Activities of Marisa MATIAS related to 2020/2114(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the EU and the defence of multilateralism
Amendments (27)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the global order is increasingly polarised and marred by competing agendas and policy stances, military build-up, and by the increasing riskfragmentation of regulatory fragmentation and competition on regulatoryf what once were collective standards;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the multilateral order was built to face and tackle the challenges of our time, such as hunger and extreme poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, diseases, economic shocks and the prevention of conflicts; whereas, whilst important advances were made, in the last decade we are observing a sliding back in a number of areas;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas there needs to be a renewal of the social contract and the need to rebuild trust;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas in September 2015 all countries committed to an ambitious agenda on how to tackle global challenges together, the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas, whilst multilateralism remains the best organizational system to solve global challenges, it must be recognized that it is struggling to find the path to effective implementation;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the world has entered a new era of ‘unpeaturbulence’, characterised by great geopolitical competition involving ‘semi-conflicts’,and instability that has derived in an increasing number of ‘semi-conflicts’, hot and cold conflicts, hybrid warfare and disinformation which happen away from the public eye, but have significant implications for EU and global security;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas multilateralism is in crisis, resulting in part from the emergence of new actors on the global stage, the tensions derived from the nature of multilateral institutions, the growing gap between public opinion and institutions, the decline of traditionally dominant geopolitical powers and the subsequent decline of global freedoms and democracy; whereas global powers have increasingly acted in a unilateral way; whereas there have been challenges in translating global commitments and the good will of a host of stakeholders into national actions; whereas we are on the cusp of a new era that threatens to undermine more than seventy years of progress and relative peace and consolidate an era of strongman politics striving to undermine the rule of law, responsibility, gender equality and diversity; whereas the combination of national populist impulses, divergent and changing objectives and a lack of application and accountability methods is forcing the multilateral system to face three connected crises: a crisis of power, of relevance and of legitimacy;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the crisis of mulitalteralism can be an opportunity to rebuild consensus for an international order based on multilateralism and the rule of law through efficient cooperation, solidarity and coordination; whereas the EU should support initiatives aimed at incorporating the views of civil society in the decision making processes in multilateral fora such as the UN; whereas the EU should advocate for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) within the UN system in order to increase the democratic character, the democratic accountability and the transparency of global governance;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas multilateralism is in need of swift revitalisation to tackle this multidimensional crisis; whereas peace and security, climate change, gender equality, global public health and the deepening of poverty and inequalities at the global level are some of the pressing challenges that the world is facing right now; whereas only through a reinforced multilateral order will the international community be able to find lasting and sustainable answers to these challenges;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the climate emergency and the COVID-19 pandemic have shown the importance and policy primacy of global public goods, such as, inter alia, access to health, clean air, education, technology and cyberspace in an inclusive fashion; whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of an obvious fact: in the face of a pandemic, our health safety chain is only as strong as the weakest health system; whereas Covid-19 anywhere is a threat to people and economies everywhere; whereas in order to tackle the global pandemic the EU must fulfil the mandate of the European Parliament and temporarily waive COVID-19 vaccine patents; whereas access to global public goods and policy responses seeking to standardise and expand such access across countries and communities requires global cooperation on objectives, minimum standards and active support for the most vulnerable countries and communities; whereas this requires an effective multilateral agenda focused on global public goods and governance structures that reinforce access to such goods; whereas effective policy dialogue, cooperation and delivery on access to global public goods cannot be decoupledand must not be decoupled under any circumstances from the promotion and protection of fundamental rights;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the increasing positions of strength by illiberal third countrieof global players in multilateral fora and international organisations, including through a strong presence as regards the management and decision- making processes of relevant international organisations and multilateral fora, can lead to asymmetric and less effective, if not biased, policy responses, absent the level playing field for all members of the international community, and to; whereas when global powers act unilaterally, this has resulted in a much weaker commitment by the international community to the defence of universal values and universal rights; whereas individual agendas, unilateral actions and a lack of engagement and support for multilateral solutions canhave and will further undermine multilateralism as an essential organising principle to tackle transnational challenges; whereas, in this context, it is essential to reaffirm the value of rules- based governance, international cooperation, a commitment to fundamental rights and a true level playing field for all members of the international community; whereas relevant international organisations and multilateral fora will be key to achieving these objectives; whereas these objectives will not only allow a more effective positive policy impact on global challenges, but will also curb and prevent the risk of conflict;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the UN Secretary- General’s report entitled ‘Our Common Agenda’, which was presented to the UN General Assembly in September 2021 and drafted through a wide-ranging consultation process including UN member states, thought leaders, young people, civil society, relevant stakeholders and citizens, as well as the UN system and its many partners, attests to the need for a more effective, inclusive and networked multilateralism for the future; whereas this will be essential for the UN system and other multilateral fora in order to continue being an effective venue for global consultation and decision-making; whereas, in this context, the EU is uniquely positioned to support the UN and other relevant international organisations in pursuing a process of reform and in revitalising their delivery capacity and their ability to connect to relevant stakeholders, such as young people or the communities most impacted by climate change; whereas in doing so the EU should seize the opportunity to engage constructively and effectively with rival powers, while maintaining a firm stance on fundamental rights and pursuing closer cooperation with like-minded countries to reinforce the primacy of universal values and fundamental rights and to advance effective solutions to global challenges; whereas parliamentary diplomacy will be a key component of reinforcing rules-based, inclusive, networked and effective multilateralism;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the joint communication by the Commission and the VP/HR to Parliament and the Council on strengthening the EU’s contribution to rules-based multilateralism; considers that this communication contributes very directly to and further advances the reflection on the direction of the EU’s foreign policy from its important, but more general commitment to effective multilateralism as defined in the 2003 European security strategy to the realisation of the need to combine the value and objective of effective multilateralism with principled pragmatism and the need to promote and preserve the EU’s interests and values, as laid out in the 2016 global strategy for the EU’s foreign and security policy; concurs with the Commission and the VP/HR on the need for the EU to be more assertive in pursuing its interests and in advancing the universal values in which it believes and, therefore, concurs on the need for the EU to defend and strengthen multilateralism as a means to ensuring a level playing field for the international community, providing a platform for inclusive policy dialogue, cooperation and convergence and achieving policy responses supported by the international community at large and which can truly deliver; points to the EU’s ability to devise very efficient and inclusive regulatory standards for its single market and takes the view that the EU should also seek to promote such standards in the framework of its external action as a paradigm and contribution to the discussion on effective global regulatory standardsthe EU should use the efforts to find solutions for global problems, such as climate change as an entry point for diplomatic relations with partners with whom other agenda items are highly contested, thereby offering an opportunity to enhance stability and peace;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Takes the view that the EU should identify the UN bodies and other multilateral organisations that are key to promoting policy dialogue, convergence and policy solutions to global challenges and standard setting and should define clear objectives and clear priorities for dialogue with and support, including budgetary support, to such bodies and organisations; recalls, in this regard, that the EU and its Member States are already the leading donors to the UN and many of its agencies and programmes, but that this commitment to and support for the UN does not always translate into a stronger presence by the EU and its Member States in key UN agency positions; calls on the EU and its Member States to further improve their coordination when it comes to establishing joint support for candidacies for leadership positions in multilateral fora; points to the positive potential of also enhancing this coordination with like- minded partners in other world regions and looking at the importance of the principle of the equitable geographical distribution of leadership positions; calls on the EU to work with and within the United Nations, regional organizations, international fora such as the G7 and G20 and ad hoc coalitions to tackle the global challenges we face now and in the future;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Praises the ability of the EU and its Member States to work in a coherent and synergic fashion and to present unified positions in the UN system, with particular regard to the UN General Assembly, UN Security Council and UN Human Rights Council; praises, in this regard, the valuable coordination efforts by the EU delegations to the UN in New York and Geneva; believes that this unified, synergic approach should be replicated for every UN body, agency or other international organisation, so that the EU can act and deliver as one across the board in multilateral fora; laments that the Security Council is not as reactive to crises like the ones in Syria, Ethiopia and Sudan as it has been to other crises in the past and that this has had a negative impact on preventing, managing and resolving these crises; points to the fact that in 2022, only two EU Member States will be on the Security Council; considers that the EU should promote reflecting on the terms of a reform of the Security Council that can restore its ability to address crises in a timely and effective manner, thoroughly limit the right to veto and change the composition of the Security Council to reflect today’s world better; reiterates its view, in this regard, that the EU and its Member States should find a broad consensus on reforming the Security Council, inter alia, through the provision of a permanent seat for the EU, in addition to the already existing seats held by EU Member States;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Believes that the new Global Europe financial instrument and the ‘Team Europe’ approach to geographic and thematic assistance and programming provide a unique opportunity to define a common inter-institutional agenda that duly reflects and values the contributions of the EU Member States and reinforces the leveraging ability of the EU and its Member States; warns that the quest by some illiberal countrieglobal players to attain and consolidate leverage through financing international organisations raises the issue of financial antagonism in multilateral fora and prompts the need for a reflection at EU level on how to secure the independence and effectiveness of relevant international organisations and multilateral fora through adequate EU funding; recalls that EU humanitarian aid and development assistance to third countries is very often channelled through the UN system; supports this partnership between the EU and the UN, but calls on the EU to ensure that the UN gives more visibility to the EU’s specific role and contributions; underlines, in this regard, the importance of carrying out, at EU level, an in-depth evaluation of both existing and envisaged EU-UN partnerships to assess whether there is adequate visibility for the EU’s contribution and whether the leadership roles conferred on the EU and its Member States are commensurate with the EU’s strong commitment and dedication to the UN system; calls on the Commission and the EEAS to carry out this review and to confer with Parliament on their findings and on the way forward to ensure that adequate value is given to the EU’s contributions to the UN system;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the need to work towards an effective, results-oriented and inclusive multilateralism, where governments, civil society, the private sector, academia and other relevant stakeholders can effectively work together to serve and achieve global goals, values and interests; acknowledges the importance of reconciling the two critical EU goals of enhancing the EU’s visibility as a global actor and supporting the role of multilateral fora; recalls the need to address and manage these tensions and to articulate a balanced position between these two goals, in line with the EU’s core values, ideas and interests;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Stresses the need to address the challenges of preventing and combating illicit financial flows and strengthening international cooperation and good practices on assets return and recovery, including by more effective measures to implement existing obligations under the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime; Stresses the need to implement effective, inclusive and sustainable measures to prevent and combat corruption within the framework of the 2030 Agenda; Stresses that the combating of illicit financial flows must the streamlined at a global level;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Supports the EU’s tireless advocacy for and defence of universal human rights, its staunch support for the universalisation of international human rights law, its active support to and use of UN human rights fora to address pressing human rights issues, its steadfast support for strengthening accountability and international justice mechanisms and its fight against impunity; supports the VP/HR and the Commission in their quest to ensure that the UN Human Rights Council acts more efficiently, addresses all human rights issues and country situations effectively, credibly and without bias and ensures synergies with other multilateral human rights fora; pays tribute to human rights defenders worldwide and to the work of the current UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and takes the view that her tenure provides a unique opportunity to engage on effective dialogue and cooperation on how to streamline and reinforce the delivery capacity of the UN human rights system, including through increased public scrutiny of Human Rights Council membership, responsibilities and mandatory pledging events at the UN General Assembly with candidates to the Human Rights Council, as proposed by the VP/HR and the Commission in their joint communication; welcomes the launch on 12 October 2021 of an annual strategic dialogue with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; welcomes the EU’s initiatives and activities pertaining to human rights in the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee and the UN Security Council, as well as the cooperation between the EU and the UN on multiple thematic and country-based human rights issues;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Expresses concern at the erosion of the existing arms control and disarmament system and its legal instruments; support all efforts to putting the arms control and disarmament agenda back on the international agenda, including by reviving the Conference on Disarmament; Stresses that the EU should lead by example in this chapter;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Expresses concern at the development of new military technologies, such as artificial intelligence, outer space weaponry, biotechnologies, hypersonic and actively support efforts and undertake new initiatives to stop the related ongoing armament programs by some UN Member States; support the works of the UN Disarmament Commission’s Outer Space Working Group on the practical implementation of transparency and confidence-building measures in outer space activities;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Recalls that for rules-based, effective, results-oriented and networked multilateralism to flourish, it is important to involve democratically elected parliaments to ensure broader access to a wide-range of stakeholders and expand dialogue and cooperation to non-state entities such as regional governments, municipalities and the economic sector; recalls that democratically elected parliaments can give visibility to and empower the voices supporting multilateralism as an avenue for effective policy responses for the benefit of all mankind and can further secure the necessary link between the international organisations and multilateral fora making decisions and the citizens; takes the view that the EU should advocate for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) within the UN system in order to increase the democratic character, the democratic accountability and the transparency of global governance; points to the synergic role that the European Parliament can play in its regular political and policy outreach to the parliaments of the EU Member States and third countries, as this outreach can reinforce and further expand the coalition and the ability of like-minded countries in international organisations and multilateral fora to make positive impacts; considers that Parliament should reflect on the possibility of creating a delegation devoted to the UN, with particular regard to the UN General Assembly and other parliamentary dimensions of international organisations and multilateral fora to reinforce the parliamentary link and dialogue with the UN system and other relevant multilateral fora and ensure democratic dialogue and strategic considerations at the EU inter- institutional level; stresses that the EU should support initiatives aimed at better incorporating the views of the civil society in the decision making process of the United Nations; calls for the establishment of new fora, which would enable the civil society to be heart within the UN; believes that Parliament’s offices in cities with UN bodies or international organisations that are relevant for the external action of the EU should reach out to and cover the activities of these bodies and organisations to establish a closer link with the efforts, commitments and visions related to multilateralism at EU and European Parliament level; takes the view that Parliament should carry out a reflection on how to maximise the synergies between inter-parliamentary delegations, committees and Parliament’s services devoted to election observation and democracy support to further reinforce the external action of the EU through the activities of these parliamentary bodies;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Recalls the key role of multilateral fora in addressing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights this as an example of their importance in promoting and protecting global public health; celebrates the development of the Covax initiative, which constitutes an unprecedented exercise of international solidarity, and thanks its donors and contributors, while stressing the need to continue donating and increasing resources in order to make vaccines and treatments available for free to all countries; commends the work of the World Health Organization in combating the pandemic through its decisions based on scientific knowledge and evidence and stresses the need to enhance its mandate and executive capacity, especially with regard to data sharing and resource mobilisation, as well as reform the decision-making process of its Emergency Committee and establish enforcement mechanisms for its decisions and precepts; strongly supports the central role of the World Health Organization in the management of COVID-19 and put forward proposals for the reform of the multilateral health architecture; encourages UN Member States and other stakeholders, including the private sector, to mobilize a large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, taking note of the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Shared responsibility, global solidarity: responding to the socio economic impacts of COVID-19”, in which the need for a multilateral response and precepmounting to at least 10 per cent of global gross domestic product is highlighted; stresses that the EU can and must have a decisive impact in the fight against COVID-19 by implementing must fulfil the mandate of the European Parliament and temporarily wave COVID-19 vaccine patents;
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Urges the EU, in cooperation with the US and other WTO Members, to work on concrete ways to support the request from a majority of WTO members of granting a temporary waiver from certain provisions of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) for COVID 19 health products including their materials and components, method of manufacture at MC12 to scale up production and diversity options to ensure equitable access to diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, and other relevant health products required for the containment, prevention, and treatment of COVID 19 and to ensure the delivery of these results by MC12;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses the need for further multilateral action in economic governance, especially in regards to taxation; celebrates the direction set up by the G20 in their latest proposal for establishing a minimum corporate tax rate of 15 %; encourages the international community to further integration in this area in order to avoid disloyal practices and abuses; calls for the enlargement of international standards and norms in this policy area; recalls the key importance of the World Trade Organization in regulating and facilitating world trade; stresses the importance to undertake and support initiatives to counter tax evasion, money laundering and corruption; to support the creation of a democratic, empowered and financed intergovernmental UN tax body that could ensure a voice for developing countries in tax matters; works for the acceleration of the negotiations on an effective code of conduct to combat international tax evasion through the use of Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs); urges the UE to call on European companies and organizations operating in third countries to comply and insure effective respect of human rights, including in their supply chains, and make sure they are held accountable in case of their violations, namely through mechanisms that make it possible to compensate victims;
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls for extending multilateralism to new challenges and realities such as biodiversity, cybersecurity, gender equality, biotechnology and artificial intelligence, which need to be developed alongside experts and scientists who should be party to multilateral, multi- stakeholder arrangements;