ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
6. Calls on its delegation for relations with the USA to raise the issue at its next meeting with the
members of Congress;
7. InstructsitsPresidenttoforwardthisresolutiontotheCouncilandtheCommission,thechairmanof
the UN Human Rights Commission, the Prime Minister of Yemen, the Government of the United States
and the Governor of the State of Virginia.
12. Human rights: Kuwaiti women’s right to vote
B5-0342, 0351, 0370, 0379 and 0383/1999
European Parliament resolution on voting rights for women in Kuwait
The European Parliament,
A. noting that Article 29 of the Kuwait constitution reads that ‘all citizens are equal before the law,
regardless of gender, religion, race or ethnic background’,
B. noting that Kuwait is a signatory to the International Convention on the elimination of all forms of
discrimination against women,
C. noting that, since the Constitution was promulgated in 1961, the rights of women to vote and stand
for election have never been granted,
D. noting that His Highness the Emir submitted a decree to the Kuwait Legislative Assembly aimed at
giving women the right to vote and stand for election in parliamentary and municipal elections from2003 and that this decree was rejected by the Legislative Assembly on 23 November 1999,
E. noting that at a second attempt the same Assembly narrowly rejected a bill of similar import on
30 November 1999 by 32 to 30, with 2 abstentions,
1. Voices deep disappointment at the decisions taken by the National Assembly of Kuwait, which pre-
vent Kuwaiti female citizens from exercising an elementary right; expresses its solidarity with the womenof Kuwait and encourages efforts to make the population more aware of the issue;
2. Calls on the Parliament of Kuwait to adopt a bill granting women full political rights, including the
right to vote and to standfor election;
3. Congratulates the Kuwaiti Government for its recent nomination, the first time ever, of a woman Bdash
Dr Rasha Al-Sabah Bdash to a position in the Government;
4. Instructs its President to make all possible efforts, in agreement with the Speaker of the National
Assembly, to organise a meeting in Kuwait of the EP delegation for relations with Mashreq and the GulfStates with a representation of Kuwaiti parliamentarians to debate issues of common interest, includingwomen’s rights, as soonas possible;
5. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, Emir Cheikh Jaber
el Ahmed Al-Sabah and the National Assembly of Kuwait.18.10.2000 EN C 296/203 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 16 December 1999
13. Venezuela
B5-0047, 0055, 0060, 0072, 0076 and 0086/2000
European Parliament resolution on the disastrous floods in Venezuela
The European Parliament,
A. whereas, in addition to the loss of thousands of lives and great human suffering, the disastrous floods
which occurred in Venezuela at the end of last year also caused extensive material damage, destroyinghundreds of thousands of homes and wiping out important transport and communications infrastruc-tures,
B. whereas the Venezuelan Government is faced with the formidable task of rebuilding part of the coun-
try, while having to find an immediate solution to the problems of hygiene, housing and health facing
hundreds of thousands of people,
C. whereas the European Union possesses resources and technical capacity which could be used to assist
the Venezuelan Government in its humanitarian and reconstruction efforts,
D. whereas this unprecedented natural disaster was exacerbated by unregulated building projects and the
violation of environmental and town planning laws,
E. concerned at the frequency of climate-related disasters, which could be linked to climate changes
caused by the effects of human activity on the environment,
F. whereas the Commission has already announced that it intends to provide initial emergency humani-
tarian aid of €3,6 million,
1. Expresses its solidarity with the families of the victims and supports the efforts undertaken by the
authorities and the people of Venezuela to cope with the floods;
2. Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with the Venezuelan Government, to examine the needs
which will have to be met most urgently in order to restore normality to the country and alleviate thedesperate plight of the survivors in the areas affected by the floods;
3. Callsalso onthe Commissionto offer the Venezuelan Government assistance in the reconstruction of
the areas concerned, making use as far as possible of the additional financial resources and technical assist-ance that can serve this purpose, as was done in the wake of the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch;
4. Calls on the Commissionand the Member States to play an active part in initiating and organising an
international donors’ conference to coordinate international aid in cooperation with third countries andmultilateral organisations, in order to help with the reconstruction of the areas affected;
5. Requests that any reconstruction projects should take into account the need to reverse the current
destruction of ecosystems, carry out a long-term environmental clean-up programme, extending to riversand riverbeds and irrigation systems, and develop a sustainable form of agriculture using production meth-ods which guard against erosion;
6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of
the Member States and the Government of Venezuela.C304/214 EN24.10.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities
Thursday 20 January 2000
4dash having regard to Article160b(3) of the EAEC Treaty,
4dash having regard to Rule 35 of itsRulesof Procedure,
4dash having been consulted by the Council by letter of 22 June 2001 on the appointment of a Member of
the Court of Auditors(C5-0283/2001),
4dash whereasat itsmeeting of 8-10 October 2001 the Committee on Budgetary Control heard the Coun-
cil’snominee for the office of Member of the Court of Auditorsand cons idered the nominee’squalifi-cationsin the light of the criteria laid down by Articles45b of the ECSC Treaty, 247 of the EC Treatyand 160b of the EAEC Treaty,
4dash having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A5-0346/2001),
1. Deliversa favourable opinion on the appointment of Mr David Bos tock to the office of Member of
the Court of Auditors;
2. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and, for information, to the Court of
Auditors, the other institutions of the European Communities and the Audit Offices of the Member States.
3.
European Parliament resolution on the appointment of a Member of the Court of Auditors
(C5-0284/2001 /dash 2001/0810(CNS))
The European Parliament,
4dash having regard to Article45b(3) of the ECSC Treaty,4dash having regard to Article247(3) of the EC Treaty,4dash having regard to Article160b(3) of the EAEC Treaty,4dash having regard to Rule 35 of itsRulesof Procedure,
4dash having been consulted by the Council by letter of 22 June 2001 on the appointment of a Member of
the Court of Auditors(C5-0284/2001),
4dash whereasat itsmeeting of 8-10 October 2001 the Committee on Budgetary Control heard the Coun-
cil’snominee for the office of Member of the Court of Auditorsand cons idered the nominee’squalifi-cationsin the light of the criteria laid down by Articles45b of the ECSC Treaty, 247 of the EC Treaty
and 160b of the EAEC Treaty,
4dash having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A5-0346/2001),
1. Deliversa favourable opinion on the appointment of Mr FrançoisColling to the office of Member of
the Court of Auditors;
2. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and, for information, to the Court of
Auditors, the other institutions of the European Communities and the Audit Offices of the Member States.
4.
European Parliament resolution on the appointment of a Member of the Court of Auditors
(C5-0285/2001 /dash 2001/0811(CNS))
The European Parliament,
4dash having regard to Article45b(3) of the ECSC Treaty,
4dash having regard to Article247(3) of the EC Treaty,C112E/102 EN 9.5.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 23 October 2001
20061223

P6_TA(2006)0529

Nomination of the Bulgarian Commissioner

European Parliament decision approving the appointment of Mrs Meglena Kuneva, the new Member of the Commission nominated by the Republic of Bulgaria

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Bulgaria, and in particular Article 45 thereof,

- having regard to the candidate nominated by the acceding Member State, namely Mrs Meglena Kuneva, with a view to her appointment as a Member of the Commission,

- having regard to the hearing of the candidate held on 27 November 2006,

- having regard to the Council's intention to appoint the new Member of the Commission, by common accord with the President of the Commission, as of the date of accession, namely 1 January 2007, as indicated in the letter sent by the Council to the President of the European Parliament on 31 October 2006,

- having regard to the Protocol on the enlargement of the European Union annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaties establishing the European Communities, in particular Article 4(4) thereof,

- having regard to Rule 99 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. recalling the provisions of Article 214(2), third subparagraph, of the Treaty establishing the European Community,

B. in view of the outcome of the hearing of the Commissioner designate from the Republic of Bulgaria, as summarised in the letter of evaluation sent by the Chair of the competent Parliamentary Committee to the President of the European Parliament, and of the recommendation made by the Conference of Presidents,

C. whereas it is necessary to activate the procedure referred to in Article 4(2) and (3) of the aforesaid Protocol on enlargement, relating to the composition of the new Commission as from November 2009 in the context of the European Constitutional process,

1. Approves the appointment of the new Member of the Commission, Mrs Meglena Kuneva, for the term of office remaining until 31 October 2009;

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

--------------------------------------------------
G.

whereas this issue has acquired a new sense of urgency due to the following developments: (i) the signing of the Lisbon Treaty, which commits the EU to being a globally responsible actor, (ii) the evolving European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP), in which EU external military and civilian missions are being increasingly deployed and in the pursuit of which EU personnel might be threatened with arms previously supplied by Member States, (iii) recent announcements by Member States indicating a willingness to increase arms exports as a tool to promote economic interests, (iv) several initiatives to harmonise national arms procurement policies and intra-Community arms transfers and sales,
H.

whereas the top priorities for the European Union and the Council of Europe during the second IGF were the protection of children on the Web, the protection and promotion of freedom of expression, the need to guarantee openness and accessibility to make diversity possible, IP (Internet Protocol) addressing and numbering, and the Internet of Things linked to the broader issue of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification),
9.

Calls on the UN, the African Union, the EU and the other partners of the DRC to do everything possible to put in place an effective mechanism for the monitoring and documenting of sexual violence in the DRC and to provide efficient and adequate aid and protection for women, particularly in the east of the country;
10.

Expresses support for the efforts of the EU, the UN, individual countries and other international and non-governmental organisations to obtain access for humanitarian aid workers and stresses that, without the full cooperation of the Burmese authorities, there is a substantial threat of an even greater tragedy; sets great hopes on the forthcoming mission of the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, who has been invited for talks with the Burmese authorities; urges the UN Secretary-General to use his influence with the Burmese authorities in order to open Burma for immediate access by all possible humanitarian relief;
4.

Considers, therefore, that the security of the country and of all Lebanese people is dependent on the disarmament of all armed groups, especially Hezbollah, and control of the trafficking of arms to Lebanon; considers it vital that all weapons imported into Lebanon be directed only to the official Lebanese army; reiterates its call for the Lebanese Government to exercise, in cooperation with United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), full sovereignty and effective control over the borders and the territory of the country in this connection; calls in this regard on all parties to renounce violence, fully accept the rules of democracy and recognise all state authorities and institutions democratically elected, regardless of their ethnic, religious and party affiliation and origin;
11.

Welcomes in this respect the outcome, following established scientific advice, of COP 13 and COP/MOP 3 and in particular the Bali Roadmap, which should be assessed at COP 14 in 2008 and should lead to an agreement on a comprehensive regime by 2009; welcomes also the task allocated to the Expert Group on Technology Transfer of assessing the gaps and barriers to the use of, and access to, financial resources provided to developing countries in response to their commitment to engage in nationally appropriate mitigation actions in a measurable, reportable and verifiable manner; equally welcomes the creation of the Adaptation Fund and the inclusion of forests in a new climate protection agreement aimed at avoiding further deforestation and carbon emissions caused by forest or peat land fires, which are also causing enormous damage to local communities, including even the expropriation of their own land through illegal or semi-legal procedures;
27.

Calls for an urgent and substantial increase in investment in agriculture, aquaculture, rural development and agribusinesses in developing countries, focused on poor farmers and small-scale farming based on agro-ecological food production systems; recalls that 75 % of the world's poor population lives in rural areas, but that only 4 % of official development assistance (ODA) is dedicated to agriculture; calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Member States to address the issue of agriculture more effectively in their development policies, to promote the adjustment of the programming of the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) in close cooperation with developing countries and to readdress the country strategy papers in order to give higher priority to agriculture; underlines the role of NGOs and local authorities in finding innovative agricultural solutions in partnership with the populations of developing countries, and calls on the Commission and the Member States to support and promote their projects;
8.

Calls on the Commission to be prepared to freeze all aid other than humanitarian and food aid, and to consider targeted sanctions against the members of the authorities which have seized power should there not be a democratic transition;
E.

whereas Member States undertook a number of obligations in transposing Directive 2002/73/EC by 5 October 2005, including: — the designation of a body or bodies whose competence includes the promotion, analysis, monitoring and support of equal treatment for men and women, — the promotion of dialogue between the social partners with a view to fostering equal treatment, including through the monitoring of workplace practices, collective agreements, etc., — encouragement of dialogue with appropriate NGOs with a view to promoting the principle of equal treatment, — promotion of equal treatment at the workplace in a planned and systematic way, for example through company equality reports with regular information on equal treatment of men and women, — effective measures to ensure real sanctions for breaches of the Directive, where compensation to victims may not be restricted by fixing a prior upper limit, except in very limited cases, — ensuring that persons supporting the victims of gender discrimination and harassment should enjoy the same protection against adverse treatment, — reporting every four years to the Commission on measures taken to provide specific advantages to the under-represented sex in professional activities, as well as the implementation of such measures, — ensuring that provisions of contracts or agreements in breach of the Directive are amended or declared null and void,
61.

Notes that Chinese society has changed greatly during the last 30 years and that lasting progress can take place only slowly; believes that democracy requires an effective civil society, which is in turn strengthened by trade and economic relations with the European Union; therefore believes that ‘change through trade’ is a way to aid China's transformation towards being an open and democratic society benefiting all sections of society; while regretting that the intensification of economic and trade relations between the European Union and China has not gone hand in hand with substantial progress with regard to the human rights dialogue; believes that further reforms, especially in the environmental and social areas, are needed in order to ensure overall and lasting progress;
6.

The second stage of the citizen’s initiative covers the collecting of individual statements of support for the successfully registered initiative and official confirmation by the Member States of the result of the collection of individual statements of support. Its main features are as follows: (a) The Member States make provision for an effective procedure for the collection of lawful statements of support for a citizens’ initiative and for official confirmation of the result of that collection. (b) A statement of support is lawful if is declared within the period for collecting statements of support in accordance with the relevant legal provisions of the Member State in question and of EU law. The period for collecting statements of support is one year. It begins on the first day of the third month following the decision on registration of the citizens’ initiative. (c) All supporting persons must individually state their support, as a rule by means of a personal signature provided in writing or, if appropriate, electronically. The statement must as a minimum show the name, date of birth, home address and nationality of the supporting person. People who have more than one nationality shall indicate only one, which they choose freely. The personal data is subject to data protection requirements, for which the citizens’ initiative’s organisers are held accountable. (d) Support for a citizens’ initiative may be stated only once. Every statement of support contains a separate solemn declaration by the supporting person that they have not previously stated their support for the same citizens’ initiative. (e) Any statement of support may be withdrawn before the period for the collection of statements of support expires. The supporting statement is then considered not to have been made. The organisers must inform every supporting person of this option. Every statement of support by the supporting person must contain a separate declaration that they have been informed of this option. (f) Every supporting person receives a copy of their statement of support from the organisers together with a copy of their solemn declaration and their declaration that they have taken note of the withdrawal option. (g) Within two months and after verifying the details of the statements of support, the Member States shall provide the organisers of citizens’ initiatives with official confirmation of the number of lawful statements of support, listed by nationality of the supporting persons. They shall take appropriate steps to ensure that every statement of support is confirmed only once by one of the Member States and that multiple confirmations by different Member States or different agencies of the same Member State are effectively prevented. The personal data is subject to data protection requirements, for which the relevant authorities of the Member States are held accountable.
8.

Stresses that the Council and the Commission must involve Parliament in any decision related to the development of SIS II and VIS, in particular if the results of the tests are not satisfactory, thus leading to a change of direction regarding both the SIS II and the VIS projects, which might include cancelling the present contract with the company responsible for them;
10.

Calls for EU quality and security standards, as well as an EU system and network of laboratories for the certification of CBRN security equipment and technologies, to be developed; underlines that strict security standards and hiring procedures also need to apply to personnel employed at facilities with access to harmful agents; calls for the sharing and use of best knowledge and expertise from both the civil and military fields; again under the leadership of the Commission, stresses that the necessary research and development funding should be provided to ensure that applied research and major demonstration programmes with an EU dimension are carried out, and, given the fragmentation of this market, that an EU industrial policy in the field of civil security is needed, stimulating cooperation between enterprises in the EU and with specific support for small and medium-sized enterprises/small and medium-sized industries (SMEs/SMIs), which create a significant share of innovation under the FP7/Security, which should be increased, and that efforts should be made to stimulate cooperation (particularly cross-border cooperation) between European enterprises; wishes to see the emergence of a comprehensive project management capability to manage all aspects of CBRN security projects, covering the entire life cycle of the CBRN threat (prevention, detection and response); calls on the Commission to propose a strategy for developing the biodefence industry in Europe;
79.

Accepts the use of budget support only where there are watertight guarantees that funds will reach their intended destination and satisfy their original purpose and where recipients fulfil human rights and democratic governance criteria; looks forward to more effective assessment and auditing of budget support to analyse if the intended goal is achieved and if governments in the recipient countries comply with the abovementioned criteria; calls on the Commission to establish an IT-based scoreboard under the scrutiny of the European Parliament to assess the efficiency of Community aid in the field of poverty reduction, education and job creation, with this scoreboard being based on the degree of compliance with the expected financial ratios and aims;
3.

Stresses that the success of this novel concept lies in having a clear-cut scope and delineation of responsibilities among the various partners involved, precise timelines for the realisation of individual projects, measureable and feasible targets oriented to the market as closely as possible, with simplified administrative procedures relating to implementation and optimum dissemination and access to research findings; in this sense further stresses the central role of the Commission in providing the right operational framework and guidance for the separate projects under the hat of a single partnership;