Activities of Miguel URBÁN CRESPO related to 2021/2178(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the future of EU-Africa trade relations
Amendments (12)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes thehile recognizing the potential positive shift in EU- Africa relations towards a partnership on an equal footing, allowing both sides to pursue their own interests but also to identify common areas of cooperation; stresses that free, fair and sustainable trade facilita, recalls that a deep asymmetry in EU and Africa trade and economic relations still exists; stresses that the principle of policy coherence for development as enshrined in Article 208 TFEU must remain the core of future EU-Africa trade relations. and be implementesd inclusive economic growth and s line with the Union’s commitment to achieving the UN 2030 Sustainable dDevelopment and contributes to poverty reductionGoals; believes that priority should be given to human development, eradication of poverty, addressing social exclusion and inequality, promote gender equality, climate change mitigation and adaptation, fight against hunger and food sovereignty; highlights, in this regard, the importance of the new partnership agreement between the EU and the members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, the upcoming summit between the African Union and the EU, and innovative initiatives such as the EU multi-stakeholder dialogue for sustainable cocoa;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the EU to actively support the integration and development of the African economy; acknowledges that the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),which presents a major could be an opportunity for African countries to boost fair trade and inclusive growth, enable sustainable development, reduce poverty and improve living standards; notes that the AfCFTA paves the way for a fundamental transformation of the continent’s development prospects; believes that, now more than ever after the Covid-19 pandemic, on a global level, and especially with regard to Africa, new approaches should be taken to re-shape economic, commercial and trade relations towards Fair and Ethical Trade based on principles of solidarity and cooperation.
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Emphasises that the AfCFTA should make for integration that benefits all African populations, including the most marginalised; recalls that there are developmental differences between African countries which must be taken into account in order not to increase inequalities.
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises that economic partnership agreements need to support the various regional trade communities in Africa and the further development of the AfCFTA, contribute to the building of resilient and sustainable regional value chains, and help to boost and diversifyCalls for the systematic inclusion of binding and enforceable mechanisms for the implementation of TSD chapters on human rights, labour and environmental standards in all currently negotiated and future EPAs; reiterates the need of an in-depth analysis on the impact of EPAs and trade liberalization agreements on African countries, intra- African trade; calls for chapters ensuring consistency with development needs and policies and the UN sustainable development goals to always be included and implementedmarkets and local economies and the need to review these agreements in order for them to be coherent with the SDGs and Article 208 of the TFEU;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Stresses that trade liberalization could have an impact on deforestation, climate change and biodiversity loss as well as on food production and access to food. Believes that the future EU-Africa trade and investment relations should be based on a commercial policy that favours the defence of forests and biodiversity, the development of local agriculture and local producers and farmers, to promote full food sovereignty and to reduce the phenomenon of land grabbing and deforestation for agricultural export use.
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Calls on the EU to review export tax restrictions and WTO + TRIPS+ provisions in current and future EPAs and FTAs, to allow African countries to better answer to the economic and health crisis and make full use of compulsory licensing; reiterates its calls on the Commission to support, at all levels of the WTO, the proposal for a temporary waiver on IPRs for COVID 19 vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and equipment, and to engage in text-based discussions without further delay;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Calls for reviewing the economic policies and the so called "structural reforms" promoted in the last decades by the IMF and the World Bank and also by African and European countries, which have increased African and southern countries’ dependence on debt, privatized common and strategic goods and weakened public sectors, increased social inequalities and the precariousness of work.
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Believes that a crucial element for the sustainable development of the African countries and a fair partnership with the EU is to guarantee local and national public control over common goods and natural resources, which guarantees the possibility for countries to have domestic economic resources and to invest in human development; calls therefore on the Commission to include safeguard clauses intrade and investment agreements with African countries to prevent the risk of privatization of common goods and public sectors such as education, health and water.
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Reiterates its call for an EU legal framework based on corporate mandatory due diligence on human rights violations in supply chains and provide access to justice for victims; believes that such obligations should be cross-sectorial and apply in particular to the financial sector; invites the Commission to continue and reinforce its engagement in the negotiations for the establishment of a UN Binding Treaty on Transnational Corporations and OBE with respect to Human Rights.
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Recalls that African economies are spending up to five times their health budgets on debt repayments; urges the Commission, the G20 and EU member states, international financial institutions and donors to take more decisive and urgent action on debt relief, with a view to a full cancellation of debt;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4 d. Recalls the importance of supporting small holder farmers and the development of local products and markets in order to promote food sovereignty , avoiding the promotion of an exclusively export-oriented model of agriculture that could contribute to deforestation and land grabbing processes;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4 e. Highlights the importance of the commitment of Article 83 of the new partnership agreement between the EU and the OACPS countries to “undertake measures to tackle tax avoidance, tax evasion and other harmful tax practices"; calls on the EU to include in the trade and investment agreements concrete and enforceable measures to support African countries in combatting illicit financial flows and tax evasion by EU companies and multinationals, to ensure taxes are paid where profits and real economic value is created, in order to stop base erosion and profit-shifting;