Activities of David McALLISTER related to 2020/2114(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
The EU and the defence of multilateralism (debate)
Amendments (10)
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas multilateralism is in crisis, resulting in part from changes in the international system such as 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 as well as the rise of anti-globalisation sentiments, the decline of traditionally dominant geopolitical powers and the subsequent decline of global freedoms and democracy; whereas the COVID-19 pandemic and its unprecedented impact on the international community have both reinforced and accelerated these changes; 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 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 53 #
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, global public health, increasing protectionism 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 101 #
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 the values and rules-based order and 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 standards;
Amendment 119 #
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; emphasizes in this regard the key role that the OSCE is playing as pillar of European security and calls for further strengthening the comprehensive security approach of the organisation;
Amendment 129 #
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; encourages EU Member States not to compete against each other when it comes to securing a seat on the Security Council;
Amendment 143 #
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 countries 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 and sustainable 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; stresses the need for EU Member States to intensify coordination on the level of UN Funds and Programmes, identifying key objectives and a joint approach for the orientation of Executive Boards; emphasizes the importance of ensuring transparency and accountability in financing and spending of multilateral organisations;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses the importance of continuing to reach out to allies and like- minded partners in international organisations and multilateral fora to consolidate a coalition of like-minded countries committed to common values and objectives and to policy dialogue and effective cooperation globally; points, in this regard, to the particular relevance, not only of traditional transatlantic partners such as the US and Canada, as well as the UK, but also toand other like-minded European countries but also to like-minded countries in Latin America; recalls that the EU, the UK, its other European allies, the US, Canada and the like-minded countries of Latin America can create, in partnership together, a broader transatlantic area of common values and standards and a commitment to advancing global responses to global challenges; underlines, in this regard, that this broad transatlantic coalition could expand dialogue and cooperation to like-minded African countries and support the latter in their quest for political and economic stability; notes that cooperation between the EU and its northern and southern Atlantic partners would empower the political voices that want to build a future for Africa premised on democracy, inclusion and prosperity, while being mindful of the need to protect the African continent from the ravages and security threats stemming from climate change; supports, in this regard, efforts by the VP/HR, the Council and the Commission to further strengthen the EU’s partnership with the African Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States; points to the importance of furthering a convergence of positions at the UN and other multilateral fora between the EU and both accession and partner countries; calls on the EU to expand its ability to assist partner and like-minded countries, including through capacity building, knowledge-sharing, training and twinning, so that they can engage more effectively in the multilateral system; reiterates the importance of reinforcing the existing multilateral fora with like-minded partners, especially the EU-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States summits;
Amendment 183 #
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 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; calls for creating more synergies between recommendations by the UPR mechanism and Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) undertaken in the framework of the SDGs, and to link those to the programming of dedicated HR projects by the EU; encourages the EU and its member states to intensify their efforts against authoritarian countries' attempts to introduce a counter-narrative in order to change the understanding of human rights by emphasizing collective rights over individual rights; calls on the EU to support the work of NGOs and human rights defenders at Human Rights Council who are being increasingly pressured and threatened by authoritarian states; calls on the EU and its Member States to denounce the continuing attempts to use the Human Rights Council and other multilateral fora to adopt one-sided resolutions targeting Israel;
Amendment 204 #
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; 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; 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; emphasises the importance of the work of the Interparliamentary Union (IPU);
Amendment 246 #
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 (WTO) in regulating and facilitating world trade; emphasises the urgent need for a reform of the WTO in order to ensure a level playing field for all its members and to better address market-distorting practices;