10 Amendments of Miguel URBÁN CRESPO related to 2018/2107(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas Article 21 TEU sets out the EU’s obligation to ensure consistency between the different areas of its external action, including its trade and human rights policies, thus mutually enhancing the potential effectiveness of these policies; whereas Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union states that it shall contribute, inter alia, to sustainable development, the eradication of poverty and the protection of human rights;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas, although the GSP+ is conducive to trading preferences favouring the ratification and effective implementation of 27 fundamental conventions related to human and labour rights, environmental standards and good governance, effective mechanisms for monitoring compliance with these standards and the implementation thereof are not included therein; whereas the European Commission has failed to introduce a transparent and objective process to decide when an investigation should start, making it impossible for NGOs or others to participate and hampering the activation of the safeguard clause that would stop duty-free imports;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas the GSP has become an instrument of political leverage applied by the European Union and its Member States to garner the support of third countries for various aspects of their international agendas; whereas the European Union should promote different trading models based on equality between partners;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the acknowledgement of the need to enhance transparency and accountability by the participation of civil society in monitoring the effective implementation of human rights commitments set out in international conventions; calls on the Commission to consider establishing joint oversight commissions or domestic advisory groups with the participation of local civil society and trade union representatives; recalls, in this regard, that access to GSP+ eligibility assessments and monitoring scorecards is necessary for the purposes of improved transparency;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that the full potential of the GSP+ scheme to improve the situation with regard to workers’ rights, promotion of gender equality and abolition of child labour and forced labour can only be fulfilled if monitoring of effective implementation of obligations under the 27 conventions is improved and the incentive of trade preferences is accompanied by other support measures; stresses the need for an assessment of the impact of GSP arrangements in practice on human and labour rights before and during the granting of trade preferences to a candidate country; takes the view that these assessments should be carried out by independent experts, in consultation with civil society, including representatives of communities affected by the granting of trade preferences;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls for the inclusion of ILO Convention 169 on indigenous peoples among the fundamental binding conventions that condition the granting of trade preferences;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the European Commission to investigate the actual implementation of the 27 international conventions that are the prerequisite for the granting of GSP+ arrangements and that the recipient countries have ratified and undertaken to implement in practice; calls on the Commission to lay down specific objectives and benchmarks with regard to the effective implementation of international conventions and to include these systematically in the human rights country strategy papers with a view to ensuring consistency and the mainstreaming of human rights into trade policy;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Encourages the establishment of an independent and formal complaints mechanism related to the effective implementation of obligations under international conventions under GSP+, in order to take into account all available information and allegations regarding infringements of labour and human rights, including from reliable local stakeholders;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Condemns the economic, social and political interference by the EU in third countries through GSP arrangements; points out that these policies have led to landgrabbing and the pillaging of natural resources, and are responsible for the economic, social, political and humanitarian crisis; urges the EU and its Member States to embark upon new types of cooperation with third countries based on mutual development and the best interests of the people;