32 Amendments of Agnes JONGERIUS related to 2016/2301(INI)
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas Article 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) stipulates that the EU’s trade policy must be built on the principles and objectives of EU external policy; whereas Article 208 of the TFEU establishes the principle of policy coherence for development and sets the eradication of poverty as the main objective; whereas the ‘Trade for All’ communication bases EU trade policy on three key principles – effectiveness, transparency and values – and has a dedicated section on the responsible management of supply chains;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Aa (new)
Recital Aa (new)
Aa. Whereas today free trade has come under increasing public scrutiny and concerns about the inequitable distribution of the benefits and loads of trade have brought to the forefront a largely shared view that trade policy needs to put social and environmental values, as well as transparency and accountability at its core;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. Whereas the distinction between imports and exports is blurred in a world of fragmented production networks as the imported inputs account for a significant proportion of exports and tariffs cumulate each time when intermediate inputs are traded across borders; whereas efficient customs and border procedures are especially important in this context;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. Whereas the EU is the world’s largest exporter and importer of goods and services taken together, the largest foreign direct investor and the most important destination for foreign direct investment (FDI).Whereas the EU should use this strength to benefit both its own citizens and those in other parts of the world, particularly those in the world’s poorest countries.
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. Whereas the particular situation of Export Processing Zones (EPZs), which, in some countries, are exempt from local labour laws, forbid union activity and do not provide legal redress to workers, which is not in compliance with ILO standards;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. Whereas Export Processing Zones (EPZs) in some countries are exempt from local labour laws, ban or limit union activity and do not provide legal redress to workers, which constitutes clear violations of ILO standards;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
Gb. Whereas, due to its global mandate, expertise and experience, the ILO, in collaboration with its Members, is well placed to lead global action for decent work in global supply chains; whereas the ILO Committee on Decent Work in Global Supply Chains called for assessing the failures which lead to decent work deficits in global supply chains and reflecting on initiatives and standards needed to promote decent work and facilitate the reduction of decent work deficits in global supply chains;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas a global holistic approach to corporate liability for human rights abuses is needed in the context of GVCs; Whereas the EU has positioned itself as a front runner in reforming the investors to state dispute settlement mechanism, notably through the development of a Multilateral Court System, and equal progress is expected in other critical areas of concern such as setting up a mechanism to enforce investors obligations in relation to Human Rights;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. Whereas the he UN Environment Programme estimates that up to 90% of e- waste is dumped in Africa, with a large proportion of this coming from the EU; whereas despite the EU's commitment to policy coherence and promoting sustainable development in third countries, many EU rules are being circumvented so that tonnes of e-waste are falsely declared as second-hand goods and exported to developing countries, being falsely described as plastic or scrap metal; whereas this poses serious public health risks, severe environmental degradation and a barrier to development;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas production in GVCs takes place in different jurisdictions with different levels of human rights protection and social, labour and environmental law enforcement; whereas victims of human rights abuses involving international companies face multiple obstacles to accessing judicial remedies;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas production in GVCs takes place in different jurisdictions with different levels of human rights protection and social, labour and environmental law enforcement; whereas victims of human rights abuses involving transnational companies may face multiple obstacles to accessing judicial remedies;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas labelling is a useful tool to enable the EU consumer to make informed choices; Whereas, beyond the price and the origin, social and environmental criteria should also be systematically made available to EU consumers; whereas such criteria can technically be developed in consistency with the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) laying down conditions for the production process to enable the sale of a product
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
K a. whereas the full observance of human rights in the production chain and full respect of food safety standards of goods released for free circulation in the European market should be respected by both States and enterprises and whereas the burden of responsibility should not only lay on consumers, whose choice is constrained by both individual resources (economy, time, knowledge) and external elements (information, offer);
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K a (new)
Recital K a (new)
Ka. whereas Rules of Origin (RoO) have become increasingly important in the context of GVCs in which the production spans across several countries; whereas lax rules of origin can create additional hurdles towards establishing full transparency and accountability throughout supply chains;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas better, harmonised and more efficient customs procedures in Europe and abroad help facilitate trade and meet respective trade facilitation requirements, and help prevent forgeries and illegal, dumped and counterfeit goods from entering the single market, which undermines EU economic growth, and seriously exposes EU consumers; whereas making customs data on imports entering the EU publicly available would increase GVC transparency and accountability;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. Whereas better, harmonised and more efficient customs procedures in Europe and abroad help facilitate trade and meet respective trade facilitation requirements, and help prevent forgeries and illegal and counterfeit goods from entering the single market, which undermines EU economic growth and seriously exposes EU consumers; whereas making customs data on imports entering the EU publicly available would increase GVC transparency and accountability;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. welcomes the entry into force of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, which if properly implemented, will simplify and modernise customs procedures making it easier for developing countries that generally have larger border barriers to integrate into the global trading system;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Reiterates its call to the Commission and Member states to adopt reinforced trade defence instruments to combat unfair commercial practices, taking into account social and environmental dumping
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the ongoing negotiations on a binding UN Treaty for Transnational Corporations and Human Rights; calls for the EU to engage constructively in these negotiations and to encourage trading partners to equally engage ;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to work within the ILO towards the adoption of a new international labour standard for decent work on GVCs, requiring in particular all companies to undertake on-going risk management of the impact of their activities on the human rights of workers and communities and take appropriate measures to prevent, mitigate and provide remedy to those affected by these activities;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Acknowledges the smart mix of regulatory and voluntary action, but recalls that voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) creates unfair competition for suppliers that have chosen to comply with international labour and environmental standards; reiterates its call for the systematic inclusion of binding and enforceable rules, associated sanctions, remedies and independent monitoring mechanisms; therefore reiterates its call for binding due diligence obligations to be put in place; Stresses that mandatory human rights due diligence should follow the steps required in the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guidelines related to the proactive identification of risks to human rights, the drawing up of rigorous and demonstrable action plans to prevent or mitigate these risks, adequate response to known abuses, and transparency;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Regretscalls that the European Parliament requested in 2010 that companies should publish their CSR balance sheets, the introduction of due diligence requirements for all undertakings, and the consolidation of the CSR concept on the basis of a harmonised definition of the relations between parent companies in order to establish the legal liability of each them; therefore takes note with satisfaction that the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information will be required from large companies as from 2017 according to the Non- Financial Reporting Directive; regrets however that the disclosure of non- financial information by large companies has not yet been extended to cover all actors operating in GVCs;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that social and environmental standards subscribed to in FTAs apply throughout the territory of trade partners, including in Export Processing Zones (EPZs);
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. calls on the Commission to ensure that social and environmental standards subscribed to in FTAs apply throughout the territory of trade partners
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. stresses the need for harmonised rules and a reinforced EU coordination and supervision of the application of import duties by Member States (including conventional, anti-dumping and countervailing duties) on all types of commodities and goods, especially involving false declarations of origin (in both preferential and non-preferential regimes) and undervaluation and wrong description of goods;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Reaffirms the urgent need to effectively address human rights abuses by transnational corporations when they appear, and to address the legal problems resulting from the extra-territorial dimension of companies in particular through the establishment of joint legal liabilities throughout supply chains; calls on Member States to take appropriate steps to tackle the financial and procedural hurdles faced in civil litigation by victims of human rights infringements;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. urges the Commission to recognise established sustainability criteria and minimum requirements for the detection and certification systems on the basis of international conventions, such as the core labour standards of the International Labour Organization or the protection of biodiversity; calls on the Commission to make full use of the provisions of Regulation (EU) 978/2012 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences, with view to limit the scope for arbitrary decisions and enhance the credibility of GSP+ in adopting a delegated act to clarify the definitions of a "serious failure to effectively implement" an international conventions and "serious and systematic violation of principles" contained in an international convention
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Calls on the European Commission to ensure that human rights conditions linked to unilateral trade preferences granted under the General Scheme of Preferences (GSP) are effectively enforced and monitored, and that procedures foreseen for cases of possible non-compliance with these conditions are implemented, in full compliance with the GSP Regulation;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Calls on the Commission to make full use of the provisions of Regulation (EU) 978/2012 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences, with view to limit the scope for arbitrary decisions and enhance the credibility of GSP+ in adopting a delegated act to clarify the definitions of a "serious failure to effectively implement" an international conventions and "serious and systematic violation of principles" contained in an international convention;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Expects the GSP mid-term review to clarify definitions and include additional tariff preferences for sustainably produced products; takes the view that trade policy must be a way to encourage the EU’s trade partners to adopt higher social, labour and environmental standards; believes that this objective requires a revision of the GSP Regulation, in particular to include CSR conditions within its scope, in order to ensure compliance by transnational corporations with national and international legal obligations in the areas of human rights, labour and environmental standards;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Recognises that digital innovation and data flows are crucial drivers of the services economy and an essential element of the GVCs in traditional manufacturing sectors; believes therefore that forced localisation requirements should be curbed to the extent possible within and outside the EU while accommodating necessary exemptions based on public purposes such as consumer protection and the protection of fundamental rights; recalls that data flows protection and the right to privacy are not a trade barrier but fundamental rights, enshrined in Article 39 TEU, Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union as well as Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;