Activities of Bernd LANGE related to 2023/2868(RSP)
Institutional motions (1)
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on multilateral negotiations in view of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi 26-29 February 2024
Amendments (12)
Amendment 9 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the WTO was created to further the liberalisation of trade in goods and services, strengthen multilateralism and foster an open, inclusive, rules-based and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, in order to improve the welfare of people around the world; whereas the overall objective of EU’s trade policy is to contribute to the harmonious development of world trade, the progressive abolition of restrictions on international trade and on foreign direct investment, and the lowering of customs and other barriers; whereas trade is vital and a key instrument for supporting and complementing efforts to advance sustainable growth and improve standards of living, creating better jobs, ensuring full employment and a large and steadily growing volume of real income in accordance with the objective of sustainable development;
Amendment 18 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the rules-based multilateral trading system is currently under a great deal of pressure, subject to geopolitical tensions and unilateral measures, as well as an unjustified reliance on the security exception of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) exceptions by some of its members, which is already resulting in a more fragmented and less predictable context for trade policy; whereas 75% of trade still takes place on the basis of MFN tariffs which confirms the WTO as the backbone of the global economy; whereas the outcome at MC12 proved that the WTO can still deliver multilateral agreements and respond to emergencies;
Amendment 24 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies agreed at MC12 is the first ever multilateral trade agreement with environmental sustainability at its core, establishing a binding set of global rules to curb thehelp curb an estimated USD 22 billion per year in harmful subsidies provided by governments to the fishing sector, as mandated under SDG 14.6; whereas the agreement does not yet include disciplines on fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, on which negotiations are still ongoing;
Amendment 26 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas food security remains challenging, as 258 million people were in crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity in 2022 up from 193 million in 2021; whereas the WTO Uruguay round Agreement on Agriculture explicitly acknowledges the importance of considering food security in ongoing negotiations; whereas trade has the potential to enhance the availability of food in regions where it is limited, and it can also contribute to improved economic access to food by generating employment opportunities and increasing incomes;
Amendment 27 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. whereas WTO Members have proven their commitment to addressing food shortages and ensuring emergency food aid for the most vulnerable, both in the Ministerial Declaration on the emergency response to food insecurity, as well as the Ministerial Decision on exempting World Food Programme (WFP) humanitarian food purchases from export prohibitions or restrictions agreed at MC12;
Amendment 28 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
D c. whereas sustainable trade can help mitigate and fight against climate change;
Amendment 64 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses the need to make progress in the agriculture negotiations in order to obtain credible results on issues such as public stockholding for food security purposes, domestic support, market access, cotton, export restrictions and export competition, and strengthening the agricultural sector to respond to contemporary challenges, including rural livelihoods and environmental sustainability; calls for better information sharing and transparency on agriculture policies and subsidies to help advancing negotiations;
Amendment 65 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Underlines the need for an outcome on food security, including concrete actions to increase the resilience of LDCs and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries in their response to acute food instability;
Amendment 77 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Highlights the importance of regulatingmultilateral and plurilateral rules on digital trade, as it currently accounts for 25 % of total trade, both at multilateral and plurilateral level; supports the efforts to find a fair and permanent solution for electronic transmissions related to the moratorium; welcomes and supports the broad membership, ambitious negotiating agenda and progress made to date in the WTO plurilateral negotiations on e-commerce; highlights the importance of the free flow of electronic transmissions, which are fundamental to digital trade and reduce trading costs, increase consumer welfare as well as export competitiveness, and bring significant benefits, particularly to SMEs and developing countries; recalls its position that a potential agreement needs to guarantee market access for e-commerce- related goods and services in third countries, as well as the protection of consumer and labour rights, and facilitate business innovation; stresses that a potential agreement on e-commerce needs to comply with existing as well as future EU legislation related to data flows, data localisation and source code, and that it guarantees sufficient policy space to regulate the digital realm; calls on all partners to fully engage in and support efforts to conclude negotiations by MC13and allow for sufficient policy space for digital regulation in particular when it comes to issues like data flows, data localisation and source code; calls on all partners to fully engage in and support efforts to conclude negotiations by MC13; stresses the need to bridge the digital divide by sharing best practices and enhancing capacity building;
Amendment 84 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Believes that the outcome of MC13 should provide an action-based agenda for trade policy supporting the 2030 SDGs and the Paris Agreement; strongly encourages WTO Members to consider all possible measures to contribute to limiting greenhouse gas emissions in line with the UNFCCC , reinforce alignment with the Paris Agreement and climate neutrality, and enhance cooperation in the WTO on measures adopted domestically; welcomes the constructive discussions carried out in the framework of plurilateral initiatives on Fossil Fuel Subsidies Reform, Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD); emphasises the need to advance the discussion on goods and services that help address environmental and climate challenges; urges the EU to raise awareness about its sustainability legislation such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and deforestation, and explain the motivations behind it to make sure it is recognised as a genuine attempt to make trade more sustainablecontribute to addressing global environmental objectives and to make trade more sustainable including by providing more practical information on how the regulations apply in practice; welcomes the first ever ‘trade day’ at COP28 and the historic achievement at COP to move away from fossil fuels; expects the COP decision to be reflected in the work of the WTO;
Amendment 88 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Calls on WTO members to reflect on how an expansion of the scope of the TRIPS Decision to cover COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics could address existing needs and take a decision in this regard, while keeping the incentives to innovate in mind; calls on WTO members to review their national laws and policies to ensure full incorporation of all relevant IP flexibilities protecting access to medical products;
Amendment 90 #
Draft motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on WTO members to ensure democratic legitimacy and transparency by strengthening the parliamentary dimension of the WTO and the parliamentary conference; emphasises the importance of the work of the joint European Parliament and Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Parliamentary Conference on the WTO; stresses the need to ensure that parliamentarians have better access to trade negotiations and are involved in the formulation and implementation of WTO decisions; encourages leaders to support a new narrative on trade whereby trade is seen as enabler rather than as a hindrance to achieve sustainability, security and inclusiveness;