Activities of Marietje SCHAAKE related to 2011/2157(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the review of the European Neighbourhood Policy
Amendments (18)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Affirms that the EU programmes for young people have had a great impact on enhancing educational opportunities for youth; appeals to the Member States, therefore, to enablppreciates existing EU mobility programmes and regional projects, since cultural and educational exchanges or cooperation can strengthen civil society, foster democratisation, encourage the development of skills and contribute to dialogue, understanding and stability or peace; appeals to Commission and the Member States, therefore, to further open up existing programmes such as the Life Long Learning programme to third countries and requests to facilitate students from ENP countries to have' access to education in Europeor training in Europe; invites the Commission to broaden the range of mobility programmes, amongst others with an exchange programme for civil society and social enterprise professionals;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas respect for and promotion of democracy and human rights – particularly women’s rights – justice and the rule of law, fundamental freedoms – including freedom of speech, conscience, religion, sexual orientation, association and the media, including unrestricted access to information, communication and internet –, strengthening of security, democratic stability, prosperity, the fair distribution of income, wealth and opportunities, the fight against corruption and the promotion of good governance are founding principles and aims of the EU which must constitute common values at the core of the ENP review,
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Believes that fostering participation in EU cultural programmes can benefits cultural policy material and non-material development in ENP countries; welcomes, therefore, the launching of, while culture can also be a facilitator for innovation, democracy, human rights, conflict prevention and reconciliation, entrepreneurship and creativity; welcomes, therefore, programmes such as Media Mundus, projects existing under the Union for the Mediterranean and the Eastern Partnership Culture Programme and; endorses the Commission's intention of following up on its Special Action Culture Programme and supports the opening up of the next Culture Programme (2014-2020) for ENP countries;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Regrets that educational and cultural cooperation with ENP countries is fragmented over diverse programmes and supported via diverse budget lines and urges an assessment of existing programs to ensure efficient use or resources to meet the EU´s goals and objectives;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Supports streamlining of internal operations in the Commission regarding the different existing programmes and projects dealing with culture and education; looks forward to the launch of one umbrella initiative covering all programmes and projects which allow for regional and inter-regional cultural cooperation for the whole ENP region;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Stresses that fundamental freedoms, such as freedom of expression and freedom of the press, as well as the right to connect and communicate -online and offline- are important preconditions for cultural expression, exchanges and dialogue; urges the Commission and the Member States therefore to respect and promote these freedoms, including internet freedom, within and outside Europe;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. Calls on the EEAS and the Commission to coordinate the strategic deployment of the cultural aspects of external policy, incorporating culture consistently and systematically into the EU’s external relations and seeking complementarities with the Member States' external cultural policies;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the EEAS to support the efforts of civil society, free media and non- governmental organisations to introduce a democratic system and the rule of law in all those countries of the ENP where fundamental freedoms and human rights are being violated; recognises with concern the process of restriction of freedom of speech and harassment of opposition in, for example, Belarusoffline and online/in real life and on the internet.
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the proposal for a European Endowment for Democracy, which is a timely response to the clamour for democracy by the populations of our neighbouring countries; underlines that it should be based on the principles of transparency and flexibilitya flexible, fast and targeted mechanism for support and should complement already-existing EU Instruments and the exemplary work of longstanding European political or non- political foundations; stresses that its scope and organisation should be clearly defined and that its structures and procedures should be light and straightforward; calls for a truly political steering committee to be established with the participation of the European Parliament, which should also be involved in the ex-post control mechanismthe involvement of the European Parliament in its governance structure, to help determine the annual objectives, priorities, expected results, and financial allocations in broad terms and to be part in the monitoring of activities;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses the importance of building a partnership with societies and, in that context, takes note of the proposal for a Civil Society Facility (CSF) as a way to target resources more effectively and efficiently towards civil society; calls on the EEAS and the Commission to better explain the scope and objectives of a potential CSF; recommends to use this facility to improve the work of the Civil Society Forum within the Eastern Partnership and to potentially build up such a forum also for the southern partners;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers that human rights situations should be continuously monitored and that an annual assessment of the situation could be included in the annex to the annual progress report of each partner country with a clear mechanism to reconsider and progressively limit or even suspend bilateral cooperation if human rights violations are confirmed, without affecting civil society;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Underlines the opportunity that negotiations on association agreements provide to boost reform; stresses that all the components should be linked in order for the EU to deepen its relationship in a holistic and coherent manner; believes that they should therefore include concrete conditions, timetables and performance benchmarks which should be regularly monitored; stresses the need to include in these agreements real and tangible incentives for the partners to make the reform path more attractive; reiterates the need for the EU to grant privileged market access, greater openness to trade by better aligning common commercial policy objectives with the ENP;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Recalls that the EU should improve the management of migration, providing better conditions for the establishment of legal migrants in the EU; considers that the EU needs to favour legal labour migration by concluding mobility partnerships; calls upon the member states to view the mobility debate as an important element of the neighbourhood policy that should not be steered primarily by security concerns;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Underlines the importance of paying particular attention to the younger generation; stresses that the EU should increase cooperation in the field of education, immediately broadening and increasing scholarship programmes and mobility of students by promoting university and high-school exchanges and public-private partnerships in the field of research; emphasises the need to advance the work on mutual recognition of qualifications and education systems with ENP partner countries; stresses the strong need for a structured information policy towards the citizens of the ENP partners concerning the possibility of participation in EU programmes;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Believes that the Euro- Mediterranean University (EMUNI) provides a unique platform and opportunity for strengthening cooperation in the area of higher education and student mobility with our southern neighbours, at a time when it is of particularly vital importance to deepen the relations with the southern partnership countries, especially with their younger generations; underlines, in this respect, that the EMUNI’s potential should be developed as much as possible;
Amendment 256 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Believes that the EU should advance its work on visa facilitation and readmission agreements, with a view to moving – once all conditions are met – to a visa-free regime; stresses in this respect that the youth and student mobility should be treated as a priority; underlines that the provisions on asylum must be fully in line with international obligations and commitments and EU standards, especially in the human rights field;
Amendment 294 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Believes that intercultural and inter- religious dialogue is crucial to enhancing mutual understanding, respect, solidarity and tolerance with and among the neighbourhood partner countries; calls for the proposed new ENP instruments to give particular consideration to their promotion;
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Underlines that the multilateral parliamentary assemblies, such as EURONEST and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM), ar should become crucial vectors of confidence- and coherence- building between the EU and the partner countries and among the partner countries themselves, and therefore greatlyshould contribute to the achievement of the goals of the EaP and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM); invites the EEAS and the Commission to associate EURONEST members to the maximum extent possible with the multilateral structures and platforms of the EaP; insists on the need to recognise the PA- UfM as a legitimate parliamentary institution of the UfM; emphasises that a fully-fledged secretariat will impart increased coherence to the PA-UfM’s work and consistency with the ENP programmes planned for the southern regional dimension;