European Parliament resolution on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania
Date: 2006-06-14
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Bulgaria, Romania, accession criteria, accession to the European Union

9.12.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 300 E/265

Wednesday 14 June 2006

26.
Calls upon the Commission to fulfil actively its obligations as guardian of the Treaties and to under-
take urgent action against Member States that have failed to transpose EC law prohibiting discrimination on
the basis of Article 13 of the EC Treaty, such as Directives 2000/43/EC and 2000/78/EC; recalls that the
Court of Justice has already found against some Member States for failing to implement the anti-discrimi-
nation directives, and urges them to take action to fulfil their duties; considers that the new Member States
which have not transposed the anti-discrimination directives must be subject to infringement proceedings
for violating EC law in the same way as the old Member States; requests the Commission to examine as a
matter of urgency the quality and content of the laws implementing the anti-discrimination directives,
including on the basis of the reports prepared by the network of independent experts on anti-discrimi-
nation, and to bring, as a matter of urgency, an action before the Court of Justice against those Member
States that have not correctly transposed them;

27.
Calls upon the Commission to ensure that when anti-discrimination law is next recast, it pays par-
ticular attention to the problems of multiple discrimination and those of segregation (which constitutes a
form of discrimination) and reviews the concept of indirect discrimination by explicitly authorising proof
based on statistics relating to discrimination;

Urges that the new Agency for Fundamental Rights, which is due to be operational in 2007, be
28.
closely involved in the new framework for anti-discrimination and that it provide EU policy makers with
timely, sound, reliable, comprehensive and relevant information from which further policy and legislation
can be developed; considers that, in light of the concerns about its role and function, it is essential for the
Agency to feed into and play an integral role in supporting EU anti-discrimination policy;

29.
Calls on the Council to adopt the Commission's proposal for a Council framework decision on
combating racism and xenophobia (1), which sets out to establish a framework for punishing racist and
xenophobic violence as a criminal offence, as that decision would contribute to the enhancement of necess-
ary data collection on racist violence and crime across the EU; believes that the framework decision should
explicitly deal with homophobia, anti-semitism, islamophobia, and other types of phobia or hatred based on
ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, religion or other irrational grounds;

30.
Urges the Commission to bring forward proposals to prohibit the discrimination that same-sex
couples — either married or in a registered partnership — suffer in their daily lives, notably when they
exercise the right to free movement enshrined in EU law; requests that the principle of mutual recognition
be applied also in this field;

*

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31.

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

(1) OJ C 75 E, 26.3.2002, p. 269.

P6_TA(2006)0262

Bulgaria and Romania (European Council of 15-16 June 2006)

European Parliament resolution on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its earlier resolutions on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania,

in particular its

resolutions of 15 December 2005 (1),

— having regard to the Treaty of Accession to the European Union signed by Bulgaria and Romania on

25 April 2005,

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2005)0530 and P6_TA(2005)0531.

C 300 E/266

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

9.12.2006

Wednesday 14 June 2006

— having regard to the Monitoring Report on the state of preparedness for EU membership of Bulgaria

and Romania presented by the Commission on 16 May 2006 (COM(2006)0214),

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

A. whereas it is the common and declared objective of the EU for the accession of Bulgaria and Romania

to take place on 1 January 2007,

B. whereas the Commission notes that significant improvements have been achieved by Bulgaria and

Romania since its last report,

C. whereas progress in a limited number of areas has still not been completely satisfactory, and whereas
Bulgaria and Romania must take immediate steps to make good these shortcomings in order to join the
Union on 1 January 2007,

D. whereas the Commission will present further monitoring reports on Bulgaria's and Romania's state of

preparedness for EU membership not later than at the beginning of October 2006,

E. whereas it has consistently expressed its support for the timely accession of Bulgaria and Romania,

F. whereas there are provisions in the Treaty of Accession for safeguard and monitoring measures which
may, if necessary, be applied in the years immediately after accession, obviating any need for a delay in
actual accession,

G. whereas agreement was reached through an exchange of letters between the President of the European
Parliament and the President of the Commission on the full involvement of the European Parliament in
any consideration of activation of one of the safeguard clauses in the Treaty of Accession,

1.
Has noted with great interest the reports by the Commission on the state of preparedness of Bulgaria
and Romania for their accession to the European Union and pays tribute to the great care and seriousness
with which the Commission has monitored the preparatory efforts for and the implementing measures
taken by both countries in order to meet the conditions for their entering the European Union by 1 January
2007;

2.
Notes with satisfaction that the Commission maintains the deadline for both countries to enter the
European Union by 1 January 2007 on condition that the necessary measures are taken to resolve the
outstanding problems, and accepts the recommendations made by the Commission with regard to the
further procedure for taking a final decision on the date of accession of Bulgaria and Romania;

Calls on the European Council, at its meeting of 15 and16 June 2006, to maintain its commitment to
3.
Bulgaria and Romania joining the EU on 1 January 2007 if they are ready; at the same time, welcomes the
specialist assistance that has been provided by Member States, particularly in the field of justice and policing,
and urges reinforcement of this assistance in the coming months;

4.
Stresses that the Bulgarian and Romanian Governments must be aware of the need to make full use of
the remaining months and produce concrete results towards meeting the requirements for achieving full EU
membership by 1 January 2007;

Notes with satisfaction the serious efforts and considerable progress made by Bulgaria and Romania in
5.
past months to meet the EU's political and economic criteria and to gradually adopt and implement the
acquis communautaire;

Emphasises the need for both countries to continue to consolidate the ongoing reform of their justice
6.
systems, by further enhancing the transparency, efficiency and impartiality of the judiciary, and to demon-
strate further substantive results in the fight against corruption, with special emphasis on the fight against
organised crime in the case of Bulgaria; stresses the utmost importance of taking all the measures required
to combat the trafficking of human beings and to substantially enhance the degree of social inclusion of
Roma communities, especially with regard to housing, health care, education and employment;

9.12.2006

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 300 E/267

Wednesday 14 June 2006

7.
Is aware that a decision on the accession of each country will be taken on its own merits and in the
light of each country's achievements, but would welcome it if, on the basis of the progress achieved so far
by both countries and their activities geared to achieving further progress in the next few months, Bulgaria
and Romania could enter the European Union together and on the same date;

8.
Calls on all political forces in Bulgaria and Romania to concentrate their activities on meeting the
conditions for EU membership by 1 January 2007 and to maintain the political commitment needed to
achieve this objective;

Calls on the Commission, as a matter of urgency, to provide Bulgaria and Romania with the clearest
9.
possible guidance on the outcomes that are expected in order to meet its concerns, to ensure that maximum
Community resources are targeted on these areas in order to help produce tangible improvements, and, in
cooperation with the Bulgarian and Romanian authorities, to define the nature of and procedures for any
possible post-accession monitoring measures and the circumstances under which they might be necessary;

Asks the Member States to complete the ratification process for the accession of Bulgaria and

10.
Romania to the EU on schedule;

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

11.
ments and Parliaments of Bulgaria and Romania.

P6_TA(2006)0263

Future steps in the period of reflection (European Council of 15-16 June 2006)

European Parliament resolution on the next steps for the period of reflection and analysis on the
Future of Europe

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe,

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

Europe (1),

— having regard to the Declaration of 18 June 2005 by the Heads of State or Government on the ratifi-
cation of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, at the conclusion of the European Council
of 16 and 17 June 2005,

— having regard to the conclusions of the European Council of 15 and 16 December 2005,

— having regard to its resolution of 19 January 2006 on the period of reflection: the structure, subjects

and context for an assessment of the debate on the European Union (2),

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

A. whereas a real debate on the future of the European Union, involving both political actors and citizens,
has been launched in some of the Member States, but a full debate has not yet been launched every-
where throughout the Union, in particular not in all the Member States which have not yet ratified the
Constitutional Treaty,

B. whereas the institutions of the European Union are contributing to this debate by organising public
discussion forums, including on-line forums, in their own working places, as well as at selected venues
in the Member States, but the present Plan D for Democracy, Dialogue and Debate has not yet reached
a wider public in the Union,

C. whereas, on 8 and 9 May 2006, a joint meeting of Members of the European Parliament and of the
national parliaments of the Union's Member States opened the inter-parliamentary dimension of this
debate,

(1) OJ C 247 E, 6.10.2005, p. 88.
(2) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0027.