18 Amendments of Agnes JONGERIUS related to 2015/2038(INI)
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
-Aa. whereas the European Parliament’s 2010 recommendations which were not implemented notably included: - the consolidation of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concept in the EU’s Common Commercial Policy (CCP), including elements that are binding on companies such as a requirement to publish CSR balance sheets and a requirement for undertakings to show due diligence; - the inclusion of CSR in all EU trade agreements and provisions for greater enforcement, notably the possibility to carry out investigations on alleged cases of breaches of CSR commitments and the establishments of EU contact points modelled on the OECD contact points; - the inclusion of comprehensive, legally binding and enforceable Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD)chapters in all EU trade agreements; - the reorientation of TSD chapters towards greater implementation, in particular through enhanced monitoring by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Social Partners, including complaint procedures directly accessible to Social Partners, appeal mechanisms to independent bodies to settle disputes and the recourse to trade agreements’ general dispute settlements on an equal footing with the others parts of the agreements, with provisions for fines or at least temporary suspension of trade benefits; - the launch of investigations under GSP+ if consistent evidence indicates that some countries are not implementing their commitments; - the inclusion in the GSP regulation of CSR conditionality; - active support by the European Commission to set up a Trade and Decent Work Committee at the WTO;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas TSD chapters have displayed a decreasing level of ambition in successive EU trade agreements, from EU-Korea and EU-Colombia/Peru to EU- Canada and the Economic Partnership Agreements with regional groupings of African countries; whereas this trend is extremely alarming and must be reverted;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. whereas the European Commission’s 2015 ‘Trade for All’ strategy makes TSD a priority for the EU; whereas in order for this strategy to give proper impetus to the TSD agenda, the European Commission must now turn its much welcomed ambition into resolute and concrete actions;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D e (new)
Recital D e (new)
De. whereas the implementation of the new EU General Scheme of Preferences’ special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance (‘GSP+’) has also proven to be disappointing, in particular due to the absence of a credible deterrent; whereas the European Commission is bound by the GSP regulation to seek information on compliance with international labour and Human Rights conventions from their relevant monitoring bodies, but should not however externalise decision- making functions;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D f (new)
Recital D f (new)
Df. whereas in the case of international conventions on core labour rights referred to in Part A of Annex VIII of Regulation (EU) 978/2012 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences, several ILO bodies can be used by the European Commission as ‘relevant monitoring bodies’ in the sense, inter alia, of Articles 9 and 19 of the Regulation; whereas overreliance by the European Commission on annual reports of the International Labour Conference and the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards is detrimental to a credible and effective implementation of the EU GSP regulation, due to the heavily politicised nature of the content of these reports; whereas the ILO’s Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations is composed of 20 eminent jurists appointed by the ILO’s Governing Body and provides impartial and technical evaluation of the state of application of international labour standards;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a
Paragraph 1 – point a
(a) effectivto strengthen the cooperation of the WTO with other UN agencies, and in particular with the High Commissioner for Human Rights and with the ILO such as the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the ILO, in particular in giving the ILO official observer status at the WTO and in involving the ILO and High Commissioner for Human Rights in all trade disputes related to breaches of international labour conventions,
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission to make full use of the provisions of Regulation (EU) 978/2012 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences, with view to limit the scope for arbitrary decisions and enhance the credibility of GSP+ in adopting a delegated act to clarify the definitions of a ‘serious failure to effectively implement’ an international conventions and ‘serious and systematic violation of principles’ contained in an international convention;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. In addition, calls on the European Commission to propose a revision of regulation (EU) 978/2012 in order to enhance the monitoring of the commitments undertaken by beneficiary countries; Social Partners should be given a formal role in GSP and GSP+ monitoring, and have the ability to directly lodge a complaint with the Commission in cases of non-compliance;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the Commission and Council’s efforts to insert legally binding HR clauses into all the free trade agreements (FTAs) in accordance with the common approach; regrets that HR clauses arhave not been included in treaties such as thosehe agreement with Korea, Vietnam and Canada (CETA) or in the TTIP and Vietnam negotiations; calls for the inclusion of legally binding HR clauses in the future agreement with the USA (TTIP);
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – introductory part
Paragraph 5 – introductory part
5. Remains concerned about the too limited effects of traditional HR clauses in ensuring that the EU fulfils its HR obligations and commitments; calls on the Commission and the Council to comprehensively rethink the protection and guarantees offered to HR in FTAs and IPAframework agreements and to propose a new model for a set of binding HR clauses, in particular through:
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 – introductory part
Paragraph 6 – introductory part
6. Firmly demands that all future EU trade agreements have sustainable chapters (TSD) withRecalls its 2010 request that each EU trade agreement, whether bilateral or multilateral, should include comprehensive, legally binding and enforceable TSD chapters, with the following features:
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 6 – point a a (new)
(aa) a complaint procedure directly accessible to Social Partners;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 – point b
Paragraph 6 – point b
(b) a general dispute settlement mechanism directly accessible to the social partners and civil society,recourse to trade agreements’ general dispute settlements on an equal footing with the others parts of the agreements;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Calls for TSD chapters in EU trade agreements to lay out basic logistical provisions to enable effective implementation, in particular resources and timetables, as these aspects have proven to be serious hurdles; recalls the importance of accompanying measures in this respect, such as technical assistance and cooperation programmes;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Regrets the many discrepancies displayed by TSD chapters in the various EU trade agreements; calls on the European Commission to uphold the highest level of consistency in all trade negotiations, in particular when dealing with developing countries; calls in this respect for a common approach to be defined and implemented for HR and Sustainable Development monitoring with respect to ACP countries, in the framework of the Economic Partnership Agreements;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 3
Subheading 3
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Also recalls that the European Parliament requested in 2010 the consolidation of the CSR concept, on the basis in particular of a harmonised definition of the relations between parents companies in order to establish the legal liability of each them; considers that the concept of voluntarily CSR is outdated and largely ineffective and should be made operational through a shift towards mandatory rules to ensure responsibility throughout global supply chains;