On 5 December, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the legislative programme and the Commission's work programme for 2003. It calls for an interinstitutional agreement on the Institutional consequences of enlargement and urges for a sustainable and integrated economy. The full text of the resolution is published herewith.

European Parliament resolution on the Commission's legislative and work programme for 2003

The European Parliament,

having regard to Rule 57 of its Rules of Procedure,

having regard to the Commission's legislative and work programme,

having regard to the presentation by the Commission of that programme on 20 November 2002 and the ensuing debate in the presence of the Council,

whereas the annual legislative programme is a fundamental instrument for the correct and harmonious functioning of the EU institutions,

whereas the scope of the fifth enlargement in the history of the European Community is much greater than that of the previous ones; whereas managing a Europe of up to 25 countries and 450 million citizens poses a major challenge, and whereas the success of enlargement will crucially depend on the preparations for it in 2003,

Welcomes the fact that the Commission has improved on programmes presented in previous years, but insists on the need for Parliament to be more closely involved in the development of the work programme;

Notes the political priorities - enlargement, stability, security, and a sustainable and inclusive economy - for the key initiatives, legislative proposals and non-legislative acts;

Wants the Commission to better translate the sustainability requirement into horizontal policies, thereby increasing policy coherence with reference to the Kyoto commitments in particular;

Regrets the fact that the whole debate about the future of Europe, notably the European Convention, the forthcoming intergovernmental conference, and also economic governance are not mentioned at all in the Commission's legislative and work programme;

In particular, welcomes the Commission's legislative and work programme for 2003 both for its clarity and for its political focus, in keeping with the Commission's new political planning and programming strategy; expresses the wish for further improvements to be made to this process, especially with regard to the even greater degree of coherence through coordination to be achieved in terms of annual political programming at interinstitutional level in the coming years;

Considers that it will be necessary to start looking into ways of improving the dialogue, and notably that a preliminary presentation of an outline programming document on each specific legislative area for the coming year, by each Commissioner, would help substantially to improve the structure of the dialogue between Commissioners and the parliamentary committees;

Insists on the establishment of a single procedure, in which the European Parliament must be fully involved through an interinstitutional agreement, giving the European Union a consistent outlook; onsiders that the Commission's programming exercise, based on the Annual Policy Strategy, and that of the Council, to be based on a three-year strategic programme, must be integrated;

Strongly supports the Council's recent statement to the effect that, starting in 2003, it will not consider substantial regulatory proposals without proportionate impact assessments, other than in exceptional circumstances; notes that these assessments should be conducted in an independent way and should also involve key legislative amendments by the other institutional players: the European Parliament and Council; at the same time, regrets the fact that the Commission will not fully introduce impact assessments until 2004;

Calls on the Commission to use its right of initiative not only to propose new initiatives but also to revitalise the legislative proposals pending before the Council and to keep Parliament informed of the reason for the impasse in each case;

Regrets the fact that the Commission has described its work programme merely as input into the Council's annual operating programme, even though it is essential that the work programme should be drawn up and presented in a manner fully consistent with the Commission's right to propose legislation;

Expects the Commission to submit a new proposal for a Statute for political parties and their financing as soon as the Treaty of Nice enters into force, despite the fact that the Commission's legislative and work programme completely omits this issue;

Asks for the inclusion of comitology in the discussions on the interinstitutional agreement, extending the Lamfalussy procedure and ensuring equal rights of scrutiny and call-back for Parliament and the Council in all comitology procedures;

Insists on an interinstitutional agreement being reached between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on the institutional consequences of enlargement;

Calls on the Commission to act upon the demands and remarks set out in the Annex to this resolution;

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

ANNEX

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

To make a success of enlargement:

Believes that the acquis communautaire must be correctly applied to the enlarged European Union, and that for this reason it must be available in the codified version in all the languages of the candidate countries;

Considers that recruitment of officials from the new Member States must be set in train as soon as possible;

Believes that the unhindered operation of the internal market must be guaranteed after enlargement by ensuring that there are harmonised information and education practices for consumers;

Supports the proposal to reassess relations with the enlarged Union's neighbours and, in particular, the priority given to the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and the improvement of relations with the countries of south-east Europe and other countries such as Russia, Ukraine and Moldova;

Calls on the Commission to monitor the enlargement process until the accession treaties have been signed and ratified so that the applicant countries with which negotiations have been completed may become genuine members of the Union in 2004 and participate as such in the elections to the European Parliament;

To guarantee stability and security:

Considers that the improvement of security must be perceived globally so as to take account of the public health and environmental aspects;

Believes that measures relating to common European immigration and asylum policies, based on international standards, making a clear distinction between asylum seekers, people seeking international protection and migrant workers must be adopted as soon as possible; Parliament supports the implementation of improved judicial standards and the development of an integration policy for third-country nationals;

Regrets the fact that the Council has abandoned all reference to the Presidency Conclusions of the Tampere European Council and basically limits itself to actions against illegal immigration instead of developing an ambitious European policy for asylum and immigration;

Supports the Commission's proposal concerning the fight against terrorism and its financing, the fight against cross-border crime and general measures to combat organised crime;

Believes it would be appropriate to set up an integrated system of border management, including measures to fight illegal immigration;

Believes it is necessary to communitise Eurojust and Europol, which must work in close cooperation with OLAF;

To establish a durable, solidarity-based economy:

Notes that any extension of the Lamfalussy procedure is premature until it has been tried and tested, in view of the fact that not one directive has yet gone through all the stages of this new process; notes, moreover, that further progress needs to be achieved as far as the introduction of a call-back procedure in a revised Lamfalussy procedure is concerned, which would also involve amendment of Article 202 of the Treaty;

Believes that as far as fiscal matters are concerned, the tax base must be harmonised wherever this is necessary for the proper functioning of the internal market (apart from tax rates); also believes that the country-of-origin principle must be adopted with regard to VAT and that agreements must be concluded with a number of third countries, in order to be able to finalise the adoption of the directive on taxation of savings;

Emphasises the key role of services of general interest for a socially just society; awaits with great interest the Green Paper on Services of General Interest that has been announced and calls on the Commission to present in 2003 a proposal for a framework directive ensuring wide availability of high-quality services of general interest for all citizens;

Urges the Commission to complete the agricultural negotiations vital to enlargement and to conclude the reform of the fisheries policies;

Considers that the number of legislative acts must be reduced by codification, thorough, systematic recasting and the elimination of measures which have been explicitly or implicitly repealed, and that a plan of action for harmonising private and commercial law must be drawn up on the basis of Article 95 of the Treaty;

Believes that efforts to establish the single market in the field of services must be stepped up, which will provide better protection for consumers in the single market;

Considers it necessary to promote a more effective method of open coordination in the field of employment policy;

Considers that, in order to translate the commitments made at Kyoto into adequate law, there is a need to fulfil the conditions necessary to meet the Union's objectives in the preparatory meetings of the forthcoming COP;

Believes that it it necessary to introduce the seven thematic strategies indicated in the Sixth environmental action programme, an integrated product policy and a new strategy for chemical substances;

Regrets that the Commission has not taken on board the European Parliament's request to present a proposal for a disability-specific discrimination directive, based on Article 13 of the Treaty, during the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003;

As regards interinstitutional matters:

Believes that the statements made by the three institutions in the interinstitutional group on better lawmaking, particularly in the area of governance and impact analysis, must be followed up with concrete proposals;

Considers that internal reform of the Commission must remain a priority; a binding code of conduct must be introduced for the appointment of senior officials, the financial interests of Commissioners and Directors-General must be published on the Internet, and more openness and transparency must be encouraged in the awarding of contracts and grants;

Believes that the Commission must draw up and put in place, as a matter of urgency, an action plan to modernise and improve its accounting system;

Believes that the staff reform must be adopted within the scheduled time frame, bringing the secretariats of the political groups within the Staff Regulations, while safeguarding the necessary flexibility and mobility for their functioning, which is a political rather than an administrative matter;

As regards the external dimension:

Believes it is necessary to make development aid and debt relief conditional on respect for human rights, democratic principles, the rule of law and good governance, which constitute the essential elements of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement;

Calls on the Commission in this context to incorporate respect for human rights and democracy more effectively in its external policies, particularly in relation to the implementation of the relevant clauses in bilateral and multilateral agreements with third countries;

Calls on the Commission to consult extensively with Parliament before entering into multilateral or bilateral trade negotiations on behalf of the EU; urges thorough consultation as regards the Commission's mandate in the post-Doha process, including the mandate to be given in January 2003 for agricultural negotiations in the WTO;

Believes that, as regards the CFSP, the Transatlantic Dialogue must be further strengthened, the necessary measures taken with a view to negotiating and concluding association agreements with the countries of Central America and the Andean Community within the scheduled time limits, the European Union's contribution to crisis management and stability in Afghanistan, the Middle East and the Balkans continued and stepped up, and thought given to the industrial aspects of the European defence policy;

Considers that a regular progress report must be published to make known the follow-up to EU and Member States' activities with regard to the International Criminal Court;

Believes that, following the European Court of Justice judgment of 5 November 2002 against eight Member States for having concluded 'open sky' agreements with the United States, a communication must be submitted as soon as possible on the future establishment of agreements between the European Community and third countries in the field of air transport.