21 Amendments of Petras AUŠTREVIČIUS related to 2017/2130(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the Eastern Partnership is based on a shared commitment between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the European Union to develop their relations with an aim to adhere to international law and fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and gender equality, as well as to the market economy, sustainable development and good governance;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the EU and Associated Partners need to match resources and instruments to the commitments taken under Association Agreements and bring more focus on the implementation of these agreements, taking into account the fact that the EaP Association Agreements are different in that they contain gradual establishment of DCFTAs;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas significant progress has been made since the last Summit, notably with the conclusion and entry into force of three Association Agreements including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) with Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, as well as visa-free regimes with Georgia and Ukraine since 2017 (and with Moldova since 2014), the conclusion of negotiations on a Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement with Armenia, the launching of negotiations on a new comprehensive agreement with Azerbaijan, and the adoption of major reforms in a number of these countries with the political, technical and financial support of the European Union; whereas the EU remains open for those European countries that respect and are fully committed to the European values, as stated in the Rome Declaration of 25 March 2017;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point a a (new)
(aa) to acknowledge the European aspirations and European choice of the Partner countries, as stated in the Association Agreements, previous EaP Summit declarations, as well as the Joint Statement of the parliaments of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine of 3 July 2017;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point d
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point d
(d) to encourage electoral reforms thatin order to ensure that these are in line with international standards, that implement recommendations by OSCE-led international observation missions and Venice Commission opinions and that are the subject of broad consultation and, as far as possible, consensus with opposition and civil society, in order to improve electoral frameworks without any bias towards ruling parties;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point f
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point f
(f) to ask the Commission together with the European Investment Bank to propose arrangements for the implementation of a new European Investment Plan for Ukraine and other Eastern Partnership countries that have made the mosts respectively for Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova to assist in achieving bigger progress on reforms towards gradual economic and political integration with the European Union, by increasing the lending capacity of the European Investment Bank from the current EaP levels of EUR 1.6 billion per year and by taking into account EEIP provisions in carrying out its investment mandate; to request as a first step in this regard the establishment of a separate investment window in the form of a trust fund for Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova based on the best practices of multi-donor instruments, stressing that this trust fund should focus on private and public investments, in particular on social and economic infrastructure and those aimed at boosting investment absorption capacity, and on the coordination of IFIs and international donor support on the ground;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point g
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point g
(g) to pursue efforts aimed at tackling unemployment, especially youth unemployment, including through a package of support measures for young people such as the EU4Youth programme, and developing skills needed inadapted to the evolving needs of the labour market, including through vocational education and training, fostering entrepreneurship and local industries, supporting sustainable agriculture and developing the digital economy;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point m
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point m
(m) to support the development of the necessary transport and connectivity infrastructure, on a regional scale and with the EU, including through an ambitious investment plan for the TEN-T core network, and to also promote intra- regional trade; to engage through appropriate investment facilities and increased grant component in infrastructure projects that will provide new opportunities for trade and enable more communication and exchanges between the EU and the partner countries, as well as among the partners;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point n
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point n
(n) to improve both energy independence and efficiency through specific investments, strengthened cooperation in all priority areas covered by the EU Energy Union and by closer integration of the partners’ energy markets with the European energy market with a particular focus on interconnectivity and infrastructure, whilst scrutinising closely the consequences of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline; to ensure that all possible new offshore and onshore parts of pipeline infrastructure within the region, including the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, can only become a reality if they in no way undermine regional energy security and the Energy Union strategy as well as respect environmental rules and key principles enshrined in relevant EU legislation;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point o
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point o
(o) to also increase prioritisation of the highest levels ofensure full respect of international nuclear safety standards and environmental protection andgreements and obligations and also to increase the fulfilment of climate change commitments, including through raising public awareness; in particular of new projects such as Belarus nuclear power plant in Ostrovets;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point p
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point p
(p) to ensure that the outcomes of the November 2017 Summit also address, where possible, the security threats that affect the sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and political, social and economic development of the partners and of the region as a whole;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point p a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point p a (new)
(pa) to underline that such examples, when a large-scale military exercise of an offensive nature is targeted against certain EU Member States and conducted on a territory, and with military participation of one of an Eastern partners, raise EU´s legitimate concern, are unacceptable and inappropriate for a status of the Eastern partner, as it is the case with “Zapad 2017” in Belarus;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point q
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point q
(q) to commit to sustaining the unity of action among EU Member States in maintaining collective pressure on Russia, in particular through strengthened targeted restrictive measures, to solving the conflict in Ukraine through genuine implementation of the Minsk agreements, to solving the Russia-Georgia conflict through ensuring full implementation of the 12 August 2008 ceasefire agreement and of Geneva International Discussions, to re- establishing Ukraine’s full sovereignty in Crimea, and that of Georgia in its occupied regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and of Moldova in Transnistria, and to putting an end to the additional threats of state- sponsored assassinations, cyber warfare, disinformation and other types of destabilisation;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point r
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point r
(r) to call for an immediate end to military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan which unnecessarily claim the lives of civilians and soldiers whilst hampering socioeconomic development; to reaffirm support to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of both countries as well as to the OSCE Minsk Group co-Chairs’ efforts to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and to their 2009 Basic Principles; to call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to re-launch negotiations in good faith with a view to implementing these principles to solve the conflict; to make the ratification of new agreements between the EU and each of the parties conditional on meaningful commitments to solving the conflict through maintaining the ceasefire and supporting the implementation of the 2009 Basic Principles; to reiterate its serious concern that hundreds of thousands of IDPs and refugees who fled their native lands in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remain displaced and to reaffirm the right of all IDPs and refugees to return to their places of origin in safety and dignity;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point s
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point s
(s) to call for continued support to the work carried out by the EU and OSCE missions in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine as essential operations to ensure peace and security first and foremost for the benefit of the citizens on the ground, in particular, to insist on full implementation of mandates of these missions; to reflect, jointly with the partner countries, on the prospect of an enhanced role for the EU in solving these conflicts, including by launching ambitious fully-fledged Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions tasked with enhancing security and stability;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point t
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point t
(t) in order to enhance a more effective implementation of the EaP goals, to consider an attractive ‘EaP+’ model for associated countries, based on the highest possible common denominator, that would include joining the customs union and Schengen area, further EU internal market access,the Digital Union and the Energy Union, further EU internal market access, integration into the EU transport networks and industrial partnerships, increased participation in other EU programmes and agencies, increased involvement and cooperation within the CSDP, as well as more immediate measures such as additional unilateral tariff preferences, the abolition of roaming tariffs between the partners and the EU and the development of high- capacity broadband; to open the ‘EaP+’ model to other EaP countries once they are ready for such enhanced commitments;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point y
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point y
(y) to invite Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to focus on the comprehensive and full implementation of the Association agendas in order to unlock all the opportunities available through the Association Agreements, engaging also in the joint discussions on the progress, opportunities and challenges relating to the AA/DCFTA-related reforms; reiterates the importance of genuine implementation of the abovementioned reforms for the future stability and development of the countries and the wellbeing of their societies; to reaffirm that the prospect of EU membership requires significant progress in terms of the implementation of these reforms, notably as regards the rule of law, respect for human rights and good governance;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point aa a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point aa a (new)
(aaa) to call on the EaP countries´ full and effective cooperation with the EU in tackling such challenges as illegal migration, terrorism, cyber-crimes, human trafficking and smuggling;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ab
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ab
(ab) to highlight the importance of communicating policies related to the Eastern Partnership coherently and effectively, internally as well as externally, and of providing communication activities tailored to specific regions; to acknowledge the excellent work done so far by the East Stratcom Task Force and to support it with additional funding for its activities and personnel; to address the challenge of better information about the concrete benefits and goals of the Eastern Partnership, as well as to target disinformation through fact-based and accessible quality information in all languages of the partner countries and ensuring full respect for the freedom of expression;
Amendment 218 #
(ac) to maintain that EU support should be tailor-made to match the level of shared ambition regarding cooperation with each partner following the principles of both ‘more for more’ and ‘less for less’; to call in particular for the EU to align budgetary instruments such as the European Neighbourhood Instrument and the European Fund for Sustainable Development to political ambitions, notably within its annual and multiannual budgetary procedures, including through setting up a separate support mechanism directed towards a more effective implementation of the three Association Agreements;
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ad
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ad
(ad) to welcome the Commission proposals to provide the partners with macro-financial assistance while insisting on strict and effective conditionality attached to the proposals, notably in terms of upholding the rule of law (including an independent judiciary and multi-party parliamentary system), ensuring good governance (including combating corruption effectively) and defending human rights and freedom of media; to call on the Commission to make systematic provision for this conditionality in future proposals for such assistance; to provide Parliament and the Council with a detailed written report every six months on the progress made in these three areas for partners already benefiting from such assistance;