A4-0416/96

Resolution on the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on 'The European Union and Latin America: the present situation and prospects for closer partnership 1996-2000' (COM(95)0495 - C4- 0489/95)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament (COM(95)0495 - C4-0489/95),

- having regard to its resolution of 22 April 1994 on economic and trade relations between the EU and Latin America ((OJ C 128, 9.5.1994, p. 443.)),

- having regard to the conclusions of the European Council of Madrid (15-16 December 1995) on the general guidelines for the cooperation between the EU and Latin America, which explicitly state that economic development should be linked to social progress;

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Security and Defence Policy and the opinions of the Committee on External Economic Relations, the Committee on Development and Cooperation, the Committee on Research, Technological Development and Energy and the Committee on Transport and Tourism (A4-0416/96),

A. considering that the EU should develop a global and coherent approach towards Latin America, leaving however ample opportunity for deepening relations with specific countries and sub-regions, reflecting the degree of diversity within the continent, and that Latin America offers the European Union's common foreign and security policy an opportunity which has not yet been adequately exploited,

B. having regard to the important contribution made by the European Union to achieving and maintaining peace and strengthening international security in its relations with Latin America, in particular with regard to the crisis in Central America (the San José dialogue process),

C. considering that democratic clauses in international agreements should be extended with a view to placing emphasis on the issue of impunity, should actually be implemented and should apply equally to all different geographic regions, including all the Latin American countries,

D. considering that the progress towards consolidation of democracy, respect for human rights and economic reform in Latin America facilitates the cooperation between the EU and Latin America, and promotes political and economic stability and social equality in the whole continent,

E. concerned however that despite these opportunities and the major role the EU plays as partner in development cooperation to Latin America, the EU risks being outflanked by the United States of America with respect to economic investment-related and political activities,

F. considering the EU has made insufficient use of the instruments provided for by the common foreign and security policy in its relations with Latin America,

G. considering that the present imbalance between the ministerial and the inter-parliamentary side of the political dialogue between the EU and Latin America needs to be corrected and that more possibilities should be offered for participation of the civil society in the cooperation between the EU and Latin America in general and the political dialogue in particular,

H. whereas the growing interdependence of the world economy and the emergence of political, social and environmental problems mean that the EU should be more involved in the developments on the Latin American continent,

I. considering that a number of problems and challenges in relation to developments in Latin America require adequate attention of the EU, such as:

- the ongoing integration efforts on the continent,

- the high social costs which are involved with the economic reform process, with broad sections of the population reduced to poverty, and the uneven distribution of income and wealth greatly aggravated,

- the threats to the democracies in Latin America, because of narcotics economics, corruption, increased crime and poverty,

- the protection of the environment,

- the problem concerning the foreign debt of the Latin American countries;

- the prevailing exemption from punishment and the continued existence of military courts with far-reaching powers,

J. whereas the economic growth model in Latin America must be accompanied by the highest possible levels of social equity and balance; whereas the consolidation of democracy requires the elimination of poverty and social exclusion, effective systems for participation and a fair balance in the distribution of wealth; aware that an improvement of the tax collection system in Latin America would enable the Latin American states to make a bigger effort with regard to social measures themselves,

K. aware that the interests of EU and the United States of America (US) should be more closely coordinated; considering also that Latin America should be given greater attention in the transatlantic dialogue between the EU and the US,

L. whereas the positive effects of the adjustment policies carried out in Latin America should help to eliminate the social inequalities and enormous pockets of poverty which still exist and threaten to cause serious social unrest,

M. considering that since the EU Treaty the defence and security aspects of the relationship between the EU and Latin America should no longer be ignored,

N. considering that the EU needs to play an active role in Latin America to help that continent to meet these challenges and to secure its own interests,

1. Welcomes the communication of the Commission, which gives a new incentive to the relationship between the EU and Latin America, seeking a closer political, trading and cooperation partnership;

2. Supports the analysis made by the Commission; considers the proposals of the Commission to be vague and little innovative; therefore calls on the Commission to draft an action programme containing more concrete proposals;

On the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and the political dialogue

3. Believes that the communication lacks the ambition to develop a global, coherent and individual approach on the basis of the CFSP; recalls that the EU Treaty requires the EU to affirm its identity on the international level; requests that relations between the European Union and Latin America should be specific and exclusive and not be linked to any other geographical area;

4. Calls on the Commission and the Council to submit a global action programme for the CFSP with regard to Latin America, which should be well defined and precise and be given sufficient budgetary resources;

5. Calls on the Commission and the Council to identify Latin America as a geographic area of great importance for the EU and to make more use of the instruments available under the CFSP in its relations with Latin America;

6. Recommends to the Council that joint and common actions, in conformity with the provisions of Article J.7 of the EU Treaty, be considered to promote peace, democracy and respect for human rights in Latin America, in which case Parliament must always be consulted beforehand;

7. Calls on the Member States of the European Union to continue to develop public or private investment policies in the Latin American region in order to continue to promote vital industrial cooperation and the transfer of technology via small and medium-sized undertakings or joint ventures;

8. Calls for greater autonomy for the CFSP in relation to Latin America and advocates that its relations with that area should result in a proper 'transatlantic dialogue' between both areas, including all the activities developed by the Union, in order to ensure that the interests and the role of Latin America in the new international (economic) order are taken into consideration and reinforced;

9. Calls on the Latin American countries and the EU institutions to consider establishing a new transatlantic dialogue between Latin America and the EU, modelled on, but not necessarily identical to, the existing transatlantic dialogues between the EU and the US and the EU and Canada;

10. Proposes, as mechanisms for dialogue, a specific ministerial framework for each regional integration process similar to the arrangements for the renewed San José dialogue process, as well as an interparliamentary framework with each of the regional parliaments, in accordance with the same principles;

11. Proposes that the European Parliament and the relevant Latin American regional parliament should take part in the twice-yearly plenary ministerial meetings, as well as in intermediate meetings between the Latin American ministers and the European Union Troika;

12. Intends to monitor the use of the funds assigned to regional cooperation and calls on the national or regional parliaments of Latin America to do likewise;

13. Calls for the establishment of fora for consultation with civil society and proposes the latter's participation in the various regional dialogue processes by holding regular conferences, by granting its representatives observer status in the various inter-ministerial meetings and by their active participation in the fora, committees and subcommittees in the various sectors;

On trade and integration

14. Calls on the Commission to include in the action programme requested by the European Parliament a global vision on the future development of the contractual relations between the EU on one side and Latin America as a whole, its sub-regions and the individual countries on the other;

15. Considers it vital for the EU to support integration between the emerging countries of Latin America through the flexible application of advantages conferred by the GSP on a regional basis and, in this sense, supports the notion that where an emerging country no longer benefits from the GSP, the system of regional accumulation might continue to be applied to components from that country used by the remaining countries belonging to the same regional grouping;

16. Welcomes the progress made in the process of economic and commercial integration by the countries belonging to Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay) who managed to set up a customs union which should be complete by the year 2000;

17. Calls on the Council and the Commission to bring into play all possible mechanisms to implement the agreements recently signed with Mercosur and Chile, in order to achieve, rapidly and efficiently, the objectives contained in those agreements;

18. Calls on the Member States to complete, as soon as possible, the internal formalities for ratifying the agreements signed with Mercosur and Chile; in this context, calls on the Commission in particular, and the European Union in general, to invest more effort in coming to an agreement with Brazil in the economic field, bearing in mind the importance of this country which represents almost two thirds of Mercosur and with which cooperation is concentrated mainly on social and environmental projects;

19. Welcomes, likewise, the recent agreement signed on 21 June 1996 in the presence of the 15 Heads of State or Government and the President of the Republic of Chile at the European Council meeting in Florence, which will help to strengthen the new contractual relations between the European Union and Latin America;

20. Supports the progress made in the sectors of free trade and integration; requests that future economic cooperation agreements with the countries and blocs in the region devote particular attention to environmental and social sustainability and be accompanied by financial protocols incorporating a substantial increase in the resources assigned to cooperation with the Latin American countries; requests that these agreements should include a negotiated and reciprocal opening up of markets, that they should not exclude 'sensitive areas' and should include a calendar for reciprocal liberalization of trade;

21. Calls on the Commission before the start of the procedure for the adoption of the Union's new financial perspectives, which are to enter into force by the year 2000, to submit a report assessing the financial allocation which would be necessary (budget allocation and EIB loans) to ensure adequate support for the partnership agreements between the EU and the Latin American countries or regional grouping in the first years of the next century;

22. Insists that trade protectionist measures which discriminate against Latin American products, e.g. agricultural subsidies, need to be addressed within the EU to support and encourage growing trade links between these two regions;

23. Calls on the Commission and the Council to use all possible instruments to promote investment by EU-firms - in particular small and medium size enterprises - in Latin America, for example through the increase of funds for LA-INVEST, ECIP and the European Investment Bank;

24. Asks the Commission to submit to it a yearly report on the progress made in removing the obstacles which hinder EU-Latin American reciprocal trade and the progress achieved in preparing the future trade liberalization with Mercosur and Chile;

On cooperation between the EU and Latin America

25. Believes that the increase in funds for the new period (1996-2000) is insufficient to meet the ambitions as described by the Commission in its Communication and wishes to see a further increase in these funds and hopes this increase will take into account the Commission's staffing needs;

26. Reasserts the importance of the principles of development underpinning all the EU's foreign relations with the countries of Latin America, whilst over 200 million of the region's inhabitants are impoverished, suffering malnutrition, hunger, lack of clean water and sewage disposal and inadequate information and education;

27. Calls on the Commission to give priority to the less developed countries in Latin America when using these funds; also calls on the Commission to work out a suitable way of co-financing between the EU and the richer Latin American countries, when the latter are recipients of funds in the framework of EU/Latin America cooperation;

28. Supports the priorities and themes chosen by the Commission, as well as the attention given to the improvement of the management structures of the cooperation;

29. Calls on the Council to coordinate the position of the Member States in the Paris and London Clubs and to look into the possibility of applying innovative formulae to reduce the weight of the debt (conversion into environmental and vocational training projects, revision of the system of tax relief for bank reserves to cover bad debt);

30. Repeats its request for part of the foreign debt to be cancelled in the negotiations with each Latin American country, in accordance with its restricted capacity for payment, and for priority to be given to combating poverty;

31. Notes that assessment is an essential aspect of improving the efficiency, impact and quality of European cooperation; calls on the Commission, on the basis of the objectives outlined, to adopt the necessary measures to allow serious action to be taken in this field, so that assessments may be carried out with greater regularity and be more far-reaching;

32. Declares itself in favour of tax reform being considered a priority sector of Union technical assistance for Latin American public administration and calls on the Commission, in this context, to set up a task force of tax experts to work in close cooperation with those Latin American governments reforming their tax structures;

33. Insists that the Member States of the EU and the countries of Latin America coordinate their efforts in their fight against drug trafficking and underlines the need for these countries to contribute to the activities of the UN and its specialized agencies; to this end calls for greater collaboration between the Commission and the Member States so that the pilot programme of operational coordination which is being carried out in some Latin American countries may soon be extended to other areas of cooperation and other countries in the region;

34. Considers that the lack of clarity and information concerning the scope of relations between the EU and Latin America must be remedied by means of measures for promotion and dissemination, involving the Commission's delegations and members of society on both sides;

On security and defence cooperation

35. Calls on the Commission, the Council and the EU Member States to increase cooperation with the relevant organizations and countries of Latin America in the area of security and defence; believes that this dialogue should centre around confidence-building measures amongst the Latin American states, (control of) arms trade, arms reduction, international conflict prevention and peace keeping;

36. Urges the Member States of the EU and the countries of Latin America to continue to play an active part in humanitarian and peace-keeping activities;

37. Believes that the new relations in the field of security and defence must respect the principles of environmental safety and sustainable development, the control of nuclear, chemical and conventional arms and the resolution of conflict by peaceful means, and should not harm the development of their peoples;

38. Encourages the conclusion of cooperation agreements on security and defence matters between the different security organizations of which the Member States of the EU and the countries and bodies of Latin America are members;

39. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.