Strassbourg, 1.4.2004

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, drawn up by the European Convention,
- having regard to its resolutions of 24 September(1), 4 December(2) and 18 December 2003(3), and of 29 January(4) and 11 March 2004(5),
A. whereas the European Council reaffirmed its commitment to reaching agreement on the Constitutional Treaty, and decided that such agreement should be reached not later than the European Council meeting on 17-18 June,
B. whereas the need to reinforce the EU strategy on terrorism has become more apparent than ever following the brutal terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and those perpetrated in Madrid on 11 March 2004,
C. whereas terrorism constitutes a crime against humanity and the values of an open, democratic and multicultural society and, as such, is a threat to international peace, stability and security,
D. whereas the fight against terrorism blurs the traditional distinction between foreign and domestic policy,
E. whereas only through enhanced cooperation at European and international level can we improve the safety and security of our citizens,
F. whereas the Convention on the draft constitutional Treaty has already indicated the solution to the malfunctions in the establishment of the area of freedom, security and justice and the prevention and combating of terrorism and organised crime; calling on the European Council and the Council to anticipate as far as possible, on the basis of the existing treaties, solutions such as the transfer of judicial cooperation in criminal matters to the Community pillar (Article 42 TEU), the introduction of qualified-majority voting and codecision in policies under Title IV of the EC Treaty, the conversion of Europol into a European agency and its association with Eurojust, and consultation of Parliament on all international agreements relating to the AFSJ,

Intergovernmental Conference

1. Welcomes the European Council's undertaking to reach an agreement on the constitutional Treaty at its meeting on 17 and 18 June 2004 at the latest, and considers that this agreement should, if possible, be reached before the European elections;
2. Stresses that under no circumstances should the agreement thus negotiated undermine the balance of the text resulting from the Convention proceedings; reminds the IGC that Parliament will never support a Constitution that is not substantially based on the proposals of the Convention, that disregards Parliament's existing budgetary prerogatives, or that fails to widen significantly the scope of qualified majority voting in the Council plus codecision with Parliament;

To read the full resolution, visit:
http://www3.europarl.eu.int/omk/omnsapir.so/pv2?PRG=CALDOC&FILE=20040401&LANGUE=EN&TPV=PROV&LASTCHAP=33&SDOCTA=22&TXTLST=1&Type_Doc=FIRST&POS=1