European Parliament resolution on the outcome of the European Council meeting held in Brussels on 4 and 5 November 2004
Date: 2004-11-17
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU policy, EU programme, European Council, area of freedom, security and justice, economic growth, foreign policy

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Wednesday 17 November 2004

3.
Reiterates that the objectives of the European Union's policy towards Cuba continue to be respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms, encouragement of a process of transition to a pluralist democracy
and a lasting economic recovery aimed at improving the living standards of the Cuban population;

Vehemently condemns the Cuban authorities' expulsion of

4.
three parliamentarians from the EU
Member States and of two representatives of NGOs, and expresses its support for them and for the
members of the democratic opposition;

Repeats its invitation to the winner of the European Parliament's 2002 Sakharov Prize — Oswaldo
5.
Payá Sardiñas — and urges the Cuban authorities to grant him the necessary permits in order to enable him
to appear before the Community institutions;

Considers that, in such circumstances, the release of all political prisoners, the granting of authori-
6.
sation to Mr Payá Sardiñas and evidence of significant progress on the island as regards the promotion of
democracy and the upholding of human rights and fundamental freedoms are essential conditions for any
revision of the European Union's Common Position on Cuba and the measures adopted unanimously on
5 June 2003;

Stresses that the current embargo imposed on Cuba by the USA is counterproductive and should be

7.
lifted;

8.

Stresses that the political future of Cuba must rest on the sole will of its citizens;

9.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission, to Cuba's Govern-
ment and National Assembly of People's Power, and also to Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas (winner of the European
Parliament's Sakharov Prize).

P6_TA(2004)0062

European Council meeting (Brussels, 4 and 5 November 2004)

European Parliament resolution on the outcome of the European Council meeting held in Brussels
on 4 and 5 November 2004

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Presidency Conclusions following the European Council meeting on 4 and 5 Nov-

ember 2004 (Council document 14292/04),

— having regard to the European Council report and the Commission statement on the European Council

meeting of 4 and 5 November 2004,

— having regard to the Hague Programme in the area of Freedom, Security and Justice,

— having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure.

Preparation of the Mid-Term Review of the Lisbon Strategy and the High-Level Report (the Kok report)

1. Welcomes the European Council's confirmation of the validity and relevance of a balanced Lisbon
strategy with an economic, social and environmental dimension and underlines that this balance is essential
both to the European vision of society and to Europe's global competitiveness; insists on ambitious social
and environmental dimensions; deplores the fact that the strategy has so far failed to produce most of the
expected results;

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2.
Draws attention to the Kok report's conclusion that the chief obstacle to faster progress towards the
Lisbon objectives has been poor implementation by Member States, and calls for the mid-term review to
focus its main attention on this issue and to make appropriate recommendations,
involving European,
national and regional authorities; agrees that more effective ways must be found to measure the progress
of the Lisbon process;

3.
Agrees with the report's conclusion that Parliament must be more closely engaged in the process of
monitoring and encouraging the delivery of the Lisbon Agenda; confirms that Parliament will hold a full
debate on the mid-term review at a future plenary session; notes the Better Regulation agenda and under-
takes to work as a co-legislator alongside the Commission and Council on this;

Considers that,

4.
in order to achieve the growth it needs, Europe should focus both on structural
reforms and macro-economic action by the EU and the 25 governments, including investment in people,
research and innovation, to stimulate growth and employment, without endangering the stability and sus-
tainability of public finances;

Believes the European Council should place emphasis on the environmental dimension and notably on
5.
countering climate change under the Kyoto Protocol, and underlines the need to fully integrate the revision
of the sustainable development strategy into the Lisbon strategy;

Deplores, in the context of achieving a knowledge-based economy, the Council's failure yet again to
6.
agree on a Community patent and the fact that investment in research and development falls far short of
the target of 3 per cent of GDP;

7. Welcomes the recognition of demographic factors and asks that action to deal with the consequences
of the ageing of the population of Europe be considered a policy priority;

The area of freedom, security and justice: the Hague Programme

8.

Takes note of the adoption of the new multi-annual programme for the next five years;

9. Welcomes the historic decision of the European Council to the effect that by no later than 1 April
2005 full qualified majority voting plus codecision will be applied to all areas of Justice and Home Affairs
(Title IV), with the exception of legal migration; recalls that this fulfils a long-standing objective of the
European Parliament at successive Intergovernmental Conferences, and urges the Commission to deploy
the new democratic and efficient decision-making procedures to their fullest effect at the earliest opportun-
ity;

10.
Recalls that Article 67(2) of the EC Treaty requires the Council, by the same date and under the same
procedure, to ‘adapt’ the rules relating to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Commun-
ities over these issues;

11. Welcomes the emphasis of the Hague Programme on guaranteeing fundamental rights, minimum
procedural safeguards and access to justice; regrets the lack of coherence and of resources when it comes
to the instruments needed to safeguard fundamental rights;

12.
Stresses that there is an urgent need to reduce illegal immigration and that the only way forward is a
coherent and comprehensive European asylum and immigration policy; notes the intention of proceeding to
a second phase of the Common European Asylum System, but reminds the European Council that the
directive on asylum procedures is not yet adopted;

Stresses the need to make major and substantial progress in implementing a comprehensive European
13.
immigration policy and insists on a global and balanced approach to immigration issues, including concrete
proposals to ensure an exchange of best national practice in the field of reception and integration of immi-
grants and non-discrimination; and stresses that support in the region of origin and transit must comple-
ment a common asylum procedure within the EU based upon high standards of delivery and in full recog-
nition of the international obligations of the EU and its Member States;

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14.
Takes note of the importance which the Council attaches to developing an area of freedom, security
and justice, especially in the light of the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001 and in Madrid on
11 March 2004, but stresses the need to strike the right balance between law enforcement requirements and
the protection of data and fundamental freedoms;

15.
Stresses the importance of ensuring that the area of freedom, security and justice receives sufficient
resources under the new financial perspective; notes that, without adequate funding, it will not be possible
to carry out the measures foreseen under the Hague Programme;

16. Welcomes the Dutch Presidency statement on the principle of transparency, but regrets the Council's
lack of commitment to implementing the principle of transparency regarding its legislative work until such
time as the Constitution is ratified; affirms that this principle is already covered in Article 207 of the EC
Treaty and that there is no reason for further delays;

17.
Underlines the continuing importance of tackling cross-border obstacles to civil justice on the basis
that access to civil justice concerns citizens in their daily lives and in turn enhances the proper functioning
of the Internal Market; insists that it is essential that, whilst respecting the principle of mutual recognition,
identifiable practical steps are taken to reduce procedural differences between legal systems and to set up
judicial training programmes and possibly consider the establishment of a European School for Judges;

Communicating Europe

Notes the conclusions on ‘communicating Europe’; while recognising that the individual campaigns
18.
relating to ratification remain a national responsibility, insists that the European Council has a collective
responsibility to bring the Constitution into force as soon as possible, and that some significant leadership is
therefore required at EU level to coordinate the campaign for the Constitution;

Iraq

19.
Expresses its concern over the difficulties experienced in the restoration of security, and the con-
ditions for the preparation of free and fair elections planned for January 2005 and for the reconstruction
of the country with the aim of fully restoring its sovereignty; expresses its concern also for all the victims
among the civilian population as a result of the current military operations;

20.
Strongly condemns all acts of indiscriminate violence, terrorist attacks and the taking of hostages,
which result in many civilian victims, and recalls the commitment under UN Security Council Resolution
1546 (1) that all the parties will act with respect for international law and human rights;

21.
Looks favourably on the European Council declaration on relations between the EU and Iraq, and
fully shares its commitment and determination to assist Iraq's reconstruction and transformation and its
independent, secure, unified, prosperous
reintegration into the international community as a sovereign,
and democratic partner country; particularly welcomes the prospect of measures and initiatives envisaged
to achieve that goal;

Considers that the forthcoming Conference to be held in Sharm el Sheikh on 23 November 2004
22.
will be a first step towards the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1546 and of international
law;

23.
Demands that the elections for the transitional National Assembly include the broadest possible
participation from across the whole political spectrum and be free and fair, and counts on the EU's support
for the preparation of these elections;

24.
Supports the financial package decided on Iraq, but points out the Council's incoherence when
endorsing various new programmes and policies on Iraq, in that it fails to indicate whether or not they
will be taken from the flexibility instrument; and, adopting a restrictive attitude with regard to additional
funds for the 2005 EU budget; reiterates its firm position that new funds must not come at the expense of
the other external political priorities;

(1) United Nations document S/RES/1546 (2004) of 8 June 2004.

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25.
Regrets that the Council did not take a stand on the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA)
warnings of the imminent dangers of nuclear proliferation, and calls on the multinational forces and the
Iraqi Interim Government to immediately grant the IAEA unimpeded access to all of Iraq's nuclear instal-
lations in order to perform an overall assessment of the sites, as well as possible radioactive contamination
of people and the environment, and to fully inform the IAEA of all their activities in connection with Iraq's
known former nuclear sites;

Supports the EU proposal for an ‘integrated police, rule of law and civilian administration mission’ in
26.
order to strengthen Iraq's police, judiciary, penitentiary and criminal investigation capacities, and calls on the
EU Presidency to discuss with the Iraqi Interim Government the setting-up of a joint Iraqi and international
commission for missing persons;

The Middle East

27.
Shares the solidarity with the Palestinian people expressed by the European Council following the
death of President Arafat, and reaffirms its full support for the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian
Authority;

28.
Declares once again, and precisely at this particular delicate moment, that a solution to the Middle
East conflict is only possible through the negotiation of a firm and final peace agreement as laid out in the
Roadmap for Peace, without prior conditions, based on the existence of two democratic, sovereign and
viable states — Israel and Palestine — coexisting peacefully side by side within secure and recognised
frontiers within which the peaceful coexistence of Christians, Muslims and Jews is guaranteed;

Express its confidence that the Palestinian Authority will manage to guarantee the normal function-
29.
ing of institutions, organise free and fair presidential, legislative and local elections, and keep the situation
under control, in order to preserve law and order during the process; expresses the EU's commitment to
assisting the Palestinian Authority to organise elections in the Palestinian Territories, and calls on Israel not
to interfere in and to facilitate these elections;

30.
Supports, especially, the set of practical suggestions concerning security, reforms and EU financial
assistance made by the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and
endorsed by the European Council, with the view to reactivating and relaunching the implementation of
the Roadmap for Peace in the Middle East;

Sudan

31.
Shares the Council's grave concern, as set out in its conclusions of 2 November 2004, at the deterio-
rating security and humanitarian situation in the Darfur region resulting from renewed violence by rebels
and militia, compounded by the violent and forced moving of internally displaced peoples by the Govern-
ment of Sudan's forces;

32.
Strongly urges all parties to the conflict to put an immediate end to military operations and to
respect the N'Djamena ceasefire agreement of 8 April 2004 in its entirety, as well as UN Security Council
Resolutions 1556 (1) and 1564 (2);

33.
Calls on the EU and its Member States to support, and on all parties to the conflict to fully cooperate
with, the UN Commission of Inquiry's investigations into violations of international humanitarian law and
human rights, allowing it also to confirm whether acts of genocide have occurred and to identify the
perpetrators of such violations;

34. Welcomes the European Council's reaffirmed support for the African Union mission in Darfur and
calls on Member States to fulfil the pledge to provide the necessary expertise for the expansion of the AU
mission without delay; stresses that the international community, in close cooperation with the African
Union, must do more to ensure the protection of civilians in Darfur, as systematic killings and rape con-
tinue; suggests, in this regard, that the AU, UN and EU work together to consider the deployment of more
human rights observers and the introduction of an international police force;

(1) United Nations document S/RES/1556 (2004) of 30 July 2004.
(2) United Nations document S/RES/1564 (2004) of 18 September 2004.

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35.
Calls on the EU and its Member States to continue their support for the ongoing Abuja and Naivasha
peace processes, in order to avoid the risk of what the UN Special Representative in Sudan, Jan Pronk,
describes as ‘a state of anarchy, a total collapse of law and order’;

36. Welcomes the signing by the Government of Sudan, the Justice and Equality Movement and the
Sudan Liberation Movement/Army of Protocols on the Improvement of the Humanitarian Situation in Dar-
fur and on the Enhancement of the Security Situation in Darfur;

37.
Calls on the UN Security Council to decide on a global arms embargo against Sudan and to put into
effect targeted sanctions against those responsible for massive abuses of human rights and other atrocities,
in view of recent breaches of ceasefire and peace process commitments, and to ensure that any such sanc-
tions do not add to the suffering of the population of Sudan;

Iran

38.
Supports the efforts of the European Union and its Member States to negotiate an agreement with
the Iranian Government on its nuclear programme on the basis of transparency and compliance with IAEA
standards; takes note of the recent statement of the Iranian authorities announcing the suspension of the
country's uranium enrichment programme;

39.
Expresses, at the same time, its deep concern at the deterioration of the human rights situation in
this country, and reaffirms that a durable and cooperative long-term relationship with Iran, including a
political dimension, can be established only on the basis of real progress and improvements on the present
situation;

Ukraine

40.
Shares the Council's assessment of Ukraine as a key neighbour and partner, while regretting the fact
that the first round of presidential elections on 31 October 2004 failed to meet a considerable number of
international standards for democratic elections, and expresses its alarm about this;

41.
Calls, therefore, on the Ukrainian authorities to address the noted deficiencies in good time before the
second round, and to create the necessary conditions for free and fair elections, in particular by ensuring
equal access to state media for both candidates;

Points, in particular, to the arrest of Mr Kimlatsch, Mayor of Visgorod (district of Kiev) and calls on

42.
the Ukrainian authorities to order his immediate release;

43.
Is strongly encouraged by the high turnout, as well as by the Ukrainian people's interest in and
serious approach to their presidential election, and therefore calls on the Council and the Commission,
under the premise that the second round of the presidential elections meets international standards, to put
the Action Plan for Ukraine into effect as soon as possible, and in particular to give a strong focus and
priority to the development of the institutions of civil society;

44. Will appeal to the Commission and the Member States, if Ukraine takes a positive step towards
democracy, to consider openly its partnership and neighbourhood policies in recognition of Ukraine's Euro-
pean aspirations;

The external aspects of EU policy on freedom, security and justice

45.
Notes the Council's commitment to assisting third countries, namely countries of origin and coun-
tries of transit of asylum seekers and migrants, in order to combat illegal immigration, enhance migration
management and provide refugee protection; stresses, however, that any such measures must not affect the
manner in which EU development aid is allocated, or the priority of the EU's assistance to developing

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countries, which must remain combating poverty, as set out in the EU Constitution; calls on the Commis-
sion and the High Representative to ensure that the strategy on external aspects of Union policy on free-
dom, security and justice to be presented by the end of 2005 protects development assistance from being
used for political ends;

Wednesday 17 November 2004

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

46.
parliaments of the Member States and of Bulgaria and Romania.

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