32 Amendments of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2015/2002(INI)
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the aim of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), was created to strengthen the European Union’s (EU) partnerships with neighbouring countries in order toa coherent political and economic component of the EU’s foreign policy strategy, is, by actively and systematically exerting influence on all aspects of the development of the countries in its immediate neighbourhood, to foster social transformation processes as a prerequisite for the development of an area of shared stability, security and prosperity; whereas, with that aim in view, efforts are being made to secure acceptance of formal democratic structures, constitutional principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms and, above all, the introduction of a market economy on the basis of the acquis communautaire;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the neighbourhood is currently in a state of flux ancountries in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood are currently in a state of flux; whereas the developments in question range from huge social and cultural challenges, national, ethnic, religious and ideological contradictions, serious social problems, unemployment, poverty and a significant skills drain, still widespread corruption and human rights violations and deep social divisions to the collapse of the fabric of the state in some neighbouring countries and encompass growing tensions and conflicts between states; whereas the ENP has thus not achieved any of its aims in the EU’s neighbouring countries, with the result that the neighbourhood is less stable and less secure than when the ENP was launched;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas developments thus far in the region since 2004, but in particular ihave shown that the ENP, with its instruments, experiences and proposals geared to the pre-accession strategy as part of EU enlargement policy and its implementation on the lbast few years, have shown the ENP to beis of formal criteria and benchmarks unilaterally set in stone by the EU, is unable to respond adequateflexibly and promptly to the rapidly changing and challenging circumcircumstances and to take account of real development conditions and aspirations and the possibilities and traditions of the individual ENP stanctes;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the latest developments in the ENP countries have shown quite clearly that the ENP is not seen by the EU’s neighbouring countries as the sole available source of support for their development and that the ENP must repeatedly convince the citizens of those countries anew of the benefits it offers;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the Commission has triedrepeatedly tried without success to reshape the ENP so as to address its flaws and adapt it to changed national and international circumstances, in particular after the Arab Spring; whereas this was reflected in the new financing instrument for the ENP for 2014-2020 – the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI);
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas despite its efforts to reshape the ENP the Commission has done nothing to alter its basic approach or the instruments used to implement it; whereas recently, in the context of introducing conditionality into the ENP and its fixation with so-called pro-reform forces, the Commission has started taking sides in domestic conflicts in partner countries, for example between competing groups of oligarchs;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas since the introduction of the new approach in 2011, political developments in the neighbourhood have demonstrated that the EU needs to further rethink its policy on shaping relations with its neighbours, taking into account the different external and internal realities; whereas the EU needs to address new challenges in its neighbourhood and adjust its strategy by examining its interests and priorities and assessing its policy tools, incentives and available resources and their attractiveness to its partners; whereas the criticisms voiced in the past by the European Parliament concerning the unbalanced nature of the ENP and the unnecessary delays in implementing it also proved to be unrealistic;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas differentiation is needed, especially as the EU neighbourhood has become more fragmented than ever, with the countries differing in many respects, including in their ambitions and expectations as regards the EU; whereas the EU’s bilateral relations with ENP countries are at different stages of development; whereas, however, incontestable progress as regards democracy and human rights in ENP countries must invariably be supported, whatever the geographical area concerned, and whereas countries should be encouraged through aid matching the progress achieved;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the EU Member States should play an important role in the European neighbourhood by aligning their efforts and supportingeeking to speak with a single EU voice;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the consultation process carried out by the Commission should be comprehensive and inclusive so as to ensure that all relevant stakeholders are consulted; whereas the aim of these consultations must be to determine the specific interests and aspirations of the individual partner countries as a prerequisite for doing away with the ‘one- size-fits-all’ approach;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes in the continued value of its initially stated objective of creating an area of prosperity and good neighbourliness, based on the founding values and principles of the Union, through a deep structural transformation in the neighbouring countries carried out under their own responsibility and in a manner consistent with national circumstances; stresses therefore the need to go back to basics and bring this objective back to the top of the agenda;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that respect for the universal fundamental values of human rights, rule of law and democracy on which the EU is founded must remain at the coreand the enforcement of the social, environmental and labour standards which apply in the EU should be a focal point of the revised policy;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Assumes that the proposed common area of prosperity and good neighbourliness will be based on measures to uphold ‘each state’s sovereign equality and individuality and all the rights inherent in its sovereignty’; calls, in that connection, for the ENP to focus strongly on the standards governing cooperation between states agreed internationally as part of the CSCE/OSCE process, standards which, in the interests of long-termism and the sustainability of partnerships, should be based on mutual benefit and the reconciliation of interests; draws attention to the good experiences gained and the results achieved in the context of the development of relations with the People’s Republic of China, and reiterates its conviction that the principles underpinning those relations can be applied to the ENP;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that the renewed policy must be more strategic, with a real political vision, and politically driven; calls for special envoys to be appointed for the East and the South, with the task of politically coordinating the revised policy, working closely with the human rights contact point in each country concerned;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Reiterates that it is looking to the Commission, in the context of the reshaping of neighbourhood policy, to put forward clear proposals concerning the nature of the relationship between neighbourhood policy, as a component and instrument of foreign policy, and enlargement policy;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Emphasises that local ownership and inclusiveness should be key aspects of the new approach so as to ensure that the benefits of the ENP reach all levels of society throughout the country; emphasises that autonomous social and economic modernisation in the countries in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood is impossible without the direct involvement of those countries' citizens; stresses that a common area of stability must therefore be based on practical measures which acknowledge and take account of specific national circumstances, possibilities, traditions and cultures;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Emphasises its conviction that, if the partner countries are to be helped to strengthen their own development potential, the political dialogue which currently characterises the ENP must give way to a broader social, economic and cultural dialogue which embraces all facets of the political, social, ethnic and cultural diversity of the partner countries; stresses the value of the progress achieved through territorial cooperation with the direct involvement of local authorities;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Regrets the limited resources allocated to the EU’s cooperation with its partners within its neighbourhood, notably in comparison with other stakeholders; calls for funding allocations to allow for the actual circumstances in recipient countries and, to some extent, to be commensurate with population size and the progress achieved in terms of democracy and human rights; and maintains that they must not serve to impose purely economic reforms running counter to the interests of the people in the countries concerned;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses that enlargement and neighbourhood policies as components of foreign policy are separate policies with different objectives and are subject to different legal systems and rules, namely EU law and international law; reiterates, however, that European countries within the ENP can apply for membership if they satisfy the criteria and conditions of admission under Article 49 TEU;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Considers support for democracy, the rule of law and human rights to be central to the ENP; stresses that the EU should be willing to offer incentives and know-how to help overcome the social challenges and economic costs of undertaking democratic reforms; particularly welcomes Tunisia’s advances in this area and points out that incentives along the above lines must not revolve exclusively around the requirements of structural reforms while neglecting the social challenges facing a country;
Amendment 314 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Considers support for democracy, the rule of law and human rights to be central to the ENP; stresses that the EU should be willing to offer incentives and know-how to help overcome the social challenges and economic costs of undertaking democratic reforms; emphasises, in that connection, the key importance of support services in fostering the establishment in the partner countries of conditions conducive to the creation of jobs which provide a proper livelihood, welfare protection, education, social justice and legal certainty in this area as well;
Amendment 336 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Calls on the Commission, in developing relations with the ENP States, to take into account the sensitive domestic balance of power which in many cases exists in those States as regards political association and economic integration; reiterates its call to require ENP partners to take final decisions only with the involvement of the widest possible public, particularly if such possibilities as, for example, the holding of referendums exist in the States concerned;
Amendment 353 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 4
Subheading 4
Differentiation andwithout conditionality
Amendment 366 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Stresses the need to implemenat an ENP geared to boosting the potential of partner countries takes as its starting point the differentiated ambitions, interests and objectives, traditions and cultures of those countries and the common challenges, thus being based on the principles of international law concerning action for mutual benefit and reconciliation of interest, without conditionality in relation to reform processes; emphasises that the EU cannot compromise its fundamental values and recognised fundamental rights and should avoid creating double standards; stresses that countries that are making progress in implementing reforms and following European policy should be granted more substantial support;
Amendment 409 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Notes that security and stability are basic concerns in the neighbourhood and that current developments in the region call for a strong security component in the ENP, which has regrettably been missing to date; recalls that security considerations, particularly relating to countering terrorism, cannot be conceived as a battle between civilisations or religions, giving rise to racist and xenophobic assumptions, or be allowed to justify disregard for the most fundamental rights;
Amendment 466 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses the need to actively promote and assist in the peaceful settlement of conflicts in the region, using different tools and instruments, on the basis of the added value they may provide – such measures include its EU Special Representatives, confidence-building programmes and CSDP missions; calls on the Council in this context to delete the PKK from its list of terrorist organisations in order to support the ongoing dialogue between the Turkish Government and the PKK;
Amendment 530 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Considers the conceptual rivalry between the ENP and the strategic partnership with Russia to be one of the fundamental errors of the ENP, and warmly welcomes in this context the general question raised by the Commission in connection with the consultation procedure concerning overcoming such rivalries by means of the conceptual inclusion of the ‘neighbours of neighbours’ in the neighbourhood policy;
Amendment 531 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 b (new)
Paragraph 28 b (new)
28b. Observes that none of the current conflicts in the eastern neighbourhood can be resolved without the Russian Federation; considers that, as a precondition for resolving them, the EU should make greater efforts to overcome the stagnation in the development of relations; welcomes the prospect, recently reaffirmed by EU Member States, of a large common economic area, and calls on the Commission, as part of the repositioning of the ENP, to assign corresponding importance to the requirement that convergence be achieved between the respective integration processes of the EU and of the Eurasian Union;
Amendment 563 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Considers that the trend of the externalisation of internal policies should be reflected in the new ENP; for certain sectors; deplores, for example, the persistence of a European approach which increasingly contracts out the management of immigration into the EU to third countries, particularly to the south of the Mediterranean, in ways which disregard human rights and the international conventions signed by the Member States; considers that the new neighbourhood strategy should no longer include any arrangement whereby access to enhanced cooperation is conditional on a commitment to combat irregular immigration, particularly by means of readmission agreements;
Amendment 564 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Considers that the trend of the externalisation of internal policies should be reflected in the new ENP, but, in the light of the specific experiences and results of the ENP, rejects the export of rules with the aim of altering national institutions and political procedures in the partner countries, which has hitherto characterised the ENP, as an instrument which is demonstrably unsuitable for foreign policy;
Amendment 573 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Stresses the importance of free movement of people, and supports enhancing visa facilitation and visa liberalisation within the neighbourhood, particularly for students, young people, artists and researchers; calls on the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to further enhance mobility partnerships within the neighbourhood and develop possibilities for circular migration schemes, which would encourage and reward regularin order to promote circular migration and, to this end, to develop avenues of legal migrantstion;
Amendment 590 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Notes that high unemployment, social exclusion and poverty, combined with the low political participation of women, are root causes of instability, and demands engagement beyond the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas (DCFTAs), instead of an aggravation of the economic and social situation in the countries concerned, the implementation of genuine partnership agreements which take account of the social realities and needs of the populations concerned;