8 Amendments of Maria HEUBUCH related to 2018/2107(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s Mid- Term Evaluation of the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP); welcomes the fact that the new regulation has seen an increase in exports from beneficiaries of the Everything But Arms (EBA) and GSP+ arrangements, which is an important step towards poverty eradication; notes that the focus on fewer beneficiaries under the 2012 regulation should further contribute to this aim; but recalls that GSP is at most a facilitator and for it to have a positive social and human rights impact, governments should enact effective legislation and social policies, as well as actively support institutions and legal reforms focusing on the promotion and protection of human and labour rights;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes with satisfaction that the preference utilisation rate for EBA beneficiaries is high, meaning the potential benefit for the world’s poorest countries is also high; stresses that EBA should be complemented with trade-related assistance and capacity-building if it is to become more useful; recalls, however, that there is no direct link between trade liberalisation, economic growth and poverty reduction;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Regrets that the Mid-Term Evaluation indicates that the GSP had only a limited impact on sustainable development and environmental protection;in particular, notes with concern that the production and trade of textiles and clothing, which are the main import products under the GSP, have accelerated environment degradation in beneficiary countries in the absence of adequate environmental and waste management mechanisms[1]; [1] See Mid-Term Evaluation of GSP, cited above.
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the fact that GSP has by and large contributed to social development and human rights, in particular employment of women, implementation of good governance practices and ratification of core ILO conventions; stresses the importance of continued engagement and monitoring, together with the participation of civil society in these processesbelieves, however, that temporary withdrawal of tariff preferences in case of severe and systematic violations of fundamental rights shall be more effectively used; stresses the importance of continued engagement and monitoring, together with the participation of civil society in these processes, so as to enable all interested parties to submit petitions on alleged labour and human rights violations on companies or states benefiting from the duty-free access to the EU under the GSP list;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes with concern that there exists a more limited conditionality to adhere to fundamental labour and human rights under the Standard GSP and EBA arrangements; stresses the need to harmonise those standards towards the GSP+ approach as a way to improve compliance with ILO and UN conventions on labour and human rights; more broadly, stresses the need to ensure coherence between GSP and the FTA regimes, namely by providing sufficient incentives for countries to graduate from the EBA to the GSP+ status as well as from GSP+ to other FTA arrangements;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Is of the opinion that the more intensified GSP+ monitoring system, alongside the findings of UN and ILO monitoring bodies and information provided by third parties, has contributed to the fact that all GSP+ beneficiaries are making progress in implementing the 27 conventions; calls on the Commission to step up its efforts to improve transparency of EU’s GSP+ monitoring, whose mechanism shall equally apply to GSP and EBA beneficiary countries, and to ensure a meaningful role for CSOs and Trade Unions in this framework;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Notes with concern that there is no conditionality to propel beneficiary countries of GSP and EBA arrangements to adhere to environmental standards and to comply with international conventions on climate change and environmental protection; takes the view that list of conventions on core human and labour rights as well as on environment and governance principles should be updated in the next reform of the GSP Regulation, notably by including as a new conditionality the ratification and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change, while GSP Standards and EBA arrangements should be harmonised towards the GSP+ approach; more broadly, calls on the Commission to provide technical support to improve environmental protection in the implementation of each of the three GSP arrangements;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls for greater participation in the monitoring process from Member State embassies and development agencies.; but reiterates that the positive impact of the three GSP arrangements depend on whether the beneficiary countries have policies in place to effectively channel their resources to social and distribution- improving policies as well as adaptation and mitigation measures to limit the potential detrimental effects of increased production on the environment;