Activities of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2020/2041(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on A new EU-Africa Strategy - a partnership for sustainable and inclusive development
Amendments (11)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights that, while there are a number of dynamic middle income countries on the African continent, its economic development is still relatively weak in comparison to other parts of the world; stresses that many of its countries will therefore face almost insurmountable challenges caused by the COVID-19 crisis and the effects of climate change; stresses the need for the EU to support African countries to invest in public services such as public and free health and education systems, and in access to social protection;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the announcement from the G20 on a temporary moratorium on debt repayments for the weakest developing countries as a first but necessary step in the good direction; calls the Commission, international donors and members’ states to go further and to consider an extension of the moratorium both in duration and scope for enabling African countries to combat the mid- and long-term impact of Covid-19, in view of a full debt cancellation;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Highlights that the European Union still has important economic ties with African states, and that China has intensified its economic engagement in Africa; believes that now more than ever after the Covid- 19, on a global level, and especially with regard to Africa, new approaches should be taken to re-shape economic, commercial and trade relations towards Fair and Ethical Trade based on principles of solidarity and cooperation;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. CReiterates that eradication of poverty , human development and the achievement of SDGs must remain the core of EU-Africa relations; calls on the Commission to reform its current version of its strategy entitled ‘Towards a comprehensive Strategy with Africa’ with a view to addressing the needs of the African regions also in the wake of thise current Covid-19 health and economic crisis; believes that priority should be given to the fight against poverty, in addressing social exclusion and inequality, promote gender equality, climate change mitigation and adaptation, fight against hunger and food sovereignty;
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Calls for the systematic inclusion of binding and enforceable mechanisms for the implementation of TSD chapters on human rights, labour and environmental standards in all currently negotiated and future EPAs; reiterates the need of an in-depth analysis on the impact of EPAs and trade liberalization agreements in African countries on local economies, on biodiversity loss, deforestation and land grabbing, and the need to review these agreements to be coherent with development policies ad SDGs;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Recalls that trade liberalization has an impact on deforestation, climate change and biodiversity loss as well as on food production and access to food; believes that the EU-Africa partnership should be based on a commercial policy that favours the defence of forests and biodiversity, the development of local agriculture and local producers and farmers, to promote a full food sovereignty and to reduce the phenomenon of land grabbing and deforestation for agricultural export use;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines that the fragmented implementation of EPAs has resulted in a lack of substantial progress in supporting regional integration, capacity-building on border cooperation, and improvements in investment climates and good governance; stresses that African civil society and trade unions should be included in this process as much as possible;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Calls the EU to review export taxes restrictions and WTO + TRIPS+ provisions in the current and future EPAs and FTAs, to allow African and developing countries to better answer to the economic and health crisis and make full use of compulsory licensing, as well as to guarantee full and just access to medical intellectual property through granted emergency exemption from IPR protections on covid-19 medical supplies to support domestic production;
Amendment 89 #
9 a. Reiterates its call for an EU legal framework based on corporate mandatory due diligence on human rights violations in supply chains and provide access to justice for victims; believes that such obligations should be cross-sectorial and apply in particular to the financial sector; invites the Commission to continue and reinforce its engagement in the negotiations for the establishment of a UN Binding Treaty on Transnational Corporations and OBE with respect to Human Rights;
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Highlights the importance of supporting African countries capacity to increase domestic resource mobilisation, in order to increase investments in universal public basic services; calls the EU to support African countries on combatting illicit financial flows, EU companies and multinationals tax evasion, to ensure taxes are paid where profits and real economic value is created, in order to stop base erosion and profit- shifting;
Amendment 102 #
10 b. Expresses its concern about the raising number of ISDS cases against African states, especially by European companies; reaffirms the right of African states to regulate to defend the public’s interest without being sued by investors, especially to answer to the economic and health crisis; calls EU governments and companies to refrain to use ISDS, and stop the numerous ISDS cases against Africa;