16. Recognises the need to investigate and develop new forms of fire prevention and detection and fire-
fighting assistance using satellites and other cutting-edge technologies; believes that it is essential to adopt
new information technologies (e.g. the Geographical Information System) for managing fires and floods;stresses the essential role of new detection technology in preventing natural disasters;
17. Recommends measures to protect forests against fire, specifically the collection and recycling of forest
biomass residue, the prohibition of changing the use of burnt land, and sharper penalties for criminal acts
against the environment, especially causing forest fires; believes that the collection of biomass residue shouldbe regulated so as to prevent it from accelerating desertification by depleting organic matter and degradingthe soil, thus making the latter more vulnerable to the risks of drought and torrential flooding;
18. Calls on the Commission to put forward a directive on preventing and managing fires, to include the
regular collection of data, preparation of maps and identification of areas at risk, preparation of fire risk
management plans, identification by the Member States of the resources allocated and facilities available,coordination of the various administrations, minimum requirements for training crews, establishment ofenvironmental responsibility and penalties;
19. Asks the Commission to recommend to the Member States that they draw up fire and flood risk
maps, and that these are taken into account in territorial planning management;
20. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission, and the governments
and parliaments of the Member States.
P6_TA(2006)0225
Treaty establishing the Energy Community
European Parliament resolution on the conclusion by the European Community of the Energy Com-
munity Treaty
The European Parliament,
—having regard to the Commission proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion by the European
Community of the Energy Community Treaty (COM(2005)0435),
—having regard to the Council's draft decision on the conclusion by the European Community of the
Energy Community Treaty (13886/1/2005),
—having regard to the legal basis chosen for the conclusion of the Energy Community Treaty, which effec-
tively limits the role of the European Parliament to giving or withholding its assent to the conclusion of
the Treaty, without any effective participation in the decision-making procedure,
—having regard to its position of 18 May 2006 on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion
by the European Community of the Energy Community Treaty (1) giving its assent to the conclusion of
the Treaty,
—having regard to Rule 108(5) of its Rules of Procedure;
1. Notes that the EC, by means of the conclusion of this Energy Community Treaty (ECT), in a sense crea-
tes a precedent by extending the acquis communautaire of the internal market in the field of electricity and gas
to the nine contracting parties to the ECT;7.12.2006 379 Il-Ġurnal Uffiċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 18 ta' Mejju 2006MT
(1)Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0219.
2. Demands an unequivocal commitment by the contracting parties to the ECT to respect and implement
the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
3. Notes also that, of the nine contracting parties to the Treaty, three are candidate countries (Bulgaria,
Romania and Croatia), one has applied for membership (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), four arepotential candidates (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Montenegro and the Republic of Ser-bia) and one is under UN Interim Administration (Kosovo);
4. Points to the fact that in the case of the internal market, additional measures conceived as instruments
to support the internal market or considered necessary in order to mitigate any negative effects have been
adopted, whereas in the case of the ECT, the Council Decision foresees no such measures and this could lead
to serious distortions of competition with EU players by undermining the standards applied in the internalmarket; notes that, therefore, matters relating to employment, social impact and restructuring, working con-ditions, equality, health and safety, information and consultation and social dialogue will be treated in a sepa-rate Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), whose legal status is not specified; demands that the MoUshould be signed by the Commission, Council and governments concerned and should be developed to
become a legally binding instrument;
5. Supports the participation of representatives of the social partners from the contracting parties to the
ECT in the European sectoral social dialogue committees, where they exist, which the Commission is to ena-ble;
6. Seeks clarification by the Council and the Commission of the inclusion of provisions and programmes
to increase energy efficiency, prioritise the demand side, replace energy infrastructure and support renewableenergy, notably to reduce widespread energy poverty, energy/hydrocarbon import dependence and the harm-
ful environmental impact of energy production, transport and use; in particular, seeks clarification of the
effective implementation by the ECT countries of the acquis regarding energy efficiency, gaseous, liquid and
solid pollutant emissions and climate change as matters of the utmost importance to avoid distortion ofcompetition with EU players;
7. Calls for caution to be exercised in the privatisation of utilities and the replacement of public monopo-
lies with private ones when not all rules and regulations are in place to ensure public service obligations,
reasonable prices and democratic control;
8. Calls upon the Commission to submit to Parliament for information all the complementary documents
considered by the Commission or the Council to be integral to the internal market in connection with theECT, prior to their adoption by the Council or Commission;
9. Is concerned about changes made by the Council in the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the
ECT, which transform the obligatory consultation with the European Parliament —as proposed in the Com-
mission proposal —into an information exercise, as stipulated in Article 4(5) of the draft Council decision;
10. Demands that representatives of its Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, together with parlia-
mentary representatives of the countries concerned, be informed of and consulted on decisions of the Com-
mission and Ministerial Council with regard to the ECT and that these representatives should have the powerto amend proposals; notes that a procedure to this end needs to be discussed between Parliament, the Com-mission and the Council;
11. Considers it desirable that the legal provision of mutual assistance to the contracting parties in the
event of serious disruptions of energy supply may be extended to other neighbouring countries “in the event
of special circumstances”; calls upon the Council and the Commission, nonetheless, to clarify the “special cir-
cumstances” in a separate implementing measure that should be forwarded to Parliament for its opinion;7.12.2006 380 Il-Ġurnal Uffiċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 18 ta' Mejju 2006MT
12. Seeks clarification by the Council and the Commission of the effective contribution of the ECT to sup-
port for energy reforms in contracting parties, as Western Balkan countries appear to be at an earlier reform
stage; notes, in particular, that they need to establish their energy policies and institutions to develop soundand comprehensive energy reforms on both the demand and the supply side of the energy market, in addi-tion to adhering to the rule of law;
13. Seeks clarification by the Council and the Commission of the role and functions of the various institu-
tions created by the ECT, including the Energy Community Secretariat and the Regulatory Board;
14. Seeks clarification by the Council and the Commission of measures taken by donors, Member States
and the ECT countries to ensure market transparency, in particular regarding the development of offshoreenergy traders in the ECT area with dominant market positions, and their extension to EU energy markets;
15. Seeks clarification by the Council and the Commission of the criteria to be fulfilled by a neighbouring
third country in order to be accepted by the Ministerial Council as an Observer or as a Participant;
16. Calls for Parliament to be informed and consulted prior to any future extension of the ECT to other
energy sources or sectors;
17. Calls upon the Commission to report in writing to Parliament at least once per year on the achieve-
ments of and problems faced by the contracting parties in the implementation of the ECT; considers thatthis report should include at least the following elements:
—the state of affairs with regard to implementing the relevant energy, social (the MoU) and environmental
acquis;
—an overview of the work of the regulatory authorities, their resources and procedures for consulting rele-
vant stakeholders;
—the level of market concentration, affordability and investment in new capacity and networks;
—an overview of the opinions of relevant stakeholders, particularly social partners, consumer and environ-
mental organisations and municipalities;
18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission and to the govern-
ments and parliaments of the contracting parties to the Energy Community Treaty.
P6_TA(2006)0226
Nepal
European Parliament resolution on Nepal
The European Parliament,
—having regard to its previous resolutions on Nepal,
—having regard to the public hearing on the situation in Nepal held by the Subcommittee on Human
Rights of its Committee on Foreign Affairs held on 20 February 2006,
—having regard to the support of the Commission, as expressed on 3 January 2006, for the restoration of
peace and democracy in Nepal,7.12.2006 381 Il-Ġurnal Uffiċjali ta' l-Unjoni Ewropea
Il-Ħamis, 18 ta' Mejju 2006MT