EP - Transatlantic relations

Motion for a resolution - Transatlantic partnership
Doc.: B5-0319/2003

Debate: 04.06.2003
Vote: 19.06.2003


Vote

Parliament adopted a resolution with 303 votes in favor, 109 against and 47 abstentions on a renewed transatlantic relationship for the third millennium. MEPs stress that a strong Europe is a precondition for a well-balanced partnership based on equality. The House also underlines that the EU will only be recognized as a partner if it can accompany its economic strength with a real CFSP and that this requires the extension of QMV (qualified majority voting) in the Council to services in external trade and the field of the Foreign and Security Policy, the establishment of a European common diplomatic service, enhanced co-operation in defense policy and stronger and more efficient use of military capabilities.

The House expresses concern that the EU-US partnership could be undermined, on the one hand, by the apparently growing influence of neo-conservative currents in US politics which emphasize unilateral, and often military, solutions to global problems at the expense of the traditions of more than 50 years of US internationalism and multilateralism, and, on the other, by the political and the military weakness of the EU and most of its Member States. As well as supporting the Road map for peace in the Middle East, MEPs call upon the transatlantic partnership actively to support and strengthen the international institutions and to reaffirm the value of international law. The House calls upon all partners to avoid unilateral approaches and to return to multilateralism and to the United Nations framework in order to develop global governance.

MEPs regret that the US has not acceded, or does not fully adhere, to major international instruments of international human and humanitarian law such as those protecting the rights of the child, abolishing the death penalty, and safeguarding the treatment of prisoners of war in the wake of the recent conflicts. The House, in particular, urges the US to accede to the Statute of the International Criminal Court and invites the US to co-operate with the EU with a view to advancing effectively in the urgently needed reforms of the United Nations in order to reinforce the UN's position as the moral authority of the world community.

Parliament recommends a continuous initiative designed to accelerate the implementation of WTO rulings which could lead to the completion of a 'Transatlantic Market' which would help to achieve the free movement of goods, capital, services and persons, taking full account of the interests of the developing world.

The House also calls on the transatlantic partners to substantially increase development aid and strategies to meet the 0.7 per cent UN target and UN Millennium Development Targets in the current WTO round, including a joint commitment to ending agricultural protectionism against developing-country producers. MEPs furthermore, call for an absolute commitment to meeting the demands of developing countries in the current WTO round, including a joint commitment to ending agricultural protectionism against developing-country producers.

Finally, the House underlines that the European Security Strategy should pay special attention to the Union's position on issues which the U.S., with its National Security Strategy, seems to interpret differently, followed by an in-depth dialogue, the two major points being currently the legitimacy of the use of military force in the absence of a UN mandate and the concept of pre-emptive strikes. MEPs believe that a broad consensus should be possible in the field of fighting terrorism in the framework of the global coalition set up after the 11 September terrorists attacks.

However, MEPs stress that the fight against terrorism cannot be waged at the expense of basic shared values such as respect for human rights and civil liberties. The House consequently insists that transatlantic agreements on police and judicial cooperation must ensure fair trial treatment of all European citizens and full respect for data protection in both police cooperation and demands for air passenger information.

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