C 214/52
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
16.6.2023
Wednesday 18 January 2023
163.
Calls for a strong EU strategic communication and outreach campaign to African countries in order to counter the harmful narratives, in particular those being spread in the region by the Russian Federation and PRC;
164.
Denounces Russia’s democracy-endangering interference in Africa, in particular through the increased footprint of the Wagner group on the continent; strongly condemns the abuses and crimes committed by the Wagner group;
165.
Calls for an Africa-Europe partnership aiming to create an area of solidarity, security, peace and lasting prosperity; calls for swift EU actions to counter the growing presence of the Wagner group in several African countries, fuelling further instability and undermining the efforts in the fight against terrorism;
Enhancing parliamentary diplomacy as a foreign policy tool
166.
Highlights Parliament’s specific contribution to the EU’s foreign and security policy through its parliamentary diplomacy assets; calls for closer parliamentary scrutiny on matters of strategic relevance in European foreign affairs; recalls, among others, that there is intensive cooperation at political and technical level between the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada and Parliament;
167.
Notes that Parliament is actively involved in the CFSP through its specific instruments; underlines the importance and unique nature of Parliament’s democratisation programmes, such as the ‘Jean Monnet Dialogue’, aimed at fostering and strengthening the work of parliaments; recalls that all EU institutions should participate and work together in activities that aim to counteract global backsliding on democracy, including through election observation, mediation and dialogue activities, conflict prevention, the Sakharov Prize award and network and parliamentary diplomacy;
168.
Calls on the EEAS to adopt press freedom and freedom of expression as priorities and to take all the necessary steps to uphold, in full, the EU Guidelines on Freedom of Expression Online and Offline; urges EU delegations to improve preventive protective measures, plan for emergency responses to deteriorations in press freedom and provide demonstrable and visible support to local journalists and civil society;
169.
Calls for the improvement of the EU’s preventive diplomacy as a proactive foreign policy tool for preventing conflicts between third parties from breaking out and supporting them in finding peaceful solutions to rising tensions;
170.
Underlines the importance of the parliamentary assemblies as forums for cooperation and institutional dialogue, and their valuable contribution to European foreign policy action on matters of security, as well as the need to promote their activity and guarantee their proper functioning and development;
171.
Calls on the Commission and the Member States to enable and strengthen parliamentary oversight of EU external action, including by continuing regular consultations with the VP/HR and the Commission, and by involving Parliament in the proper further implementation and scrutiny of the European Peace Facility and the Strategic Compass; recalls that Parliament engages in a degree of informal cooperation with the EEAS, which was enhanced following the Council Decision of 26 July 2010 and the High Representative’s declaration of political accountability of 2010; highlights that is necessary to further strengthen the framework for interinstitutional relations between Parliament and the EEAS, including its delegations; calls for a framework agreement on strengthening external action cooperation between the EEAS and the European Parliament, which could enhance the EU’s own foreign policy toolbox; underlines the need to use the mid-term review of the European Defence Fund (EDF) in order to introduce proper parliamentary oversight via delegated acts for work programmes; stresses the need to also establish a similar level of parliamentary oversight for the upcoming common procurement act (EDIRPA) and the European Defence Investment Programme (EDIP); underlines that for Parliament to properly fulfil its important role of democratic oversight it should be provided with the necessary information and documents in a transparent and timely manner;