Efter disse redegørelser og den efterfølgende, livlige debat vedtog Parlamentet en beslutning om Det Europeeiske Råds møde den 16. og 17. juni i Amsterdam (— > punkt II.3), hvori man gav udtryk for blandede følelser, for så vidt angår resultaterne af dette topmøde, selv om man anerkendte, at der var sket fremskridt på vigtige områder. Den hollandske premierminister og fungerende for mand for Rådet Wim Kok redegjorde for resultaterne af det hollandske formandskab samt resultaterne af regeringskonferencen (— > punkt 11.4), idet han fandt, at den nye traktat udgjorde et skridt hen mod et mere demokratisk, gennemskueligt og humant Europa. Han understregede de relevante, po sitive afsnit af traktaten, navnlig hvad angår be skæftigelse, sikkerhed og frihed for borgerne og Parlamentets lovgivende rolle. Han glædede sig ligeledes over, at forberedelserne til Den Økonomi Kommissær Yves-Thibault de Silguy gjorde under hastedebatten status over de økonomiske aspekter i forbindelse med Det Europeeiske Råd i Amsterdam (— > punkt 1.5) og G8-topmødet, der fandt sted i Denver (—* punkt 1.4.98). Han drog tre hovedkon- 166
Wim Kok, Dutch Prime Minister and President of the Council, presented a review of the Dutch Presidency and the results of the Intergovern­mental Conference (- > point II.4). He saw the new Treaty as a step towards a more democratic, transparent and humane Europe and stressed its positive aspects, including the sections on em­ployment, the area of security and freedom for Europe's citizens and the legislative role of Par­liament. He also welcomed the successful con­clusion of the preparations for economic and monetary union and pinpointed the main ele­ments of EU foreign policy under the Dutch Presidency, singling out for special comment transatlantic cooperation and political dialogue with Russia, better relations with Turkey, the Presidency's efforts to support the United Nations initiative in Cyprus, support for the Middle East peace process and the common strategy on former Yugoslavia. The floor was then taken by Mr Santer, President of the Com­mission, who thanked the Presidency for its work and gave his own assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Intergovern­mental Conference (the text of his address is reproduced in full in the 'Documentation sec­tion' (-» point 2.2.1). Among the achievements he cited the efforts to bring the European Union closer to its citizens by bringing large areas of justice and home affairs under Community juris­diction, incorporating the Schengen agreement into the Treaty, introducing a chapter on em­ployment, including the Social Protocol, and strengthening the provisions on health and con­sumer protection. On the common foreign and security policy front, he noted that significant progress had been achieved on paper which would now have to be applied and made to work in practice. Everything would depend on politi­cal will. He regretted the failure to achieve a breakthrough in defence. On the institutional front, he noted significant advances for Parlia­ment and the future President of the Commis­sion but deplored the failure to extend qualified majority voting more widely. He concluded with After an indepth debate on the information society, attended by Mr Bangemann, for the Commission, Parliament adopted resolutions on the following Commission communications: 'The information society: from Corfu to Dublin, the new emerging priorities', 'The implications of the information society for European Union policies — preparing the next steps', and 'Eu­rope at the forefront of the global information society: rolling action plan' (-» point 1.3.177), 'Standardisation and the global information society: the European approach' (-* point