B4-1334, 1335, 1336, 1338 and 1340/96

Resolution on the implementation of the legislative programme for 1996 and the Commission's programme of work for 1997

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Interinstitutional Declaration by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 25 October 1993 on democracy, transparency and subsidiarity, concerning the transparency of the decision- making process of the Union institutions, annexed to Parliament's resolution of 17 November 1993 on this subject ((OJ C 329, 6.12.1993, p. 132.)),

- having regard to the Code of Conduct agreed on 15 March 1995 between the European Parliament and the Commission ((OJ C 89, 10.4.1995, p. 69.)),

- having regard to the report on the implementation of the legislative programme and the Commission's other activities in 1996 (SEC(96)1779),

- having regard to the Commission's work programme for 1997 (COM(96)0507),

- having regard to the statement of 22 October 1996 by the President of the Commission and the debate on that subject ((See Verbatim Report of Proceedings for that Sitting.)),

A. whereas no proposal on the introduction of a European health card, as called for by Parliament in its resolution of 17 April 1996 on the subject ((OJ C 141, 13.5.1996, p. 104.)), is being drawn up, since it does not feature in the annual legislative programme for 1997,

B. whereas the annual legislative programme constitutes a vital interinstitutional tool for the transparent and effective planning and coordination of Union activities in accordance with the subsidiarity principle,

C. whereas it is essential that the Council should be more closely involved in the legislative planning exercise,

D. anxious to simplify and speed up the procedure for the preparation of the annual legislative programme, while remaining committed to the setting of political priorities and the monitoring of the implementation of the requisite measures,

I. Assessment of the 1996 programme:

1. Points out that the legislative programme is an interinstitutional programme which must also be assessed in the light of the priorities laid down by Parliament;

2. Regrets that the 1996 programme has by no means been implemented in full, particularly as regards the 19 new legislative proposals promised by the Commission, of which Parliament had received only five at the end of November 1996; notes that the shortcomings in the implementation of the legislative programme are particularly flagrant in the sphere of the environment;

3. Considers that the Commission has been too passive in the field of justice and home affairs; regrets in particular that not one of the proposals in the Commission's 1996 Work Programme has been forwarded to the European Parliament;

4. Expresses its profound regret that a measure as fundamental to the fight against unemployment as the confidence pact should not have been a success; notes that this failure, responsibility for which rests with the Council, is all the more regrettable because the confidence pact would have sent out a powerful signal to those European citizens affected by the economic crisis; notes, further, that the confidence pact did not form part of the Commission's 1996 programme;

5. Hopes that in the legislative process, and, in particular, where proposals dealt with under the codecision procedure are concerned, the Commission will support amendments adopted by Parliament, in accordance with the 1995 Code of Conduct referred to above, and that the Commission will give a comprehensive explanation of the reasons which may prompt it, in exceptional cases, to reject Parliament amendments;

6. Notes that the Commission intends for the first time to take action in response to a request made to it by Parliament under Article 138b of the EC Treaty in its resolution of 26 October 1995 on the settlement of claims arising from traffic accidents occurring outside the claimant's country of origin ((OJ C 308, 20.11.1995, p. 108.));

7. Deplores the fact that 168 proposals are currently blocked in the Council pending a final decision and 83 pending a common position, without Parliament being informed in all cases of the reasons for the deadlock and without the Commission making use of its right of initiative to bring that deadlock to an end;

8. Hopes that the Council will discontinue its practice of annexing unilateral declarations to its minutes, in particular in connection with codecision procedures, and calls on the Commission to apply in full the Code of Conduct on the transparency of decision-making and to dissociate itself in future from Council declarations of that kind;

II. 1997 work programme:

9. Approves the main lines of the 1997 work programme;

10. Supports the Commission in its institutional role as a driving force of the Union and guarantor of the application of Community law;

11. Points out that the Commission is required to take action in response to requests for legislative proposals submitted by Parliament pursuant to Article 138b of the EC Treaty and calls on the Commission to put forward proposals as soon as possible in response to the requests which have been made to it (resolution of 4 May 1994 on fire safety in hotels ((OJ C 205, 25.7.1994, p. 163.)); resolution of 20 April 1994 on preventing and remedying environmental damage ((OJ C 128, 9.5.1994, p. 165.)); abovementioned resolution of 17 April 1996 on a European health card);

12. Takes the view that the number of requests for the urgent procedure by the Council (15 in 1996) and the Commission (six in 1996) could be reduced further by means of better planning, thereby enabling Parliament to give the proposals the detailed consideration required;

13. Sets its political priorities and calls for the legislative programme to be implemented and expanded by incorporating the following initiatives and proposals;

Employment, growth and the strengthening of cohesion

14. Reaffirms that the fight against unemployment remains the over-riding political goal; underlines that an effective employment policy covers both macro-economic and structural policies and that the interaction between the two is of the utmost importance; this approach should be reflected also in a stronger employment chapter within the Broad Economic Guidelines and in the Joint Employment Report;

15. Stresses that, in terms of macro-economic policy, a balanced policy mix is essential between a less restrictive monetary policy and a fiscal policy which allows adequate levels of public investment as well as the implementation of employment-creating and environment-protecting economic activities;

16. Believes that structural policies include both those policies which are conducive to the competitiveness of EU industry - regional, research, transport, environment, industrial and Single Market - and policies aimed at creating an effective labour market and real job opportunities - in particular through an enhanced system of education and life-long learning, within the framework of strengthening the European model of society;

17. Urges the Council and the Commission to cooperate actively to ensure the implementation of the territorial pacts on employment;

18. Calls for legislative proposals in the field of new forms of work, particularly tele-working and home-working; calls for a study of the impact of these new forms of work on the distribution of tasks between men and women and on employment;

19. Points out that proposals on the European company can be put forward only when the rules governing the participation and codetermination rights of workers in companies with a European statute have been agreed;

20. Asks the Commission to make concrete proposals for a follow-up to the EP report on the future of social protection;

21. Asks the Commission to include in its White Paper on working time the requests made by Parliament in its resolution of 18 September 1996 on reduction and adaptation of working time ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 8.));

22. Calls on the Commission to present a legislative proposal on supplementary pensions for migrant workers within the framework of the follow-up to the High-Level Panel on free movement;

23. Asks the Commission to propose common indicators for the monitoring of the multi-annual national employment programmes;

24. Calls on the Commission to devise a system for assessing and monitoring the impact of Community policies on cohesion policy in order to improve its effectiveness; asks furthermore that the Commission produce a study on the impact of EMU on the less prosperous regions of the Union;

25. Urges the Commission to make specific proposals on the definitive VAT system, excise duties, taxes on capital and corporate taxation in order to achieve the objectives set out in the Dublin Summit Memorandum; asks that particular attention be paid in this context to taxation of SMEs; asks that the ad hoc standing committee on fiscal policy should give some consideration to assessing a fiscal code of conduct;

26. Calls on the Commission to forward an annual report to the European Parliament and to the Council examining the coordination of competition policy, industrial policy, internal market policy and trade policy; suggests too that the economic efficiency analyses already carried out by Commission departments should be annexed to communications or Green Papers covering these areas;

27. Calls on the Commission to present a study on the effect of a reduced VAT rate for labour-intensive services on employment;

28. Asks the Commission to complete legislation in the field of telecommunications and to present in a single coherent framework the different proposals for the information society;

29. Calls on the Commission to examine ways of ensuring that the European Parliament is fully involved in all preparations for EMU, in particular that sufficient time be allowed for Parliament to express its opinion on the convergence decision that will be the basis for the decision as to which Member States will move forward to monetary union; calls on the Commission to take the legislative measures to ensure that citizens are guaranteed legal security in terms of their contracts, savings and purchasing power once the single currency is introduced;

30. Calls on the Commission to produce a report on the financing of infrastructure investment in Europe, particularly in the context of the stability pact;

31. Is of the opinion that the revision of the financial perspective is urgently needed in order to enable the European Union to face its present and future challenges;

People's Europe

32. Urges the Commission to present as soon as possible its report on the provisions on citizens' rights as foreseen by Article 8e and that was due by the end of 1996;

33. Urges the Commission to use its right of initiative in the framework of justice and home affairs more systematically, and to transfer asylum and immigration policy, questions related to the external borders and to third-country nationals as well as questions related to drug addiction progressively into Community legislation;

34. Calls on the Council and the Commission to proceed with the adoption and the implementation respectively of the three directives for the facilitation of free movement of persons in the EU, taking due account of Parliament's amendments;

35. Calls on the Commission to combat 'child sex tourism', child pornography and the use of networks for paedophile purposes and to keep the interests of children uppermost in mind when taking legislative initiatives directly or indirectly affecting children;

36. Calls formally on the Commission to follow up Parliament's above- mentioned request of 17 April 1996 for a European health card no later than 1 June 1997, pointing out that, if it fails to submit this proposal, Parliament will assess, in accordance with Rule 84 of its Rules of Procedure, whether it should uphold its constitutional prerogatives by bringing an action before the Court of Justice, pursuant to Article 175 of the EC Treaty, to have the infringement established;

37. Welcomes the Council initiative to set up an observatory on questions of racism, and awaits the Commission's draft directive on the fight against racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism;

38. Regarding the fight against crime, calls on the Commission to speed up

- the introduction of electronic devices against car theft

- the introduction of security measures for credit cards

- the revision of the directive on money laundering;

39. Calls on the Commission to put forward a legislative proposal dealing with bankruptcy of firms operating in several Member States;

40. Calls on the Commission to put forward general rules laying down the minimum conditions and the fundamental principles governing public access to EU documents;

41. Calls for a system of independent supervision for the protection of personal data by the institutions and bodies of the Union;

42. Calls for proposals enabling the Commission to suspend payments immediately when a Member State is mismanaging Union funds, to recover any amounts obtained illegally and, if necessary, to impose sanctions on the Member State;

43. Calls for a Commission decision undertaking to bring a case before the Court of Justice requesting it to impose financial sanctions when a Member State has not taken measures within a year to implement a Court judgment, especially in the areas of the single market and the environment (Article 171 of the EC Treaty);

Environment, research, energy, transport, agriculture

44. Asks the Commission to present a communication on the efforts undertaken to green the budget;

45. Calls on the Commission to put forward a proposal for a Directive on soil protection;

46. Calls on the Commission finally to present proposals to reduce the use of pesticides, as promised in the 5th Environmental Action Programme;

47. Reiterates its call for the Commission to put forward the requisite proposals concerning the ecolabel for certain industrial products and the certification of agricultural and food products and to follow up Parliament's proposals on waste management in its resolution of 14 November 1996 on the communication from the Commission on the review of the Community strategy for waste management and the draft Council resolution on waste policy (COM(96)0399 - C4-0453/96) ((Minutes of that Sitting, Part II, Item 2.));

48. Calls on the Commission to submit a framework programme with a clear legal basis for the utilization of renewable energy sources;

49. Urges the Commission to organise a regional energy conference together with the G7, EBRD, WANO, EIB, the World Bank, the IMF and energy NGOs in Central and Eastern Europe with a view to establishing clearly for each of those countries how the energy policy can best be supported;

50. Asks the Commission to place even more emphasis on the aspects of safety in all modes of transport, and especially in the light of recent incidents and defects;

51. Asks for the development of an integrated rural policy of the Union, which should take particular account of the need for convergent development between the European Union and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe;

52. Calls on the Commission to pursue a balanced policy on the conservation of fish stocks in conjunction with socially acceptable conversion measures in the sectors affected by restructuring, particularly with a view to the fourth multiannual guidance programme; urges, in addition, that the new fisheries agreements with the ACP States should take greater account of development policy factors;

53. Asks the Commission to extend the SLIM project in the area of legislation to other areas such as environment policy, health and safety at the workplace and public contracts;

Strengthening the Union's role in the world

54. Calls on the Commission to make more active use of its right of initiative and to submit to the Council proposals for joint actions as provided for in Article J.8.(3) of the EU Treaty; calls on the Commission to ensure the consistency of measures in the commercial, economic and development spheres;

55. Calls on the Commission to implement the measures provided for under the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, including the negotiation of the various association agreements, the implementation of the Meda programme and support for the Middle East peace process;

56. Calls on the Commission to incorporate into agreements between the European Union and third countries provisions dealing with human rights and democracy which must be monitored and which give rise to sanctions if breached once the agreement has entered into force;

57. Calls on the Commission to publish an annual communication on compliance with the human rights and democracy clause in third countries with which the Community has concluded agreements;

58. Calls on the Commission to continue its efforts to foster reconstruction in the former Yugoslavia;

59. Calls on the Commission to establish the humanitarian observatory for crisis analysis and to make provision for preventive measures to assist the Commission and Council in the implementation of the CFSP;

60. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the European Council, the Council, the national parliaments, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.