European Parliament resolution on the proposal for a Council directive on the agreement between the Community of European Railways (CER) and the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF) on certain aspects of the working conditions of mobile workers assigned to interoperable cross-border services (COM(2005)0032)
Date: 2005-05-26
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: collective agreement, cross-border transport, rail transport, social dialogue (EU), transport staff, working conditions, working time

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Thursday 26 May 2005

1.
Reminds the Commission that a decision to set up the EEAS cannot be taken without Parliament's
agreement, and calls on the Commission, in its preparatory work on the EEAS, to put its full weight as an
institution behind the objective of preserving and further developing the Community model in the Union's
external relations;

Is convinced that, to this end, the EEAS should be incorporated,

2.
in organisational and budgetary
terms, in the Commission's staff structure, while the directorial powers of the Foreign Minister, who will
also be a Commission Vice-President, should ensure that the Service is bound in the ‘traditional’ foreign
policy sphere (the CFSP and the CSDP) by the decisions of the Council — as provided for by the Constitu-
tion — and subject in the Community external relations sphere to the decisions of the college of Commis-
sioners;

3.
Urges the Commission, in making future proposals, to insist on compliance with the following prin-
ciples, in accordance with the tenor and purpose of the provisions of the Constitution and the spirit of the
deliberations of the Convention on the Constitution:

(a)

(b)

(c)

the EEAS should be staffed in appropriate and balanced proportions by officials from the Commission,
the General Secretariat of the Council and national diplomatic services,

the EEAS should take a form enabling the Union to act coherently in its external relations; in particular,
the units dealing with CFSP matters in the stricter sense and officials holding senior positions in the
delegations should be brought under the umbrella of the EEAS,

it is not necessary to strip all the Commission directorates-general of their external relations responsi-
bilities; the progress report submitted to the European Council should provide a discussion model for
the departments concerned (for example the trade, development and enlargement DGs, the Europe Aid
Cooperation Office, the Humanitarian Aid Office and the externally oriented units of the Economic and
Financial Affairs DG),

(d) Commission delegations in non-member countries and the Council liaison offices should be merged to
form ‘Union embassies’, headed by EEAS officials, who would take their instructions from and be
subject to the supervision of the Foreign Minister, but belong administratively to the Commission staff,
which would not prevent specialist advisers to these delegations being recruited from other Commis-
sion or Parliament DGs;

4.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

P6_TA(2005)0206

Working conditions of mobile workers assigned to interoperable cross-border
services

European Parliament resolution on the proposal for a Council directive on the agreement between
the Community of European Railways (CER) and the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF)
on certain aspects of the working conditions of mobile workers assigned to interoperable cross-
border services (COM(2005)0032)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Commission proposal (COM(2005)0032),

— having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (1),

— having regard to Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November

2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time (2),

(1) OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 299, 18.11.2003, p. 9.

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Thursday 26 May 2005

— having regard to the agreement concluded between the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF)
and the Community of European Railways (CER) on certain aspects of the working conditions of
mobile workers assigned to interoperable cross-border services,

— having regard to the fact that the agreement included a joint request to the Commission for implemen-
tation of the agreement by a Council decision on a proposal from the Commission, in accordance with
Article 139(2) of the EC Treaty,

— having regard to Rule 78(3) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas Article 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union provides that all
workers have the right to healthy, safe and dignified working conditions, to a limit on their maximum
working time and to weekly and daily rest periods and an annual period of paid holidays,

B. whereas, under Article 139(1) of the Treaty, the social partners at Community level have the possibility
to enter into a dialogue which, should they so desire, may lead to contractual relations, including agree-
ments,

C. whereas Article 139(2) of the Treaty provides for the possibility of implementing agreements concluded
at Community level, at the joint request of the signatory parties, by a Council decision on a proposal
from the Commission,

1. Welcomes the fact that, although Article 139(2) of the Treaty does not provide for consultation of the
European Parliament on requests made to the Commission by the social partners, the Commission has
forwarded its proposal to Parliament and has asked it to communicate its opinion to the Council and the
Commission;

2.
Supports the agreement concluded by the social partners on certain aspects of the working conditions
of mobile workers assigned to interoperable cross-border services; considers that it strikes a good balance
between the need to improve working conditions and thus protect the health and safety of mobile workers
and the need to promote cross-border rail traffic within the European Union;

3.
Agrees that the agreement should be submitted to the Council; calls, therefore, on the Council to
adopt the Commission proposal for a Council directive with a view to implementing the agreement as
concluded by the social partners;

4.
Notes that the rail transport sector comes within the scope of Directive 2003/88/EC; notes that other
Community instruments may contain more specific requirements relating to the organisation of working
time for certain occupations or occupational activities (Article 14 of Directive 2003/88/EC) and that, more-
over, derogations may be made under certain conditions for persons working in railway transport (Article 17
(3)(e) of Directive 2003/88/EC);

Notes that the agreement lays down specific provisions for mobile personnel in interoperable cross-
5.
border services, e.g. maximum driving times, and establishes the principle of daily and weekly rest periods
or working breaks longer than the minimum requirements set out in Directive 2003/88/EC, while providing
for greater flexibility than the directive in order to take due account of the constraints of the railways sector;
considers, therefore, that the agreement is duly consistent with the directive;

6. Welcomes the fact that the agreement as concluded by the social partners and the Commission pro-
posal for a Council directive provide only for minimum requirements, leaving the Member States and/or the
social partners free to maintain or introduce more favourable provisions for workers in the area of rail
transport;

7.
Underlines the vital role of the social partners in improving health and safety conditions for workers;
fully supports the appropriate involvement of the social partners in social dialogue negotiations and their
conclusion of agreements on working conditions;

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8.

Recommends the adoption of the proposal;

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

9.
ners concerned.

Thursday 26 May 2005

P6_TA(2005)0207

EU-Russia relations

European Parliament resolution on EU-Russia relations (2004/2170(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and
their Member States, of the one part, and the Russian Federation, of the other part, which entered into
force on 1 December 1997 (1),

— having regard to the objective of the EU and Russia, set out in the joint statement issued after the St
Petersburg Summit on 31 May 2003, to set up a common economic space, a common space of free-
dom, security and justice, a space of co-operation in the field of external security and a space of
research and education, including cultural aspects,

— having regard to the many credible reports by Russian and international NGOs on the continuing grave
violations of human rights in Chechnya, the judgments of 24 February 2005 of the European Court of
Human Rights in six cases relating to Chechnya and the many such cases pending before that court,

— having regard to its recommendation of 26 February 2004 to the Council on EU-Russia relations (2),
and its resolution of 15 December 2004 on the EU-Russia Summit held in The Hague on 25 November
2004 (3),

— having regard to its resolution of 13 January 2005 on the results of the Ukraine elections (4),

— having regard to its resolution of 10 March 2005 on Belarus (5),

— having regard to the outcome of the 15th EU-Russia Summit on 10 May 2005,

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on

International Trade (A6-0135/2005),

A. whereas good-neighbourly relations and cooperation between the EU and Russia are crucial for stability,
security and prosperity across the whole of the European continent; whereas these relations must be
based on common values, thus encompassing human rights, the market economy, the rule of law and
democracy,

B. whereas the EU and Russia have high ambitions for their partnership; welcoming the progress made
relating to issues such as the Russian ratification of the Kyoto Protocol and the extension of the Part-
nership and Cooperation Agreement, and the Kaliningrad transit for persons and progress in negotiat-
ing the terms of Russian accession to the WTO,

C. whereas Russia emphasises the importance of multilateralism, and sees its full participation in the UN,

G-8 and the Council of Europe as a cornerstone of its foreign policy,

(1) OJ L 327, 28.11.1997, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 98 E, 23.4.2004, p. 182.
(3) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2004)0099.
(4) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0009.
(5) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0080.