A. mindful of the havoc wrought by Hurricane ‘Michelle’ as it swept through Honduras, Nicaragua and
Cuba, leaving people dead, missing or displaced and causing extensive material damage,
B. whereas these three particularly poor countries are now confronted with an emergency as regards
hygiene, food and access to drinking water and to basic services such as hospitals and schools fortheir populations,
C. whereas, in spite of this being the worst disaster to hit Cuba in 50 years, the authorities there have
been able to limit the hurricane’s impact by means of preventive measures and a well-implementedemergency plan,
D. whereas the coincidental timing of a visit by a European Parliament delegation to Honduras and
Nicaragua has made it possible to assess the hurricane’s impact there at first hand,
E. whereas Hurricane ‘Iris’ swept through neighbouring Belize on 8 October 2001, causing further dev-
astation in that area,
1. Expresses its solidarity with the families of the victims and those affected by this disaster, and shares
the pain felt by the peoples of Honduras, Nicaragua and Cuba;
2. Welcomes the Commission’s rapid response in providing assistance to these countries through its
humanitarian aid office (ECHO);
3. Calls on the Commission to assess the damage in Honduras and Nicaragua, to take that damage into
account in implementing the Regional Programme for the Reconstruction of Central America, and toincrease the relevant budgetary allocations accordingly;
4. Regrets the fact that the lack of a cooperation agreement with Cuba prevents the European Union
from helping to alleviate the impact of this disaster there through anything other than humanitarian aid; inthis regard reiterates its belief in the need for a cooperation agreement with Cuba that is compatible withthe European Union doctrine on cooperation, respect for human rights and democracy;
5. Welcomes the gesture made by the United States Government in offering humanitarian aid, and
urges it to accede to Cuba’s request to be allowed to purchase supplies and medicines from the UnitedStates for the humanitarian disaster relief effort, in spite of the existing embargo;
6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, Parlacen and the
presidents and legislative bodies of the republics of Honduras, Nicaragua and Cuba.
18.Disasters:FloodsinAlgeria
B5-0715,0722,0728and0737/2001
EuropeanParliamentresolutiononthefloodsinAlgeria
The European Parliament,
Wdash having regard to the Barcelona Declaration,
A. mindful of the disastrous rainstorms which have struck Algeria in the past few days, leaving more
than 500 people dead and many others injured and causing major damage to infrastructure and hous-ing, notably in and around the capital,
B. deeply shocked by the high number of victims these floods have claimed,C140E/586 EN 13.6.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday15November2001
C. welcoming the rapid response given by the Commission through its Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO),
which sent a team to assess the damage on the ground, and the immediate provision of €758800 tomeet the urgent needs of the victims,
D. bearing in mind the Algerian authorities’ appeal for international solidarity,
1. Wishes to express its deep sorrow to the victims’ families and to the entire Algerian people and its
representatives in view of the calamity which has befallen them, and pays tribute to the courage shown bythe rescue workers;
2. Asks the Commission to examine every possibility for extending special emergency aid to Algeria to
help the victims of this disaster, which is without precedent in Algeria and is yet further aggravating thealready precarious situation of thousands of Algerian citizens, priority being given to the poorest familieswho have been the worst affected;
3. Calls on the Commission to make available to the Algerian government a team of technical experts
to assess and quantify the damage caused, in order to identify what reconstruction measures are necessaryin terms of urban infrastructure and the organisation of services and in other spheres, and invites theCommission and the Member States to provide aid within the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Part-nership to help rebuild homes and repair infrastructure;
4. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
and parliaments of the Member States and of the candidate countries, the Algerian National People’sAssembly and the government of Algeria.
19.Tradeinsmallarms
B5-0723,0729and0730/2001
EuropeanParliamentresolutiononsmallarms
The European Parliament,
Wdash having regard to its resolutions of 19 January 1995(1), 15 January 1998(2), 14 May 1998(3),
7 October 1999(4), 5 October 2000(5) and 15 March 2001(6) on an EU Code of Conduct on the
export or transfer of arms and the resolution adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 21 April1998,
Wdash having regard to the Joint Action adopted by the Council on the European Union’s contribution to
combating the destabilising accumulation and spread of small arms and light weapons,
A. affirming the urgent need for more effective regulation of legal and illicit arms transfers in the wake of
the tragic events of 11 September 2001, in order to cut off lines of supply to terrorist organisationsand to tightly control transfers to governments that abuse human rights and regions of conflict andinstability,
B. welcoming the UN Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small
Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects as an important first step in the international effort toreduce the immense human suffering caused by the proliferation and misuse of small arms and lightweapons,
C. convinced that early and effective action by all States to implement the Programme of Action to
Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspectswill result in significant progress towards this end,
(1) OJ C 43, 20.2.1995, p. 89.
(2) OJ C 34, 2.2.1998, p. 163.
(3) OJ C 167, 1.6.1998, p. 226.
(4) OJ C 107, 13.4.2000, p. 103.
(5) OJ C 178, 22.6.2001, p. 273.
(6) ‘Text Adopted’, Item 20.13.6.2002 EN C140E/587 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday15November2001