Activities of Marina ALBIOL GUZMÁN related to 2015/2233(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Negotiations for the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) (A8-0009/2016 - Viviane Reding) ES
Negotiations for the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) (debate) ES
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on recommendations to the European Commission on the negotiations for the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA)
Amendments (13)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the Union is bound by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, including Article 14 concerning the right to education, Articles 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 concerning workers' rights, Article 34 concerning the right to social assistance, Article 35 concerning the right to health care, Article 37 concerning the right to environmental protection, and Article 38 concerning the right to protection as consumers. Taking into account that all these are basic rights which cannot be put at stake;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas Members of the European Parliament depend on leaked documents when scrutinizing the negotiations for TiSA;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas some of the parties participating in the TiSA negotiations have not ratified the conventions of the International Labour Organization;
Amendment 18 #
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 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point a
Paragraph 1 – point a
(a) to ensure that the agreement guarantees full respect for EU fundamental rights standards through the inclusion of a legally binding and suspensive human rights clause as a standard part of EU trade agreements with third countries; which must include: – Confirmation of states obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international human rights instruments including, but not limited to, the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; – Assurance that state parties will interpret the provisions in the agreement in accordance with international human rights law; – Assurance that none of the obligations which may arising from the agreement will have the effect of modifying the obligations to respect, protect, and fulfil fundamental rights in the EU; – An exception permitting parties to suspend their obligations arising from the agreement if there are grounds to believe that it will result in a breach of fundamental rights; – A mechanism putting forward periodic human rights impact assessments to be conducted jointly by a designated committee of the US Congress and the European Parliament; – A mechanism to bring complaints in front of national courts in order to initiate an investigation by the designated authority into human rights disputes arising under the agreement; – Procedures to ensure that citizens have equality before the law; – Assurance that the Parties to the agreement will not in any way whatsoever relatively privilege their own citizens, or otherwise discriminate against non- citizens, merely according to their citizenship status in any matter affected by this agreement, concerning public order, national security, crime or grounds of important public interest; such as internationally recognised labour standards, environment or public health and education standards; – An accessible mechanism to impose sanctions when fundamental rights and standards are abused;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
(aa) to oppose TiSA because of the consequences it will have on European standards of services such as health care, education or social assistance, which could stop being fundamental rights and become another market niche in the hands of multinational corporations, undermining the civil liberties of European citizens;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
(ab) to oppose TiSA because of its consequences on workers' rights, undermining European standards of labour protection and making workers loose the protection by the justice system they enjoy today;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point a c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a c (new)
(ac) to request Member States to hold binding referenda about the Agreement before it is passed;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(ba) to incorporate a clause to the Agreement which clearly forbids the use of personal data gathered by public services or institutions for commercial or marketing purposes, as well as forbidding the transfer of personal data gathered by the State and its institutions to private companies;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. 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 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Rejects TiSA and other macro-trade deals, taking the view that they are a tool for the privatisation of public services and liberalisation of public procurement, such public services and public procurement being key elements for sustainable development and for ensuring respect for people’s dignity; Calls the EC to ensure TiSA do not increase debt unsustainability and economic volatility in developing countries; asks the Commission to respect the policy space of developing countries’ governments and parliaments to take decisions in order to ensure internationally agreed standards on labour, the environment and human rights;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point f
Paragraph 1 – point f
(f) to show full regard for the need for transparency and accountability in the negotiations throughout the entire process, and to fulfil its obligation under Article 218(10) TFEU, which a recent Court of Justice ruling confirmed as being of statutory character2 , to keep Parliament fully informed on an immediate basis at all stages of the negotiations; to ensure public access to relevant negotiation documents from all parties, with the exception of those which are to be classified with clear justification on a case-by-case basis, with a public justificbe accountable to the European Parliament and its committees and to hold binding votes for every relevant step in the negotiation of the extagreement; to whensure publich access to the undisclosed parts of the document in question is likely to specifically and actually undermine the interests protected by the excepall negotiation documents from all parties; to involve social organizations, unions and human rights organizations, in line with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents3 the negotiation of the agreement in order to strengthen a real dialogue with society as a whole; to ensure that the agreement in no way weakens the laws of the EU or of its Member States on public access to official documents. __________________ 2 Case C-658/11 Parliament v Council, judgment of 24 June 2014. 3 OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43. OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls Uruguay’s decision to withdraw from the negotiations on the basis of concerns that TiSA could threaten the country’s policy space on strategic sectors and services; urges the Commission to take this withdrawal into serious consideration; considers this decision an important step back in the multilateralisation of TiSA.