B3-1756 and 1759/93

Resolution on the diminution of the Community's powers in the fields of commercial policy and development cooperation policy

The European Parliament,

-having regard to Article J.7 of the Treaty on European Union, whereby the Presidency must consult the European Parliament on the main aspects and the basic choices of the common foreign and security policy and must ensure that the European Parliament's views are duly taken into consideration,

-having regard to Article C of the Treaty on European Union,

-having regard to Title VII (common commercial policy) and Title XVII (development cooperation) of the EC Treaty,

A.mindful of the recent trend whereby the Presidency decides, through the working parties on political cooperation and joint actions, on the financing of certain activities (South Africa and Bosnia), for the administration of which the Commission alone is responsible,

B.mindful of the decisions of the European Council of 29 October 1993 on the joint actions involving sending an observer mission to monitor the elections in Russia and peace in former Yugoslavia, such decisions having been taken without prior consultation of Parliament, as laid down in the Treaty,

C.recalling the letter sent on 10 November 1993 to the President of the European Parliament by the President of the Council trying to justify the fact that the European Parliament was not consulted before the decision to carry out the aforementioned joint actions was taken,

1.Rejects trends towards an ill-considered renationalization of policies either under the guise of a transfer of Community policies to the intergovernmental pillars or of a dubious conception of subsidiarity; on the contrary, takes the view that it is becoming a matter of increasing urgency to strengthen the European Union's development cooperation policy and to improve its consistency and efficiency in order to harmonize the Member States' and Commission's cooperation activities to the greatest possible extent;

2.Calls on the Commission, as guardian of the Treaty, to implement Articles C and J.7 strictly so that the necessary consistency of commercial policy, development policy and the CFSP does not in any way involve a diminution of the Community's powers and so that it is the CFSP which takes the other two Community policies into account;

3.Recalls that humanitarian aid may not be granted as part of a joint action without the prior consent of the European Parliament;

4.Recalls that the complementarity between the Community's development cooperation policy and that of the Member States, as laid down in Article 130u, does not in any way imply a diminution of the Community's powers in this area;

5.Reminds the Council that joint actions under the CFSP cannot be financed out of budgetary resources allocated for Community policies without the prior consent of the European Parliament;

6.Emphasizes its recommendation of 2 December 1993 to the effect that the Council of the European Union:

(a)should try to reach an agreement with the European Parliament and the Commission on the conditions and procedures applicable to future missions to monitor elections in non-member countries, and

(b)should in future consult the European Parliament without delay before adopting CFSP decisions (pursuant to Article J.7 of the Treaty on European Union),

and takes the view that it should be systematically involved in the definition of the CFSP so that its role as laid down by the Treaty is strengthened;

7.Expects the CFSP to make an active contribution to the promotion of human rights and democratization, calls on the Commission to continue to use the resources allocated for the promotion of human rights and democratization in developing countries strictly in accordance with Article 130u and asks it to ensure that these policies are properly coordinated;

8.Calls on the Council, the Commission and Parliament to engage in a dialogue to draw up procedures which will guarantee the European Parliament's involvement in the CFSP and to conclude the interinstitutional agreement submitted by its delegation to the interinstitutional conference in accordance with its mandate;

9.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Member States and the Commission.