Tuesday 4 May 19991.10.1999 EN C 279/51 Official Journal of the European Communities
19. Points out also that there are geographical barriers within the European Union, such as mountain
ranges, which make transport between neighbouring regions difficult, and that special attention shouldtherefore be paid to these problems;
20. Considers that transport policy should take into account the special needs of border regions;
Welcomes the promotion of interregional and cross-border projects;
21. Considers that the linking of the applicant countries to the European Union must be coherent with
the Community’s transport policy; welcomes the introduction of pre-accession structural aid and thereorientation of the Phare programme with a view to the forthcoming enlargement, with greater emphasisbeing placed on infrastructure investment in the Central and Eastern European countries;
22. Is convinced that improving pan-European transport links between the European Union and the
neighbouring areas, including the former Soviet states and the Mediterranean countries, is of utmostimportance for the future relations; regrets that neither TACIS nor the MEDA programmes are at presentallowed to support major infrastructure investment; calls for transport infrastructure improvements to beregarded as eligible funding when consideration is given, in the future, to the revision of TACIS andMEDA;
23. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the
governments and parliaments of the Member States.
7. Legislative proposals pending
A4-0255/99
Resolution on the implications of the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam (list of legislative
proposals pending as at 1 May 1999, indicating new legal bases and any changes in legislativeprocedure following the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam) (C4-0134/99 − SEC(99)0581 −
C4-0219/99)
The European Parliament ,
− having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,− having regard to the Treaty on European Union which entered into force on 1 May 1999,− having regard to the Commission documents containing a list of legislative proposals pending as at
1 May 1999, indicating new legal bases and any changes in legislative procedure following the entryinto force of the Treaty of Amsterdam (C4-0134/99 − SEC(99)0581 − C4-0219/99)),
− having regard to its resolution of 20 January 1994 on the application of the Treaty on European Union
to proposals pending before the Council on 31 October 1993 for which its entry into force will requirea change in the legal basis and/or a change in procedure (
1),
− having regard to the letters of 13 and 26 April 1999 from the President of Parliament to the President
of the Council concerning implementation of the Treaty of Amsterdam,
− having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens’ Rights and the opinions of
the committees concerned, namely the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, the Committeeon Budgets, the Committee on Development and Cooperation, the Committee on Fisheries, theCommittee on Transport and Tourism, the Committee on External Economic Relations, theCommittee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs, the Committee on Research, TechnologicalDevelopment and Energy and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and ConsumerProtection (A4-0255/99),
(1) OJ C 44, 14.2.1994, p. 175.
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A. whereas the new Treaty contains no transitional provisions governing the action to be taken on current
legislative procedures and whereas the institutions must therefore fill this gap by referring to thegeneral principles of Community law and must in particular:
− give full effect to the institutional changes by complying with the spirit and letter of the new
Treaty, so as to ensure that the new political objectives laid down therein, which are reflected inthe changes in legal basis and/or procedure, are fully taken on board,
− comply with the principle of economy of procedure enshrined in the case law of the Court of
Justice of the European Communities, since such compliance also constitutes a political duty tocitizens,
B. whereas the new objectives set for the Union have implications for the scope and substance of current
legislative acts concerning in particular:
− the progressive establishment of an area of freedom, security and justice (new Title IV of the EC
Treaty), which will require proposals on the free movement of persons, visas, immigration,asylum and judicial cooperation in civil matters, which to date have been based on intergovern-mental cooperation, to be dealt with on the basis of the Community method and a Communityperspective,
− proactive measures to combat all forms of discrimination (new Articles 12 and 13 EC Treaty),− the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms (Article 6 EC Treaty),− the transparency of public activities (new Article 255 EC Treaty),− the protection of privacy (new Article 286 EC Treaty),− the adoption of measures to combat racism and xenophobia (Article 29 EC Treaty),− the adoption of measures to combat terrorism, trafficking in persons and offences against
children, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, corruption and fraud (Article 29 EC Treaty),
− measures in the field of judicial cooperation in civil matters having cross-border implications
(Article 65 EC Treaty),
− measures to combat fraud affecting the financial interests of the Community (Article 280 EC
Treaty),
− measures setting high standards of quality and safety of organs and substances of human origin,
blood and blood derivatives (Article 152(4)(a) EC Treaty),
− measures in the veterinary and phytosanitary fields (Article 152(4)(b) EC Treaty),
C. whereas Parliament has a duty to accept fully the new institutional responsibilities laid down in the
Treaty, in particular where:
− the codecision procedure applies,− it is involved for the first time in Council decisions under a consultation procedure (e.g. Article 65
of the EC Treaty),
D. whereas under the codecision procedure Parliament is co-legislator and, with the Council, has joint
and legal political responsibility for acts coming under that procedure; whereas its participation in theformulation and conclusion of such acts is based on an interinstitutional balance substantiallydifferent from that laid down by the Treaties for other legislative procedures, under which the Councilalone bears final responsibility,
E. whereas the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam will require three types of changes to be
made to legislative proposals pending:
− a change of legal framework following the setting of new objectives for the Union (e.g. Title IV of
the EC Treaty),
− a change of legal basis, with no change in procedure (e.g. proposals based on Article 100a which
are to be based on Article 152 since they relate to public health),
− a change of legislative procedure (e.g. in the transport field, Article 75 (cooperation) has become
Article 71 (codecision)),
F. whereas, in the three instances referred to above, wherever the relevant Treaty change entails a change
in the nature of the act concerned and a substantially different role for Parliament in the legislativeprocedure (e.g. the introduction of new Community powers or of the codecision procedure), the lattermust begin when the Treaty comes into force,
Tuesday 4 May 19991.10.1999 EN C 279/53 Official Journal of the European Communities
G. whereas the Treaty has entered into force in exceptional political circumstances, at a time when the
Commission has resigned and Parliament is holding its last part-session prior to the Europeanelections on 13 June 1999,
H. whereas, in certain instances in which the codecision procedure applies, the Treaty provides for
compulsory consultation of the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions;whereas, in addition to the legal implications deriving therefrom, such consultation has major politicalimplications in that it fosters greater participation by interested parties in the drafting of Communityacts; whereas, in this connection, Parliament accepts its responsibility as co-legislator to ensure thatthis procedure is fully implemented,
I. whereas, in the public interest, the institutions should, in accordance with the principle of
wholehearted cooperation, provide for an accelerated procedure for urgent legislative proposals towhich the codecision procedure applies following the Treaty’s entry into force, on condition that suchproposals are of major political importance and due respect is shown for Parliament’s prerogativesand the principle of legal certainty,
J. whereas, given that the Union’s powers are exclusively sector-based, all Community acts must be
based on a Treaty provision conferring on the Union the power to act and indicating the procedure tobe followed; whereas the Court of Justice has consistently found that the choice of legal basis for anyact must be based on objective factors which may be subjected to judicial scrutiny,
K. whereas each Community act must be adopted under the procedure laid down in the provision which
constitutes the appropriate legal basis for that act, in the form in which it applies at the time of the act’sfinal adoption,
1. Notes the legislative proposals forwarded by the Commission and, as regards all those which have
evolved towards the codecision procedure, considers, as a general rule, that the procedure began on 1 May1999;
2. Considers that, given the current political circumstances linked to the completion of the work of the
fourth parliament, it would be more appropriate for the next parliament to confirm most of the proposalsadopted under legislative procedures which have evolved towards the codecision procedure;
3. Considers nonetheless that, in particular for urgent legislative proposals coming under the
codecision procedure, an accelerated procedure could be implemented (during the part-session in May1999) with a view to taking a final decision thereon, provided that the following conditions are fulfilled:
− the Commission has forwarded a legislative proposal to Parliament and the Council, pursuant to
Article 251 of the EC Treaty,
− Parliament has confirmed its opinion at first reading, delivered prior to the entry into force of the
Treaty,
− the Council has confirmed its common position or, where appropriate, adopted the relevant act if it
accepts Parliament’s amendments,
− where appropriate, Parliament has adopted the common position (Article 251(2)(a)),− lastly, where appropriate, the Court of Auditors, the Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions have been consulted under an extraordinary procedure;
4. Welcomes the Commission’s undertaking to forward amended proposals at the earliest opportunity,
with a view to taking due account inter alia of the views already expressed by Parliament and the Councilwithin the context of other legislative procedures which took place prior to the Treaty’s entry into force;
5. Affirms its political will to cooperate wholeheartedly with the other institutions in implementing the
first stage of the codecision procedure, as laid down in Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty;
6. Recalls that, inter alia in the fields of social affairs, energy, the environment and transport, the
codecision procedure provides for consultation of the Committee of the Regions and/or the Economic andSocial Committee and calls, in a spirit of wholehearted cooperation, for those two bodies to be able toexpress their views as rapidly as possible;
7. Reserves the right to express its opinion at a later date, particularly on matters in respect of which the
Commission is to submit amended proposals, inter alia because a new legal basis (e.g. Article 152) is to
apply;
Tuesday 4 May 1999C 279/54 EN 1.10.1999 Official Journal of the European Communities
8. Urges the Commission, in connection with the proposals relating to the area of freedom, security and
justice (Title IV of the EC Treaty), to submit legislative proposals taking due account of the change in thenature of the acts concerned;
9. Notes the guidelines on changes in legal basis and/or procedure set out in the aforementioned
Commission document, without prejudice however to the subsequent application to given proposals of theprovisions on the verification of legal bases laid down in its Rules of Procedure;
10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Court of
Auditors, the Committee of the Regions, the Economic and Social Committee, the governments andparliaments of the Member States.
8. Plantations of fruit trees * (procedure without report)
Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 76/625/EEC concerning the statistical surveys
to be carried out by the Member States in order to determine the production potential of plantations
of certain species of fruit trees (COM(99)0078 − C4-0181/99 − 99/0051(CNS))
(Consultation procedure)
The proposal was approved.
9. Residue of veterinary medicinal products in foodstuffs of animal origin *
(procedure without report)
Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 2377/90 laying down a
Community procedure for the establishment of maximum residue limits of veterinary medicinal
products in foodstuffs of animal origin (COM(99)0130 − C4-0167/99 − 99/0072(CNS))
(Consultation procedure)
The proposal was approved.
10. Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks ***I
(procedure without debate)
A4-0260/99
Legislative resolution confirming Parliament’s opinion on the proposal for a European Parliament
and Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 2236/95 laying down general rules for thegranting of Community financial aid in the field of trans-European networks (COM(98)0172 −
C4-0283/98 − 98/0101(COD) − former 98/0101 (SYN))
(Codecision procedure: confirmation of first reading)
The European Parliament,
− having regard to the list of Commission proposals pending as at 1 May 1999 for which the entry into
force of the Amsterdam Treaty entails a change of legal basis and/or procedure,