10. Asks the Commission to quickly present a legislative proposal for country-by-country reporting founded on the standards of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and on Section 1502 of the Dodd Frank Act in the United States; recalls that this was proposed by the Committee on Development as a parliamentary priority within the framework of the structured dialogue on the Commission Work Plan for 2012; urges the Commission to include in its proposal a requirement that extractive companies report on sales and profits, on a country-by-country basis, as well as taxes and revenues, in order to discourage corruption and prevent tax avoidance; stresses that transparency, corporate social responsibility and a functioning administratio ...[+++]n benefit both extracting companies and the societies of resource-rich developing countries; calls on the Commission to develop a legislative proposal equivalent to Section 1502 of the Dodd Frank act, which requires companies that source minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring countries to demonstrate the steps they are taking to ensure that their purchases of these minerals are not profiting armed groups which commit human rights abuses; in this connection, calls on the European Union and its Member States to bring pressure to bear on European companies operating in developing countries and to set an example of social responsibility and the promotion of decent work;

What is needed in order to consolidate the long-term sustainability of public finance is a three-pillar strategy, in other words a combination of reform of the pension and health care system, reduction of state debt and enhanced employment and productivity, while the quality of public finance needs to be improved by restructuring public budgets with a greater bias towards expenditure that promotes productivity and innovation and builds up human resources, and so the country-specific recommendations are a good instrument for moving the modernisation of our economy forward and enhancing the European Union’s ability to hold its own in globa ...[+++]l competition.

What is needed in order to consolidate the long-term sustainability of public finance is a three-pillar strategy, in other words a combination of reform of the pension and health care system, reduction of state debt and enhanced employment and productivity, while the quality of public finance needs to be improved by restructuring public budgets with a greater bias towards expenditure that promotes productivity and innovation and builds up human resources, and so the country-specific recommendations are a good instrument for moving the modernisation of our economy forward and enhancing the European Union’s ability to hold its own in globa ...[+++]l competition.

Bob's contribution has made Canada a better country in which to live.

It is by involving the talents and dedication of every Canadian, all of us, that we continue to enhance our prosperity and make this country still a better place in which to live.

Many of these matters were also raised there, and I believe that it is important – and here I am sure that we are in agreement – that we establish cooperation with Russia in as many fields as possible, while seeing this as a way of increasing the opportunities for exerting pressure on her in those areas where we believe it important and necessary.