European Parliament resolution on the Special European Council to be held in Lisbon on 23/24 March 2000
C 377/164 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 29. 12. 2000 Wednesday 15 March 2000 European Parliament legislative resolution on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants (COM(1999) 125 C5-0047/1999 1999/0067(COD)) (Codecision procedure: first reading) The European Parliament, having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(1999) 125), having regard to Article 251(2) and Article 175(1) of the EC Treaty pursuant to which the Commi- ssion submitted the proposal to Parliament (C5-0047/1999), having regard to Rule 67 of its Rules of Procedure, having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy and the opinion of the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (A5-0063/2000), 1. Approves the Commission proposal as amended; Asks to be consulted again should the Commission intend to amend its proposal substantially or 2. replace it with another text; 3. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and Commission. 12. Special European Council, 23/24 March in Lisbon B5-0236, 0239 and 0240/2000 European Parliament resolution on the Special European Council to be held in Lisbon on 23/24 March 2000 The European Parliament, 1. Welcomes the Portuguese Presidency’s intention to use the Special Lisbon Council to set new strate- gic objectives to make the European Union the world’s most competitive and sustainable dynamic knowl- edge-based economy with the aim of the return to full employment, high economic growth and greater social cohesion; 2. Considers that only a strong economy can effectively tackle poverty, social exclusion and unemploy- ment. Economic dynamism is essential for a healthy and enabling society that is the cornerstone of a strong democracy. Globalisation, technological change and demographic developments are common Euro- pean challenges demanding common answers by Europe; Increasing employment 3. Welcomes the Presidency’s and Commission’s proposals that more common European targets and indicators should be established within the economic, employment and social strategy; underlines that not only quantified targets but also qualitative benchmarks and annual peer reviews are of importance in many areas of policy, for example in investment, employment, research and development and social cohe- sion; 4. Recalls the conclusions of the High-Level Expert Group, to the effect that full economic success for the information society presupposes that it is driven by the real needs of citizens, and not by the demands of market forces and high-technology industries alone; 29. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 377/165 Notes that economic strategies aimed at boosting growth must take account of the commitments 5. made by the EU in the Kyoto Protocol; Wednesday 15 March 2000 Considers that, in general, Member States should reduce the overall tax burden on labour where it 6. has a diminishing effect on the employment rate, and develop policies to shift taxation away from jobs and incomes; Reiterates its call for practical measures to reduce the burden of red tape and taxation on small and 7. medium-sized businesses, and for easier access to venture capital and complementary technological capa- cities, particularly for such businesses; favours the creation of a Charter for Small Firms, as well as an early agreement on the single European company statute; 8. Believes that employability must be enhanced by a greater and more innovative investment in educa- tion, training and life-long learning, by intensified language learning and by the full and mutual recogni- tion of academic and vocational qualifications, and calls on the Member States to transform their education and vocational training systems so as to meet the demand for skilled staff in sectors with a promising future; 9. Considers that labour mobility in Europe must be increased through the establishment of appropriate rules of employment and social benefits including for example portability of pensions and social insurance; Social solidarity and inclusiveness 10. Underlines the fact that the EU and its Member States must intensify their activities directed towards modernising social protection as a matter of common concern; therefore calls for a European social pro- tection strategy along the lines of the proposed open method of coordination; Supports efforts to modernise fiscal and parafiscal rules so that work is worthwhile for all citizens, 11. and expects practical guidelines to be laid down on the modernisation of social protection; 12. Agrees that in relation to social exclusion Member States should be sharing best practices and the exchange of information based on the four pillars of the modernisation of social protection agreed by the European Council in Helsinki in anticipation of the work of the High-Level Group; 13. Stresses also that precise knowledge of the social situation in all the Member States is necessary to implement these policies and demands therefore that an effort be made to produce comparable statistics for the Member States on health, the labour market and the financial aspects (costs and resources) of all the elements of social protection systems, whether related to state policies, local authorities or to the activities of private institutions; Pursuing economic reform to prepare the knowledge economy 14. Stresses that the internal market programme must be modernised, and quickly, to allow e-commerce to flourish within an appropriate regulatory framework; at the same time recognises that the wider infor- mation society concerns the organisation and values of our society, and could pose new challenges to social cohesion which must be anticipated and tackled in good time; 15. Therefore calls for practical measures, as the Commission has also proposed, to make available to every citizen of Europe whether young or old and every business, an infrastructure which gives them the opportunity and ability to participate in the European information society, and to establish the EU as a world leader in new information products and services; C 377/166 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 29. 12. 2000 Wednesday 15 March 2000 16. Calls on the European Council to ensure that agreed single market measures in the telecoms mar- kets are fully implemented, and to take the political steps to develop further single markets in utilities such as electricity, gas and telecoms; 17. Believes that the European basic R&D effort should be more sensitive to market requirements; wel- comes the Commission initiative to create a European Research Area to end the current fragmentation in European innovative research; 18. Expresses its support for the E-Europe initiative, which must aim for universal and low-cost access to the Internet, and to the work on universal access and modernised public services, which must give special attention to the social impact of the information society; emphasises that the development of e-commerce to consumers depends on the existence of consumer confidence and quick dispute resolution systems; calls on the European Council to give a lead to all the institutions of the EU in taking the fullest advantage of the Internet to ensure inclusion and participation for everybody, to create a new transparency in work, and new means of communication with Europe’s citizens; Towards a policy mix 19. Cautions the European Council, however, against bringing the procedures for macro-economic poli- cies, structural reforms and employment under the single umbrella of the Broad Economic Guidelines; in integrating these, due regard must be had towards both the economic and the social perspectives; 20. Underlines that economic, employment and social policy are three sides of an equilateral triangle and asks that the instruments for employment and social policy be reinforced to put them on an equal footing with the economic policy instruments; Supports the new approach concerning streamlining of existing procedures and processes with an 21. open method of coordination; proposes in this respect: bringing together, in a single and concise annual report on the economic and social state of the European Union, the Commission’s analyses currently published in different reports, such as the Annual Economic Report and the Employment Report, as well as reports on Europe’s competitive situation, economic reform and support for small and medium-sized enterprises, grouping recommendations derived from these analyses into a set of annual ‘European policy guide- lines for growth and employment’, to be debated every year at the highest political level, i. e. the June European Council, following due participation of all relevant Council formations, Parliament, and other EU institutions in the preparatory discussions; 22. Considers that the prime responsibility of the EU to create new jobs lies in the improvement of the European macroeconomic framework. The main responsibilities of national governments and social part- ners for employment must not be shifted to the European Union. Welcomes therefore the explicit respect for the principle of subsidiarity embedded in the Luxembourg Process; Supports therefore the Presidency proposal to call for policy contributions from a range of Coun- 23. cils, in particular from the Labour and Social Affairs Councils, but also from the Internal Market and Industry Councils, as an input into the overall policy guidelines; considers however that the European Council, as the body responsible (with support from the European Parliament and the Commission) for the economic governance of the Union, should ensure a balanced approach between all Councils involved and should be charged with integrating these contributions into a coherent overall position on growth, employment and social cohesion in Europe; * * * Instructs its President 24. the Council and the Commission. to forward this resolution to the governments of the Member States,