27 Amendments of Klaus BUCHNER related to 2018/0091M(NLE)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
– having regard to its resolution on the negotiations for the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) of 3 February 2016,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 b (new)
Citation 7 b (new)
– having regard to its recommendations of 13 December 2017 to the Council and the Commission following the inquiry into money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 c (new)
Citation 7 c (new)
– having regard to the European Economic and Social Committee’s Opinion of 15 February2018 on Trade and sustainable development chapters (TSD) in EU Free Trade Agreements (FTA),
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas it was estimated in the 20162 Impact Assessment that the agreement would deliver positive impacts in terms of GDP, - but well below 1% GDP growth and over the long term - income, trade and employment for both the Union and Japan, adhering to the objective of ‘smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’; whereas FTAs nowadays targets primarily the elimination or the modification of regulatory measures;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas Japan is so far the only G7 member with no prohibition on imports of illegal timber in spite of being the largest world importer of wood and plywood, the second largest importer of logs and the third largest importer of lumber; whereas the EU FLEGT scheme, which builds on mandatory certification schemes, for imports is a priority policy of the EU; whereas the EU Timber Regulation provides for a prohibition to place illegal timber on the EU market and sets up a mandatory due diligence system; whereas the 2016 Trade Sustainability Impact Assessment on EPA noted that Japan had no formal regulation on controlling imports of illegal wood and wood-based products and that such an issue should be of high priority in the negotiation;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas the EU and Japan successfully concluded their talks on reciprocal adequacy on 17 July 2018 and they agreed to recognise each other's data protection systems as 'equivalent', which will allow data to flow safely between the EU and Japan;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. whereas the EPA has been concluded and signed while negotiations for an investment protection agreement are still ongoing with no clear deadline for their conclusions, which proves that ISDS or ICS are not necessary, notably in the case of two democracies that respect the rule of law;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D d (new)
Recital D d (new)
Dd. whereas, in its Resolution on TiSA negotiations, the Parliament has requested that an unequivocal gold standard’ clause should be included in all trade agreements to ensure that the public utilities clause applies to all modes of supply and to any services considered to be public services by European, national or regional authorities, in any sector and irrespective of the service's monopoly status;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D e (new)
Recital D e (new)
De. whereas in many areas Japan has followed the approach of setting standards and technical regulations at a level above international ones, such as for instance in the case of maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides; whereas the Union has also set standards that are higher than international ones, such as for instance, the Codex Alimentarius;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D f (new)
Recital D f (new)
Df. whereas, following the 2008 financial crisis, the tendency to consider the size and expansion of the financial sector as one of the causes of the crisis emerged, as well as a debate on the risks posed to financial stability by the liberalisation of financial services;
Amendment 38 #
E. whereas Parliament has monitored these negotiations from the start, having called for transparency and for negotiators to meet the interests of both citizens and businesses; whereas the actual overall level of transparency during the negotiations has been insufficient and no EU textual proposals were published when submitted to the Japanese side; whereas the ratification by national Parliaments is not requested for the EPA, a EU-only agreement;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas the Parliament objected in September 2017 to an implementing act1a, aiming at reducing controls on food imports from Fukushima region to the European Union; whereas the European Commission did not take into account Parliament´s objection and adopted the implementing act without justifications or explanations; _________________ 1a Implementing act on the import of feed and food originating in or consigned from Japan following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station.
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers this agreement to be of major strategic importance and that it represents a timely signal in support of open, fair and rules-based trade, while promoting high standards at a time of challenges to the international order; notes, however, that in the current context of raising protectionism and citizens’ justified concerns about unfair globalisation, the status quo in trade policy is no longer tenable and regrets the missed opportunity for the EU to introduce new innovative trade rules at these challenging times;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes positively the ambitious and comprehensive nature of the EPA, which delivers on the priorities set out in European Parliament resolution of 25 October 2012 on EU trade negotiations with Japan;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes positively that Japan has addressed unnecessary non-tariff measures (NTMs) in a variety of sectors such as vehicles, food additives, food labelling and cosmetics; takes note as well of Japan’s commitment to align its automotive standards even more with international standards used by EU car manufacturers; is aware that this is still an ongoing process and recalls that a country’s right to set national standards at a level that is higher than international ones should be fully respected; asks the Commission to provide guarantees that Japan has not lowered and will not lower its standards through this FTA;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. WelcomNotes that the agreement provides significant export opportunities for EU agri-food products, such as wine, pig meat and cheese, and that it protects 205 European geographical indications;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses that both parties are committed to ensure high levels of environmental and labour protection; expecrequests the EU and Japan to show their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals in all their actions, including the implementation of this agreement; asks the Commission to carry out an ex-post sustainability impact assessment after three years of implementation of the FTA and to immediately activate the amendment procedure in case of incompatibilities with sustainable development and the SDGs;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the commitment to the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement to combat climate change and of other multilateral environmental agreements, as well as to the; is of the view that the commitment to “encourage the conservation and sustainable management of forests (including fighting illegal logging) and fisheries (combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing); calls on both parties to cooperate closely under the sustainable development chapter to exchange best practices and to strengthen the enforcement of legislation in these matterstrade in timber and timber products harvested in accordance with the laws and regulations of the country of harvest” is largely insufficient and is concerned that EPA is likely to increase the threats to world forests, including EU’s forests; calls on both parties to cooperate closely under the sustainable development chapter to exchange best practices; believes that only a trade and sustainable development chapter with a credible enforcement mechanism, providing for sanctions or the suspension of trade preferences, would make the Parties’ commitments effective;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Welcomes the inclusion of a review clause in the chapter on sustainable development and calls on the Commission to trigger this clause as sooRequests the Commission to immediately reopen the negotiation at least of the chapter on sustainable development with a view to adding a sanction-based mechanism in cas possible in order to strengthen the enforceability and effectiveness of labour and environe of violation of commitments, as a condition for the Parliamental to provisions, which should include the possibility of sanctions as a last resorceed with voting its consent to the agreement;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Underlines the fact that the EPA should maintains the right of Member States' authorities to define, provide and regulate public services at local, regional or national level, despite its; is concerned that a negative list approach, and that it does not prevent governments from bringing any requires regulators to determine at the time of negotiations all regulatory needs for the future and that ratchet and standstill clauses forbid in principle to go back to less favourable levels of liberalisation; believes that the current public utility clause may not be the most approprivatised service back in to the public sectore manner to protect services of general interest and services of general economic interest; regrets that the EPA does not provide the same level of safeguards to public water as CETA;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses that the agreement should preserves the sovereign right to regulate the financial and banking sectors for prudential and supervisory reasons; calls on both partners to and recalls that provisions in the financial services chapter are based on GATS, which dates back to 1995; notes with concern that the EU has included those financial products that were at the origin of the financial crisis into the list of services to be liberalised (i.e. credit-default swaps, asset- backed securities, derivative products such as futures and options); requests that both partners use the financial regulatory forum only to improve the global financial system; regrets that this FTA has missed the opportunity to make liberalisation of trade in financial services compatible with the post-crisis regulatory pattern by using a positive list for financial services, as also recommended by the European Parliament based on the work of its PANA Committee; regrets the inclusion of a very ambitious provision on new financial services, confirming the intention to further liberalise and expand the financial sector, in contradiction with the post-crisis approach of rather limiting financial innovation;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Stresses that regulatory cooperation is voluntary and that it should by no means limits the right to regulate; recalls that corresponding provisions must be implemented in full respect of the prerogatives of the co-legislators; welcomes the fact that the regulatory cooperation chapter clearly states that the principles established in the TFEU, such as the precautionary principle, must be fully respected; underlines the provision in the chapter on regulatory cooperation that regulatory measures cannot constitute a disguised barrier to trade, which entails a weighing and balancing between what is proportionate and necessary on the one hand and what can be a legitimate policy objective on the other hand; is concerned that regulatory cooperation within the framework of FTAs risks making the delicate balance between regulating the public interest and eliminating barriers to trade lean towards the latter; recalls that the principles established in the TFEU, such as the precautionary principle, are not adequately protected by current multilateral and bilateral trade agreements and regrets that the EPA has failed to set up stronger and adequate safeguards; is concerned that the EU may lose again trade disputes in the future, as well as about the real risk of a chilling effect on future regulatory measures;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls for transparency on the functioning of the regulatory cooperation committee and for a balanced involvementthe adequate involvement of the EU co-legislators and of all stakeholders, notably civil society organisations;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Takes note that negotiations continue on a separate investment agreement and reiterates that it is unacceptable to return to the old, private ISDS mechanismCalls on the Commission to put a halt to the investment protection agreement negotiations;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Notes that the agreement includes a rendezvous clause to assess theCommission is expected to adopt an adequacy decision during the autumn which is sue offficient to ensure cross-border transfer of data provisions within three years; calls on the Commission tobetween the EU and Japan while fully respecting the EU lawacquis on data protection and on the protection of privacy and stresses that any future outcome must be subject to the consent of Parliament, thereby making the activation of the rendez-vous clause of the FTA unnecessary;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission to monitor closely the proper implementation of the agreed removal of the NTMs, as well as the management of tariff-rate quotas for agricultural products, and to report back to Parliament, including by providing guarantees that Japanese standards and technical regulations have not been and will not be lowered;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. URegrets the swift ratification procedure that has not allowed for a meaningful involvement of national parliaments in the consideration of the EPA and asks the Commission to foresee an adequate timetable for ratification that also allows for such a meaningful consultation for future ‘EU-only’ FTAs; urges both partners to ensure the active involvement of social partners and civil society in the monitoring and implementation of the EPA, notably through the joint dialogue with civil society and the domestic advisory group;