16 Amendments of László TŐKÉS related to 2012/2062(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
- having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions from 25 October 2011 entitled 'A renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility' (COM(2011) 681),
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 b (new)
Citation 4 b (new)
- having regard to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 c (new)
Citation 4 c (new)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 d (new)
Citation 4 d (new)
- having regard to its resolution of 20 January 2011 on the situation of Christians in the context of freedom of religion1, __________________ 1 Texts adopted, P7_TA(2011)0021
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
- having regard to the Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions on the European Endowment for Democracy adopted on 1 December 2011, at its 3130th meeting and the Declaration on the establishment of a European Endowment for Democracy agreed in COREPER on 15 December 2011,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 b (new)
Citation 12 b (new)
- having regard to the European Parliament recommendation of 29 March 2012 to the Council on the modalities for the possible establishment of a European Endowment for Democracy (EED),
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 c (new)
Citation 12 c (new)
- having regard to the recent establishment of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED),
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the EU has developed an extensive toolbox of instruments as a policy framework to support this obligation, including human rights guidelines, a global financial instrument on human rights and democracy (the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR)), a requirement for all external financial instruments – such as the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI), the Instrument for Stability (IfS), the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI), the Pre-Accession Instrument (IPA) and the Partnership Instrument (PI) – to promote human rights and democracy within their remit, establishment of the European Endowment for Democracy (EED) and appointment of the new EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Council declarations and conclusions, statements by the High Representative, EU démarches, EU sanctions in the event of severe human rights violations and, more recently, human rights country strategies;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the events of the ‘Arab Spring’ as well as experience gained with countries of the Eastern Partnership both during and in pre-transition period have demonstrated the need to reshape the Neighbourhood Policy in order to give higher priority to dialogue with societies, which is indispensable to democratisation and transition processes; whereas this renewed policy should aim at further engaging partner countries in deeper democratic reforms and respect for fundamental rights on the basis of the ‘more for more’ approach and of mutual accountability between partner countries, the EU and its Member States;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Underlines the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the field of Human Rights as epressed in the EC communication on renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility referring among others to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; stresses the need of inclusion of CSR to EU human rights strategies;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Stresses that human rights and democracy objectives necessarily require specific, measurable, achievable, time- bound criteria aimed at assessing the level of respect for fundamental freedoms, human rights and rule of law; considers, in this connection, that the EU should make full use of the relevant instruments and expertise of the UN and of the Council of Europe including implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights as a viable element of such HR and Democracy single benchmark catalogue for the member countries of Council of Europe, and should clearly differentiate its political conclusions from a legal and technical evaluation;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Recalls the policy lessons learned from the Arab Spring as well as experience gained with countries of the Eastern Partnership both during and in pre- transition period , including the need to reverse previous policies focused mainly on relations with authorities and to establish an effective partnership between the EU and the governments and civil societies of partner countries, in this regard underlines the important role of the newly established EED both in EU neighbourhood countries and in other regions; stresses the importance of creating programmes and supporting projects that allow for contact between civil societies in the EU and in third countries; calls on the Commission and the EEAS to use the model of an institutionalised civil society consultation mechanism set out in the EU- South Korea Free Trade Agreement as a starting-point for the development of even more inclusive mechanisms for all agreements; understands the core of the EU's new approach as strengthening societies by means of active domestic accountability so as to support their capacity to take part in public decision- making and democratic governance processes; believes that this domestic accountability should become a central pillar of the external financial instruments currently under review;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23 a. Notes that although the events of the Arab Spring were expected to bring pro- democratic transformation, in many cases they resulted in the deterioration of the freedoms and rights of religious minorities; therefore strongly condemns all acts of violence against Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other religious communities, as well as all kinds of discrimination and intolerance based on religion and belief against religious people, apostates and non believers; stresses once again, in line with its earlier resolutions, that the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion is a fundamental human right;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses that these events have demonstrated wilful blindness on the part of the EU to the realities of Arab Spring societies, including the situation of young people in those countries, which suggests the need to create exchange programmes or open up European programmes to Arab Spring youth, and for civil-society-based reflection on the causes and consequences of the lack of awareness in relation to these societies; points out that such reflection could be enhanced by the establishment of a Euro-Arab Youth Convention; underlines that strong bonds with civil society in the countries of the Eastern Partnership fostered among others by the exchange programmes, traineeships in EU's and EU Member State's institutions and scholarships at European universities are indispensable for future development and consolidation of democracy in those countries;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Stresses a crucial role of the National Human Rights Institutions and cooperation of those bodies in EU and Neighbourhood Countries; encourages initiatives aimed at transferring of good practices, coordinating and animating cooperation between UE and Neighbourhood NHRI such as the programme for cooperation between Ombudsmen from Eastern Partnership countries 2009-2013 that was jointly set up by the Polish and French Ombudsmen with a view to enhancing the ability of Ombudsmen's offices, government bodies and non-governmental organisations in Eastern Partnership countries to protect individual rights and build democratic states based on the rule of law; stresses the need for such action to be coordinated within the EU and for the EU institutions to draw on the experience gained in connection therewith; underlines the need of encouraging creation of NHRI in the Neighbourhood Countries that do not have them in their legal systems;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Recommends that Parliament improve its own procedures in relation to human rights issues, including through the revision of its Guidelines for EP Interparliamentary Delegations on promoting human rights and democracy; is of the opinion that each standing delegation of Parliament should have a Member, selected among its Chair and Vice-Chairs, specifically tasked with monitoring the human rights portfolio on the region or country concerned, and that the persons designated should report regularly to Parliament's Subcommittee on Human Rights; stresses the need for a revision of the model for the plenary debates on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in order to allow for more frequent debates with broader participation by Members, a greater degree of responsiveness to human rights violations and other unforeseen events on the ground, and greater potential for follow-up to past debates and resolutions; stresses the need for better utilisation of the potential of the Sakharov Prize Network by the EP and other EU institutions;