European Parliament resolution on the recent tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean
Date: 2005-01-13
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU aid, Indian Ocean, aid policy, aid to disaster victims, emergency aid, financial aid, international cooperation, natural disaster

6.10.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 247 E/147

Thursday 13 January 2005

P6_TA(2005)0006

EU aid for tidal wave victims in the Indian Ocean

European Parliament resolution on the recent tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Jakarta Tsunami Aid Conference of 6 January 2005, and to the International

Donors' Conference held in Geneva on 11 January 2005,

— having regard to the conclusions of the extraordinary meeting of 7 January 2005 of the General Affairs

and External Relations Council,

— having regard to the Commission Communication ‘Europe and Asia: a strategic framework for
enhanced partnership’ (COM(2001)0469) and the consistent emphasis it attaches throughout to the
importance of the EU's relations with Asia, a continent representing more than half the world's popu-
lation,

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

A. whereas a strong earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter scale hit Southeast Asia on 26 December
2004 and triggered massive tsunami in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives,
Bangladesh, Burma/Myanmar, Mauritius, Somalia, Kenya, Seychelles, Réunion and Tanzania,

B. whereas this disaster has killed more than 160 000 people, including EU citizens, in the many countries
hit by the tsunami, injured many more and left up to five million people displaced and lacking access
to essential supplies such as food, clean water and medicines,

C. whereas in the affected countries the disaster has hit the poorest communities, such as fishing com-

munities, the hardest, and thousands of children have been orphaned by the disaster,

D. whereas much of the communication, energy and educational infrastructure has been destroyed in the

affected coastal regions,

E. whereas polluted waters and heavy rains after the tsunami have increased the risk of diseases such as

cholera, malaria and typhoid,

F. whereas experts warn that damage to marine life, including mangroves and coral reefs, could be vast
and lasting, which would have serious consequences for local communities dependent on fishing for
their food supply and their livelihoods,

G. whereas the global response to the disaster has been overwhelming; whereas the EU and its Member
States have pledged almost EUR 1,5 billion so far, and the amount continues to rise; and whereas the
Commission has already committed EUR 23 million and promised funds of EUR 350 million; whereas,
however, EUR 150 million of this is not new money, but would be taken from existing long-term
development projects; whereas the European Development Fund must not be reprogrammed in order
to deal with tsunami relief in African countries, and new money must also be found for the relief effort
there,

H. whereas in previous disasters, the amount of aid pledged has often not been reflected in the actual

amount of real aid delivered,

I. whereas the UN is carrying out needs assessments across the affected areas, but many areas affected by

the tsunami remain difficult to access, particularly in Sumatra,

J. whereas most of the countries affected by the tsunami were already burdened with large debt repay-
ments, and whereas money given to the relief effort would be rendered ineffective if the donor coun-
tries continued to receive interest payments on these debts,

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Immediate reaction

Expresses its condolences and deepest sympathy to the peoples and governments of the afflicted coun-

1.
tries, as well as to all the families of victims in Southeast Asia, East Africa, Europe and elsewhere;

2.
Expresses its thanks to the people of the countries affected for the way they responded to the human
disaster, despite their own personal suffering and loss, giving so much succour to European nationals
affected by the disaster;

3. Welcomes the generosity of all donors, both public and private, in responding to this crisis, reflecting
a globalisation of solidarity, displayed particularly by members of the public;

4.
Expresses concern over the unknown number of victims in Burma; criticises Burma's military junta for
sealing parts of the country's coastline and for its general refusal to cooperate with the international com-
munity, which will have a detrimental effect on its own victims of the tsunami;

Calls on its Members to voluntarily donate the equivalent of one or more daily allowances to the

5.
victims of the tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean;

The emergency response

Stresses that the children orphaned by the disaster must be one of the key priorities for relief agencies,

6.
as they are at increasing risk of abduction as well as of physical and sexual abuse;

7.
Strongly believes that, to protect the orphans affected by the tsunami effectively, it is necessary to offer
protection from any kind of exploitation and from clandestine international adoptions, as well as to safe-
guard their future prospects by providing a safe and healthy social environment; calls for the provision of
psychosocial assistance — with a particular focus on helping children — to avoid post-traumatic stress;

8.
Calls on the international community to pay special attention to the situation of the 1,5 million
children who, according to Unicef's estimates, have been affected by the disaster; urges that relief be directed
towards finding, identifying and reuniting children who have lost their families, ensuring that children are
returned to school as soon as possible and, in the light of reports which suggest that child traffickers are
emerging to take advantage of the disaster by selling the youngsters into forced labour or sexual slavery,
directing the relief effort towards ensuring that children are protected from exploitation;

Calls on Member States to facilitate admission into the EU of those orphans in the tsunami-stricken

9.
regions whose relatives are living in Member States;

Calls on the governments of the countries affected by the disaster to facilitate the work of humani-
10.
tarian organisations in distributing aid by making every possible effort to secure access to aid for all those in
need, whatever their political beliefs, ethnicity or religion, and by minimising bureaucracy for aid agencies;

11.
Insists that all coordination of the global relief operation must be led by the UN's Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with full involvement and visibility of ECHO, and supported
by all donors, and welcomes the EU's full support for the UN and its commitment to funding OCHA in the
region;

Calls on the UN Secretary-General to appoint UN humanitarian coordinators for each of the coun-
12.
tries affected by the tsunami, with clear responsibilities to direct all other UN agencies responding to the
crisis;

Calls on Member States and the Commission, in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution
13.
3519 and its own resolution of 30 November 2000 (1), to ensure the full inclusion of women, both within
the present tsunami-affected regions and at international level, in the coordination of the global relief oper-
ation;

(1) OJ C 228, 13.8.2001, p. 22.

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14.
Emphasises that it is essential that the UN be allowed to fulfil its key role as coordinator of inter-
national aid efforts in the field and stresses that there must be no gap between the initial emergency aid
phase and the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase that will follow; calls on the Member States, in con-
junction with local governments and other players, to ensure that EU action is closely coordinated internally
for the emergency relief as well as for the mid- and long-term action necessary for rebuilding the affected
areas;

Financial response

15. Welcomes the EU's rapid disbursement of the initial EUR 23 million, as well as the involvement of
ECHO experts in the relief effort; further welcomes the mobilisation of the European Community Civil
Protection Mechanism, which has been active since the tsunami occurred, as well as the supporting work
of the Commission's Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC), which has coordinated this assistance;

16. Welcomes the mobilisation of EUR 100 million from the emergency aid reserve; notes, moreover, the
Commission's intention of providing for additional financial assistance of up to EUR 350 million for reha-
bilitation and reconstruction aid to help in the relief efforts following the Asian tsunami disaster; asks the
Commission, however, to explore all possibilities within the scope of the 2005 budget and to provide for
the necessary proposals once the assessments have been concluded; welcomes the statement in the Council
Conclusions of 7 January 2005 to the effect that it is important to ensure that the resources released in
connection with the recent events are additional to the commitments already made in the field of devel-
opment; insists that the reconstruction process should be transparent in all respects, particularly the politi-
cal, economic and financial ones;

17.
Takes the view that any substantial contribution by the EU to the reconstruction and development of
tsunami-affected countries should not be offered to the detriment of assistance to other countries or regions;
EU assistance will be financed taking into consideration the budgetary procedures and, if necessary, on the
basis of all possibilities provided for in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the Euro-
pean Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budget-
ary procedure (1);

Calls on the European Union,

18.
its Member States and the international community to deliver on
pledges as a matter of urgency and within an agreed time span, given the experience from past catastrophes
where many early generous pledges were made but only a fraction actually delivered upon;

19. Welcomes the proposal for a EUR 1 billion ‘Indian Ocean tsunami lending facility’ to be managed by
the European Investment Bank, but demands that any funding respect sustainable social and environmental
standards;

20.
Supports calls for consideration of debt suspension, debt cancellation, debt relief and debt swaps for
the countries worst affected by the tsunami, strictly ring-fenced to reduce poverty and to rebuild affected
communities; calls on the Council to support the setting-up of a Task Force, including the World Bank, the
IMF, the Asian Development Bank and the Paris Club of creditors, in order to develop a debt relief plan by
February;

21. Welcomes the Commission Communication on a new partnership with South East Asia (COM(2003)
0399), endorsed by the Council and Parliament; calls for a Commission proposal along the lines of the
communication and taking into account the effects of the tsunami disaster;

Medium-term action

22.
Calls for the technology for a comprehensive and effective early warning system to be developed
without delay and made available to the countries of the Indian Ocean, as well as those of other regions
vulnerable to tsunami and other natural disasters;

(1) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.

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23.
Calls also on the Council and Commission to see if the Galileo system can assist in the immediate
setting-up of an early-warning system for the tsunami-stricken Southeast Asian and East African countries
in the Indian Ocean, but also to promote the implementation of an appropriate system of alert for ACP and
Mediterranean countries as well as for the EU coastline; notes that ACP countries have long been calling for
a disaster facility, and urges the Commission to provide new and fresh money in order to set up such a
facility and provide a comprehensive early-warning mechanism for these regions;

Is aware that

the long-term consequences of

24.
the marine environment and
resources will have a dramatic impact on local fishing communities; calls on the Council and the Commis-
sion to examine ways in which tangible aid,
in the form of vessels, gear, technical expertise and raw
materials, can be directed towards the affected communities;

the devastation of

Underlines the importance of the request by the affected governments to simplify the application
25.
procedures for aid, notably EU aid, in order to make it directly accessible to the local people in need, and
calls on the Commission to report back to Parliament on its efforts to meet this request;

Long-term needs

Stresses that rebuilding the affected areas must focus on improving the situation of the surviving
26.
inhabitants by aiming to reduce poverty as well as future vulnerability to tsunami; insists that all funds
given for reconstruction must be subject to full transparency and accountability before their disbursement;
calls on the governments concerned to develop National Reconstruction Plans which include mechanisms
for a broad spectrum of civil society to participate in their design and implementation;

27.
Hopes that, in the rehabilitation phase, past reconstruction mistakes can be avoided through better
coastal zone management policies which leave the coastal environment in a more natural state and make
those areas less vulnerable to future disasters;

28.
Calls for the international community, led by the UN, to develop an effective and coordinated plan
for action in the event of future disasters, so that such responses are not ad hoc and a coordinated response
can be better achieved in the future;

29. Welcomes the rapid response to the disaster by Member States, some even mobilising military log-
istics; strongly encourages the EU to make available a joint military facility for airlift and infrastructure
repair and communications, where such facilities are still needed to assist the most difficult-to-access com-
munities in the tsunami-hit countries; calls, therefore, on the Council to develop EU military capabilities
which also have the aim of providing an appropriate and effective response to other future humanitarian
and natural disasters;

30.
Insists that the Council support the creation of a pool of specialised civilian civil protection units,
with appropriate equipment, which should undertake joint training and be available in the event of natural,
humanitarian or environmental disasters, or those associated with industrial risks, within the Union or in
the rest of the world;

31.
Stresses that 1,2 billion people worldwide live in poverty, with almost 1 billion people malnourished,
including over 150 million children under five; underlines, therefore, the need for Member States and all
donor nations in the global community to fulfil the agreed target of giving 0,7 % of GDP in overseas
development assistance, as agreed in Monterrey;

Sri Lanka and Indonesia

32.
Calls on the European Union and the international community to promote the peace processes in
Indonesia and Sri Lanka alongside the provision of long-term reconstruction and rehabilitation aid to those
countries;

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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;

*

*

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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.