Activities of Thomas WAITZ related to 2019/2173(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
2019-2020 Reports on Montenegro (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the 2019-2020 Commission Reports on Montenegro
Amendments (40)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 18
Citation 18
— having regard to the statement of preliminary findings and conclusions of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) international election observation mission to the parliamentary elections of 30 August 2020 in Montenegro, issued on 311 AugustDecember 2020,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 a (new)
Citation 22 a (new)
— having regard to the fifth country monitoring report of the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), published on September 20171a , and to the conclusions on Montenegro concerning the state of implementation of the 2017 recommendations, published on June 2020,1b __________________ 1a https://rm.coe.int/second-report-on- montenegro/16808b5942 1bhttps://rm.coe.int/ecri-conclusions-on- the-implementation-of-the- recommendations-in-respe/16809e8273
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 a (new)
Citation 22 a (new)
— having regard to the Declaration of Western Balkans Partners on Roma Integration within the EU Enlargement Process of 5 July 2019 and the Strategy for Social Inclusion of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro 2016–2020,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas despite these efforts over the past years, Montenegro has been showing clear symptoms and various degrees of state capture, and companies, institutions or powerful individuals use illegal practices to influence and shape policies, the legal environment and the economy to their own interests;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the parliamentary elections of 30 August 2020 have resulted in the first transition of power in a democratic setting in the country, thus possibly being a step to overcome state capture;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G f (new)
Recital G f (new)
Gf. whereas the Copenhagen criteria establish that respect for and protection of minorities are a requisite for EU accession;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the opening of Chapter 8 (Competition policy) and Montenegro’s decision to accept the principles of the revised enlargement methodology; calls in particular for efficiently meeting the interim benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24, which will be the next milestone; recalls that only three chapters have been provisionally closed since the opening of the first chapter in December 2012, and encourages a clear focus on working to address the closing benchmarks in all other chapters;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. NotWelcomes that the 30 August 2020 elections resulted in the first transition of power since the country’s independence, in full respect of democratic standards and Montenegro’s constitution; positively notes that the election results were not contested and that all elected Parliamentarians have actually resumed their duty;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the fact that on its first working day, the newly formed Montenegrin Government held an exchange of views with Members of the European Parliament and EU officials; encourages the new Government to use its mandate to accelerate EU-related reforms and accession negotiations; commends the Montenegrin government for their explicit commitment to further pursue EU integration and to strengthen the transatlantic alliance;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses the need for cooperative and constructive cohabitation between the President and the new Government, as well as the new Parliament, with a view to enhancing Montenegro’s progress on its EU path; highlights that all elected representatives have the responsibility to make this relation operational;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Commends Montenegro’s progress in several areas of the accession negotiations, including international police cooperation and the fight against human trafficking; calls on the authorities to accelerate political and economic reforms, particularly on the rule of law and fundamental rights, the judiciary, media freedom and the fight against corruption, where further significant progress has to be made;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls for the active engagement and appropriate inclusion of the Western Balkans countries, including civil society as well as youth, in the Conference on the Future of Europe;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11c. Expresses concern over the declining number of female MPs and calls for the adoption of the necessary legal and policy measures to strengthen parliamentary representation and promote political participation of women;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Reiterates the importance of accelerating work on the implementation of the action plans for Chapters 23 and 24 and other strategic documents relating to the rule of law, in particular through effective cross-party dialogue aimed at ensuring the required qualified majority for key judicial and prosecutorial appointments; expresses concern for the fact that the working group on chapter 24 has not met over the past year and calls for the participation of representatives of the non-governmental sector in these working groups;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Reiterates the importance of accelerating work on the implementation of the action plans for Chapters 23 and 24 and other strategic documents relating to the rule of law and fundamental rights, in particular through effective cross-party dialogue aimed at ensuring the required qualified majority for key judicial and prosecutorial appointments, as well as improving the work through conducting public and expert consultations concerning changes of key legislation;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. WelcomNotes the fact that some progress has been made in the fight against organised crime, in particular as regards stronger capacity and professionalism of the police; underlines that systemic deficiencies in the criminal justice system remain and need to be addressed as a matter of priority; urges the authorities to put in place concrete measures to limit the use of plea bargains to exceptional cases in order to enhance the transparency and the credibility of the judicial response to organised crime through a more deterrent and consistent sanctioning policy;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Is seriously concerned about the limited progress in the fight against corruption, and calls on the institutions responsible to, especially the prosecution, to significantly improve the country’s track record in the confiscation of criminal assets, prosecutions and final convictions, in particular for high-level cases, by substantially improving quality and independence of the criminal investigation and law enforcement;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the efforts to implement public administration reform (PAR) and the results already achieved; is concerned by the findings that party membership still strongly influences employment in the Montenegrin public sector; calls on the Montenegrin authorities to continuredouble their efforts to create an efficient public administration and to retain expertise, in particular on the EU accession process, and in that respect welcomes transparent appointment procedures, such as the process of appointment of the acting director of the Police Directorate;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Welcomes the new government’s promises to significantly increase transparency in all areas, including public finances and encourages them to urgently develop and adopt an improved Law on free access to information;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Notes the upcoming population and housing census in Montenegro, and calls on the institutions responsible to hold it in line with European standards and international recommendations and urges to avoid any politicisation of the process;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Deplores the state of freedom of expression and media freedom, an area in which five successive Commission reports have noted ‘no progress’, especially when it comes to the work of the public broadcasting service RTCG; strongly condemns all types of attacks against the media and intimidation of journalists, and calls for the urgent and effective investigation of these, including past cases, in order to end impunity of crimes against journalists; urges Montenegro to provide conditions conducive to the effective exercise of freedom of expression, which is one of the EU’s fundamental values and a crucial element of Montenegro’s EU accession process;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Emphasises that while progress has been recorded in the advancement of the rights and social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians in Montenegro, increased and holistic efforts are needed to improve the quality and access to education and prevent and eliminate segregation, increase employment and employability, combat poverty and overcrowding in marginalised communities, and ensure access to personal documents and legal status to all Roma and Egyptians; measures should be developed and implemented with a strong gender equality and child rights perspective;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Underlines that media literacy and media freedom are key to combating disinformation; calls for the strengthening of European cooperation with Montenegro on addressing cyber threats; urges the EEAS to address disinformation, and cyber and hybrid threats; hybrid threats that seek to undermine the European perspective of the region by more strategically underscoring the EU’s relevance to citizens in the region; stresses the need to improve coordination in order to fight regional disinformation campaigns; reminds of the strong link between weaknesses in media freedom and opportunities for local and foreign actors to manipulate facts and spread disinformation; calls on the Commission and the EEAS to closely cooperate on those linkages and overlapping challenges, as well as to foster the creation of a Balkan-focused Centre of Excellence on disinformation;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Strongly condemns verbal and physical attacks against and intimidation of national minorities, especially in Pljevlja following the August 2020 parliamentary elections; urges Montenegrin authorities to thoroughly investigate all those incidents and bring the perpetrators to justice;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Takes note of the Law on Domestic Violence Protection and its current changes, and asks for its thorough implementation, including the allocation of sufficient resources, as gender-based, domestic violence and violence against children remain an issue of serious concern, which has been exacerbated during the COVID 19 pandemic; urges the authorities to ensure a thorough implementation of the Istanbul Convention standards, to launch public awareness-raising campaigns to encourage the reporting of domestic violence, to increase the number of well- trained and gender-sensitive law enforcement officers and judges as to ensure the proper investigation and prosecution of such crimes, and to introduce effective measures against sexual harassment, including at the work place;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 e (new)
Paragraph 23 e (new)
23e. Regrets the lack of resources allocated for the implementation of the annual action plan for the implementation of the strategy for the social inclusion of Roma and Egyptians; urges authorities to significantly step up efforts to fight discrimination, to ensure fair access to education, justice and healthcare, as well as to take effective measures against hate speech;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Welcomes progress on the protection of LGBTI rightthe rights of LGBTI persons and the adoption of the law on same-sex partnerships and calls on authorities to ensure all necessary conditions for its adequate and timely implementation; stresses that the situation of transgender and non-binary persons needs to be improved; urges the collection of disaggregated data relating to hate speech and crime based on sexual orientation and gender identity as recommended by ECRI and calls for their effective sanctioning;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Commends Montenegro’s progress on and renewed commitment to international police cooperation, and encourages itMontenegro to continue its efforts to cope with the migratory pressure, by further developing itsraising its capacity to prosecute international coly operation on readmission and raising its capacity to prosecutng criminal networks, with a particular focus on the mfigrant-smuggling networksht against money laundering, human and drug trafficking;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Urges Montenegrin authorities to keep human rights and international law at the core of their migration and border policies, to ensure basic rights to all people on their territory regardless of their administrative status, and to not engage in any activities prohibited by international law such as refoulement; calls on Frontex/EBCG operations in Montenegrin territory to operate by these same standards;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. Encourages authorities to improve the participation of women in the labour market and to urgently address issues such as gender gap in employment and pay and affordable childcare;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Notes with concern the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Montenegro’s economy; calls on the Government to carry on a responsible macroeconomic and fiscal policy in view of the high public debt; encourages the authorities to make the best use of EU assistance in order to mitigate the impact of the crisis, including developing and implementing targeted measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on marginalised communities and vulnerable people;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32a. Stresses the fact that the COVID- 19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on women and vulnerable groups, like Roma, Egyptians, LGBTIQ+ people and people with disabilities, by deepening inequality, exacerbating existing problems; calls on the Montenegrin government and authorities to take these issues into account in their responses to the pandemic;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Calls on the Commission and the Council to include Montenegro in joint EU procurement for vaccinations, and to allocate a sufficient amount of COVID-19 vaccines to the citizens ofpeople present in all Western Balkan countries;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Encourages Montenegro to make best use of the Commission’s Economic and Investment Plan forWelcomes the Commission’s efforts to invest more strategically in the Western Balkans through a dedicated Economic and Investment Plan (EIP) and encourages Montenegro to make the Wbestern Balkans use of it; recognises ithe EIP's importance in supporting sustainable connectivity, human capital, competitiveness and inclusive growth in the region, while stressing that any investment must be in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and EU decarbonisation targets;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Paragraph 34 a (new)
34a. Calls on the Commission to focus IPA III funds on the ongoing democratic transition of Montenegro, more so than infrastructure projects, especially in light of persistent problems with the investment climate, absorption capacity, and environmental standards in Montenegro;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 b (new)
Paragraph 34 b (new)
34b. Reiterates its call to conduct thorough and comprehensive ex-ante environmental and social impact assessments of infrastructure projects in line with European standards, including the consultation of citizens, civil society organisations and independent experts; reiterates its call to increase transparency and calls on the authorities to provide the public with all relevant information;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 b (new)
Paragraph 34 b (new)
34b. Recalls with satisfaction that according to Article 1 of its constitution Montenegro is an ecological state; calls on the authorities to better protect the most valuable areas in particular as regards biodiversity and to review in particular mass tourist infrastructure projects and the large number of small- scale hydropower plants;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 c (new)
Paragraph 34 c (new)
34c. Calls on the authorities to assess the effects of the construction of the highway at Tara river and to develop a remediation plan with concrete steps to limit the negative impact;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Welcomes Montenegro’s progress in diversifying its electricity production towards renewable sources, as well as its active participation in the Western Balkans Connectivity Agenda; and exceeding its overall 2020 renewables target and sectorial targets for electricity and heating and cooling, as well as its active participation in the Western Balkans Connectivity Agenda; invites Montenegro to introduce streamlined and simplified rules for facilitating the further deployment of renewable projects; commends Montenegro’s decision to discontinue financial support for small hydropower plants that do not follow appropriate environmental standards; invites Montenegro to comply with the Energy Community rules on the further operation of the Pljevlja coal power plant;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Welcomes the positive developments in further aligning Montenegro’s national environmental and climate change legislation with the acquis; commends Montenegro for protecting the Zeta river as a Nature Park; calls on the authorities to take urgent measures to better safeguardtruly protect and sustainably manage protected areas and potential Natura 2000 sites by designing and implementing Protected Area Management Plans and by providing adequate resources for their implementation; calls on the authorities to include local communities in the implementation of environmental, climate and energy policies in the country; recommends to implement the Protected Area plan for Sinjajevina highlands based on the EU-funded 2016 study of the Environment Protection Agency of Montenegro by including full participation of the local community;