ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
52.

Recalls that as a service of general economic interest (SGEI), social housing is exempted from State aid notification requirements; recalls that social housing is the only sector in the SGEI Decision for which the Commission mentions a target group (disadvantaged citizens or socially less advantaged groups), and that this is not the case for other social services; believes that this may limit the possibility to deliver social and affordable housing for all; acknowledges that there is no agreed common definition of social housing at EU level; warns, however, that a narrow definition of social housing limiting it only to ‘housing for disadvantaged citizens or socially less advantaged groups, which due to solvability constraints are unable to obtain housing at market conditions’ is restrictive and hinders Member States’ ability to define their SGEIs and services of general interest; stresses that SGEIs in housing should be principally guided by specific requirements determined by national, regional or local authorities, since these authorities have the competence to identify and address the housing needs and living conditions of different groups, which can differ greatly between rural and urban areas, and since these authorities play crucial roles in well-targeted decision making; urges the Commission to adapt the target group definition of social and publicly funded housing in the rules on SGEIs, so as to allow national, regional and local authorities to support housing for all groups whose needs for decent and affordable housing cannot be easily met under market conditions, while also ensuring that enough funding is allocated to the most disadvantaged, in order to unblock investment and ensure affordable housing, housing tenure neutrality and sustainable urban development, and to create socially diverse neiglhbourhoods and enhance social cohesion;
D.

whereas the violence in eastern DRC claimed more than 2 000 victims in 2020; whereas the violence has increased even more since the beginning of 2021; whereas civilians, of whom the majority are women and children, are targets of the repeated violence, which resulted in the deaths of more than 150 people between 11 December 2020 and 10 January 2021; whereas within the first two months of 2021, more than 100 people were kidnapped and many others were injured; whereas medical infrastructure and natural resources were destroyed, and houses were reportedly set on fire; whereas the humanitarian consequences of this violence are a cause for concern; whereas, to date, the UN has registered more than 67 000 displaced persons;
7.

Calls for the correct use of exemptions and offset requirements in defence acquisitions, which limit fair competition in the European defence equipment market, and more particularly for the better monitoring and enforcement of the correct usage of the exemption for government-to-government sales in line with the Commission’s 2016 guidance notice on government-to-government sales and the application of the Defence Procurement Directive; asks Member States, in this respect, for more systematic and comprehensive reporting of consistent, accurate and comparable data concerning their use of exemptions in order to improve scrutiny over and the implementation of the relevant Commission guidelines; believes that the Commission should assume its responsibility for monitoring the necessity and proportionality of exclusions invoked by the Member States in their awarding of contracts outside the scope of the Defence Procurement Directive, and should not be mainly reliant on received complaints filed by the industry; urges the Commission, therefore, to step up its efforts and take bold and proactive measures to prevent the misuse of exceptions and adopt a more assertive enforcement policy, in particular by ensuring the effectiveness of infringement procedures;
33.

Stresses that in order to accelerate the development of the circular economy in the fishing and aquaculture sector, it is essential to plan future legislative solutions to the problem of marine waste collection and disposal in conjunction with the European Green Deal; urges Member States, in this regard, to swiftly follow up on the setting of national minimum collection rates for fishing gear containing plastic, as agreed to in the directive on single-use plastics; calls on the Commission to follow up on whether these national plans result in an increase in the collection and recycling of fishing gear in comparison with today’s levels, and, in this regard, to draw up an appropriate and ambitious plan to support the development of a circular economy in the fisheries sector; highlights that there is a market for recycled fishing gear which offers potential for making the use of recycled material a legal requirement, together with the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) provisions on programming for shared management, which would represent an important incentive for fishers and a way to see the value of their contribution to recycling;
I.

whereas according to worrying reports, approximately 200 Armenians are being held in Azerbaijani captivity; whereas the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) stated that it has received complaints regarding 249 Armenians captured by Azerbaijan; whereas the ECtHR has applied interim measures with regard to the 229 Armenians, and 183 still remain in force; whereas the ECtHR concluded on 9 March 2021 that Azerbaijan had failed to comply with the measures, judging the information provided as too general and limited; whereas the Azerbaijani authorities acknowledged that 72 Armenians are in their captivity; whereas with regard to a further 112 individuals, no information has been submitted by Azerbaijan to the ECtHR; whereas the fate of the other Armenian POWs is unknown; whereas since the cessation of hostilities, 73 Armenian POWs and civilians have been repatriated to Armenia;
6.

Condemns the killings and the violence against human rights defenders, former FARC combatants and social and indigenous leaders; emphasises that addressing the persistent violence against them is one of the major challenges in Colombia; notes that the conflict has escalated in rural areas of the country and deplores the violence caused principally in those areas by illegal armed groups and organised crime linked to drug trafficking and illegal mining; notes that several cases of forced displacement, forced recruitment, sexual violence against children and women, massacres, torture and other atrocities, and attacks against ethnic communities and authorities, as well as affectation on the public authorities have been reported; calls for swift and thorough investigations and for those responsible to be held accountable; urges the Colombian state to increase and guarantee the protection and safety of social and political leaders, social activists and environmental and rural community defenders; sees with special concern the problematic situation in the department of Cauca, as raised in the UN declaration;
18.

Urges the Commission to ensure that the ELA becomes fully operational as a matter of priority in order to monitor and promote the application and enforcement of Union law relating to labour mobility and social security coordination; urges the Commission to support and strengthen the capacity of and cooperation between competent national authorities, as well as social partners, in order to ensure fair rights-based mobility, adequate information to workers and employers about their rights and obligations, and the effective cross-border enforcement of workers’ rights, including the portability of rights and entitlements, and to effectively tackle social security fraud and abusive practices; believes that the ELA should focus on better enforcement and implementation of current Union legislation so that competition within the single market is fair and just; stresses that in order for the ELA to be effective in combating illegal practices, it should give priority to the development of a real-time database to validate information from foreign service providers; stresses that the ELA must have sufficient resources to perform its tasks; underlines that the partial integration of the EURES into the ELA should strengthen the link between the promotion of freedom of movement and information provision and compliance with the relevant legislative framework protecting mobile workers and citizens;
J.

whereas the keeping of animals in cages as a livestock production system was born out of the confluence of several factors, namely: the need to identify the best animals for genetic selection, the improvement of hygiene conditions, and better management that allowed automation, and thus the more efficient use of increasingly scarce labour to compensate for the increase in the price of land or the cost of facilities;
5.

Highlights the importance of the ECI as the only participatory tool at EU level which has the capacity to potentially trigger legislation; calls for the response that is given to it to be strengthened through the adoption of a parliamentary resolution for each successful ECI; notes that the Commission must fully comply with its legal obligation to state sufficient reasons for why it did or did not take action on an ECI, and believes that this needs to be more comprehensive to ensure that citizens are provided with an accurate picture of what should be expected from engagement with or the launching of an ECI; regrets the lack of follow-up of successful ECIs by the Commission through legislative measures; believes that, in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2019/788, in case the Commission, within the given deadlines, has failed to publish its intentions, or has set out in a communication that it intends not to take action on an ECI which has met the procedural requirements and is in line with the Treaties, in particular the core values of the Union, enshrined in Article 2 TEU, Parliament could, in line with Rule 222 of its Rules of Procedures, decide to follow up on the ECI with a legislative own-initiative report (INL); urges the Commission to commit itself to submitting a legislative proposal following Parliament’s adoption of such an INL; proposes in that regard to modify the current framework agreement between Parliament and the Commission; asks that the ECI regulation be amended to incentivise the Commission to table a legislative proposal where the ECI submitted meets the relevant requirements;
6.

Calls for result-oriented Human Rights Dialogues to be held on an annual basis and evaluated regularly and calls for a solid benchmarking of the progress made in bilateral dialogues more generally to ensure that these exchanges produce genuine positive outcomes for human rights and human rights defenders in China; asks for the benchmarking results and any progress, stagnation or deterioration to be discussed in a transparent manner; requests that human rights be regularly raised at the highest political level, both at EU-China Summits and at Member State level; calls, furthermore, for a shadow human rights dialogue, involving EU and Member State diplomats, the Chinese diaspora, free and independent NGOs, academics and lawmakers, aimed at forging a better understanding of the Chinese system and devising better strategies to influence human rights progress in China; underlines that these Human Rights Dialogues need to include, but must not be limited to, the following issues: media freedom and freedom of the press, the rights of minorities, including in the regions of Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Tibet, and free access to these regions including for diplomats and journalists, the situation of Hong Kong, freedom of speech, labour rights, the right of assembly, freedom of religion or belief, and the state of the rule of law in China in general; welcomes the appointment of a new EU Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief Outside the Union, and calls for the new Special Envoy to be actively involved in supporting the plight of all religious groups and entities, including Muslims, Christians and Buddhists, facing persecution in mainland China and Hong Kong; calls for the relevant EU institutions to use these Human Rights Dialogues to bring up individual cases; remains deeply concerned about the continuing detention of Swedish citizen and publisher Gui Minhai; urges an intervention by the EU and the Member States at the highest level to secure the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners; expresses concern about systemic human rights violations in China and condemns all cases of arbitrary arrests and suppression of the free flow of information and freedom of expression;
42.

Notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the expansion of the home delivery sector and specifically the use of vans and powered two-wheeled vehicles such as mopeds and bicycles, boosting the emergence of new types of platform work and business models; calls on the Commission to ensure that professional van drivers undergo appropriate training and to address the issue of van drivers’ fatigue and speeding, particularly as a result of the large increase in the number of home deliveries; further calls on the Commission to consider tightening the roadworthiness test regime and introducing the obligation of additional checks for vans used by parcel delivery service providers once a specific mileage has been reached, and to consider extending this obligation to other vehicles in these categories used for further commercial purposes as part of the revision of the Roadworthiness Package; calls on the Commission to come up with a recommendation on the safety of delivery personnel, including requirements for employers and companies to ensure the provision and use of safety equipment and safe vehicles, as well as training in the digital tools they might have to use, such as applications and interactive platforms;
—

The EU talent pool, as established by the legislative act, should allow third-country nationals to express their interest in and apply for work, while also enabling employers to search for potential employees. Third-country nationals should be able to apply for work where there is a shortage in the Member States’ labour markets, after having gone through a transparent and non-discriminatory application and pre-screening process, facilitated by the Union. The EU talent pool would serve as an optional tool that Member States could use to meet the demands of and shortages in the Member States’ labour markets that cannot be met by the domestic workforce. The EU talent pool should be complemented by increased coordination between participating national authorities, with the involvement of public employment services and local authorities, and it should take into account national specificities and the different demands of national labour markets. The promotion of the EU talent pool and its usage could be enhanced by targeted information dissemination, promoting the EU talent pool and matching platform in third countries and participating Member States. In that spirit, the Union-wide transnational advisory service network, referred to in Recommendation 6, should facilitate the running of the EU talent pool and serve as a contact point for the EU talent pool in the Member States. Utilising that network, based on the harmonisation of applications, would help to reduce bureaucracy at Member State level. Within the EU talent pool, an EU talent remote network should be set up in order to allow third-country nationals to work remotely in a Member State other than the one in which they are residing, and such remote workers should enjoy equal treatment.
32.

Welcomes the initiative of the European Centres of Vocational Excellence, which provides a structure for the sector at European level; calls for the creation of a European vocational and training area as an integral part of the EEA; asks the Commission and the Member States to work towards the creation of a European apprentices statute; highlights the need for some Member States to address the lack of attractiveness and prestige of VET and dual education systems; stresses that VET systems need to become even more learner-centred and adapted to the changing world of work; reiterates the importance of VET recognition and calls on the Member States to implement the corresponding Council recommendation and the European Skills Agenda properly and in full; underlines the importance of creating flexible and modular pathways to learning to enable learners to combine and build on different learning experiences and opportunities;
14.

Underlines the fact that while humanitarian aid seeks to tackle immediate, life-threatening situations, crises are caused by drivers that require long-term solutions, as underlying fragility is a significant precursor to humanitarian crises; calls on the Commission and the European External Action Service to adopt a communication developing a clear policy on a humanitarian-development-peace nexus in order to bridge the gaps between the individual policy areas, while ensuring that the distinct legal character and principles of humanitarian aid are respected; stresses that this nexus approach should strengthen resilience and promote sustainable responses, while the SDGs should be used as a framework for such an approach, as the 2030 Agenda provides a unique opportunity to address the root causes of fragility and conflict, building on the practical experience of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), among others; calls for the EU and the Member States to swiftly implement this nexus approach, with a particular focus on tackling fragility, preventing conflicts, tackling hunger, addressing displacement related to disasters and the adverse effects of climate change, providing education and livelihood opportunities, supporting early recovery, enhancing response capacity, and forging self-reliance and resilience; calls on the Commission to publish an assessment of the operationalisation of the humanitarian-development nexus in the six pilot countries identified in 2017;
D.

whereas since the entry into force of the KPCS as a global initiative in 2003, the nature of the conflicts and the realities on ground have changed; whereas the KPCS does not capture situations where public or private security forces, companies, criminals or armed groups use widespread or systematic violence to secure their economic interests in diamond production; whereas the desire of consumers to have certainty about the origin and ethical nature of diamonds cannot currently be met; whereas this results in declining demand for natural diamonds and consequently has negative implications for the legitimate diamond industry and artisanal miners; whereas mechanisms such as the KPCS need to be regularly reviewed and updated to ensure they are able to meet consumer expectations and international obligations relating to corporate social responsibility and sustainable development;
19.

Calls on the Philippine authorities to step up their efforts to ensure fair and free elections and a non-toxic environment for on- and offline campaigning; regrets, in this context, that the Philippine authorities have not invited the EU to conduct an election observation mission; calls on the Government of the Philippines to ensure a safe, free and fair electoral campaign and to take measures to ensure access for all to electoral resources; calls on the EU Delegation and EU Member States’ representations to support sending an international electoral mission and give their full support to independent local election observers, to regularly meet with them and to closely follow up on any incidents reported during the election campaign, including by addressing these concerns directly with the Philippine authorities;
17.

Calls, in particular, for the import of the most important Russian export goods, including oil and gas, to be restricted, for new EU investment in the Russian Federation as well as new Russian investment in the EU to be banned, for all Russian banks to be blocked from the European financial system, for the Russian Federation and Belarus to be banned from the SWIFT system and for secondary sanctions to be imposed on banks using alternative means to SWIFT for related transactions or for similar sanctions to those against Russian banks or the banking system to be imposed, and calls for it to be prohibited to raise funds or borrow on European markets from secondary capital markets; calls for access to EU public procurement to be banned for the purchase of goods and services originating from Russia and Belarus; calls for the export of any high-tech products and strategic goods to the Russian market to be banned; calls for funding for all research and innovation cooperation programs with Russia supported with EU funds to be immediately blocked or withdrawn and for interregional programmes to be suspended; calls for EU ports to be closed to Russian ships; calls for the Russian-controlled investment funds and banks such as the International Investment Bank to be immediately banned from operating in the EU; calls for access to all EU ports to be refused for ships whose last or next port of call is in the Russian Federation, except in the case of necessary justified humanitarian reasons; welcomes the ban on flights by Russian carriers as well as flights by private Russian planes in EU airspace; calls for the adoption and appropriate application of similar sanctions on Belarus;
28.

Calls on the Commission to ensure that the new ALMA initiative assists young people, particularly NEETs, in gaining access to social and labour market inclusion within their home countries, by finding quality temporary work and skilling experience that respects the quality standards upholding young people’s labour rights in another Member State such as fair remuneration and access to social protection; stresses that accompanying and offering guidance to young people before, during and after participation in the programme is key; highlights that ALMA must foster real mobility and quality skills development programmes, vocational training or employment for all participants, including young persons with disabilities or young people coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, and must include an inclusion strategy designed with the input of civil society organisations and the social partners in order to ensure equal access, prevent discrimination and address any barriers that might arise and that ALMA does not become an instrument which creates precarious employment conditions for young people; notes that support should be given to national PES for its implementation through the ESF+ budget line in coordination with private and public partners, while creating synergies with the European Education Area; urges the Commission to ensure the added value of ALMA in addition to the existing opportunities under Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, and to ensure that virtual learning and cooperation remain combined with physical mobility under the ESF+; calls on the Commission to assess whether ALMA could be included as one of the mobility components of the reinforced Youth Guarantee;