14 Amendments of Maria HEUBUCH related to 2015/2105(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Emphasises that open trade is an engine for growth, development and wealth creation; recalls that the countries most integrated into the world economy are also among the richestTakes note of the Commission's Communication "Trade for All", which aims to set a more responsible trade and investment strategy; urges the Commission to ensure that social and environmental consequences of market opening are properly addressed; in this context, welcomes the Commission's new approach which involves that trade agreements should be a leverage to promote, around the world, values like sustainable development, human rights, fair and ethical trade and the fight against corruption;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. In particular, welcomes the pledge of the Commission that no trade agreement will ever lower levels of regulatory protection; that any change to levels of protection can only be upward; and that the right to regulate will always be protected;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the importance of the potential contribution of trade policy to sustainable development was recently reaffirmed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; agrees with the Commission that open markets should not entail compromising on core principles, like human rights and sustainable development, high quality safety and environmental regulation and public services; recalls that the Sustainable Development Goals include several trade- related targets across a number of policy areas;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Recalls that the nexus connecting trade, economic development and poverty reduction does not function automatically; recalls that despite significant liberalisation efforts, some developing countries, notably LDCs, have failed to diversify production and exports; insists upon EU member states´ responsibility to ensure that benefits of globalisation are fairly distributed and negative impacts are mitigated;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Welcomes the pledge of the Commission to undertake an in-depth analysis of the possible effects of new FTAs on LDCs in sustainability impact assessment; believes that human rights should take precedence over provisions of trade and investment agreements;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Acknowledges that EU's trade and investment policy must respond to consumer's concerns by reinforcing corporate social responsibility initiatives and due diligence across the production chain; however, urges the Commission and the EU member states to move beyond the existing non-binding voluntary approach and to strive instead for mandatory due diligence;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. WStresses that the new trade strategy should ensure the fulfilment of the right to food; welcomes the advances made at the World Trade Organisation’'s Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, in particular in the area of agriculture (e.g. the elimination of trade-distorting agriculture export subsidies, and progress on market access for the least developed countries (LDCs)); points out however that the banning export subsidies leaves unchanged economic distortions resulting from other direct or indirect subsidies, which enable the EU agricultural sector to export agricultural commodities below their average production costs; recalls that the right to food implies giving policy space to developing countries to enhance their capacity to produce sustainably for local and regional consumption, and to protect their respective population from potentially destructive effects of cheap imports; to this end, stresses that developing countries must be able to use trade tools, including variable customs duties and import quotas;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recalls that SDG target 17.15 acknowledges the need to respect each country's policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development; stresses that historical evidence demonstrates the need to protect domestic producers from cheap foreign imports during nascent economic development; in this context, reiterates the right of developing countries to place high tariffs upon products emanating from the EU in strategic import-competing sectors in order to be able to fulfil the SDGs and to regulate investment so as to ensure obligations and duties for all investors, including foreign, with the aim of protecting human rights, labour and environmental standards;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recognises the increasing diversity among developing countries as regards their integration into the multilateral trade system and the respective benefits thereof; calls for specific regimes for LDCs in particular, whose share of global trade is marginal; welcomaccordingly, encourages the Commission to explore more flexible ways to achieve WTO-compatible asymmetrical market access, therefore, the revision of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP); including through waivers from WTO rules, and to demonstrate flexibility in partner discussions; welcomes the revision of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) as a way to provide incentives and support for human rights, sustainable development and good governance; in particular, insists upon defining binding conditionalities on core labour and environmental standards, with effective remedy mechanisms;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses the crucial role of Aid for Trade (AfT) in trade-related capacity-building, technical assistance, business support policies for SMEs and regional integration; in particular, deems that Aid for Trade should help promoting processing and diversification of production; assist regional integration; technology transfers, and help facilitate the establishment or development of domestic productive capacity and reducing income inequality; notes, however, that without serious efforts by the countries directly concerned and significant improvements in governance, trade cannot – in isolation – help countries to overcome development constraints;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Underlines that the premature and rapid trade liberalisation that many low- income developing countries were encouraged to undertake in the 1980s and 1990s led to de-industrialisation and a form of integration that intensified their dependence on and vulnerability to external markets; in reverse, the countries that have benefited the most from trade liberalisation and have experienced the largest reductions in absolute poverty are those that have opened their economies moderately, gradually in line with the development of their productive capacities, and have made progress towards structural transformation;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recalls that Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) are a key development instrument for helping to alleviate poverty in the long run; stresses, however, that their scope is still mainly limited to goods, and that expanding them to services and investment would considerably increase potential for growthdomestic markets, boosted by the demand side, are critical to economic transformation and diversification of ACP countries; expresses its serious doubts about the ability of Economic Partnership Agreements to put into effect the "development dimension" of trade in a context of premature reciprocal liberalisation; in particular, recalls EPA's potential adverse effects on intra-African trade, import flooding, deindustrialisation and loss of fiscal revenues, while stringent EU Rules of Origin, hygiene requirements for food-processed products and high tariffs placed upon processed goods would continue to stifle developing countries' entry into European markets;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Stresses that, in order to be meaningful, the sustainable development provisions in EPAs and future cooperation framework must be robust, mandatory and enforceable ; more broadly, calls on ACP-EU partners to adhere to legally binding environmental and labour standards to ensure sustainable use of resources and to abide by the principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR) throughout the whole lifecycle of projects, including by respecting i.e. the UN Global Compact on human rights, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, ILO core labour standards, environmental standards, UN Convention Against Corruption;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Believes that global supply chain should be managed more sustainably; insists accordingly upon the need to reinvigorate the multilateral trading system of WTO; but stresses the need to promote local production, including short food supply chains;