Activities of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2019/2201(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the annual implementing report on the EU association agreement with Moldova
Amendments (23)
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas through the AA/DCFTA Moldova committed to incorporating the EU acquis into its own laws and practices in a large number of areas; whereas, in order to support these efforts, the EU committed to provide substantial financial and budgetary assistance to Moldovaa fully-fledged cooperation , including financial and budgetary assistance, under the condition that core European values and principles, such as rule of law, human and democratic rights, are respected and that the fights against corruption, organized crime, money laundering, oligarchic structures and nepotism are guaranteed; whereas in serious cases of backsliding cooperation can be reversed;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas, following the formation in June 2019 of a government committed to carrying out ambitious reforms, the Commission disbursed the first instalment of Macro-Financial Assistance, and resumed disbursements for sector budget support programmes; whereas this assistance remains conditional upon implementing tangible reforms topreviously agreed reforms, in particular those aimed at strengthening the rule of law;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas, despite all economic progress, the social impact of the financial assistance and the reform efforts has been rather marginal; whereas Moldova remains one of the poorest countries in Europe facing a detrimental social situation with deserted villages and extreme poverty; whereas 2018, 38.5% of the workers in Moldova were informally employed having no access to any form of social protection;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
Fb. whereas over the last years, the situation with social dialogue has deteriorated; whereas while the dialogue with the employees acquired rather a formal character, associations established by foreign investors and local employers are increasingly gaining influence in the dialogue between the government and the business community leaders; whereas this dialogue is focused on improving the business climate in Moldova, but it almost completely ignores the social dimension;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F c (new)
Recital F c (new)
Fc. whereas since 1989, the population of Moldova has shrunk by almost a third; whereas in terms of demographics, these are the worst figures in the whole of Europe; whereas Moldovans leave for higher pay and better education and facilities; whereas this development has deep and long-lasting political, economic and social consequences; whereas Moldova is confronted with labour shortages and a lack of professionals such as nurses and doctors; whereas the elderly, a large proportion of whom rely on remittances, are Moldova’s most vulnerable and prone to poverty;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F d (new)
Recital F d (new)
Fd. whereas several hundred citizens of the 3.8 million citizens work abroad and send remittance home that constitute one-fifth of the GDP of Moldova; whereas thousands of Moldovans have lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many of them wish to go home, but are having severe problems to do so; whereas many Moldovans found themselves stuck in the Member States in which they were formerly employed, without means of income, protection or transportation and, at times, access to healthcare; whereas actions and measures taken by Member States during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to financially compensate workers, self- employed workers and entrepreneurs are mainly based on the national labour market and often lack proper provisions for cross-border workers and cross-border self-employed workers;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F e (new)
Recital F e (new)
Fe. whereas many children are malnourished, illiterate, and in severe health conditions; whereas many parents were forced into economic migration, often leaving their children behind; whereas today, about 30,000 children live without their parents;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F f (new)
Recital F f (new)
Ff. whereas the solution of the problems of Moldova cannot be provided from outside the country and there is a need to enhance ownership by the Moldovan people to meet the challenges of the country; whereas it remains important to address the main challenges such as fight against corruption and oligarchic structures, the adherence to democratic standards, the need to find solutions for the multi-faced social problems, to ensure media plurality and to tackle poverty and emigration;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that the AA/DCFTA remains of primary importance, especially in current exceptional times, and commends the progresse progress in the implementation of the Association agreement achieved by Moldova to date; recallminds, however, that further progress must be achievedttained, focusing on independence of State institutions, their resilience against the influence from oligarchs, fight against corruption, strengthening rule of law and on improving the living conditions of the citizens;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Notes with concern that the implementation of the commitments stemming from the association agreement in the social sphere, especially in the fields of labour inspection, anti- discrimination measures, and social dialogue, are limited; is concerned that the progress in addressing macro- financial vulnerabilities remains insufficient to significantly boost living standards and is now endangered by the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis; insists in the mandatory involvement of trade unions, as well as civil society organizations, in the implementation of the Association Agreements;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Notes with concern the conclusions of the Commission’s and EEAS’ 2019 Association Implementation Report on Moldova according to which the establishment of instruments and bodies that aim to prevent fraud and money laundering has been slow; expects the new Government to build upon the recent steps taken by the previous government with regards to fighting corruption and unrevealing criminal and money-laundering schemes; notes the action undertaken in order to pursue the prosecution of the massive banking fraud exposed in 2014 and other money laundering cases, but reiterates its concern that no substantial recovery of assets has been made so far and stresses that further steps need to be taken in this direction;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Underlines that the Union must hold Moldova accountable for its commitments with regards to the social dimension of the AA; calls on the Commission to provide a detailed annual progress reports on the implementation of social and labour-related issues of the Association Agreement which does not only analyses the transposition of relevant Union directives and norms, but also their actual implementation; calls on the Commission to embrace proposals of labour experts to introduce a mechanism to sanction the violations of the standards agreed upon; suggest to use the disbursement of MFA as a leverage or conditionality to force Moldova to enhance the labour conditions of their workforce;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. WelcomNotes the conclusions of the IMF’s March 2020 Article IV consultation and the IMF Board’s sixth and final review of Moldova’s economic performance under the Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility arrangements, with particular regard to the rehabilitation of the Moldovan banking system and the strengthening of financial sector governance;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Moldovan Government and the EU to cooperate to overcome the negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the social and economic development;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Is concerned by the high level of concentration and politiciszation of the media and advertisingement sectors, leading to a low level of public confidence in the media; urgesacknowledges that a decision by Audiovisual Council that could have limited freedom of expression was subsequently cancelled by the Council on March 26th following heavy criticism by civil society and political actors; calls nevertheless on the Moldovan authorities to refrain from exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to adopt measures curtailing freedom of speechreduce democratic freedoms and to limiting the media’s ability to report factsthe whole dimension of the impact of the Corona crisis on the society in an independent and unbiased way;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Is concerned by the very high level of perceived corruption in Moldova, and therefore urges the Government to step up the fight against it, as well as money laundering, arms smuggling and organised crime; calls on the Moldovan Government to adopt concrete measures to reinforce the independence and integrity of the National Anticorruption Centre’s Office and the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office; calls on the Commission to provide much more consistent support to civil society organisations monitoring fraud and money laundering activities;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Expresses deep concern at the situation of those Moldovans stranded in EU Member States due to the COVID-19 crisis without social protection; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure, in the context of COVID-19,the equal treatment of third-country seasonal workers with EU nationals, as stated in Directive 2014/36/EU, recalling that such workers have the same labour and social rights as EU citizens; calls on the Member States to ensure quality housing for cross- border and seasonal workers, which should be decoupled from their remuneration and ensure decent facilities, tenant privacy and written tenancy contracts enforced by labour inspectorates, and to establish standards in this regard;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Reiterates its concern at the impunity for human rights violations; notes that while authorities investigated reports of official human rights abuses, the perpetrators are rarely successfully prosecuted and punished; selective prosecution of officials for political reasons continued;
Amendment 283 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Underlines the urgent need to support the creation of job opportunities for Moldovan young people in their home country, so that they can return after studying or training abroad, including by supporting youth entrepreneurship; calls on the Commission to focus in this question in its programmes;
Amendment 290 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Urges further steps to ensure the independence of the National Agency for Energy Regulation, and the rapid adoption of the secondary legislation needed to ensure the full implementation of the Third Energy Package;