14. Calls on the Member States and the accession countries to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment Punishment, which establishes a system of regular visits by international and national bodies to places of detention and confers on those bodies the task of visiting and inspecting prisons and hearing appeals by prisoners, as well as drawing up a public annual report for the relevant parliaments; encourages the European Union to make a call to sign and ra ...[+++]tify the Optional Protocol part of its policy vis-à-vis third countries; calls on the EU and its Member States to fully collaborate with and support these bodies, including with appropriate resources and funds;

Where the application to join the scheme relates to an annual aid amount in excess of EUR 10000, checks on this application must include an on-the-spot visit.

Since its 1997 Opinions on the applications for membership by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Commission has evaluated annually in its Regular Reports, extended also to Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, the progress made by the candidate countries towards meeting the Copenhagen criteria.

M. whereas the funding of the obligations arising from the Habitats Directive shall be borne by the Member States and Article 8 of the Directive only provides the possibility of co-funding by the Community of certain measures for sites which are considered to be of Community importance; whereas the budget of the LIFE programme needs to be increased sufficiently in order to co-finance pilot projects to establish the Natura 2000 network in current Member States and accession countries; whereas this increase must take into account the fact that the budget has scarcely increased since 1992 and that the ...[+++]annual demand for co-financing is several times higher than the amount of available resources,

6. Requests that, with reference to enlargement of the European Union, the Council and the Commission require candidate countries to respect regional or minority languages and cultures and to respect fully Article 22 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and to adhere to paragraphs 1.1 and 1.2 of the Annual Reports on Progress towards Accession; considers also that the European Union has a responsibility to support the member and candidate countries in developing their cultures and protecting linguistic diversity within their borders;

3. Recognized producer organizations shall by 30 June of each year declare to the competent authority any changes made in their structure since their recognition or last annual declaration and report any notices of withdrawal of or application for membership received.