advantages of the EU acquis, along the lines of an Economic Area Plus arrangement; 54. Stress that although the EU-Ukraine agreement has been initialled, it can only be signed and ratified if Ukraine fulfils the necessary requirements as set out in the Council conclusions on Ukraine of 10 December 2012; reiterates its call on the Ukrainian Parliament and Government to address the issue of selective justice, namely by releasing Yulia Tymoshenko, and to implement the reforms set out in the jointly agreed Association Agenda, including judicial reform (i.e. the Office of the General Prosecutor) and reform of the electoral law; calls on Ukraine to amend its penal code by removing criminal sanctions for clearly political acts carried out by state functionaries acting in an official capacity; 55. Supports the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, but believes that tangible progress by the Georgian authorities in the area of the rule of law is necessary; calls, in particular, for all political prisoners, including former Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili, to be released and for European standards to be met in the upcoming presidential elections; Southern Neighbourhood and Middle East 56. Highlights the EU’s longstanding relations with the countries of Europe´s Southern Neighbourhood; calls for the principles underlying the new ENP approach, as set out by the VP/HR and the Commission in the aforementioned joint communications, in particular the ‘more-for-more’, differentiation and mutual accountability principles and the ‘partnership with society’, to be fully operational and for Union assistance to be fully aligned to this new approach; 57. Recalls its support for the VP/HR's use of new concepts, such as the Task Force for the Southern Mediterranean, as a way to maximise the leverage achieved by financing from the EU and its partners, for the benefit of these countries’ citizens; expects tangible outcomes from such innovative approaches in terms of better coordination between EU and Member State contributions, capacity-building assistance for beneficiary countries and the accountability of their administrations; 58. Expresses its deep concern about the situation in Egypt and the excessive violence by all parties, including both state security forces and opposition forces; stresses that the EU should support democracy and human rights, and welcomes the EU foreign ministers’ decision of 21 August 2013 to suspend all export licences for equipment which could be used for internal repression; urges all political actors in Egypt to resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue and calls for an inclusive political agreement and for power to be transferred to democratically elected leaders as soon as possible; urges the EU, and in particular the VP/HR, to capitalise on its unique position and its networks of relationships among the key players and to continue its mediation efforts towards a political settlement regarding the basic parameters of a democratic transition; 59. Regrets the fact that the EU gave up its common policy of an arms embargo on Syria, thereby undermining a common approach; condemns the tragic and ongoing bloodshed in Syria, which has already had a devastating and destabilising humanitarian impact, including on neighbouring countries, in particular Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey; calls on the Member States to show solidarity and to provide help to refugees from Syria and displaced persons within Syria; strongly condemns the mass killing of civilians and stresses that the Syrian Government's use of chemical weapons is a gross breach of international norms that may lead to the referral of all those responsible to the International Criminal Court;