11 Amendments of Daniel CASPARY related to 2015/2041(INI)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that the Treaty on European Union (TEU) marked a new stage in the process of creating an ever closer union in which decisions are taken as openly and as closely as possible to the citizen (Article 1 TEU); notes that there is a considerable lack of trust among EU citizens invested interests are endeavouring to destroy trust in the European institutions and EU trade- policy making, and believes that a radical shift is needed in the wayat regard and that information about trade negotiations is communicatedmust continue to thbe public, in order to ensure their legitimacyroperly communicated to the public;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the fact that the Committee on International Trade (INTA) and the Commission’s Directorate-General for Trade have been collaborating pro-actively to enhance cooperation, establish best practices and improve communication channels, and that this collaboration has been especially useful for monitoring trade negotiations through INTA Standing Rapporteurs and targeted monitoring groups; welcomes recent efforts by the Commission to increase the transparency of trade negotiations; believes, nevertheless, that the Council and the Commission can still improve their working methods to better cooperate with Parliament as regards access to documents, information and decision-making for all issues and negotiations related to CCP (such as information relating to negotiations – including scoping, mandates and evolution of negotiations – provisional application of trade agreements, activities and decisions taken by bodies created by trade and/or investment agreements, expert meetings, and delegated and implementing acts); notes with regret that after one year of negotiations between the Commission and Parliament on access to documents related to the TTIP negotiations, there is still no agreement about access to confidential documents; calls on Parliament to revise its own rules on the treatment of, and access to, confidential documents and, in order to protect confidentiality, greatly to increase the severity of the penalties incurred when persons entitled to consult such documents, Members included, infringe those rules;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that, as pointed out by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), imperatives for transparency derive from the democratic nature of governance within the EU, and that, where confidential information is beyond the reach of public access, as in the case of trade negotiations, it must be available to parliamentarians who scrutinise trade policy on behalf of citizens; considers therefore that access to classified information is essential for scrutiny by Parliament, which in return should abide by its obligation to manage such information properly; considers that there should be clear criteria for labelling documents as ‘classified’; notes that the case law of the ECJ makes it clear that where a document originating in an EU institution is covered by an exception with regard to the right to access, the institution must clearly explain why access to this document could specifically and effectively undermine the interest protected by the exception, and that the risk must be reasonably foreseeable and not purely hypothetical; calls on the Commission to implementexamine the recommendations of the European Ombudsman of July 2015 with particular regard to access to documents for all negotiations, and calls on the Commission to convince EU negotiating partners to increase transparency at their end;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Recalls the importance for the CCP legislative process to count on Union statistics consistent with Article 338(2) TFEU and on impact assessments conforming to the highest standards of impartiality and reliability; calls for further reflection on further promoting a mandatory legislative (and lobbying) footprint throughout the legislative process, which would further legitimise it by making it more fact based and transparent for citizens and stakeholders;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that the Commission must promote the general interests of the Union, be led by members chosen on the grounds of their competence and independence, and refrain from any action incompatible with its duties (Article 17 TFEU); welcomes initiatives aimed at greater transparency, accountability and integrity, including the decisions adopted by the Commission on 25 November 2014 and the new impetus given to the Transparency Register, which should be mandatory and binding for all EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies; calls for Parliament, in this respect, to coordinate action to enhance transparency within the institutions as regards the activity of lobbies and, non- governmental organisations, trade unions, and other special interest groups;
Amendment 375 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Deems it unacceptable that Parliament has less, or less open, access to documents in trade negotiations than some members of national parliamentsWelcomes the fact that Parliament now has comprehensive access to documents in relevant negotiations (as in the case of TTIP) and calls for similar access to documents in other negotiations as well (such as the negotiations on the recent climate summit in Paris); welcomes the Commission’s efforts towards greater transparency in this area;
Amendment 379 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Calls onWelcomes the fact that the Commission tois putting into practice all the Ombudsman’s recommendations in favour of more transparency in trade negotiations;
Amendment 384 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Recognises the progress made in the transparency of trade negotiations, but insists that these advances with respect to TTIP must be extended to all trade negotiations referred to in paragraph 37;
Amendment 392 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Believes that, when the Commission engages in trade negotiations, it should publish theits negotiation mandates, and all negotiating positions, all requests and offers and all consolidated draft negotiation texts prior to each negotiation round, sorelevant texts concerning negotiations in which it is involved, provided that the negotiating position is not weakened as a result; considers it desirable that the European Parliament and national parliaments, as well as civil society organisations and the wider public, canshould be able to make recommendations thereon before the negotiations are closed for comments and the agreement goes to ratification;
Amendment 401 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Calls on the Commission to propose an interinstitutional agreement in order to codify those principles for all trade negotiations;
Amendment 412 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Believes that decisions taken or prepared in the Eurogroup, in the Economic and Financial Committee, ‘informal’ Ecofin Council meetings and Euro summits, or in the run-up to negotiations in contexts similar to, say, the recent Paris Climate Conference, must become as transparent and accountable, including through the publication of their minutess possible, without undermining the EU negotiating position, and must also satisfy the requirement of accountability;