %) concerned the European Commission; recognises that the Commission is the institution whose decisions are most likely to directly affect citizens, civil society organisations and businesses; understands that the Commission is therefore the main object of public scrutiny; notes with concern, however, that the share of complaints concerning the Commission has risen compared to 2012 when it was 52,7 %; encourages the Ombudsman to examine the reasons for this increase in order to help improve the Commission’s administration and thus increase the credibility of the EU institutions as a whole; calls on the new Commission to take rapid action to improve its performance with the objective of reducing the number of complaints against it; considers that the involvement of the Commission in opaque entities such as the Troika does not tend to promote transparency and accountability within the Union, nor does it respect the principle of subsidiarity;
28.

Reminds the government and the political parties of their responsibility to create a culture of inclusion and tolerance; calls for the anti-discrimination law to be aligned with the acquis as it does not prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation; condemns all violence against the LGBTI community and calls for the perpetrators, including those responsible for violent incidents against the LGBTI Support Centre in Skopje, to be brought to justice; underlines the need to combat prejudices and discrimination against the Roma and to take further measures to improve their situation, particularly in the areas of housing, health, education and employment; calls on the authorities to ensure a gender perspective in all policy areas aimed at ensuring equality between men and women; reiterates its concern at the continued existence of gender stereotypes in society and at domestic violence; encourages the government to address the structural gender and pay gap in the economic, political and social fields; calls on the Commission to fulfil its own commitment to making the Employment and Social Policy Chapter a priority in the accession process, by launching an initiative in this respect in the High Level Accession Dialogue with the country;
15.

Takes note that President Draghi, in his speech at the annual central bank symposium in Jackson Hole on 22 August 2014, stated that we need action on both sides of the economy, noting the following: that aggregate demand policies have to be accompanied by national structural reforms and policies; that on the demand side, monetary policy can and should play a central role, which currently means an accommodative monetary policy for an extended period of time; that there is scope for fiscal policy to play a greater role alongside monetary policy while sustainability of public debt needs to be taken into account; and that, while a revamp of public investment is needed to trigger further private investment and facilitate structural reforms, emphasis also needs to be laid on adequate fiscal policy measures;
29.

Notes that legal provisions on freedom of expression are in place; is concerned, however, about political and financial pressure on the media and cases of threats and intimidation against journalists and editors, including during the pre-electoral period; condemns attempts to undermine the existing rules, which could have damaging implications for freedom of expression and media freedom, including on line; stresses that events such as the police raid on the offices of Klix.ba in Sarajevo and the recent adoption by the RSNA of the controversial Law on Public Order and Peace raise serious concerns about freedom of expression and freedom of the media, including in social media; stresses that the ability of the media to operate without fear is essential to a healthy democracy; urges that freedom of expression and media freedom be fully respected and that journalists be allowed to obtain information on matters of public interest; stresses that stable and sustainable financing, editorial independence, broadcasting in all official languages and pluralism are essential to public-service media; calls on the authorities to close all legislative loopholes which systematically hamper the full transparency of media ownership and to prepare a regulation to ensure that no undue political influence is exerted; urges the competent authorities to safeguard the political, institutional and financial independence of public-service broadcasters and to harmonise entity laws on public broadcasting with state-level legislation; urges the merit-based appointment of the Director of the BiH Communication Regulatory Agency Council;
65.

Reiterates its request that the European Court of Auditors (ECA) produce a special report on the performance and alignment with EU policies of EIB external lending activities before the mid-term review of the EIB’s external mandate, and to compare their added value with regard to the own resources used by the EIB; asks the ECA, furthermore, to differentiate in its analysis between the guarantees granted by the EU budget, the investment facility guaranteed by the EDF, the various forms of blending used in the EU-Africa infrastructural trust fund, the Caribbean investment fund and the investment facility for the Pacific, and the usage of reflows for these investments; also asks the European Court of Auditors to include in its analysis the management by the EIB of funds derived from the EU budget in the context of the investment facility via the European Development Fund and through the various forms of blending via EU blending facilities, and the usage of reflows for these investments;
10.

Calls on the Council to include the issue of safe and legal abortion in the EU Guidelines on rape and violence against women and girls; asks the Commission to ensure that European development cooperation follows an approach that is based on human rights, with a particular emphasis on gender equality and combating all forms of sexual violence against women and girls; underscores the fact that universal access to health, in particular sexual and reproductive health and the associated rights, is a fundamental human right, and emphasises the right to voluntarily access family planning services, including safe and legal abortion-related care, and the need for information and education aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality and eliminating all forms of gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation, child, early and forced marriage, gendercide, forced sterilisation and marital rape;
30.

Urges the Commission to step up its efforts to achieve a level playing field in European defence markets in order to fight protectionist practices by Member States by promoting cross-border cooperation and better access to defence industry supply chains, and by taking steps to put an end to the situation whereby some Member States act solely as suppliers and others solely as buyers of defence technology; believes, in this regard, that the use of exclusions in accordance with Directive 2009/81/EC has to be duly justified; calls on the Commission to inform Parliament of the effects of the seven sets of Guidance Notes (on, respectively, Field of Application, Exclusions, R&D, Security of Supply, Security of Information, Subcontracting, Offsets) that have already been published, and notes that the Commission plans to release two more in 2015; believes that these notes constitute the perfect opportunity for the Commission to establish a dialogue with the Member States on subjects that have never been addressed in a structured and open manner, and requests information on the outcome of such a dialogue with the Member States;
42.

Reiterates its support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of the partner countries; takes the view that the ENP should contribute to and be supportive of these principles in practice; stresses that that frozen or protracted conflicts hamper the full development of the ENP; regrets, in this regard, that since the launch of the ENP no progress has been made in the resolution of the existing conflicts; recalls its position that the occupation of territory of a partner country violates the fundamental principles and objectives of the ENP; emphasises the need for the earliest peaceful settlement of the frozen conflicts on the basis of the norms and principles of international law; calls on the VP/HR to play a more active role making clear that the deepening of bilateral relations is linked to peaceful conflict resolution and respect for international law; underlines, in this context, the importance of pursuing a principled policy of promoting accountability for all violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and of avoiding double standards, in particular in this regard;
C.

whereas since the beginning of the 2011 uprising Bahraini authorities have been stepping up the use of repressive measures against civil society activists and peaceful opposition; whereas on 10 June 2014, 47 States, including all 28 EU Member States, signed a joint statement at the 26th Session of the UN Human Rights Council noting serious concerns over the human rights situation in Bahrain; whereas the joint statement expressly noted areas of concern, including long sentences for exercising the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the lack of sufficient guarantees of a fair trial, the repression of demonstrations, the continued harassment and imprisonment of persons exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and expression, ill-treatment and torture in detention facilities, the arbitrary deprivation of nationality without due process, and insufficient accountability for human rights violations;
13.

Recalls that the possibilities for people in need of protection to legally enter the EU are very limited, and deplores the fact that they have no other option but to resort to criminal smugglers and dangerous routes to find protection in Europe, as a result of, among other factors, the building of fences and sealing-off of external borders; considers it therefore a high priority that the EU and its Member Statescreate safe and legal avenues for refugees, such as humanitarian corridors and humanitarian visas; stresses that, in addition to a compulsory resettlement programme, Member States should agree to provide other tools, such as enhanced family reunification, private sponsorship schemes and flexible visa arrangements, including for study and work; believes that it is necessary to amend the Visa Code by including more specific common provisions on humanitarian visas; asks Member States to make it possible to apply for asylum at their embassies and consular offices;
19.

Expresses disappointment with the low levels of implementation of Milk Package measures in outermost regions and mountainous, insular and disadvantaged areas, and underlines that it is indispensable to maintain dairy farms as viable and competitive businesses in all of the territories of the Union; considers, in this respect, that these areas must be the focus of special attention and specific studies by the Commission and Member States and that the use of short supply chains, giving preference to local production in these specific cases, must be encouraged in order to ensure continued production in these regions and to avoid abandonment of the sector; urges the Commission and the Member States furthermore to improve and strengthen the milk distribution regimes in schools, favouring short supply chains and thereby enabling the distribution of production in these regions; highlights the fact that in these areas production costs are typically close to or above farm-gate prices and considers that the current uncertainties of the supply chain are particularly detrimental to these areas, which have the strongest barriers and reduced opportunities for economies of scale; recalls that farmers in these areas depend directly and exclusively on a small number of input suppliers and buyers for their agricultural production because of their geographic isolation; stresses that support for the setting-up and activities of producer organisations should better reflect the realities of these regions; stresses that it is necessary to carry out ambitious policies to support these regions with the aid of policies for rural development, the Investment Plan and the promotion and fine-tuning of CAP aid, as permitted by the latest reform; calls on the Commission, therefore, to encourage the Member States to implement such measures, in order to enable the preservation of milk production in these regions; urges the Commission to closely monitor the evolution of dairy production in these areas and to assess the economic impact of the end of quotas on dairy farms; believes that it is necessary to allocate additional resources to the POSEI programme so as to assist milk producers in adapting to the effects resulting from the deregulation of the markets and enabling them to maintain viable and competitive dairy production relative to the rest of the European area;
17.

Highlights the importance of the cultural, educational, social and sustainable components of the non-agricultural products that will be included in this process, and stresses the need to preserve, pass on and develop the traditional know-how and skills associated with them, and to foster closer cooperation with the creative industries, not least with a view to highlighting the quality of the materials used and of the end products; calls for the use of the name or logo to be accessible to all producers from the given area who manufacture the product in the way prescribed;
30.

Considers it essential to support older people in living independently and actively for as long as possible, as set out in Article 25 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, by developing and maintaining people-oriented and demand-driven public support, assistance and care services and by improving the connection between these services; calls, therefore, on the Member States to ensure affordable, accessible and non-discriminatory health care and to prioritise prevention in their health care policies; calls, therefore, on the Commission to implement the Social Investment Package, to keep healthy ageing and the adequacy and quality of long-term care high on the political agenda, and to analyse the affordability of health care for older people, collect data on waiting times in health care systems across the EU and propose guidelines for maximum waiting times; considers it essential to promote personal and individual responsibility for one’s own health, with a marked increase in the level of information on health care and national motivation campaigns, as well as to encourage cooperation on health literacy in order to empower older persons to take care of their health; recalls that we should devote greater attention to innovative technological solutions and tools; finally, recognises the importance of effective dissemination of information relating to local services and entitlements in achieving this goal;
14.

Urges the Commission to adopt and implement the new Real Driving Emissions test cycle without any further delay, and to bring it into force for regulatory purposes; welcomes the report on the reduction of pollutant emissions from road vehicles (the Deß report, A8-0270/2015) adopted by Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety on 23 September 2015, and in particular the requirement that the Commission ‘introduce a real driving emissions test for all vehicles type-approved or registered from 2015 to ensure the effectiveness of emission control systems and enable the vehicle to comply with this Regulation and its implementing measures, with a conformity factor reflecting only the possible tolerances of the emissions measurement procedure in place by 2017’; urges the Member States and the Commission to swiftly come to an agreement on a framework for the test cycle on that basis;