42 Amendments of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2015/2233(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
- having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions "The local and regional dimension of the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA)" (ECON- VI/003),
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 10 a (new)
Citation 10 a (new)
- having regard to Articles 2 and 3 of Treaty on European Union and to Article 8 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union that promote equality between women and men as one of the underlying values of the EU,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
- having regard to Directorate-General for External Policies' "The EU's Trade Policy: from gender-blind to gender- sensitive?",
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the TiSA negotiations arshall be aimed at achieving better international regulation, not lower domestic regulation; whereas the trade rules to be negotiated must contribute both to making trade fairer and more equitable, and to sustainable development;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the globalisation, servicification and digitalisation both of our economies and of international trade call for policy action to enhance international rules, in order to prevent the exploitation of labour, to safeguard climate and environment, and protect consumers rights;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas the general EU public is confronted with a big lack of transparency in the TiSA negotiations since the Commission has only made a couple of documents public; whereas the European Commission has published less about the TiSA negotiations than they did for negotiations about trade agreements like TTIP or CETA; whereas Commissioner Malmstrom stated that the transparency model used in the TTIP negotiations would be implemented for all negotiations for trade agreements;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas not all negotiating countries have ratified the core labour standards from the ILO which include freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining; the effective abolition of child labour; the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas there is a growing public concern about the consequences of TiSA and other free trade agreements, which resulted in the 3.2 million signatures that are collected by the European Initiative against TTIP and CETA;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. whereas a reduction or cuts in public services and provisions usually shifts labour, costs and risks to the unpaid care and household economy, which is predominantly female and will consequently hinder gender equality;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas citizens’ trust in EU’s trade policy is a must, which can only be restored by ensuring the highest level of transparency, by maintainestablishing constant dialogue with civil society, and by settinga broad spectre of civil society on EU and Member State level, by including in this dialogue also local and regional administrations, and by translating the concerns expressed into clear guidelines infor the negotiations;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point ii a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a – point ii a (new)
iia. to horizontally and comprehensively exclude from the scope of TiSA in the body of the agreement services of general interest, including services of general economic interest;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point vi a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a – point vi a (new)
via. to ensure via a horizontal binding clause, in line with Article 167(4) TFEU and with the UNESCO Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, that the parties preserve their right to adopt or maintain any measure with respect to the protection or promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity; to explicitly exclude audiovisual services, media and publishing from the scope of the agreement, irrespective of the technology or distribution platform used;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point vii a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a – point vii a (new)
viia. to comply with the obligation under Article 11 TFEU to integrate environmental protection requirements into EU external trade policy, in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point vii b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a – point vii b (new)
viib. to include a sustainability chapter into TiSA laying down environmental and social protection standards including the ILO core labour standards and further developed ILO standards;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point vii c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a – point vii c (new)
viic. to include a clause that prohibits the lowering of workers' rights and social and environmental standards when services are liberalised;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point viii
Paragraph 1 – point a – point viii
viii. to publish a sustainability impact assessment and, once the negotiations are finalised, to update it accordingly, taking specific account of its impact on citizens and workers; to request Parliament’s research services to publish a comprehensive and informative study of the scope and potential impact of the TiSA negotiations also from a gender perspective and the need to tackle phaenomena such as the crystal ceiling and the gender pay gap;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point viii a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a – point viii a (new)
viiia. to include a revision clause, that establishes a mechanism that provides a party with the opportunity to leave the agreement, or to suspend or to reverse commitments on liberalisation of a service, particularly in the event of infringements of labour and social standards;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point viii b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a – point viii b (new)
viiib. to insist that the agreement should include the option of judicial review with regard to impact and respect for human rights in the context of trade in services;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point viii c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a – point viii c (new)
viiic. to ensure for legal disputes affecting compliance with this agreement to be referred to the public courts at the place of the defendant's registered office, and for proceedings to be conducted in the defendant's language and governed by the laws in force in the defendant's country; the right of appeal must be safeguarded;
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iv
iv. to acknowledge that standstill and ratchet clauses do not apply to market access commitments; calls on the Commission to oppose any type of standstill or ratchet clauses in the whole agreement the ensure the right to regulate of Member States;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iv
iv. to acknowledge that standstill and ratchet clauses do not apply to market access and national treatment commitments;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point v
Paragraph 1 – point b – point v
v. to undertake limited commitments in Mode 1 so as to avoid regulatory arbitrage and social dumping; to ensure that European rules are fully respected when a company provides a service from abroad to European consumers, and to include provisions guaranteeing easy access to redress for consumers;
Amendment 294 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point ix a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b – point ix a (new)
ixa. to oppose restrictions on cross- subsidisation of undertakings under the same local authority where they exceed the restrictions existing under EU and national law;
Amendment 318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xi a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xi a (new)
xia. calls to carefully assess TiSA's impact on gender equality in Europe and women´s rights, in particular on those sectors such as education, household works, which will foremost affect women who are predominant in these sectors, and who are more dependent on public services in particular on child and elderly care, family counselling and abortion facilities;
Amendment 330 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point i
Paragraph 1 – point c – point i
i. to ensure cross-border data flows in compliance with the universal right to privacy; to prevent geo-blocking practices;
Amendment 342 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point c – point ii
ii. to acknowledge that data protection is not a trade barrier, but a fundamental right, enshrined in Article 39 TEU and Article 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, as well as in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to ensure that the agreement guarantees full respect for these rights through a legally binding clause; to acknowledge that GATS Article XIV, which fully exempts the existing and future EU legal framework for the protection of personal data from these negotiations, will be replicated in the TiSA core text; to further ensure that the existing and future EU legal framework for the protection of personal data is fully exempted from the agreement through the inclusion of a comprehensive and unambiguous self- standing horizontal provision;
Amendment 365 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point v
Paragraph 1 – point c – point v
v. to recognise that digital innovation is a driver of economic growth and productivity in the entire economy; to recognise the need for data flows; to seek, therefore, a comprehensive prohibition of forced data localisation requirementsensure that the EU retains its ability to limit the transfer of personal data to third countries where the rules of the third party do not meet EU fundamental rights and adequacy standards prescribed by law;
Amendment 373 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point vi
Paragraph 1 – point c – point vi
vi. to ensure that the provisions of the final agreement are consistent with existing and future legislation at EU level, including the Connected Continent Package, the General Data Protection Regulation and the 16 measures embedded in the communication on the Digital Single Market; to safeguard net neutrality and to guarantee that the EU retains its ability to limit the transfer of data from the EU to third countries where the rules of the third party do not meet EU adequacy standards and where alternative avenues, such as binding corporate rules or standard contractual clauses, are not used by companies;
Amendment 375 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point vi a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c – point vi a (new)
via. to oppose the concept of digital products and services in trade liberalisation and, instead, reiterate that the "digital dimension" of products and services shall be negotiated in the context of their respective original classifications;
Amendment 399 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point d – point ii
ii. to recall that Mode 4 commitments should be based on the economic needs test and should only apply to the movement of high-level professionals for a specific purpose, for a limited period of time and under precise conditions stipulated by a contract and by domestic legislation;
Amendment 430 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e – point i
Paragraph 1 – point e – point i
i. to aim at reinforcing financial stability, ensuring adequate protection for consumers, including their data privacy, and guaranteeing fair competition between financial services providers;
Amendment 433 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e – point i b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e – point i b (new)
ib. to ensure that, in the area of financial services, no new commitments will be taken on that would jeopardise any existing or future financial regulation, and that regulators retain the ability amongst others to authorise or deny any new financial product and to impose certain legal forms (e.g. restructuring requirements);
Amendment 440 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point e – point iii
iii. to replicateinclude provisions including the GATS prudential carve- out so as to allow parties to deviate from their trade commitments when this is necessary for prudential reasons or for consumer protection;
Amendment 488 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point i
Paragraph 1 – point g – point i
i. to fully preserve European, national and local authorities’ right to regulate; calls on the Commission to make sure that the right to regulate is ensured in all negotiation documents, not only in the preamble;
Amendment 492 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point i a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g – point i a (new)
ia. to guarantee the country of destination principle is upheld where standards differ, including especially Mode 4 services (temporary free movement of service suppliers or of employees sent out by a supplier), to ensure that rules on qualifications and on labour and collective bargaining laws continue to apply in the host country; the temporary free movement of service suppliers or of employees sent out by a service supplier must on no account be used to prevent strikes or circumvent existing collective bargaining laws (by hiring temporary workers);
Amendment 503 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point g – point iii
Amendment 511 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point iii a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g – point iii a (new)
iiia. to reject any approach to establish the concept of necessity tests and the inclusion of vague legal concepts such as "unnecessary" and "inappropriate";
Amendment 516 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point iv a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g – point iv a (new)
iva. to guarantee that the universal service principle remains safeguarded, so that for instance people living in remote regions, border areas, islands or mountainous areas enjoy the same standard of service and do not pay more than people living in urban areas;
Amendment 517 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point iv b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g – point iv b (new)
ivb. to oppose the classification of municipal and regional provisions on land use and regional development or land-use plans as non-tariff barriers to trade;
Amendment 552 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h – point ii a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point h – point ii a (new)
iia. to ensure protection of EU small and medium sized service providers from unfair trading practices from services providers from outside the EU. For example by an article ensuring strict supervisory authorities and competition authorities. This article should at least contain the GATS Art. IX on 'Business practices'.
Amendment 553 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h – point ii a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point h – point ii a (new)
iia. to point out that in European Union not only the provision and quality and continuity of public services are part of our social model, but also their democratic control by the citizens;
Amendment 582 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point i – point iv
iv. to welcome the continuous engagement of the EU institutions with a wide range of stakeholders throughout the negotiation process; to ensure that the negotiators allow equitable access and engagement to all relevant stakeholders;