P6_TA(2007)0233#Regional Strategy Papers and Regional Indicative Programmes for Mercosur and Latin America#European Parliament resolution of 7 June 2007 on the draft Commission decision establishing Regional Strategy Papers and Regional Indicative Programmes for Mercosur and Latin America
Date: 2007-06-07
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Latin America, Mercosur, cooperation in the field of education, development aid, film production, poverty, regional development, regional integration, sustainable development

22.5.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 125 E/213

Thursday 7 June 2007

TEXT PROPOSED
BY THE COMMISSION

AMENDMENTS
BY PARLIAMENT

Member States shall calculate the applicable hectares
referred to in Article 43(2) of this regulation on the
basis of objective and non-discriminatory criteria such
as the areas referred to in the second indent of the first
paragraph.

If the amounts established in accordance with the
2.
set out below,
first paragraph exceed the
expressed in thousand euro,
for a given Member
State, the amount for each farmer shall be reduced pro-
portionately.

ceilings

Bulgaria
Czech Republic
Cyprus
Malta
Hungary
Romania
Poland
Slovakia

(1 000 EUR)
5 394
414
274
932
4 512
1 738
6 715
1 018

Amendment 123
ANNEX II, POINT 5
Annex VIII, row corresponding to ‘Spain’ (Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003)

2008
2009
2010 and subsequent years

4 830 954
4 838 536
4 840 413

2008
2009
2010 and subsequent years

4 868 312
4 875 894
4 877 771

P6_TA(2007)0233

Regional Strategy Papers and Regional Indicative Programmes for Mercosur and
Latin America

European Parliament resolution of 7 June 2007 on the draft Commission decision establishing
Regional Strategy Papers and Regional Indicative Programmes for Mercosur and Latin America

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of

18 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for development cooperation (1),

(1) OJ L 378, 27.12.2006, p. 41.

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22.5.2008

— having regard to the draft Commission decisions establishing Regional Strategy Papers and Regional

Indicative Programmes for Mercosur and Latin America (CMT-2007-0566, CMT-2007-0859),

— having regard to the opinions delivered on 15 May 2007 by the committee referred to in Article 35(1)

of the above Regulation (hereinafter referred to as ‘the DCI management committee’),

— having regard to Article 8 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the proce-

dures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (1),

— having regard to Rule 81 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas on 15 May 2007 the DCI management committee voted in favour of the draft Regional Strat-
egy Papers and Regional Indicative Programmes for Mercosur and Latin America (CMT-2007-0566,
CMT-2007-0859),

B. whereas, pursuant to Article 7(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC and Article 1 of the Agreement (2) between
the European Parliament and the Commission on procedures for implementing Council Decision
1999/468/EC, Parliament received the draft implementing measures submitted to the DCI management
committee and the results of the voting,

C. whereas Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 provides that ‘the primary and overarching
objective of cooperation under this Regulation shall be the eradication of poverty in partner countries
and regions in the context of sustainable development’,

D. whereas Article 2(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 provides that

‘measures referred to in
Article 1(1) (3) shall be designed so as to fulfil the criteria for Official Development Assistance (ODA)
established by [the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation
and Development,] OECD/DAC’,

E. whereas,

in its ‘Reporting Directives for the Creditor Reporting System’ (DCD/DAC (2002)21), the
OECD/DAC defines ODA as financial flows to countries on the DAC List of ODA Recipients for
which, inter alia, ‘each transaction is administered with the promotion of the economic development
and welfare of developing countries as its main objective’ (4),

F. whereas Article 19(3) and (8) of Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006 respectively provide that ‘strategy
papers shall, in principle, be based on a dialogue with the partner country or region which involves
civil society and regional and local authorities’ and that ‘the Commission and the Member States shall
consult each other, as well as other donors and development actors including representatives of civil
society and regional and local authorities, at an early stage of the programming process in order to
promote complementarity among their cooperation activities’,

Latin America

1.
Takes the view that in its draft Regional Strategy Paper and draft Regional Indicative Programme
(2007-2010) for Latin America the Commission exceeds its implementing powers laid down in the basic
act by selecting as a subsector to its Focal Sector 3 ‘support for projects by organisations working to
promote mutual understanding between the EU and Latin America’, and by including the specific objective
of ‘support … targeted on projects and measures targeting development issues by organisations specialising
in the promotion and analysis of relations between the EU and Latin America’; considers that this element
does not comply with Article 2(1) and (4) of Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006, as the primary objective of
this subsector of the Regional Strategy Paper is not the eradication of poverty and as this element does not
fulfil the criteria for ODA established by the OECD/DAC;

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. Decision as amended by Decision 2006/512/EC (OJ L 200, 22.7.2006, p. 11).
(2) OJ L 256, 10.10.2000, p. 19.
(3) Article 1(1):

‘The Community shall finance measures aimed at supporting cooperation with developing countries,

territories and regions …’.

(4) OECD/DAC Fact Sheet of October 2006: ‘Is it ODA?’, p. 1.

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Mercosur

2.
Takes the view that in its draft Regional Strategy Paper and draft Regional Indicative Programme
(2007-2013) for Mercosur the Commission exceeds its implementing powers laid down in the basic act
by including in priority 3 ‘efforts to strengthen and enhance civil society participation, knowledge of the
regional integration process, mutual understanding and mutual visibility’ (for which it earmarks about 20 %
of the Regional Indicative Programme funding) as the following elements of priority 3do not comply with
Article 2(1) and (4) of Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006, as their primary objective is not the eradication of
poverty and as they do not fulfil the criteria for ODA established by the OECD/DAC:

— in the area ‘strengthening of Mercosur's cinematographic and audiovisual sector to promote regional
integration’, the Commission proposes to support a successful industry with the general objective ‘to
enhance knowledge and consciousness of regional identity and the integration process through support
for the cinematographic and audiovisual sector’;

— in the area ‘creation of 10 EU-Mercosur study centres and support for the implementation of the Plan
operativo del sector educativo del Mercosur 2006-2010’, the general objective is described as ‘to enhance
knowledge and consciousness of the regional integration process’; one of the specific objectives is ‘to
support the creation of ten EU-Mercosur study centres in major Mercosur universities’; in particular, the
initiative to create European/Mercosur documentation centres, to establish EU and Mercosur Study
Chairs, and to create Masters' degrees in EU and Mercosur Studies is aimed at the target population of
the well-educated elite of the Mercosur countries, and since this is the region with the world's highest
social inequality index the planned actions would widen the gap between rich and poor rather than
support the poorer strata of the population;

*

*

*

3.
Calls on the Commission to withdraw its draft decisions establishing Regional Strategy Papers and
Regional Indicative Programmes for Latin America and Mercosur, and submit to the DCI management
committee new draft decisions fully respecting the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006;

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

4.
and parliaments of the Member States.

P6_TA(2007)0234

Roadmap for the European Union's constitutional process

European Parliament resolution of 7 June 2007 on the roadmap for the Union's Constitutional
Process (2007/2087(INI))

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe signed in Rome on 29 October 2004

(the Constitutional Treaty),

— having regard to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community

as amended by the Single European Act and the Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice Treaties,

— having regard to the Laeken Declaration on the Future of the European Union of 15 December

2001 (1),

(1) Laeken European Council, Annex 1, p. 19.