European Parliament resolution on Latvia's application for membership of the European Union and the state of the negotiations (COM(1999) 506 - C5-0029/2000 — 1997/2176(COS))
Date: 2000-10-04
Institutions: Committee on Foreign Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: EU relations, Latvia, accession criteria, accession negotiations, accession to the European Union, economic situation, political situation

22.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 178/133

Wednesday 4 October 2000

3. Latvia

A5-0239/2000

European Parliament resolution on Latvia’s application for membership of the European Union
and the state of the negotiations (COM(1999) 506 ) C5-0029/2000 ) 1997/2176(COS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to Latvia’s application for membership of the European Union, submitted on 27 October

1995, pursuant to Article 49 of the TEU,

(cid:1) having regard to the opinion of the Commission on this application (COM(1997) 2005 (cid:1) C4-0377/

1997),

(cid:1) having regard to the 1999 Regular Report on Latvia’s progress towards accession (COM(1999) 506 (cid:1)
C5-0029/2000) and to the 1999 Composite Paper of the Commission (COM(1999) 500 (cid:1) C5-0341/
2000),

(cid:1) having regard to the decisions taken by the European Council, notably in Copenhagen (21/22 June

1993), Luxembourg (12/13 December 1997) and Helsinki (10/11 December 1999),

(cid:1) having regard to the Europe Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States,

of the one part, and Latvia, of the other part,

(cid:1) having regard to the 1999 Accession Partnership for Latvia,

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 3 December 1998 on Latvia’s application for accession to the Eur-

opean Union with a view to the Vienna European Council (11/12 December 1998) (1),

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security

and Defence Policy (A5-0239/2000),

A. whereas accession negotiations have been opened between the European Union and Latvia as a result
of the decision taken by the Helsinki European Council in December 1999, and five of the eight
chapters of negotiations opened have already been provisionally closed (education and training,
research, SMEs, statistics and CFSP),

B. noting the significant progress towards a social market economy that Latvia has made, although

income inequality and poverty have considerably increased, especially in rural areas,

C. whereas Latvia has considerably improved the general legislative context for the naturalisation, and

hence political and social integration, of non-citizens,

D. noting that Latvia has achieved significant progress in the transposition of the acquis, but that imple-
mentation has been hampered by delays in the reform of public administration, the civil service and
decentralised administrative structures,

E. whereas the European Union’s PHARE, ISPA and SAPARD pre-accession instruments are intended to
make a substantial contribution as regards the adoption and implementation of the acquis communau-
taire in the candidate countries and periodic monitoring of their effectiveness in these areas is there-
fore necessary,

F.

noting that in the pre-accession phase, particular attention needs to be paid to the development of
rural areas, not only for economic reasons, but equally for their social, cultural and environmental
importance,

G. pointing out that, although they represent an improvement, Latvia’s new provisions on asylum are not
fully in line with the acquis; concerned also by the unacceptable conditions prevailing in some deten-
tion centres where immigrants without the appropriate legal documents are detained,

(1) OJ C 398, 21.12.1998, p. 48.

C 178/134

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

22.6.2001

Wednesday 4 October 2000

1. Welcomes the opening of negotiations on EU membership with Latvia and calls on all parties con-
cerned to conduct these negotiations in such a way as to allow Latvia to participate in the first enlarge-
ment wave, provided that Latvia can demonstrate equivalent progress in adopting and implementing the
acquis;

2.
Underlines the need for an appropriate regulatory framework and policies to improve social and
economic cohesion; calls in this connection for increased support for employment creation measures,
social dialogue and the fight against poverty in the framework of the pre-accession strategy;

3.
Considers that proper representation of the social partners and social dialogue are indispensable pre-
conditions for socially balanced growth and the implementation of the acquis in the fields of social policy,
labour law and working conditions; calls for the position of the social partners and NGOs to be strength-
ened through the establishment of consultation and participation mechanisms for social and economic
policy programmes and projects;

4. Welcomes the fact that Latvia has amended the citizenship law, adopted a new language law and
launched a programme for the integration of Latvian society; considers that the legal provisions should
now be implemented in such a way as to create a positive climate and that a campaign to encourage
non-citizens to apply for citizenship should be launched;

5. Welcomes the fact that Latvia has decided to abandon the practice of indicating in residents’ pass-
ports and identity documents the ethnic group to which they belong and instead to introduce a new
system for identity documents in which only citizenship is indicated;

Advocates that the simplified procedure for dealing with residents of frontier regions be retained and

6.
improved;

7.
Considers that the strengthening of the public administration at the central as well as local and
regional level is of utmost importance for Latvia’s capability to implement the acquis in a verifiable manner;
encourages Latvia to draw up a clear legal basis for the civil service and to speed up the process of regio-
nal reform;

Observes that in some cases laws and regulations need to be implemented more consistently; inves-
its comprehensive and
in particular, expect a clear legislative framework and, where necessary,

8.
tors,
prompt implementation;

9.
Considers in this connection that, as part of the pre-accession aid, provision should be made to
ensure flexible use of the twinning instrument, including short-term assignments, so as to support, also,
the regional authorities’ capability to implement the acquis;

10.
Underlines the fact that support for agriculture and rural development must focus on the multiple
functions of rural economies and the appropriate use of human and natural potential in each region, thus
integrating aspects of employment, social services, environment protection, biodiversity and food quality;
rural development programmes should focus on added value through processing and marketing on a local
and regional level instead of giving priority to export of agricultural raw materials;

11.
Emphasises that integrated rural development measures in the framework of Sapard should cover
the rural areas in their entirety so as to avoid further marginalisation of disadvantaged rural areas; consid-
ers that pilot projects such as the Latgale development region should be used to mobilise cooperation
between all rural actors and to enhance a participatory process of rural development;

12.
Calls upon the Commission to review the ISPA programme with regard to its contribution to the
transposition of the environmental acquis; calls, further, upon the Latvian authorities to speed up the trans-
position of those sectors of the environmental acquis which strengthen the democratic rights of its citizens
and nature protection;

22.6.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 178/135

Wednesday 4 October 2000

13.
Notes that the current ISPA (Transport) priorities disregard fundamental aspects of the country’s
economic development potential, such as its Baltic Sea ports and their links to the hinterland, but that
the development of the ports as part of a coordinated approach in the context of Baltic Sea cooperation
could be of great importance for Latvia;

14.
Stresses with regard to asylum policy that the competence of the Refugees Appeals Council and the
quality of its procedure and decisions must be improved, that access to legal assistance as well as the right
to appeal against detention must be guaranteed and that complementary forms of protection and family
reunification procedures have to be established; calls for a revision of the lists of safe third countries and
safe countries of origin;

15.
Calls, also, for improved treatment of persons whose requests for refugee status have been turned
down and for humane treatment of immigrants without the appropriate legal documents; calls on the EU
to increase its support to Latvia in this connection in order to clear the way for the country’s participation
in a humane European immigration and asylum policy;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and the Council, the parlia-

16.
ments of the Member States and the Government and Parliament of Latvia.

4. Lithuania

A5-0240/2000

European Parliament resolution on Lithuania’s application for membership of the European Union
and the state of negotiations (COM(1999) 507 ) C5-0030/2000 ) 1997/2178(COS))

The European Parliament,

(cid:1) having regard to Lithuania’s application for membership of the European Union, submitted on

8 December 1995, pursuant to Article 49 of the TEU,

(cid:1) having regard to the opinion of the Commission on this application (COM(1997) 2007 (cid:1) C4-0379/

97),

(cid:1) having regard to the 1999 Regular Report on Lithuania’s progress towards accession (COM(1999) 507
(cid:1) C5-0030/2000) and to the 1999 Composite Paper of the Commission (COM(1999) 500 (cid:1)
C5-0341/2000),

(cid:1) having regard to the decisions taken by the European Council, notably in Copenhagen (21/22 June

1993), Luxembourg (12/13 December 1997) and Helsinki (10/11 December 1999),

(cid:1) having regard to the Europe Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States,

of the one part, and Lithuania of the other part,

(cid:1) having regard to the 1999 Accession Partnership for Lithuania,

(cid:1) having regard to its resolution of 3 December 1998 on Lithuania’s application for membership of the
European Union, with a view to the European Council to be held in Vienna on 11/12 December
1998 (1),

(cid:1) having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:1) having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security

and Defence Policy (A5-0240/2000),

A. whereas Lithuania has a well-developed democratic system of government and minority rights are well

protected,

B. whereas the reform of the judiciary is well advanced, but stronger measures are required to improve
improve prison conditions and develop a more comprehensive

the police,

the performance of
approach to crime prevention,

(1) OJ C 398, 21.12.1998, p. 54.