European Parliament resolution on the European Union's Generalised Systems of Preferences
Date: 2006-11-15
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: common commercial policy, developing countries, generalised preferences, human rights, international convention, sustainable development

C 314 E/210

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

21.12.2006

Wednesday 15 November 2006

19.
Supports the proposals to develop language-related professions and industries; all European lan-
guages will need new technologies such as speech processing, voice recognition and so on, as well work
on terminology, developing language teaching, certification and testing; otherwise lesser-used languages will
be left behind with their linguistic social space taken over by the more widely spoken languages;

20. Welcomes the proposal for greater transparency in language teaching, testing and certification by
publishing an inventory of the systems currently available;

Proposed Measures

21.
Calls on the European institutions and bodies to improve their communication with citizens in their
own national language, regardless of whether the language in question has official status at Member State or
EU level;

22.
Calls on the European institutions and bodies to cooperate closely with the Council of Europe in the
promotion and protection of linguistic diversity and language learning, and to build on its experience in the
area of language policy (such as the European Language Portfolio or the European Charter for Regional and
Minority Languages);

23.
Encourages the Commission to continue implementing the proposals set out in its above-mentioned
resolution of 4 September 2003 in so far as they are feasible, and to notify Parliament regularly of the
results;

24.
Calls on the European Ombudsman to pay particular attention to guaranteeing respect for the lin-
guistic rights of European citizens, and to provide more ways of resolving EU language conflict situations;

25.
Calls on the Commission to facilitate and promote access to information and funding for applicant
bodies seeking to promote multilingualism through networks and/or projects funded by the Commission
from 2007 onwards;

*

*

*

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

26.
ments of the Member States.

P6_TA(2006)0489

The European Union's Generalised Systems of Preferences

European Parliament resolution on the European Union's Generalised Systems of Preferences

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 980/2005 of 27 June 2005 applying a scheme of general-

ised tariff preferences (1),

— having regard to Commission Decision 2005/924/EC of 21 December 2005 on the list of the bene-
ficiary countries which qualify for the special incentive arrangements for sustainable development and
good governance provided for by Article 26(e) of Council Regulation (EC) No 980/2005 applying a
scheme of generalised tariff preferences (2),

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

(1) OJ L 169, 30.6.2005, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 337, 22.12.2005, p. 50.

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A. whereas the special incentive arrangements for vulnerable countries which meet objective criteria for
sustainable development and good governance (GSP+) involve granting preferential access to European
markets for goods originating in developing countries that implement certain international standards in
human and labour rights, environmental protection, the fight against drugs and good governance,

B. whereas the criteria for obtaining tariff preferences under GSP+ include ratification and effective imple-
mentation of core UN and ILO conventions as well as conventions related to the environment and
governance principles, as listed in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 980/2005,

C. whereas, in Decision 2005/924/EC, the Commission granted special incentive arrangements to Bolivia,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Honduras, Sri Lanka, Republic of Moldova, Mon-
golia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, El Salvador and Venezuela,

D. whereas the new GSP+ scheme should act as an incentive for beneficiary countries to attain develop-
ment objectives, including the setting up of appropriate institutions to comply fully with the rights
enshrined in the UN and ILO conventions,

E. whereas the effectiveness of the implementation of the relevant UN and ILO conventions should be
assessed on the basis of the conclusions of relevant monitoring bodies,
including the annual ILO
‘Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations’, and
with due regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

F. whereas, under Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 980/2005, safeguard clauses and temporary withdra-
wals can be applied to countries that commit serious and systematic violations of the principles laid
down in the international conventions listed in Part A of Annex III to the Regulation,

Notes the decision by the Commission to grant preferences under the GSP+ scheme to the countries

1.
listed in Decision 2005/924/EC;

Notes that the economic development and integration into the world trade system of GSP+ beneficiary
2.
countries is crucial to achieving sustainable development objectives, including stability and good govern-
ance;

Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with GSP+ beneficiary countries, to strengthen its commit-
3.
ment to promoting and ensuring effective implementation in those countries of the core human and labour
rights of UN and ILO conventions, as well as of the conventions related to the environment and governance
principles; calls on the Commission to extend the commitment to respecting the ILO and UN rules also to
GSP beneficiary countries, particularly as regards child and forced labour; believes that, as a general rule,
granting preferential access to countries which do not respect human rights and international labour con-
ventions tends to weaken the incentive for countries to comply with ILO standards;

Notes that, despite their ratification of the relevant ILO conventions, repeated infringements of work-
4.
ers' rights have been reported in several GSP+ beneficiary countries and that if these infringements are
found to constitute serious and systematic violation of the ILO's core labour rights they could, as laid
down in Article 16 of the Regulation, provide grounds for the temporary withdrawal of GSP+ preferences;

5.
Calls on the Commission to strengthen its monitoring of the implementation of ILO conventions in
GSP+ beneficiary countries, as well as of the conventions related to the environment and governance prin-
ciples, and, in particular, to carry out its obligations under Article 18 of the Regulation, namely to inform
the Generalised Preferences Committee of reported infringements of
labour rights and to consult on
whether an investigation should be carried out into the existence of serious and systematic violations of
the ILO's core labour rights conventions, particularly as regards child and forced labour;

6.
Stresses particularly the need to cooperate effectively in this field with the ILO and other relevant local
bodies; requests the Commission to make recommendations to the governments of beneficiary countries

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Wednesday 15 November 2006

and to stress that their failure to demonstrate progress towards effective implementation should lead to the
temporary withdrawal of GSP+ privileges;

7.
Asks the Commission to keep Parliament regularly informed of the results of its monitoring of the
implementation of the UN and ILO conventions and of the level of compliance by GSP+ beneficiary coun-
tries, especially in the areas of freedom of association, collective bargaining, non-discrimination in employ-
ment and the elimination of child and forced labour, and, in particular, to specify whether there are cases of
serious and systematic violation of the principles laid down in human rights and international labour con-
ventions and environmental agreements in any of the current GSP+ beneficiary countries;

8.
Calls on the Commission to inform Parliament at an early stage of any recommendation for the
temporary withdrawal of preferences in accordance with Article 16 of the Regulation; stresses that a Com-
mission decision to apply a temporary withdrawal of preferences in the event of serious violations of
principles laid down in the ILO conventions should be based on the findings of the appropriate monitoring
institutions, and that due regard should be had to the opinion of the European Parliament;

Calls on the Commission to carry out a mid-term review of the GSP instrument;

9.
insists that an
assessment of the effectiveness of implementation of the GSP+ requirements must be carried out before
any renewal of GSP+ preferences is granted on the expiry of the current Regulation in 2008; calls on the
Commission and the Council to ensure that Parliament's views on the extension of the GSP+ scheme to
specific countries and on any renewal of the current Regulation in 2008 are taken into account;

10.
Asks the Commission to produce a comprehensive, annual, country-by-country report not only
detailing the situation in the beneficiary countries but also indicating the actions undertaken by the
Commission;

11.

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

P6_TA(2006)0490

Services in the internal market ***II

European Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a directive
of the European Parliament and of the Council on services in the internal market (10003/4/2006 —
C6-0270/2006 — 2004/0001(COD))

(Codecision procedure: second reading)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Council common position (10003/4/2006 — C6-0270/2006),

— having regard to its position at first reading (1) on the Commission proposal to Parliament and the

Council (COM(2004)0002) (2),

— having regard to the amended Commission proposal (COM(2006)0160) (2),

— having regard to Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty,

— having regard to Rule 62 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the recommendation for second reading of the Committee on the Internal Market and

Consumer Protection (A6-0375/2006),

1.

2.

Approves the common position as amended;

Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission.

(1) Texts Adopted, 16.2.2006, P6_TA(2006)0061.
(2) Not yet published in OJ.