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))
Date: 2007-06-07
Institutions: Committee on Constitutional Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: European Constitution, deepening of the European Union, democracy, institutional reform

22.5.2008

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Thursday 7 June 2007

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.

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— having regard to the Treaty concerning the accession to the European Union of the Czech Republic, the
Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the
Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the
Slovak Republic (1) and to the Treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania
to the European Union (2),

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

Europe (3),

— 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 (4),

— having regard to its resolution of 14 June 2006 on the next steps for the period of reflection and

analysis on the Future of Europe (5),

— having regard to its resolution of 13 December 2006 on the institutional aspects of the European

Union's capacity to integrate new Member States (6),

— having regard to the conclusions of the European Council of 16-17 June 2005, 15-16 June 2006,

14-15 December 2006,

— having regard to the statement of the President of the European Council to Parliament on 17 January

2007,

— having regard to the resolution of 14 March 2007 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the sign-

ing of the Treaties of Rome adopted by the European Economic and Social Committee,

— having regard to the declaration for Europe adopted by the Committee of the Regions in its session of

the 23 March 2007,

— having regard to the Berlin Declaration on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the signature of

the Treaties of Rome of 25 March 2007,

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (A6-0197/2007),

A. whereas the European Union, as the first successful experience of supranational democracy by States
and citizens, faces new and unprecedented challenges which, together with the transformations it has
been through in its successive enlargements, the development of the internal market and globalisation,
call for the revision of its foundations,

B. whereas the Constitutional Treaty was signed by the Heads of State or Government of the 27 Member
States of the European Union, who thereby committed themselves to bringing about appropriate solu-
tions in order to meet the challenges that the European Union faces, both internally and externally, as
well as the challenges of enlargement, through enhancing the political dimension of the European
Union,

(1) OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 17.
(2) OJ L 157, 21.6.2005, p. 11.
(3) OJ C 247 E, 6.10.2005, p. 88.
(4) OJ C 287 E, 24.11.2006, p. 306.
(5) OJ C 300 E, 9.12.2006, p. 267.
(6) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0569.

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C. whereas the Constitutional Treaty, especially Parts I, II, and IV, was drawn up in accordance with the
Convention method, bringing together representatives of Member States and acceding countries, of the
Commission and of the European and national Parliaments whose members constituted a majority, thus
strengthening its legitimacy,

D. whereas part III of the Constitutional Treaty is mainly a codification of the current Treaties, to which
the Convention introduced some adaptations and improvements, in particular the extension of the legal
bases for codecision in the legislative procedure from the current 37 to 86, which must be preserved in
order to improve democracy, transparency and efficiency,

E. whereas 18 Member States, representing two thirds of the total number of Member States and the
majority of the population of the European Union, have to date ratified the Constitutional Treaty in
accordance with their respective constitutional requirements, including by way of referendum in Spain
and Luxembourg while another four Member States have declared their readiness to proceed with
ratification,

F. whereas France and the Netherlands have not been able to bring that process to a successful conclusion

following the negative result of the referendums organised in those two countries,

G. whereas the public debate launched by the ratification procedure of the Constitutional Treaty showed
that the difficulties lie, not so much in its institutional
innovations as in some specific aspects of
concrete policies, and that criticism has been directed mainly at Part III, which concerns policies and
the functioning of the European Union, although Part III mainly contains provisions that are already in
force,

H. whereas many of the misgivings expressed related to the context, rather than the content; and whereas
issues of major public concern, such as the Directive on services in the internal market (1), and the
financial framework, have since been resolved,

I. whereas the European Council of 16-17 June 2005 decided to open a period of reflection following the
referendums in France and the Netherlands, during which period six more Member States completed
their ratifications, and the European Council of 15-16 June 2006 asked the Presidency to explore
possible future ways of overcoming the constitutional crisis in anticipation of
its meeting of
21-22 June 2007,

J. whereas the public debate launched during the reflection period has sufficiently established that the
problems and challenges facing the European Union, first outlined in the Declaration of Laeken, and
which the Constitutional Treaty sought to address, have not disappeared; on the contrary, they have
become more evident and their resolution ever more pressing,

K. whereas the Parliamentary Meetings jointly organised by the European Parliament and the national
parliaments have shown a general recognition that the Constitutional Treaty would provide the Euro-
pean Union with an appropriate framework to meet the challenges that it faces, as well as the realisa-
tion that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for a new IGC to agree proposals that were either
radically different or superior to those agreed in 2004,

L. whereas there is an increasingly urgent need to equip the enlarged European Union with instruments
and means enabling it to function efficiently, to assert its role in the world and to meet the concerns of
its citizens in the face of the challenges presented by, inter alia, globalisation, climate change, security of
energy supply and an ageing population,

M. whereas the abovementioned Berlin Declaration of 25 March 2007 signed by the Presidents of the
European Council, Parliament and the Commission, laid down the objective of ‘placing the European
Union on a renewed common basis before the European Parliament elections in 2009’,

(1) OJ L 376, 27.12.2006, p. 36.

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1.
Reaffirms its endorsement of the content of the Constitutional Treaty, the aim of which is, as a
decisive step, to formally give the European Union its inherent political dimension, and strengthens the
efficiency of its action, enhances democratic control over its decision-making procedures, improves trans-
parency and strengthens the rights of European Union citizens while representing a compromise, and which
meets the needs of the European Union in its current stage;

2.
Emphasises that two thirds of the Member States have already ratified the Constitutional Treaty and
that four others have clearly expressed their commitment to the provisions it contains, as demonstrated by
the recent meeting held in Madrid at the initiative of the governments of Spain and Luxembourg;

Notes the concerns expressed by the people of France and of the Netherlands and the debate which

3.
has taken place in both of those countries;

4.
Notes that concerns have been raised in some other Member States too, but that the governments
concerned have expressed their support for finding a satisfactory solution that preserves the key reforms
contained in the Constitutional Treaty;

Recalls the political responsibility of those Member States who have signed but not ratified the Con-

5.
stitutional Treaty;

6.
Reaffirms its commitment to achieving a settlement of the ongoing constitutional process of the
European Union that is based on the content of the Constitutional Treaty, possibly under a different pre-
sentation, but takes into account the difficulties that have arisen in some Member States;

7.
Supports, in light of this, the efforts of the German Presidency to obtain from the European Council
of June 2007 a commitment to calling an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), and the definition of a
roadmap containing a procedure, a clear mandate and the objective of reaching an agreement before the
end of this year;

Recalls the need to guarantee the decision-making capacity of the European Union, the effectiveness of
8.
its policies, and their full democratic legitimacy, towards which the Constitutional Treaty makes undeniable
progress in terms of scrutiny, legislative and budgetary procedures, as well as the need to strengthen the
Common Foreign and Security Policy and the role of the European Union in the world in order to allow it
to influence the definition and the implementation of the responses to the pressing challenges which
humanity is facing;

9.
Insists on the preservation of all basic principles as contained in Part I of the Constitutional Treaty,
including the dual nature of the European Union as a union of States and of citizens, the primacy of the
European law, the new typology of acts and procedures, the hierarchy of norms, and the legal personality of
the European Union;stresses that the Constitutional Treaty also brings about other important improvements
in matters such as consolidation of the existing Treaties and the merging of pillars, the express recognition
of the values on which the European Union is based and of the legally binding force of the Charter of
Fundamental Rights, as well as enhancing the participation of citizens in the political life of the European
Union, clarification of the respective competencies of the European Union and of the Member States,
respect for the principle of subsidiarity and the specific role of national parliaments in this matter, without
jeopardising the institutional balance of the European Union, as enshrined in the protocol on subsidiarity,
and respect for the role of regional and local authorities;

Stresses that any proposal for modification of the Constitutional Treaty needs to secure the same

10.
level of support as was obtained at an earlier date by the provision it seeks to replace;

States that it will reject any outcome of the negotiations which, if compared with the Constitutional
11.
Treaty, would lead to a diminution of the protection of the rights of citizens (insists,
in particular, on
maintaining the Charter of Fundamental Rights, especially its legally binding force) as well as to less democ-
racy, transparency and efficiency in the functioning of the Union;

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12.
Recognises, in this context, the need to take into account major issues that have been raised during
the reflection period and the insight that the abovementioned issues can be properly addressed only by a
stronger rather than a weaker Europe, and to clarify other issues that have already been addressed in the
Constitutional Treaty, such as:

— sustainable development, in particular the struggle against climate change,

— European solidarity in the field of energy,

— a coherent migration policy,

— the European Social Model in the context of demographic change and globalisation,

— terrorism,

— the dialogue between civilisations,

— effective common mechanisms for the coordination of economic policies in the euro-zone, while safe-
guarding the role of the European Central Bank in monetary policy in accordance with the Treaties,

— the Union's criteria and procedures for enlargement;

Believes that, in view of the success of the Convention method in preparing the draft Treaty, it is
in any solution to the constitutional process, the basic principles of parliamentary

13.
necessary to retain,
participation, association of civil society and full transparency;

Recalls that Parliament, as the only institution of the European Union directly elected by the citizens,

14.
must be fully involved in the IGC at all levels, and to a greater extent than during the 2003-2004 IGC;

Calls, furthermore, for the setting up, in parallel with the active participation of the representatives of
15.
the European Parliament in the IGC, of an interinstitutional conference, in order to keep the European
Parliament informed and to bring an important contribution to building a cross-party and transnational
consensus in the IGC;

Reiterates its commitment to the Convention mechanism should the Heads of State or Government

16.
decide to embark on a substantial revision of the existing texts;

Calls on the Commission to fully play its role in the upcoming negotiations and to prepare proposals

17.
for adapting the Constitutional Treaty with respect to the topics set out in paragraph 12;

18.
Emphasises the importance of dialogue between national parliaments and their respective govern-
ments through the IGC and expresses its willingness to maintain close contact with the national parliaments
during the forthcoming negotiation phase, as well as with the Committee of the Regions and the European
Economic and Social Committee, with the European Social Partners, with religious communities and with
civil society;

19.
Calls for the conclusion of the ratification process of the new Treaty by the end of 2008, in order to
allow the next Parliament, which will be elected in 2009, to start its mandate under the provisions of the
new Treaty;

Demands that all Member States coordinate their ratification procedures, in order to allow for the

20.
ratification process to be completed simultaneously;

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Intends to deliver an opinion on the convening of the IGC in accordance with Article 48 of the

21.
Treaty on European Union, in light of the criteria set out in this resolution;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the members of the European Council, the Coun-
22.
cil, the Commission, the national parliaments of the Member States, the Committee of the Regions and the
European Economic and Social Committee.

P6_TA(2007)0235

United Nations Human Rights Council

European Parliament resolution of 7 June 2007 on the fifth session of the United Nations Human
Rights Council (UNHRC)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its previous resolutions on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights since
1996, in particular its resolution on the outcome of the negotiations on the Human Rights Council and
on the 62nd session of the UNCHR of 16 March 2006 (1), as well as those of 29 January 2004 on the
relations between the European Union and the United Nations (2), of 9 June 2005 on the reform of the
United Nations (3), of 29 September 2005 on the outcome of the United Nations World Summit of 14-
16 September 2005 (4) and of 26 April 2007 on the Annual Report on Human Rights in the World
2006 and the EU's policy on the matter (5),

— having regard to its urgent resolutions on human rights and democracy,

— having regard to United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/60/251 establishing the Human

Rights Council (UNHRC),

— having regard to the previous sessions of the UNHRC,

— having regard to the forthcoming fifth session of the UNHRC,

— having regard to the outcome of the work of the UNHRC's working groups on the complaints pro-
cedure, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the future system of expert advice, the agenda, the annual
programme of work, working methods, the rules of procedure and the review of Special Procedures,

— having regard to the results of the elections to the UNHRC held on 17 May 2007,

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

A. whereas respect for, and the promotion and safeguarding of, the universality of human rights is part of
the European Union's ethical and legal acquis and one of the cornerstones of European unity and
integrity,

(1) OJ C 291 E, 30.11.2006, p. 409.
(2) OJ C 96 E, 21.4.2004, p. 79.
(3) OJ C 124 E, 25.5.2006, p. 549.
(4) OJ C 227 E, 21.9.2006, p. 582.
(5) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2007)0165.