B4-0164, 0165 and 0166/94

Resolution on the Mediterranean policy of the European Union

The European Parliament,

-having regard to all the conclusions of the European Councils since the European Council in Lisbon in 1992 on the European Union's Mediterranean policy,

A.convinced that the Mediterranean area is the essential component required to set the final seal on European integration,

B.whereas the European Council in Corfu instructed the Council and Commission to assess the European Union's global policy in the Mediterranean area and possible means of underpinning this policy in the short and medium term, including the possibility of convening a conference between the European Union and its Mediterranean partners,

C.whereas enlargement of the Union to encompass three Nordic countries and Austria makes it necessary at the same time to extend policies for the Mediterranean area,

1.Calls on the Union to implement a global and coherent policy for the Mediterranean countries with a view to guaranteeing peace, security and stability within this region, together with its general welfare;

2.Calls on the European Union to introduce programmes of cooperation with its Mediterranean partners comparable to the PHARE and TACIS programmes;

3.Believes that the European Union should support this policy with the requisite foreign policy appropriations for this region;

4.Calls on the Commission to submit proposals with a view to establishing and financing specific programmes for the Mediterranean area so as to foster the spread of democracy, innovation in the cultural and occupational spheres, cultural and scientific exchanges, social and environmental reforms, and a specific programme for environmental protection in the Mediterranean;

5.Calls on the European Union to strengthen its cooperation policy and to complete that policy by means of joint action under Article J.3 of the Treaty on European Union, making provision for close involvement of the European Parliament;

6.Calls on the Council and Commission, in the light of the Corfu conclusions, to revive and reactivate the idea of a 'Conference on Security and Cooperation in the Mediterranean' - already called for on repeated occasions by the European Parliament and some governments - making the necessary changes to time-scales and the basic premisses;

7.Calls, in this connection, for an acceleration of the accession process so far as Cyprus and Malta are concerned and the Union's involvement in all international forums and institutions dealing with Mediterranean policy;

8.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States, and the governments of the countries concerned.