ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
8.

Calls on the Government of the Maldives to respect and fully support the right to protest and the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly, and not to seek to restrict those rights; also calls on the Government of the Maldives to end impunity for vigilantes who have used violence against people promoting religious tolerance, peaceful protesters, critical media and civil society; calls on the Maldives to respect fully its international obligations;
D.

whereas the Mesa de Conversaciones (platform for talks) between the Colombian Government and the FARC was established in Havana (Cuba) on 19 November 2012 following the signing of the General Agreement for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace, on 26 August 2012, thus fulfilling the wish of the entire people of Colombia to live in peace, and acknowledging the duty of the state to promote human rights throughout its territory; whereas fair economic and social development ensures peace and is at the same time a pre-condition for the inclusive and sustainable growth of the country;
74.

Notes that young people, raised in an era of rapid technological progress have not only potential, talents and skills, but also values and priorities that differ from those of previous generations and that it is therefore worthwhile stressing the need for programmes and initiatives that would overcome the gap between generations; notes that this will also help in understanding the younger generation’s assets such as multitasking, creativity, mobility, readiness to change and, above all, teamwork; stresses that education and training systems should be flexible enough to allow for the full development of the skills and talents of young people; emphasises moreover that recruitment and employment services staff should be well trained and equipped with skills that would give them an understanding of the new generation; notes also that not all youth automatically have the skills and abilities for fully meeting the digital demands and reiterates therefore that giving everyone equal access and training to digital tools is even more important than before;
18.

Recalls that freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief is a fundamental human right, as recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and guaranteed by Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; equally, recalls its interrelatedness with other human rights and fundamental freedoms encompassing the right to believe or not to believe, the freedom to practise theistic, non-theistic or atheistic belief alike, and the right to adopt, change and abandon or return to a belief of one’s choice; expresses its concern at the fact that some countries still fail to abide by UN standards and use state repression, which may include physical punishment, prison terms, exorbitant fines and even the death penalty, in violation of freedom of religion or belief; is concerned about the increased persecution of minorities because of their religion or beliefs, as well as unlawful damage to their assembly sites; supports the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief on violence committed ‘in the name of religion’; calls for the EU to implement its recommendations on interreligious dialogue initiatives;
52.

Is of the view that market surveillance authorities within the Single Market need to be strengthened, better connected and appropriately staffed in order to meet today’s challenges, in particular those regarding global competition; urges national market surveillance authorities to cooperate more closely and to exchange information and best practices to effectively tackle various forms of unfair competition in the Single Market, inter alia the high number of illegal and non-compliant products incurring high costs for complying businesses and posing a high risk for consumers, particularly the most vulnerable; is concerned by the length of time being taken by the Council of the European Union to adopt the Product Safety and Market Surveillance Package, which is jeopardising the safety of products in the EU; calls on the Council to adopt it immediately;
6.

Takes note of the Constitutional Court’s decision on the implementation of the Association of Serb Municipalities; calls for the complete and committed implementation of the agreements reached; calls for respect for the rule of law, regrets that opposition forces did not take advantage of this suspension to resume parliamentary dialogue, and encourages all political forces to act constructively in the interests of their country, its democratic institutions and its citizens; considers full respect for the rules of democracy, political dialogue and unhindered parliamentary business to be essential for the implementation of all aspects of Kosovo’s reform agenda; strongly condemns violent obstructions in the Assembly, calls for the prevention of further violent protests in the Assembly, and stresses that in the Assembly elected Members of Parliament should meet and discuss issues with full respect for the institution; stresses that the government should respect the parliament’s resolutions and decisions and should report, as required by the legislative body, before deciding to sign agreements with other states; welcomes, in this connection, the well-prepared proposal of 20 November 2015 by two Kosovo MPs from the ruling coalition and the opposition respectively; calls on all political actors to resume political dialogue in order to break the deadlock and find a viable solution that restores the normal functioning of the Kosovo Assembly; invites all Kosovo leaders to approach this situation as being of the utmost importance and to act responsibly, bearing in mind that the Assembly is elected by the people of Kosovo, for the people of Kosovo; is strongly concerned about repeated acts of violence and calls on law enforcement authorities to carry out their duties in full compliance with legal procedures; notes with concern the events that led to the arrest of some Members of Parliament, and calls for an investigation into possible abuses of power connected with the arrests made; urges the Kosovo Assembly to clarify the rules concerning the lifting of the immunity of its members; takes note of the Ombudsperson’s request to the State Prosecution in Pristina for the initiation of an investigation into the police intervention of 28 November 2015;
AI.

whereas the course of action of the so-called ‘Kobe Process’ recognises the efforts already made by those RFMOs which manage tuna stocks and that have undertaken independent performance reviews, and calls on those RFMOs to regularly undertake such reviews and make the results publicly available and fully implement the recommendations made by them; whereas authorities such as the UNGA and COFI have also called on the other RFMOs to do likewise and whereas those reviews have been conducted;
32.

Calls, therefore, for Article 325 TFEU to be implemented right across the spectrum of EU policies, and for action not just in response to cases of fraud but also to prevent them; calls for compliance with Article 325 TFEU, and particularly with paragraph 5 on annual reports, which is currently facing a year’s delay; calls for simplification, especially, of the way in which EU subsidies are used in cohesion policy; calls for adherence to agreed procedures and for the ratification of the agreements on combating fraud at regional and international level which have been concluded between the Union and third countries or third-party organisations; calls for follow-up to the recommendations for an action plan set out in Parliament’s resolution of 23 October 2013 on ‘organised crime, corruption and money laundering: recommendations on action and initiatives to be taken’ (7), especially recommendation 130 on the visibility of measures by the Member States to combat organised fraud and crime, and paragraph 131 on a general action plan for the 2014-2019 period to eradicate organised crime, corruption and money laundering (points i-xxi); calls for the initial results of the implementation of the Currency Counterfeiting Directive to be made available; calls, furthermore, for more information to be provided about the anti-corruption instruments used by OLAF and about the coordination of Member States’ procedures for recovering monies disbursed as a result of fraud;
18.

Stresses the urgent need for industry and services in both private and public sectors, including the production sector (notably SMEs and micro-enterprises), to be consulted and/or involved in the design, framing, implementation and support of quality VET mobility programmes; considers that the programme selection should take account of job opportunities with host businesses and organisations; believes that a flexible and constructive partnership based on dialogue, cooperation and best practice involving all stakeholders will ensure the success and the added value of VET; takes the view that the exchange of knowledge and best practices between training centres and firms is also needed; calls on the Commission to keep track of demand and supply on the labour market within the EU, as well as of geographic and occupational mobility, in order to match the needs of the labour market; considers that this would reduce the gap between, on the one hand, the training on offer and what actually awaits young people in the business environment, and, on the other, market needs in added value sectors (e.g. the digital and green economies, energy, defence, the care sector and housing rehabilitation);
13.

Stresses the importance and the potential of a European approach to the teaching of history, while bearing in mind the competence of the Member States in this area, as some historic events were determinant in the emergence of the European ideals and values; calls on the Commission and the Member States to support history societies and centres for historical research, in order to highlight the value of their scientific contribution to European history and their role in keeping schoolteachers up to date;
2.

Notes that VCs and DLT schemes entail risks which need to be addressed appropriately so as to enhance their trustworthiness, including in the present circumstances, namely: (a) the absence of flexible, but resilient and reliable, governance structures or indeed a definition of such structures, especially in some DLT applications such as Bitcoin, which creates uncertainty and consumer or — more broadly — user protection problems, especially in the event of challenges unforeseen by the original software designers; (b) the high volatility of VCs and potential for speculative bubbles, and the absence of traditional forms of regulatory supervision, safeguards and protection, issues which are especially challenging for consumers; (c) the sometimes limited capacity of regulators in the area of new technology, which may make it difficult to define appropriate safeguards in a timely manner in order to ensure the proper and reliable functioning of DLT applications when or even before they grow so large as to become systemically relevant; (d) the legal uncertainty surrounding new applications of DLT; (e) the energy consumption of running certain VCs which, according to the UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser’s report on DLT, in the case of Bitcoin has been estimated to be in excess of 1 GW, which would call for investments in research into, and promotion of. more efficient forms of transaction verification mechanisms; (f) the lack of sufficiently transparent and easily accessible technical documentation of the functioning of specific VCs and other DLT schemes; (g) potential sources of financial instability that might be associated with derivative products based on poorly understood characteristics of VCs; (h) the potential long-run future limitations on the effectiveness of monetary policy if private VC schemes were to be widely used as a substitute for official fiat currency; (i) the potential for ‘black market’ transactions, money laundering, terrorist financing (24), tax fraud and evasion and other criminal activities based on the ‘pseudonymity’ and ‘mixing services’ that some such services offer and the decentralised nature of some VCs, bearing in mind that the traceability of cash transactions tends to be much lower still;
12.

Recognises the critical contribution of the African Peace Facility in developing the triangular partnership between the UN, the EU and the AU; believes that this Facility provides both an entry point and a potential lever for creating a stronger partnership between the EU and the AU and has proved indispensable in allowing the AU, and through it the eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs), to plan and manage their operations; considers it vital that the EU institutions and Member States remain closely engaged if the Facility is to be fully utilised and that the AU demonstrate higher levels of efficiency and transparency in using the funds; takes the view that the APF should focus on structural support rather than just bankrolling African forces’ pay; acknowledges that there are other funding mechanisms in use, but believes that given the Facility’s sole focus on Africa, as well as its clear goals, it is especially important with regard to PSOs in Africa; considers that Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working on peace-building in Africa should be given the opportunity to contribute their views, as part of a more strategic engagement with CSOs on peace and security; remains concerned at the continuing problems of financing and political will on the part of African countries; notes the Council conclusions of 24 September 2012 which state that ‘funding, alternative to the funding from the EDF, will have to be considered’;
10.

Stresses that the current challenges require reflection on the future of the EU: there is a need to reform the Union and make it better and more democratic; notes that while some Member States may choose to integrate more slowly or to a lesser extent, the core of the EU must be reinforced and à la carte solutions should be avoided; considers that the need to promote our common values, provide stability, social justice, sustainability, growth and jobs, overcome persistent economic and social uncertainty, protect citizens and address the challenge of migration requires developing and democratising, in particular, the Economic and Monetary Union and the area of freedom, security and justice, as well as strengthening the common foreign and security policy; considers therefore that the reforms must result in a Union which delivers what citizens expect;
27.

Is concerned at the lack of coordination among all the actors involved in managing the EUTF (and in particular between the Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) and its Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO)), and at the lack of clear guidelines as to how funding can be secured; deplores the lack of clarity and transparency regarding the funding criteria and the volume of funds available for civil society under the EUTF; recalls the need for better communication between the Commission, the Member States and Parliament in programming and implementing actions of the EUTF in general, in the interests of the further planning of potential additional Trust Funds; recalls that the Commission must take particular care to ensure that its actions are consistent and coordinated with the Regional Development Programmes (RDPs), in order to avoid duplication of effort and ensure that the main focus is on development, and not on border control and security to the detriment of migrants; calls on the Commission, for the same reason as well as in order to maximise the impact and effectiveness of global aid, to maintain a strong dialogue with the UN in the context of the EUTF; also calls on the Commission to strengthen its efforts with a view to the more systematic impact assessment of its policies and funding, including the EUTF, especially with regard to their effects on sustainable development, human rights and gender equality, and to integrate the results of these assessments into its policies and programming;
46.

Notes that the number of part-time workers, agency workers and self-employed people in the sector has increased and that the general trend is towards more flexible employment contracts, which in some circumstances can cause precarious employment without adequate protection for employees; welcomes the development of new working time models that enable workers, for example, to improve the balance between family and working life, to complete in-service training or to have the option of working part-time; notes that new, flexible employment contracts must exclude potential risks such as worker overload or pay levels that are not commensurate with performance; stresses, therefore, the need for labour market flexibility, on the one hand, and for economic and social security for workers on the other; stresses that lowering labour costs by reducing working conditions and employment standards should not be regarded as flexibility; calls on the Commission and the Member States to monitor activities to tackle bogus self-employment in the postal sector; urges the Member States, more generally, to prevent the flexibility of employment contracts from having a negative impact on workers;
30.

Underlines the fact that the EU and its Member States must safeguard human rights; notes that trade agreements in general can contribute to reinforcing the global rules-based trading system and that trade and values must go hand in hand, as recently stated by the Commission in its new trade strategy entitled ‘Trade for All’; recalls the need to assess the possible human rights impacts of trade and investment agreements and to incorporate on this basis all the necessary human rights clauses and safeguards able to mitigate and address the identified risks of human rights impacts; requests that the Commission take all necessary and possible steps to act in a holistic and coherent manner, and strongly calls for the systematic inclusion in trade and investment agreements of rules on corporate liability for violations of human rights, to be implemented at national level, and of references to internationally recognised principles and guidelines;
56.

Recalls that human resources constitute the most important resource in the EU and the Member States; takes the view that e-skills are essential for older workers over 55 in order to safeguard them from exclusion from the labour market and to help them find new employment; calls on the Commission and the Member States, in collaboration with social partners, to develop skills strategies linking education and work, and therefore to invest and promote life-long learning and to provide accessible, affordable and comprehensive training schemes, as well as retraining for the development of digital and soft skills, including adaptation to the virtual environment (augmented reality), which enable the ageing population to adapt better to growing demands for e-skills in many different sectors; stresses therefore that older workers over 55, especially women, should have continuous access to ICT training; encourages, also, the Member States and the Commission to put in place strategies to reduce the digital divide and promote equal access to new information and communication technologies;
2.

Considers that the draft Commission implementing decision is not consistent with Union law, in that it is not compatible with the objective of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, which is, in accordance with the general principles laid down in Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, to provide the basis for ensuring a high level of protection of human life and health, animal health and welfare, environment and consumer interests in relation to genetically modified food and feed, whilst ensuring the effective functioning of the internal market;
47.

Stresses that cyber security is by its very nature a policy area in which cooperation and integration are crucial, not only between EU Member States, key partners and NATO, but also between different actors within society, since it is not only a military responsibility; calls for clearer guidelines on how EU defensive and offensive capabilities are to be used and in what context; recalls that the European Parliament has repeatedly called for a thorough revision of the EU dual-use export regulation to prevent software and other systems which can be used against EU digital infrastructure and to violate human rights from falling into the wrong hands; calls for the EU to defend in international forums — including, but not limited to, internet governance forums — the principle that the internet’s core infrastructure should be a neutral zone in which governments, pursuing their national interests, are prohibited from interfering;
20.

Welcomes the continuation of the European Ombudsman’s investigations into ‘revolving door’ cases in the Commission; acknowledges the fact that as a result of these investigations the Commission has provided greater information as regards the names of the senior officials who have left it to work in the private sector; encourages the more frequent publication of the names and other data of such persons; expresses the hope that other European institutions and agencies will follow suit; welcomes the willingness of the Commission to publish information regarding the post-term-of-office occupations of former Commissioners; expresses great concern at the fact that former Commission President Barroso was appointed as an adviser and non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International; calls on the Ombudsman to initiate a strategic inquiry into the Commission’s handling of Barroso’s revolving door case, including the formulation of recommendations on how to reform the Code of Conduct in line with the principles of good administration and the Treaty requirements found in Article 245 TFEU;
9.

Welcomes the fact that the Commission is involved with, and committed to, the petition process and that it responds as quickly as possible to new petitions forwarded to it by Parliament; points out that Commission replies are usually detailed and pertain to the petitions for which it has jurisdiction; recalls, however, that on many occasions the Commission does not provide any new information in its replies to petitions for which a review has been requested owing to a change in their status and context; regrets the occasions when the Commission focuses essentially on procedural aspects and does not enter into the substance of the issue; reminds the Commission that petitions that raise a potential breach of EU law can only be closed after their proper analysis has been concluded; welcomes the Commission’s commitment to sending generally competent officials to meetings of the Committee on Petitions, as the quality of the overall treatment of petitions improves when the highest-ranking officials available represent the Commission in the debates; regrets that during the committee meetings the Commission’s answers are generally limited to the content of the official reply sent to the committee and do not provide any new or relevant information that might enable a solution to the issues raised; notes that the written responses are taken seriously into account, as are explanations given during the oral debates held by the Committee on Petitions;