On 15 March, the European Parliament adopted (380 to 33 with 23 abstentions) a resolution from the EPP-ED, PES, ELDR, Greens/EFA and UEN groups, in which it explains what it hopes will result from the European Council on 23 and 24 March in Stockholm. The European Parliament mainly hopes to play a more active role in carrying out the strategic objective agreed at the European Council of Lisbon on 23 and 24 March 2000. We give below the full text of the resolution (for the debate and the speeches by Council President Anna Lindh and European Commission President Romano Prodi, see EUROPE of 16 March, p.13).
EP RESOLUTION ON EUROPEAN COUNCIL OF STOCKHOLM
The European Parliament,
having regard to the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council of 23-24 March 2000, which set out the strategic goal for the European Union 'to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion',
having regard to the subsequent legislative proposals and to various documents submitted by the Commission and Council to the European Council and, in particular, to the Commission summary report 'Realising the European Union's potential: consolidating and extending the Lisbon strategy', and the Commission communication on structural indicators (COM(2000) 594),
whereas the Lisbon European Council's guidelines are based on strengthening the social market economy by means of a complementary approach of sustainable growth and structural reforms, full employment and social policies with cumulative gains for each policy field,
whereas the Stockholm European Council will the first of the annual meetings for ensuring overall coherence and the effective monitoring of progress towards the strategic goal, and whereas, therefore, the Lisbon Strategy must be updated in Stockholm,
whereas the European Union, while making progress in purely economic terms, has not yet managed to make its economy sustainable, as called for in Article 6 of the Treaty, and whereas this would require an integrated approach to economic, social and environmental policy,
General consideration of the strategy and aims agreed at Lisbon
Endorses the political message of the Commission's summary report that Member States must bridge the gap between the commitments entered into in Lisbon and their implementation on the ground; underlines, in this context, that it will be still essential for Europe to continue with a balanced and interconnected policy mix, wherein progress in each policy field is mutually supportive;
Expects, therefore, that the European Council will adopt a self-critical stance in Stockholm; underlines that it is still essential for Europe to retain the overall aim of 3% growth and the goal of full employment, with the support of macroeconomic stability and galvanised growth factors;
In the light of its assessment, calls upon the European Council to focus on achieving tangible results from a balanced process of liberalisation as well as structural reforms and on improved business climate, more and better jobs, improved education and training, and greater social cohesion;
Considers that the economic and social approach of the 'Lisbon strategy' must include the environmental dimension for all policy fields concerned ('mainstreaming'); calls, therefore, for the development of a strong analytical basis for environmental impact assessment with a view to achieving sustainable development;
Advises against setting too many targets, which may prove not only contradictory or produce perverse effects but may also serve to reduce the margin of manoeuvre of Member States in achieving the strategic goal; calls on the European Council and Member States to maintain the Commission's proposal of twenty-eight structural indicators plus seven general economic background indicators; however, calls for an annual update and for more qualitative information which will provide for a full picture of economic progress and social cohesion;
Considers that statistical indicators and benchmarking may be useful tools in the effort to make Europe more dynamic; but warns that the statistical burden on business and the economy must be reduced; expects, therefore, the development of a modular statistical accounting system in the medium-term;
Expects, in this context, that the key economic and employment policy instruments, notably the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines, the report on the functioning of the internal market (Cardiff Report) and the European Employment Guidelines, will be given a new direction in the light of the annual guidelines from the European Spring Council;
Economic reforms
Underlines the importance of the Stability and Growth Pact in sustaining steady growth, low inflation and sound public finances in all Member States, since reform is more readily achievable when economies are performing well;
Believes, therefore, that public and private investment, providing high-quality infrastructure, are important in order to create a competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy; calls, therefore, for recommendations on the use, quality and necessary redirection of public spending in its contribution to sustainable economic development and employment;
Calls on the European Council to bring a sense of urgency into the internal market issues pending before the Council; considers that the European Council should instruct the Council of Ministers immediately to arrive at a common position on deadlines for completing the internal market in postal services, electricity and gas; at the same time urges it to assess their environmental and social impact;
Stresses that the single market must be completed and enterprise encouraged and not unduly hindered, through regulation, taxation and legislation; against the background of the Commission Interim Report on reducing regulatory burdens (via business impact assessment etc.), reminds the European Council of the commitments set out in the European Charter for Small Enterprises which it endorsed in June 2000;
Modernising labour markets
Welcomes the creation of an estimated 2.6 million new jobs in the last three years but points out that the level of unemployment, especially in most of the larger Member States, remains unacceptably high; expects, therefore, that the Stockholm European Council will lay down specific time-tables for outstanding and necessary initiatives, such as ambitious intermediate targets for a significant rise in the employment rate;
Endorses the Commission's proposal for a high-level task-force to look at cross-border mobility; considers that membership of this task-force must be broadly based, so that it may propose feasible ways of tackling the main barriers to mobility and the fiscal burden on labour as well as of reducing unemployment, especially of the long-term unemployed, women, young people, disabled and older workers, by appropriate measures already identified by Parliament and Commission;
Notes with satisfaction that improving the quality of employment will assist in keeping both women and people approaching the traditional retirement age in the labour market, thereby making a significant contribution to economic growth; believes that the adaptation of the Community legislative framework related to new forms of work (teleworking, home-working, part-time, fixed-term contract and atypical work in general, including self-employment) must be a priority in order to combine flexibility and security on a new European labour market;
Expects that great attention will also be paid to demographic trends and to the situation of European labour markets by developing relevant national and European legislative and analytical frameworks for the modernising of pension systems, including legal, fiscal, insurance and social aspects, as well as with a view to a better reconciliation of working and family life;
Innovation and training
Agrees with the Commission in deploring the slow progress being made in areas such as the Community patent and the lifelong learning strategy; calls, furthermore, on the European Council to break the deadlock over the second phase of development of Galileo (the European satellite navigation system) and to address the issue of State aid designed to encourage risk capital;
Agrees that, in the field of information technology, all elements of the telecommunications package, including the eEurope Action Plan, must be adopted this year; urges progress in the field of biotechnology, while the European Council must recognise that certain moral and ethical issues arise from the application of this technology on which a Temporary Committee of Parliament will be reporting;
Recalls the need to coordinate research activities and policies as the key component of the new economy with the Commission playing an active role; considers that specific measures must be taken to develop a network of European centres of research and to facilitate the dissemination and exchange of research findings, which contribute to the quality of life, as well as to increase the percentage of GDP spending on R&D to at least 3%;
Regrets that, as regards the future objectives of education systems, it was given no opportunity to comment on the Commission and Council reports; advocates improving education and lifelong learning systems by making them more responsive to individual needs; considers that a wide range of public and private establishments must be available in order to facilitate access for all to education and training systems;
Stresses the importance of developing a comprehensive information, new technology and communications policy, which promotes high-quality infrastructure, encourages competitive growth, access and choice, with the objective of avoiding 'digital divide' in a dynamic knowledge-based society;
Social cohesion
Calls on the European Council to regain the momentum lost for modernising the European social model, using methods where privately and publicly financed solutions are developed in a complementary approach for achieving social cohesion;
Believes that, as regards the fight against social exclusion and poverty, efforts must remain in line with the European Social Agenda and the new method of open coordination, which must lead to improved policies and structures to resolve the difficulties encountered young people and the less-privileged such as the disabled, the elderly and legally-resident immigrants;
Calls on the European Council to launch appraisals, by national and regional authorities, of the present system of Structural Funds, so that discussions can begin with Parliament and the Commission on laying the foundations for a policy on cohesion in an enlarged Union;
Calls on the European Council to promote the creation of special measures to support the outermost regions of the European Union;
Post-Stockholm perspectives
Takes the view that the Stockholm European Council, and subsequent Spring European Councils, must continue along the path laid down in Lisbon and extend the project to the applicant countries;
Calls on the European Council to follow the lead given in the Commission's summary report and adopt a more structured working method for better cooperation between the Community institutions, with a full role for the European Parliament, in order to create the conditions for the successful attainment of the strategic goal;
Calls on the European Council and the Commission to launch a process of broad consultation before every Spring Summit in order to listen to representatives of the social partners and of civil society in all Member States; believes that the social partners could play a more important role in the implementation of this strategy by launching negotiations at EU and national level;
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the European Council, the Council, the Commission, and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and of the applicant countries.