The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the Commission legislative and work programme (LWP) for 2007.

The resolution was tabled by the EPP-ED, PES, ALDE and UEN groups.

The Parliament welcomes the emphasis in the Commission's Legislative and Work Programme (LWP) for 2007 on modernising the European economy and improving the well-being of citizens. It agrees, in this context, with the importance attributed to security, health, innovation, a cleaner environment, energy and climate change, the internal market, migration and integration, Europe's global visibility and effectiveness, and improved communication with European citizens. It considers that in order to restore the momentum behind the European project, the Commission should play its full role in strengthening and modernising Europe's social market economy, based on sustainable development.

MEPs consider that the distinction drawn between 'strategic initiatives' and 'priority initiatives' increases the clarity and credibility of the LWP. Moreover, they welcome the fact that the Commission has endorsed a range of the contributions made by the committees of Parliament in the framework of the new 'structured dialogue' and outlined in the summary report of the Conference of Committee Chairmen.

The Commission is called upon to inform Parliament why it chose not to include the following legislative initiatives in its 2007 work programme, as requested by its committees: (i) mutual recognition in trade in goods; (ii) proposals to improve the CE mark; (iii) revision of the European Company Statute; (iv) the development of microcredits; (v) reconciling work and family life; (vi) the protection of atypical workers; (vii) a new proposal on a European mutual society; (viii) thresholds for seeds containing GMOs; and (ix) a proposal on the Transparency Initiative.

With regard to the priorities for 2007, the Commission is called upon, in particular, to:

improve the coordination of economic policies , in particular with a view to promoting national and European initiatives aimed at fostering research, skills and new technologies; undertake further initiatives to promote excellence in European universities , higher education and life-long learning, as well as better knowledge of languages; step up efforts to complete the internal market , notably in the field of financial services and insurance, and to explore all possible ways of improving the patent and patent litigation systems; explore possible pathways to enhance flexicurity and to help Member States to achieve both high productivity and high social protection; give new impetus in the field of consumer protection ; address the structural causes of massive migration by adapting and updating current policies. The Parliament believes that a common immigration, visa and asylum policy , as well as an effective economic and social integration of immigrants on the basis of common principles, must be at the heart of EU action for 2007. It calls for a move to the codecision procedure and qualified-majority voting in all areas related to immigration; better develop the synergies between economic development, on the one hand, and development and use of clean and energy-saving technologies, on the other; support a strong role for the EU in devising post-Kyoto policies and new targets; better coordinate transport and environment policy in the spirit of sustainable development, proposing concrete targets for CO2 reduction for the total vehicle fleet and integrating air transport into the binding obligations of the Kyoto Protocol; take the lead in facing the global challenge of biodiversity loss; take the necessary initiatives to enable the creation of a better environment for developing non-CO2 energy sources ; enhance the regional, social and environmental role of the CAP ; make concrete proposals and steps to give content to the European Neighbourhood Policy and draw up an annual report on compliance with the human rights and democracy clause of the agreements with Neighbourhood Policy countries; propose guiding principles for the strategic content of the EU's relations with Russia ; be more ambitious in respecting their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals ; accelerate the simplification and consolidation of EU legislation and to put more effort into better regulation .