European Parliament resolution on the second report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the implementation of the ‘statement of conclusions from the intermediate ministerial meeting on the integration of fisheries and environmental issues, 13-14 March 1997 in Bergen’  (COM(1999) 270 — C5-0156/1999 — 1999/2150(COS))
C 346/88 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 4. 12. 2000 Thursday 2 March 2000 20. Requests the Council to respond creatively to the Presidency’s initiative of defining a new economic and political strategy capable of taking such advantage of the innovation process in a knowledge-based economy so as to transform Europe into the world’s most dynamic area; Asks the Commission and the Council, taking into account the changes in skills dictated by emer- 21. gent technologies to introduce quantitative targets of youth training as well as retraining for long-term unemployed workers, to which Member States will bind themselves to converge over a fixed time period; Asks the Commission to initiate studies of the process of, and the institutions for, the negotiation of 22. terms of employment in the various Member States in order to evaluate whether they are conducive to a flexible labour market, which will promote employment, both in current conditions as well as in the con- ditions of the developing knowledge-based economy; 23. Calls on the Commission to commission an annual report on the economic and social situation in the EU from independent European economic researchers, to be submitted to the European Parliament; the report should also take account of the European impact of national policy measures, in order to improve the necessary coordination of European economic policies; 24. Calls on the Council and Commission to eliminate the democratic deficit in economic and employ- ment policy-making by means of an interinstitutional agreement involving the European Parliament fully in decision-making on the broad outlines of economic policy and the economic policy guidelines; 25. Requests the Council to take proper account of the risks implicit in the overvaluation of capital markets pointed out in the Commission’s Report and to mandate the Commission to initiate negotiations with the G7 Council in order to formulate appropriate policies and take prompt measures for increasing transparency and combating the speculative element in the activities of global finance; 26. Recognises the relationship between education and opportunities for long-term economic growth, and calls on the Commission to urge all Member States to ensure that general educational standards are improved, and that all children leave school prepared for life and the world of work and ready to partici- pate in the shaping of our community; Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the govern- 27. ments and parliaments of the Member States. 9. Fisheries and environment (Bergen, 13 and 14 March 1997): second report A5-0016/2000 European Parliament resolution on the second report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the implementation of the ‘statement of conclusions from the intermedi- ate ministerial meeting on the integration of fisheries and environmental issues, 13 and 14 March 1997 in Bergen’ (COM(1999) 270 - C5-0156/1999 - 1999/2150(COS)) The European Parliament, 0 having regard to the Commission’s second report to the Council and European Parliament (COM(1999) 270 0 C5-0156/1999), 0 having regard to the conclusions of the intermediate ministerial meeting on the integration of fisheries and environmental issues held on 13 and 14 March 1997 in Bergen, 0 having regard to its resolution of 10 March 1999 (1) on the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament: report on the implementation of the ‘statement of conclu- sions from the intermediate ministerial meeting on the integration of fisheries and environmental issues, 13 and 14 March 1997 in Bergen’ (COM(1998) 326 0 C4-0495/1998), (1) OJ C 175, 21. 6. 1999, p. 104. 4. 12. 2000 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 346/89 Thursday 2 March 2000 0 having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure, 0 having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries (A5-0016/2000), 1. Notes the initiatives undertaken by the Commission in 1998 to achieve the objectives contained in the Final Declaration of the Bergen Conference on protecting the North Sea and expresses its satisfaction at the progress made in ensuring the recovery of fish stocks and ecosystems in the North Sea; 2. Reiterates the substance of its abovementioned resolution of 10 March 1999; 3. Calls on the Council to consider setting total allowable catches (TACs) for the cod, haddock, herring, mackerel, northern prawn, Norway pout, plaice, saithe, sand eel, sole, whiting and spotted dogfish fish- eries, on the basis of scientific data on the state of stocks and in accordance with the precautionary approach to fisheries management based on the reference points established by ICES; 4. Congratulates the Commission on the progress made in 1998 as regards monitoring policy under the common fisheries policy (CFP), and calls for the efforts made to be continued in order to improve the existing mechanisms; 5. Calls on the Commission to put forward initiatives designed to establish a system for penalising infringements of fishing regulations under which those professionally engaged in fishing would be treated equally regardless of the Member State in which the infringement occurred; 6. Encourages the Commission to continue the programme of exchanges of fisheries inspectors between Member States and third countries involved in North Sea fisheries as a means of promoting standard practice with regard to the implementation of conservation and control measures under the CFP; 7. Calls on the Member States to make an effort to set up the Community network of protected areas known as Natura 2000 and calls on the Commission to adopt the necessary measures to meet the com- mitments flowing from the directives on the protection of species and habitats of Community interest; Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the govern- 8. ments of the Member States. 10. Fisheries management and marine environment A5-0017/2000 European Parliament resolution on the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on fisheries management and nature conservation in the marine environ- ment (COM(1999) 363 - C5-0176/1999 - 1999/2155(COS)) The European Parliament, 0 having regard to the communication from the Commission (COM(1999) 363 0 C5-0176/1999), 0 having regard to its resolution of 25 October 1996 on the Commission’s communication on imple- menting the technical measures in the common fisheries policy (1), 0 having regard to its resolution of 18 September 1998 on the Commission’s communication on fish- eries monitoring under the common fisheries policy (2), 0 having regard to Rule 160 of its Rules of Procedure, 0 having regard to the report of the Committee on Fisheries and the opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (A5-0017/2000), (1) OJ C 347, 18. 11. 1996, p. 453. (2) OJ C 313, 12. 10. 1998, p. 241