Activities of Joachim SCHUSTER related to 2020/2041(INI)
Opinions (1)
OPINION on A new EU-Africa Strategy - a partnership for sustainable and inclusive development
Amendments (14)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights that, while there are a number of dynamic middle income countries on the African continent, its economic development is still relatively weak in comparison to other partsStrongly supports the renewed engagement between the EU and Africa; welcomes the publication of the Communication ofn the world; stresses that many of its countries will therefore face almost insurmountable challenges caused by the COVID-19 crisis and the effects of climate changeupcoming strategy; highlights the importance of a dynamic partnership to pursue common Goals between the two continents;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Highlights the importance of ecologically and socially sustainable trade relations with the African continent; calls on the Commission to proceed with its legislative proposal on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence obligations for EU companies;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Highlights that, while there are a number of dynamic middle income countries on the African continent, its economic development is still relatively weak in comparison to other parts of the world; stresses that many of its countries will therefore face almost insurmountable challenges caused by the COVID-19 crisis and the effects of climate change, amongst them huge demographic shifts with poverty- and conflict-driven migration as well as other problems; highlights in this context that in the short run, the EU must provide immediate aid measures such as procuring tests and laboratory equipment, followed by pandemic prevention measures through the development of an infrastructure of laboratories, financing of medical training measures, information campaigns and national pandemic response plans; underlines that the economic impact of the lockdown will be profound on the African continent, given the size of the informal sector; stresses that the long term goal of the partnership between the EU and Africa must be the resilience of African economies as well as economic independence from aid and indebtedness, to which the increasing resilience of the health sector should be a side effect;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the announcement from the G20 on a temporary moratorium on debt repayments for the weakest developing countries; reiterates that debt reductions and debt cancellations are not mentioned in the current version of the Africa strategy while they are important palliatives in the COVID-19 crisis and a necessary measure beyond the pandemic since they will contribute to the policy space of African countries that is currently taken up by repaying debt;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Highlights that the European Union still has important economic ties with African states, and that China has intensified its economic engagement in Africa, while the EU Member States have shown only very selective interests for trade with- and investments in the African states, which is why the trade volume between the EU and most African states remains relatively small; underlines that the EU needs an entirely new foundation for its economic partnership with Africa, meaning that it needs to take the final step away from a dependency-based relationship and arrive in the new reality in which the EU and Africa need to develop a mutually beneficial sustainable partnership; underlines that the prerequisite of this partnership is the substantial further sustainable development in all African states;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines that the role of many African states in the international division of labour does not promote their sustainable development as long as it means that they export raw materials and some unprocessed agricultural commodities, while the EU exports manufactured goods, services and agricultural overcapacities; underlines that the EU must support the diversification of inner-African value chains by means of public investment in improved infrastructures and the development of a sustainable energy- supply; calls on the Commission to facilitate through the channels at its disposal the development of regional value chains as inner-regional trade on the African continent remains marginal and is a prerequisite for sustainable development and long term economic independence;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to reform its current version of its strategy entitledadapt its priorities set out in the Communication ‘Towards a comprehensive Strategy with Africa’ ahead of the planned EU-AU Summit with a view to addressing the needs of the African regions in the wake of this health and economic crisis; but also with regard to the danger of upcoming threats to food security; notes that the common plan for economic recovery needs to remain in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to support Africa in its ambitions for a continental free trade area by making the necessary adjustments in order to implement its Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and make them fit the project of the Continental Free Trade Area; by offering technical support for making the necessary fiscal adjustments to the abolition of customs duties, to help implement resilient fiscal systems that tackle the dramatic problem of tax evasion and to reduce the dependency of remittances; underlines the necessity of implementing technical assistance on border cooperation and other technical issues for the sake of regional value chain development;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines that so far, the fragmented implementation of EPAthe Economic Partnership Agreements has resulted in a lack of substantial progress in supporting regional integration, technical assistance, capacity-building on border cooperation, andknowledge and data- management and cooperation for improvements in investment climates and good governance; asks the Commission to primarily increase the speed of implementation of these vital aspects;
Amendment 77 #
8. Calls for a concrete proposal that establishes common initiatives on a renewable energy supply on the African continent; and the promotion of innovation geared towards it, including both a concrete plan to publicly finance those initiatives and a plan on how to get into closer cooperation with regard to the future common usage of the resulting renewable energy; reiterates that sustainable development without comprehensive access to energy is not possible and encourages the Commission to come up with an ambitious plan for implementing this sustainable energy partnership;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Emphasises the need for substantial sustainable investments that enable leapfrogging in the African states; possibly in the form of investment partnerships with regard to infrastructure, a sustainable agricultural sector as well as comprehensive energy supply from renewable sources; underlines the necessity of sustainable innovation projects that enable leapfrogging with the specific goal of ecological and social sustainability in the African states underlines that the EU needs to pursue public investments in the development of general infrastructures and specifically cross-border infrastructures in order to facilitate regional trade and thereby the diversification of value chains; highlights that the promotion of foreign direct investment amongst other programs by the External Investment Plan should be linked to local entrepreneurship, SMEs, smallholder agriculture, the local services sector, the local manufacturing industry as well as sustainable innovation projects in order to facilitate the diversification of value chains on the continent as well as for the sake of the creation of decent employment opportunities;
Amendment 90 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Underlines that empowering civil society, and thereby including a social counterpart into investment structures, is a vital aspect of EU policies towards and with the African states., therefore asks the Commission to involve civil society at all levels of the political dialogue, especially when trade agreements are prepared, monitored and evaluated; calls for a bigger role for civil society in the Aid for Trade system;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Recognizes the critical role of women and girls in sustainable growth and development; emphasizes that the empowerment of women and girls must be mainstreamed throughout the implementation of the Africa strategy; underlines that the economic independence of women must be fostered by the promotion of female entrepreneurs;
Amendment 100 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10 b. Underlines that the African continent has the youngest population in the world and thus asks the Commission to firmly integrate the interests of children and young people in the implementation plan for the Africa strategy and to make sure that substantial investments are made in building the expertise of young people given their critical role in further developing strategies for an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable future of their continent;