ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
81.

Reaffirms its strong commitment to ending impunity for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community and to providing justice for the victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and reiterates therefore its strong support for the International Criminal Court (ICC); considers it regrettable that no state ratified the Rome Statute in 2014; emphasises the responsibility to put an end to impunity and prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, including those related to sexual violence; expresses serious concern that several arrest warrants have still not been executed; urges that the EU continue its strong diplomatic and political support for strengthening and expanding the relationship between the ICC and the UN, in particular in the UN Security Council, as well as in its bilateral relations and all other forums; calls for the EU, including its Delegations, as well as the Member States, to increase their efforts in promoting the universality of the Rome Statute and its ratification and effective implementation; calls on the Member States to provide the ICC with the resources needed, and to enhance their support for the international criminal justice system via, inter alia, financial support to civil society actors through, for example, the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR); calls for the implementation of the 2013 EU toolkit on complementarity between international and national justice;
21.

Emphasises that highly developed, efficient, affordable, safe and accessible public transport is an integral part of sustainable urban development; is convinced that reliable public transport services may play an important role in reducing congestion, air pollution and noise in cities; calls on the Member States, therefore, to promote public transport with the view to increasing its use by 2030; also encourages national and local authorities to promote the availability of digital services on public transport and stations, to support the development of innovative forms of mobility and to implement intelligent transport solutions and other state-of-the-art technologies; stresses that car-sharing, ride-sharing and car-pooling services make better use of existing resources and help to reduce the number of cars in cities; recognises the importance of the European satellite navigation programmes Galileo and EGNOS and mobile high-speed networks; supports the formation of a regulatory framework that enables the use of new forms of mobility and new sharing models that make better use of existing resources;
9.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to recognise the value of entrepreneurship for the work-life balance of women and men, to eliminate barriers that hinder or even prevent female entrepreneurship, and to adopt a coherent framework of measures to support female labour market participation; in the aftermath of the decision to withdraw the proposal to amend the Maternity Leave Directive and in order to safeguard progress on equality policies at EU level, encourages a constructive dialogue among institutions to see how best to support and implement work-life balance policies as well as an equal distribution of family responsibilities, also by highlighting the role of men in promoting equality; reiterates that parental and paternity leave can have a positive impact on female labour force participation, and encourages Member States, if they have not yet done so, to consider introducing paternity leave; calls on the Commission, by the end of 2016, to propose concrete steps, including legislative proposals, for increasing the participation of women in the labour market through measures to improve work-life balance;
21.

Welcomes the fact that no new attacks against journalists took place in the reporting period; expresses concern, however, at the shortcomings in the investigation of previous cases of violence and intimidation against journalists; urges the competent authorities to resolve the pending cases of violence and threats against journalists, including the murder of Duško Jovanović in 2004, by improving investigations, by identifying and bringing to justice not only the perpetrators but also those behind the attacks and by implementing the recommendations issued by the ad hoc commission set up for monitoring the investigations into cases of violence against journalists; questions the current composition of the commission, of which members of the security services constitute more than 50 %, enabling them to block progress and the adoption of reports if they act together; calls on the government to prolong the mandate of this commission and to provide it with much more information and more competences; is concerned that incidences of intimidation of journalists and media outlets can considerably encourage self-censorship and limit the scope for investigative journalism; condemns the ongoing personal smear campaigns, mostly by one tabloid newspaper, targeting prominent civil society activists and some politicians on a personal basis; recalls that all media outlets must fully respect the established rules of professional reporting; points out that the media community is highly politicised and divided, that professional and ethical standards are weak and that journalists are poorly paid and their jobs insecure; considers it essential for journalists to have full independence, away from any interventions, including by media owners; welcomes the agreement among media practitioners to improve the existing Code of Ethics in order to enhance qualitative journalism; calls for continuing the dialogue facilitated by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on improving ethical and professional standards in the media;
6.

Notes that habitat fragmentation, degradation and destruction as a result of land-use change, climate change, unsustainable consumption patterns and the use of the seas are some of the main pressures and drivers causing biodiversity loss in the EU and beyond its borders; emphasises, therefore, the need to identify and establish indicators that unequivocally and scientifically measure the state of biodiversity in a given area or region and to support rational and sustainable use of resources both within the EU and at global level, including in developing countries, and, in particular, urges the EU to better anchor its international biodiversity commitments to its climate change and Europe 2020 strategies; stresses that a more resource-efficient economy and a reduction in overconsumption could enable the EU to reduce its dependence on natural resources, in particular from outside Europe; recalls also that ecosystem-based approaches to climate change mitigation and adaptation could provide cost-effective alternatives to technological solutions, while progress in many applied sciences depends on the long-term availability and diversity of natural assets;
5.

Welcomes the government’s reform initiatives such as the bill to criminalise child marriage, and the act to protect women from violence and harassment, the unblocking of YouTube, the decision declaring Holi, Diwali and Easter as holidays for religious minorities, and the personal efforts of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit a Hindi religious event; urges the government to further increase its efforts to create a social climate which welcomes minorities and diversity of thought; recalls in this context the National Action Plan, the promised and urgently needed reforms of the madrassas, notably government action against hate speech, and the still outstanding police and judicial reform; notes that more ambitious measures should be taken in the future, in particular in the field of education (excluding negative biases and prejudices from curricula and textbooks) and in the prosecution of those inciting violence;
14.

Stresses that the practice of using GMAs has proved to be more effective than opinions as they are more concise, can be more rapidly submitted and relate to key, specific and delimited issues; reiterates its call on the competent committee to include this practice of GMAs in the Rules of Procedure, taking into account the specific role of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality in gender mainstreaming as a horizontal principle; calls for closer cooperation among committees and for effective coordination between the gender mainstreaming network and the competent committee at both political and administrative levels, aimed at bringing a substantial gender dimension into the reports; highlights the importance of the role of the network members in each committee in facilitating effective input from the competent committee through GMAs and opinions, and calls for effective coordination between the responsible members of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and the network members in the GMA procedure; reiterates the need for close coordination between the competent committee and lead committees on GMAs and opinions, to ensure optimal scheduling and planning for effective input into the lead committee report;
9.

Regrets that it is still difficult for citizens to gain access to information held by EU institutions, the reason being that there is no common approach among the institutions geared to facilitate access to documents for citizens and based on complete transparency, communication and direct democracy; urges the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies to develop further a more proactive approach on transparency by proactively disclosing as many of their documents as possible, in the most simple, user-friendly and accessible way, by having documents translated upon request into other EU official languages, and by establishing proper, simple and inexpensive information access arrangements, including by digital and electronic means, allowing for the needs of people with disabilities; considers, in particular, that the accessibility of information should be improved on by means of easy-to-use interfaces and search systems; calls for the development of a common access point to the portals of the three institutions, building on the pilot project for the online platform for the proactive publication of EU institutions documents, and for harmonising search portals between departments of the same institution (including Directorates-General in the Commission); calls, as well, on the institutions to continue and strengthen the work of expanding knowledge of EU legislation and policies; believes that, to that end, the EU should make full use of the potential offered by new technologies (social networks, smartphone applications, etc.) in order to ensure complete and easy access to information;
F.

whereas in February 2016 the Supreme Court began hearing cases against 13 members of the Political Council of the IRPT, as well as four other individuals associated with the party, who had been charged with ‘extremism’ offences because of their alleged involvement in attacks of September 2015; whereas many IRPT members have been arrested and face criminal proceedings without the guarantee of a fair trial; whereas Zaid Saidov, a businessman and well-known opposition figure, was sentenced to 29 years in prison in prosecutions linked to his having run for office in the November 2013 presidential elections; whereas Umarali Kuvatov was killed in Istanbul in March 2015 and another activist, Maksud Ibragimov, was stabbed and kidnapped in Russia before being returned to Tajikistan and sentenced in July 2015 to 17 years’ imprisonment;
1.

Calls on the Foreign Affairs Council in its development component to adopt, ahead of the HLPF’s July 2016 meeting, a coherent and common EU position, taking into account Parliament’s position, as expressed in this resolution; believes that it is crucial to the EU’s credibility and leadership position to present a common position; is concerned that the Commission has not published a communication on the follow-up to and review of the Agenda 2030 ahead of the HLPF meeting, as requested by the members of the Committee on Development, that would serve as a basis for the common EU position;
3.

Stresses that the General Court ruled that the specification of scientific criteria can only be carried out in an objective manner on the basis of scientific data related to the endocrine system, independently of any other consideration, in particular economic ones, and that the Commission is not entitled to change the regulatory balance laid down in a basic act via the application of powers delegated to it pursuant to Article 290 TFEU, an issue that the Commission, however, evaluates as part of its impact assessment;
34.

Is of the opinion that, in order to act effectively, the EU needs a new financial and fiscal strategy; considers that the Commission should, to this end, propose measures based on the following principles and elements: — mobilising adequate resources swiftly; it is inevitable to reform the system of financing the Union by strengthening genuine own resources or introducing new ones, in order to make the Union budget more stable, more sustainable and more predictable; at the same time, it is important to respect the principle of universality and to improve transparency; — for maximum results, EU budgetary instruments must be managed with close attention to performance and cost-effectiveness, while ensuring compliance and protecting EU financial interests; — the EU should take steps to put together resources for responding to the challenges of high youth and long-term unemployment and the internal and external dimensions of the refugee emergency; — after only two years of implementation, the multiannual financial framework (MFF) has reached its limits; furthermore, without a comprehensive mid-term revision of the MFF, the EU budget will be unable to address additional financial needs and new political priorities, and unable to avoid the resurgence of a payment crisis; calls on the Commission to present a review of the functioning of the MFF before the end of 2016 and to take decisive action to revise the ceilings of the MFF upward and expand its flexibility to respond to circumstances not foreseen in 2013; — the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) needs to be managed in a way that enables all Member States to undertake high levels of strategic investment in line with the EFSI regulation and ensures that funding for investment is contributing to the transition to a sustainable economy and society; the Commission’s proposal for the EFSI’s next phase should be based on these objectives; — effective implementation of cohesion policy for 2014-2020 should be accompanied by preparations for its post-2020 phase, respecting its true nature as set out in the Treaties, its importance for the development of the single market and its potential as an investment tool accessible to all regions in the EU; synergies between the European Structural and Investment Funds, the EFSI and other EU funding instruments should be strengthened with a view to accelerating smart, green and inclusive growth, with a credible balance between grants and financial instruments being developed and avoiding any decrease in cohesion policy budget; — the Commission should present proposals to reduce the bureaucratic complexity of the CAP for farmers; the Commission should further devise improved instruments to deal with extreme crises on the agricultural markets; believes that framework legislation at EU level is necessary to tackle unfair trading practices in the food supply chain so as to ensure that European farmers and consumers may benefit from fair selling and buying conditions;
12.

Stresses that significant, but still insufficient budgetary means have been deployed to tackle the root causes of the refugee and migration crisis by reinforcing specific EU programmes under Heading 4; recalls the measures undertaken, such as the reallocations in favour of migration/refugee-related actions of EUR 170 million in the course of 2015, as well as the approval in 2016 of an additional EUR 130 million under Heading 4 for migration/refugee-related activities, together with the reshuffling of EUR 430 million under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance, the Development Cooperation Instrument and the European Neighbourhood Instrument; recalls, furthermore, that in order to address the external dimension of the migration and refugee crisis the Commission has made various additional proposals having an impact on the EU budget, such as those for the establishment of EU trust funds (the Madad Trust Fund and the Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, with an estimated initial budgetary impact of EUR 570 million and EUR 405 million respectively), as well as of the Refugee Facility for Turkey, for which EUR 1 billion is to be funded from the EU budget, not counting possible additional funding; stresses that further pressure on the Union budget will arise from other planned actions announced by the Commission such as the ‘London pledge’ or from events such as the EU-Turkey summit of 18 March 2016; stresses that additional upcoming budgetary means should also allow for the inclusion of the most vulnerable migrants, especially women, children and LGBTI; is concerned, however, that owing to the magnitude of the problems the EU is facing further actions will be required;
28.

Notes the adoption of the emergency autonomous trade measures for Tunisia as a concrete step to support the Tunisian economy and as an incentive for reforms; calls for an increase in EU aid to Tunisia through the ENI and for the coordination of international aid to Tunisia in order to allow the country to benefit fully from the EU support and enable job creation, particularly for young graduates; encourages partnerships with other interested global and regional donor countries and organisations and, in particular, measures reducing regional disparities and promoting training and investment in agriculture, taking into account the specificities of local agriculture, IT, the social economy, the manufacturing sector and SMEs which would boost employment; notes that the tourism sector has been dramatically impacted by the terrorist attacks and, in view of the measures implemented since then by the Tunisian authorities, calls on the Member States which have not yet done so to reassess the security situation as quickly as possible so that the Tunisian tourist sector may recover;
3.

Notes that the evaluations of the EGF show that the results of interventions by this fund are influenced by factors such as the level of education and qualifications of the targeted workers, as well as by the capacity of absorption of the relevant labour markets and the GDP of the recipient countries; emphasises that such factors are mostly influenced by long-term measures which can be effectively supported by the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds); points to the need to allow for these factors and for the local labour market situation whenever assistance is to be provided under the EGF; notes that increased synergies between EGF and ESI Funds are important in order to achieve faster and more effective results; underlines that the ESI Funds can act as follow-up measures in the EGF areas of support by stimulating investment, overall growth and job creation; underlines that EGF interventions should be directed to investments that contribute to growth, jobs, education, skills and workers’ geographical mobility and should be coordinated with existing EU programmes with a view to helping people find employment and promoting entrepreneurship, especially in the regions and sectors already suffering from the adverse effects of globalisation or restructuring of the economy; emphasises that integrated approaches based on multi-fund programming should be preferred in order to tackle redundancies and unemployment in a sustainable manner, through an efficient allocation of resources and closer coordination and synergies, in particular between the ESF and the ERDF; believes strongly that an integrated multi-fund programming strategy would reduce the risk of relocation and create favourable conditions for a return of industrial production to the EU;
16.

Notes that the increase in the number of new EU Pilot files during the period under examination, and the decrease in the number of open infringement cases, show, according to the annual report, that the EU Pilot system has proved its usefulness, and has had a positive impact by promoting more efficient enforcement of EU law; reiterates, however, that the enforcement of EU law is neither sufficiently transparent nor subject to any real control by the complainants and the interested parties, and regrets that, despite its repeated requests, Parliament still has inadequate access to information about the EU Pilot procedure and pending cases; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to ensure greater transparency as regards information on the EU Pilot procedure, and on pending cases;
10.

Expresses concern about the proposed constitutional amendment 215/2000 (PEC 215), to which Brazilian indigenous peoples are fiercely opposed, given that, if approved, it will threaten indigenous land rights by making it possible for anti-Indian interests related to the agro-business, timber, mining and energy industries to block the new indigenous territories from being recognised; strongly believes that companies should be held accountable for any environmental damage and human rights abuses for which they are responsible, and that the EU and the Member States should uphold this as a core principle by making it a binding provision in all trade policies;
32.

Highlights the importance of a holistic, systemic approach to devising and implementing policies to reduce GHG emissions and points in particular to the decoupling of economic growth and human well-being from resource consumption, since resource efficiency reduces both GHG emissions and other pressures on the environment and on resources while, at the same time, facilitating sustainable growth, whereas a policy focused solely on reducing GHG emissions will not simultaneously guarantee resource efficiency; underlines the fact that efficient resource use facilitates economic and environmental profit; stresses that the circular economy and hence managing natural resources properly can provide key leverage on the climate issue; states, for example, that the extraction, processing, transport, transformation, use and disposal of resources directly accounts for a large proportion of energy use; states that increasing resource productivity through improved efficiency and reducing resource wastage through reuse, reprocessing and recycling also help bring about a major reduction in resource consumption and, at the same time, in GHG emissions; points in this connection to the work of the International Resource Panel;
D.

whereas violence against women and gender-based violence are still widespread phenomena within the EU; whereas the 2014 Fundamental Rights Agency survey on violence against women estimates, in line with other existing studies, that one-third of all women in Europe have experienced physical or sexual acts of violence at least once during their adult lives, 20 % of young women (18-29 years of age) have experienced online sexual harassment, one in five women (18 %) have been stalked, one in twenty women have been raped and more than one in ten have suffered sexual violence involving lack of consent or the use of force; whereas this survey explains also that most incidents of violence are not reported to any authorities, which shows that victimisation surveys are essential alongside administrative statistics in order to obtain a full picture of various forms of violence against women; and whereas further measures are needed to encourage women victims of violence to report their experiences and seek assistance, and to ensure that services providers can meet the needs of the victims and inform them about their rights and existing forms of support;