The European Parliament adopted by 408 votes to 182
with 23 abstentions, a resolution on the Commission Work Programme
2016.
The resolution was tabled by the EPP, S&D, ALDE
and Greens/EFA groups.
Parliament urged the Commission to use its right of
initiative to its full extent in order to give the Union clear
leadership, and in particular to deliver the completion of the
single market together with the strategic roadmap for economic
union, political union and external action.
Parliament welcomed the opening of negotiations for a
new Interinstitutional agreement on better law making. It
recalled, however, that better law making should not be seen as a
tool for deprioritising areas falling within EU competences and
that political decisions within the democratic decision-making
process should prevail over technical assessments. In this
context, the Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT) programme
must not be used as a pretext for lowering the level of ambition on
issues of vital importance, for deregulating or for lowering social
and environmental standards.
Parliament reaffirmed the importance it attaches to
the ‘Community method’, the transparency of the
legislative process, democratic legitimacy and the role and
responsibility of national parliaments. It expected from the
Commission stronger commitment towards ensuring proper
Interinstitutional consultation, a full follow-up to
Parliament’s proposals and recommendations, and the provision
of detailed justifications for each envisaged
withdrawal.
In order to give a new boost to jobs, growth and
investment, Parliament called on the Commission to:
- submit a proposal for the next phase of the Europe
2020 Strategy which meets the challenges of global competition,
energy transition, the digital revolution and demographic
trends; this proposal should combine structural change with large
investment initiatives building on the already launched energy
union and digital single market and a new initiative for social
investment and re-skilling;
- come up with a powerful response to address the
EU’s social problems, notably unemployment, the skills
gap, social inequalities and exclusion, as well as the risks of
social dumping and the brain drain; this called for (i) an economic
recovery and investment fostering quality job creation, (ii) social
investment focusing on skills, childcare and other social services,
and the social economy; (iii) stronger convergence to ensure
that a set of fundamental social standards was respected across the
Union; (iv) fair labour mobility as a fundamental freedom in the
single market;
- emphasise growth and jobs as a cornerstone of the
European social market economy and of the EU’s strategy
for sustainable development;
- strengthen the mechanisms and resources of competition
policy and state aid in order to
ensure the proper functioning of the single market;
- ensure that education and training remained at
the top of its priorities, including a rethinking of the skills
needed for the current and future labour market, and support for
measures to reduce early school-leaving rates;
- take further steps to protect the Union’s
financial interests in order to ensure the legitimacy of EU
spending in a cost-effective manner;
Parliament also stressed the need to take action
to:
- fight against tax fraud and tax
evasion: the Commission was asked to:
(i) ensure a fair taxation system, based on the principle that
taxes are to be paid in the country where profits are generated,
avoiding internal market distortion and unfair competition; (ii)
come up with a communication to develop an EU definition of tax
havens (uncooperative jurisdictions);
- put in place a connected, inclusive and ambitious
digital single market with a proper mechanism to trigger
investments on the ground;
- develop and modernise the EU’s intellectual
property laws, in particular in the area of copyright, in order
to render them fit for the digital age and to facilitate
cross-border access to creative content on fair and reasonable
terms across the EU;
- put in place an Energy Union through a
competitive internal energy market, and the promotion of green
investment, whilst involving Parliament fully in common efforts to
fight global warming;
- design a more balanced approach to eco-design
measures, based on their energy-saving potential and market
relevance; the Commission should also reflect on current challenges
in the environment and health fields, where the state of the
environment adversely affects human health;
- ensure an integrated and efficient transport
sector: (i) proper implementation of
the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) policy; (ii) concrete
measures ensuring the accessibility of efficient public transport;
(iii) fair and efficient pricing for sustainable transport; (iv)
a master plan for the deployment of Cooperative Intelligent
Transport Systems; (v) review of the Directive on the Promotion of
Clean and Energy Efficient Road Transport Vehicles;
- keep the vital role of the Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP) by: (i) cutting red tape and
removing the administrative burden for farmers and Member
States’ authorities; (ii) help farmers anticipate market
crises, with new and robust market tools aimed at avoiding loss of
incomes; (iii) strong measures to address imbalances in the food
supply chain;
- follow up on the ‘five presidents’
report’ and to submit an ambitious blueprint putting forward
all the measures required to make the Economic and Monetary
Union (EMU) more resilient and turn it into a framework for
better coordination and structural convergence, using the Community
method;
- ensure that European standards are not put at
risk through international trade policy, and that trade
played its part in fighting poverty and enhancing development
abroad;
- develop an area of justice and fundamental rights
based on mutual trust: Parliament
called for the completion of a comprehensive EU-US data protection
umbrella agreement and the revision of the Safe Harbour principles
to be compliant and to not allow any legal loopholes, thanks to an
ambitious EU Data Protection Package at EU level. It called on the
Commission to prevent the movement of terrorist individuals by
strengthening external border controls, and taking action regarding
better exchange of information between Member States’ law
enforcement authorities and EU agencies
- adopt a holistic approach to migration and
asylum tackling the root causes of
irregular migration and efficiently combating migrant smugglers,
strengthening solidarity and responsibility-sharing among all the
Member States; Parliament supported the Commission’s proposals
to offer enhanced assistance to frontline receiving Member
States and called for the tackling of deficiencies regarding
the quality of detention conditions and asylum procedures within
the EU;
- put in place an ambitious and coherent security and
defence policy that will strive to identify, in the rapidly
changing security environment, the new and emerging challenges for
the EU to face and address, the interests to defend and the values
to promote, as well as to provide security for EU citizens and
create an environment for sustained peace and
stability.