2000 Annual Session Resolution on reinforcing the European Union's capacity to contribute to Euro-Atlantic Security and Stability presented by the Committee on the Civilian Dimension of Security Berlin, 21 November 2000 The Assembly, Believing that the European Union should remain faithful to the goals of its founding fathers to create an area of peace and prosperity based on economic integration and political co-operation among its members; Asserting that these goals must now be pursued with a view to encompassing the entire European continent; Noting that making the EU an engine for peace, stability and integration in Europe has implications for the EU's enlargement, partnership, and crisis management policies; Hailing the decisions of the EU Council in Helsinki and Feira to build up instruments and capabilities at the service of an enhanced Common European Security and Defence Policy (CESDP), and applauding the progress made in the last twelve months in implementing those decisions; Stressing that non-military crisis management is an integral part of the development of the CESDP and a requirement for the EU to tackle conflicts in a comprehensive manner; Recalling that the development of the CESDP is part of a process of gradual political union and that it is essential for the EU to become fully capable of international action; Stressing that the development of the CESDP is essential to all NATO Allies including the six NATO European non-EU member states; Convinced that the EU's current efforts will make the European members of NATO capable of assuming greater responsibility for the security of the European continent and thereby reinforce the transatlantic Alliance; Emphasising that, among external actors, the EU has the prime responsibility for supporting the reconstruction and democratisation of South-Eastern Europe, with a view to the future integration of the countries concerned into its own structures; Applauding the political changes in Croatia that have fostered its integration into Euro-Atlantic structures, and welcoming the momentous political events in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which make possible its involvement in the process of European integration; URGES EU member state parliaments and governments: to adopt the bold reforms necessary in the 2000 intergovernmental conference and beyond, in the institutional, political and economic domains, to permit the accession of new countries in a way that will preserve the EU's ability to act and ensure the equal sharing of benefits among all its member countries; to approach EU membership negotiations in a comprehensive manner, taking into account that the adoption of the EU's acquis by the candidate countries, in particular in the field of justice and home affairs, has implications on their human, economic and political relations with their neighbours; to develop mechanisms for the association of candidate countries in the development and implementation of the CESDP, building on the experience of the reinforced political dialogue on the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP); and for the participation of non-EU members of the Alliance, building on the mechanisms existing between NATO and the WEU; to provide all candidate countries equal access to information and equal rights to participate in the non-military aspects of the CESDP; to pursue with determination the implementation of the Feira Council objective to constitute a police force of 5,000 members which will be capable of rapid deployment and effective action in crisis operations; similarly, to continue efforts to build up capacities in the field of judicial personnel and civil administration so as to permit early and effective action in these domains in post-conflict situations; to identify, and if necessary build up, national capacities that will be put at the service of EU non-military crisis management, so that the burden of common action is shared fairly among member countries; in parallel with the development of the Military Staff, to set up adequate structures for the planning of the non-military components of crisis management, with primary attention given to the planning of police operations; to sustain their efforts in the political, military and economic fields to promote economic reform and democratization in the countries of South-Eastern Europe, taking into account in particular the need to integrate Serbia in the ongoing process of change and co-operation in the region; to support the efforts led by External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten to streamline the EU's external assistance mechanisms and make them more effective; to fully co-operate with Commissioner Patten and High Representative for the CFSP Javier Solana in their efforts to make EU's external action and that of member governments more cohesive; REMINDS the political leaders and populations of EU partners and candidate countries that: EU membership is not only a matter of legislative adaptation but also of adhesion to a set of values that requires deep changes in domestic practices in almost all domains of political and economic action, and the development of a positive attitude to co-operation with neighbours; they will only be able to count on the EU's support as long as they demonstrate the sustained political will to set up democratic structures of government and economic systems based on sound management principles and full accountability.