Activities of Sander LOONES related to 2015/2233(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Negotiations for the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) (A8-0009/2016 - Viviane Reding) NL
Amendments (47)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
- having regard to the Commission's Communication of 14 October 2015 entitled "Trade for All: Towards a More Responsible Trade and Investment Policy",
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8 a (new)
Citation 8 a (new)
- having regard to 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 documents,
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
(aa) to ensure that the agreement contains ambitious yet balanced disciplines and provisions covering the supply of insurance and insurance related services as well as banking and other financial services across all modes of supply;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point a b (new)
(ab) to negotiate provisions that ensure that financial service suppliers of any one Party established in its territory of another are accorded most favoured nation treatment and national treatment as regards the purchase or acquisition of financial services by public entities;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas the European Union is still struggling to overcome to the effects of the financial crisis, with low growth compounded by slowing growth rates in the largest emerging economies, low total factor productivity, significantly decreased volumes of investment, all compounded by weak demographics, including not only rising median age but also increasing dependency rates;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
-Aa. whereas TiSA in it is current form and with it is existing negotiating Members is a plurilateral agreement, with the ambition that a concluded deal could eventually reach the critical mass to enable it to become a multilateral deal within the WTO framework; whereas nothing included in TiSA should prevent its compliance with the existing WTO system;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(ba) considers that the GATS prudential carve out contained in the annex on financial services has functioned well and without issue in ensuring that governments retain the ability to take actions necessary to maintain the stability and integrity of the financial system and should, notwithstanding any other provision of the agreement, be mirrored by provisions in TiSA;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point b b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b b (new)
(bb) to include provisions covering Mode IV supply that allow for the temporary movement of highly qualified professionals across borders for a specific purpose, for a limited period of time, and under condition stipulated by a contract and domestic legislation, while recognising that TiSA does not apply to measures affecting natural persons seeking access to the employment market of a party, nor measures regarding citizenship residence or employment on a permanent basis;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the TiSA negotiations are aimed at not only increasing market access and trade and investment but also achieving better international regulation, not lower domestic regulation, shaping globalisation to ensure that it reflects EU values and principles;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point c
Paragraph 1 – point c
(c) to put stronger pressure on other negotiating parties to accept China’s request to join the negotiations, provided that China is prepared to match the ambition of the parties and agree to provisions already agreed and to continue offering this path to other BRICS countries;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point d
Paragraph 1 – point d
(d) to ensure that the TiSA in no way hinders the negotiating agenda of the WTO, but, rather, fosters a valuable discussion on establishing ‘gold standards’ for tackling trade obstacles and developing regulatory best practices for financial services, and also prepares the ground for its possible adoption at multilateral level, provided that China is prepared to match the ambition of the parties and agree to provisions already agreed;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas any trade agreement must be a market opener for our companies abroad and a safety net for our citizens at homellowing them to develop their businesses and take an increasingly active role in developing global value chains;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the EU is the world's largest importer and exporter of goods and services put together, with services accounting for 70% of total EU employment, 90% of EU job creation and 40% of the value of goods exported from Europe; whereas jobs in export industries pay higher salaries;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the value of EU exports in services has doubled over the last 10 years to reach a value of €728bn in 2014; whereas TiSA is an opportunity for the EU to consolidate its position as the world leader in the field, with 24 % of global trade in services;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas non-tariff barriers, which on average represent more than 50 % of the cost of cross-border services, disproportionately affect small and medium-sized enterprises, which make up one third of EU service exports and which often lack the human and financial resources necessary to overcome those obstacles; whereas the elimination of unnecessary barriers would facilitate their internationalisation;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas citizens’' trust in the EU’'s trade policy is a mustessential, which can only be restoredmaintained and increased by ensuring not only beneficial outcomes in terms of employment and wealth creation for citizens and businesses, but also by ensuring the highest level of transparency, by maintaining constant dialogue with civil society, and by setting clear guidelines in the negotiations;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point i
Paragraph 1 – point a – point i
i. to consider the TiSA negotiations as a stepping-stone towards renewed ambitions at WTO level, and to reinvigorate the discussions on services in the Doha Development Round; stresses therefore that nothing should be included in TiSA that would prevent its later integration into the WTO system;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point a – point ii
ii. to reiterate its support for an ambitious comprehensive and balanced agreement, which should unleash the untapped potential of a more integrated global services market, while fully guaranteeing compliance with the EU acquis; to shape globalisation and to create international standards, while fully preserving the right to regulate; to secure increased market access for European services suppliers in key sectors of interest, while accommodating specific carve-outs for sensitive sectorsecure substantially increased market access for European services suppliers in key sectors of interest, while accommodating specific carve-outs for sensitive sectors; to shape globalisation and to create international standards, while fully preserving the right to regulate and pursue legitimate public policy objectives such as public health, safety, environment, public morals and the promotion of cultural diversity;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point a – point iii
iii. to push for multilateralisation by crafting GATS-compatible provisions and by accepting new parties conditional on their acceptance of the already agreed rules and level of ambitions; to incentivise wider participation in the talks by granting interested parties observer status; to note that both the highest barriers and the highest growth potential regarding trade in services are to be found in the BRICS and the MINT countries; to recognise the importance of those countries for the EU, as export destinations with a rising middle class, as sources of intermediate inputs and as key hubs in global value chains; to open the way for the participation of China and other large emerging and dynamic economies;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point a – point iv
iv. to carry out the negotiations on a preferential basis and to limit the benefits of the agreement to TiSA parties until it is multilateralised, with the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) not applying to TiSA until that critical mass has been reached;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point v
Paragraph 1 – point a – point v
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point b – point ii
ii. to ensure reciprocityproportionate commitments among the parties at all levels; to condition any further commitments beyond the EU’'s current level of openness on the other parties’' proportionate offers across all sectors and modes; to support the use of horizontal commitment- related provisions as a means to set a common level of ambitions, and to take note that such minimum requirements would set clear parameters for countries interested in participating;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iii
iii. to exclude the provision of new services from the EU’s commisupport the Commission's mixed list approach to market access and national treatments;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iv
iv. to acknowledge that standstill and ratchet clauses do not apply to market access commitments, while supporting the use of standstill clauses in terms of national treatment to ensure that EU service providers continue to be protected from discrimination;
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point v
Paragraph 1 – point b – point v
v. to undertake limitedambitious commitments in Mode 1 so as to avoid regulatory arbitrage and social dumping; to, or the cross border supply of services, while ensureing that European rules are fully respected when a company provides a service from abroad to European consumers;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi
vi. to take an ambitious approach in Mode 3 by seeking the removal of third-country barriers to commercial presence and establishment, such as foreign equity caps and joint venture requirements which is of crucial relevance in terms of increasing growth of services delivered through modes 1 and 4;
Amendment 329 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point i
Paragraph 1 – point c – point i
i. to ensure cross-border data flows in compliance with the universal right to privacyEU data protection laws;
Amendment 349 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point c – point iii
iii. to ensure that European citizens’' personal data flow globally in full compliance with the data protection and security rules in force in Europe; to ensure that citizens remain in control of their own data; to reject, therefore, any ‘'catch-all’' provisions on data flows which are disconnected from any reference to the necessary compliance with data protection standards; to mirror the language used in the WTO Understanding on financial services;
Amendment 355 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point c – point iv
iv. to ensure that language on the national security clauses are grounded in appropriate necessity criteria; to firmly reject, therefore, any extension of the scope of the national security exemption enshrined in GATS Article XIVa exemption mirrors the GATS Article XIVa, so as to ensure that nothing in the agreement shall be construed as limiting the parties from taking action to ensure their essential security interests and those of their citizens;
Amendment 364 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point v
Paragraph 1 – point c – point v
v. to recognise that digital innovation is ahas become a key driver of economic growth and productivity in the entire economy, underlining the need to ensure that TiSA contains modern and future orientated rules and disciplines concerning e- commerce preventing fragmentation and the establishment of new barriers to digital trade; to recognise the need for data flows; to seek, therefore, a comprehensive prohibition of forced data localisation requirements;
Amendment 388 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point i
Paragraph 1 – point d – point i
i. to ensure that nothing in TiSA will prevent the EU and its Member States from maintaining and applying their labour and social regulations, as well as their legislation on entry and temporary staor applying measures to regulate the entry of natural persons into, or temporary stay in, its territory including those measures necessary to ensure the orderly movements of natural persons across its borders such as, inter alia, admission or conditions for admission for entry;
Amendment 406 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point d – point iii
iii. to recognise this chapter as an offensive interest for Europe, given that EU professionals are well-educated and mobile and that EU companies increasingly require the specific skills of foreign professionals inside Europe and their personnel outside Europe, in order to support the establishment of new business activities and that the benefits of TiSA on covered sectors would be enhanced if qualified professionals are able to move seamlessly among the parties;
Amendment 410 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point d – point iv
iv. to oppose any provisions regarding visas and other entry procedures except those aimed at increasing transparency and streamlining administrative procedures so that TiSA does not apply to measures affecting natural persons seeking access to the employment market of a party, nor measures regarding citizenship residence or employment on a permanent basis; to set requirements to ensure that temporary service providers return home;
Amendment 453 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e – point v
Paragraph 1 – point e – point v
v. while stressing the need to increase worldwide access to financial services, to excludensure that any commitments in cross- border financial services from the EU’s commitments until there is convergence in financial regulation at the highest level, except in very limited and justified casesservices do not undermine the integrity and security of financial regulatory systems in the EU;
Amendment 489 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point i
Paragraph 1 – point g – point i
i. to fully preserve European, national and local authorities’' right to regulate in pursuit of legitimate public policy objectives;
Amendment 498 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point g – point ii
ii. to promote good governance and transparency and to foster good practices in administrative and legislative processes, by encouraging the wide take-up of measures that strengthen the independence of decision-makers, increase the transparency of decisions, and reduce red tape; to stress that consumer protection and safety must be at the centre of regulatory endeavours;
Amendment 519 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point v
Paragraph 1 – point g – point v
v. to request and publish a legal opinion prior to Parliament’'s vote on the final agreement, with a view to thoroughly assessing the two Annexes on domestic regulation and transparency in light of EU law, EU principles and international jurisprudence, and to assess whether the legal obligations set in these chapters are already respected in the EU;
Amendment 525 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point vii
Paragraph 1 – point g – point vii
vii. to make information on trade-related regulations and how they are administered publicly available online; to place the emphasis on rules governing licensing and authorisations; to specifically push for the creation of a web-based one-stop shop information mechanism for SMEs and to include SMEs in it is conception;
Amendment 528 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point viii
Paragraph 1 – point g – point viii
viii. to ensure that administrative fees charged to foreign companies are fair, tha and proportionate, that sufficient remedies making it possible to file a complaint in national courts exist, and that rulings are delivered in a reasonable period of time;
Amendment 533 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g – point x
Paragraph 1 – point g – point x
x. to oppose any proposals callensure that nothing forin the mandatory submission of legislative proposals to third parties prior to their publicationagreement prevents the EU from taking decisions in the context of its better regulation agenda;
Amendment 539 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h – point i
Paragraph 1 – point h – point i
i. to acknowledge that TiSA is an opportunity to ensure a competition by the rules, not for the rulesve level playing field among the parties by creating common disciplines and provisions aimed at ensuring a minimum level of best regulatory practice;
Amendment 549 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point h – point ii
ii. to endeavour to include a regulatory chapter on government procurement with a view to maximising the participation of European companies in foreign tenders; to deplorovercome the lack of transparency and market entry barriers regarding non- European calls for tenders and to denounce the lack of reciprocity in this area, as illustrated by the preferential treatment granted to domestic companies in several countries; to encourage the ratification and implementation by those parties who have not yet done so of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and its 2011 revision; to call upon the Member States to reinvigorate discussions on the proposed international public procurement instrument;
Amendment 556 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point h – point iii
iii. to lower barriers to trade in energy- and environment-related services, given that an increasing number of services, such as installation, management and repairs, are sold together with products in these two areas; to acknowledge the explicit recognition of each party’'s sovereignty over energy resources in line with Treaty provisions and to preserve the EU’'s right to regulate, in particular so as to meet the European objectives of sustainability, security and affordability;
Amendment 562 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i – point i
Paragraph 1 – point i – point i
i. to ensure the highest level of transparency, dialogue and accountability in line with existing WTO rules;
Amendment 570 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point i – point ii
ii. to ensure that the members of Parliament’'s Committee on International Trade receive all the negotiating documents related to TiSA where appropriate, ensuring that the negotiating position of the EU is not compromised; calls on Members to take full responsibility when handling such documents to ensure that the Parliament can continue to push for transparency across trade agreements;
Amendment 574 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point i – point iii
iii. to welcome the substantial push for public transparency vis-à-vis the public since the 2014 European elections, including the publication of EU market access offers and the mandate granted by the Council; to further these efforts by providing fact sheets forexplaining in a clear and comprehensible way each part of the agreement and by publishing factual round- by-round feedback reports on the Europa website;