The Inter-Parliamentary Conference,Having regard to the decision of the Conference of Speakers of European UnionParliaments taken in April 2012 in Warsaw regarding the establishment and mandate ofthis Conference;Having regard to Title II of Protocol I (and articles 9 and 10) of the Treaty of Lisbonregarding the promotion of effective and regular interparliamentary cooperation withinthe Union;Cognisant of the new powers and instruments foreseen by the Treaty of Lisbon for theEuropean Union (EU) institutions in the area of foreign, security and defence policy;being aware that the new instruments create better opportunities for the Union to wieldinternational influence commensurate with its political and economic weight;Conscious of the multi-layered decision-making process in the areas of CommonForeign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy(CSDP); being aware that effective implementation of these policies must involvenumerous policy actors at both the EU and national levels; conscious of theresponsibility to engage in parliamentary scrutiny at the respective levels and advanceinterparliamentary cooperation in the areas of CFSP and CSDP;

1. Expresses deep concern about the Ukrainian crisis and its consequences forinternational security, the international rule of law and global governance; condemnsRussia’s military intervention in, and illegal annexation, of Crimea that underminesinternational law and is contrary to Russia's existing commitments and obligationsincluding the UN Charter, the OSCE Helsinki Final Act and the BudapestMemorandum; states that the so-called referendum held in Crimea on 16 March isunconstitutional, and condemns in the strongest terms all acts that compromise theterritorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine;2. Welcomes the statements and conclusions adopted by the Council and by theEuropean Council, and the signature of the political chapters of the AssociationAgreement with Ukraine on 21 March; supports the unilateral implementation of thoseparts of the Deep and Comprehensive Trade Agreement, along with the comprehensive

financial package, which have immediate positive impact on Ukraine in the short-termincluding avoiding the country’s economic default and, over the long-term, supportingthe necessary substantial economic and institutional reforms; further welcomes thesanctions adopted by the Union on those directly involved, both in Ukraine and inRussia, in de-stabilising Ukraine, as a signal of the determination of the Union to ensuresuch aggression shall not be accepted; in addition, calls for the preparation of furthersanctions should the situation deteriorate or in response to threats to the territorialintegrity, sovereignty and security of our Eastern partners; considers the interimgovernment in Ukraine legitimate and welcomes its readiness to address the crisisthrough political dialogue; further appeals to all parties involved to refrain fromviolence and pursue a peaceful dialogue;3. Calls on Russia to immediately de-escalate the crisis, to withdraw its troops on theborder and from Ukrainian territory; furthermore, calls on Russia to recognise theinterim government in Ukraine as a legitimate interlocutor and engage in direct bilateraldialogue and bona fide negotiations with a view to solving the crisis in full respect ofinternational law and the UN Charter; urges the Council and the HR/VP to engage at thehighest level to this end as well as for the safe and secure access by the OSCEmonitoring mission throughout the territory of Ukraine including Crimea; rejects anynegotiations about the future of Ukraine without Ukraine being at the table; calls forRussia to fulfill the above conditions in order to return to developing a StrategicPartnership with the European Union;4. Invites national Parliaments to send, together with the European Parliament and withthe support of the OSCE/ODHIR, election observation delegations to Ukraine on theoccasion of the forthcoming presidential elections, in order to support the Ukrainianauthorities' efforts to hold peaceful, free and fair elections which should take place onthe 25thMay; calls on the authorities in Ukraine to continue to take all necessary stepstowards ensuring inclusiveness, transparency and respect of human rights, including theprotection of minority rights;5. Welcomes the decision of the European Council to sign the AssociationAgreement/Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with Georgia and Moldovano later than June 2014 and invites the European Parliament and national Parliaments toensure a smooth ratification process;•

Syria

6. Reiterates its strongest concern for the conflict in Syria that has caused over 140.000deaths, 2 million refugees and 9.3 million Syrians in need of humanitarian assistance,half of them being children, over the past three years, which amounts to a tragic andunprecedented humanitarian crisis; calls on EU institutions and Member States as wellas other international actors to further provide humanitarian assistance and to promote areflection at the UN on establishing secure humanitarian corridors to provide vitalhumanitarian relief in all parts of Syria;7. Notes with alarm the failure of the Geneva I and Geneva II talks and calls on theHR/VP to intensify efforts, together with the UN special envoy, in order to organise afurther round of talks as soon as possible in order to establish a functioning frameworkfor a political solution that brings an end to the devastating violent conflict and creates

the conditions for a democratic transition; calls for the effective implementation, withthe full financial and technical support of the EU, of UNSCR (2013)2118 whichdemanded the destruction and removal of Syria's chemicals stockpile by mid-2014;points out, however, the need to also address the devastating flow of conventionalweapons in the region and in particular the reported use of cluster munitions; recalls thepressures upon neighbouring countries caused by high levels of refugee flows as well asthe fact that recent incidents serve to warn that the Syrian crisis continues to poseserious repercussions on the stability of the whole region; calls upon the EU and itsMember States to step-up their active support to the countries of the region in an act ofsolidarity and mutual interest to counter these regional spill-over effects and to providehumanitarian support to the refugees in these countries; in light of the developments inthe Arab world and the Syrian crisis, underlines the urgent need for progress in theMiddle East Peace Process; in this respect reaffirms that solving the Middle Eastconflict is a fundamental interest of the EU;•

Egypt

8. Welcomes the adoption of the Egyptian Constitution but expresses serious concern atthe credibility of Egypt's democratic transition and the government’s commitment to theimplementation of the Constitution in the light of the recent sentencing to death of over500 representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood as well as the crackdown on civilsociety and media representatives; considers the death sentences totally unacceptableand contrary to the principles established in the new Constitution; calls on the Egyptianauthorities to ensure that the conditions for a fair trial are given and to initiate a seriousdialogue with all democratic political forces in the country, including the moderateforces within the Muslim Brotherhood;

Current priorities for the Common Security and Defence Policy

•

Follow-up the Defence Council

9. Considers that the European Council on Defence in December 2013 was an essential,much awaited step to provide further impetus and strategic input for a coordinatedapproach to European defence, which has been in serious decline in recent years andneeds a decisive boost; recognises that the European Council conclusions, as well asForeign Affairs Council conclusions of November 2013, have established an agendathat needs to be implemented effectively and as a matter of priority, and is determinedto continue closely monitoring progress in this respect, as stated at previous inter-parliamentary conferences; calls for a timely implementation of the “Follow-up onobjectives and taskings” in order to achieve tangible results on European defence aheadof the next European Council dedicated to this topic in June 2015; considers that anannual meeting of the European Council to discuss this topic as well as regular meetingsof a Council on Defence could further support progress in this area;10. Underlines that recent developments in international politics highlight the need forthe EU to carry out a thorough reflection on the future of CFSP and CSDP; takes noteof the neighbouring regional realities and expresses its concern for the emergence of anarch of instability stretching from Ukraine across north Africa; reminds that all MemberStates of the EU should enjoy the same level of security; calls for more strategic foreignpolicy coordination at the Union level, in line with the commitments in the LisbonTreaty, for the EU to address the growing number of threats and challenges on the3

periphery of the EU’s external borders; remains convinced that the mandate from theCouncil to the HR/VP and the Commission in consultation with the Member States, isan essential step forward towards defining a common EU vision of strategic interestsand objectives as well as of threats and challenges, and is determined to provide input tothis exercise; calls for such an assessment to lead to a review of the European SecurityStrategy, to be conducted in full discussion with the national Parliaments and theEuropean Parliament; is of the opinion that the IPC CFSP-CSDP shall discuss thisquestion as soon as possible;•

Comprehensive Approach

11. Welcomes the adoption by the Commission and the HR/VP of the JointCommunication on an EU Comprehensive Approach to external conflicts and crises andcalls for its swift implementation; underlines that further improving efficiency andeffectiveness under a Comprehensive Approach should be a priority and requires firstand foremost leadership by the Union in setting common strategies and priorities inforeign affairs, political and financial coherence from across the institutions and for theMember States to meet their Treaty commitment to pursue the CFSP/CSDP in a spirit ofloyalty and solidarity; calls for a strategically coherent and effective use of EUinstruments through the Comprehensive Approach across all areas, in particular toconflict prevention, crisis management and resolution; underlines the importance ofcivilian and defence capabilities as a key pillar in such a Comprehensive Approach andtherefore encourages the incorporation of pooling and sharing into national defenceplanning, as an essential step to further develop the culture of cooperation and deliverenduring results; underlines the need to ease the application of the Berlin Plusagreement; reiterates the essential role of national Parliaments and the EuropeanParliament in carrying out their roles of political control, as legislators and as budgetaryauthorities and thereby ensuring the successful pursuit of a more cost-effective andefficient EU Comprehensive Approach,•

EU Maritime Security Strategy

12. Welcomes the adoption by the Commission and the HR/VP of the jointcommunication on elements for an EU maritime security strategy and calls on theCouncil to proceed with the adoption of the strategy as soon as possible; underlines theimportance of reflecting the Lisbon Treaty innovations, including the provisions on the“solidarity clause” throughout the EU Maritime Security Strategy; is convinced that thehighest priority should be its implementation and operationalisation in order tocomprehensively address all maritime security aspects, includinginter aliaearlywarning and the timely prevention of crises as well as the tackling of threats and risksthat have been identified; stresses the responsibility of the EU and its Member States toprotect their common vital and strategic interests in the maritime domain; highlightsthat the maritime security challenges can only be effectively addressed by bettercoordination between all maritime actors, civilian and military, both at the Union leveland in the Member States, together with international and regional partners;13. Underlines that such a strategy should have a broad scope both operational as wellas geographical in order to deal with problems ranging from piracy and terrorist threatsto critical infrastructure, to trafficking and illegal immigration, as well as to unregulatedfishing and environmental disasters; highlights that such a scope demands overallcoherence, effectiveness and efficiency of existing policies, tools and means, as well as4

using the full spectrum of the EU’s capabilities and structures and proposing solutionsranging from prevention to engagement; calls for establishing principles to guide theimplementation of the strategy, including by introducing elements of interoperability,strategic governance arrangements, transversal tools and intervention protocols;14. Deeply concerned by the case of the two Italian marines; considers it not only abilateral issue between Italy and India but also a matter of concern to the EU and thebroader international community; stresses the need to recognise the principle ofimmunity for all active servicemen deployed on international missions;

CSDP in Africa

15. Welcomes the launch of the EU Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali) and the fact that forthe first time the French-German Brigade is deployed under an EU flag; regrets thedelays in the deployment of the EU Mission in the CAR, despite the fact that a clear EUmandate was adopted several weeks ago; emphasises that the local population iscurrently in great danger and that the stability of the transitional authorities isthreatened; calls to step-up the deployment of this Mission, taking account its urgencyand as requested by the CAR authorities;16. Underlines that the crisis in the Sahel and in the Sub-Saharan Africa endangers theinterests and the security of European citizens and, having regard to the declarationsadopted at the fourth EU-Africa Summit in Brussels on 3 to 4 April 2014; stresses thatpeace and security are essential for development and prosperity and strongly supportsAfrican aspirations and commitment to ensure peace, security and stability;

The role of parliaments and the deployment of civilian and military forces under

CSDP

17. Takes note of the conclusions of the December European Council relating toeffective decision-making for CSDP and the rapid deployment of civilian and militaryassets, including Battlegroups, and reiterates the call for their swift implementation;calls on the Member States to address the serious gap whereby political decisions aremade to launch operations and are not backed up by the provision of civilian andmilitary forces and capabilities; notes the need to respect national constitutions andparliamentary procedures of certain Member States prior to any decision to deploymilitary forces; welcomes the exchange of views on parliamentary procedures andpractices during this Conference; calls for further enhancement of the cooperationamong national Parliaments and the European Parliament, as budgetary authorities andlegislators, to explore options for addressing the capability shortfalls in Europeandefence that takes into account the budgetary and financial realities as well as the needfor a fair system of burden-sharing; engages to ensure that in all our Member States therequirement of the deployment of EU Battlegroups within 5 to 10 days can be met;commits to a further exchange of views on this matter in order to explore the possiblesolutions to increase the effectiveness and readiness of EU Battlegroups and welcomesthe initiative to discuss this topic at the next IPC CFSP/CSDP conference in Rome;

Cyprus

18. Welcomes the resumption of fully fledged settlement negotiations with the aim toreunite Cyprus; supports a comprehensive and viable settlement of the Cyprus problemwithin the EU framework and in accordance with the relevant UN Security Councilresolutions, reaffirming its long-standing position that the Cyprus issue should beresolved to establish a bi-zonal and bi-communal federation with a single internationallegal personality, a single sovereignty and a single citizenship.

Final remarks

19. The Inter-Parliamentary conference congratulates the HRVP for arriving at the endof her mandate by successfully managing the transition under the Lisbon Treaty towardsa more coherent and effective Union approach in the area of CFSP and CSDP; inparticular underlines its support for the HRVP’s leadership, under difficultcircumstances, in the negotiations with Iran, and congratulates her on bringing theparties together in the EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia; believes,based on these positive developments, that the HRVP and the EEAS should deliver astronger Comprehensive Approach, initiate clearer proactive strategies, ensure moreeffective cooperation on European defence, and furthermore that the HRVP should takethe lead in delivering effective coordination with the Commission by fully developingthe role of Vice President; underlines the HRVP's commitment to developing a dialoguewith parliamentarians in this Conference and calls for this dialogue to be continued andfurther developed in the future.

INTER-PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE FOR THE COMMON FOREIGN

AND SECURITY POLICY AND THE COMMON SECURITY AND DEFENCE

POLICY

CONCLUSIONS

3-4 April 2014, Athens

Current priorities for the Common Foreign and Security Policy

Ukraine