ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
18.

Stresses the importance of demonstrating the EU’s adherence to the Paris Agreement, inter alia by implementing the agreement through EU legislation, including swift adoption by the co-legislators of the EU Climate Action Regulation and the revision of the EU ETS Directive, as well as of ratcheting up the EU’s goals and policy instruments in a timely manner; recalls that all parties are invited to communicate to the UNFCCC secretariat, by 2020, mid-century, long-term, low GHG emission development strategies; urges the Commission, therefore, in order to adhere to the agreement’s obligation, to prepare by COP24 a mid-century zero emissions strategy for the EU, providing a cost-efficient pathway towards reaching the net zero emissions goal adopted in the Paris Agreement with a view to keeping the global average temperature rise well below 2 o C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1,5 o C; considers that this process should be initiated as early as possible in order to enable a comprehensive debate, in which the European Parliament should play a crucial role, in partnership with representatives of national, regional and local authorities, as well as civil society and the business sector; recalls, however, that to act at EU level alone will not be satisfactory, and therefore calls on the Commission and the Council to step up their activities to encourage other partners to do the same;
45.

Calls on the Commission to increase EIDHR funds to address the shrinking space and the situation of HRDs; deplores the fact that the annual sums in some countries are at an extremely low level; calls on the Commission to identify new forms of activism to be funded by the EIDHR, by taking a comprehensive approach to CSOs, and to continue its efforts to put in place a more flexible and simplified procedure for accessing EIDHR funding, especially for young people, including more significant exceptions for those CSOs in particular danger and support for unregistered groups which should eventually be recognised by the authorities; considers that greater emphasis should be put on support for local groups and actors, since human rights issues are often experienced in a more real and acute way at local level; reiterates the importance of the EIDHR in providing urgent direct financial and material support for HRDs at risk and the emergency fund that enables the EU delegations to award them direct ad-hoc grants; recognises the importance of coalitions or consortiums of international and national civil society actors to facilitate and protect the work of local NGOs against repressive measures; calls on the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to promote the effective joint implementation of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders in all third countries where civil society is at risk by adopting local strategies for their full operationalisation;
24.

Welcomes the fact that almost all cars tested under the European New Car Assessment Programme for consumers (Euro NCAP) are awarded five stars and that the majority of car manufacturers have successfully responded to the challenge of meeting the new Euro NCAP requirements; notes, however, that not all car models sold in Europe are tested by Euro NCAP, and not all of the same type are sold with the same specification, which may create lack of clarity for consumers and thus offer a false level of confidence in the vehicle in relation to the actual performance of the model purchased; recalls the importance, therefore, of a strong underlying standard of mandatory safety requirements which ensure that all necessary safety equipment is present across the fleet used and sold in the EU;
7.

Regrets that several serious allegations of corruption and breach of anti-money laundering and banking supervision obligations have not been investigated by the police in Malta, which represents a threat to the rule of law in this Member State; acknowledges that there are several magisterial inquiries under way regarding some of these allegations; specifically regrets the fact that there has been no police investigation to date in Malta into the revelations regarding the Panama Papers and Politically Exposed Persons in the leaked FIAU reports, and notes that some of those named in the FIAU reports remain part of the government; calls on the Maltese Police Commissioner to open such an investigation;
25.

Urges the reversal of the negative trends in terms of freedom of the media, freedom of expression, and freedom of association and assembly, and freedom of religion; recommends that Kazakhstan apply the standards of the Council of Europe in its laws; takes note, in this context, that, as of 2016, all Kazakh NGOs have been required by law to register with the authorities and to provide annual information on their activities for inclusion in a government database on NGOs; underlines that this step might be directed towards enhancing transparency in the sector; is concerned, however, that the new requirements add to the already extensive reporting obligations for the non-governmental sector to the state, while the transparency policy is disproportionally applied towards the non-profit, non-governmental sectors, as it does not apply to any other legal entities; is concerned that involvement in unregistered associations is criminalised and that failing to provide information for the new database or providing ‘incorrect’ information may result in penalties for organisations; regrets that the activities of registered public associations may be suspended or terminated by courts for any violation of national law, no matter how minor;
47.

Calls on the Commission to fully reflect the growing security challenges in its proposal for the next multiannual financial framework (MFF); considers that both the size and the flexibility of the CFSP budget must match EU citizens’ expectations about the EU’s role as a security provider; insists on the need for a global vision for EU policy and instruments in the field of security, including fruitful coordination with the proposed European Defence Fund; calls on the Member States to aim for the target of spending 2 % of GDP on defence, and to spend 20 % of their defence budgets on equipment identified as necessary by the EDA; points out, in addition, that any new policy must be backed by funding from new sources; notes that various Member States have difficulty in maintaining a very broad range of fully operational defensive capabilities, mostly because of financial constraints; calls for more cooperation and coordination, therefore, about which capabilities should be maintained, so that Member States can specialise in certain capabilities and spend their resources more efficiently; believes that interoperability is key if Member States’ forces are to be more compatible and integrated; recalls that CFSP appropriations represented 3,6 % of the Heading 4 commitments in 2016 and 0,2 % of the whole EU budget; regrets that the size and under-implementation of and systematic transfers from the CFSP chapter reveal a persistent lack of ambition for the EU to act as a global player;
13.

Reiterates its serious concern at the situation in south-east Turkey, especially in the areas where curfews are imposed, excessive force is used and collective punishment is applied; urges Turkey to come up with a plan for the effective reintegration of the half-million internally displaced people; reiterates its condemnation of the return to violence by the PKK, which has been on the EU’s terror list since 2002, and urges it to lay down its arms and to use peaceful and democratic means to voice its expectations; recalls that the Turkish Government has a responsibility to protect all of its citizens; deplores the widespread practice of expropriation, including of properties belonging to the municipalities; is convinced that only a fair political settlement of the Kurdish question can bring sustainable stability and prosperity, both to the area and to Turkey as a whole, and therefore calls on both sides to return to the negotiating table;
51.

Notes the reference to the notion of European added value presented in several Commission documents; reiterates the list of parameters identified by Parliament in its above-mentioned resolution of 24 October 2017 in this context; recalls that the EU’s resources should be used to finance European public goods as well as to act as a catalyst in providing incentives for Member States at all administrative levels to take action in order to fulfil Treaty objectives and to attain common EU goals which would not be realised otherwise; agrees that the EU budget should be used to finance actions that can benefit the EU as a whole, which cannot be ensured efficiently by any single Member State alone and that can offer better value for money compared to actions taken solely at national, regional or local level; believes furthermore that the EU budget should contribute to the establishment and support of peace and stability in the EU’s neighbourhood and beyond; considers that European added value is created by programmes under both shared and direct management, the two being complementary methods for attaining EU goals; against this background, expects the Member States, in the negotiations on the next MFF, to refrain from following a ‘ juste retour ’logic that takes into account only national interests in the form of net balances;
12.

Recalls that the SDG require gender-disaggregated data to allow progress to be tracked towards all goals, including SDG 5 on gender equality; stresses that there is no adequate data available on the impact of trade on gender equality, and calls for sufficient and adequate gender disaggregated data on the impact of trade to be collected; stresses that such data would make it possible to establish a methodology with clear and measurable indicators at regional, national and sectorial levels, improve analysis and define objectives to be achieved and measures to be taken to ensure that women and men benefit equally from trade; underlines that particular attention should be put on quantitative and qualitative gender-disaggregated analysis of labour evolution, ownership of assets and financial inclusion in sectors that have been impacted by trade; encourages the Commission to cooperate with European and international organisations such as the World Bank, the United Nations, the OECD and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), as well as with national statistics offices, with a view to improving the collection and availability of such data; calls on the EU and its Member States to include in ex-ante and ex-post impact assessments the country-specific and sector-specific gender impact of EU trade policy and agreements; stresses that the results of the gender-focused analysis should be taken into account in trade negotiations – considering both positive and negative impact throughout the whole process, from the negotiation stage to implementation – and should be accompanied by measures to prevent or compensate possible negative effects;
8.

Notes the Chinese interest in strategic infrastructure investments in Europe; concludes that the Chinese Government is using the BRI as a very effective narrative framework for elements of its foreign policy and that EU public diplomacy efforts need to be strengthened in the light of this development; supports the call on China to adhere to the principles of transparency in public procurement as well as environmental and social standards; calls on all EU Member States to support EU public diplomacy responses; suggests that data on all Chinese infrastructure investments in EU Member States and countries in process of EU accession negotiations be shared with the EU institutions and other Member States; recalls that such investments are part of an overall strategy to have Chinese state-controlled or state-funded companies take control of banking and the energy sector, as well as other supply chains; underlines six overarching challenges of the BRI: a multilateral approach to BRI governance; very little local labour employed, receiving country and third-country contractor involvement extremely limited (about 86 percent of BRI projects involve Chinese contractors), construction materials and equipment imported from China, lack of transparency on tenders, and the potential use of Chinese standards instead of international standards; insists that the BRI must include human rights safeguards, and believes that it is of the utmost importance to develop synergies and projects in full transparency and with the involvement of all the stakeholders and in line with EU legislation, while complementing EU policies and projects in order to deliver benefits for all countries along the planned routes; welcomes the setting-up of the EU-China Connectivity Platform, which promotes cooperation in transport infrastructure across the Eurasian continent; notes with satisfaction that several infrastructure projects have been identified, and underlines that projects should be implemented on the basis of key principles such as promotion of economically, socially and environmentally sustainable projects, geographic balance, and a level playing field among investors and project promoters, as well as transparency;
H.

whereas the UNGPs apply to all States and to all business enterprises, both transnational and others, regardless of their size, sector, location, ownership and structure, and are grounded in the three pillars of the UN ‘protect-respect-remedy’framework, namely: 1) the State’s duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business; 2) the corporate responsibility to respect human rights; and 3) greater access for victims to effective remedy, both judicial and non-judicial; stresses that although the UNGPs are not legally binding, they are widely recognised and supported, and serve as the basis for policy approaches towards business and human rights internationally, as well as recognition of States’ existing obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights and fundamental freedoms, of the role of business enterprises as specialised organs of society performing specialised functions which are required to comply with all applicable laws and to respect human rights, and of the need for rights and obligations to be matched to appropriate and effective remedies when breached; whereas available evidence suggests that where the UNGPs are implemented, the incidence of corporate-related human rights harm is reduced;
39.

Recognises that people who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness retain the fundamental right to work; further recognises that these individuals face a unique set of challenges relating to their employment, distinct from the challenges facing other patient groups, as there is often little time for them to adapt to their changing conditions and for workplace adjustments to be made; commends initiatives such as the Dying to Work campaign for raising awareness about this specific set of problems; encourages employers to maintain as much dialogue as possible with employees who have received a terminal diagnosis, to ensure that all necessary and possible adaptations can be made to allow the employee to carry on working if he or she so wishes; is of the opinion that, for many patient, remaining in the workplace is a personal, psychological or economic imperative and central to his or her dignity and quality of life; urges the Member States to support the reasonable adaptation of workplaces to the unique set of challenges facing this group of people; calls on the Commission to tackle the lack of data on the employment status of people with cancer and to support the collection of better data, comparable across Member States, in order to improve support services for them;
48.

Confirms its full commitment to an open, free, stable and secure cyber space, which respects the core values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, and where international disputes are settled by peaceful means on the basis of the UN Charter and principles of international law; calls on the Member States to promote further implementation of the common and comprehensive EU approach to cyber diplomacy and existing cyber norms, and to draw up, together with NATO, EU-level criteria for, and definitions of what constitutes, a cyber attack so as to improve the EU’s ability to quickly come to a common position following an internationally wrongful act in the form of a cyber attack; strongly supports the implementation of the 2015 UNGGE report’s voluntary, non-binding norms of responsible state behaviour in cyber space, encompassing respect for privacy and the fundamental rights of citizens, and the creation of regional confidence-building measures; supports, in this context, the work of the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace to develop proposals for norms and policies to enhance international security and stability and to guide responsible state and non-state behaviour in cyber space; endorses the proposal that state and non-state actors should not conduct, or knowingly allow, activity that intentionally and substantially damages the general availability or integrity of the public core of the internet, and therefore the stability of cyber space;
10.

Encourages the Government of Bahrain to aim for stability through reforms and inclusive reconciliation in an environment in which legitimate and peaceful political grievances can be expressed freely, especially in light of the upcoming elections to the Council of Representatives scheduled for October 2018; condemns, in this respect, the attacks on opposition voices and civil society in Bahrain, including the suspension of opposition society Al-Wefaq, the dissolution of the opposition group Waad and the banning of the members of these dissolved groups from participating in the forthcoming elections; considers these actions to be contrary to the principles of democratic pluralism and free and fair elections, and in contradiction of international agreements and the constitution of Bahrain; calls on all parties to engage in a genuine national dialogue in order to relaunch a peaceful and meaningful national reconciliation process;
22.

Condemns the fact that workers who had been recognised by the competent judicial authorities as victims of an abusive use of fixed-term contracts, in violation of Directive 1999/70/EC, have been made redundant; strongly believes that where abuses of successive fixed-term contracts have taken place, a measure offering effective and equivalent guarantees for the protection of workers can be applied in order to duly punish the abuse and to nullify the consequences of the breach of EU law, as well as to safeguard the employment position of the workers affected;
11.

Calls for effective cooperation among Member States, the EPPO, OLAF and Eurojust; recalls the pending negotiations on the Eurojust Regulation; stresses that the respective competences of Eurojust, OLAF and the EPPO need to be clearly defined; emphasises that in order for the fight against fraud to be truly effective at EU level, the EPPO, Eurojust and OLAF will need to work seamlessly with one another in both policy and operational terms in order to avoid any possible overlaps in tasks; reiterates, in that respect, that working arrangements between the three bodies should be drawn up and adopted as soon as possible in accordance with Articles 99 to 101 of the EPPO Regulation; insists that the EPPO should have the power to settle conflicts of competence in cases relevant to the performance of its tasks;
1.

Stresses that, to anticipate problems relating to civil liability or intellectual property infringement that 3D printing might cause in the future, the EU might have to adopt new legislation and tailor existing laws to the specific case of 3D technology, taking into account the decisions of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the relevant case law of the EU and Member State courts and after having carried out a thorough impact assessment evaluating all policy options; stresses that, in any case, the legislative response should avoid duplicating existing rules and should take into account projects that are already under way, in particular the legislation on copyright currently applicable to 2D printing; adds that innovation needs to be promoted and accompanied by law, without the law acting as a brake or a constraint;
36.

Calls for a more coherent and cost-effective market surveillance system across the Union to ensure compliance with the Ecodesign Directive, and makes the following recommendations: — that national authorities be required to use the ICSMS database to share all the results of product compliance checks and testing carried out for all products covered by Ecodesign regulations; this database should include all relevant information for compliant and non-compliant products in order to avoid unnecessary testing in another Member State and should be user-friendly and easily accessible; — that the general product registration database for energy labelled products be extended to all products covered by Ecodesign regulations; — that national authorities be required to draw up specific plans for their market surveillance activities in the area of ecodesign, to be notified to other Member States and to the Commission as provided for under Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 (9); Member States should include random inspections in these plans; — that fast screening methods be applied to detect products that do not comply with the regulations, and that these be elaborated in cooperation with industry experts and shared with public bodies; — that the Commission consider defining a minimum percentage of products on the market to be tested, as well as develop a mandate for carrying out its own independent market surveillance and make proposals, as appropriate; — that deterrent measures be adopted, including: sanctions for non-compliant manufacturers proportional to the impact of non-compliance on the entire European market and compensation for consumers who have purchased non-compliant products, even beyond the legal warranty period, including through collective redress; — that particular attention be paid to non-EU imports and products sold online; — that coherence be ensured with the Commission’s proposal for a regulation laying down rules and procedures for compliance with and enforcement of Union harmonisation legislation on products (COM(2017)0795), the scope of which includes products regulated under the Ecodesign Directive; in this context, supports the facilitation at EU level of joint testing;
19.

Points out that the transfer of personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership, genetic data or data concerning a person’s health and sex life is extremely sensitive and gives rise to profound concerns given the different legal framework, societal characteristics and cultural background of the State of Israel compared with the European Union; highlights the fact that criminal acts are defined differently in the Union from in the State of Israel; is of the opinion that such a transfer of data should therefore only take place in very exceptional cases and with clear safeguards for the data subject and persons linked to the data subject; considers it necessary to define specific safeguards that would need to be respected by the State of Israel as regards fundamental rights and freedoms, including respect for freedom of expression, freedom of religion and human dignity;