20 Amendments of Isabel BENJUMEA BENJUMEA related to 2020/2120(INI)
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission, in line with its role as ‘guardian of the Treaties’, to make the OR Unit in DG REGIO the ‘guardian of the correct application of Article 349 TFEU’, and to consider setting up a fully-fledged directorate directly linked to ‘OR correspondents’ in the other directorates-general, as well as a high- level inter-service group under the authority of the President of the Commission, given that, in order to adopt specific measures for the ORs, political impetus is needed;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recognises that the ORs offer opportunities for the Union in the face of socio‑economic and climate challenges, but that taking advantage of those opportunities will require accelerating the process of making up for underdevelopment linked to structural handicaps, and consolidating and ring- fencing the resources used to compensate for the structural handicaps resulting from remoteness and insularity, which are vital tools for helping the ORs to become fully and fairly integrated within the European area;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses the need to encourage local initiatives by supporting VSMEs, SMEsall manufacturing companies in the ORs, regardless of their size, and the tourism, craft, industrial, building and construction, and digital sectors, as well as VSMEs and SMEs;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Recalls that, under the EMFAF Regulation, the Commission undertook to present a mid-term report on the chapter concerning the ORs (Chapter V) and to assess the need for a separate regulation on fisheries in the ORs, along the lines of the POSEI Regulation for the agricultural sector in the ORs; calls for the creation of a fisheries POSEI by 2027;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on the Commission and Council to maintain the POSEI budget, through EU funds, at current levels throughout the whole period 2021-2027;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Calls on the Commission and Council to consider the possibility of creating a Programme of Options Specifically Relating to Remoteness and Insularity (POSEI) for maritime and fisheries issues, as well as progressively for other sectors, such as tourism and transport, following full impact assessments and consultation of the stakeholders concerned;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Recalls that the Commission annexed a declaration to the EMFAF Regulation, in which it undertook to help the Member States and ORs to improve the collection of scientific data needed to meet the eligibility conditions for fishing fleet renewal aid in the ORs;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Regrets that the renewal of the artisanal fleets, in order to replace old, unsafe and polluting vessels by modern, energetically efficient, safer and with improved working conditions vessels, is not eligible under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund for 2021-2027; calls on the Commission to reconsider the possibility for such funding at EU level;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Points out however that, if the Farm to Fork strategy further limits the use of plant protection agents for the EU, at the same time is must take into account the specificities of the tropical and sub- tropical cultures in the ORs, as well as to limit access to the EU markets for products that do not comply with the EU standards, such as bananas from third countries that massively use plant protection agents that are not authorised in the EU;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Stresses that the implementation of the biodiversity strategy in the ORs should not hamper the sustainable development of the agricultural and fisheries and aquaculture sectors in these regions;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Points out that the ORs form an important part of the EU’s exclusive economic zone (EEE) and its vast reserve of natural resources, and that they are a strategic asset and a source of major economic opportunities; emphasises that the ORs suffer more from marine pollution than any other mainland region of Europe because of their insularity, and that this affects their environmental and economic development; calls for support to develop hydro-biodegradable materials, which would create opportunities for the future in terms of the blue economy and healthy ecosystems;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Calls for a specific regulation for the ORs on the common organisation of the markets so that the particular environmental, geographical and social circumstances of those territories falling under Article 349 TFEU can be taken into account;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the ORs benefit fully from international agreements (EPAs, FTAs, etc.) concluded between the EU and third countries; calls for differentiated treatment of OR products in all EPA and FTA renegotiations; calls for vigilance with regard to the consequences of these agreements and recommends that effective measures be put in place as part of trade policy, including safeguard clauses and specific checks by the Chief Trade Enforcement Officer, while ensuring thatimposing the principle of ‘equivalence’ does not lead to situations which discriminate against the ORconformity’ on imports from third countries, particularly organic products;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the ORs benefit fully from international agreements (EPAs, FTAs, etc.) concluded between the EU and third countries; calls for vigilance with regard to the consequences of these agreements and recommends that effective measures be put in place as part of trade policy, including efficient and operational safeguard clauses and specific checks by the Chief Trade Enforcement Officer, while ensuring that the principle of ‘equivalence’ does not lead to situations which discriminate against the ORs;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Calls for strict compliance with European environmental and social standards applicable to tropical goods from third countries and for systematic import quotas for tropical products from such countries, based on existing trade flows; considers that specific surveillance and sanction mechanisms should be introduced to check compliance with these conditions;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Calls on the Commission to fully protect sensitive agricultural products, such as banana, tomatoes, sugar etc., in trade negotiations;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 b (new)
Paragraph 28 b (new)
28b. Calls for the utmost vigilance by the Commission in the liberalisation of the European market and the multiplication of trade agreements between the EU and third countries that produce the same agricultural products for export as the ORs, but under different social and environmental conditions, which distort competition; calls on the Commission to take effective action to ensure that trade agreements do not jeopardise measures supporting the ORs, particularly under the POSEI programme; calls on the Commission to grant preferential treatment to OR products on both OR local markets and the EU market; calls for the creation of a trade agreements task force within the Commission that will involve representatives from the OR economic sectors;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 c (new)
Paragraph 28 c (new)
28c. Calls for the systematic exclusion of tariff codes for goods produced only in the ORs from agreements between the EU and its trade partners positioned in the same market segments, where the total volume of concessions already granted to non-European countries exceeds a threshold beyond which the ORs can no longer access the EU market; calls, in this respect, for the exclusion of four customs codes for speciality sugars from all bilateral agreements between the EU and third countries competing with the ORs to produce speciality sugars;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 d (new)
Paragraph 28 d (new)
28d. Points out that the OR fisheries sector has been severely affected by the failure to renew fisheries agreements (SFPA), particularly the agreement with Madagascar since 2018, and warns that there will be a devastating effect on both economic activity and the state of coastal resources on Réunion if the fisheries agreement with Mauritius is not renewed;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 e (new)
Paragraph 28 e (new)
28e. Recalls the joint declaration by the three institutions annexed to the Regulation on the stabilisation mechanism which was revised when Ecuador joined the EU-Colombia/Peru Trade Agreement: ‘The Commission will continue to carry out regular analyses of the state of the market and the situation of Union banana producers after expiry of the stabilisation mechanism. If a serious deterioration in the state of the market or the situation of Union banana producers is found to have occurred, given the importance of the banana sector for outermost regions, the Commission will examine the situation, together with the Member States and the stakeholders, and decide whether appropriate measures should be considered. The Commission could also convene regular monitoring meetings with the Member States and the stakeholders’; reminds the Commission of its commitment to halt the gradual reduction of the customs tariff by permanently ring-fencing the residual tariff of EUR 75/tonne applicable to third countries with which the EU has signed trade agreements;