Activities of Jordi SOLÉ related to 2021/2066(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Corruption and human rights (continuation of debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy concerning corruption and human rights
Amendments (26)
Amendment 26 #
A. whereas corruption is a human rights violation, directly undermining the enjoymentfacilitates, perpetuates and institutionalises violations of human rights, directly undermining the observance and implementation of human rights and disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable and marginalised individuals and groups in society, barring them, in particular women, from equal access to political participation, basic services, justice, natural resources, jobs, education, health and housing, while exacerbating poverty and inequalityundermining governance, misappropriating wealth and public goods and exacerbating poverty and inequality, in some cases even leading to loss of life;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas fighting corruption is an integral part of the international commitments to fulfil human rights, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030, in the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 16 to promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies, which commits the international community notably to strengthen the recovery and return of stolen assets;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas corruption undermines institutions, checks and balances and democratic principles, weakens the rule of law, corrodes public trust and impedes sustainable development, leading to the impunity of perpetrators, the illicit enrichment of those in power and power- grabbing to escape prosecution; whereas corruption is a major factor of conflict and destabilises peacebuilding efforts;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas financial secrecy is a key facilitator of corruption; whereas illicit financial flows from developing countries are facilitated and encouraged by secrecy jurisdictions and tax havens, as well as financial and legal actors, notably from within the European Union;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. whereas Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany and Malta rank respectively 6th, 8th, 14th and 18th out of 133 countries on the 2020 Financial Secrecy Index of the Tax Justice Network, which ranks jurisdictions according to their secrecy and the scale of their offshore financial activities;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
D c. whereas EU-based individuals and entities are regularly reported by investigative journalists and civil society organizations to be directly involved in grave acts of corruption in third countries, including as initiators, enablers or end-receivers; whereas the investigation and prosecution of such crimes remains very limited;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the adoption of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EU Magnitsky Act) is an essential addition to the EU’s toolbox; whereas Parliament has requested the extenscreation of its scope to includea complementary sanctions regime in order to address acts of corruption; whereas the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have adopted similaruch anti-corruption sanctions regimes;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a
Paragraph 1 – point a
(a) placeacknowledge the interrelationship between corruption and human rights and thus adopt a human rights-based approach to the fight against corruption fr, with victims of corruptiont and centre in allState responsibility placed at its core, and place the fight against corruption prominently in EU efforts and policies promoting human rights and democracy around the world;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
(a a) recognise the own role and responsibility of a critical number of individuals and entities based in the European Union, as the initiators, enablers and beneficiaries of corruption in third countries; address therefore the phenomenon of corruption as a global one, which requires robust action also within the European Union, including through effective anti-corruption institutions and regulatory framework, asset recovery and criminal prosecution;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
(a b) acknowledge that corruption is closely related to activities such as money laundering, tax evasion and illicit trade; in this light, consider that transparency should be the cornerstone of all anti- corruption strategies and include: lifting excessive professional secrecy; automatic exchange of information on tax matters; public country-by-country reporting of multinationals and public registries of beneficial owners of companies;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e
Paragraph 1 – point e
(e) insist on the full implementation and enforcement of existing national and international anti-corruption instruments such as the UNCAC, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption; launch an inclusive and comprehensive process tocarry out the long-delayed review of the EU’s implementation of the UNCAC;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f
Paragraph 1 – point f
(f) recognise that the return of misappropriated assets stolen by, and the identification of the odious debt contracted under authoritarian regimes are, beyond their economic significance, a moral imperative with significant implications in terms of justice and accountability, as well for the credibility of the Union’s democracy support policy; draw lessons from its experience of asset recovery involving the Arab Spring countries, including with regard to shortcomings in the EU and Member States’ legal and policy frameworks, as well as at international level, on this matter; draft a communication outlining possible initiatives at EU and international levels to ensure swift and efficient recovery of illicitly acquired assets following democratic transition processes in third countries and to ensure that there are no safe havens for assets stolen by corrupt regimes within the European financial system in particular and around the globe in general; advance efforts in all EU Member States to freeze and confiscate stolen assets in their jurisdictions, in line with the UNCAC, and to return them in a transparent and accountable manner to the country of origin; , including by involving civil society organizations;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
(f a) advance efforts to ensure that victims of corruption –individuals as well as communities – are identified, informed and receive compensation for the damages caused by corruption when cases are resolved by court decisions or out of court;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g
Paragraph 1 – point g
(g) strengthen the credibility of EU external anti-corruption action by more effectively combating corruption and money laundering within the EU and by stepping up the investigation and prosecution of EU entities and individuals involved in acts of corruption in or involving third countries; recognise that systemic corruption in some EU Member States and the failure to effectively prosecute foreign bribery undermines anti- corruption efforts in third countries; recognise that a lack of determined action, delays and a gap in implementing the anti- corruption regulations within the EU emboldens enablers of global corruption within the EU and corrupt actors outside of the EU;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)
(g a) acknowledge that international reviews conducted by the OECD Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes and the Financial Action Task Force have documented serious shortcomings in the Member States, and take corrective action with a view to strengthening the EU's external credibility in these areas;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h
Paragraph 1 – point h
(h) mainstream a rights-based anti- corruption approach into EU external action in the programming of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) and the EU trust funds; prioritise binding anti-corruption commitments with targets and timetables; strengthen monitoring and enforcement; improve communication between specialised EU agencies and partners on the ground; invest in digital and data- driven methods to fight corruption; ensure a consistent, comprehensive and accessible data base of the ultimate beneficiaries of EU funds across the full procurement cycle;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
(i a) suspend the use of budget support as an aid-delivery modality in countries where corruption is widespread and where authorities manifestly fail to take genuine action; insist that the Commission, in the context of budget support, pays particular attention to the transparency in operations involving privatisation of and deals related to public assets, notably land, and to participate in OECD support programmes for developing countries in corporate governance of state owned enterprises;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n
Paragraph 1 – point n
(n) monitor the corruption risks involved in authoritarian third countries’ large-scale construction and investment projects, undertaken globally but also in Member States, particularly in the energy and, extractive, infrastructure and arms sectors; note that these projects often raise concerns of non- transparent financing or fiscal risks; proceed with the swift implementation of the EU’s ‘Globally Connected Europe’ programme, approved by the Council on 12 July 2021, with the potential to counter these efforts;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point p
Paragraph 1 – point p
(p) design programmes to promote the adoption and implementation of comprehensive legislation on whistleblower protection and to provide more financial support to CSOs, independent media, whistleblowers and HRDs working on preventing and exposing corruption, advancing transparency and accountability, including support against strategic lawsuits (strategic lawsuits against public participation, SLAPP suits) and the establishment of an ambitious and effective EU anti-SLAPP directive, that also ensures protection from judicial harassment triggered in relation to the denunciation of corruption cases outside EU borders; improve smaller CSOs’ access to EU funding;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point q
Paragraph 1 – point q
(q) strengthen protection of witnesses, whistleblowers and anti-corruption HRDs, including through the allocation of dedicated resources to EU delegations and Member States representations, the issuing of emergency visas and providing temporary visa schemlter in EU Member States;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point v
Paragraph 1 – point v
(v) welcome the landmark political declaration on corruption adopted by the UN General Assembly and take this opportunity to follow up on its recommendations and strengthen cooperation with UN bodies such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC); insist on the importance of systematic civil society participation in UN-level discussions and monitoring mechanisms on corruption;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point z
Paragraph 1 – point z
(z) support the establishment of an International Anti-Corruption Court, which would serve as a court of last resort to prosecute cases of grand corruption; advance discussions about an international infrastructure to address the impunity of powerful individuals involved in large-scale corruption cases, including international investigative mechanisms, prosecutors and courts;
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point ae a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point ae a (new)
(ae a) support the reform, both within the EU and worldwide, of beneficial ownership laws, in order to enable appropriate transparency of ownership of trusts and shell companies and thus to allow victims of corruption-related human rights violations, as well as law enforcement and tax authorities, to identify the effective owner of such entities;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point ae b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point ae b (new)
(ae b) encourage third countries to allocate adequate resources for national contact points and to establish other non- judicial grievance mechanisms to provide remedies to individuals and communities affected by corrupt business practices;
Amendment 256 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 8
Paragraph 1 – subheading 8
Sanctioning corruption through the EU Magnitsky Acta new EU anti-corruption sanctions regime
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point af
Paragraph 1 – point af
(af) swiftly come forward with a legislative proposal to acomplemendt the current EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime by extending its scope to include acts ofstablishing a new EU thematic sanctions regime, dedicated to address acts of corruption; address the particular responsibility of individuals and entities that enable corruption; note the risk of corrupt actors moving their assets to the EU as more and more countries adopt stricter frameworks;