68 Amendments of Ulrike MÜLLER related to 2014/2228(INI)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
- having regard to the Council Conclusion on TTIP of 20 March 2015,
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph a
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph a
a. take immediate action to ensure that a comprehensive and ambitious agreement is reached on the TTIP in the interests of EU citizens and also taking account of the interests of the regional and local levels, enhancing fair competition on both sides of the Atlantic;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Believes that the United States is the EU’s key strategic partner; stresses that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is the most significant recent EU-US project and will reinvigorate the transatlantic partnership as a whole, beyond its trade aspects; emphasises that its successful conclusion is of high geopolitical importance at a moment when the US is pivoting to Asia and concluding the Trans-Pacific Partnership; underlinnotes that the TTIP willmay possibly have a positive impact on jobs and growth for the two economies, which have both been hit by the crisis;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Demands that the main outcome of the negotiations be an ambitious and comprehensive agreement, bringing a significant market opening for EU companies, including SMEsparticularly SMEs, and taking adequate account of the concerns felt by the community at large regarding lowering of standards to the detriment of consumers, protection of public services, the proposed cooperation system and ISDS;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph b
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph b
b. take immediate action to ensure that free and fair competition on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as market access, is addressed on the basis of the highest standards possible within the existing levels of protection, especially within areas such as health and safety, consumeruman and animal health, precautionary consumer protection, labour and environmental legislation and data protection;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph c
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph c
c. take immediate action to include restrictions on state aid in the agreement; propose greater transparency within state aid rules and within the allocation of state aid; ensure that all aid granted by the Member States and the EU, of whatever kind, is not called into question by a TTIP agreement;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point b
Paragraph 1 – point b
(b) reaffirm that services with a strong cultural component will not be challenged bysuffer as a result of the TTIP agreement;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas an ambitious agreement with the US may support the reindustrialisation of Europe and help achieve the 2020 target for an increase of the EU’s GDP generated by industry from 15 % to 20 %; whereas it has the potential to create opportunitiadvantages especially for SMEs, which suffer more from non-tariff barriers (NTBs) than larger companies; whereas an agreement between the two biggest economic blocs in the world has the potential to create standards, norms and rules which will be adopted at a global level, which would serve to the advantage of third countries as well;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes the TTIP’s strategic importance in strengthening and shaping global trade and economic governance based on the values shared by the EU and the US, particularly in an increasingly multipolar world; notes that its impact would go beyond the bilateral implications by facilitating the establishment of common regulations and rules that could later be adopted at global level; stresses that the TTIP must at all times be viewed as no more than a stage on the road towards a new overall WTO agreement;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines the importance of developing the trade relationship and bilateral investment between the European Union and the United States of America in order towith the aim of helping growth and employment ands well as generateing new economic opportunities;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is convinced, however, that TTIP should not only cut down barriers but also aim at promoting European high levels of consumer protection; observes that in most sectors EU and US standards and regulatory environments ensure this high level; considers, therefore, that approximating our regulations could represents a unique chance to establish high-quality standards and laws for consumers which will be the de facto international standards;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas all the scenarios outlined in the study entitled ‘Risks and opportunities for the EU agri-food sector in a possible EU-US trade agreement" (PE 514.007)1a forecast a decline in output for the EU agricultural sector and draw attention to the risk of a levelling down in standards as a result of regulatory convergence; __________________ 1a http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/e tudes/STUD/2014/514007/AGRI_IPOL_S TU(2014)514007_EN.pdf
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point d
Paragraph 1 – point d
(d) ensure with a general clause the right to adopt or maintain any measure with regard to the provision of all educational services which receive public funding or state support in any form and ensure that privately funded foreign providers meet the same quality and accreditation requirements as domestic providersthat a TTIP agreement includes a comprehensive reservation against liberalisation for educational services in the Member States which receive public or mixed funding and that in the case of purely privately funded educational services the commitment levels with which EU Member States are currently required to comply under GATS are not increased;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Highlights that the conclusion of the TTIP would creates the prospect of a broad economic space, which would and, in the process, include third countries with which the EU and the US have close trade and economic relations;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that regulatory compatibility is to be without prejudice to the right to regulate in accordance with the level of health, safety, consumer, labour and, environmental and precautionary consumer protection and cultural diversity that each side considers appropriate;
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Insists, while respecting the freedom of governments to protect public services, that EU service providers must have full market access to liberalised services in the US, under transparent rules at both federal and sub-federal levels, and there must be no scope for a ratchet clause making it no longer possible to revert to the provision of services by the State once public services have been liberalised;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point g
Paragraph 1 – point g
(ga) clarify the status of books and publishing, explicitly excluding this sector from the scope of the negotiations, and require that the lawfulness of national policies on supporting and promoting literature and on cultural diversity be clearly restated;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas, given the growing interconnectedness of global markets – up to 40 % of European industrial products are manufactured from imported upstream products – it is crucial that policymakers shape the way these markets interact; whereas proper trade rules and removing unnecessary barriers are fundamental to creating added value in Europe, since industrial production takes place in global value chains;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Suggests that a more proactive approach to comprehensive transparency on the part of the Commission couldis a basic requirement to make the negotiating process more legitimate in the eyes of citizens, and encourages the Commission to publishcarry forward the publication of documents and, make meeting information available; as well as adequately involve the representatives of the regional and local level in the negotiation process;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Believes that, at this early stage in negotiations on the agreement, there should be accompanied by aalready be a parallel deepening of transatlantic parliamentary cooperation, with appropriate involvement at regional and local levels being ensured, and that the strengthening of trade and investment links through the TTIP should lead in the future to an enhanced political framework to improve global cooperation between the EU and the US, also with appropriate regional- and local-level involvement;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas we are faced with an unregulated picture of globalisation and a well-designed trade agreement could contribute to harnessing liberalisation; whereas such an agreement should not only focus on reducing tariffs and NTBs but should also be a tool to protect workers, consumers and the environment; whereas a strong and ambitious trade agreement is an opportunity to create a framework by strengthening regulation to the highest standards at a global level in order to prevent social and environmental dumping and to ensure a high level of consumer protection;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point a
Paragraph 1 – point a
a. prioritise an ambitious and balanced result of the negotiations for agriculture, the three main components of which (market access, geographical indications and sanitary and phytosanitary measures) should be tackled and ensure that this brings tangible benefits for small family farms and does not jeopardise their viability; tackle all agriculture-related aspects early and in parallel in the negotiation process, in order to give Parliament enough time to discuss and evaluate this chapter with stakeholders and European citizens;
Amendment 92 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for mutual recognition of professional qualifications between the Parties and for the abolition of work permit requirements for high-skilled workers in sectors covered by TTIP, so as to create maximum mobility of professionals between the EU and the USnational rules on the limitation of access to regulated professions in Europe also to be preserved in the context of TTIP, as they are guarantors of high standards of quality assurance, do not stand in the way of our dynamic economic development and, inter alia, are the basis for the dual training system which is respected worldwide;
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph i
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph i
i. propose the introduction of a national court systems-first principle, to be supplemented with mediation and intergovernmental dispute mechanisms in legal disputes in order to ensure easier access and lower litignot to pursue negotiations on the investor-state dispute settlement system (ISDS) as part of a TTIP agreement, since the Member States have sufficiently highly developed legal systems, which means that democratically legitimised national cosurts than those offered by current ISDS- mechanisms, benefitting especially SMEs (having fewer resources available than large corporations), thus creating more equal competition conditions; stress that any and all dispute mechanisms set in place within the TTIP-framework must uphold full transparency offer effective legal protection and are in a position to rule competently, efficiently and cost effectively on all the disputes which cand be subjexpected to democratic principles and scrutinyarise;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Highlights the sensitivity of certain areas of negotiation where compromises cannot be accepted, such as the agricultural sector, where perceptions of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), cloning and consumer health, use of hormones in stock farming and protection of consumer and animal health and of the environment are divergent between the European Union and the United States;
Amendment 99 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the fact that the Commission is taking steps aiming to improve the transparency of the negotiations; stresses that the degree of transparency achieved must be increased further, in particular as regards direct access to information at regional and local levels.
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas even though common high standards are in the interest of the consumers, it should be noted that they also make sense from an economic perspective, as the higher costs stemming from higher standards are compensated by increased economies of scale in a market of 850 million consumers;
Amendment 106 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point b
Paragraph 1 – point b
b. firmly commit to the strict preservnot negotiationg ofn standards on food safety and human and animal health, as defined under EU legislation,; not seek to lower the level of protection by means of changes to EU secondary law,also after the negotiations have been concluded, maintain and, where necessary, broaden the scope of existing labelling requirements and ensure that fundamental values of the EU such as the precautionary principle, the basis for our risk management, are not undermined;
Amendment 109 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Emphasises that precautionary consumer protection and compliance with higher European quality standards for foods and products should be at the centre of the negotiations on the TTIPare not negotiable.
Amendment 122 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
ba. recalls that the TTIP negotiations cannot in themselves change the implementation or proposal of legislation in any area, including European food safety, SPS standards, animal welfare and environmental measures;
Amendment 134 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph k
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph k
k. stress the need to uphold the EU’s tradition forat it is an important tradition within the EU for Member States to organising itse their public services, and call for anaccordingly call for the complete exclusion of public services from the agreement;
Amendment 134 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point c
Paragraph 1 – point c
c. ensure a positive final outcome of the negotiations for agriculture reflecting both the offensive and defensivwhich both reflects the interests of the EU agricultural sector concerning the abolition or reduction of both tariff and non-tariff barriers, including in particular sanitary and phytosanitary standards and procedures, and prevents a reduction in agricultural value-added across Europe so that EU producers make genuine gains in terms of access to the US market;
Amendment 144 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for the setting-up of an ambitious and effective cooperation mechanism, the remit of which must not, however, extend beyond guaranteeing the reciprocal exchange of information prior to drawing up new regulations, and which shall not imply obligations for national and regional authorities unless the same rules being complied with by the US and shall be aimed at creating common standards where possible in existing procedures, and toshall ensure that there is no unintended divergence in future standards in key sectors; believes that EU-US common standards should be promoted in all international forums;
Amendment 148 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph l
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph l
l. propose that there should be no obligation in TTIP to expose sensitive sectors to competition., for example in cases where regulatory conditions and related production costs in the EU diverge from those in the United States;
Amendment 152 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point d
Paragraph 1 – point d
d. secure a level playing field, treating as sensitive those products for which direct competition would expose EU agricultural producers to excessive pressure, for example in case in transatlantic trade and counteract possible market distortions, which might chiefly harm small-scale family farming, by setting appropriate quotas for sensitive products, in particular in areas where regulatory conditions and related costs of production in the EU diverge from those in the US;
Amendment 153 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph l a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph l a (new)
la. take further action to make the negotiations more transparent, in particular as regards direct access to information at regional and local levels.
Amendment 172 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Reminds the Commission, while welcoming the potential benefits of regulatory alignment and mutual recognition, including the establishment of common principles in standards and technical specifications in the area of ICT, about the importance of maintaining highkeeping levels of safety and security high and of not lowering them;
Amendment 191 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. RemindsCalls on the Commission to ensure that, regarding ICT services, that it is of particular importance that the TTIP ensuree TTIP establishes a level playing field with equal access for EU service companies to the US market and with an obligation on US service providers to respect the rules applicable to EU companies when providing services in Europe or to European customers.
Amendment 192 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point e
Paragraph 1 – point e
e. secure a significantly improved level of protection ofor EU marks such as protected geographical indications, and better consumer information as an essential element of a balanced agreement, taking the relevant chapter of the CETA with Canada as a good example;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas many critical voices in the public debate have shown the need for the TTIP negotiations to be conducted in a more transparent and inclusive manner, taking into account the concerns voiced by European citizens as well as by representatives of European municipalities and regions; whereas Parliament fully supports both the decision of the Council to declassify the negotiating directives and the Commission’s transparency initiative;
Amendment 216 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
fa. not to include ISDS in the TTIP, since investor-to-state disputes may relate in particular to food safety provisions, too, and, at all events, only the courts in the Member States can provide effective legal protection and enjoy the necessary democratic legitimacy to rule competently, efficiently and cost-effectively on all likely disputes.
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point i
Paragraph 1 – point a – point i
(i) to ensure that TTIP negotiations lead to a deep, comprehensive,n ambitious, balanced and high-standard trade and investment agreement which is in the interest of the citizens and that would promote sustainable growth, support the creation of high-quality jobs for European workers, directly benefit European consumers, increase international competitiveness, and open up new opportunities for EU companies, in particular SMEs; the content of the agreement is more important than the speed of the negotiations;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point a – point ii
(ii) to emphasise that while the TTIP negotiations consist of negotiations on three main areas – ambitiously improving reciprocal market access (for goods, services, investment and public procurement at all levels of government), reducing NTBs and enhancing the compatibility of regulatory regimes, and developing common rules to address shared global trade challenges and opportunities – all these areas are equally important to be included in a comprehensive package; TTIP should be ambitious and binding on all levels of government on both sides of the Atlantic, the agreement should lead to lasting genuine market openness on a reciprocal basis and trade facilitation on the ground, and should pay particular attention to structural means of achieving greater transatlantic cooperation while upholding regulatory standards and preventing social and environmental dumping, welcomes therefore the fact that all major players in the negotiations have publically committed to these goals;
Amendment 263 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Is opposed to the inclusion of ISDS in the TTIP, as ISDS as, on the one hand, this mechanism risks to fundamentally undermininge the sovereign rights of the EU, its Member States and, regional and local authorities to adopt regulations on public health, food safety and the environment, and on the other hand, it is the courts of the Member States providing effective legal protection based on democratic legitimacy to decide all expectable dispute cases competently, efficiently and in a cost-saving manner;
Amendment 281 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point a – point iv
(iv) to ensure, especially given the recent positive developments in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), that an agreement with the US serves as a stepping-stonejust as an intermediate step for broader trade negotiations and is not seen as an alternative to the WTO process; bilateral trade agreements are always the second- best option and must not prevent improvements on the multilateral level;
Amendment 304 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Urges the Commission to work with their U.S. counterparts on compatible traceability provisions to ensure that processed and unprocessed foods containing products of animal origin can be effectively traced throughout the entire food chain.
Amendment 318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point b – point ii
(ii) to aim at the elimination of all duty tariffs, while respecting sensitive products on both sides, especially in the agricultural sector;
Amendment 353 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iv
(iv) to increase market access for services according to the ‘positive list approach’ whereby services that are to be opened up to foreign companies are explicitly mentioned and new services are excluded while ensuring that possible standstill and ratchet clauses only apply to non- discrimination provisions and allow for enough flexibility to bring services back into public control by ensuring complete organisational autonomy for public authorities;
Amendment 379 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point v
Paragraph 1 – point b – point v
(v) the negotiations should meaningfully address the current US restrictions on maritime and air transport services owned by European businesses, including in relation to foreign ownership of airlines and reciprocity on cabotage, as well as maritime cargo screeningwhich is caused by legislation such as the Jones Act, Foreign Dredging Act, the Federal Aviation Act and the US Air Cabotage Law, and which seriously hinder market access for EU companies as well as innovation in the US itself;
Amendment 390 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi
(vi) to ensure an adequate carve-out of sensitive services such as public services and public utilities (including water, health, social security systems and education) allownot restricting national and local authorities enough' room for manoeuvre to legislate in the public interest; a joint declaration reflecting negotiators’ clear commitment to exclude these sectors from the negotiations would be very helpful in this regard;
Amendment 402 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi
(vi) to ensure an adequate carve-out of sensitive services such as public services and public utilities (including water, health, social security systems and education) allowing national and local authorities enough room for manoeuvre to legislate in the public interest; awelcomes the joint declaration reflecting negotiators’ clear commitment to exclude these sectors from the negotiations would be very helpful in this regardstance that public services are excluded from TTIP;
Amendment 452 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point viii
Paragraph 1 – point b – point viii
(viii) to ensure that the EU’s acquis on data privacy is not compromised through the liberalisation of data flows, in particular in the area of e-commerce and financial services; to ensure that no commitments on data flows are taken up before European data protection legislation is in placeany provisions on data flows are in accordance with the EU’s acquis on data privacy, in particular in the area of e-commerce and financial services, noting the importance of cross border data flows to both the digital economy and increasingly also to traditional industry; to ensure that the agreement takes account of Article XIV of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) provisions on the protection of personal data;
Amendment 492 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xi
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xi
(xi) to ensure that account is taken of the large discrepancies in the openness of public procurement markets on both sides of the Atlantic and the huge interest on the part of European companies in obtaining access to public contracts in the US both at federal and state level, for example for construction services, traffic and transport infrastructure and goods and services whil, noting that 85% of the EU public tenders are open to the US while only 32% of US public tenders are open to the EU; to ensure respecting of sustainability criteria for procurement on both sides, inter alia the new EU procurement and concession package entering into force in 2016;
Amendment 520 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xiv
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xiv
(xiv) to ensure that the negotiations on rules of origin aim at reconciling the EU and US approaches without mitigating European rules; given the conclusion of the negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between EU and Canada and the potential upgrade of the EU-Mexico free trade agreement, the possibility and scope of cumulation will need to be considered;
Amendment 536 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xiv a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xiv a (new)
(xiva) to ensure that TTIP is an open agreement, and to look for ways in which valued partners, which have an interest in the TTIP negotiations because of Customs Union agreements with either the EU or the US, can be more actively informed of the developments;
Amendment 538 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xiv b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xiv b (new)
(xivb) to seek to ensure that developing countries indirectly benefit from TTIP and to remain committed to advancing the multilateral trade agenda;
Amendment 542 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point i
Paragraph 1 – point c – point i
(i) to ensure that the regulatory cooperation chapter guarantees a complete exclusion of any possible chilling effect on future legislation in the EU and its Member States as well as new reporting obligations for national legislators; regulatory cooperation shall promotes an effective, pro- competitive economic environment through the facilitation of trade and investment while developing and securing high levels of protection of health and safety, consumer, labour and environmental legislation and of the cultural diversity that exists within the EU; negotiators on both sides need to identify and to be very clear about which regulatory measures and standards are fundamental and cannot be compromised, which ones can be the subject of a common approach, which are the areas where mutual recognition based on a common high standard and a strong system of market surveillance is desirable and which are those where simply an improved exchange of information is possible, based on the experience of one and a half years of ongoing talks;
Amendment 589 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point c – point iii
(iii) with regard to the horizontal regulatory cooperation chapter, to give priority to fostering bilateral cooperation between regulatory bodies solely through enhanced information exchange and to promote the adoption, strengthening and timely implementation of international instruments, on the basis of successful international experiences such as, for instance, ISO standards or under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29); to establish that the prior impact assessment for the regulatory act, as defined in the horizontal provisions on regulatory cooperation, should also measure the impact on consumers and the environment next to its impact on trade and investment; to handle the possibility of promoting regulatory compatibility modest and with great care and only without compromising legitimate regulatory and policy objectives;
Amendment 631 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point d – point ii
(ii) to ensure that the sustainable development chapter aims at the full and effective ratification, implementation and enforcement of the eight fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and their content, the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda and the core international environmental agreements; provisions shouldmust be aimed at improving levels of protection of labour and environmental standards; an ambitious trade and sustainable development chapter shouldmust also include rules on corporate social responsibility based on the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and a clearly structured civil society involvement;
Amendment 705 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point ix
Paragraph 1 – point d – point ix
(ix) to ensure that TTIP supports the use and promotion of green goods and services, including through facilitating the development of these goods and services, thereby tapping into the considerable potential for environmental and economic gains offered by the transatlantic economy;
Amendment 711 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point x
Paragraph 1 – point d – point x
(x) to ensure that TTIP serves as a forum for the development of high common sustainability standards for energy production, always taking into account and adhering to existing standards on both sides;
Amendment 725 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xi
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xi
(xi) to ensure that TTIP includeswelcome the commitment of both sides and the inclusion of a specific chapter on SME’s andin TTIP that aims at creating new opportunities in the US for European SMEs, for instance by eliminating double certification requirements, by establishing a web-based information system about the different regulations, by introducing ‘fast-track’ procedures at the border or by eliminating specific tariff peaks that continue to exist; it should establish mechanisms for both sides to work together to facilitate SMEs’ participation in transatlantic trade, for instance through a common SME ’one-stop shop’;
Amendment 750 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xiv
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xiv
(xiv) to exclude the proposed ISDS mechanism and to replace it with a state- to-state dispute settlement system and the use of national courts as these are the most appropriate tools to address investment disputes and are most capable to ensure that foreign investors are treated in a non-discriminatory fashion and have a fair opportunity to seek and achieve redress of grievances, which can be achieved without the inclusion of an ISDS mechanism; such a mechanism is not necessary in TTIP; given the EU’'s and the US’' developed legal systems; a state- to-state dispute settlement system and the use of national courts are the most appropriate tools to address investment disputes ISDS is not necessary in TTIP;
Amendment 796 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xv
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xv
(xv) to ensure that TTIP includes an ambitious and modern Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) chapter that includes strong protection of precisely and clearly defined areas of IPR without impeding the EU's need to reform its copyright system, including enhanced protection and recognition of European Geographical Indications (GIs), using CETA as a model, and reflects a fair and efficient level of protection such as laid out in the EU’s and the US’s free trade agreement provisions in this area, while continuing to confirm the existing flexibilities in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), notably in the area of public health;
Amendment 810 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xvi
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xvi
(xvi) to ensure that the IPR chapter does not include provisions on criminal sanctions as a tool for enforcement, as having been previously rejected by Parliament including the proposed ACTA treaty;
Amendment 832 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point e – point ii
(ii) to translate these transparency efforts into meaningful practical results, inter alia by reaching meaningful arrangements with the US side to improve transparency, including access to all negotiating documents, in order to allow Members of Parliament and the Member States as well as the European municipalities and regions to develop constructive discussions with stakeholders and the public;
Amendment 845 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point e – point iii
(iii) to promote an even closer engagement with the Member States, who were responsible for the negotiating mandate which directed the European Commission to open negotiations with the US, with the aim of forging their active involvement in better communicating the scope and the possible benefits of the agreement for European citizens, ands committed to in the Council Conclusions adopted on 20 March 2015, in order to ensure a broad, fact-based public debate on TTIP in Europe with the aim of exploring the genuine concerns surrounding the agreement;
Amendment 852 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point e – point iv
(iv) to reinforce its continuous and transparent engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives from regional and local level as well as business, environmental, agricultural, consumer, labour and other representatives, throughout the negotiation process; encourages all stakeholders to participate actively and to put forward initiatives and information relevant to the negotiations;