European Parliament resolution on transatlantic relations
Date: 2005-01-13
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU relations, United States, cooperation policy, economic relations, international security, multilateral relations, political cooperation

6.10.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 247 E/151

Thursday 13 January 2005

33.
Calls on the parties to the conflict in Sri Lanka to recommence the peace process at the earliest
possible time, and urges them to take into account the manifest good will and support shown by all the
communities in Sri Lanka towards each other, and the support of the international community for the
rehabilitation and recovery of Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster, which affected all the
citizens of the country; calls on both parties to consider the creation of a joint task force in order to
guarantee a just distribution of aid in the country;

34.
Insists that the EU, with the support of Norway, must build upon the good will shown, and proceed
to augment the peace process as defined in the Oslo talks of December 2002 with commensurate devel-
opment and rehabilitation assistance;

35. Welcomes the fact that for the first time in 18 months the Indonesian Government has rapidly
opened up the Aceh province to international relief agencies and journalists, and that the rebel movement
has declared a unilateral cease-fire;
is deeply concerned, however, by reports of renewed military raids
against rebels in the Aceh province; calls on all the parties to refrain from any action that obstructs or
delays access and assistance to the communities and citizens in need;

Calls on the EU's banks and financial institutions to create a code of conduct for banking commis-
36.
sions with respect to private individuals' donations to NGOs and aid organisations, especially in the period
immediately following a natural or humanitarian disaster;

Final point

Calls on the Council to report to Parliament in six months' time on the success of EU relief efforts in

37.
the region;

*

*

*

38.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of
the Member States, the heads of state and parliaments of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, the Maldives,
Malaysia, Bangladesh, Tanzania, Burma/Myanmar, Mauritius, Kenya, Somalia and the Seychelles, the UN
Secretary-General and the Head of OCHA.

P6_TA(2005)0007

Transatlantic relations

European Parliament resolution on transatlantic relations

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Transatlantic Declaration on EU-US relations of 1990 and the New Transatlantic

Agenda of 1995,

— having regard to its resolution of 22 April 2004 on the state of the Transatlantic Partnership on the eve

of the EU-US Summit in Dublin on 25/26 June 2004 (1),

— having regard to the results of the EU-US Summit held on 25/26 June 2004 in Dublin,

— having regard to Rule 103(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

(1) Texts Adopted, P5_TA(2004)0375.

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Thursday 13 January 2005

A. whereas relations between the civil societies of Europe and of the United States are based on strong
roots and common values, such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law, sustainable economies
and sustainable development,

B. whereas stressing that the fight against terrorism can be successful only if the action is carried out
through a strengthened transatlantic partnership which coherently upholds the founding values upon
which it has been built,

C. whereas the new situation in the Middle East provides a window of opportunity for a common initiative

in the region aimed at reaching a final and comprehensive settlement,

D. whereas the long-lasting situation in Guantanamo Bay is creating tensions in transatlantic relations,
since the EU cannot accept these legal and judicial irregularities, which undermine the most fundamen-
tal values of the rule of law,

E. whereas the EU-US Summit in Dublin led to some moderate progress to give impetus to the streng-
thening of economic partnership, for example by means of steps to promote progress in the area of
financial markets and negotiations for a Transatlantic Aviation Agreement; and whereas the summit, in
joint statements, addressed the situation in the broader Middle East as well as aspects of the fight
against terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,

F. whereas the New Transatlantic Agenda of December 1995 needs to be revised urgently to take account

of current realities,

1.
Hopes that the second term-in-office of President Bush and the new administration will lead to a fresh
start in EU-US transatlantic relations; declares the willingness of the European Union, and specifically the
European Parliament, to cooperate and work together to solve global problems which require global efforts
and a common approach; in this respect, welcomes the visit by President Bush to the European institutions
in February 2005;

2. Welcomes the progress achieved at the last EU-US summit on 26 June 2004 in Ireland in strengthen-
ing the Transatlantic Partnership; considers the readiness to take joint actions in a wide range of fields as a
good indicator for the future of the partnership, reflecting the realisation that working together is better
than going in different directions;

3.
Is aware that in several policy areas, such as those relating to the International Criminal Court and the
Kyoto Climate Change Protocol, differences in analysis, diagnosis and policy approach exist between the EU
and the US; is concerned about the potentially dangerous impact of the growing US federal budget deficit
on the global economy and the balance of international currency markets; calls for a further debate on these
policy areas where positions between the EU and the US remain strongly divided and hopes that the new
administration will make a real effort to build on the partnership between the EU and the US;

Calls on the US to assume its shared responsibility for economic stability in an increasingly inter-

4.
dependent world;

Proposes the building of a transatlantic ‘community of action’ for regional and global cooperation and

5.
challenges, focusing in particular on the following three joint actions:

(a)

(b)

the development of a peace initiative in the Middle East in agreement with the governments and
peoples of the region, with the aim of contributing to a solution to the existing conflicts, including
encouraging democracy in Palestine, Iran and Iraq;

the search for global security, which should be tackled with the following priorities in mind:
— the fight against international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as
well as the revival of negotiated arms control and disarmament at multilateral level, within the UN
system, and at bilateral level;

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Thursday 13 January 2005

— the need to address the sources of terrorism through, for example, coordination in the area of
development assistance and support for emerging democratic processes on the basis of full respect
for human rights and international law; calls on both partners to actively engage in a reform of the
UN, and in particular its Security Council, including its composition, in order to make it more
effective and accountable and increase its capacity to implement its decisions;

— the need for an effective response — on the shared basis of the Millennium Development Goals —
to new global challenges which cut across national boundaries, notably poverty reduction, com-
municable diseases and degradation of the environment, in particular by promoting dialogues on
climate protection and transport emissions; believes, in this regard, that the tsunami disaster pro-
vides the opportunity for joint, concerted assistance and relief action for the countries affected in
support of the UN, action which must be followed by a long-term programme of rehabilitation and
reconstruction aimed at the sustainable development of the region;

(c)

a new impetus for the strengthening of the economic partnership, by focusing on specific ideas to
further transatlantic economic integration to the fullest, working towards a comprehensive Transatlantic
Aviation Agreement and accelerating the Financial Market Regulatory Dialogue to promote a vibrant
and open transatlantic capital market;

6.
Considers that the above-mentioned initiatives should lead, by December 2005, to agreement between
the transatlantic partners to update the 1995 New Transatlantic Agenda, replacing it with a ‘Transatlantic
Partnership Agreement’, to be implemented from 2007;

7.
Considers that the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue should be fully activated, that an early warning
system should immediately be put in place between the two sides, and that the existing interparliamentary
exchange should be gradually transformed into a de facto ‘Transatlantic Assembly’;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments of

8.
the Member States and the President and Congress of the United States of America.

P6_TA(2005)0008

Debt relief for developing countries

European Parliament resolution on debt relief for developing countries

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the meeting of 17 to 21 November 2004 of the ‘Paris Club’, a group of 19 creditor

nations, including 12 Member States,

— having regard to its previous resolutions of 25 April 2002 on HIPC debt alleviation (1) and 18 May

2000 on the external debt of poor countries (2),

— having regard to the Millennium Development Goals signed up to by all members of the UN in 2000,

— having regard to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) initiative adopted in October
2001 in Abuja (Nigeria) and subsequently recognised by the African Union as forming part of its socio-
economic development programme,

— having regard to the action plan adopted by the G8 group of industrialised countries in Kananaskis on

27 June 2002 and the conclusions reached by the G8 Presidency in Evian on 3 June 2003,

(1) OJ C 131 E, 5.6.2003, p. 167.
(2) OJ C 59, 23.2.2001, p. 239.