24 Amendments of José BOVÉ related to 2012/0000(RSP)
Amendment 3 #
Citation 3 a (new)
– having regard to article 21 of the Treaty on European Union setting the principles that shall guide The Union’s action on the international scene
Amendment 9 #
Recital B
B. whereas the European Union is the second biggest trading partner of the Andean region and whereas the planned TA provides for total liberalisation of trade in industrial products and fisheries, which could increase both Colombian GDP up to 1.3% and Peruvian GDP by 0.7% in the long term, but would have considerable negative impacts at environmental and social level according to an independent Sustainability Impact Assessment study;
Amendment 13 #
Recital F
F. whereas the first article of the TA includes extensive and binding provisions guaranteeing the protection ofreproduces the standard formula on human rights, stating that "respect for democratic principles and fundamental human rights, as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and for the principle of the rule of Law, underpins the internal and international policies of the Parties. Respect for these principles constitutes an essential element of the Agreement"; whereas the failure to respect HRs and democratic principles would constitute a "material breach" of the TA which, under public international law, cshould give rise to the adoption of appropriate measures, including the possibility to terminate or to suspend partially or totally the Agreement; whereas more detailed provisions are enshrined in the current GSP+ scheme, but have never been applied in the case of Colombia and Peru; whereas proper monitoring of the respect of HRs by all signatory parties has to be ensured and the practical enforceability of the Human Rights Clause has to be guaranteed;
Amendment 14 #
Recital G
G. whereas the TA offersdoes not offer adequate guarantees to ensure that the new architecture of the EU trade and investment relations works in favour of far-reaching social, environmental protection and sustainable development by promoting and preserving a high level of labour and environmental protection standards on all sides, as it contains as chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development is inconsistent with the provisions of the trade related chapters and is not subject to a Dispute Settlement Mechanism;
Amendment 16 #
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas the TA also contains far- reaching obligations for the Colombian and Peruvian governments to enact legislation concerning e-commerce and intellectual property rights with the risk of imposing limitations to the freedom of expression; notes the already existing concern that insufficient safe-guards in TAs cause detrimental development to, and a risk of criminalization of, freedom of speech in particularly Colombia;
Amendment 17 #
Recital H
H. whereas both Colombia and Peru have undertaken enormoussome efforts in recent years to improve the general condition of their citizens lives, including human and labour rights; whereas the human rights problems in both countries have different patterns and need a differentiated approach;
Amendment 21 #
Recital I
I. whereas, despite these vastsome efforts, in order to achieve the full completion of the high standards set out and claimed by the individual citizens, the organisations of the civil society, the opposition parties and the government, there is still a substantial work to be done both in Colombia and Peru, especially regarding the effective implementation of the new legislative framework which intends to solve old problems yet not totally solved,problems related to long standing problems of poverty, violence and corruption, civil war (more than 50 years, in the case of Colombia), illegal armed groups, drug trafficking, unsolved murders, impunity, lack of labour and civil rights and land dispossession;
Amendment 27 #
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas 55 human rights defenders have been murdered or disappeared in 2011 and harassment of human rights defenders has increased over the same period of time;
Amendment 30 #
Recital J b (new)
Jb. whereas European companies are very present in areas with a high record of human rights violations, such as extractive industries (mining, cash crops, biofuels);
Amendment 32 #
Paragraph 1
1. regrets that there is no specific reference to the UN Fundamental Human Rights Conventions and no binding dispute settlement mechanism for the chapter on trade and sustainable development in the TA and that the use of the measures and sanctions foreseen in the TA's binding general dispute settlement mechanism in cases of violations of the standards set forth in the chapter on trade and sustainable development are excluded, thus constituting a weakening of the current binding conditions under the EU's GSP+ scheme;
Amendment 35 #
Paragraph 3
3. Underlines the importance of maintaining constructive dialogue with our partner countries on the effective implementation of higher standards on HRs; strongly welcomestakes note of the Reciprocal Dialogue Mechanism on HRs (EU- Colombia Human Rights Dialogue) which was established voluntarily in 2009 between Colombia and the European Union and is held twice a year since then and which "is a clear proof that the Colombian government is open to dialogue on Human Rights with the EU, as well as with other international partners, in a way that probably is unparalleled in the world"; regrets however that the European Parliament is neither briefed nor de- briefed on its agenda and outcome on a regular basis and in a comprehensive way;
Amendment 40 #
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Civil society organisations, both in the Andean Countries and in the European Union to participate in the monitoring mechanisms established in the TA, under the title of Trade and Sustainable Development and calls on the parties to extend this dialogue to all other key chapters of the TA; demands the governments involved to set up as soon as possible the legal framework for the domestic mechanisms and the dialogue with civil societies, if they do not exist, including a substantial information and advertising campaign in order to maximise the participation of the interested groups or persons on the monitoring framework of the Civil Society Mechanism; suggests six months for the set up of these procedures after the entry into force of the Agreement, instead of one year as settled in the TA
Amendment 43 #
Paragraph 7
7. In order to fully accomplish the high standards in HRs advanced by the TA and to which both the Andean governments and the European Union are committed, demands a binding Action Plan as set out hereafter to be established, with concrete steps to be achieved prior to the ratification of the TA; suggests to the parties involved to swiftly establish dedicated Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) on HRs and Democratic Principles, which should accompany and monitor the implementation of this or other TAs, and work as an effective internal consultation body to the domestic offices that participate in the Committee on Trade of the TA, using as model for its functioning the legal framework envisaged in the TA for the participation of the civil society in the Subcommittee on Trade and Sustainable Development; calls upon the parties of the TA to guarantee these DAGs the same level of binding involvement for civil society as in the Free Trade Agreement with South Korea, including a formalised and institutionalised complaint mechanism; furthermore calls upon the parties to ensure the full independence of the DAGs, also as regards their own choice of members of the DAG;
Amendment 47 #
Paragraph 8
8. Endorses all the legislative and non legislative measures taken by both Andean countries to fight poverty, all forms of violence, impunity, corruption, drug trafficking, to ensure children's and women rights- specially child labour, to follow the path of sustainable development as the only viable future for our planet, indigenous peoples rights, to promote broader dialogue and citizen's participation in the law making process and to restore justiceIs worried about a number of legal steps recently taken and underway in Colombia which undermine any effort to end impunity, such as the "fuero militar";
Amendment 50 #
Paragraph 9
9. Deeply regretStrongly condemns the assassination of trade unionists, HRs defenders and police officers or militaries, civilians, indigenous people, and any victim of the internal armed conflict (police officers, militaries and members of the illegal armed groups) occurring especially in Colombia; notwithstanding, notes that in the last two years there has been a decline in trade unionists murder cases reported;
Amendment 54 #
Paragraph 10
10. Supports the Colombian government efforts on fighting impunity and murders against trade unionists orDeeply regrets that in 2011, 29 trade- unionists were assassinated in Colombia and there has been a 40% increase in HRs defenders, which is translated, for example, in an killings in comparison with 2010; recognised as positive the increase ofn the number of investigators aton the General Prosecutors Office (FGN), that specifically in the case of the investigation of crimes directed against trade unionist grew from 100 investigators in 2010 to 243 investigators in 2011; also according to ILO, between 2010 and June 2011 there were 88 sentences, 483 citizens condemned with crimes against trade unionists and 355 arrests; however expresses concern that after the official dismantling of the Secret Service DAS (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad), which was in charge of the former protection scheme of HR defenders and on numerous occasions used to carry out intelligence work against them, the newly created National Protection Unit, attached to the Ministry of the Interior, will be equipped with at least 600 ex-officers of the DAS1, which runs the risk of repeating old illegal practices; in this respect, underlines the importance of the "Special Protection Program" (SPP) which gives, at the present, State protection to more than 11.000 citizens, including trade unionists (24%), Municipal Councillors (11%), HRs defenders (18%) and journalists (4%); this program went from a budget of 10.5 million euros in 2010 to more than 120 million euros in 2011; notes that none of the citizens included in this SPP has been murdered;this programme only started four month ago and that its effects have to be monitored in the future; __________ 1 Non-Governmental protection for human rights defenders “We are Defenders”, 2011 Annual Report, Attacks against Human Rights Defenders in Colombia, Op. Cit., Bogota, February 2012, p. 31
Amendment 59 #
Paragraph 13
13. Underlines, in particular, the importance of promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and welcomes its inclusion on the TA; asks all the parties to promote the best business practices related to CSR in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, with the Guidelines on CSR of the OECD or with the recent Communication of the Commission COM(2011) 681 from 25/10, on "a renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility"; strongly believes that higher levels for citizens' living standards can only be achieved through active partnerships between entrepreneurs, labour, NGOs and the State, either at central, regional or at the communities level; therefore, reaffirms the importance of the involvement of all the parties involved, especially from the Governments, which must have an essential role in the effective implementation of CSR in their countries; calls on the EU and the Andean Countries to work towards the implementation of binding UN Guiding Principles on CSR to be applied globallyCalls on the EU and Colombia to develop and implement a legally binding Codex on Corporate Social Responsibility for EU enterprises which operate in Colombia requiring them to carry out human rights due diligence to identify and address their actual or potential adverse human rights impacts in accordance with their “responsibility to respect” in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;
Amendment 65 #
Paragraph 14
14. Requests the European Commission and the Andean CountriesColombian Government to ensure the establishment of a transparent and binding Action Plan on LabourHuman Rights aimed essentially at preventing all types of violence against employees, especially trade unionistshuman rights defenders, trade unionists, internally displaced people and civilians in general; suggests it to take into account the Action Plan related to Labour and Human Rights between Colombia and the US and comprising the following: • achieving, in at least a substantial majority of cases of anti-union violence, well-grounded investigations, prosecutions and convictions of the material and intellectual authors and beneficiaries of such violence; • achieving a dramatic and sustained decrease in acts of violence against trade unionists; • the enacting of new legislation and policy measures which guarantee freedom of expression and association ands well as the right to bargain collectively, without loopholes, in particular for HD's and trade unionists as well as workers in the informal sector, and especially through eliminating the use of cooperatives, collective pacts or other measures that have the purpose or effect of denying workers their trade union rights or the benefits of a direct employment relationship; • strict labour inspections which lead to • clear and verifiable steps to strengthen • To assess progress in implementing• strict labour inspections which lead to penalties in the case of discrimination, penalties in the case of discrimination, non-justified dismissals, intimidation non-justified dismissals, intimidation and threats against workers; and threats against workers; • clear and verifiable steps to strengthen social dialogue on the regional and social dialogue on the regional and local level as well as on the side of local level as well as on the side of enterprises; enterprises; • addressing the serious situation in which Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are, reinforcing their full enjoyment of human rights in order to obtain a decision of Constitutionality of their situation, and guaranteing full reparation to displacement victims; • taking the necessary steps to end impunity, investigating, prosecuting and punishing in civil courts those most responsible both intellectually and materially for the international crimes committed in Colombia; • dismantling illegal armed groups, some of which continue the legacy of predecessor paramilitary organisations; • respecting and ensuring the rights to truth, justice and reparation for the victims of crimes against humanity; and guaranteeing the non-repetition of gross human rights violations; • achieving clear, time-bound and results-based targets in each of these above areas; • To assess progress in implementing this Action Plan, the parties should this Action Plan, the parties should produce an annual report, to be produce an annual report, to be presented and assessed by the presented and assessed by the European Parliament. European Parliament.
Amendment 70 #
Paragraph 15
15. Strongly welcomes the new "Victims and Land Restitution Law" (also known as "Ley 1448") which came into effect in Colombia on 1st of January 2012, guaranteeing financial compensation and restitution of land for the almost 4Deeply regrets that the successive paramilitary demobilization processes resulted in an amnesty de facto of the “demobilized” paramilitaries liable for crimes against Humanity part of which has continue with its illegal activities and that the million of victims of the country’s armed conflict and violence over the past 50 years; emphasises the massive financial effort of the Colombian Government, which is estimated in more than 25 billion US dollars for the next ten years, representing about 160 million Euros/month on the next 10 years; underlines the need for thorough monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of this law, in close consultation with civil societytary intellectual authors of the extrajudicial killings known as “false positives” keep on benefiting from a complete impunity; is appalled that out of 35 000 demobilized paramilitary troops, only 10 have been condemned; deplores the lack of guarantees in the implementation of the new "Victims and Land Restitution Law" (also known as "Ley 1448"), in particular regarding the protection of returnees, outstanding the fact that in 2011, at least 28 people were killed by new paramilitary groups in this context;
Amendment 74 #
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Requests that substantial progress towards achieving this targets be made before the FTA comes into force, in particular concerning a significant decrease of impunity, the definite withdrawal of legislative proposals to extend the jurisdiction of military jurisdiction to the crimes committed by public force against civilians ("fuero militar") and a meaningful cooperation with the judicial system of concerned EU member states with respect to crimes with alleged DAS involvement; following adequate monitoring and evaluation with the close consultation and approval of all Colombian trade union national centres and credible Colombian human rights organisations; to assess further progress in implementing this Action Plan, the parties should produce an annual report, to be presented and assessed by the European Parliament;
Amendment 75 #
Paragraph 16
16. Welcomes the fact that Colombia and Peru have ratified all the 8 Fundamental ILO-conventions plus 3 of the 4 Governance Conventions, as stated by the ILO representative in INTA's Public Hearing on the TA at the European Parliament in Brussels on 29th February 2012; iInsists on the importance of a swift ratification and effective implementing of all the ILO Fundamental and Governance Conventions, especially C122 in the case of Colombia and C129 in the case of Peru; underlines to all parties the importance of ratifying the ILO Convention 135 on workers' representatives; recalls in this context that 24 EU Member States still haven't ratified the ILO C169- Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention; stresses the importance of a swift ratification of the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
Amendment 79 #
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises the importance of the principles of fair, just and transparent administrative and legal procedures in order to implement national labour laws, including strict labour inspections, as well as international Human Rights standards, in accordance with their international obligations; believes that fair, just and transparent administrative and legal procedures are also needed to ensure that no undue restrictions are put on communication or freedom of speech, which are very important for empowering citizens to themselves organize;
Amendment 82 #
Paragraph 18
18. Believes that new European Parliament powers regarding international agreements that are enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty bring newcorresponding responsibilities; therefore proposes to organise a public hearing both in the European Parliament and in one of the Andean capitals in the last trimester of 2013, including the obligation to conduct a human rights impact assessment prior to, during and after the conclusion of any trade agreement as acknowledged by the European Parliament on various occasions; following the hearings, there should be a written report which should be submitted to the INTA Committee and DROI Subcommittee on the results of the application of this TA until date;
Amendment 83 #
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Considers that the critical human rights situation in Colombia requires the strict respect and implementation of the above-mentioned conditions prior to the adoption of the FTA;