Activities of Bodil VALERO related to 2018/0256M(NLE)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a Council decision on the conclusion of the agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part
Amendments (19)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph –1 (new)
Paragraph –1 (new)
-1. Recalls that Western Sahara remains on the list of non-self-governing territories for the purposes of Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations and that any engagement with this territory must conform with this particular status under international law;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph –1 a (new)
Paragraph –1 a (new)
-1 a. Recalls that the EU and its Member States do not recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara; notes that the Court of Justice of the European Union has affirmed the separate and distinct status of the territory of Western Sahara in relation to any State, including the Kingdom of Morocco;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Recalls that according to the Court of Justice of the European Union in its 10 December 2015 ruling on Western Sahara, the Commission stated during the legal proceedings in front of the Court that "it does not challenge the "capacity as representative of the Sahrawi people enjoyed by the Front Polisario which was recognised by the UN General Assembly";
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that it is important for this agreement to give guarantees regarding respect for international law, including human rights, in the territories concerned and for the Saharawi people;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. NotesInsists on the importance that this agreement does not imply any recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara and that the EU’s position remains that of supporting UN efforts to secure a fair, and lasting and mutually acceptable settlement of the Western Sahara conflict, on the basis of the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people and in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions; reiterates, therefore, its full support to the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Western Sahara, Mr Horst Köhler, in helping the parties to achieve this settlement;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes that the Commission Staff Working Document that accompanies the proposed agreement, states that it "uses the term "Western Sahara" to refer to the part of the territory administered de facto by Morocco"; notes that the Joint Declaration states that "products originating in Western Sahara subject to controls by customs authorities of the Kingdom of Morocco" shall benefit from the trade preferences under this agreement; notes therefore that the products originating in the part of the territory of Western Sahara that is outside the control of Morocco, will not benefit from such trade preferences;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Considers that the partial territorial coverage of the agreement raises questions in relation to the obligations of the EU and its Member States to respect the principle of territorial integrity, which is an integral part of the right to self-determination; in relation to the border treaties between Morocco and Western Sahara; and towards the obligation to respect the"separate and distinct" nature of Western Sahara in relation to Morocco, affirmed by the European Court of Justice, which would require the preservation of the integrity of Western Sahara;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Expects the Commission to clarify the territorial scope of the proposed agreement and to ensure that economic operators in and products from the part of Western Sahara outside Moroccan control are not discriminated as a result of this agreement;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3 d. Expresses concern that the agreement, by restricting its territorial application to the part under the control of Morocco, may reinforce the current social, economic and military dividing lines within Western Sahara;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3 e. Notes that in spite of the separate and distinct status of Western Sahara and of the non-recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, the Commission and the EEAS held negotiation rounds in Rabat and Brussels, and not in Western Sahara during the course of the negotiations of the agreement;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that during inclusivthe consultations led by the Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) with a wide variety of Western Saharan local representatives, civil society organisations and other organisations and bodies, broad support was expressed for the socio-economic benefits the proposed tariff preferences would bringin relation to the proposed agreement took place in Brussels and Rabat, and not in Western Sahara;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes that out of the 112 stakeholders enlisted by the Commission among those having been included in the consultations on the proposed agreement, 94 of them rejected taking part in the consultations or were not invited to participate therein; notes that among the 18 remaining stakeholders, 2 are Members of the Moroccan Parliament, 1 is the Moroccan state-owned phosphate company OCP and 6 are public bodies or other structures that have been set up by Morocco in Western Sahara;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Takes good note of the exchange of letters and acknowledges the effortsof the claim of the Commission and the EEAS in trying, within the remit of their competences, to evaluto have evaluated the benefit for the population of the part of the territory that stands to benefit from this agreement; stresses, nevertheless, that the Court of Justice ruled thate the benefit for the population and to ascertainissue of benefits was irrelevant to the agreement and that only the explicit reference of Western Sahara and their consent tof this agreement; stresses, nevertheless,e people of Western Sahara was required; stresses also that more could be done to improve the traceability of products coming from Western Sahara; invsets as a pre-requirement for ites approval, that the Commission services, therefore, to engage further with the Moroccan authoriimprove this aspect, notably in order to produce clear and reliable statistiecs to improve this aspect, notably in order to produce cleand present a detailed protocol outlining reliable and efficient means to ensure the traceability of products originating in Western Sahara and reliable statistics.full compliance with the EU customs legislation;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Calls for the establishment of an EU-Western Sahara subcommittee on trade and agriculture to be established, in accordance with the distinct and separate status of the territory concerned;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Notes the statement by the Commission in its Staff Working Document that "statistics on Western Sahara generally remain patchy and disparate" and that "it is generally impossible to distinguish Moroccan imports from Western Saharan imports using EU statistics on foreign trade and therefore to estimate what portion of those imports is from Western Sahara"; considers that this lack of data raises questions in relation to the credibility of the assessment carried out by the Commission and its capacity to have effectively defended the interests of EU- based economic operators;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Notes that in line with the non- recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and recent jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union, the EU Delegation to Morocco and its accredited staff may not carry out their activities outside the internationally recognised borders of Morocco; calls on the EEAS to provide clarification on this matter and on the practical implications foreseen for the monitoring of the implementation of this agreement;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5 d. Considers that the consultation process carried out by the Commission and the EEAS did not allow to effectively assess the views of the people of Western Sahara on the proposed agreement; considers that the consent of the people of Western Sahara can only be expressed by its UN recognized representative, the Polisario Front; notes in this respect that the Polisario Front has rejected the proposed agreement;
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 e (new)
Paragraph 5 e (new)
5 e. Considers that the human rights assessment and the stakeholder consultation carried out by the Commission and the EEAS in relation to the agreement falls short of complying with the Commission's own Guidelines on the analysis of human rights impacts in impact assessments for trade-related policy initiatives and its Guidelines on Stakeholder Consultation; observes in particular, that the cursory comments on the human rights situation in Western Sahara in the Staff Working Document that accompanies the agreement, fail to meet the commitment of the Commission to carry out a "comprehensive, participative, balanced and transparent" analysis of the human rights impact of the agreement; underscores that this is particularly inadequate given the seriousness of the human rights situation in Western Sahara and that human rights, notably the right to self-determination, are at the core of the ruling of the European Court of Justice; expects therefore the Commission to carry out a proper human rights impact assessment in line with its own policy guidelines, prior to the consideration of the agreement;
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 f (new)
Paragraph 5 f (new)
5 f. Calls therefore on the Committee on International Trade, as the committee responsible, to propose that the European Parliament decline its consent;