Activities of Judith SARGENTINI related to 2010/2301(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on EU and China: Unbalanced Trade?
Amendments (20)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph B a (new)
Paragraph B a (new)
Ba. Whereas the rise of China as a development actor in Africa is one of the most striking feature of the last ten years;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph B b (new)
Paragraph B b (new)
Bb. Whereas China’s relations with African countries have been shaped, for example, by the need to obtain energy resources to support its economic development;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph B c (new)
Paragraph B c (new)
Bc. Whereas there are important differences between OECD-DAC and China development cooperation; whereas China's concessional loan programme, channelled through China Eximbank, is a major arm of China’s foreign relations; and whereas concessional loans are seen as tied aid;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph B d (new)
Paragraph B d (new)
Bd. Whereas China’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in Africa aim to create a supportive environment for small and medium Chinese companies to venture overseas; whereas according to the African Development Group, Chinese- operated SEZ in Sub-Saharan Africa has had so far limited results in terms of investment, while their job creation impacts and integration with local economy has been limited;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph B e (new)
Paragraph B e (new)
Be. Whereas China’s Protocol of Accession is unique in that it includes a number of special commitments applicable to China only that takes the form of ‘WTO plus commitments’ (as in the case of export taxes) as well as ‘WTO- minus rights’, that allow WTO members to take protective measures against Chinese exports that deviate from general WTO disciplines;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Notes that China’s growth and its capacity to move in thirty years from under-development to an emerging global power has contributed to make China an alternative source of trade and finance from Africa’s traditional partners;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Is aware that China’s impact on Africa varies according to the size, economic structures, and quality of governance and institutions in African economies; takes the view that the impact of China’s trade on African countries needs to be further evaluated, i.e. to the extent to which trade with China will encourage further specialisation in primary commodities, or can help African economies diversify their production and finance sustainable projects;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Underlines that China’s new role as a major source of finance in Africa has sparked several concerns in the EU; in particular, underlines that while international organisations and bilateral aid agencies of traditional donors have made their assistance conditional on good governance, this is not the case for China; fears accordingly that China’s influence could further delay efforts to improve governance and reduce corruption in Africa, especially in its partner countries characterised by weak institutions such as Angola, Congo, Nigeria and Sudan;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Recalls that trade and FDI in the natural resource sector generally tend to impair governance and efficiency, have harmed the environment, and often failed to lead to a reduction of poverty; stresses that the development impact of investments in the extractive sector should be enhanced through more transparency in the procurement and contracting process and more active engagement of African civil society organisations in oversight; in this context, calls on the EU to encourage China to endorse the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative principles;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. Deems that reaping benefits from the collaboration between China and Africa will require, among others, that African governments strengthen their governance institutions; likewise, insists upon the need to upgrade political dialogue between China and EU Members States to engage China to pay attention to the implications of its assistance for governance and the environment, and to ensure that China's aid complements, rather than competes with, aid from traditional donors;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1f. Notes that Chinese investments in Africa, channelled mainly through the Export-Import Bank raises concerns, e.g. about sustainability of projects, as in the case of large controversial hydropower dams projects; as a first step, shares the view of the African Development Bank Group, according to which it would be desirable to expand the implementation of the Equator principles, a voluntary set of standards for determining, assessing and managing social and environmental risk in project financing, to Chinese investments;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 g (new)
Paragraph 1 g (new)
1g. Notes with concern that in Africa, a majority of China’s large-scale projects have been carried out by a predominantly Chinese labour force; as a result, the local labour force remains untrained and the spin-offs for the population in terms of employment are minimal;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 h (new)
Paragraph 1 h (new)
1h. Takes the view that African countries need to increase the value added of their production, irrespective of their partner countries; this implies developing tools such as imposing technology transfer requirements or local content requirements not only for Chinese investors but for all investors, to increase for instance the demand for unskilled African labour for investment projects;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is concerned at the rising total EU trade deficit with China; is convinced, however, that the strong growth in trade between all the EU Member States and China represnotes that the EU's concerns regarding limitation of China's investment regime relates for example to local content requirements, export taxations, foreign ownership, etc.; however, takes the view that the unique character of China's commitment to the WTO, that prevents China from seeking ‘Special and Differentiated Treatments’ a crucial development instrument for both the EU and China, as other developing country members, raises questions on coherence and consistency; accordingly, calls open trade is one of the most effective drivers of economic growth and wealth creationhe Commission to evaluate the coherence and consistency of its trade policy towards China against the background of its development policy towards Africa;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes that the China-Africa Development Fund (CADF) supports the setting-up of special Chinese Economic Processing Zones in Africa; shares the views of the African Development group according to which there is a need to integrate Chinese investments into the national production chain to ensure that these zones will effectively promote industrialisation, which implies e.g.: strengthening legal and regulatory arrangements, including social and environmental safeguards, as well as improving access of local companies and workers to the zones to ensure linkages to the local economy;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Points out that Chinese aid differs in a number of ways from that applied by OECD countries, in particular, recalls that while OECD members commit, through the OECD Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits, to conform to an agreed set of environmental, social and governance standards in their export finance activities, China is not committed to these rules;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Recalls also that, while OECD members agreed to the OECD Recommendations on Bribery and Officially Supported Export Credits, which aim to deter and sanction bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions supported by official export credits, these measures have not been adopted by China; in light of this, finds it of particular importance that the EU engage in further discussion with China to develop and implement common standards with OECD on development aid, including on debt relief;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. CTakes the view that China's position as a global player, especially in the context of the EU financial rescue plan, makes it unrealistic to conceive that such a country could benefit from traditional development cooperation; accordingly, calls on the Commission to move away from traditional development cooperation and aid towards a more commercially orientbalanced relationship with China in the interests of both sides;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Warns against the creation of a protectionist climate, asStresses that, given that China is now the second largest economy in thise wourld be harmful to the EU and Chinese economies in the long run and would go against EU development goals as defined in the EU 2020 strategy, the question of market access between Europe and China must be based in any case on the reciprocity principle;