16 Amendments of Carmen AVRAM related to 2022/2188(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the decision of the UK Government to pursue a hard Brexit upon its withdrawal from the EU was inevitably going to entail the disruptive disintegration of economic and trade ties and the divergence of regulatory regimes for farmers, agri-food producers, citizens and third-country trading partners;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the TCA provides for social security coordination to protect the social security rights of people moving between the EU and the UK after 1 January 2021; whereas it also provides for a robust level playing field to ensure fair competition by maintaining high levels of protection in a number of areas, including social and labour rights, with binding enforcement and dispute settlement mechanisms to ensure compliance;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas it is necessary to preserve a level playing field and legal certainty for famers, agri-food producers and workers, citizens;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the importance of strong EU and UK civil society involvement, including employers’ and workers’ organisations and non-governmental organisationtrade unions, as well as NGOs, in the implementation of the TCA in accordance with Articles 13 and 14 thereof; nNotes the meetings of the EU Domestic Advisory Group in this regard and welcomes the first meeting of the Civil Society Forum in October 2022; stresses the importance of continuing this dialogue and cooperation;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses that UK requirements for unnecessary guarantees in relation to certain animal diseases are not in line with the standanrds of the World Organizations for Animal Health; regrets the fact that the UK is not respecting the obbligation to align its certification requirements with international standards;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the Specialised Committee on Social Security Coordination’s commitment to adopting a decision approving the use of the Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI) in the context of the Protocol, as well as considering that relevant parts of the Decisions and Recommendations of the Administrative Commission for the Coordination of Social Security Systems should be made applicable in the context of the Protocol by means of a Specialised Committee Recommendation3 ; Reiterates its call on Member States to ensure that the EESSI becomes fully functional as soon as possible and to make use of the opportunities provided by existing EU funds to fully implement the EESSI and further digitalise public administration; __________________ 3 Minutes of the Second meeting of the Specialised Committee on Social Security Coordination, Brussels, 30 June 2022.
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Is concerned by a number of developments in the labour and social sphere, which represent in the UK, which pose a risk of non- compliance with the level playing field provisions of the TCA; notestrongly regrets in this regard the July 2022 repeal of the prohibition of employment agencies fromin providing temporary staff to replace workers taking part in industrial action, which undermines the right of workers to take collective action, including the right to strike;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Further highlights worrysome concerning legislative developments in the UK which have been proposed but are not yet adopted, namelysuch as the Bill of Rights Bill, the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill and, the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill and the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (No. 2) Bill; stresses that these proposals, if adopted, would have serious implications for workers’ rights, in particular the fundamental rights of freedom of association and the right to organise, and the right to collective bargaining and collective action, including the right to strike; stresses that the adoption of these legislative proposals would undermine the UK’s commitments under the TCA;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Underlines that, although interim arrangements offered by the EU allowed to improve the situation, strucural solutions are needed for the acceptance of EU paperless certificates by the United Kingdom;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls that the protection of theseworkers’ rights is essential for maintaining a level playing field and sustainable development as set out in, inter alia, Articles 355, 386, 387, 399 and 524 of the TCA; cCalls on the Commission to closely monitor developments in this regard and to use all available means to address any concerns that the adoption of these proposals could raise for the application of Chapter 6 of Title XI, including through dialogue in the Partnership Council and Specialised Committees, consultation of the EU Domestic Advisory Group and where necessary the dispute settlement mechanisms provided for under Article 389;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that in June 2021 the UK Government announced its intention to establish a single enforcement body for employment rights tasked with ensuring centralised supervision of its labour laws4 with the aim of improving the coordination and effectiveness of existing bodies and expanding enforcement into new areas; notes, however, that to date no further progress has been made on the proposal; calls on the Commission to continue to closely monitor the enforcement of relevant labour and social standards, as required by the TCA, and to monitorany developments in this regard, and to continue its efforts with the UK Government to ensure full compliance with the TCA; __________________ 4 Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, UK. Establishing a new single enforcement body for employment rights, 2021.
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Acknowledges the introduction by the United Kingdom of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill in May 2022, establishing new rules for release and marketing of "precision bred organisms" in England;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Strongly regrets the UK’s discriminatory treatment of workers from five EU Member States in 2021 as regards reduced fees for long-term work visas; further regrets the UK’s subsequent renunciation of Article 18(2) of the European Social Charter and consequent removal of work-related visa fee reductions for all EU citizens as of February 2022; calls on the Commission to continue to raise this issue through the Partnership Council and the Specialised Committee on Level Playing Field for Open and Fair Competition and Sustainable Development; calls on the Commission to take all measures necessary in view of ensuring a level playing field in this regard.
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Calls on the EU to speed up the adoption of legislation on the use of new breeding techniques, in order to ensure a level playing field for EU farmers, while sustainably increasing yields and making crops more resilient to climate change and new pathogens, particularly in view of harmful organisms, floods, droughts, water shortages and other extreme weather conditions that are afflicting an increasing number of Member States;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Calls on the Commission to assess the level of protection of EU geographical indications protected in the United Kingdom by virtue of the Withdrawal Agreement and to launch discussions with the UK on new provisions pertaining to the protection of EU geographical indications registered from January 2021;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Calls on the Commission to keep Parliament fully informed in a timely manner of all difficulties that may arise, in particular possible breaches of the Agreements that might jeopardise the level playing field and fair competition for the EU’s farmers, agri-food producers and workers;