The European Parliament,

As regards the new Union

A. whereas the profound transformations taking place in the Soviet Union and the changes in the countries of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe are of major importance for democracy, stability and progress in Europe and the world,

B. having regard to the importance and responsibility of the Community for developments in Europe,

C. having regard to the joint declaration of the President of the USSR and the leaders of ten federal republics aimed at preparing and concluding with all republics which so desire an agreement on a union of sovereign states through the signature of a new Union treaty,

D. whereas, following the abortive coup on 19 August 1991, political developments in the USSR demonstrate that the democratization process is irreversible,

E. whereas if the growth of freedom in the new Union and Eastern Europe is accompanied by a prolonged economic depression, this would constitute not only a tragedy on a human scale, but also a threat to European and world stability,

Political aspects

1. Congratulates the Russian and other peoples on their brave and successful resistance to the reactionary coup of 19 August 1991 and welcomes the attachment to political freedom and democracy and to the achievement of change by peaceful and democratic means shown by the people during these momentous events;

2. Deplores the killing of people defending the Russian Parliament building on the night of 20-21 August;

3. Notes with particular satisfaction the key role played by the elected parliaments, the Russian President, Boris Yeltsin, and the Mayor of St. Petersburg, Anatoly Sobchak, in leading the resistance;

4. Considers that this flowering of the democratic spirit is the result of the policy of perestroika and glasnost pursued by Mikhail Gorbachev since 1985;

5. Welcomes the collapse in authority of the repressive central institutions which had previously dominated the Soviet state, especially the KGB and the Communist Party, and the hard-won new prestige of the elected institutions of republican and city governments;

6. Welcomes the efforts of the people of the new Union to guarantee and consolidate their democratic revolution and their institutions while respecting political pluralism, and welcomes the beginning of the democratic process, the introduction of new institutions based on cooperation between republics and the declaration of human rights and freedoms as adopted on 5 September 1991 by the Congress of Deputies of the Union at the instigation of Mr Gorbachev;

7. Emphasizes the urgent need for a consistent and active overall policy by the Community in order to support and attain the following objectives in the new Union:

(a) the establishment of democratic institutions for a new Union in accordance with the wishes of the Soviet republics and guaranteed effective democratic control over the armed forces and armaments;

(b) respect for human rights and minorities, including the possibility of appealing to international bodies;

8. Welcomes the opportunity provided to the republics to determine their own futures without pressure from central authorities;

9. Calls on all governments of republics to ensure that the linguistic, cultural and other rights of minorities are respected, as part of the development of thriving pluralistic democracies;

Economic aspects

10. Underlines that the new Union suffers from:

- shortage of food, medicines and fuel,

- weakness of the distribution system,

- lack of a stable currency backed by adequate economic policy,

- lack of an adequate legal base for ownership and commercial relations,

- lack of commercial banking,

- lack of experience with a market economy;

11. Calls on the Council and the Commission in cooperation especially with the Group of 24 and with all the institutions concerned (Group of 7, IMF, EBRD, World Bank, EIB) to support the introduction of a major international plan to support the new Union's democratic process and economy so as to facilitate the transition to a free market economy;

12. Emphasizes that the financial aid to be granted to the new Union should be planned and organized on the basis of a distinction between

(a) humanitarian, food and emergency medical aid as well as technical assistance to accelerate institutional reforms,

(b) currency transfers to cover balance of payments deficits for an initial period,

(c) long-term capital in various forms to finance productive investment as soon as possible: full participation of the new Union and the other European countries in world institutions (IMF and World Bank) should be fully supported by the Community;

13. Understands that there will be a severe shortage of food, medical and health care and animal feedstuffs, particularly in the Russian Federation by autumn 1991 and calls on the Commission to make urgent arrangements in cooperation with other donors to investigate and fulfil this humanitarian need, drawing primarily on Community surpluses;

14. Calls, therefore, for a Community policy of adequate investment in the various sectors of production, social activities and the environment, by means of public and private capital, the opening of lines of credit, joint ventures, trade, vocational training to ensure increasingly competitive enterprise management, modern technologies and research into sectors which are ripe for development owing to the availability of raw materials, energy and distribution networks, developing the health service, introducing adequate worker protection and social security, and converting arms industries to peaceful purposes;

15. Calls for cooperation and aid to be organized so that they are geared not only to the central authorities but also to the republics;

16. Considers that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development should urgently remove the arbitrary restrictions on lending to the new Union which are contained in its articles of association;

17. Calls for an urgent further reduction of restrictions under the COCOM list on technology exports to the new Union, which run counter to the requirements for the modernization of infrastructure and the introduction of high technology in industry;

18. Believes that one of the most important contributions that the European Community can make to the progress of the Soviet peoples will be liberalization of trade and the opening of its markets to their exports;

19. Reiterates its insistence that aid to the new Union must not come at the expense of developing countries, notwithstanding the growing pressure being placed on the Community's budget by the many requests for foreign aid;

Security aspects

20. Considers that it is in the interests of humanity as a whole that the peoples who constituted a power which, together with the United States, had the greatest influence over the historic processes of the 20th century and still today possesses deadly weapons of destruction, such as nuclear missiles and warheads, should become a sincere and open partner committed to peaceful progress;

21. Insists on the need for the republics to respect the Soviet Union's international commitments, particularly in the area of disarmament, and calls on the Member States of the Community to make joint proposals within the framework of the CSCE with a view to reducing armaments in both East and West with a precise timetable and objectives;

22 .Notes with satisfaction, however, the refusal by certain republics to maintain nuclear weapons or facilities associated with them on their territory; welcomes in particular the decision by Kazakhstan to close the Soviet Union's main nuclear testing site; calls urgently on all the nuclear powers to negotiate a comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty;

23. Urges Western powers to respond warmly to the recent proposal to reduce nuclear armaments, preferably by offering an immediate start to new talks for major mutual reductions in nuclear weaponry both East and West; stresses the need for only one body to represent the republics at these negotiations;

24. Calls for further cuts in military and related expenditures and for the use of a substantial proportion of the resulting 'peace dividend' to finance international aid to the new Union as well as the developing world;

25. Attaches major importance to the speeding up of the intergovernmental conferences in order to achieve political union as soon as possible and establish a joint foreign, security and defence policy of the European Union so as to guarantee its cohesion and influence over the major transformations under way in Europe and the world;

As regards the independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia

26. Congratulates and rejoices with the peoples of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on the restoration of their sovereign independence and endorses the official recognition of these States by the European Community and its Member States;

27. Expresses its intention to constitute an ad hoc delegation for relations with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia prior to a final decision concerning a standing delegation;

28. Acknowledges that individual technical assistance and trade programmes for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia will have to be established and urges the Commission to expedite discussions with the authorities of the three countries on this matter in coordination with the Nordic Council;

29. Wishes to make budgetary provisions for the Baltic republics in the 1992 Community budget;

30. Recognizes the urgent need for humanitarian aid, including medical equipment, food aid and animal feed before the coming winter and urges the Commission to take immediate action;

31. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, Commission, European Political Cooperation, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the new Union, its republics, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.