ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
Thursday 6 May 1999C 279/420 EN 1.10.1999 Official Journal of the European Communities
25. Middle East peace process
B4-0460, 0479, 0486, 0488, 0495 and 0503/99
Resolution on the Middle East peace process and the 4 May 1999 deadline
The European Parliament ,
− recalling its previous resolutions on the Middle East peace process,− having regard to UN Security Council Resolutions 242, 338 and 425,− having regard to the statement by the Berlin European Council of 25 March 1999 on the Middle East
peace process,
A. whereas under the Oslo Agreement the parties concerned agreed on a transitional period up to 4 May
1999 with a view to reaching a final status agreement,
B. pointing out that, once the Israeli general election has taken place, all the negotiations already started
between the Israelis and the Palestinians will have to be resumed and the Wye Plantationmemorandum will have to be applied without delay,
C. whereas both the European Union and the United States of America have called for an early
resumption of the final status negotiations with the aim of concluding these within one year,
D. whereas the Palestinian authorities decided to accept an extension of the transitional period beyond
4 May 1999,
E. noting with satisfaction the reiteration by the Foreign Ministers attending the Euro-Mediterranean
Conference in Stuttgart of their firm commitment to the basic principles underpinning the peaceprocess,
1. Welcomes the statement issued by the Berlin European Council on the peace process, particularly
the Palestinians’ unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to create a state, which theEU is prepared to consider recognising in due course, and the undertakings given by the EU concerningthe future settlement of the conflict;
2. Reiterates its conviction that the final outcome of the current process must be the establishment of an
independent Palestinian state and recognition of the State of Israel’s existence and its right to security;
3. Welcomes the Palestinian authorities’ decision to accept an extension of the transitional period
beyond 4 May 1999;
4. Calls on the parties concerned to resume the final status negotiations with a view to an early
conclusion and to refrain from unilateral actions and declarations on issues that form part of suchnegotiations (borders, water, the settlements, refugees and the final status of the Palestinians andJerusalem);
5. Calls on the Commission, the Council and the Member States and on the EU Special Envoy to make
every effort to promote the resumption of these negotiations and calls, further, for the resumption of thenegotiations on the Syrian and Lebanese aspects of the peace process;
6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments
and parliaments of the Member States, the EU Special Envoy, the Government and Parliament of Israeland the Palestinian National Authority and Legislative Council.
2. European postal services
B5-0116/2000
European Parliament resolution on European postal services
The European Parliament,
Rdash having regard to European Parliament and Council Directive 97/67/EC on common rules for the
development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality ofservice(
1),
Rdash having regard to its resolution of 14 January 1999 on European postal services(2),
A. reiterating yet again its position concerning the need for a high-quality universal service as a key
objective of Directive 97/67/EC and as an essential element of any EC policy in this area,
B. recalling that the Commission was required under Article 7 of Directive 97/67/EC to table new pro-
posals before the end of 1998 on the pursuit of progressive and controlled liberalisation of the inter-nal postal market and that this proposal has not been submitted to date,
C. mindful of the economic and social importance of postal services in the European Union and there-
fore the importance of impact studies undertaken by the Commission in this field,
D. whereas, to date, the Commission has not responded to the requests laid down by Parliament in its
abovementioned resolution of 14 January 1999,
1. Repeats its request that the Commission forward the various feasibility studies on the economic and
social impact of the liberalisation possibilities as foreseen;
2. Asks the Commission to take account of Parliament’s active role in the preparation of the new pro-
posal, as stipulated in Article 7(3) of Directive 97/67/EC, in order to facilitate the legislative procedure and
to compensate for the accumulated delays on the Commission’s inability to act;
3. Asks the Commission to adopt a position on the statements set out in its abovementioned resolu-
tions of 14 January 1999 before tabling any specific proposals;
4. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Economic and
Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the parliaments of the Member States.
(1) OJ L 15, 21.1.1998, p. 14.
(2) OJ C 104, 14.4.1999, p. 134.29.11.2000 EN C 339/297 Official Journal of the European Communities
Friday 18 February 2000
9. Trial of former Khmer Rouge in Cambodia
B5-0055, 0057, 0063, 0070, 0075 and 0080/2001
European Parliament resolution on the trial of Khmer Rouge members in Cambodia
The European Parliament,
A. having regard to the need to try all leaders of Democratic Kampuchea responsible for the deaths of
some two million Cambodians under the 1975-1979 ‘killing fields’ regime,
B. having regard to the agreement adopted in July 2000 between the UN and the Cambodian govern-
ment for the purpose of setting up a special Tribunal composed of Cambodian and foreign judges totry those responsible for Cambodian deaths between 1975 and 1979,
C. convinced that the democratic process in Cambodia, the stability of the new institutions and the reha-
bilitation of civil society can only become a reality if those responsible for this genocide are obliged toface a court,
D. having regard to the amnesty law exonerating from their crimes all Khmer Rouge members who
rallied to the regime,
E. whereas those chiefly responsible continue to live out an untroubled life in the country in regions
bordering on Thailand,
F. whereas only two such persons are today in prison, Ta Mok, who had supplanted Pol Pot within the
Khmer Rouge movement in 1997 by having him sentenced to life imprisonment, before being cap-tured in March 1999, and Kang Kek Leu, former director of the Tuol Sleng torture centre,
1. Commemorates with profound sadness the victims of the horrifying genocide that engulfed Cambo-
dia;
2. Welcomes the fact that on 2 January 2001 the National Assembly of Cambodia, followed on 15 Jan-
uary 2001 by the Senate, passed unanimously a draft law on the Khmer Rouge trial;
3. Welcomes the fact that the Tribunal to be held in Phnom Penh will include both Cambodian and
foreign judges and prosecutors, and will focus on crimes committed by Khmer Rouge leaders from April1975 to January 1979;
4. Calls on the Constitutional Council to approve this draft law as quickly as possible before it is signed
into law by King Sihanouk;
5. Calls on the Cambodian Government, once the law is passed, to meet again with UN officials to sign
a cooperation agreement and start the trial process;
6. Hopes that the trials will begin as soon as possible, and not later than the end of the year; hopes also
that they will not be confined to the two individuals responsible currently imprisoned;
7. Recalls that the transparency and impartiality of the judicial system as well as international judicial
cooperation and respect for democratic principles are essential elements for the renewal of EU/Cambodiarelations;
8. Welcomes the ending of the culture of impunity from which dictatorial regimes guilty of violating
human rights have too often benefited;
9. Draws attention to the extensive EU assistance to Cambodia, amounting to nearly USD 786 million
between 1992 and 1998, and including € 67,1 million for the European Programme for the Rehabilitationof Cambodia;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the UN and
ASEAN, and to the Government and Parliament of Cambodia.C 262/258 EN 18.9.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 18 January 2001
F.

whereas the television stations controlled by the government have virtually ignored the rallies; whereas, under the state of emergency, local journalists are barred from disseminating any information that comes from a source other than the government; whereas, as a consequence, seven leading newspapers, some independent and some linked to the opposition, have refused to operate under such restrictions and suspended publication; whereas the internet and satellite connections of some independent papers have been blocked,
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 184/23

Tuesday 19 February 2008

Abuse of power by supermarkets

P6_TA(2008)0054

Declaration of the European Parliament on investigating and remedying abuse of power by large supermarkets operating in the European Union

2009/C 184 E/04

The European Parliament,

having regard to Rule 116 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas, throughout the EU, retailing is increasingly dominated by a small number of supermarket chains,

B. whereas these retailers are fast becoming ‘gatekeepers’, controlling farmers' and other suppliers' only real access to EU consumers,

C. whereas evidence from across the EU suggests large supermarkets are abusing their buying power to force down prices paid to suppliers (based both within and outside the EU) to unsustainable levels and impose unfair conditions upon them,

D. whereas such squeezes on suppliers have negative knock-on effects on both quality of employment and environmental protection,

E. whereas consumers potentially face a loss in diversity of products, cultural heritage and retail outlets,

F. whereas some Member States have introduced legislation attempting to limit such abuse, yet large supermarkets increasingly operate across national borders, making EU legislation desirable,

1. Calls upon DG Competition to investigate the impact that the concentration of the EU supermarket sector is having on small businesses, suppliers, workers and consumers and, in particular, to assess any abuses of buying power which may follow from such concentration;

2. Requests the Commission to propose appropriate measures, including regulation, to protect consumers, workers and producers from any abuse of a dominant position or other negative impact identified in the course of this investigation;
13.

Commends the internal political and institutional reforms undertaken by Armenia following the constitutional reform and in the context of implementation of the ENP Action Plan; encourages the Armenian authorities to continue on this path and to make further progress in strengthening democratic structures, the rule of law and protection of human rights; calls, in particular, for further efforts to be made in establishing an independent judiciary, in promoting reforms in the police, the civil service and local government, in fighting corruption and in creating a vibrant civil society; notes the statement of the International Election Observation Mission that the parliamentary elections held in May 2007 were largely in accordance with international commitments; trusts that the Armenian authorities will work closely with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe to address remaining issues in order to further improve the standards already attained and fully to guarantee the free and fair conduct of the presidential elections to be held on 19 February 2008; encourages, generally, the establishment of a constructive dialogue between the government and the opposition with a view to strengthening pluralism as the core element of democracy; further calls on the Armenian authorities to investigate allegations of violence and ill-treatment in police custody and penitentiary institutions and corruption and breaches of freedom of expression,
8.

Calls on the Presidency of the European Union and the Commission to monitor closely the mediation mission led by Kofi Annan and, if required, to ensure an immediate continuation of those mediation efforts by a high-level European Union delegation, possibly in the context of a joint EU-AU initiative; calls on the Commission to offer to the Kenyan authorities all necessary technical and financial assistance in the process of an independent examination of the presidential elections, as well as in the steps deemed necessary to redress the situation;
EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 247/48

Thursday 10 April 2008

Subtitling of all public service television programmes in the EU

P6_TA(2008)0127

Declaration of the European Parliament on the subtitling of all public service television programmes in the EU

2009/C 247 E/09

The European Parliament,

having regard to Articles 3, 13, 149 and 151 of the EC Treaty,

having regard to Rule 116 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the European Union should ensure that citizens have equal access to information, education and culture,

B. whereas partial or complete loss of hearing is a condition that affects more than 83 million people in Europe; whereas, given the ageing of the European population, this problem will continue to grow,

C. whereas access to television in Europe is universal; whereas public service television has a public service mission consisting, among other things, in informing and educating viewers,

D. whereas today's technology enables television programmes (including live programmes) to be subtitled as they go out, one example of this being programmes broadcast by the BBC, which has undertaken to subtitle all of its programmes from April 2008,

1. Considers the subtitling of all public service television programmes in the European Union to be essential with a view to ensuring that all viewers, including deaf and hard-of-hearing persons, have full access to them; takes the view that this would also help with foreign-language learning;

2. Calls on the Commission to put forward a legislative proposal requiring public service television broadcasters in the European Union to subtitle all of their programmes;

3. Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories, to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

List of signatories
7.

Shares the view that the Council's ‘red lines’ should be followed by the Member States (8) according to the principle of loyal cooperation provided for in Article 10 of the EC Treaty and also applicable, according to the case law of the Court of Justice (C-105/03 or the AETR case (22/70)), with regard to the fulfilment of the obligations embodied in the EU Treaty; stresses notably the fact that: — participation in the VWP should create as soon as possible the same rights for all citizens of the Member States, under the same conditions, in terms of the status of their passports; — any access for the US to EU/EC databases or information systems should be prohibited unless expressly permitted by EC law and, if so, should be commonly agreed to by the EU and based on full respect for the principle of reciprocity; the granting of access should therefore only be allowed as far as it is in line with the specific purpose of these EU information systems, as stated in their respective legal bases; in addition, an adequate level of protection must be ensured, in compliance with the criteria set forth in the relevant EU data protection instruments, whether general (Directive 95/46/EC) or specific (such as the Europol Convention, Eurodac Regulation and Schengen Convention); — any extension to Interpol of the reporting of data on lost and stolen passports should be commonly agreed by the EU; — airport security in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards is sufficiently guaranteed by the existing EC rules (US inspections might be agreed where there are direct flights between airports on EU territory and the US); — any formal agreement on repatriation of EU citizens should be acceptable only on the basis of reciprocity, to be negotiated and concluded between the EC and the US; — obligations relating to the possible introduction of an electronic system for travel authorisations for US citizens travelling to the EU should be negotiated by the EC;
9.

Welcomes the international community's efforts to make available their best practice in civil emergency and disaster relief work in order to help China and its people who have been affected by the earthquake; calls on the organisations involved to provide enough financial aid for the accomplishment of the commitments;
3.

Calls on the Commission and the Council, within the framework of the ongoing negotiations for a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Vietnam, which will include a clear human rights and democracy clause accompanied by a mechanism for the implementation of that clause, to raise with the Vietnamese side the need to stop the current systematic violation of democracy and human rights before the finalisation of the Agreement and, in particular, to ask the Vietnamese Government: — as a member of the UN Security Council, to actively cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms, by inviting the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, who last visited Vietnam in 1998, and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which last visited Vietnam in 1994, to visit Vietnam; and to provide UN officials and Special Rapporteurs with unrestricted access to all regions, including the Central and Northern Highlands, where they should be allowed to conduct confidential interviews with political and religious prisoners and detainees, as well as with Montagnard asylum seekers returned to Vietnam from Cambodia; — to immediately release all people imprisoned or detained for the peaceful expression of political or religious beliefs, including more than 300 Montagnard Christians, as well as Khmer Krom Buddhist monks, democracy activists, land rights petitioners, cyber-dissidents, trade union leaders, Catholic parishioners, and followers of Hòa Ho Buddhism and the Cao Đài religion; — to immediately provide full freedom from house arrest to Thích Qung Đ and Tim Sakhorn; — to allow independent religious organisations to freely conduct religious activities without government interference and allow those religious organisations to independently register with the government if they choose to do so; to return church properties and pagodas confiscated by the Vietnamese Government and to re-establish the legal status of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam; — to repeal provisions in Vietnamese law that criminalise dissent and certain religious activities on the basis of imprecisely defined ‘national security’ crimes, and to ensure that those laws cannot be applied against persons who have exercised their basic rights to freedom of expression, assembly, association and religious belief; — to end the Vietnamese Government's censorship and control over the domestic media, including the internet and electronic communications, and authorise the publication of independent, privately-run newspapers and magazines;
29.

Acknowledges the specific geography of the region and its strategic situation, which make the area the natural transit point for trade in goods, in particular primary energy products (crude oil and natural gas), between Europe and Asia; welcomes the launch of major sub-regional transport projects such as the ‘South-Eastern axis’ which will facilitate the inclusion in real terms of the Western Balkan countries in the wider energy pipeline network linking the European Union with Turkey and the countries of the Caucasus; calls on the Commission and the Western Balkan countries to make sufficient financial resources available for infrastructure modernisation, with particular reference to the logistics sector, and to carry out the necessary reforms to make the sector more competitive and dynamic;
6.

Calls on the EU institutions and the national, regional and local authorities in the Member States to make the fullest possible use of existing legal provisions and best practices in order to step up dialogue with citizens and civil society organisations; considers, in particular, that the European Parliament Information Offices in each Member State should play an active role in the promotion, organisation and management of forums that take place at least annually between Parliament and representatives of civil society in that Member State, and stresses the importance of the regular participation of its Members, both from the Member State concerned and from other Member States, in those forums;
44.

Points out that all minors have the right to education, whether or not they are in their country of origin; calls on the Member States to guarantee that right, including when minors are in detention; calls for access to education to be provided directly in the community, in an appropriate manner corresponding to the assessment of the level of the child's knowledge, while at the same time developing transitional models allowing the acquisition of the necessary linguistic competences for a normal education, so as to ensure the best possible integration of children and their families;
39.

Notes that Sudan is not represented, the authorities of this country not considering themselves bound by the Tripoli Declaration of Heads of State and Government, and wishes to see all elements of the 2005 Peace Agreement implemented, as stated in said Declaration, including therefore the referendum scheduled for January 2011which must allow the people of southern Sudan to choose their own destiny;
4.

Calls for the establishment of a specific European integrated and flexible policy framework for dealing with mountain regions, islands and sparsely populated areas on the basis of their shared features, while also taking proper account of different situations and showing due regard for the principle of proportionality; is of the opinion that cohesion policy should address the situation of the islands not just through regional policy measures, but also using other EU policies that have a significant territorial impact on the development of these regions; believes that a European policy framework for mountain regions, islands and sparsely populated areas may have the added value required in order to overcome the permanent handicaps of these regions and adapt their development model in such a way as to make good use of their assets;
3.

Notes that on the one hand citizens are portrayed as having an essential role in ensuring compliance with EU law on the ground (4), whilst on the other – in EU Pilot – they are even further excluded from any subsequent procedure; considers that this is not in line with the Treaties’ solemn declarations that ‘decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen’ (Article 1 TEU), that ‘the Union institutions … shall conduct their work as openly as possible’ (Article 15 TFEU) and that ‘[I]n all its activities, the Union shall observe the principle of the equality of its citizens, who shall receive equal attention from its institutions’ (Article 9 TEU);
12.

Hopes that the upcoming elections due to be held on 28 November 2010 will be held in full compliance with international standards and reminds all concerned that the pre-election campaign must provide equal opportunities for all political forces; expects measures to be taken to ensure the effectiveness of the right to vote of Moldovan citizens living abroad and states that the de facto authorities in the breakaway region of Transnistria have no right to prevent Moldovan citizens from taking part in the voting process;