28 Amendments of Jordi SOLÉ related to 2017/2280(INI)
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Is concerned that ENI funding in politically sensitive contexts remains challenging, especially with regard to promotion of the shared values of democracy and human rights; regrets that the “more for more” approach that was adopted by the Commission in the wake of the so-called Arab Spring has been progressively discarded, and that countries that are manifestly departing from their stated commitments to human rights and democratic reform have enjoyed increasing financial assistance over the recent period;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Recognises that the IcSP’s primary added value is its speed and flexibility when it comes to addressing conflict and its broad range of civilian actors with whom the EU can partner; reminds that the IcSP is the only EU instrument for civilian conflict prevention including mediation, dialogue and reconciliation;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that the need for conflict prevention and to address security challenges have increased drastically in the recent period; believes that there is a very high demand for reconciliation but also mediation and dialogue initiatives in many post-war crisis countries with sectarian cleavages; therefore stresses the need to significantly increase funds available for such initiatives;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Stresses that the new military capacity building component (CBSD) may set a precedent for the next MFF which could lead to the IcSP and Heading IV becoming open for all kinds of military funding purposes and pose risks for CSO working with the EU being perceived as parties in armed conflict;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Underlines the added value of the worldwide holistic approach of the EIDHR, despite its relatively small budget, as well as its unique feature of being the only instrument through which the EU can support civil society actions regardless of the consent of the authorities of the State concerned by such actions;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Notes that in the current period the EIDHR has been used more flexibly and with more complementarity than in the previous period; welcomes the increased focus on human rights defenders, including through the emergency fund available at the level of EU delegations, and the establishment and the successful operation of the EU Protect Defenders mechanism;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Is concerned about the difficulties in mainstreaming human rights and democratic values through geographic programmes, leading to increased pressure on the EIDHR and the reduced support by Member States to civil society organisations, leading to increased pressure on the EIDHR at a time of closing space for civil society worldwide;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls for EU and universal values to remain at the core of all EU external actions; stresses that EU external action must prioritise tackling critical global challenges, such as the peace, security and development nexus, and recognise that the promotion of human rights and democracy, and support for human rights defenders and civil society organisations, are essential to working towards these interlinked goals;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Urges increased synergies and coherence between all instruments under Heading IV, as well as with bilateral assistance programmes of Member States; calls, in this regard, on the Commission and the EEAS to strengthen their cooperation and coordination;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Expresses alarm at the increase in destruction and confiscation of EU- funded humanitarian assistance in the West Bank; deplores the lack of resolve of the EEAS and the Commission, as highlighted by the European Court of Auditors, to secure compensation from and guarantees of non-repetition by the Israeli authorities;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Calls for an improved strategic framework and for synergies between IcSP and follow-up actions under other instruments and by other actors in particular the DCI, IPA II and ENI with regards to medium and long term peacebuilding;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Reiterates the importance of supporting and promoting democracy and human rights in third countries, regardless of the consent or acquiescence by third countries;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Recommends increased strategic planning in conjunction with political guidance from EU authorities and coherence with the other instruments, especially in countries experiencing a decline in human rights and democratic standards, to counter the global trends of illiberalism and the closing space for civil society; in this context, insists that the EIDHR concentrates its funding on supporting human rights defenders and civil society organisations at risk, notably through the expansion of the EU human rights defenders mechanism and the Emergency Fund;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33 a. Underlines the importance to focus on internationally relevant thematic issues that may underpin, in the short-, mid- and/or long-term, the globalisation of human rights and the rule of international law and justice; calls for greater EIDHR support in a number of emerging thematic issues, notably the fight against corruption, business and human rights, environmental rights and rights of migrants;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Insists that urgent work is required to further diminish the bureaucratic obstacles encountered by local civil society organisations (CSOs); encourages EU delegations to publish calls for proposals in local languages and to allow applicants to submit project proposals therein;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. ReiteratNotes that the EEAS wishes thato reform of the current instrument architecture, claiming that it is required in order to provide more flexibility, efficiency, coherence and responsiveness, and would also increase cost-effectiveness, accountability, transparency and public oversight;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Notes that this could bee EEAS proposes to achieved this through a simplification of the current architecture;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40 a (new)
Paragraph 40 a (new)
40 a. Underlines that the staff working documents on the midterm review declare all instruments “relevant and fit for purpose” and that the EEAS services have so far been lacking any concrete examples to justify why a merger would bring improvements;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40 b (new)
Paragraph 40 b (new)
40 b. Expresses its concern in particular about the three thematic instruments which differ in the decision-making modalities from the geographical instruments that are programmed in cooperation with the recipient countries: the EIDHR operates independently from the consent of partner country authorities, the IcSP covers in its article 3 non- programmable crisis response measures and the PI is supposed to finance the ‘external dimension of EU’s internal policies’; recalls the specific implementing rules which make for example the IcSP such a useful instrument to support civilian conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities and which need to be maintained (e.g. variety of activities, geographical coverage, range of actors, etc.);
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40 c (new)
Paragraph 40 c (new)
40 c. Underlines that the EU, when creating the EIDHR and the IcSP, laid a particular focus on human rights, conflict prevention and peace-building; stresses that it is important to preserve these priorities not only in its activities but also visibly for the outside communication by maintaining separate instruments; stresses that the preservation of these thematic instruments is crucial for the Union's credibility, in particular regarding its level of ambition regarding peace and security;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Stresses that a single instrument cannot exist without the inclusion of clear and dedicated envelopes for the various goals, objectives and priorities of EU external action, including democracy, human rights, the rule of law, support to civil society, conflict resolution, fragile states, development policy, economic and social development, and support to countries in various stages of EU accessionthe simplification of the current architecture should not result in the merger of all instruments; believes that only in very few cases the merging of instruments generates an added value like in the case of DCI and EDF;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)
Paragraph 41 a (new)
41 a. Instructs the EU to keep a single, dedicated instrument for civil society and human rights and democracy, including a mechanism on support and protection for human rights defenders, with its own legal basis and separate from other instruments; underlines that this is in order to ensure that there are no risks to its independence and that its funds cannot be diverted to other objectives; calls on the Commission to ensure that human rights and democracy objectives are mainstreamed into the objectives of all other instruments;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 b (new)
Paragraph 41 b (new)
41 b. Instructs the EU to keep a single, dedicated instrument for civilian conflict prevention and rapid civilian crisis response; urges to take into account the growing demand in Europe’s neighbourhood by tripling funds available for civilian conflict prevention in particular for financing initiatives in the field of mediation, dialogue and reconciliation; underlines that such an increase should not be at the expense of civilian conflict prevention and peacebuilding in other regions;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43
Paragraph 43
43. Reiterates that flexibility is reliant on the ability to transfer funds between envelopes; recalls that funds destined for external action objectives cannot be rerouted to serve other objectives, including migration management, border security, military capacity-building of partner countries and internal security; calls for a dedicated proportion of the total external action instrument budget (no less than 15 %) to be reserved for flexible and/or urgent action and thus to remain unprogrammed;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 a (new)
Paragraph 50 a (new)
50 a. Believes that the IcSP’s follow-up regulation should not include the military capacity building for partner countries component (CBSD) as this politically weakens the EU’s only instrument for civilian conflict prevention; also recalls that CBSD funding under the current IcSP is noncompliant with Article 209 TFEU, relevant case-law of the ECJ and the limits to military spending imposed by Article 41(2) TEU;
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 b (new)
Paragraph 50 b (new)
50 b. Believes that it is of crucial importance to building a reinforced and purely civilian IcSP for the next MFF also for the purpose of redressing the imbalance between low Union commitments regarding civilian conflict prevention and on the other side defence activities such as CBSD, European Defence Fund and PESCO;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 c (new)
Paragraph 50 c (new)
50 c. Notes plans to create a European Peace Facility; underlines that such a facility should be restricted to civilian actions in the field of conflict prevention and peacebuilding and all military activities should be grouped under the umbrella of another dedicated instrument;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 d (new)
Paragraph 50 d (new)
50 d. Recalls that according to 41(2) TEU expenditure arising from operations having military or defence implications cannot be charged to the Union budget under the next MFF; calls therefore on the Council to adapt the ATHENA mechanism to new demands such as military capacity building of partner countries, PESCO and joint research and development in line with the Parliament’s resolution of 22 November 2016 on the European Defence Union (2016/2052(INI)) and the related recommendation contained within its paragraph 47;