Central and Eastern countries CEECs: industrial cooperation

The Committee adopted with amendments the motion for a resolution drafted by Mr. PEX. According to the proposed resolution, the Parliament regards closer cooperation between the industrial sectors of the EU and the CEEC. In the notice, Parliament regards closer cooperation between the industrial sectors off the EU and the CEEC as playing an important role in the process of economic reform and the preparation of the CEEC for their eventual membership of the Union; hence, it welcomes the Commission's intention of developing industrial cooperation with the CEEC. Parliament regards further privatization of state-owned enterprises on the part of the CEEC as an important precondition for successful industrial cooperation, whose aim should be the transition to a modern, environmentally acceptable industrial system. It calls on the Commission to include the CEEC in the EU's education and research programmes and points out the urgent need to transform the energy sector of the CEEC, so that it can be used on an environmentally sustainable basis. �