European Parliament resolution on the institutional aspects of the European External Action Service
Date: 2005-05-26
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU office or agency, EU relations, administrative powers, common foreign and security policy, operation of the Institutions

C 117 E/232

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.5.2006

Thursday 26 May 2005

5.
Calls on the Council and Member States to relaunch their efforts to build a regional and international
consensus on the need for an international treaty on the control of small arms and light weapons brokering;

6.
Proposes that its responsible committee be authorised to draw up an own-initiative report in time for
the 2006 UN Review Conference with the aim of scrutinising EU actions and policy with regard to small
arms and light weapons and further engaging the Council and Member States on their relevant policies at
regional and international level;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Presidency of the Council, the Council, the
7.
Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, and the Secretary-General of the
United Nations.

P6_TA(2005)0205

European External Action Service

European Parliament resolution on the institutional aspects of the European External Action
Service

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Declaration 24 of the Conference of the representatives of the governments of the
Member States on Article III-296 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, annexed to the
Final Act of 29 October 2004 of the Intergovernmental Conference on the Treaty establishing a Con-
stitution for Europe (1),

— having regard to the European Council conclusions of 16 and 17 December 2004, in particular points

71 to 73,

— having regard to its resolution of 12 January 2005 on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe,

in particular paragraph 3(d) thereof (2),

— having regard to the hearing held by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs on 15 March 2005,

— having regard to the question for oral answer concerning institutional aspects of the European External
Action Service put to the Commission on behalf of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (O-0054/
05),

— having regard to the statement made by the Commission at the sitting of 11 May 2005 in reply to that

question, and the subsequent exchange of views,

— having regard to Rule 108(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the form to be taken by the future European External Action Service (EEAS) is extremely
important if we wish to succeed in rendering the Union's external relations more coherent and efficient
and raising their profile,

B. whereas the Secretary-General of the Council and High Representative for the Common Foreign and
Security Policy and the Commission are to submit a joint report on progress in preparing the EEAS to
the European Council at its meeting in June 2005,

C. whereas it seems desirable that the Parliament and the Commission should agree in good time on a

number of issues of principle regarding the form to be taken by the EEAS,

(1) OJ C 310, 16.12.2004, p. 420.
(2) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0004.

18.5.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 117 E/233

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.