Resolution on the Cannes European Council

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the conclusions of the European Council of 26 and 27 June 1995,

A. whereas the European Council has, on the one hand, shown encouraging signs of changing its language on employment from a purely monetarist one to an approach which recognises the social and ecological dimensions thereof, but has quite clearly failed to give the necessary impetus to the work of the Union, degenerating instead into a media event instead of a body capable of giving the necessary stimulus to the work of the Union,

Preparation of the 1996 IGC

1. Welcomes the fact that, in its recommendations to the Reflection Group on the IGC, the European Council has strongly reaffirmed some of the priorities urged by the European Parliament, but considers that more clear-cut and constructive guidelines could have been accepted;

Economic situation and employment

2. Welcomes the higher priority given to this issue on the European Council's agenda;

3. Notes that the estimates for growth in the broad economic guidelines approved by the European Council are more optimistic than those of the OECD and that they are based on forecasts of world growth which far exceed those of the IMF; expresses concern, therefore, that the threat of a resurgence of inflation is overstated in the guidelines, while no mention is made of the risk of inadequate recovery;

4. Is further concerned that the rapid reduction in deficits recommended by the guidelines could, if unaccompanied by an increase in investment, endanger the economic recovery, and that a danger exists that growth will be insufficient over the next few years to eliminate the unemployment created by the last recession;

5. Regrets that the European Council, although confirming the 14 trans-European networks, failed again to find a solution for their financing which constitutes an important pillar of the Delors White Paper, as decided in Essen; believes that this failure risks further unacceptable delay;

6. Expresses its concern that all the measures relating to employment, and in particular the role of SMEs and of local employment initiatives, as well as the problems relating to EMU, appear to be divorced from the strategic objective of achieving economic and social cohesion amongst the regions of the Union;

7. Notes with satisfaction the reaffirmation of the solemn undertaking by the Heads of State and Government to achieve monetary union by 1 January 1999 at the latest, in strict accordance with the provisions of the Treaty; notes, however, that the Union has been unable to reach agreement on the more specific aspects of monetary union, namely, the technical and practical details of the transition to the future single currency;

8. Regrets the fact that the European Council has given the Ecofin Council a mandate to define a reference scenario for the changeover to a single currency - albeit in consultation with the EMI and the Commission - since this will undermine the Commission's right of initiative in this area;

9. Calls for the role of cost-benefit analyses to be included in the TEN projects and stresses the importance of environmental considerations in the implementation of TENs;

10. Notes with satisfaction that general missions have been taken into account but considers this to be only a first step towards the recognition of public service missions;

Internal affairs

11. Considers it reprehensible that there is still no final agreement on important conventions affecting the security and civil liberties of people in the Union, notably on the Europol Convention, and the Convention on the crossing of external borders of Member States, and that the Dublin Convention has still not been ratified;

12. Calls on the national parliaments to start the process of ratifying the Europol Convention, expedite its passage and complete it as soon as the question of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice has been settled; regrets that other points on which there are too few democratic guarantees have not been settled, namely: parliamentary controls and the role of the European Parliament, the absence of binding arrangements on data protection, protection of citizens in the event of error, possibilities for access and redress, the control body, legal protection and cooperation with third countries;

13. Calls on the Presidency, with reference to Article K.6 of the TEU:

- to inform the European Parliament without delay, and in full, about the Europol Convention,

- to initiate the requisite consultation without delay and to give the European Parliament an appropriate period in which to express its views, and

- to ensure that the views of the European Parliament are duly taken into consideration;

14. Calls on the Commission, in view of the general weakness of the third pillar, to improve the structure of its relevant department, as the Council has done, in order to be able to take initiatives in this area with more efficiency;

15. Considers that not only the difficulties over Europol but also the postponement of the full application of the Schengen agreements are a reminder of the urgent need for a review of the intergovernmental approach to which the Member States have entrusted the integration process in respect of home affairs;

16. Regrets both the vagueness of the conclusions on the European Union's action plan to combat drugs (1995 to 1999) and on the guidelines on drug dependence; considers that the decision to instruct a group of national experts, rather than the Commission, to submit a report and proposals to the next European Council will provide further evidence of the unsatisfactory way drugs policy is handled under the Treaty on European Union; repeats its call for the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference to find a formula under which there will be more clarity of purpose and decisiveness in action in tackling the escalating problem of drugs; believes that this can only be achieved by bringing European drugs policy within the remit of the Community;

17. Is extremely disappointed at the lack of decisions on action to combat racism and xenophobia, despite the commitments given at Corfu and renewed at Essen; calls on the Council to take up and implement especially those proposals of the Consultative Commission against Racism which deal with the drafting and harmonization of anti-discrimination legislation for the Member States;

18. Notes the failure of the Council under the French Presidency to take any significant initiative in the fight against fraud; regrets that the Council refused to make public the statements from Member State governments on their own actions against fraud and the failure by the same governments to respond seriously to the initiative taken by the President of the European Parliament when he wrote to Heads of Government asking them to make this information available to Parliament; notes also that, in adopting the Regulation on 'blacklisting' in relation to EAGGF Fraud, the Council and Commission blatantly ignored the views of Parliament;

External relations

19. Applauds the conclusions of the European Council regarding Mediterranean policy, and expresses satisfaction at the declarations concerning the peace process in the Middle East; expects the Union to participate actively in the setting-up of the agreements; furthermore, notes the agreement concluded on the financing of financial cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean countries; considers that the development of these relations requires greater account to be taken of the aspirations of the peoples of those countries and must be accompanied by an analysis of the social, economic and regional implications with a particular view to avoiding competition between the various economies;

20. Notes that the conclusions of the European Council with regard to financing of external relations are not binding on the budget of the European Union and affirms that for such commitments to be met there will have to be a revision of the financial perspective; regrets the proposal of the European Council to transfer ECU 160 million from the budget of the Union to subsidize the EDF and affirms once more that this is not binding on the budgetary authority; notes that the amount of ECU 13,3 billion for the 8th EDF is considered as a minimum by the majority of Member States and does not take account of the membership of the new Member States or the ever increasing needs of the ACP countries; reiterates its request to incorporate the EDF in the Community budget and also to put it under budgetary control;

21. Considers that over and above economic and institutional interests, the EU, as a community providing security for its peoples, is called upon in the present dangerous world situation to demonstrate solidarity towards the democratic countries seeking membership of the EU, not only as a political but also as a moral obligation;

22. Notes that the European Council 'welcomes the closer ties between the European Union and Turkey' but points out that the European Parliament believes that a customs union with Turkey is only possible if Turkey first makes substantial progress on the question of human rights; appeals once again to the Turkish Government and the Turkish Grand National Assembly to continue the reform of the country's constitution in order better to guarantee the protection of democracy and human rights in Turkey, to behave in compliance with international law and to contribute to a solution of the Cyprus problem;

23. Welcomes the continuing efforts by all institutions of the European Union to continue the process of preparation for the accession of the associated countries to the European Union; hopes that the conditions will be fulfilled as soon as possible for the signing of the Association Agreement with Slovenia; urges the Commission and the Council to involve the European Parliament as closely as possible in the implementation of the pre-accession strategy, as well as in the structured dialogue between the European Union and the associated countries;

24. Welcomes the fact that a serious attempt is being made to achieve a peaceful settlement to the conflict in Chechnya; regrets that negotiations could only start after and on the basis of the tragic events in Budjonnowsk and notes that proposals for such a settlement had already been made a long time beforehand by democratic forces in Russia; is however of the opinion that a start should now be made with the ratification procedure for the partnership and cooperation agreement between the European Union and the Russian Federation;

25. Calls on the Council to implement with all due speed the global action plan decided on in Carcassone during the meeting of the Foreign Ministers, which consists in helping the Burundi Government to organize a national debate, providing support for sending out new human rights experts as part of the structure set up by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, providing support for increasing the number of OAU observers and helping to restore the necessary instruments for the rule of law, inter alia through assistance for the training of the judiciary; supports the idea of holding a regional conference with the participation of the main heads of state of the region in order to reduce ethnic and political tensions;

Nuclear tests

26. Deplores the decision by the French President to resume nuclear testing in Mururoa, a decision which was widely criticised by international public opinion and which threatens the effectiveness of the future global test treaty and poses an immediate threat to the environment in the Pacific; protests at the fact that a Greenpeace ship has been attacked a second time within 10 years and strongly recommends that the Treaty banning nuclear tests entirely be signed at the very latest by the end of 1996;

27. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the governments of the Member States.