13 Amendments of Ernest URTASUN related to 2017/2036(INI)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. AcknowledgesWelcomes the fact that EU-Cuban relations, especiallyalso in the area of bilateral trade, take a new start with the signing of the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA), which can provide new possibilities and commitments for both signatories;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that the PDCA is not yet being applied provisionally; supports the longstanding practice of not applying the trade and investment provisions of politically important agreements provisionally beforwill be applied provisionally, once the European Parliament has grantediven its consent; calls for this practice to be continued and extended to include all international agreements related to EU External Action;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Points out that EU foreign trade policy does not provide any trade preferences for Cuba, and that Cuba was removed from the list of countries benefiting from the EU’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), since it has reached the category of an Upper Middle Income Country (UMIC), which lose the GSP status with the new EU GSP regime, in force since January 2014;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines the needat it is up to Cuban citizens to decide upon its economic model, including the way it wishes to modernise the Cuban economic system with regard to trade liberalisation, foreign direct investment, diversification of exports, economic and financial investments, and technological innovation and overall market freedoms; emphasises the importance of the cuentapropistas, and of private initiatives, for the Cuban economy and agricultural sector;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Takes note of the measures that the Cuban authorities have adopted in recent months to encourage free enterprise and economic liberalisation in general; encourages the authorities to further promote a sustainable economy, based on the use of renewable energy, non- chemical fertilizers and technological knowledge in the country;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Reiterates the condemnation by the United Nations General Assembly, the Council of Europe, the European Union and individual countries of the Helms Burton and similar Acts of the USA which have unlawfully restricted economic links with Cuba and sanctioned economic actors inside the country and extraterritorially; underlines the enormous economic damage Cuba has suffered following these Acts; and asks the European to continue to provide legal and financial help to those European companies which still suffer economic damage from the Acts, as they or their subsidiaries engage in trade with Cuba;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Strongly calls on Cuba and all countries it holds or negotiates agreements with to ratify and comply with the regulations of the International Labour Organization (ILO), and to proscribe all forms of labour exploitation, in particular wage confiscation; is highly concerned about the current situation of workers in Cuba and the breach of WTO and ILO conventions;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the ongoing human rights dialogue in the frame of the PDCA, but deplores the insufficient inclusion of civil societyand encourages both sides to include civil society in the dialogue; calls on Cuba to ensure the establishment of a transparent and binding roadmap on human, environmental and labour rights, which should be aimed essentially at safeguarding human rights, enhancing and improving trade unionists’' rights and protecting the environment; calls for immediate tangible improvements to facilitate the European Parliament’'s consent.
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital V a (new)
Recital V a (new)
Va. whereas that embargo on Cuba, as well as US laws containing elements of extraterritoriality, such as the Helms- Burton Act, persist despite the normalisation of relations between the two countries, and constitute an obstacle to the normal economic development of the island and also affect the activities of European undertakings there;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital V b (new)
Recital V b (new)
Vb. whereas Cuba has played an important and constructive role as mediator in resolving conflicts between countries and within countries, as was recently the case with the negotiation and conclusion of a peace agreement between the Colombian Government and the FARC;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Welcomes the fact that with this agreement the 1996 Council Common Position, which for has been an obstacle to normal relations between the EU and Cuba, has been repealed;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Points out that, with a view to the development of political and economic relations betweenCalls for the lifting of the United States' economic blockade on the island and of the EUlaws and Cuba, it would be desirable for any unilateral extraterritorial measures taken by third countriesunilateral measures accompanying it, particularly those with extraterritorial effects, since thatey restrict our counterpart’'s fulnormal economic activity to be lifted;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Recognises the important role that this agreement can play in supporting Cuba's efforts to diversify its economy, based on high levels of education and training, and in particular its efforts to develop an environmentally sustainable economy and agriculture;