ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
14.

Welcomes Serbia’s active role in international and regional police and judicial cooperation, the progress made in the fight against organised crime and the adoption of Serbia’s first national serious and organised crime threat assessment (SOCTA); calls on Serbia to step up efforts to investigate wider criminal networks, improve financial investigations and intelligence-led policing and develop a solid track record of final convictions; calls on Serbia to fully implement the law of February 2016 on the police, to align with EU rules on the confiscation of criminal assets and to establish a secure platform to exchange intelligence between law enforcement agencies; welcomes the recent changes to the law on public property and stresses that its transparent and non-discriminatory implementation must be ensured, and that further measures must be adopted to fully establish legal clarity over property rights; calls for additional efforts in addressing the issue of the scope, implementation and implications of the Law on the Organisation and Competences of State Authorities in War Crime Proceedings; calls on the authorities to address cases of excessive use of power by police against citizens; has taken note, with concern, of the controversial events in Belgrade’s Savamala district, with regard in particular to the demolition of private property; expresses concern that one full year has passed without any advances in the investigation, and calls for its swift resolution and for full cooperation with the judicial authorities in the investigations to bring perpetrators to justice; calls on the Serbian Ministry of Interior and the Belgrade city authorities to fully cooperate with the public prosecutor in this case; calls on the authorities to refrain from accusations, pressure and attacks directed at members of the ‘Let’s not drown Belgrade’ civil movement;
B.

whereas the draft Council decision establishing a Multiannual Framework for the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights for 2018-2022, submitted to Parliament for consent, includes eight thematic areas: victims of crime and access to justice; equality and discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation, or on the grounds of nationality; information society and, in particular, respect for private life and protection of personal data; judicial cooperation, except in criminal matters; migration, borders, asylum and integration of refugees and migrants; racism, xenophobia and related intolerance; rights of the child; and integration and social inclusion of Roma with a focus on anti-Gypsyism;
24.

Stresses that in the European Union the main route of viral hepatitis transmission is via injection drug use as a result of sharing contaminated needles and the use of unsterile injection drug equipment; stresses that the rate of hepatitis infection among healthcare workers due to needlestick injuries remains above average; stresses that the provision of harm reduction services, including opiate substitution treatment (OST) and needle and syringe programmes (NSPs), is a critical viral hepatitis prevention strategy, which should also include measures to overcome stigma and discrimination; stresses that anti-HCV and HBsAg tests are frequently not part of reimbursed health check-ups; highlights that the virus can, in rare cases, be transmitted sexually, or in health and cosmetic care settings owing to inadequate infection control practices, or perinatally from an infected mother to the baby;
34.

Welcomes the increased traceability of economic transactions enabled by online platforms in order to ensure tax compliance and enforcement, but is concerned about the difficulties that have emerged so far in some sectors; stresses that the collaborative economy should never be used as a way of avoiding tax obligations; stresses, further, the urgent need for collaboration between the competent authorities and collaborative platforms on tax compliance and collection; recognises that these issues have been addressed in certain Member States and takes note of successful public-private cooperation in this field; calls on the Commission to facilitate exchange of best practices among Member States, involving competent authorities and stakeholders, to develop effective and innovative solutions enhancing tax compliance and enforcement, in order to also eliminate the risk of cross-border tax fraud; invites the collaborative platforms to play an active role in this regard; encourages the Member States to clarify and to cooperate on the information that different economic actors involved in the collaborative economy must disclose to tax authorities in the framework of their tax information duties, as provided for by national legislation;
49.

Points out the importance of maintaining ongoing and regular dialogue with EU trade partners throughout the implementation of agreements in order to ensure that the agreements generally, as well as the anti-corruption provisions, are monitored and implemented properly; notes the Commission’s proposal in its Trade for All Strategy to introduce mechanisms for consultation in cases of systemic corruption and failures of governance, and calls on the Commission to envisage suspending the benefits of an agreement in such cases of systemic corruption and failure to comply with anti-corruption commitments or with international standards in the field of anti-corruption, such as the OECD Common Reporting Standard, the OECD Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, the central register of beneficial ownership and FATF recommendations; calls on the Commission to set clear and relevant conditions and performance indicators allowing better assessment and demonstration of results; calls, furthermore, on the Commission to respond firmly, proportionally and quickly where the beneficiary government fails to comply with what has been agreed; calls on the Commission to set up consultation mechanisms with trading partners in cases of systemic corruption and to provide exchanges of expertise to assist countries implementing anti-corruption measures;
60.

Expresses its grave concern at the seriously deteriorating situation as regards democracy, human rights and the socio-economic situation in Venezuela, in a climate of growing political and social instability; calls on the Venezuelan Government to safeguard the separation and independence of branches of government and to restore full constitutional authority to the National Assembly; calls furthermore on the Venezuelan Government to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners and to present as soon as possible an electoral calendar that will allow free and transparent electoral processes to take place; calls on the international community, the regional actors and the VP/HR to promote and support a broad national agreement as the only possible solution; asks the VP/HR to actively explore other measures to constructively promote the political stabilisation of the country; rejects, in this context, any attempt to divert its constitutionally recognised powers to any other body; strongly condemns the elections to a Constituent Assembly of 30 July 2017 as being in breach of the separation of powers and respect for citizens’ rights to freely express their political opinion through democratically elected and legitimate institutions; recalls that the European Parliament, along with many other international actors, does not recognise those elections or any actions and decisions taken by the newly established Assembly due to its lack of legitimacy, and regrets the violent circumstances resulting in many people being killed and injured; expresses its grave concerns about the illegal prosecution and repression of democratically elected members of the National Assembly; rejects the dismissal of the Prosecutor General Luisa Ortega Diaz and her political persecution, as well as all of the members of the Supreme Court appointed by the legitimate National Assembly of Venezuela; fully supports the ICC investigations into the extensive crimes and acts of repression perpetrated by the Venezuelan regime, and calls for the EU to play an active role in this regard; calls on the VP/HR and the European Council to give consideration to the freezing of assets, as well as placing restrictions on access to EU territory for all those involved in the serious violations of human rights in Venezuela, including the members of the non-recognised Constituent Assembly;
O.

whereas on several occasions the Commission has deplored the fact that, since the entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, authorisation decisions have been adopted by the Commission without the support of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health and that the return of the dossier to the Commission for final decision, which is very much the exception for the procedure as a whole, has become the norm for decision-making on genetically modified food and feed authorisations; whereas that practice has also been deplored by Commission President Juncker as not being democratic (14);
6.

Welcomes the fact that the EIR covers the majority of the thematic objectives of the 7th Environmental Action Programme (7th EAP); regrets, however, that important areas such as climate change, energy efficiency measures and energy savings and chemicals and industrial emissions, as well as certain systemic and environmental challenges linked to energy, transport, product and regional policies have not been covered, and calls on the Commission to ensure that they are included in future versions; points out that existing data already published by the European Environment Agency could have allowed at least a preliminary analysis of the implementation of climate change legislation, energy efficiency measures and energy savings at both EU and Member State level;
C.

whereas, in principle, a presidential election is due to be held next year, although no firm date has yet been set; whereas the Malagasy President has declared himself in favour of a constitutional reform to permit him to stay in power during the electoral period and shown willingness to distort proposed amendments to the electoral law drafted by the national independent electoral commission, experts, civil society and the opposition; whereas these declarations have been contested by his political opponents and parts of civil society, who are concerned that this may be an attempt to delay the election and remain in power beyond his constitutional mandate; whereas this is likely to increase tensions in an already fragile political context;
8.

Urges the Government of Vietnam to amend certain articles in its Penal Code, including Article 88 on propaganda and Article 79 on activities aimed at overthrowing the administration, which have been denounced by the OHCHR as being in breach of international human rights law, and to ensure that national security concerns are not used as a pretext for the suppression of human rights, including freedom of expression and freedom of religion and belief; expresses its concern about the new Law on Associations and the Law on Belief and Religion, which are incompatible with international norms;
15.

Calls on the Commission to respond to the calls by civil society for funding to be flexible enough that grassroots organisations which carry out their work in the community can apply for funding, that an array of girls’ and women’s rights issues can be addressed alongside FGM using a holistic approach, and that connections can be established between organisations working in the EU and those working in the practicing countries; welcomes in this respect the work of the End FGM European Network and its members, including through the Change Plus project, in training representatives of local communities to promote not only legislative change but also behaviour change in their communities;
16.

Calls on all the Member States to adopt a firm, values-based approach towards China and expects them not to undertake unilateral initiatives or acts that might undermine the coherence, effectiveness and consistency of EU action; recalls with deep regret the failure of the EU to make a statement on human rights in China at the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva in June 2017; welcomes the adoption of a statement at the following session, and expects the EU to continue to mention China as a country which requires the Human Rights Council’s attention for as long as it refuses to engage in meaningful rights reforms; further calls for the EU and its Member States to raise robust concerns during the forthcoming Universal Periodic Review for China and to ensure, in particular, that Chinese civil society can freely participate in the process;
2.

Calls on the Government of the Maldives to lift the state of emergency immediately, to respect the institutions and their competencies as provided for in the Constitution, and to respect the fundamental rights of all people, including the right to freedom of expression and assembly, as well as the rule of law; expresses its growing concern over the recent actions of the Government, which seriously damage and undermine democracy, and run counter to the Maldives’ Constitution and the country’s international human rights obligations; condemns the continued intimidation of, and threats against, journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders in the Maldives; urges the Maldivian authorities to guarantee the safety of all civil society activists, human rights defenders and media workers in the country, to enable them to carry out their work safely and without impediment, to investigate threats against them, and to prosecute the perpetrators; deplores the crackdown on political opponents in the Maldives, and calls on the Government to drop all charges against all those being held for political reasons and release them immediately and unconditionally;
—

having regard to the Commission reasoned proposal of 20 December 2017 in accordance with Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) regarding the rule of law in Poland: Proposal for a Council decision on the determination of a clear risk of a serious breach by the Republic of Poland of the rule of law (COM(2017)0835),
8.

Calls on the UN member states to make a standalone commitment to ensuring the protection of children in migration; emphasises that all children, irrespective of their migration or refugee status, are first and foremost children, who are entitled to all the rights enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and that their best interests must be the primary consideration of all decisions and actions concerning them; considers the Global Compacts as an opportunity to strengthen benchmarks for the protection of children affected by migration and forced displacement; welcomes the inclusion in the zero draft of clear commitments on specific, pressing issues, such as the call to put an end to child detention, improving action concerning missing migrants, strongly supporting family reunification and other regular pathways, preventing childhood statelessness, and including refugee and asylum-seeking children in national child protection, education and health systems; calls for the EU and its Member States to strongly advocate these proposals in order to ensure they remain in the final text for adoption in December;
26.

Believes that the measures linking the effectiveness of ESI funds to sound economic governance, as outlined in Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013, should be carefully analysed, including through the involvement of all stakeholders; believes, furthermore, that the rationale behind the link between the ESI funds and sound economic governance should be rethought, with a view to the next programming period and taking into account its implementation over the period 2014-2020; is of the opinion that the Commission should consider adjustments to how the European Semester and cohesion policy are linked; suggests, in this regard, a system of positive incentives, with margins to be created in the new multiannual financial framework (MFF), which could serve as an envelope to be used when Member States comply with the country-specific recommendations and other requirements under the European Semester;
43.

Underlines that those upcoming changes should not come at the expense of social inclusion and connectivity in the Member States and areas where there are mobility gaps; notes the need to upgrade network capacity, taking advantage of existing network infrastructure and significant future innovations to enable deeper integration of digital technologies and to address the major disparities of connectivity between Member States and also between urban and rural, central and remote areas, for which a series of tailored solutions should be developed supported by and on the basis of coordination between the public and private sectors; stresses that conventional modes of transport such as busses still have a key role to play in remote and mountainous areas and should not be disregarded in this process; recalls that experience in several EU countries shows that structuring the collective and public road transport under public service obligation (PSO) contracts that combine profitable and unprofitable lines can deliver optimal results for citizens, public finances and market competition;
36.

Takes the view that EFIs should continue to directly support both EU and local CSOs, local communities, local and regional governments and local authorities in partner countries and their partnerships with European local and regional governments, and systematically facilitate their active participation in multi-stakeholder dialogues on EU policies and on all programming processes across all instruments; considers, furthermore, that the EU should promote the role of CSOs as watchdogs both in and outside the EU and support decentralisation reforms in partner countries; welcomes, in this context, the Commission’s intention to deepen and consolidate ongoing work to build partnerships and dialogue with civil society working in development and to enhance the engagement in dialogue and involvement of networks of CSOs in EU policymaking and processes; recalls that the EU should support democratic consolidation by identifying mechanisms to support the activities of organisations in third countries, so as to contribute to the stabilisation and improvement of institutional standards for the management of public goods;
3.

Expresses its grave concern at the reports that Ahmed Mansoor has been subjected to forms of torture or ill-treatment while in detention, and that he is being held in solitary confinement; urges the authorities to investigate these allegations and grant him immediate and regular access to a lawyer, to his family, and to any medical care he may require; reminds the UAE authorities that prolonged and indefinite solitary confinement can amount to a form of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment under international human rights law, and that the lack of an arrest warrant or any judicial oversight in his arrest and detention represents a breach of the fundamental principles of due process under international human rights law;
76.

Calls for the EU and the US to pool resources to fight unfair trade policies and practices, while respecting multilateral rules and the dispute settlement process in the WTO and avoiding unilateral actions as they are harmful for all global value chains in which EU and US companies operate; deeply regrets the uncertainty in the international trading system caused by the US’s employment of instruments and policy tools (e.g. Section 232 from 1962 and Section 301 from 1974) that were created before the creation of the WTO and its dispute settlement system; notes in this regard that the US decision to impose steel and aluminium tariffs under Section 232 cannot be justified on the grounds of national security, and calls on the US to grant the EU and other allies a full and permanent exemption from the measures; calls on the Commission to respond firmly should these tariffs be used as a way to curb EU exports; also stresses that any sanctions that may be taken by the US in the form of counter-measures on European goods following the publication of the Compliance Appellate Body report in the framework of the US complaint against the EU on measures affecting trade in large civil aircraft would not be legitimate, as 204 of the 218 claims put forward by the US were rejected by the WTO and a further report on the related case against US illegal subsidies is still expected;
6.

Welcomes the increased transparency and the provision of more statistical information in the Commission report of 2016, when compared to previous reports; regrets the fact, however, that it does not provide any precise information on the number of petitions that have led to the initiation of EU Pilot or infringement procedures, and asks the Commission to provide this specific piece of information; notes with regret that neither Parliament nor the petitioners are involved in these procedures; reiterates its call on the Commission to share with Parliament information on all EU Pilots opened and infringement procedures initiated in order to improve transparency, reduce the time frame for dispute settlement through the Committee on Petitions, build trust in the EU project and, ultimately, enhance the legitimacy of the EU Pilot procedure, especially where infringement procedures are concerned; invites the Commission to systematically communicate its decisions and the different steps taken by the College of Commissioners and to publish the agenda and the main outcomes of package meetings; acknowledges the CJEU’s ruling on cases C-39/05 P, C-52/05 P and C-562/14 P of May 2017, according to which documents within the EU Pilot procedure should not be disclosed publicly if there is a risk that such disclosure would affect the nature of the infringement procedure, alter its progress or undermine the objectives of that procedure; calls on the Commission to disclose documents exchanged with the Member States when this risk ceases to exist, namely after EU pilot procedures are closed; supports, in this regard, the suggestion of the European Ombudsman on the timeliness and transparency of EU Pilot pre-infringement cases; stresses the importance of keeping all actors concerned informed, and of bringing more transparency to the EU Pilot processes; regrets the lack of commitment shown by the Commission when responding to the concerns raised in EU Pilot procedures by MEPs and calls on the Commission to inform the Committee on Petitions of any significant new steps of the investigation and ongoing dialogue with Member States when open petitions are concerned; reiterates its call on the Commission to include in its annual report the rate of implementation of both EU regulations and directives;
8.

Insists that the essential elements of the Cotonou Agreement – respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, democratic principles and the rule of law, and good governance – be maintained as the basis for cooperation post-2020 and be part and parcel of the foundation agreement and the regional compacts and protocols; calls on the Commission and the Council to explicitly include, in the human rights part of the mandate, freedom from discrimination on grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as sexual and reproductive health and rights, as set out in the 1995 Beijing Platform of Action and the outcomes of the review conferences;