SP(2010)19

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the upcoming EU-US Summit and the Transatlantic Economic Council Meeting.

The resolution had been tabled by the S&D, ECR, EPP and ALDE groups. It reaffirms that EU-US relations are the most important strategic partnership for the EU and insists on the importance of the intensification by the EU and the US administration of their strategic dialogue and coordination when dealing with global challenges and regional conflicts. The Commission is asked to submit, after the forthcoming EU-US Summit, a communication on a strategic EU-US partnership . Parliament calls on both partners to promote respect for human rights in the world as a key element of their policy. It calls on the US administration to accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; repeats its appeal for the abolition of the death penalty, and calls on the US Government to return to the practice of full compliance with international standards of the rule of law , to put a stop to all extrajudicial measures and to end impunity in connection with human rights violations.

Members stress the importance of coordination on the implementation of the G-20 commitments, and in reaching an international agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP-15) in Copenhagen in December 2009. They urge the EU to seek at the EU-US Summit:

an ambitious US commitment to international post-Kyoto obligations and US cooperation in promoting links between the EU emissions trading scheme and regional or federal trading schemes in the US; to agree on a reinforced transatlantic partnership to deal with common global challenges, in particular with regard to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, counter-terrorism, climate change, respect for human rights, facing pandemics and attaining the MDGs.

On security, Parliament underlines the importance of NATO as the cornerstone of transatlantic security. It underlines the importance of the ESDP and the value of an enhanced European defence capability for the strengthening of transatlantic security. The resolution welcomes the announcement by the US President that he will take forward the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). It calls on the Council to contribute positively to the preparations for the next Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010, in close cooperation with the US and Russia. It also underlines that the uncertainties about the nature of the Iranian nuclear programme endanger the non-proliferation system and stability in the region and the world. Members support the objective of finding a negotiated solution with Iran, following the dual strategy of dialogue and sanctions, in coordination with other members of the Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency. They also support the US bilateral dialogue approach with North Korea, within the framework of the Six-Party Talks, to achieve denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

Parliament goes on to take note of the abandonment by the US of its original plans for a missile defence shield in Europe and takes note of its new plans, and calls for a new global security architecture involving especially the EU, the US, Russia and China. It considers that the first meeting, hosted on 23 September 2009 by President Obama, between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas failed to fulfil its ambitions. Parliament calls on the EU and US jointly to promote active Quartet intervention in the search for common ground as a basis for a peaceful settlement with the objective of a two-state solution providing for an independent, viable Palestinian state . The Summit is asked to examine possible ways of reaching out to the Arab world. Parliament wants an end to the extremely difficult humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, and it deplores the role of Hamas in restricting personal freedom and human rights.

Whilst it welcomes the recent extension of the visa waiver programme to another seven EU Member States, the resolution urges the US to lift the visa regime for the entire EU and to treat all EU citizens equally and on the basis of full reciprocity. It criticises the planned introduction of administrative fees for the granting of Electronic System for Travel Authorisations (ESTA) to EU citizens as a retrograde step.

On the Transatlantic Economic Council, Members move on to underlines that a closer transatlantic partnership with a view to the completion of a transatlantic market by 2015, based on the principle of a social market economy, is a vital instrument for shaping globalisation and for dealing with global crises. They call on the US authorities and the Commission to intensify negotiations to find balanced solutions concerning air security needs and data protection in the field of passenger name records (PNR), reviews of security checks at airports and the more effective incorporation of measures to reduce the impact of transatlantic and international aviation on climate into the Copenhagen negotiations and ICAO agreements.

With regard to the economic and financial crises , Parliament underlines the role of the TEC in promoting and ensuring a coordinated US-EU regulatory response to the crises, in particular regarding alternative investment funds, financial market infrastructure, capital requirements, tax havens and cross-border insolvency resolution. It calls on the TEC to examine the coordination of, and best practice with regard to, remuneration policy for financial institutions, ensuring that remuneration is based on long-term results, and thus reducing risk exposure.

Lastly, the resolution calls for stronger co-operation in the fields of intellectual property protection, energy efficiency, bio-fuels, and cyber security.

T7-0058/2009

B7-0095/2009

B7-0096/2009

B7-0098/2009

B7-0109/2009

RC-B7-0095/2009

Debate in Parliament