22 Amendments of Joe HIGGINS related to 2009/2200(INI)
Amendment 5 #
having regard to the Policy Department's Analysis of the 2009 annual programme for Turkey under the Pre- accession Instrument (IPA) in the context of the 2OO9 enlargement package,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E (new)
Recital E (new)
whereas average unemployment in Turkey has reached an alarming 13% in 2009, youth unemployment stands at 24% and the latest Poverty Survey (2007) indicates that 18.56% of Turkey's population lives below the poverty line,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F (new)
Recital F (new)
whereas according to 'Analysis of the 2009 annual programme for Turkey under the Pre-accession Instrument (IPA) in the context of the 2OO9 enlargement package', “ the EU is often perceived as an international organization that puts primacy to issues of economic efficiency and macroeconomic stability, rather than social issues […]” , which underlines the need to fully address social standards, human and trade union rights in trade negotiations,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G (new)
Recital G (new)
whereas there are serious regional differences within Turkey which require a serious and lasting commitment by the Turkish Government to an overall, balanced development and modernization of the country, with an emphasis on improving quality of life and human rights, poverty alleviation and the extension of adequate social protection to vulnerable individuals and groups, in particular the elimination of child labour,
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1b new
Paragraph 1b new
Regrets that Turkey is on the path of becoming a completely open economy; states that, under the pretext of an open economy, further privatisation programmes (for example the privatisation of former state enterprise, TEKEL) are under way; highlights that another 12,000 jobs will be lost due to the latest phase of TEKEL's privatisation alone; warns that domestic demand and purchasing power of the population will be undermined as a result;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 new
Paragraph 2 new
Stresses the fact that workers in so-called open economies are vulnerable to international competition and attempts to drive down wages; is therefore convinced that workers need to be protected by collective agreements and strong trade union organisation; notes with concern that, by the end of 2006, less than 10% of workers in Turkey were protected by collective agreements;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Welcomes the upturn in Turkey’s economy after the global financial and economic crisis; congratulates Turkey on thetakes note of Turkey's serious reforms of its banking system, that proved resilient to the financial and economic crisis, as reflected in the upgrading of its credit ratings; stresses the importance of further cooperation between the EU and Turkey to overcome difficulties in both trade and investment;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Notes Turkey’s potential for further economic development, given its young and dynamic population; encourages both the EU and Turkey to pay due attention to their interlinked economies, to pursue further openness, to refrain from hidden protectionism and to capitalise more on Turkey’s geo-political position when setting trade targets;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5a new
Paragraph 5a new
Stresses the severity of the youth employment situation and the lack of specific actions to tackle the problem; refers to a recent ILO study which describes employment creation in general and women's and youth employment in particular as the key labour-market challenge for Turkey's development; calls, therefore, for an employment strategy which is targeting the youth employment in general and the situation of young women in particular;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5b new
Paragraph 5b new
Points to the findings of a recent ILO study on child labour in Turkey and related conclusions, that despite large- scale projects to curb child labour in recent years there is the possibility that because of the economic crisis child labour might become a major problem once again; welcomes therefore the efforts of the Turkish Ministry of Labour and Social Security, which has set itself the goal of entirely eliminating the worst forms of child labour by the year 2015, and which has planned the implementation of new projects until 2013; asks the Commission and the Member States to provide financial and technical assistance to support these efforts;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
Highlights that the CU covers manufactured goods and processed agricultural products; looks forward to the inclusion of agricultural products in the CU, with the adoption of the CAP; considers that other areas such as services and public procurement should fall within its scope;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9a new
Paragraph 9a new
Calls on Turkey to immediately comply with all its obligations deriving from the Additional Protocol to the EC-Turkey Association Agreement, in a non- discriminatory way, what will contribute to the further development of its trade relations with all EU Member States;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10a new
Paragraph 10a new
Underlines the importance of policy coherence in all aspects of the European Union’s policy spheres and in this context condemns Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code as it is used to oppress ethnic minorities, trade unionists and government opponents in general and has assisted in the indefensible banning of the Demokratik Toplum Partisi (Democratic Society Party, DTP);
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17a new
Paragraph 17a new
Points out that the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) identifies Germany, the USA and Israel as the three largest arms providing countries for Turkey; is deeply concerned that the driving force behind the increase in trade between Turkey and Israel is due to their intense defence cooperation and notes with strong disapproval that a significant proportion of Turkish imports from Israel consists of arms purchases;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
Notes that Turkey and the EU face similar challenges in energy supply; stresses the need to define a common external energy strategy; urges Turkey to ratify thinvest in publicly owned sustainable and environmentally friendly energy resources and is therefore opposed to Turkey’s recent investment in nuclear energy; regrets all attempts to liberalise Eenergy Charter Treaty Trade Amendmentand water distribution services, is therefore opposed to the first privatisations of the electricity distribution services;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a new
Paragraph 24 a new
Notes that Turkey is among the top three states (together with Mexico and Slovakia) that display the greatest disparity in GDP per capita across the regions (OECD 2009), underlines that this development is intertwined with the ongoing oppression of and repression against the Kurdish population in the south east of the country; underlines the necessity of halting the discrimination against Kurdish people and other minorities and respecting the Kurdish right to self-determination;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24b new
Paragraph 24b new
Calls for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus; defends the right of return of people displaced by the process of occupation; calls for a united movement of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot workers to build a democratic socialist federation of Cyprus that can provide peace, economic development and prosperity;