Preparations for the European Council meeting (19-20 December 2013)

Tabled by Sven Giegold, Daniel Cohn-Bendit on behalf of the Greens/EFA Group

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its resolutions of 12 June 2013 on strengthening European democracy in the future EMU(1), of 23 May 2013 on ‘future legislative proposals on EMU: response to the Commission communications’(2) and of 21 November 2013 on the Commission communication entitled ‘Strengthening the social dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)’(3),

– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas determined efforts have been made by the EU institutions and the Member States to restore financial credibility and stability, in particular through the adoption and implementation of structural reforms and the adoption of the new economic governance framework; whereas these efforts have to be completed by a true Banking Union;

B. whereas better economic policy coordination is needed in order to enhance competitiveness, sustainability and job creation in the EU;

C. whereas the ‘Community method’ is the appropriate approach in dealing with the challenges facing the EU and its currency;

D. whereas all decisions should be underpinned by parliamentary scrutiny and accountability at the level at which they are taken;

E. whereas full respect for, and thorough application of, EU law is the basic element of this policy;

1. Reminds the European Council of the political commitment to the effect that the Single Resolution Mechanism should be agreed before the end of the current legislative term; calls on the European Council to reiterate its demand to the Council that the negotiations on the Deposit Guarantee Directive and the recovery and resolution framework be concluded successfully before the end of 2013;

On deepening EMU

2. Calls on the European Council to make a political commitment with regard to the legislative preparation, on the basis of the Treaties, of better economic policy coordination; expects Parliament and the other EU institutions to agree on the key features of this better economic policy coordination before the end of the current legislative term;

3. Requests that, on the basis of the aforementioned better economic policy coordination, a legal act on ‘convergence guidelines’ be adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure, laying down, for a set period, a very limited number of targets for the most urgent reform measures;

4. Reiterates its request that the Member States ensure that the national reform programmes, which should be established on the basis of the aforementioned convergence guidelines and verified by the Commission, are discussed and adopted by their national parliaments; considers this essential in order to strengthen ownership, and the democratic accountability, of the whole process;

5. Considers it appropriate for the Member States to commit themselves to fully implementing their national reform programmes, as verified; suggests that, on this basis, the Member States could enter into a ‘convergence partnership’ with the EU institutions, with the possibility of conditional funding for reform activities;

6. Reiterates that stronger economic cooperation should go hand in hand with an incentive‑based mechanism; considers that any additional funding or instruments, such as a solidarity mechanism, must be an integral part of the EU budget, but outside the agreed multiannual financial framework (MFF) ceilings;

7. Recalls that the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance (TSCG) has to be integrated into EU law by 1 January 2018 at the latest, on the basis of an assessment of the experience with its implementation, as stipulated in Article 16 of the TSCG;

8. Recalls its fundamental position that the strengthened EMU should not divide the EU but, on the contrary, establish deeper integration and stronger governance, which should be open to all non-euro Member States on a voluntary basis;

9. Calls on the European Council to comply fully with Article 15(1) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU);

On defence policy

10. Points out that, according to the Treaties, the EU’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the well-being of its peoples (Article 3 TEU), and that its action on the international scene seeks to consolidate and support democracy, the rule of law and human rights, and to prevent conflicts and strengthen international security, in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, the principles of the Helsinki Final Act and the aims of the Charter of Paris; is convinced that the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) serves these aims; recalls that Articles 42(1) and 43(1) TEU describe the spectrum of CSDP missions as joint disarmament operations, humanitarian and rescue tasks, military advice and assistance tasks, conflict prevention and peace-keeping tasks, and tasks of combat forces in crisis management, including peace-making and post‑conflict stabilisation;

11. Reminds the Member States, the Vice‑President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR), the Commission and the European Defence Agency that, more than two decades after the Cold War and having been able to take advantage of relatively high national defence budgets, the Member States were not able to fulfil the Helsinki Headline Goals; questions, therefore, the argument that current cuts in national defence budgets may automatically lead to capability gaps in respect of the CSDP, and that as a consequence of national defence budget cuts the EU budget must contribute to capability development;

12. Recalls that opening the EU budget to defence research or to the procuring of military goods and technology represents a strategic mistake, as introducing fresh money would only prolong the current structural deficits resulting from, inter alia, inefficiency, duplication, corruption, fragmentation and the procurement of useless military goods and technology; calls, therefore, on the Member States and the Commission to refrain from launching a preparatory action on CSDP-related research;

13. Highlights the fact that successful military operations require a clear command and control function; calls for the establishment of a permanent military planning and conduct capability; notes with regret the lack of progress on this issue and the strong resistance on the part of some Member States; calls on the European Council to invite the VP/HR to bring forward proposals to implement in full the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty, in particular as regards the Start-Up Fund (Article 41(3) TEU), which will make early and appropriate EU-level action less dependent on individual Member States;

14. Calls on the Member States significantly to deepen their cooperation and coordination on those aspects of defence which are relevant for an effective CSDP; calls on the Member States to be much more ambitious regarding the pooling and sharing process;

15. Calls on the Member States to strengthen the implementation of the ‘Defence Package’ as proposed in the Commission communication entitled ‘Towards a more competitive and efficient defence and security sector’ (COM(2013)0542), and to work together towards the gradual phasing-out of offset requirements; calls on the Member States to use the upcoming review of the Directive on Defence Procurement (2009/81/EC) also to address government-to-government sales;

16. Questions the establishment of a user community for present and near-future use and the preparation of a programme on European medium-altitude long endurance remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) in the 2020-2025 timeframe; calls on the Member States to refrain from intensifying EU-level cooperation on RPAS (drones); also deplores the total lack of discussion at the EU level about the EU norms which should govern research into, and the development, procurement, use and export of, armed and unarmed drones; calls on the Member States to ensure public disclosure of the legal basis for the use of drones, operational responsibility, targeting criteria, their impact, information about alleged violations, investigations and prosecutions, and to ensure that national security considerations are not used to justify withholding statistical and basic methodological data of this kind;

17. Urges the heads of state and government, in view of the strategic importance of European defence and the scale of the challenges facing the Union, to revisit in December 2015 the progress made in implementing the December 2013 Council conclusions, on the basis of an implementation report by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy;

18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the European Council and the Commission.