ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
15.

Considers that the decrease in the total number of complaints submitted to the Ombudsman in 2012 is further proof of the success of the interactive guide on his website, which is a powerful tool designed to help ensure that fewer citizens complain to the Ombudsman for the wrong reason and to improve the possibilities for advising complainants on where to turn to instead; notices that the trend confirms that an increasing number of people turning to the European Ombudsman are doing so for the right reasons; suggests that Members of the European Parliament, EU institutions, bodies and agencies, as well as members of the European Network of Ombudsmen, install a direct link to the interactive guide on their websites and social media channels;
O.

whereas other constructive alternatives have led Taiwan to conclude 31 Bilateral Investment Agreements (BIAs) with third countries, including with Japan on 22 September 2011, and an Economic Cooperation Agreement with New Zealand on 10 July 2013, to resume its talks on a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the United States on 10 March 2013, and to be currently negotiating an investment agreement with the Republic of Korea and a free trade agreement with Singapore (ASTEP);
83.

Considers that creative people, products and services, as part of the cultural diversity of the EU, should form the basis of a strong single European market and well-developed regions, as well as of local economies where they can contribute to the creation of new economic activities and new jobs; calls for better use of the cultural and creative industries in attracting new investment and varied talent to Europe; stresses that entrepreneurs in the CCS do not have easy access to funding; calls on the Member States to adopt adequate social and fiscal measures to support the creative economy and to support new business models for cultural and creative industries adapted to the European market, which would enable the mobility of artists and people working in the cultural and creative industries, as well helping them overcome obstacles related to different tax or social systems and language barriers, and to promote better understanding among countries and cultures;
4.

Calls on the Commission and the EEAS to mainstream the promotion of an enabling environment for CSOs and LAs and to consider this a priority for the EU's position in the ongoing negotiations on the post-2015 development framework; stresses the importance of defining a monitoring system which permits the evaluation of progress in the creation of an enabling environment at national level in terms of policy and regulatory provisions, in line with international human rights standards, as well as multiple stakeholder and multilevel dialogues; calls on the Commission to measure the enabling environment in order to fully appreciate its complexity and the characteristics of civil society actors;
17.

Regrets the decision taken by the EU High Representative to terminate the mandate of the EU Special Representative for Sudan/South Sudan, given the severe political unrest in Sudan and armed conflicts during which Sudanese forces and government-sponsored militias continue to engage in war crimes with impunity; considers that without a designated EU Special Representative for Sudan/South Sudan the EU will be left on the sidelines of international negotiations and efforts, especially in view of the fact that the US, Russia and China all have special envoys for Sudan; calls therefore on the High Representative to reverse this decision and extend the mandate of the Special Representative for Sudan/South Sudan;
6.

Commends the national action plan for implementation of the LLRC recommendations, and calls on the government to intensify its efforts to fully implement the recommendations, namely to carry out credible investigations into the widespread allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, to further demilitarise the north of Sri Lanka, to complete impartial land dispute resolution mechanisms, to re-evaluate detention policies, to strengthen formerly independent civil institutions such as the police force, the judiciary and the Human Rights Commission, and to reach a long-term political settlement on the further devolution of power to the provinces; calls for the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to cover disappearances not only in the Northern and Eastern Provinces but also in the rest of the country;
7.

Calls on the Member States to provide an effective response to Roma exclusion by implementing the measures set out in their NRIS with concrete targets, timelines and allocated budgets; calls on the Commission and the Member States to actively involve Roma representatives and civil society in policy development, management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in respect of the NRIS and the projects affecting their communities, by setting up mechanisms for regular and transparent dialogue in accordance with the principles of the ‘European Code of Conduct on Partnership’; calls on the Member States to identify in their NRIS how exactly they intend to empower and involve the Roma in the process; calls on the Commission to support the efforts of Member States by raising awareness among Roma representatives of the opportunities presented by the NRIS, and to encourage them to play a more active role in the integration process;
21.

Calls on the international community to keep the CAR at the top of its agenda and to support this fragile country; stresses, in this connection, that the humanitarian community must also maintain its commitment to the CAR, in spite of the current political and security situation, and allocate adequate resources to respond to the medical and humanitarian crisis which the country is experiencing; is concerned at the restricted humanitarian access and condemns attacks against humanitarian workers; calls on all parties to the conflict, and in particular the Séléka, to allow safe and unhindered access for humanitarian and relief organisations;
J.

whereas the Government of Bangladesh has proposed a new law that is reported to impose severe restrictions on non-governmental organisations (NGOs); whereas the new draft Foreign Donations Regulation Act would regulate operations and funding for any group in receipt of foreign funding, and give the NGO Affairs Office within the Prime Minister’s Office approval authority over foreign-funded projects; whereas the new draft act would also require anyone involved in voluntary activities to obtain approval prior to travelling out of the country for purposes related to their work on a project; whereas there is widespread concern among NGOs that the act will involve more government officers in the process as monitors, evaluators and approvers – with the potential for delays and malpractice;
15.

Notes that the online search market is of particular importance in ensuring competitive conditions within the digital single market, given the potential development of search engines into gatekeepers and the possibility they have of commercialising secondary exploitation of information obtained; calls, therefore, on the Commission to enforce EU competition rules decisively, based on input from all relevant stakeholders and taking into account the entire structure of the digital single market in order to ensure remedies that truly benefit consumers, internet users and online businesses; calls, furthermore, on the Commission to consider proposals aimed at unbundling search engines from other commercial services as one potential long-term means of achieving the aforementioned aims;
E.

whereas according to the scientific evidence presented in the 2014 Working Group reports of the IPCC AR5, warming of the climate system is unequivocal; climate change is occurring, and human activities have been the dominant cause of observed warming since the middle of the 20th century; the widespread and substantial climate-change impacts are already evident in natural and human systems on all continents and across the oceans; continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and changes to the land, atmosphere and oceans in all regions of the globe; all countries, regardless of wealth, will be affected by the impacts of climate change; global greenhouse gas emissions over the period from 2000 to 2010 were the highest in human history; without significant global mitigation action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, global average temperature is likely to be as much as 5 oC higher by the end of the century; whereas the IPCC’s findings state that some risks of climate change are considerable and increase disproportionately as temperature increases by between 1 oC and 2 oC;
6.

Points out that security threats have become more varied, international, multiple and asymmetrical, requiring closer cross-border and inter-agency cooperation; calls for more effective operational cooperation among Member States through greater use of valuable existing instruments, such as joint investigation teams, and more expeditious and efficient sharing of relevant data and information, subject to the appropriate data protection and privacy safeguards; in this connection, underlines the utmost importance of the swift adoption of the proposed data protection directive in order to provide a comprehensive legal framework for the sharing of data in the law enforcement field; points out that, in order to further promote operational cooperation among Member States, additional trust-building measures are necessary; supports, therefore, the strengthening of European training and exchange programmes for national practitioners in order to further foster a European law enforcement culture;
5.

Considers it regrettable that the Treaty does not introduce a common and precise definition of conventional weapons and only applies to the eight arms categories laid down in Article 2(1), and regrets the absence of a list describing the specific types of weapons included within each of these categories; welcomes, however, the use of broad categories to determine which types of weapons are concerned; is particularly satisfied about the inclusion of small arms, light weapons, ammunition/munitions, parts and components; calls on the States Parties to understand each category in its widest sense within their national legislation; regrets that the trade in weaponised remotely piloted air systems (drones) is not included in the scope of the Treaty;
C.

whereas homelessness has become a priority of the EU’s poverty policy in the framework of the Europe 2020 strategy and its flagship-initiative European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion, as well as in the EU Social Investment Package; whereas, however, the current levels of poverty and social exclusion are jeopardising the Europe 2020 Strategy target of reducing the number of people in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion by at least 20 million;
6.

Welcomes the fact that inland waterways have been embedded in six of the nine core network corridors of the TEN-T and hopes that bottlenecks and missing links will be suitably addressed, given that the CEF will prioritise spending on removing bottlenecks, bridging missing links and, in particular, improving cross-border sections of the core network; recalls that the CEF will also make it a priority to fund telematic application systems functioning as River Information Services (RIS);
4.

Believes that any comparison of national justice systems, especially in relation to their previous situation, must be based on objective criteria and on evidence which is objectively compiled, compared and analysed; points out the importance of assessing the functioning of justice systems as a whole, without separating them from the social, historical and economic situation of the Member States or from the constitutional traditions that they stem from; stresses the importance of treating Member States impartially, thus ensuring equality of treatment between all Member States when assessing their justice systems;
5.

Supports the EU’s approach, which combines intensified diplomatic efforts with targeted sanctions against those responsible for ordering human rights abuses related to political oppression; calls for the enactment of the targeted sanctions as agreed by the Foreign Affairs Council and urges the Member States to implement their own anti-money-laundering legislation to stop the flow of embezzled money from Ukraine, and to ensure the return of stolen assets deposited in the EU; considers that a truly independent investigation of the crimes committed should start immediately and that the targeted sanctions should be lifted as soon as the situation in Ukraine improves and such an investigation of the crimes committed starts to deliver results; calls for an investigation into the massive embezzlement of state funds and assets by the cronies and ‘family’ of ousted President Yanukovych, for the freezing of all their assets pending clarification of how they were acquired and, where they are proved to have been stolen, for the return of such assets by the governments of the Member States;
22.

Notes that Cyprus made its initial request for financial assistance on 25 June 2012, but that differences of positions as regards the conditionality, as well as the rejection by the Cypriot Parliament on 19 March 2013 of an initial draft programme which included bail-in of insured depositors on the grounds that it was contrary to the spirit of European law since it envisaged haircut of small deposits of less than EUR 100 000, delayed the final agreement on the EU-IMF assistance programme until 24 April (EU) and 15 May 2013 (IMF) respectively, with the Cypriot House of Representatives finally endorsing the agreement on 30 April 2013; notes that there were initial competing programme proposals in the case of Cyprus between different members of the Troika, and highlights the lack of sufficient explanation as to how the inclusion of insured depositors was signed off by the European Commission and EU finance ministers; furthermore, regrets the fact that the Cypriot authorities referred to difficulties in convincing the Troika representatives of their concerns during the negotiation process, as also the fact that the Cypriot Government was reportedly obliged to accept the bail-in instrument on bank deposits in view of the exceptionally high level of private debt in relation to GDP; points out that while the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) and a ministerial committee were heavily involved in the negotiation and design of the financial assistance programme and finally the Governor of the CBC co-signed the MoU with the Minister of Finance, it must be noted that there was extremely limited time for any further negotiation in detail of aspects of the MoU;
61.

Stresses the importance of the EU Member States supporting the UNHRC, by working together towards the fulfilment of the indivisibility and universality of human rights and, in particular, by ratifying all the international human rights instruments that this body has established; reiterates its regret that no EU Member State has ratified the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families; reiterates the fact that several Member States have not yet adopted and/or ratified the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, or the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; reiterates its call for all the Member States to ratify these conventions and protocols; stresses the importance of the Member States’ submitting their periodic reports to the UN monitoring bodies in a timely manner; calls on the EU to actively develop an EU position on the crime of aggression and the Kampala amendments;
51.

Stresses that the country of origin (or country of broadcasting) principle enshrined in the Audiovisual Media Services Directive is still a significant prerequisite for the provision of audiovisual content across borders and a milestone on the way to a common market in services; emphasises, however, the need to adapt EU law to the realities of the internet and the digital environment, and to pay special attention to companies offering audiovisual content on-line which try to evade taxation in certain Member States by basing themselves in countries with a very low tax rate;
26.

Notes with concern that the financial crisis and the subsequent recession have hit many European SMEs hard and that a significant number have ended up in liquidation, rather than with the company getting a fresh start; highlights the importance of a favourable regulatory framework to favour healthy restructuring and therefore job retention; welcomes the Commission’s Entrepreneurship Action Plan supporting Member States’ efforts to make it easier for sound businesses to survive and for honest entrepreneurs to get a second chance, since this will have a positive impact on job creation; urges the Commission to come forward with an overview of actions taken in the different Member States to enhance the climate for entrepreneurship; underlines the responsibility of the Member States to fully use the support offered by the Commission for improving the climate for entrepreneurs; welcomes the Commission’s efforts to inform citizens and businesses about funding opportunities through publications such as ‘Overview of the financial rules’ and ‘Funding opportunities 2007-2013’;
19.

Notes that consumers benefit from a more quality-focused service in the postal sector and from savings passed on to them through cost reductions; highlights that more delivery options and better transparency, information and prices are preconditions for increasing consumers’ confidence in the delivery market; notes that Directive 97/67/EC, as amended by Directives 2002/39/EC and 2008/6/EC, ensures that postal services provide a universal service; reminds the Commission to examine, in its implementation report, whether this guarantee is fulfilled by the Member States; asks the Commission to encourage postal services operators to improve interoperability and to accelerate the roll-out of streamlined processes aimed at reducing costs, increasing the availability and quality of delivery services;
7.

Welcomes the will of Pakistan’s political parties to come up with a national plan to tackle terrorism; emphasises that in the fight against terrorism and religious extremism it is crucial to work on its root causes, including by addressing poverty, ensuring religious tolerance and freedom of belief, reinforcing the rule of law and guaranteeing the right and safe access to education for girls and boys; calls for a long-term strategy to prevent the radicalisation of young people in Pakistan and tackle the ‘extensive learning crisis’ which UNESCO has established for Pakistan, in particular by increasing investment in a publicly funded education system and by making sure religious schools have the materials they need to provide a balanced and inclusive education to young people;
F.

whereas Saudi Arabia has a lively community of online activists and the highest number of Twitter users in the Middle East; whereas, however, the internet is heavily censored, with thousands of websites being blocked and new blogs and websites needing a licence from the Ministry of Information; whereas Saudi Arabia is on the Reporters Without Borders list of ‘Enemies of the Internet’ due to the censorship of the Saudi media and the internet and the punishment of those who criticise the government or religion;
21.

Stresses the need for the EU, along with the Ukrainian authorities, to devote further attention to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and in Crimea and to address the catastrophic humanitarian situation, in particular the situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs); calls on the Commission and on the Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management to prepare a robust, direct and long overdue humanitarian action, omitting intermediary organisations, in the form of ‘Blue Convoy’ type humanitarian action clearly marked as coming from the EU; calls on the Commission to present such a plan of action to the Parliament within the next two months; stresses the need for further financial assistance for Ukraine from the EU and its Member States to help it cope with the dire humanitarian crisis; echoes the alerts issued by the WHO to the effect that eastern Ukraine is facing a health emergency, with hospitals not fully functioning and a shortage of medicines and vaccines, and calls for increased and more effective humanitarian assistance to IDPs, with regard in particular to children and the elderly, and for full and unhindered access for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the conflict areas; welcomes the enactment of the long-awaited IDP law, as well as the decision to deploy EU experts through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to advise the Ukrainian authorities on IDP issues;
17.

Believes that the ownership of the CSR by national parliaments needs to be strengthened; encourages the Member States to provide the possibility for the Commission to present the CSRs in the national parliaments before their adoption by the Council; calls, furthermore, on the Member States to demonstrate more commitment to the implementation of the CSRs and to rigorously transpose the EU targets into their own targets at national level; considers, therefore, that the Member States should report annually and thoroughly on the implementation of the CSRs on Single Market areas; reiterates, furthermore, its request that the Commission report to the competent committee of Parliament on the measures taken to ensure progress in the implementation of the CSRs and the progress achieved thus far; invites Member States to explain the reasons for significant variations regarding the CSRs to the competent committee of Parliament;
24.

Welcomes the fact that the anti-discrimination law has been almost fully aligned with the acquis; invites the authorities to address the remaining shortcomings concerning racial discrimination and the provisions on sanctions; calls on the authorities to provide all necessary financial and administrative resources to the Anti-Discrimination Council; while acknowledging some progress in the social inclusion and education of the Roma population, is concerned about high drop-out rates and the low proportion of Roma students among the total student population; calls for the fostering of initiatives which support the housing, health, education and employment of the Roma population, and the empowerment of Roma women and the education of female Roma students; welcomes the efforts of the competent authorities to protect LGBTI rights during the second Pride event, which was held without any incidents; is concerned, however, that attacks on LGBTI community members and activists are continuing; urges both political and civil society actors to fight widespread hostility and violence against sexual minorities, in particular by efforts to educate and inform the public in order to help change attitudes, and by providing training to the police, prosecutors and judges;
3.

Denounces that about one-third of the companies that are deemed to have links to the factory complex, such as Adler Modemarkte, Ascena Retail, Carrefour, Grabalok, J.C. Penney, Manifattura Corona, NKD, PWT or YesZee, have yet to pay into the Trust Fund; deeply regrets that the fact that after months of stalling, Benetton has only granted USD 1,1 million to the Rana Plaza Donor Trust Fund, despite the necessary contribution being estimated to be much higher on the basis of its ability to pay and given the extent of its involvement with Rana Plaza; similarly regrets that every brand linked to Rana Plaza has made insufficient donations, thus failing to live up to their responsibilities to the victims, including Mango, Matalan, and Inditex, who have refused to disclose their donations, with others such as Walmart and The Children’s Place only contributing a minimal amount;