European Parliament resolution of 15 March 2007 on missing persons in Cyprus
Date: 2007-03-15
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Cyprus, forced disappearance, judicial inquiry

13.12.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 301 E/243

Thursday 15 March 2007

(ac) take into account the importance of guaranteeing universal access to essential services and of national
rights to regulate, and therefore proceed cautiously in the negotiations on the liberalisation of trade in
services, in conformity with Article V of GATS in order to achieve real improvements regarding the
liberalisation commitments thus far agreed and applied and the need for a clear and predictable reg-
ulatory framework; abstain from making offers or accepting requests in the areas of public health and
education;

(ad) ask the Commission, given that the dispute settlement mechanisms included in similar trade agreements
already concluded by the Community with third countries are not being effectively utilised, to propose
new ideas to develop a more effective bilateral dispute settlement instrument facilitating the resolution
of disagreements arising in any of the areas covered by the FTA;

(ae) carefully examine, in order to prevent the increasing overlap of multiple bilateral, regional and multi-
liberalisation commitments and sets of rules in Latin America from resulting in unintended
lateral
obstacles for trade and investment flows, the need for both the EU and Latin America to seek, as a
matter of principle, the possible convergence of the various agreements in force or under negotiation
between the two regions;

(af) provide in the negotiation guidelines for promotion of a system to help set up small and medium-sized
enterprises, these being a key factor for economic development and in creating jobs and social well-
being; with the aim of tackling unemployment, enable small and medium-sized enterprises to develop
using soft loans, and devise business support programmes under the heading of innovation;

(ag) ensure that the Commission provides Parliament with exhaustive information, on a confidential basis if
necessary, both on the draft negotiating guidelines and on the negotiating guidelines that are finally
adopted;

2.
Instructs its President to forward this Recommendation to the Council, and to the Commission for
information, and to the governments and parliaments of the Member States of the European Union and of
the Andean Community.

P6_TA(2007)0081

Missing persons in Cyprus

European Parliament resolution of 15 March 2007 on missing persons in Cyprus

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its resolution of 6 April 1995 (1) on the problem of missing persons in Cyprus,

— having regard to the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the General
Assembly on Cyprus and the international initiatives taken to investigate the fate of missing persons
in Cyprus,

— having regard to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) of 10 May 2001 (2)

concerning missing persons in Cyprus,

— having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

(1) OJ C 109, 1.5.1995, p. 166.
(2) Cyprus v Turkey [GC], no. 25781/94, ECHR 2001-IV.

C 301 E/244

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

13.12.2007

Thursday 15 March 2007

A. whereas the problem of missing persons (Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Greeks, Turks and others) is
exclusively a humanitarian one deriving from the right of the relatives of missing persons to know their
fate,

B. whereas the great agony and suffering of the families of missing persons, who have remained ignorant

of their fate for decades, cannot continue any longer, and must finally come to an end,

C. whereas the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus has been reactivated under the aegis of the
UN Secretary-General, and progress, albeit slow, has been made with the exhumation and identification
of remains,

D. whereas the European Parliament applauds the constructive cooperation between the Greek-Cypriot and

Turkish-Cypriot members of the CMP,

1.
Calls on the parties concerned to cooperate sincerely and honestly on a speedy completion of the
appropriate investigations into the fate of all missing persons in Cyprus and to implement fully the ECHR
judgment of 10 May 2001;

2.
Calls on the parties concerned and all those who have, or are in a position to have, any information
or evidence emanating from personal knowledge, archives, battlefield reports or records of detention places
to pass it on to the CMP without any further delay;

3.
Calls on the Council and the Commission to concern themselves actively with this problem, providing,
inter alia, financial assistance to the CMP, and to take all necessary steps, in cooperation with the United
Nations Secretary-General, to bring about the implementation of the aforementioned ECHR judgment and
the relevant UN and European Parliament resolutions;

4.
Calls for the problem to be referred to its appropriate committee with a view to follow-up, in close
cooperation with the Commission, developments on this issue; asks that the committee be requested to
submit periodical reports, the first within six months;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Secretary-General

5.
of the United Nations and the governments of Cyprus, Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom.

P6_TA(2007)0082

Regional policy (islands and natural and economic constraints)

European Parliament resolution of 15 March 2007 on the islands and natural and economic con-
straints in the context of the regional policy (2006/2106(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the regulations governing the Structural Funds for the Period 2007-2013,

— having regard to the Council Decision 2006/702/EC of 6 October 2006 on Community strategic guide-

lines on cohesion (1),

— having regard to the conclusions of the European Council held in Seville on 21-22 June 2002,

— having regard to the conclusions of the European Council held in Brussels on 14-15 December 2006,

(1) OJ L 291, 21.10.2006, p. 11.