23 Amendments of Jan ZAHRADIL related to 2012/2225(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1
Citation 1
– having regard to Article 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and , (Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union,207 of Title II, Part V of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides the legal basis for the common commercial policy of the European Union which shall be conducted in the context of the principles and objectives of the Union’s external action.)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
- having regard to Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union, (Article 3 of Title I of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) refers to some of the 'Common Provisions' guiding the action of the European Union.)
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15 a (new)
Citation 15 a (new)
- having regard to the European Parliament legislative resolution of 11 December 2012 on the Council position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing transitional arrangements for bilateral investment agreements between Member States and third countries (11917/1/2012 – C7–0328/2012 – 2010/0197(COD)), (Texts adopted P7_TA(2012)0471)
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the EU's trade and investment policy should be guided by the general principle of its external action and should contribute to ‘the sustainable development of the Earth (…), free and fair trade, eradication of poverty and the protcommon commercial policy shall be based on uniform principles, particularly with regard to changes in tariff rates, the conclusion of tariff and trade agreements relating to trade in goods and services, and the commercial aspects of intellectual property, foreign direct investment, the achievement of uniformity in measures of liberalisation, export policy and measures to protect trade such as those to be taken in the event of dumping or subsidies, and whereas the common commercial policy shall be conducted in the context of the principles and objectives of the Union's external action. (It is sensible to underline in the context of this report the objectionves of human rights’;11 the EU's common commercial policy as enshrined in Article 207(1) TFEU.)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas trade and investment between the EU and developing countries (DCs) can be a means of achieving those objectives by stimulating the sustainable growth of developing countries (DCs)all parties, enabling the transfer of technologies and skills and helping to create jobs and increase competitiveness and productivity;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas trade and investment cannot in themselves have a decisive impact on growth or on the structural weaknesses (shortfalls in human capital, governance and infrastructure, weak private sector, heavy reliance on exports of raw materials, poor export diversification, high trade costs, etc.) from which DCs suffer and which hamper their full access to world trade;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the EU's trade and investment policy in respect of developing countries should be supplemented by technical and financial assistance coupled with parallel national measurefrom amongst other the European Development Fund coupled with parallel national support and job creation measures and where appropriate development of north-south, cross-border and south-south public-private partnerships;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas trade and investment measures to promote sustainable development can have very varied origins and forms; whereas several different programmes and actions may be run within the same country without any real coordination, which can reduce their effectiveness and relevance, and ultimately contribute to lower citizens' confidence in such endeavours;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Supports the Commission's aim of enhancing synergies between trade and development policies; recommends that it awardgives priority, in these policies, to measures aimed at creating jobs, improving the trade and investment climate, resistance to economic shocks, fiscal governancefostering the development of the private sector, including micro and small and medium- sized enterprises, resistance to economic shocks and illegal trade practices, fiscal governance and fight against tax fraud and evasion and diversification of trade and investment flows, and promoting sustainable development;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Considers the ownership by beneficiary countries of programmes for developing trade and investment to be aone of the decisive factors in their success, and that national, regional and local authorities and civil society must systematically be involved in accordance with the rule of law in the framing and monitoring of national programmes;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Views as decisive investment aimed at creating, developing and strengthening key port, transport, energy and telecommunications infrastructure, and in particular cross- border infrastructure and intermodal hubs;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – point 1 – indent 1
Paragraph 5 – point 1 – indent 1
– support for smallelf-employed farmers, and producers and small cooperatives and for the development of sustainable agricultural, piscicultural and breeding practices which enable supply chains to be established, consolidated and diversified;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – point 2 – indent 2
Paragraph 5 – point 2 – indent 2
– improving the investment climate in order to facilitate private sector participation and where appropriate the development of public-private- partnerships;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – point 4 – indent 1
Paragraph 5 – point 4 – indent 1
– helping national governments to decide theiimprove governance and public and private accountability in view of better national trade policies and development strategies;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – point 4 – indent 2 a (new)
Paragraph 5 – point 4 – indent 2 a (new)
- support for the development of the private sector, including micro and small and medium-sized enterprises, to foster its participation in trade and investment at the local, regional, cross-border, bilateral and multilateral level;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – point 4 – indent 4
Paragraph 5 – point 4 – indent 4
– establishing of institutions that facilitate trade and investment and the creation of guarantee funds and risk capital funds, including seed capital and business angels.
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Supports the Commission proposal concerning the differentiation of EU aid for trade and the focusing of efforts on those countries in most need of this, and particularly the less developed countries (LDCs) and low-income countries; calls on the Commission, nevertheless, not to take revenuto supplement the (gross national product) as its sole criterion, but also criterion with other relevant indexes to take into account a country's general level of development and its needs, capacities and internal development inequalities; urges the Commission to take into account the principles of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) for the LDCs;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Expresses concern at the proliferation of tied aid practices; urges the developed countries and the major emerging countries not toto gradually no longer resort to such practices, but rather to make efforts to harness regional and local resources, including human capital, in their economic development projects centring on trade and investment;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Deplores the lack of international coordination of investment policies, including at the international level; welcomes the agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council on transitional arrangements for bilateral investment agreements between Member States and third countries; encourages the Commission to develop an EU policy on international investment which reflects the capacity of states to generate their own rules, andensures proper investment protection, enhances legal certainty, reflects the capacity of states to generate common rules and standards, while taking into account particularly social, economic and environmental standardneeds in drafting own legislations;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the WTO's decision to facilitate accession for LDCs; calls on the developed countries and the major emerging countries which are WTO members to uincrease the derogation applicable to services in the case of LDCs and to apply preferential treatment to services and service providers from LDCs;participation of developing countries in world trade in services through negotiated specific commitments in accordance with Articles IV, XIV and XIV a of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). (The abovementioned articles of GATS refer to the following topics: Article IV: Increasing Participation of Developing Countries; Article XIV: General Exceptions; Article XIV a: Security Exceptions.)
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Urges the Commission to propose tangible ways of bolstering its support for swifter and deeper regional integration amongst DCs, with a view to developing regional markets and creating regional value chains; urges it also to foster conclusion of economic partnership agreements (EPAs) between the EU and interested DCs in order to gradually integrate their markets in the multilateral trade framework; calls on the Commission to consider simplifying and harmonising rules of origin and the means of facilitating their use by small- volume exporters; calls on the Commission to strengthen its partnerships with existing regional institutions, and particularly the African Development Bank; points to the vital role played by the local private sector in terms of trade integration and economic development;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Welcomes the conclusion of a first economic partnership agreement (EPA) and calls on the Commission to harness this momentum to relaunch the negotiations on EPAs not yet concluded; points to the importance of establishing a firm legal and commercial framework for promoting EU investment in ACP countries, including in cooperation with other European and international institutions such as the EIB, the World Bank/IFC and the EBRD, and the private sector; calls on the Commission to take into account the European Parliament's recommendations concerning preference erosion and the flexibility and scope of tariff dismantling, and to award special attention to implementing the EPAs;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Believes that the EU has developed effective tools in the field of development assistance through trade and investment, with these including the GSP and EPAs; urges the Commission, nonetheless, to combine all the existing instruments in a genuine overarching strategy that also comprises measures in the fields of technical assistance for trade, capacity building and trade-related adjustment; considers that the Commission and the European External Action Service should develop synergies in order to further enhance the Union's commercial diplomacy worldwide;