P6_TA(2006)0028
European Neighbourhood Policy
European Parliament resolution on the European Neighbourhood Policy (2004/2166(INI))
The European Parliament ,
— having regard to Article I-57 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, concerning the Union
and its neighbours, which is not in force and has not yet been adopted,
— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 laying down general provi-
sions on the Structural Funds (1) and the Commission's proposal for a Council regulation laying down
general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and theCohesion Fund (COM(2004)0492),
— having regard to the Commission Communication to the Council and the European Parliament entitled
“Wider Europe — Neighbourhood: A New Framework for Relations with our Eastern and SouthernNeighbours” (COM(2003)0104), its European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) strategy paper(COM(2004)0373), its proposal for a European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument
(COM(2004)0628), its Communication on action plans under the European Neighbourhood Policy
(ENP) (COM(2004)0795) and the action plans for Ukraine, Moldova, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, the Pales-tinian Authority and Tunisia,
— having regard to the Ukraine Action Plan (“the Ferrero-Waldner/Solana ten-point plan”), which the EU-
Ukraine Co-operation Council approved on 21 February 2005,
— having regard to the European Security Strategy, “A Secure Europe in a Better World”, which the Euro-
pean Council approved on 12 December 2003,
— having regard to the Second Northern Dimension Action Plan 2004-2006 as endorsed by the European
Council held in Brussels on 16 and 17 October 2003,
— having regard to its resolutions on the Northern Dimension of 20 November 2003 (
2) and 16 Novem-
ber 2005 (3),
— having regard to the conclusions of the IV Northern Dimension Ministerial Meeting held in Brussels on
21 November 2005,
— having regard to its resolution on the Barcelona Process revisited of 27 October 2005 (4),
— having regard to the Strategic Partnership for the Mediterranean and the Middle East, which the Euro-
pean Council endorsed on 18 June 2004,
— having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament
entitled “Reinvigorating EU actions on Human Rights and democratisation with Mediterranean part-ners” (COM(2003)0294),24.11.2006 C 287 E/312 Il- Ġurnal Uffi ċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 19 ta' Jannar 2006MT
(1) OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 173/2005 (OJ L 29, 2.2.2005, p. 3).
(2) OJ C 87 E, 7.4.2004, p. 515.
(3) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0430.
(4) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0412.
— having regard to the resolution of 15 March 2005 on economic and financial issues, social affairs and
education, adopted by the first Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly in Cairo,
— having regard to the Arab Human Development Report 2004 “Towards Freedom in the Arab World”
of 5 April 2005, published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
— having regard to the report by the European Parliament delegation sent to observe the elections in the
Palestinian Authority from 7 to 10 January 2005,
— having regard to its resolutions of 13 January 2005 on the results of the Ukraine elections (1), of 24
February 2005 on the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova (2) and of 10 March 2005 on
the situation in Lebanon (3),
— having regard to its resolution of 20 November 2003 on “Wider Europe — Neighbourhood: A New
Framework for Relations with our Eastern and Southern Neighbours” (4),
— having regard to its resolution of 11 June 2002 on relations between the European Union and the Arab
Maghreb Union: a privileged partnership (5),
— having regard to its resolution of 28 April 2005 on the Annual Report on Human Rights in the World
2004 (6),
— having regard to its earlier resolutions on the neighbouring countries and regions of the enlarging EU,— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,— having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (A6-0399/2005),
A. whereas, following the European Union's enlargement on 1 May 2004, the EU's external frontiers have
changed and new neighbours have been added,
B. whereas it is not in the enlarged EU's interest to draw new dividing lines with compartmentalised exter-
nal frontiers, and a strategy must therefore be pursued for relations with its eastern and southern neigh-bours by means of which a common area of peace, stability, security, respect for human rights, democ-
racy, the rule of law and prosperity can be created and extended,
C. whereas it is in the EU's interest to contribute to the democratic development of its neighbours, and
the development of the European neighbourhood policy depends very substantially on the will of theneighbouring states and their peoples to share the same values as those on which the European Unionis based,
D. whereas the ENP should have the ambitious aim of offering its partner countries privileged relations, so
as to enable them to be active stakeholders in the EU's policies,24.11.2006 C 287 E/313 Il-Ġurnal Uffi ċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 19 ta' Jannar 2006MT
(1) OJ C 247 E, 6.10.2005, p. 155.
(2) OJ C 304 E, 1.12.2005, p. 398.
(3) OJ C 320 E, 15.12.2005, p. 25.
(4) OJ C 87 E, 7.4.2004, p. 506.
(5) OJ C 261 E, 30.10.2003, p. 142.
(6) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0150.
E. whereas the ENP includes both the European countries, which under the existing Treaties are entitled
as a point of principle to apply for membership of the European Union, and countries that have cer-
tainly been the European Union's neighbours and close partners for a long while but cannot join theEuropean Union; and whereas this fact in no way affects the abovementioned rights of European coun-tries to apply for accession to the EU,
F. whereas all the neighbours, irrespective of the issue of possible membership, have an equal opportunity
to establish privileged relations with the EU that are founded both on common interests and on com-
mon values, according to their own ambitions,
G. whereas there are some very peripheral island regions of the European Union in the form of islands
that are located in the Atlantic Ocean but nevertheless linked to the European continent, which raisesspecific problems within the framework of the ENP as those islands have themselves, within their vici-nity, neighbours in the form of non-EU islands with whom they share common historic links,
H. whereas the criterion of the EU's absorption capacity is one of the Copenhagen criteria,
I. whereas the Rose Revolution in Georgia and the Orange Revolution in Ukraine have expressed the will
of the peoples of those countries to take part in the shaping of Europe, on the basis of the commonvalues set out in the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe,
J. whereas the Union should make every effort to support the return of Belarus to the democratic com-
munity in order for it to become a stable and prosperous partner,
K. whereas the EU has not made full use of its strategic partnership with Russia so as to resolve the Trans-
nistria conflict, which is one of the main reasons for Moldova's deep economic crisis,
L. whereas peaceful development on the European continent and in the immediate neighbouring area is
in the European Union's interest and it must therefore help to settle the conflicts in Transnistria, SouthOssetia, Abkhazia, Nagorny-Karabakh and Chechnya, for which close cooperation with Russia andUkraine is essential, and to resolve the conflicts in the Middle East and Western Sahara,
M. whereas the freedom movement in Lebanon and the free elections in Palestine have also been sustained
by the spirit of freedom and democracy,
N. stressing the essential positive role played by institutions such as the Council of Europe, the Organiza-
tion for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations (UN) in the prevention,management and resolution of political and military crises in many regions of Europe, mainly thanksto their capacities and instruments which are supplementary to those of the EU,
O. whereas at their summit in Chisinau on 22 April 2005 the countries cooperating within the framework
of GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova) stated their clear ambition to intensify their coo-peration with the EU,
P. whereas on 31 May 2003 the European Union and its neighbour Russia decided to further strengthen
their Strategic Partnership based on the same values as the ENP and the establishment of four common
spaces, which must now lead to concrete results,24.11.2006 C 287 E/314 Il- Ġurnal Uffi ċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 19 ta' Jannar 2006MT
Towards European neighbourhood agreements
1. Declares that the aim of privileged relations with the EU's neighbours includes, as an essential precon-
dition, an active and concrete commitment to common values in the fields of the rule of law, good gover-
nance, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and the principles of a transparentsocial market economy and sustainable development;
2. Emphasises its aim of not settling for the status quo but of committing the European Union to support
the aspirations of the peoples of our neighbouring countries to full political freedom, with democracy and
justice, and economic and social development, using all diplomatic, financial and political means available;
3. Supports the enlargement of the EU on the basis of the Treaties and in accordance with the decisions
taken by the European Council; emphasises that the enlargement process must be accompanied by an
ambitious and substantial flexible neighbourhood policy for those European countries which are not at pre-
sent EU Member States and which cannot yet join, or do not wish to join, the EU but are nevertheless alig-ning themselves with the values of the EU and are minded to take part in the European project;
4. Emphasises that the Nice Treaty is not an acceptable basis for further decisions on the accession of
any more new Member States and therefore insists that the necessary reforms be brought into force within
the framework of the constitutional process;
5. Stresses that the ENP should be tailored to the needs of the individual countries to which it applies
and should not be a “one size fits all” policy;
6. Emphasises the need to establish an effective monitoring mechanism and a readiness to restrict or sus-
pend aid and even to cancel agreements with countries which violate international and European standardsof respect for human rights and democracy, and calls on the Commission to operate a vigorous policy ofsupport for democratic forces in those neighbouring states, in particular by ensuring access to independent
media and information;
7. Calls on the Commission to define the purpose and clear priorities of the European neighbourhood
policy, thus setting criteria for the evaluation of achievements, and welcomes the idea of providing for aEuropean neighbourhood agreement at the end of the ENP process for those countries which are not
applying for EU membership but which have come closer to the European Union's body of law; asks the
Commission to propose and develop specific policies to extend the ENP where feasible to Atlantic islandcountries neighbouring EU outermost regions adjacent to the European continent, where special questionsof geographical proximity, cultural and historical affinity and mutual security may be relevant;
8. Considers it right that such a neighbourhood agreement can encourage step-by-step progress towards
full access to the internal market and participation in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP),which will require appropriate financial and technical support from the EU; also considers it necessary toallow close cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs, which should also be included in the actionplans, with the aim of cooperating closely in the fields of the defence of human rights, combating traffic-king in drugs, weapons and human beings, combating terrorism and organised crime, asylum and visa
policy and immigration;
9. Calls on the Council to strengthen the dialogue with individual ENP partner countries by inviting,
where and when appropriate, participation in areas of mutual interest and of importance to the EuropeanUnion, such as the CFSP, as well as inviting non-voting representatives to discussions in Council working
groups in appropriate fields, e.g. the fight against terrorism (COTER), international development coopera-
tion (CODEV), human rights (COHOM), international organisations (CONUN), etc.;24.11.2006 C 287 E/315 Il-Ġurnal Uffi ċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 19 ta' Jannar 2006MT
10. Considers that the joint administration of the border between each neighbour country and the EU
should be an essential element of any European Neighbourhood Agreement, with a view to ensuring on
the one hand the security of borders and on the other hand the development of cross-border cooperation;
11. Considers it necessary, and feasible now as a first step, to enable the partner countries to take part in
all Community programmes in the fields of culture, education, youth, the information society, the environ-ment, research and science;
12. Considers it crucial that the ENP should significantly contribute to the promotion of women's rights
and economic and social rights; in this respect, calls on the Commission to include as priority matters thewithdrawal of all reservations expressed by certain countries concerning the Convention on the Eliminationof All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and to fully implement the International Cove-nant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR);
13. Calls on the Commission and the Council to use the ENP not only to strengthen political dialogue
and cooperation but also to transform into practical reality the action plans with partner countries, basedon the principle of differentiation according to each country's suitability and qualification, in order to open
up participation in programmes and agencies such as the European Environment Agency, the European
Space Agency, Eurojust and the “Intelligent Energy — Europe” Community programme for new energyresources, and also permission to tender for development and aid cooperation within EU programmes andagencies such as TACIS, PHARE and ECHO;
14. Considers it important to extend the Parliamentary Visitors Programme so as to allow people from
neighbouring countries to familiarise themselves with the democratic culture of the European Parliament;
15. Considers it useful to establish a special European fund to support, in an efficient and flexible man-
ner, initiatives promoting parliamentary democracy in neighbouring countries;
16. Considers it important that distinctions be made in the wording of action plans for the individual
countries in the light of the current state of relations, progress in implementing reforms and the will of therespective neighbouring country to fulfil the agreed commitments; reaffirms that those distinctions must bebased on transparent and objective criteria;
17. Considers that such action plans should serve as a tool towards achievement of the goals of potential
EU membership for those countries that are eligible and ever closer partnership for the other countriesincluded;
18. Supports the development of action plans with all countries covered by the neighbourhood policy
and insists that the development of human rights, democracy and the rule of law be regarded as a key prio-rity in all national action plans; in this respect, stresses the importance of setting up sub-committees on
human rights with all the neighbourhood countries, which should help to evaluate the implementation of
action plans; considers that those sub-committees should meet at least once a year and that a regular fol-low-up should take place at all political levels; calls on the Council and the Commission to fully involveParliament in this assessment process and is therefore of the opinion that Parliament should be representedin the sub-committees;
19. Proposes that the Commission publish monitoring reports at annual intervals, setting out an assess-
ment of ENP progress in the individual countries concerned, in accordance with clearly defined criteria andstandards, to serve as the basis for further steps on the path to a European Neighbourhood Agreement;
expects the partner countries for their part to provide detailed information for the joint monitoring pro-
cess; considers that intensive discussion of the progress reports in Parliament is required;24.11.2006 C 287 E/316 Il- Ġurnal Uffi ċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 19 ta' Jannar 2006MT
20. Stresses, in this regard, the importance of creating a multilateral framework with all the countries
concerned in which to assess jointly the cross-cutting aspects of those monitoring reports and to discuss
the overall future of the ENP;
21. Regrets that in its strategy paper (COM(2004)0373) the Commission responded only to the Council's
opinion and ignored Parliament's comprehensive resolution of 20 November 2003;
22. Underlines the crucial link between the EU's Russia strategy and the ENP; points out that the success
of that policy in some of the ENP states depends on the relations between the EU and Russia; asks theCommission and the Council, therefore, to reformulate the Common Strategy on Russia in such a way asto entrench the same democratic, legal and human rights considerations as have been accepted under theENP; encourages the Russian government to allow for greater flexibility and wider scope in decision-
making instruments for its regions neighbouring EU countries; regards such a development as an important
precondition for viable cross-border relationships;
23. Points out emphatically that Parliament, as budgetary authority, is involved under the codecision pro-
cedure in financing the ENP through the newly established European Neighbourhood and PartnershipInstrument (ENPI); calls therefore on the Commission not to separate the ENP's policy priorities from its
financing through the ENPI and the allocation of budget resources, but to determine them transparently
and with the participation of Parliament, having regard, in particular, to the definition of the multi-annualprogrammes and country strategy papers; calls on the Commission to find ways to permit the interconnec-tion of the various instruments of external action;
24. Calls on the Commission to avoid bureaucratising the whole ENP process and to fully consult and
involve not just the Council but also Parliament when developing the time-frames and content of futureaction plans;
25. Emphasises that, while the ENPI should serve as a means of entrenching democracy in Europe's
neighbours, it must also be a vehicle for initiating progress towards democracy in non-democratic neigh-
bours, such as Belarus, and should include funding to help with the achievement of that transformation;
26. Calls for the rapid provision of technical assistance for those neighbouring countries which have
already decided on comprehensive reform programmes and are fulfilling the agreed commitments; con-firms its resolve to call for a significant increase and reallocation in funding for the ENP, compatible with
the future Financial Perspectives as decided by Parliament, as the ENPI is replacing the existing TACIS,
MEDA and INTERREG programmes on 1 January 2007; recognises that the gradual participation in theEuropean internal market offered under the ENP is an opportunity but also a major challenge for theneighbouring countries, and proposes that the Commission should create special financial aid to help theENP countries in their rapprochement to the internal market, as is provided for applicant countries priorto their accession;
27. Stresses that the new EU Member States have successfully implemented the transitional reforms nee-
ded to create a market economy, democracy and civil society, and have obtained a wealth of unique, rele-vant reform experience which can be passed on to the neighbouring countries in eastern Europe and theEuromed region; therefore calls on the Commission to establish the necessary mechanisms in order to ena-
ble the Member States to share their reform experiences with the ENP partner countries, and to act as a
facilitator of this process;
28. Stresses the need to include and support, in the short and medium term, strong anti-corruption mea-
sures in all the action plans;
29. Calls for assurances that local and regional authorities and also public organisations in the Member
States and in neighbouring states will be involved in the development and implementation of the ENP;24.11.2006 C 287 E/317 Il-Ġurnal Uffi ċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 19 ta' Jannar 2006MT
30. Calls on the Commission to propose a separate Regulation providing the necessary flexibility for the
European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (Budget line 19-04), as the only EU external instru-
ment which does not require host country consent, and also to concede the restoration of full parliamen-tary oversight of the programme;
31. Underlines the importance of greater market openness, in accordance with the principles of the
World Trade Organization (WTO); points out that in the Barcelona Declaration the progressive establish-ment of a free trade area has been agreed for goods with 2010 as a target date; considers it important forall ENP partner countries to be encouraged and supported in their path towards WTO membership;
32. Supports the Commission's idea of offering Russia support through the new ENPI in addition to exis-
ting forms of cooperation, but notes the need to relate this support to progress reports based on propermonitoring;
33. Considers it necessary to consolidate information policy on the European Union, its decision-making
procedures and its values; welcomes the fact that the EU-funded news channel Euronews is already broad-casting in Russian, and considers it desirable to do the same in Arabic; also welcomes the EU-fundedDeutsche Welle programmes, the aim of which is to disseminate European democratic values in Belarus;
34. Considers that, whilst the possibility of membership of the EU must remain the ultimate incentive
for all European countries to follow the common European ideals and participate in the European integra-tion process, the fact of non-membership should not be used as a stick or a whip to punish non-membercountries; emphasises that all bilateral relations and all existing multilateral organisations must be utilisedin promoting our goals of European cooperation and integration;
Linking neighbouring countries with one another
35. Emphasises that it is the aim of the ENP not only to strengthen bilateral relations between the EU
and the neighbourhood countries but also to create networks of cooperation and bring about the develop-
ment of regional integration between neighbouring countries; takes the view in this connection that consi-
deration should be given to creating for the European neighbour states an instrument along the lines ofthe European Economic Area, covering not only participation in the single market but also political mat-ters; expresses its concern at the serious delays in this area and believes it vital for the Union, together withall neighbourhood policy partners, to undertake to activate all political and institutional instruments capa-ble of supporting the development of the multilateral dimension;
36. Calls in this connection for greater emphasis to be placed on developing the regional and subregional
dimensions, in view of the specific geographical, historical and political characteristics which set the neigh-bouring countries apart from the Union countries;
37. Calls on the Commission to provide a clearer definition of the relationship between the ENP and the
Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, which it plans to relaunch via a communication on this subject;
38. Calls in this regard on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to make more visible
and concrete efforts to strengthen interaction with the OSCE and the Council of Europe so as to providethe EU with the essential knowledge and instruments it lacks, especially in the fields of monitoring theimplementation of human rights, democracy and rule of law commitments and of managing and resolvingpolitical and military crises;
39. Considers that the Council of Europe should be strengthened and developed to become the most
important pan-European forum of cooperation, particularly as regards respect for, and the implementationof, democracy and human rights conventions, and that its efficiently functioning democratic organisationcan also be given new tasks; takes the view that the Council of Europe could be a pan-European forum for
all the different European “spaces” we are now trying to create through both bilateral and multilateral chan-
nels;24.11.2006 C 287 E/318 Il- Ġurnal Uffi ċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 19 ta' Jannar 2006MT
40. Urges the European Union to sign up to the European Convention on Human Rights in order to
strengthen the link between the Council of Europe framework and the EU;
41. Calls for increased and better focused pan-European cooperation in all relevant fields, e.g. trans-Euro-
pean networks, the environment, visa regimes, justice, asylum and migration and foreign and security
policy;
42. Whilst recognising the strong need for an eventual negotiated move to worldwide free-market rates
for the prices enjoyed by Russia in its supply of oil and gas as well as the prices paid by Russia for transitrights through intermediary countries, nevertheless regrets the unilateral suspension by Russia of gas sup-
plies to Ukraine on 1 January 2006, and calls on Russia not to use its market dominance as a political
instrument in the conduct of its foreign policy; welcomes the satisfactory resolution of this crisis and callson the EU to ensure a coordinated policy which guarantees security of energy supply and integrity of thepipelines in the transit countries as well as a diversified source of origin for these vital natural resources;
43. Considers that the OSCE should be used on the pan-European level in the fields covered by its man-
date, whilst avoiding duplication with the Council of Europe and relevant UN agencies; underlines that theOSCE could also be useful in building bridges between the European Union and its neighbours by offeringfull membership to the Mediterranean and Middle East countries, or by exploring the idea of creating aseparate regional organisation modelled on the OSCE; regrets the recent attempts at weakening of the role
of the OSCE in its human rights and democracy safeguarding role and considers that the EU should make
better and co-ordinated use of its weight in the OSCE and the Council of Europe to promote the valuesand standards underlying membership of those institutions;
44. Regards energy policy as an important aspect, since the EU is surrounded by the world's largest oil
and natural gas reserves (Russia and the Caspian basin, the Middle East and North Africa), and many coun-tries in the neighbourhood, such as Russia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Azerbaijan are suppliers or, as in thecase of Ukraine, Belarus, Morocco, Tunisia, Georgia and Armenia, transit countries, and an improvementin energy network links will benefit both the EU and its partner countries; points out that the relations inthe field of energy between the EU and the countries in its neighbourhood should be considered within the
framework of a broader European energy policy, the aim of which would be to contribute to the diversity
and security of energy supply of both the EU and its partner countries; asks the Commission to present acommunication on the foreign and neighbourhood policy aspects of the energy policy;
45. Emphasises that stepping up trade and tourism between the EU and the partner countries means
improving the transport networks and is likely to improve links between the partner countries, thus also
making them more attractive to investment;
46. Points out that the ENP is aimed at promoting a commitment to shared values such as the pursuit of
sustainable development as defined at the Johannesburg World Summit;
47. Stresses that cooperation on the environment and in such key areas as water quality and water mana-
gement, waste management, air pollution, flood management and combating desertification can likewiseonly be achieved on a cross-frontier and regional basis;
48. Believes that the problem of legal and illegal immigration should be tackled in the context of the
neighbourhood policy; calls on the Council and Commission to monitor the implementation of agreementswith all neighbouring countries, particularly as regards action plans which have been or are being negotia-
ted; calls also on the Council and the Commission specifically to monitor bilateral agreements between
individual Member States and partner countries concerning immigration and, in particular, readmission;24.11.2006 C 287 E/319 Il-Ġurnal Uffi ċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 19 ta' Jannar 2006MT
49. Welcomes the fact that opening up the European research area is a precondition for cooperation in a
knowledge-based society, and sees opportunities for regional cooperation between the partner countries in
this area too;
50. Draws attention to the need to pay special attention to the sovereign states of the European conti-
nent that are not members of the European Union, specifically Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein as mem-bers of the EEA/EFTA and Switzerland as a member of EFTA having its own bilateral agreements with the
EU; considers that these close political and economic ties should be the basis for further developments and
closer cooperation, as with Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican State, all of which as appro-priate should be allowed to participate in the new neighbourhood process as well;
51. Takes the view that all the candidate countries should also be involved in the neighbourhood policy,
first as special partners and later as EU members playing a special role in cooperation with our future
neighbours; considers it necessary for progress to be made on the opening of Turkey's borders with Arme-nia and for Romania and Ukraine to settle their dispute concerning the demarcation of the Black Sea conti-nental shelf, including through recourse to the International Court of Justice in The Hague;
52. Considers that, in these circumstances, the Northern Dimension must be strengthened; underlines
that special attention must be paid to relations with our huge Eurasian neighbour Russia; therefore calls for
further development of the EU-Russia strategic partnership and an intensification of the cooperation withinthe multilateral Northern Dimension, as well as within a Wider Europe framework, avoiding a division ofEurope into spheres of influence and promoting genuine pan-European partnership and cooperation;
53. Underlines on the other hand the need to strengthen EU policies in the Mediterranean region and the
Middle East, not least given the accession of Cyprus and Malta, and since coming enlargements will includeseveral countries of south-eastern Europe;
Maghreb
54 Notes that Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have been closely linked with the European Union for a long
while, as the current association agreements make plain; stresses that resolute implementation of thereforms that have begun, especially in the area of political freedom and human rights, must be given highpriority; calls on the Commission to adopt an action plan for Algeria in the near future, so as to give fresh
momentum to the Arab Maghreb Union; but points out that the success of this regional integration
depends essentially on settlement of the question of Western Sahara and calls again on the parties concer-ned to enter into a constructive dialogue, within the framework of the relevant United Nations SecurityCouncil resolutions;
55. Calls on the European Union to take firm measures, accompanied by an information campaign, to
explain the Barcelona Process and the new ENP, so as to erase the image of a fearful Europe, more concer-
ned with its own security and combating immigration than with the sustainable development that is bothexpected and necessary;
56. Welcomes the rapprochement of Libya to the Barcelona Process and expects tangible progress in
implementing the announced adoption of the Barcelona body of law, which could lead to inclusion in the
ENP process in future;
Middle East and Mashreq
57. Welcomes the fact that, with the elections in the Palestinian Authority in January 2005, a President
has been elected in exemplary fashion and that this has given a signal to the whole Arab world; takes theview that through the reforms in the Palestinian Authority and the determination to combat terrorism newopportunities have arisen for the peace process and implementation of the Road Map; welcomes Israel'swithdrawal from the Gaza strip and the northern part of the West Bank; recognises that long-lasting and
genuine peace and stability in the region can only be achieved with the existence of the State of Israel wit-
hin secure and recognised borders, alongside a democratic, viable Palestinian State;24.11.2006 C 287 E/320 Il- Ġurnal Uffi ċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 19 ta' Jannar 2006MT
58. Welcomes the fact that Jordan and Egypt are actively supporting the Middle East peace process; takes
the view that the ENP should with every available means support the latest signs of democratic renewal in
the Mashreq region, particularly after the Cedar Revolution in Lebanon;
59. Calls on Syria to cooperate without any further delay fully and actively in the international fight
against terrorism and the international investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minis-ter Rafiq Hariri as recently extended by the UN Security Council, and to fully respect internationally accep-ted human rights standards;
60. Welcomes the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon, and the holding of legislative elections
in Lebanon in June 2005; expresses its deep concern at the recent attacks on journalists and publisherscommitted to a free and independent Lebanon and calls for redoubled efforts to achieve a sovereign and
democratic state of Lebanon in which all political and religious groups and communities take part in politi-
cal and social life and human rights are fully respected, and calls for the full implementation of UNSCR1559(2004) including the disarmament of Hezbollah;
61. Urges the Egyptian authorities not to undermine the prospects recently opened up with regard, in
particular, to multi-candidate presidential elections, and to press ahead with democratic reforms; expressesits deep concern, in this regard, about the conviction of Ayman Nour, a prominent liberal opposition lea-der, who has been recently sentenced to five years' hard labour by an Egyptian court for supposedly for-ging signatures on petitions used to create his political party; regards this as a seriously retrograde step and
calls on the Egyptian authorities to make every effort to ensure that this case is correctly dealt with;
Eastern Europe
62. Welcomes the peaceful revolution and the democratic movement in Ukraine; recognises Ukraine's
European aspirations and calls for a long-term European perspective to be established; supports the actionplan and the Ferrero-Waldner/Solana ten-point plan, which represent an ambitious and substantial pro-gramme; confirms its full support for the new Ukrainian Government in implementing the announcedreform package;
63. Recognises Moldova's European aspirations and calls for a long-term European perspective to be esta-
blished; emphasises that democratic development of the country is beneficial for creating closer relations;considers it necessary to provide EU aid so as to help improve economic development in that country and
to give the authorities, the business community and the population in Transnistria further incentives for
cooperating with the EU through Chisinau; calls on all parties involved to come to a political settlement ofthe Transnistria issue;
64. Is concerned at the present developments in Belarus, which is a dictatorial regime in which opposi-
tion activities of any kind are suppressed; calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States toincrease their support for the civil-society activities of non-governmental organisations and of the opposi-tion; urges the Council to raise with Russia the question of Belarus, pointing out that the democratisation
of that country is in the interests of both the EU and Russia and that joint action should be taken to that
end;
Southern Caucasus
65. Welcomes the fact that the European Council has, at the insistence of the European Parliament, inclu-
ded the countries of the Caucasus in the neighbourhood policy;24.11.2006 C 287 E/321 Il-Ġurnal Uffi ċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 19 ta' Jannar 2006MT
66. Takes the view that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is impeding the development of Armenia and
Azerbaijan and regional cooperation as well as the effective implementation of the ENP as such; calls on
both parties to refrain from unilateral actions and aggressive statements and to work for settlement of theconflict in a constructive dialogue with all the forces concerned, on the basis of respect for minority rightsand on the basis of the principles of international law; emphasises the importance of continuing democra-tic reforms for the development of the region and its relations with the EU; urges all parties concerned to
find ways to permit the gradual return of refugees on the basis of minority rights, in particular with regard
to the return of Azerbaijanis to the occupied territories; calls on the member countries of the OSCE MinskGroup to coordinate more effectively their action with Heikki Talvitie, the EU Special Representative forSouth Caucasus, in order to move forward with negotiations;
67. Calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to put an end the demolition of medieval Armenian cemeteries
and historic carved stone crosses in southern Nakhichevan, which is in breach of the terms of its 1993 rati-fication of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention;
68. Urges Russia and Turkey to play a constructive role with a view to laying down the basis for a peace-
ful resolution of the conflict and the resumption of regional cooperation; calls on Turkey, in this respect,to open up its frontiers with Armenia;
69. Takes the view that the action plan for Azerbaijan should be focused on the development of a
genuine democracy and respect for human rights and the rule of law; urges the Commission, in this regard,
to coordinate its action with the Council of Europe and to make every effort to support and develop thefragile Azerbaijani civil society;
70. Welcomes the peace plan for South Ossetia based on a three-stage approach, as put forward by
Georgia within the OSCE at the end of October 2005; takes the view that this plan represents a fundamen-tal step forward on the road to a peaceful and comprehensive settlement of the conflict; calls on the Coun-cil and the Commission to lend the necessary support to this proposal, facilitating the dialogue and nego-tiations between the two sides and helping to provide the means enabling the initiative to achieve total suc-
cess;
71. Encourages full utilisation of the ENP to promote regional cooperation among countries of the sout-
hern Caucasus as an instrument for inter-state confidence building;
72. Proposes an EU stability pact for southern Caucasus — including a parliamentary and civil-society
dimension modelled on the EU stability pact for south-eastern Europe – involving the European Union(with the participation of Turkey as an accession candidate), Russia, the United States and the UnitedNations (the Quartet); takes the view that such a stability pact is likely to help settle the regional conflictsthrough a dialogue between all the parties concerned and where helpful also with the countries outside thedirect neighbourhood of the EU;
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73. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Secretary-Gene-
ral of the United Nations, the governments and national parliaments of the ENP countries and Russia, the
Council of Europe, the OSCE and the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly.24.11.2006 C 287 E/322 Il- Ġurnal Uffi ċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 19 ta' Jannar 2006MT