Activities of Fernando RUAS related to 2016/2053(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
The future of ACP-EU relations beyond 2020 (A8-0263/2016 - Norbert Neuser) PT
Amendments (26)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8 a (new)
Citation 8 a (new)
- having regard to the Joint Caribbean-EU Partnership Strategy, endorsed by the Council in November 2012,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8 b (new)
Citation 8 b (new)
- having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee from 29 May 2006- "EU relations with the Pacific Islands - a Strategy for a Strengthened Partnership",
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8 c (new)
Citation 8 c (new)
- having regard to the Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions from 21 March 2012 "Towards a renewed EU-Pacific development Partnership",
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls for an effective post-Cotonou framework adapted to the new and emerging global challenges, based both on ownership by the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and the EU, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals; stresses that a revised general framework agreement, together with the regional Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and other trade instruments, must support fair and sustainable trade and, ultimately, sustainable development and , poverty reduction and eradication;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the post-Cotonou process should offer a framework within which to discuss trade issues with all the ACP countries; calls for a strengthening of trade cooperation, with a values-driven approach and improved Policy Coherence for Development; underlines in this context, the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); believes that inclusive growth, sustainable development, job creation, the development and involvement of the private sector and regional integration must be central in a future economic partnerships;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for strong, legally binding sustainable development provisions; asks for the human rights 'essential elements' clause to remain in the future agreement so that the linkage clauses in the EPAs continue to function after 2020; reminds in this context the importance of the commitment to promote internationally- recognized core labour standards, as defined by relevant ILO Conventions;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the Cotonou Agreement addresses new global challenges such asrelated to climate change, migration and terrorism, peace and security (such as fight against terrorism, extremism and international criminality), but has produced few concrete results in these areas;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that civil society organizations and other interested stakeholders involvement isare a must throughout the implementation of the EPAs and the post- Cotonou process; notes the importance of a renewed ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, its involvement in all early stage discussions regarding the post Cotonou framework and defends a strong parliamentary oversight of the future framework; asks for results-oriented monitoring of ACP-EU cooperation, especially with regard to trade and sustainable development;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls the Financing for Development commitments and its importance for the realization of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and targets; calls for the EU to ensure more and effective funding for Aid for Trade to support the ACP countries’ efforts to move up the global value chain.
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Affirms that ACP-EU cooperation is a valuable and unique achievement that has strengthened bonds between ACP and EU peoples and countries and their parliaments throughout the last 40 years; underlines - provided the EU and ACP countries demonstrate their commitment to taking joint action as a group - that in order to improve the effectiveness of cooperation and adapt it to new challenges, a new structure has to be adopted that keeps those parts of the ACP- EU acquis that are universal in character, such as commitment to human rights, good governance and democracy, the objective of the rule of law, and exchange of best practice in a common framework, while the main work has to be done according to the principle of subsidiarity, that is, it must take place in regional agreements that are tailored to specific regional needs and to the mutual interests existing between the EU and the respective region;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises that both the common framework and the regional agreements should be legally binding; underlines that, in order to strengthen effectiveness and reduce duplication, the regional agreements with Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific should be designed in a way that takes into account existing regional and sub-regional organisations, e.g. the African Union, Regional Economic Communities, and regional aStrategies or Agreements such as the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), and should allow the inclusion of additional countries, such as northern African countries, or the creation of groupings in accordance with specific interests or needs (e.g. development status, as in the case of LDCs, or geographical peculiarities, as in the case of small island developing states);
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be placed at the centre of a new agreement, and for the creation of strong and regular monitoring mechanisms to ensure that implementation of the agreement contributes to and promotes the SDGs;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for an ACP-EU peer review mechanism to scrutinise SDG implementation in member states on a regular basis, with ACP and EU representatives not only from governmental, regional and municipal institutions but also from parliaments and civil society, drawing up yearly conclusions and recommendations for follow-up;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for the fight against poverty to remain an overarching objective of ACP-EU cooperation; believes, however, that a new agreement must primarily be a political project and clearly leave behind the donor-recipient mentality; considers that cooperation should primarily take place in areas of common interest where commonmutual gains can be expected, not justonly in economic terms but also with regard toing peace and security, human rights, rule of law, good governance and democracy, migrations, health, global financial issues, the environment protection, climate change and other areas related to the sustainable development and prosperity of both ACP and EU populations;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Reiterates its view that policy coherence for development (PCD) is a key element for achieving the new sustainable development agenda; believes that the comprehensive nature of the Cotonou Agreement promotes PCD and should therefore be safeguarded in a new agreement; recalls in this context that in accordance with Article 208 TFEU, the Union development cooperation policy shall have as its primary objective the reduction and, in the long term, the eradication of poverty;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Underlines in this regard that political dialogue is a valuable basis for improving the situation of the peoples of the partner countries; regrets the insufficient use of this instrument and its weak effectiveness so far; calls, therefore, for improved monitoring of the human rights situation and of the other essential and fundamental elements of the Agreement, and for a regular biennial or multiannual evaluation and joint reports on the respect of these elements by all ACP- EU member states with the purpose of naming, shaming and praisinghich should be public and wide publicized in order to exert pressure; calls for the results of these reports to be presented at the overarching ACP-EU meetings and used as a basis for political dialogue;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls for stronger participation and involvement of national parliaments and regional and local authorities at all, social partners, civil society organizations and other interested stakeholders both in ACP and EU countries at all relevant stages of ACP-EU policies and activities, from future planning and programming to implementation, evaluation and monitoring, particularly from the viewpoint of the principle of subsidiarity;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls for stronger involvement and support forParticularly regarding capacity- building by civil society, especially for local groups that ar, calls for the participation of all stakeholders, especially of those directly concerned by these policies; underlines in this regard the danger of shrinking space for civil society in some countries, and the need also to include those groups that are unable to organise their interests or that are, despite a legitimate democratic interest, not recognised by their government;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Believes that the private sector can play a pivotal role in the cooperation and development process and can contribute to its financing development, provided that investment occurs with full respect for the people and for traditional ownership or use, and forenvironmental protection and, in the respect of the genvironmenteral ACP-EU Partnership values; calls, therefore, for private investment to be supported under the auspices of the European Investment Bank (EIB) provided it is in line with international human rights law and social and environmental protection rules; calls, furthermore, for local and national private sectors to be allowed to participate in policymaking, programming and implementation;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls for the new ACP-EU agreement to include a strong parliamentary dimension, through a Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA), that will provide for an open democratic and comprehensive parliamentary dialogue, including on difficult and sensitive subjects, advance common (regional) political projects, and provide a democratic underpinning for them, scrutinise the executive’s work as well as development cooperation, promote democracy and human rights, and thus make an important contribution to an ACP-EU partnership on an equal footing; in this context, reminds the VP /HR of the political importance of the presence of the Council at ministerial level in the JPA sessions, as already assumed by the VP/HR;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Underlines the importance of an early involvement of the JPA in all relevant discussions regarding the Post 2020 ACP-EU Partnership;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. BStrongly believes that the JPA should ensure the adequate and proportional representation and participation of all political forces in its debates; calls, therefore, for the ACP national delegations to the JPA to include representatives of their national political spectrum, including the opposition;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Suggests that, coinciding with the JPAs, meetings, seminars or workshops should be organized with the relevant government or public administration authorities and with social partners, civil society representatives or other stakeholders in order to discuss, promote, evaluate and be informed about the best practices regarding the implementation of the ACP-EU Partnership principles and projects in the respective countries;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. UnderlineRecalls that future ACP-EU relations must be of a political nature, e.g. working towards common political projects in different international fora, and not mainly of a donor-recipient nature; stresses, therefore, that EU development aid principles must be applied on an equal basis to all developing countries, and that advanced ACP countries must therefore graduate out of receiving EU development aid on the same terms as non-ACP countries;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Reiterates that the EPAs constitute a basis for regional cooperation and that they must be instruments for prosperity development and regional integration; highlights, therefore, the need for legally binding sustainability provisions (on human rights and, social and environmental standards) in all EPAs, and underlines the importance of creating effective monitoring systems that include a wide range of civil society in order to avoid theidentify and prevent any potential negative effects due tof trade liberalisation;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Strongly advocates the full integration of the EPAs into a new ACP- EU agreement, in order to ensure continuity for EPA linkages in the existing Cotonou Agreement to sustainability provisions on human rights and, labour, social and environmental standards, and because it would provide an adequate framework for development and policy coherence;