ISSN 1725-2423 Official Journal C 184 E of the European Union Volume 52 English edition Information and Notices 6 August 2009 Notice No Contents Page European Parliament 2007-2008 SESSION Sittings of 19 to 21 February 2008 TEXTS ADOPTED The Minutes of this session have been published in OJ C 96 E, 17.4.2008. I Resolutions, recommendations and opinions RESOLUTIONS European Parliament Tuesday 19 February 2008 (2009/C 184 E/01) Transparency in financial matters European Parliament resolution of 19 February 2008 on transparency in financial matters (2007/2141(INI)) . 1 (2009/C 184 E/02) Protection of the Communities' financial interests — Fight against fraud — Annual reports 2005 and 2006 European Parliament resolution of 19 February 2008 on Protection of the Communities' financial interests — Fight against fraud — Annual reports 2005 and 2006 (2006/2268(INI)) . 8 (2009/C 184 E/03) The EU's Strategy to deliver market access for European companies European Parliament resolution of 19 February 2008 on the EU's Strategy to deliver market access for European companies (2007/2185(INI)) . 16 (2009/C 184 E/04) Abuse of power by supermarkets Declaration of the European Parliament on investigating and remedying abuse of power by large supermarkets operating in the European Union . 23 EN (Continued overleaf) Notice No Contents (continued) Page Wednesday 20 February 2008 (2009/C 184 E/05) Treaty of Lisbon European Parliament resolution of 20 February 2008 on the Treaty of Lisbon (2007/2286(INI)) . 25 (2009/C 184 E/06) Lisbon Strategy European Parliament resolution of 20 February 2008 on the input for the 2008 Spring Council as regards the Lisbon Strategy . 30 (2009/C 184 E/07) Broad Economic Policy Guidelines for 2008-2010 European Parliament resolution of 20 February 2008 on the Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs (Part: broad guidelines for the economic policies of the Member States and the Community): Launching the new cycle (2008-2010) (COM(2007)0803 — 2007/2275(INI)) . 38 (2009/C 184 E/08) An EU Strategy for Central Asia European Parliament resolution of 20 February 2008 on an EU Strategy for Central Asia (2007/2102(INI)) . 49 Thursday 21 February 2008 (2009/C 184 E/09) Monitoring the application of Community law (2005) European Parliament resolution of 21 February 2008 on the Commission's 23rd Annual report on monitoring the application of Community law (2005) (2006/2271(INI)) . 63 (2009/C 184 E/10) Situation in Gaza European Parliament resolution of 21 February 2008 on the situation in the Gaza Strip . 68 (2009/C 184 E/11) Seventh Human Rights Council of the United Nations European Parliament resolution of 21 February 2008 on the seventh session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) . 71 (2009/C 184 E/12) The demographic future of Europe European Parliament resolution of 21 February 2008 on the demographic future of Europe (2007/2156(INI)) 75 (2009/C 184 E/13) Scientific cooperation with Africa European Parliament resolution of 21 February 2008 on the importance of supporting measures to improve international scientific cooperation with Africa . 88 (2009/C 184 E/14) 4th report on cohesion European Parliament resolution of 21 February 2008 on the fourth report on economic and social cohesion (2007/2148(INI)) . 89 (2009/C 184 E/15) The Territorial Agenda and the Leipzig Charter European Parliament resolution of 21 February 2008 on the follow-up of the Territorial Agenda and the Leipzig Charter: Towards a European Action Programme for Spatial Development and Territorial Cohesion (2007/2190(INI)) . 95 (2009/C 184 E/16) Timor-Leste European Parliament resolution of 21 February 2008 on Timor-Leste . 101 EN (Continued overleaf) 6.8.2009 EN Official Journal of the European Union C 184 E/1 Tuesday 19 February 2008 I (Resolutions, recommendations and opinions) RESOLUTIONS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Transparency in financial matters P6_TA(2008)0051 European Parliament resolution of 19 February 2008 on transparency in financial matters (2007/2141(INI)) (2009/C 184 E/01) The European Parliament, — having regard to the Commission's Green Paper on the European Transparency Initiative (COM(2006)0194), — having regard to the Commission's Communication on the follow-up to the Green Paper on the European Transparency Initiative (COM(2007)0127), — having regard to Article 255 of the EC Treaty, — having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure, — having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A6-0010/2008), A. whereas transparency enables citizens to participate more closely in the decision-making process and guarantees that the EU institutions enjoy greater legitimacy and are more effective and more accountable to the citizen in a democratic system, B. whereas transparency contributes to strengthening the principles of democracy and respect for funda­ mental rights as laid down in Article 6 of the EU Treaty and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, C. whereas greater transparency within the EU institutions would increase public understanding of how EU funds are used while at the same time improving the possibilities for evaluating the effectiveness of EU spending, C 184 E/2 EN Official Journal of the European Union 6.8.2009 Tuesday 19 February 2008 Disclosure of information concerning the beneficiaries of EU funds (practical implementation) 1. Recalls that the first subparagraph of Article 30(3) of the Financial Regulation, as amended on 13 December 2006 ( 1 ) provides, under the heading of the principle of transparency, that ‘The Commission shall make available, in an appropriate manner, information on the beneficiaries of funds deriving from the budget held by it when the budget is implemented on a centralised basis and directly by its departments, and information on the beneficiaries of funds as provided by the entities to which the budget implementation tasks are delegated under other modes of management.;’ 2. Is of the opinion that transparency is closely related to whether the information provided on bene­ ficiaries is easily accessible, reliable and suitable for further research, comparison and assessment, and hence that the implementation of the term ‘appropriate manner’ as referred to in the Financial Regulation should take due account of these needs; EU funds under central management 3. Recalls that, as regards transparency in relation to the 20 % of EU funding managed directly and centrally by the Commission (grants and public contracts), information including identification of beneficiaries is available for inspection on two websites: For beneficiaries of Grants: http://ec.europa.eu/grants/beneficiaries_en.htm For beneficiaries of Public Contracts: http://ec.europa.eu/public_contracts/beneficiaries_en.htm 4. Requests the Commission to indicate the addresses of the two websites containing information on the beneficiaries of EU funding managed directly and centrally by it explicitly in all documents relating to the EU budget and/or projects and programmes under its responsibility; EU funds under shared, decentralised or joint management 5. Notes that, under Article 53b of the Financial Regulation, where the Commission implements the budget by shared management, the Member States shall, under paragraph 2(d) of the same Article: ‘ensure, by means of relevant sector-specific regulations and in conformity with Article 30(3), adequate annual ex post publication of beneficiaries of funds deriving from the budget’ 6. Points out that, similarly, according to Articles 53c and 53d, third countries and international organ­ isations to which implementation tasks are delegated ‘shall ensure in conformity with Article 30(3) adequate ex-post publication of beneficiaries of funds deriving from the budget’; ( 1 ) Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1995/2006 of 13 December amending Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (OJ L 390, 30.12.2006, p. 1). 6.8.2009 EN Official Journal of the European Union C 184 E/3 Tuesday 19 February 2008 7. Recalls that in the draft Commission declaration on transparency annexed to the results of the conciliation proceedings concerning the revised Financial Regulation, the Commission undertook: ‘to ensure in the sector-specific implementing Regulation that the disclosure of information of bene­ ficiaries of funds deriving from the Agricultural Funds (FEADER ( 1 ) and FEAGA ( 2 )) is comparable to that provided in the sector-specific implementing Regulations for the Structural Funds. In particular adequate annual ex post publication, for each beneficiary, of the amounts received from these funds, subdivided by main categories of expenditure, will be ensured’ 8. Observes that the Commission's website http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/funding/index_en.htm currently includes links to the databases of the 14 Member States providing information on beneficiaries of common agricultural policy payments under shared management; regrets however that the information is so diverse and scattered and of such varying quality that information can hardly be found; calls on the Commission to learn from the very accessible website http://www.farmsubsidy.org which works very well and is set up without public funding; 9. Notes the Commission's reservation that, since the links on its webpage are based on information provided by the Member States, which may vary widely in degree of coverage and detail, it cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the data or information provided, and that it does