Activities of Notis MARIAS related to 2016/2053(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
The future of ACP-EU relations beyond 2020 (A8-0263/2016 - Norbert Neuser) EL
Amendments (27)
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls for an effective post-Cotonou framework adapted to global challenges, based on ownership by the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and in line with the Sustainable Development Goals; stresses that a revised general framework agreement, together with the regional Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and other trade instruments, must support fair and sustainable trade and, ultimately, sustainable development and poverty reduction and must avoid triggering unemployment in the EU Member States;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16
Citation 16
— having regard to Rule 52 of itsthe Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament,
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the post-Cotonou process should offer a framework within which to discuss trade issues with all the ACP countries; calls for a strengthening of trade cooperation, with a values-driven approach, international trade and improved Policy Coherence for Development; believes that inclusive growth, job creation, the development of the private sector and regional integration must be central in a future economic partnership;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls for strong, legally binding sustainable development provisions; asks for the human rights 'essential elements' clause to remain in the future agreement so that the linkage clauses in the EPAs continue to function after 2020;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the Cotonou Agreement promises to addresses new global challenges such as climate change, migration and terrorism, but has to date produced few concrete results in these areas;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Ε
Recital Ε
Ε. whereas political dialogue on essential elements, as referred to in Articles 8 and 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, is a concrete and legal means of upholding the common values of the ACP-EU partnership to an unparalleled degree and promoting democracy and human rights, which are fundamental for sustainable development;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the involvement of national parliaments, local authorities, and civil society and the private sector in political dialogue has been rather limited; whereas the role of the ACP Group as such has been limited to cases where Article 96 is invoked; whereas political dialogue, and Article 96 in particular, have mostly been used at a late stage of political crises and not in a preventative manner;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that civil society involvement is a must throughout the implementation of the EPAs and the post- Cotonou process; notes the importance of a renewed ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and defends strong parliamentary oversight of the future framework; asks for results-oriented monitoring of ACP-EU cooperation, especially with regard to fair trade and sustainable development;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5a. Recalls the Financing for Development commitments; calls for the EU to ensure more and effective funding for Aid for Trade to support the ACP countries’ efforts to move up the global value chain.
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5α. Calls on the Commission to take the necessary steps to ensure that the Cotonou Agreement does not promote multinationals at the expense of small and medium-sized enterprises or trigger unemployment within the EU Member States.
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Affirms that ACP-EU cooperation is a valuable and uniquen achievement that has to some extent strengthened bonds between ACP and EU countries and their parliaments throughout the last 40 years; underlines - provided the ACP countries demonstrate their commitment to taking joint action as a group - that in order to improve the effectiveness of cooperation and adapt it to new challenges, on the one hand, a new structure has to be adopted that keeps those parts of the ACP- EU acquis that are universal in character, such as commitment to human rights, good governance and democracy, the objective of the rule of law, and exchange of best practice in a common framework, whileand on the other the main work has to be done according to the principle of subsidiarity, that is, it must take place in regional agreements that are tailored to specific regional needs and to the mutual interests existing between the EU and the respective region;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises that both the common framework and the regional agreements should be legally binding; underlines that, in order to strengthen effectiveness and reduce duplication, the regional agreements with Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific should be designed in a way that takes into account existing regional and sub-regional organisations, e.g. the African Union, Regional Economic Communities, and regional agreements such as the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), as well as the specific regional needs of organisations and citizens and should allow the inclusion of additional countries, such as northern African countries, or the creation of groupings in accordance with specific interests or needs (e.g. development status, as in the case of LDCs, or geographical peculiarities, as in the case of small island developing states);
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for an ACP-EU peer review mechanism to scrutinise SDG implementation in member states on a regular basis, with ACP and EU representatives not only from governmental institutions but also from national parliaments, the European Parliament and civil society, drawing up yearly conclusions and recommendations for follow-up;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for the fight against poverty to remain an overarching objective of ACP-EU cooperation; believes, however, that a new agreement must primarily be a political project and clearly leave behind the donor-recipient mentality; considers that cooperation should take place in areas of common interest where common gains can be expected, not just in economic terms but also with regard to peace and security, human, defence of human rights, protection of workers and social rights, good governance and democracy, the environment, climate change and other areas related to the prosperity of both ACP and EUprincipally ACP populations;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for the essential elements in the Cotonou Agreement regarding human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law to continue to form the value-based foundation of a new agreement; calls for good governance to be added as an essential element, as well as the protection of the social and labour rights of ACP citizens;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses that political dialogue is a fundamental part of the Cotonou Agreement, and that Articles 8 and 96 are a concrete and legally binding means to uphold the essential elements of ACP-EU relations, though they have not always been used effectively in the past; calls for political dialogue to remain a central and legal pillar in the overarching framework and on the regional level of the new agreement; calls for political dialogue to be used more effectively and systematically and in a proactive way in order to prevent any political crises;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Underlines in this regard that political dialogue is a valuable basis for improving the situation of the peoples of the partner countries; regrets the insufficient use of this instrument and its weak effectiveness so far; calls, therefore, for improved monitoring of the human rights situation, labour and social rights and of the other essential and fundamental elements of the Agreement, and for a regular biennial or multiannual evaluation and joint reports on the respect of these elements by all ACP- EU member states with the purpose of naming infringements, shaming and praising; calls for the results of these reports to be presented at the overarching ACP-EU meetings and used as a basis for political dialogue;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls for stronger involvement and support for capacity-building by civil society, especially for local groups that are directly concerned by policies; underlines in this regard the danger of shrinking space for civil society in someACP countries, and the need also to include those groups that are unable to organise their interests or that are, despite a legitimate democratic interest, not recognised by their government;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Believes that the private sector canould play a pivotal role in the development process and canould contribute to financing development, provided investment occurs with constant respect for the people and for traditional ownership or use, and for the environment; calls, therefore, for private investment to be supported under the auspices of the European Investment Bank (EIB) provided it is in line with international human rights law and social and environmental protection rulesthe protection of labour and social rights and the environment; calls, furthermore, for local, regional and national private sectors to be allowed to participate in policymaking, programming and implementation;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls for Joint ACP-EU Council meetings to include topical and urgent political debates, including on sensitive issues, with the aim of adopting joint conclusions on them; calls onurges the relevant ACP and EU member state ministries to improve their participatione actively at the level of ministers, in order to give the meetings the necessaryrequisite political legitimacy and confer the needed visibility on the principle of partnership;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Believes that the JPA should ensure the adequate and proportional representation and participation of all political forces in its debates; calls, therefore, for the ACP national delegations to the JPA to include representatives of their national political spectrum, including the opposition, respecting gender equality;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls for the JPA to be aligned with the new regional structure, thus focusing its work in regional fora on issues of regional importance, strongly involving the region’s national parliaments while also maintaining more regular, but less frequent, joint ACP-EU meetings;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls for an alignment of common resolutions in the overarching ACP-EU forum on urgent international topics, delays regarding SDG-relevant topics and breaches of human rights, and an alignment of resolutions in regional or other respective meetings on current topics and issues that are urgent and of particular interest for a region or asome specific group;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls for further efforts to be made to improve JPA scrutiny of development programming and follow-up to such scrutiny; calls on the Commission and ACP governments to promote the involvement of ACP national parliaments, local and regional authorities and civil society actors in the pre- and post-scrutiny of development programming, and to supply all available information in a timely manner to ACP national parliaments in order to assist them in their exercise of democratic scrutiny;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Reiterates its call for budgetisation of the EDF in order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness, democratic scrutiny, and the visibility and coherence of EU development financing; stresses, however, that this budgetisation should be conditioned by i) a guaranteed ring- fencing of developing funds to maintain the level of financing for developing countries; and ii) a permanent solution for EU financing of security expenses linked to development cooperation; underlines that all Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) in need should also in the futurehenceforward be eligible for EU development aid;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Underscores that the 11th EDF is the main source of funding for the African Peace Facility (APF), despite the fact that this was meant to be a provisional solution when the APF was established in 2003; calls for the creation of a dedicated instrument for financing security expenses linked to development cooperation;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Reiterates that the EPAs constitute a basis for regional cooperation and that they must be instruments for development and regional integration; highlights, therefore, the need for legally binding sustainability provisions (on human rights, labour rights and social and environmental standards) in all EPAs, and underlines the importance of creating effective monitoring systems that include first and foremost a wide range of civil society in order to avoid the negative effects of trade liberalisation;