Humanitarian aid: definition by the Council of a common position and subsequently of a joint action

Adopting the report by Mr Carlos ROBLES PIQUER (PPE, E), the European Parliament recommended that the Council: - develop and implement the defence of democracy and human rights as a guiding principle of the CFSP of the Union, in accordance with the provisions of the preamble to Article J.1(2) of the TEU; - argue in the relevant international fora that the Union will never accept that a country invoke the principle of non-interference in order to cover up serious and systematic violations of human rights; - conduct a joint action in all fora (in particular the Security Council of the UNO) to promote recognition of the right and the duty to intervene for humanitarian reasons or when serious human rights violations have occurred; - define the criteria for the application of the "democratic clause" included in agreements between the European Union and third countries and specify the procedure to be followed if this clause is not respected; - examine the possibility of establishing a European civil peace corps to strengthen humanitarian action, bring about the peaceful resolution of conflict and prevent the outbreak of new conflicts; - provide for the possibility of participation by the "Eurocorps" and similar military units in humanitarian intervention; - set up a permanent international criminal tribunal with the means and powers needed for it to operate effectively and define intervention by the Member States in the Legal Committee of the General Assembly of the UNO as joint action; - promote simplification and clarification of international law, especially the humanitarian aspects; - adopt a common position or a joint action with a view to democratizing and adapting the structures and institutions of the UNO to the requirements of the 21st century in order to render human rights interventions more effective; - work resolutely for peace by introducing restrictive and responsible rules on disarmament in the Union. Parliament also supported majority voting in the Council for all joint humanitarian actions and warned against the "renationalization" of humanitarian aid by the Union in "national committees". It also called for the Commission to guarantee better "visibility" of financial efforts in the humanitarian sector in order to give the public a clearer understanding of the Union's role in this area. Finally, called for political continuity for humanitarian aid by developing it through cooperation programmes and policy measures.�