Agenda 2000, Accession partnerships: principles, priorities, intermediate objectives and conditions

In adopting the report by Mr Arie OOSTLANDER (PPE, NL) on the proposals for decisions on the principles, priorities, intermediate objectives and conditions contained in the accession partnerships, Parliament regretted that the Commission and Council had refused formally to consult Parliament on the draft Decisions. It asked to be formally invited to give its opinion in future, before any decision entailing a possible change to the accession partnerships was taken. It regretted, in particular, that some of the points to which it had drawn attention in its resolution of 4 December 1997 (AGENDA 2000 - COS/1997/2183) were included among the objectives to be attained in the medium term, and called for them to be attained in the short term. It called for the abolition of the death penalty to be included among the objectives for all applicant countries, and called on the Commission to develop a strategy for human rights and the rights of minorities in each country. It called on the Commission to introduce as a short-term priority the creation of conditions to make the abolition of visa requirements feasible and for financial resources also to be available for sectors such as health care. It called for institution-building to be made a new priority so as to strengthen regional and local authorities in the countries concerned. It hoped that the partnerships would enhance cross-border cooperation in all sectors, especially at the external borders of the Union, thereby demonstrating to public opinion the benefits of enlargement.