ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
14.

Recalls the investigations conducted on the basis of petitions related to the consequences of failed implementation of the Waste Framework Directive throughout the parliamentary term, and the adoption of the relevant report; recalls the recommendations concerning the lack of proper decision-making as regards landfills and the effect of this on local populations; stresses that the situation is far from having been resolved, given the petitions that have been considered subsequently, particularly in relation to the persistence of toxic fires caused by heavily pollutant industrial waste in some areas of Campania, and to the lack of transparency regarding plans and institutional management in Lazio over the last months, following the scheduled closure of the Malagrotta landfill, which is currently the subject of high-level judicial inquiries; recalls the intensive fact-finding visit to Greece conducted in the autumn of 2013 on this subject which has drawn attention to the shortcomings in the application of the relevant waste-related directives, the lack of progress in waste management as regards plans and systems high up in the waste hierarchy, as well as to the impact on the health of populations in certain areas of Greece; notes that several other petitions on waste management deficiencies have been recently submitted concerning other Member States, particularly in the Valencia region of Spain and in the UK;
22.

Notes the fact that SMEs have an important role to play in the seed market and plant-breeding sector in the EU, in view of their significant contribution to commercial plant breeding, and draws attention to their ability to turn research and knowledge into new commercial products; as plant breeding becomes an increasingly research-intensive and high-tech sector, however, draws attention to the fact that the cost and tools required to develop and then market a new variety could constitute a barrier to smaller companies; believes that an adequate length of protection of their plant variety rights and full access to research results could contribute significantly to levelling the playing field, and stresses that it is of vital importance that investment in these companies in the EU be maintained going forward;
I.

whereas the F&V regime is part of the CAP and seeks, among other objectives, to restore balance in the food chain, promote F&V, boost competitiveness and support innovation; whereas membership of producer organisations (POs) should be increased, including in those regions in which no operational funds have been available for some years and/or production methods are outdated, by making the system more attractive, in view of the fact that more than half of all EU growers still do not belong to a PO despite the Commission’s objective of an average rate of 60 % PO membership by 2013; whereas the low rate of organisation in some Member States has been partly caused by the suspension of POs, which creates uncertainty among producers; whereas, given that POs play a key role in enhancing the negotiating power of F&V organisations, it is essential to prevent uncertainty among producers by clarifying European legislation on the recognition of POs;
15.

Considers it regrettable that SMEs have not, as yet, managed to tap into the potential of the single market, and recalls that only 25 % of SMEs in the EU-27 are exporters; calls on the Commission and the Member States to work together to improve the integration of the single market, and to do more to share best practice in relation to simple paperwork and achieve better regulatory cooperation across the Member States; welcomes the conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) at the ninth WTO ministerial conference of December 2013 and hopes the agreement will facilitate greater opportunities for trade, particularly for SMEs; welcomes, in this connection, the Commission’s intention to propose a standard VAT declaration and believes that any standardisation of VAT declaration forms should be no more complicated than the most simple form it replaces;
16.

Welcomes the actions that have been taken — in accordance with the recommendations of the steering group on relations with the national parliaments — since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon to intensify cooperation between the national parliaments and the European Parliament, in particular as regards the planning of interparliamentary committee meetings, the increase in the number of such meetings (50 since 2010), the forwarding to members of the national parliaments and relevant political bodies of national parliament submissions (reasoned opinions and contributions), the introduction of videoconferences, the promotion of bilateral visits, technical improvements to the InterParliamentary EU information eXchange (IPEX), the increase in the number of collaborative projects carried out under the aegis of the European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD), visits by administrative officials and the exchange of information and of best practice; believes that these actions help to make interparliamentary relations more efficient and more focused, while contributing to parliamentary democratisation;
7.

Urges the EU and its Member States, as well as NATO partners, to address the issue of certain countries’ ambivalent roles in the conflict, in particular where they contributed, or still contribute, actively or passively, to the rise of ISIS/Da’esh and other extremist groups; is very concerned, in this context, about the financing of the dissemination of the Wahhabi interpretation of Islam by public and private entities of countries from the Gulf region and calls upon these countries to stop this financing; furthermore, urges these countries to stop the financing of terrorist organisations from within their territories; calls upon Turkey to play a positive role in the fight against ISIS/Da’esh and without delay allow Christian minorities and other persecuted people fleeing from Syria to cross the border into Turkey and seek safety;
7.

Recalls that, in accordance with Article 14 of the revised Cotonou Agreement, the joint institutions shall endeavour to ensure coordination, coherence and complementarity as well as an effective and reciprocal flow of information; is of the opinion that, as the President of the European Parliament is invited to the meetings of the European Council, the two Co-Presidents of the JPA should be given the opportunity to participate in the sessions of the Joint ACP-EU Council of Ministers; invites the Vice-President/High Representative to further improve the existing cooperation and ensure that the JPA is invited to participate in the next Joint Council;
S.

whereas Parliament has for the past two years warned of the social risks of deflation in a context of low growth, high unemployment and downward pressure on wages; whereas the European Central Bank (ECB) has forecast low inflation in the long run, and has warned of the consequences of this on internal demand, growth and employment; whereas deflation has become a reality since August 2014 in eight Member States (of which six are in the eurozone); whereas demand and job creation in the EU is heavily constrained by the prevailing weakness of credit provision to SMEs and the need to reduce excessive public and private debt with special regards to mortgage loans; whereas the drop in inflation rates significantly increases these difficulties, by raising real interest rates and the real debt burden, and could lead to a vicious circle of economic depression; whereas the ECB reacted to all these aspects on 22 January 2015 by implementing an expanded asset purchase programme, with combined monthly asset purchases amounting to EUR 60 billion, to be carried out until at least September 2016;
37.

Stresses the importance of affordability, sustainability and security of energy supply for the European economy and its competitiveness; considers that competition policy must take this threefold objective into account when addressing the current fragmentation of the market, when ensuing correct and timely implementation of the third liberalisation package for gas and electricity, when encouraging the unbundling of wholesale from retail services in order to prevent anti-competitive practices, and when contributing to the provision of affordable energy for households and undertakings; acknowledges that the Commission’s new ‘Guidelines on State Aid for Environmental Protection and Energy’ could restrict some Member States’ attempts to promote renewable energy; stresses that the regulation of state aid for sustainable energy sources must, to the greatest extent possible, be carried out in the same spirit as in any other sector, while taking into consideration the EU’s 2030 targets for climate and energy as well as national diversities;
M.

whereas advertising and marketing impact on alcohol consumption levels, particularly among young people; whereas the implementation of Directive 2010/13/EU on audiovisual media services is essential for the effective protection of the physical, mental and moral development of children and minors; whereas there is a correlation between starting drinking at an early age and the likelihood of adult alcohol-related problems; whereas the most effective tools to prevent excessive alcohol consumption by young people are education, information and prevention campaigns; whereas, therefore, the Commission should begin without delay to devise a new European alcohol strategy that will help restrict excessive alcohol consumption, and the public should be informed by an awareness-raising campaign of the adverse effects of alcohol consumption on health;
17.

Recognises that cinemas are still the most significant locations for presenting and promoting films, as well as being places with an important social dimension where people meet and exchange views; stresses that the disappearance of small and independent cinemas, in particular in small towns and less-developed regions, is limiting access to European cultural resources, heritage and dialogue; in this context, calls on the Commission and the Member States to provide support to equip all screens with digital projection and sound technology in order to preserve such cinemas;
D.

whereas the SC — in its note on the OLAF draft Investigation Policy Priorities (IPPs) for 2015 — observed that OLAF had not taken into account the three recommendations made in the SC’s Opinion No 1/2014: (i) the OLAF DG had not issued guidelines on the application of the selection principles arising from Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 (efficient use of resources, proportionality/subsidiarity, added value) and, instead of reviewing the financial indicators to adapt them to the reality of spending programmes, had abolished them completely; (ii) the draft IPPs for 2015 appeared to take into consideration several documents from stakeholders, but no dialogue with the stakeholders seemed to have taken place with regard to financial indicators and to possible follow-up of the cases showing sufficient suspicion of fraud, but which had been dismissed on the basis of the IPPs or the selection principles; (iii) the OLAF DG had not forwarded to the SC an assessment of the application of the previous IPPs or a summary of the feedback provided by stakeholders, despite a previous commitment to do so;
A.

whereas the following-up of data relating to ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin ensures both transparency and knowledge as regards the evolution of the market, which is still unstable and which faces strong competition, in particular on account of importation from third countries;
7.

Calls on the EU and its Member States to enforce the principle that listed or unlisted multinational companies of all countries and sectors, and especially those companies extracting natural resources, must adopt country-by-country reporting (CBCR) as a standard, requiring them to publish, as part of their annual reporting and on a country-by-country basis for each territory in which they operate, the names of all subsidiaries and their respective financial performance, relevant tax information, assets and number of employees, and to ensure that this information is made publicly available, while minimising administrative burdens by excluding micro-enterprises; calls on the Commission to put forward a legislative proposal to amend the Accounting Directive accordingly; recalls that public transparency is a vital step towards fixing the current tax system and building public trust; calls on the OECD to recommend that its proposed CBCR template should be made public by all multinational corporations (MNCs), to ensure that all tax authorities in all countries are able to access thorough information, allowing them to assess transfer pricing risks and determine the most effective way to deploy audit resources; underlines that tax exemptions and advantages granted to foreign investors through bilateral tax treaties provide MNCs with an unfair competitive advantage relative to domestic firms, especially SMEs;
23.

Expresses its deep concern at the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Libya; is deeply worried by the expansion of terrorist groups in the country, especially ISIL/Da’esh, which are taking advantage of the political vacuum and the escalation of violence; underlines the importance of urgent measures to limit and eradicate the influence of terrorist organisations on Libyan territory; is alarmed by the particularly serious situation in the south of the country, as it is used as a platform for organised crime and armed groups; stresses the need to maintain Libya’s territorial integrity and national unity, which can only be realised through a policy that includes all well-identified actors; reaffirms its support for the UN-led talks conducted by the SRSG Bernardino Léon in seeking a negotiated solution that will lead to the formation of a Libyan unity government; welcomes the efforts made by Algeria and Morocco to foster the intra-Libyan dialogue; underlines that the EU has already expressed its readiness to introduce restrictive measures against spoilers of the dialogue process, in line with UNSCR 2174 (2014); highlights that the EU should be ready to lend support to institutions in Libya as soon as a political solution and a ceasefire are achieved; stresses that the EU should contribute to a DDR and SSR effort in Libya as soon as a unity government is inaugurated and at its request; warns, however, that in the event of a stalemate in the political negotiations and an increase in the armed conflict, the EU must stand ready to contribute to any UNSC-mandated peacekeeping intervention;
117.

Condemns the fact that many asylum-seekers and migrants seeking to reach the European Union are continuing to die in the Mediterranean, and the role played by smugglers and traffickers, who deny migrants their fundamental rights; points out that the EU and the Member States should take energetic and compulsory measures to prevent further tragedies at sea; calls on the EU and its Member States to put solidarity and respect for the fundamental rights of migrants and asylum seekers at the core of EU migration policies, and in particular: — stresses the need to mainstream fundamental rights in every aspect of EU migration policies, and to carry out an in-depth assessment of the impact on migrants’ fundamental rights of all measures and mechanisms concerning migration, asylum and border control; in particular, calls on the Member States to respect the rights of vulnerable migrants; — underlines the need for a holistic EU approach that will strengthen the coherence of the EU’s internal and external policies; encourages the EU and the Member States to put respect for the rights of migrants at the centre of any bilateral or multilateral cooperation agreement with non-EU countries, including readmission agreements, mobility partnerships and technical cooperation agreements; — reminds Member States of their international obligation to help people in distress at sea; — calls on the Member States to amend or review any legislation penalising people assisting migrants in distress at sea; — underlines the fundamental right to seek asylum; encourages the EU and the Member States to open up and devote sufficient resources to create new safe and legal possibilities and channels for asylum seekers to enter the European Union, so as to reduce the risks inherent in attempting to enter illegally and to combat human trafficking and smuggling networks that profit from endangering the lives of migrants and from their sexual and labour exploitation; — calls on all the Member States to participate in EU resettlement programmes, and encourages the use of humanitarian visas; — urges the Member States to guarantee decent reception conditions in compliance with existing fundamental rights and asylum legislation, with special attention paid to vulnerable people and to reducing the risk of social exclusion of asylum seekers; calls on the Commission to monitor the implementation of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS), and in particular of Directive 2013/32/EU, with specific attention to asylum seekers in need of special procedural guarantees; — calls for the establishment of an effective and harmonised EU asylum system for the fair distribution of asylum seekers among Member States; — deplores the reported incidents of violent push-backs at the EU borders; reminds Member States of their obligation to respect the principle of non-refoulement as recognised by the Geneva Convention and by the ECtHR and of the prohibition of collective expulsions under Article 19 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights; calls on the Commission, its agencies and the Member States to ensure compliance with these and other international and EU obligations;
29.

Recalls the importance of the mobility of workers, geographically and across sectors, as a choice for a competitive labour market, and stresses the need to reduce the administrative and linguistic barriers that are liable to restrict it, and to further develop tools to facilitate mobility such as swift recognition of formal, non-formal or informal qualifications between Member States, the European Qualifications Framework, the European CV and the European Skills Passport, as well as providing sector-specific language courses and training on intercultural communication; encourages the raising of awareness of, and further improvement of, the EU-wide EURES job portal by ensuring, in particular, that a sufficient number of EURES advisors are trained and distributed equally throughout EU territory in order to make EURES an essential tool in the EU job market; stresses the importance of enhanced cooperation among national public employment services and the future inclusion of private employment services and other stakeholders in the EURES network; stresses the importance of EU initiatives aimed at stimulating mobility and creating opportunities, such as ERASMUS+, the European Qualifications Framework, the Europass CV, the European Skills Passport, the European Job Mobility Portal (EURES), the Knowledge Alliances and the European Alliance for Apprenticeships; calls for better promotion of these initiatives with a view to improving the labour market in Europe;
3.

Calls on the CAR authorities to focus on fighting against impunity and on the re-establishment of the rule of law, also by holding accountable before justice those responsible for violence; welcomes the creation of the Special Criminal Court to investigate and prosecute grave human rights violations committed in the country since 2003 and points out the urgent need to make it operational; stresses that international financial and technical support is essential for its functioning; calls for an international pledging meeting for donors as soon as possible; encourages the CAR authorities to adopt an efficient and transparent recruitment procedure for staffing the Court;
24.

Considers the shortage of qualified professionals in various fields of study and activity — including researchers, engineers, technicians and workers — to be a huge hurdle that could prevent the blue economy from fully realising its potential; maintains that this shortcoming is closely bound up with the growing disengagement and disinvestment by Member States in the spheres of science and education and with the lack of valorisation of existing professionals, especially in those Member States which suffered the most from the economic crisis, and therefore calls for these two trends to be reversed without delay; urges Member States and regional authorities to invest in an ambitious social dimension of blue growth and maritime literacy in order to promote training and access for young people to maritime professions; calls on the Commission and the Member States to support both higher education and professional and continuous training programmes, and to ensure that these programmes incorporate blue economy perspectives;
8.

Stresses the significance of the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of 8 April 2014 declaring invalid Directive 2006/24/EC on Data Retention; recalls that the Court stipulated that the interference of this instrument with the fundamental right to privacy has to be limited to what is strictly necessary; highlights the fact that this ruling presents a novel aspect insofar as the Court of Justice refers specifically to a particular body of case law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the issue of ‘general programmes of surveillance’ and has now effectively incorporated the same principles, stemming from that particular case law of the European Court of Human Rights, into EU law in this same field; stresses that it is therefore to be expected that the Court of Justice will, in future, also apply the same reasoning when assessing the validity, under the Charter, of other EU and Member State legislative acts in this same field of ‘general programmes of surveillance’;
15.

Believes that the GAP must address obstacles to the full implementation of the EU guidelines on violence against women and girls (VAWG) and the elimination of all forms of violence; calls for a comprehensive EU approach on VAWG with increased efforts and resources to prevent and eliminate all discriminatory practices against women as well as to combat and prosecute all forms of violence including trafficking in human beings, female genital mutilation, forced sterilisation, forced pregnancy, gendercide, domestic violence and marital rape, child, early and forced marriage and gender-based violence in conflict and post-conflict situations; calls for the development of specific EU actions to strengthen the rights of different groups of women, with special attention being given to young people, migrants, women living with HIV, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons and persons with disabilities;
B.

whereas the objective of the Facility is to increase access to, and availability of, microfinance for persons who have lost or are at risk of losing their job, or have difficulties entering or re-entering the labour market, as well as persons who are facing the threat of social exclusion or vulnerable persons who are in a disadvantaged position with regard to access to the conventional credit market and who want to start or further develop their own micro-enterprises, including self-employment; whereas the objective of the Facility is also to increase access to, and availability of, microfinance for micro-enterprises and the social economy;
H.

whereas the Commission failed to respond to Parliament’s request to undertake an in-depth monitoring process on the situation of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in Hungary; whereas in its statement presented at the plenary debate held in the European Parliament on 2 December 2015 the Commission declared that it was ready to use all the means at its disposal, including infringement proceedings, to ensure that Hungary — and any other Member State — complies with its obligations under EU law and respects the values of the Union as enshrined in Article 2 TEU; whereas the Commission considers that the conditions to activate the Rule of Law Framework regarding Hungary are at this stage not met;