ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
9.

Points to the fact that the principles of the Stability and Growth Pact were not always fully respected in the past; recalls that, if the objective to regain a balance of public finances and reduce indebtedness is a necessity for over-indebted states, this alone will not solve the problem of economic imbalances between countries of the euro area and, more broadly, of the EU; calls therefore for unrestricted and more coherent application of the Stability and Growth Pact; deems that the Pact should be complemented by the development of an early warning system to identify possible inconsistencies, e.g. in the form of a ‘European semester’, in order not only to enhance surveillance and strengthen economic policy coordination so as to ensure fiscal consolidation but also – beyond the budgetary dimension – to address other macroeconomic imbalances and strengthen enforcement procedures;
14.

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that equitable access to healthcare and treatment options for older patients are included in their health policies and programmes and to make adequate access to healthcare and treatments for older people a priority for ‘2012 European Year for Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity’; calls on the Member States to promote initiatives in order to tackle social isolation in elderly patients as it has a significant impact on patients’ longer-term health; stresses the need for the European Union and its Member States to anticipate, through an appropriate long-term strategy, the social and economic impact of the ageing of the European population, in order to guarantee the financial and organisational sustainability of healthcare systems, as well as equal and continued delivery of care for patients;
27.

Stresses that EU transport and energy policies covering infrastructure and services are key to achieving Europe 2020 objectives; stresses that the transport sector will ensure that the EU market keeps its position as a highly qualified production area, through the decarbonisation of all transport modes, the implementation of the Single European Railway Area and the completion of the Single European Sky; calls for an effective European Raw Materials Strategy to improve accessibility, energy and resource use efficiency while securing critical materials through the development of FTAs and strategic partnerships; calls for significantly improved access to finance in innovation and infrastructures, notably for smart grids, green technologies, e-health, the Trans-European Networks (TEN) and projects with proven added value which cannot be financed by the market; calls, in this respect, for steps to be taken to explore the opportunities offered by Project Bonds;
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having regard to the fact that, at its meeting of 17 March 2011, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs heard the candidate selected by the Board of Supervisors of the European Supervisory Authority (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority),
34.

Condemns the repression by the Iranian authorities of the independent media, including the censorship of video and photographic materials, in order to limit access to, and the flow of, communications and information; is extremely concerned at the fact that the arbitrary administration of justice in Iran results in strong (self-)censorship by the media; urges official representatives of the EU and its Member States to remind Iran of its international obligation to uphold media freedom; calls on the EU and its Member States, when meeting their Iranian counterparts, to insist on the re-opening of the many forcibly closed daily newspapers, as well as the release of political prisoners, and to present lists of names in both cases; condemns the practice of expulsion of foreign correspondents by the Iranian Government, including reporters from major European newspapers; welcomes the launch of a Euronews Farsi language service;
39.

Underlines the need to provide an adequate level of EU funding for cooperation with the neighbourhood and reiterates the value of the ENPI as the ENP financing instrument, which needs to evolve in such a way as to respond more flexibly to the different needs of the neighbouring countries and regions, ensure that there is a direct linkage between the ENP policy objectives and ENPI programming and reflect the performance-based character of the future ENP; emphasises, however, the need to ensure greater flexibility and crisis-responsiveness, as well as better-targeted assistance, aimed in particular at civil society and local levels, ensuring a bottom-up approach and making sure that the financial assistance is not subject to unjustified state interference; underscores the value of monitoring the management and implementation of the various programmes under the ENPI and emphasises that a fundamental criterion for the funding of projects must be their added value for local economic development, taking into account the actual cost of, and the real contribution made by, each project; calls on the Commission and the EEAS to conduct early consultations with Parliament and the civil society stakeholders during the upcoming drafting of the successor instrument;
25.

Points out that since 2008 European political parties have been entitled to use sums received as grants for ‘financing campaigns conducted … in the context of the elections to the European Parliament’ (Article 8, third paragraph, of the Funding Regulation); also points out, however, that they are prohibited from using these sums for financing ‘referendum campaigns’; believes, however, that if European political parties are to play a political role at EU level, they should have the right to participate in such campaigns as long as the subject of the referendum has a direct link with issues concerning the European Union;
Insists that the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) should continue to grant aid to improve the selectivity of fishing gear and to replace engines on grounds of safety, environmental protection and/or fuel economy – above all for small-scale coastal and traditional fishermen; calls on the Commission to draw up a medium- and long-term plan aimed at improving fuel efficiency in the fisheries (including aquaculture) sector; calls, further, on the Commission to include, in its forthcoming proposals on the reform of the CFP and, in particular, its proposal for a regulation on the reform of the EFF, suitable measures to improve fuel efficiency in the fisheries and aquaculture sector;
5.

Regrets the failure of the Gaborone negotiations and calls for a satisfying exit strategy from the current deadlock situation in order to install a truly neutral, consensual and inclusive transitional government; takes note of the observations and recommendations made in the report to the Extraordinary Summit of the SADC; urges the next SADC Summit on 11 June 2011 to definitively put an end to the political deadlock and aim to serve the interests of the Madagascan people; urges all parties involved under the terms of the accords which have been signed to respect their commitments;
14.

Is of the opinion that the rural development actions under the EAFRD and the sustainable development actions for fisheries areas under the EFF should be integrated in a single framework with the other structural funds, namely the ERDF, the Cohesion Fund and the ESF; calls on the Commission, therefore, to assess to what extent a comprehensive approach to the development of rural and fisheries communities, in line with the territorial cohesion objective, might be guaranteed through a shifting of local development actions under the two funds in question to the ‘cohesion umbrella’, or, at the very least, through clearer synergies among all the funds; believes that such an approach would take into account the context of key policies with territorial impact, and would enable those actively involved in development processes at regional and local level to run an effectively place-based policy well suited to the territorial needs of rural and fisheries areas or small islands;
37.

Calls on the Commission and Member States to offer support to women who are planning to start or to buy a company, or take over a family-owned business, including those who are involved in the liberal professions such as owning a private law or medical practice; considers that the support should consist of appropriate training seminars and workshops in order to enable these women to acquire the managerial skills to successfully navigate an acquisition situation, in particular appraisals, valuing a company and banking and legal issues; acknowledges that particular attention should be given to women under the age of 25 and over the age of 50, as they are more affected by the financial crisis;
9.

Welcomes the Council's decision to impose restrictive measures on Syria and persons responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population, to suspend all preparations for new bilateral cooperation programmes, to suspend the ongoing bilateral programmes with the Syrian authorities under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) and the MEDA instrument, to invite the European Investment Bank (EIB) not to approve new financing operations in Syria for the time being, to consider suspending further Community assistance to Syria in the light of developments and not to take further steps with regard to the Association Agreement with Syria; supports the set of smart sanctions adopted by the Council, and calls on the Council to take a strong diplomatic initiative to persuade other countries to adopt the same sanctions; takes the view that the Council should continue to extend targeted sanctions to all persons and entities linked to the regime with the view to weakening and isolating them, paving the way for a democratic transition;
7.

Calls on the Council to make more active use of the dialogue mechanisms associated with the EU development assistance programme for Eritrea, in order urgently to find solutions that will lead to the liberation of political prisoners and to improved democratic governance in the country; calls on the Council, in this context, to ensure that EU development assistance does not benefit the Government of Eritrea but is targeted strictly at the needs of the Eritrean people;
14.

Considers that an EU Homelessness Strategy should fully respect the Lisbon Treaty, which stipulates ‘the essential role and the wide discretion of national, regional and local authorities in providing, commissioning and organising services of general economic interest as closely as possible to the needs of the users’; considers that it is up to the Member States to define the remits of affordable and social housing and that an EU Homelessness Strategy should be fully compliant with the social housing policy of Member States, which legally enshrines the principle of promoting the social mix and fighting social segregation;
5.

Is aware that, ultimately, confidence in the strength of the underlying economy and the depth, transparency, sophistication and stability of its financial markets are the main determinants for which currencies are kept as reserves by third countries’ central banks; stresses in regard to this that any currency that seeks to become a part of the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights basket must be subject to full convertibility, and acknowledges that the composition of the IMF’s SDR basket should reflect the relative importance of currencies in the world’s trading and financial systems;
4.

Welcomes the two communications from the Commission on humanitarian food assistance and food security; calls for the two communications to be implemented in a coherent and coordinated way in order to better address the root causes of hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity, along with the issue of food distribution amongst and within countries, with a particular focus on the poorest and marginalised segments of society; calls on the Member States to support the process of the development of the implementation plan in support of the Food Security Policy Framework and to adopt it once completed; welcomes the fact that special attention is paid to those who are hardest hit in disasters, namely women and children; considers that when a crisis occurs, it is essential to ensure the community’s capacity to obtain food in the short and the long term; recalls that emergency mechanisms must not be a long-term solution; expresses deep concerns about the negative effects of such mechanisms, especially on local economies; emphasises that a sustainable development policy should be based on long-term and cooperation approaches;
72.

Calls on the Commission and Member States to disseminate best practices in the area of the financing of digitisation, including market-based solutions such as small cinemas forming networks to conclude collective agreements with distributors; calls on the Commission, Member States and regions to focus public funding for digital conversion on cinemas which cannot cover their financing needs from other sources, and to keep the transitional period as short as possible;
14.

Calls on the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the Commission to raise human rights issues at the next EU-China Summit, and calls on the President of the Commission and the President of the European Council clearly to uphold Tibet’s unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity in the course of their official speeches during the opening or closing of the summit, in the event that it is not on the agenda for discussion;
61.

Emphasises that, in order to objectively determine the nature and rate of the changes occurring in the natural environment of the Arctic, it is vital that international teams of scientists be given full access to carry out research in this particularly sensitive area of our planet; points out that the EU is stepping up its presence and involvement, particularly in the European sector of the Arctic, by building joint infrastructure for research and increasing the number of research programmes carried out in the Arctic; supports in particular research teams made up of scientists from many different fields and representing all the countries involved; welcomes the often good and open cooperation in research and takes the view that this research should be open, which would be in the interests of, and make it available for use by, the international community as a whole;
11.

Urges the EU and US to push for a resumption of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in full compliance with international law, leading to a two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders and with Jerusalem as capital of both states, with a secure State of Israel and an independent, democratic and viable State of Palestine living side by side in peace and security; calls on the Member States and the US to address the legitimate demand of the Palestinians to be represented as a state at the United Nations as a result of negotiations within the UN framework;
15.

Recalls the importance of simplification and proper implementation of public procurement rules and therefore calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure it in the existing and upcoming legal framework; notes the need to professionalise the public procurement sector through improved training, to confirm procurement objectives and to explore possible ways of achieving other policy objectives; considers that the participation of SMEs in public procurement tenders needs to be improved and that procurement procedures need to be less cumbersome, cheaper and more open to SMEs, and underlines the need for an extended use of the ‘most economically advantageous tender’ principle instead of the ‘cheapest price’ principle;
36.

Considers, therefore, that a targeted global system of food stocks (both emergency stocks to reduce hunger and stocks to be used to regulate commodity prices) would be beneficial, helping to facilitate world trade when price spikes occur, warding off recurring protectionism and easing the pressure on world food markets; considers that these stocks should be managed by a common body under the aegis of the United Nations, or by the FAO, and make full use of the experience amassed by the FAO and the UN World Food Programme; calls on the Commission as a matter of urgency to study and report to Parliament on the most effective way to achieve this; further calls on the Commission to play a leading role in advocating this targeted global food-stock system;
16.

Recalls that the Lisbon Treaty has reinforced the role of the European Defence Agency (EDA) in supporting the Member States in their efforts to improve the military capabilities for the Common Security and Defence Policy; suggests, therefore, that the Member States ask the Agency to examine how to improve coordination of defence planning in Europe; recalls, furthermore, that the Treaty tasks the EDA to evaluate the observance of capability commitments and to promote the harmonisation of operational needs, and calls for better execution of these tasks; recommends that, as a first step in the ‘European semester’ exercise, the Member States could submit their draft national security and defence reviews to the EDA for advice, to assess them in particular in the light of the capability priorities set by the EDA steering board in the Capability Development Plan, as well as of the plans of the other Member States and of the NATO Defence Planning Process; believes that, in the very short term, the EDA should also play an important role in defining a European capabilities and armaments policy;
9.

Welcomes the commitment of the EU to continue to press for increased international pressure on the Syrian regime; strongly supports the decisions of the Council of 14 November and 1 December 2011 to impose new restrictive measures on the regime and calls for the extension of asset freezes and travel bans to the families and businesses that are its main funders; underlines the necessity for the EU to stand ready to adopt further measures in order to assist the Syrian people, who are striving for a democratic future through peaceful means; calls, in this context, for further EU sanctions which target the Syrian regime but minimise the negative impacts on the population, as long as the repression continues, as well as for the setting-up of appropriate mechanisms to tackle the current and future humanitarian emergencies in the country; welcomes and supports the Council conclusions on Syria of 1 December 2011, which also declare that the EU is ready to develop a new and ambitious partnership with Syria across all areas of mutual interest, including by mobilising assistance and strengthening trade and economic links, as soon as President Bashar al-Assad steps aside and a genuine democratic transition begins;
7.

Strongly condemns the continued use of sexual violence against women as a weapon of war equal to a war crime; recognises the deep physical and psychological wounds that such abuses leave on the victims, along with the dramatic consequences for their families, stresses that this phenomenon needs to be addressed through victim support programmes and urges the mobilisation of political leadership with a view to putting forward a coordinated set of measures for the prevention and alleviation of the use of sexual violence; points, in this respect, to the ongoing appalling situation in Congo; recalls that a mass gang rape took place from 30 July to 4 August 2010 in the eastern Congo mining district, that at least 8 300 rapes were reported in eastern Congo in 2009 and that at least 1 244 women reported being raped in the first quarter of 2010, which is an average of 14 rapes per day; points out that this situation remains unchanged in 2011; urges both EU missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – EUPOL RD Congo and EUSEC RD Congo – to make the fight against sexual violence and the participation of women the main priorities in the effort to reform the Congolese security sector;
16.

Underlines the fact that restoring investor confidence will require a strengthening of the banks’ capital positions and measures to support their access to funding, as far as possible curtailing short-term remuneration systems and inadequate business models; believes that further reform of the regulation and supervision of the financial sector will be necessary in order to reflect heightened risks in the sovereign and private debt markets, which includes a strengthening of the capital positions of systemic banks, although this must not undermine the competitive position of non-systemic financial institutions; stresses that, after having been correctly capitalised, banks should not unduly restrict lending to the real economy and therefore regulatory actions should lay the basis for an increase in their lending capacity; invites the Commission to ensure that the European system of financial supervision maintains bank lending, in particular by those institutions that benefited from crisis-related State aid and the support of ECB liquidity lines; expects the Commission to make its proposals on crisis bank management before Summer 2012; deplores the socialisation of private losses through injections of liquidity in the banking sector and any speculative behaviour by rating agencies and international financial centres;
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the European approach to collective redress must be founded on the opt-in principle, whereby victims are clearly identified and take part in the procedure only if they have expressly indicated their wish to do so, in order to avoid potential abuses; underlines the need to respect existing national systems, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity; calls on the Commission to consider a system which will provide relevant information to all potential victims involved, increase the representativeness of collective actions, allow for the largest number of victims to seek compensation and ensure simple, affordable and effective access to justice for EU citizens, thereby avoiding excessive litigation and subsequent unnecessary individual or collective actions concerning the same infringement; calls on the Member States to put in place efficient mechanisms ensuring that as many victims as possible are informed and made aware of their rights and obligations, in particular when they are domiciled in several Member States, whilst avoiding unduly harming the reputation of the party concerned, in order to respect the principle of the presumption of innocence;