90. Remains concerned that the human rights dialogue with Iran has been interrupted since 2004 due to the absence of any positive progress in improving the human rights situation and a lack of cooperation from Iran; calls on the Iranian authorities to resume this dialogue with a view to supporting all civil society stakeholders who are committed to democracy, and to strengthen – through peaceful and non-violent means – existing processes that can foster democratic, institutional and constitutional reforms, ensure the sustainability of those reforms and consolidate the involvement of all Iranian human rights defenders and civil society r ...[+++]epresentatives in policy-making processes, reinforcing the role played by them in the general political discourse; is deeply concerned that, in 2008, the human rights situation in Iran has worsened and the restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly have persisted; in this context, is deeply concerned by the suppression of the journalists, writers, scholars and women's rights and human rights activists; remains concerned about the repression of ethnic and religious minorities in Iran; condemns the increasing use of the death penalty in Iran, including in respect of juveniles;

92. Notes the existence of human rights subcommittees involving countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean (Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority) in the context of the European Neighbourhood Policy and calls on the Council and the Commission to set up human rights subcommittees with all neighbourhood countries; reiterates its call for parliamentarians to be associated with the preparations for meetings of such subcommittees and to be informed of their outcome; welcomes the consultation with civil society, both before and after, by the Commission delegation in the country concerned and by the Commission's relevant departments in Brussels; questions, however, the effectiveness and coheren ...[+++]ce of the methodology used, and, in particular, of the criteria for evaluating the discussions held in these subcommittees; believes that these subcommittees should allow the human rights issues included in the action plan to be specifically followed up but stresses that discussions on human rights should certainly not be confined to these subcommittees, and emphasises the importance of coordination with other subcommittees dealing with human rights-related issues, such as migration; highlights the need to include these issues in the political dialogue up to the highest level so as to increase the coherence of the EU's policy in this field; is convinced that the European Neighbourhood Policy as designed and structured (action plan, follow-up report and subcommittees) could give real leverage for the promotion of human rights were the European Union to demonstrate a genuine political will to ensure respect for the primacy of human rights in a coherent, systematic and wide-ranging manner; believes, therefore, that respect for human rights and democratic principles must be a precondition for strengthening relations between the Union and a third country; in the context of concluding a framework agreement with Libya, calls on the ...

93. Supports the willingness of the Council to establish human rights dialogues with each of the remaining Central Asian countries; calls for the dialogues to be results-oriented and fully in line with the European Union Guidelines on Human Rights Dialogues with Third Countries, guaranteeing the involvement of civil society and of the European Parliament; calls for the establishment of the dialogues to be matched by adequate resources within the Council and Commission secretariats;

36. Calls on the Commission to promote programmes and campaigns (such as "The world through women's eyes") for encouraging women to become more socially, politically, and culturally active, taking into account women's role in the dialogue between generations and society's sustainability and prosperity; calls therefore for girls and women to be given better information on the concept of European citizenship and the rights pertaining thereto, particularly in socially and geographically isolated regions; stresses that the aim of these information campaigns should be to improve women's participation in political life and the decision-makin ...[+++]g process; stresses the need to promote measures to overcome the gender digital divide so as to provide women with the tools to take part in the dialogue on Europe under equal conditions; congratulates the Commission on the choice of projects to be co-funded, under plan D, by its representations, which include many projects run by women's organisations and many projects involving women; stresses the need to encourage citizens" participation when it comes to issues such as gender violence or human trafficking, where the involvement of society is vital if progress is to be made in resolving the problem; acknowledges the problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills of women, and urges the Commission to include more women in task forces and working groups, engaged with the issues of family life, childcare, education etc.;

Support for China's reform process and sectoral co-operation should be strengthened through: the launch of new dialogues and co-operation in the fields of intellectual property rights, sanitary standards, competition policy, industrial policy and human resource development; and through the reinforcement of existing dialogues and agreements on the regulation of industrial products, information society, environment, energy and scientific technological co-operation.

The Euro-Mediterranean Partnership was launched in 1995 when the Barcelona Declaration identified the three main objectives of the Partnership as: (a) establishing a common area of peace and stability through the reinforcement of political and security dialogue; (b) creating an area of shared prosperity through an economic partnership and the gradual establishment of a free-trade area; and (c) bringing peoples together through a social, cultural and human partnership aimed at promoting understanding between cultures and exchanges between civil societies.