B3-1556 and 1579/93

Resolution on the European Council meeting of 29 October 1993

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the final declaration of the Edinburgh European Council,

-having regard to its resolution of 28 October 1993 on implementation of the Treaty on European Union,

-having regard to the conclusions of the Presidency of the Brussels European Council of 29 October 1993,

-having regard to its resolution of 17 November 1993 on the interinstitutional declaration on democracy and transparency and the Interinstitutional Agreement on procedures for implementing the principle of subsidiarity, the decision of the European Parliament on the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman's duties and the arrangements for the proceedings of the Conciliation Committee under Article 189b EC,

-having regard to its resolution of 17 November 1993 on the negotiations concerning enlargement of the Union to include Austria, Sweden, Finland and Norway,

1.Welcomes the entry into force on 1 November 1993 of the Maastricht Treaty,

2.Welcomes the improvement of the legislative procedure through the introduction of co-decision between Parliament and the Council, which constitutes a first step towards greater democracy and transparency;

3.Notes with satisfaction the conclusions of the European Council which will enable the second stage of economic and monetary union to be implemented on 1 January 1994 and, in particular, the setting up of the European Monetary Institute (EMI);

4.Believes, however, that the Community must relaunch its economy to escape the current recession if it hopes to complete EMU according to the planned timetable and with participation by all concerned;

5.Awaits with interest the announcement of the provisions which will allow greater coordination of the Member States' economic policies, in view of the failure of the multilateral monitoring procedures currently in operation;

6.Approves the strengthening of the measures adopted at the Edinburgh Summit, regrets the delays, due to the Council, in implementing certain measures, e.g. aid for SMUs, but believes that the economic and social situation, in particular the rise in unemployment, requires far-reaching measures which the forthcoming European Council meeting in December 1993 will have to take;

7.Notes the designation of the seats of the Union's new bodies and services;

8.Agrees with the common foreign and security policy objectives announced by the European Council in its list of priorities but fears that the intergovernmental method which continues to be the basis of joint action in this field will not allow the Union to achieve the objectives assigned nor to act effectively at international level, as has been amply demonstrated by the failures of past efforts in the former Yugoslavia;

9.Deplores and voices concern at the proposals for the third pillar (justice and home affairs), which directly affect all the citizens of the Union but do not provide for greater democratic scrutiny by the European Parliament; considers that it has a right to be consulted on all measures relating to the establishment of an area without frontiers and the freedom of movement of its citizens, pursuant to Articles K.1 and K.6 of the Treaty on European Union;

10.Welcomes the appeal to all the institutions urging them to promote effectively, in letter and spirit, the democratic dimension of the Union and therefore questions the reluctance of the Council to implement the Treaty provisions on Parliament's committees of inquiry and the Edinburgh European Council declarations on holding Council discussions in public when it is acting as a Community co-legislator;

11.Notes that, without a Commission proposal or a Parliament opinion, the Council, in an improvised decision, has called itself the 'Council of the Union' without assessing all the legal implications thereof or the confusion which this could cause, and instructs its Committee on Institutional Affairs to study these implications and draw up a report;

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

12.Calls on the Community and its Member States to speed up financial assistance to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia agreed at the Edinburgh European Council, to allow full participation by the Republic in the Phare programme and to open the European market to its exports;

Bosnia-Herzegovina

13.Strongly condemns the continuing barbaric aggression against the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as the deliberate aggression against the humanitarian aid convoys; welcomes the European Council's decision to intensify and reinforce the humanitarian aid efforts for the suffering population of Bosnia-Herzegovina, but insists that everything must be done in the framework of the common foreign and security policy to guarantee the implementation of these decisions;

14.Urges the Council to undertake, in the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, a maximum effort to bring an end to the suffering of the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina and in particular insists on the need to restore gas, electricity, fuel and water supplies; calls furthermore for the immediate opening of corridors towards besieged towns such as Tuzla, including the opening of its airport;

15.Calls on the Council to promote any actions that might help to maintain the multi-ethnic character of society in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and specifically to respect the fact that the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina represents the concept of a multi-ethnic society, and in this regard welcomes the planned cultural events in Sarajevo;

16.Insists on the need for adoption and ratification by the Member States of the Edinburgh decision to change the number of MEPs, so that this change may be implemented in time for the European elections in June 1994;

17.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the European Council, the Council of Ministers, the Commission and the governments of the Member States.