2. Stresses that civil society in Europe plays an important role in the European integration process, since it communicates the positions and demands expressed by EU citizens to the European institutions; highlights the importance of the expertise that civil society makes available to the institutions, and stresses the importance of providing information on and raising awareness about civil dialogue, in particular in connection with promoting the activities and objectives of the EU, building European cooperation networks ...[+++]and strengthening the European identity and identification with Europe within civil society;

2. Stresses that civil society in Europe plays an important role in the European integration process, since it communicates the positions and demands expressed by EU citizens to the European institutions; highlights the importance of the expertise that civil society makes available to the institutions, and stresses the importance of providing information on and raising awareness about civil dialogue, in particular in connection with promoting the activities and objectives of the EU, building European cooperation networks ...[+++]and strengthening the European identity and identification with Europe within civil society;

Calls for EU quality and security standards, as well as an EU system and network of laboratories for the certification of CBRN security equipment and technologies, to be developed; underlines that strict security standards and hiring procedures also need to apply to personnel employed at facilities with access to harmful agents; calls for the sharing and use of best knowledge and expertise from both the civil and military fields; again under the leadership of the Commission, stresses that the necessary research and development funding should be provided to ensure that applied research and major demonstration programmes with an EU dimension are carried out, and, given the fragmentation of this market, that an EU industrial policy in the f ...[+++]ield of civil security is needed, stimulating cooperation between enterprises in the EU and with specific support for small and medium-sized enterprises/small and medium-sized industries (SMEs/SMIs), which create a significant share of innovation under the FP7/Security, which should be increased, and that efforts should be made to stimulate cooperation (particularly cross-border cooperation) between European enterprises; wishes to see the emergence of a comprehensive project management capability to manage all aspects of CBRN security projects, covering the entire life cycle of the CBRN threat (prevention, detection and response); calls on the Commission to propose a strategy for developing the biodefence industry in Europe;

The Enterprise Europe Network has already played an important role in mentoring and facilitating international business cooperation, especially with the Mediterranean countries, and its international assistance to SMEs should be further developed.

The Agency should monitor regional cooperation between transmission system operators in the electricity and gas sectors as well as the execution of the tasks of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO for Electricity), and the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSO for Gas).

10. Calls on the Commission to intensify cross-border joint action by the Member States" labour inspectorates and to study the possibility of setting up a corresponding European cooperation network (i.e. a social Europol);