Activities of Bernd LUCKE related to 2015/2233(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Negotiations for the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) (A8-0009/2016 - Viviane Reding) DE
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on recommendations to the European Commission on the negotiations for the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA)
Amendments (12)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that EU trade and investment policies are interlinked with EU development policies and have an impact on developing countries; calls for the Commission to respect the principle of Policy Coherence for Development in all trade negotiations; stresses the need to focus onaim at the effective implementation and monitoring of the sustainable development chapters in trade agreements, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses that free trade in services enables developing countries to take advantage of competitively lower labour costs and thus to increase exports to the EU in both goods and services; stresses that this will induce income growth and poverty alleviation in developing countries;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Emphasises that complaints of social dumping by developed countries unfairly ignore the fact that developing countries cannot yet provide levels of social protection similar to advanced economies; stresses that the social dumping discussion must not be abused by developed countries for protectionist purposes, i.e. to justify inappropriate barriers to free trade and competition; emphasizes that it is mutually beneficial if companies in all countries specialize on the provision of services where they have comparative advantages rather than preserving the status quo of their activities;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Regrets that only a limited number of developing countries participates in the TiSA negotiations; urges the Commission and the parties currently involved to encourage more developing countries to participate;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Emphasises that a lack of financial services or insufficient competition on financial markets leads to sometimes horrendous interest rates on private credits in many underdeveloped regions of the world; notes that this is an important impediment to investment and economic growth since functioning financial markets that provide financing for investment projects are vital for growth; stresses in this regard that opening developing countries to financial services provided by foreign financial institutions can play a key role in supporting developing countries to progress; stresses further that as a precondition for this the legal and regulatory environment of developing countries must meet the minimum standards of advanced economies and must in particular facilitate the use of collateral; asks developing countries to commit in the TiSA agreement to reforms deemed necessary to meet these standards;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. Stresses that service exports for instance in telecommunication, in R&D activities or in software design and other IT-related services have greatly benefited a number of developing countries in recent years; emphasises that there is likely a large potential for similar benefits for many other developing countries and that this can be fostered by participating in trade agreements such as TiSA;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Urges the Commission to increase transparency and democratic accountability on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) negotiation process,; urges critics of TiSA and on allther trade policies, by duly taking into account concerns expressed by trade unions and civil society organisations, including the CSOs of developing countriesagreements to publicly acknowledge that the Commission has as of late made considerable efforts to this end and that transparency and information provided by the Commission are much greater than commonly thought;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. RejecSupports TiSA and other macro-trade agreements on the basis that they are a tool to bypass multilateral and democratic fora in which developing countries are properly represented in order to set global standards; recalls that TiSA, contrary to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), does not currently have special and differential treatment provisions; urges the Commission to immediately propose such a clause based on GATS Article IVwith developing countries on the grounds that these benefit participating developing countries by increasing competition and reducing transaction costs;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. RejecSupports TiSA and other macro-trade dealtrade agreements with developing countries, taking the view that they are a tool for the privatisation of public services and liberalisation of public procurement, such public services and public procurement being key elements for sustainable development and for ensuring respect for people’s dignityliberalisation which will lead to higher competition, innovation, lower costs for consumers, more jobs and thus higher welfare in participating developing countries; asks the Commission to respect the policy space of developing countries’' governments and parliaments to take decisions in order to ensure internationally agreed standards on labour, the environment and human rights;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7