9 Amendments of Maria HEUBUCH related to 2015/2233(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that EU trade and investment policies are interlinked with EU development policies and have an impact on developing countries; calls for the Commission to respect the principle of Policy Coherence for Development in all trade negotiations; stresses the need to focus on the effective implementation and monitoring of the sustainable development chapters in trade agreements, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals; calls the Commission to guarantee in all trade agreements the highest global standards on human rights, ILO standards, social protection, social dialogue, gender equality, public and universal health coverage, universal access to medicines, and food security;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Urges the Commission to increase transparency and democratic accountability on the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) negotiation process, and on all trade policies, by duly taking into account concerns expressed by trade unions and civil society organisations, including the CSOs of developing countries; urges the Commission to increase accessibility to all consolidated negotiation documents, as the only democratic possibility for civil society and citizens concerned to be informed and involved into the process; request the Commission to commission an independent study of TiSA's impact on developing countries from the Sustainable Development Goals perspective to effectively assess the impact TiSA would have in third countries;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Takes the view that TiSA poses a challenge to the achievement of SDGs, which aims among others to revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development; deems that this objective can only be achieved if developing countries have an equal decision making role in global economic and financial institutions to ensure that their interests are fully reflected; believes that the negotiation of TiSA outside the Doha process is all the more damaging for developing countries and the multilateral trading system that Global value chains (GVCs), which makes investment, services and IPRs more and more interlinked, have become a dominant feature of world trade;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Recalls that the 2008 financial systemic crisis demonstrated the need to define strong prudential regulations on liberalisation of financial services to maintain the soundness and stability of the financial markets; deems in this context that further liberalisation of financial services through TiSA risks to increase global economic instability, thereby affecting equally developing countries' economy;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Notes with concern that TiSA risks to threaten the right to food by encouraging privatisation of water supply and distribution, whose impact could be particularly detrimental in developing countries, where 80% of fresh water is dedicated to agricultural sector; underlines equally that, in a context where agriculture has become more volatile and is increasingly dependent on international financial circuits, TiSA could encourage food speculation, by restricting government's scope and capacity for financial regulation; deems that any efforts to curb speculation and limit volatility in commodity markets, including food, should in no circumstances be designated "barriers to trade in services", while water and sanitation services should be immediately excluded from the scope of negotiations;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. RFears that the negotiation of TiSA outside the Doha process will further undermine efforts to conclude a trade round for Development, where developing countries' priorities, such as distortions in trade in agricultural products, will be fully reflected; recalls TiSA’'s risks of increasing asymmetric international trade relations between countries; ask the Commission to respect developing countries governments and parliament's policy space on investment regulations in order to ensure obligations and duties on all investors, including foreign, so that human rights, labour and environmental standards are respected;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Points out that according to the UNCTAD, the service sector constitutes approximatively 51% of GDP in developing countries; notes also that service exports from African countries are increasing; in this context, takes the view that the perspective of a plurilateral and preferential agreement risks creating trade diversion and trade erosion at the expense of developing countries;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Recalls that SDG target 17.15 acknowledges the need to respect each country's policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development; but notes that TiSA undermines the right of countries to regulate i.a. by the intention to submit Domestic Regulation to a necessity test; notes equally that the combination of a ratchet and standstill clause which applies to national treatment in a hybrid list will make it impossible to reverse the level of liberalisation in the public interest; hence, deems it crucial to negotiate on the basis of a positive list only and to drop standstill and ratchet clauses; more broadly, warns against turning TiSA into new global standards as these provisions would i.e. be particularly damaging for developing countries, whose priorities are to develop service sector, including services of general economic interests, and strong regulatory framework;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls the Commission to mainstream gender equality and women’'s empowerment in its trade policy and to consider the negative impact that TiSA and other trade agreements may have in this respect in developing countries; underlines, in this respect, the gender dimension of trade in services in Africa, where the proportion of women employed by the service sector exceeds female employment in manufacturing;