44 Amendments of Frank VANHECKE
Amendment 1 #
2013/2040(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
Amendment 3 #
2013/2040(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Amendment 4 #
2013/2040(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Asserts that, when implementing the specific clauses on the prohibition on coercion or compulsion in sexual and reproductive health matters agreed on at the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, as well as the legally binding international human rights instruments, the EU acquis communautaire and the Union policy competencies in these matters, Union assistance should not be provided to any authority, organisation or programme which promotes, supports or participates in the management of any action which involves such human rights abuses as coercive abortion, forced sterilisation of women and men, determining foetal sex resulting in prenatal sex selection or infanticide;
Amendment 5 #
2013/2040(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. States that every child, regardless of sex, has the right to appropriate legal protection before as well as after birth1, survival and development, and reaffirms that female children have equal status under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child; calls on EU delegations in developing countries to work with the governments of those countries to ensure that girl children enjoy their rights without discrimination found on their sex, inter alia by ending the unethical and discriminatory practices of prenatal sex selection, abortion of female foetuses, female infanticide, early forced marriage, female genital mutilation; __________________ 1 Declaration of the Rights of the Child, Adopted by UN General Assembly Resolution 1386 (XIV) of 10 December 1959.
Amendment 7 #
2013/2040(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Reminds that the European Court of Justice held in judgment C-34/10 that any human ovum after fertilization constitutes a human embryo, and that an human embryo constitutes a precise stadium in the development of the human body;
Amendment 8 #
2013/2040(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. UrgInvites the Commission, in this context, to maintain in its development priorities the removal of all barriers to allow access to quality, affordable, acceptable and accessible sexuprenatal and reproductivematernal health care services (SRHSs) and education, including voluntary family planning, safe abortion, and youth-friendly service, relational, affective and sexual education for boys and girls under the prior responsibility of their parents1, voluntary family planning including natural family planning methods, while combating gendersex based discrimination leading to sex-selective and involuntary abortions, forced sterilization and sexual violence, as well as ensuring the provision of SRH supplies,prenatal and maternal health care supplies, including HIV prevention, treatment, care and support, without discrimination; __________________ 1 "Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children." Art 26.3 of UNGASS Resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948 (Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Amendment 31 #
2013/2040(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Urges the Commission and the EEAS to fully respect the reservations on SHRH expressed by national governments in the concerned international treaties, conventions and programs;
Amendment 32 #
2013/2040(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Further reaffirms the sovereign right of each country to implement the recommendations of the Cairo ICPD Programme of Action or other proposals in the present resolution, consistent with national laws and development priorities, with full respect for the various religious and ethical values and cultural backgrounds of its people, and in conformity with universally recognized international human rights;
Amendment 33 #
2013/2040(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. upholds the human right to conscientious objection as outlined in Art 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Art 10 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, highlights therefore that no person, hospital or institution shall be coerced, held liable or discriminated against in any manner because of a refusal to perform, accommodate, assist or submit to an abortion, the performance of a human miscarriage, or any act which could cause the death of a human foetus or embryo, for any reason; affirms the right of conscientious objection together with the responsibility of the state to ensure that patients are able to access lawful medical care in a timely manner in particular in cases of emergency;
Amendment 34 #
2013/2040(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. reminds § 8.25 of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development stating: "In no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning. (...) Prevention of unwanted pregnancies must always be given the highest priority and every attempt should be made to eliminate the need for abortion. Women who have unwanted pregnancies should have ready access to reliable information and compassionate counselling. Any measures or changes related to abortion within the health system can only be determined at the national or local level according to the national legislative process."
Amendment 28 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Expects the June 2010 European Council to agree on an ambitious and united EU position ahead of September's UN MDG meeting and to lead to new, results- oriented, additional, transparent and measurabletransparent commitments;
Amendment 31 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 33 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 39 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 43 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 52 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 56 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on all Member States to commit to allotting significantly more resources to development cooperation and emergency aid under the next Financial Perspective and European Development Fund;
Amendment 59 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on all Member States to increase significantly the amount of aid provided through budget support, particularly via MDG contracts, but insists democracy, human rights, governance and other essential criteria are met and that there is more and better monitoring and auditsInsists democracy, human rights, governance and other essential criteria are met and that there is more and better monitoring and audits; calls for a manifest and persistent violation of the 'essential element' clause by a government necessarily to have real consequences for European development aid for that country;
Amendment 67 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the EU to put an end to agricultural export subsidies and other harmful aspects of our farm policy as soon as possiblePoints out that the EU has already decided, within the framework of world trade negotiations, to phase out the remaining agricultural export subsidies and that this is already the case for cereals, including wheat and barley; also points out that new research has shown that the phasing out of export subsidies is precisely to the disadvantage of the poorest countries and that only big agricultural producers such as Brazil benefit from it;
Amendment 76 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on developing countries to spend at least 15 % of national budgets on health carePoints out that many developing countries, above all in Africa, attach little importance to the development of a comprehensive system of health care, let alone to a competitive salary for medical personnel and that, furthermore, a disproportionate amount of the money available is still being spent on medicines in place of prevention; calls, therefore, on developing countries to spend at least 15 % of national budgets on health care and primarily to pay attention to building up an army of medical personnel with doctors and nurses with recent, relevant training and teaching material which is tailored to the situation in the countries;
Amendment 78 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the EU and developing couPoints out that it is estimated that tens of thousands of health workers from Africa emigrate abroad every year, and that this only further aggravates the already very critical situation in which medical personnel and health care in general find themselves; considers that the European Blue Card actively contributes to promote free access to health and educationthis trend; points out that such a brain drain is also a consequence of the fact that the training of many African health workers is based on teaching content that is derived from training centres in the West, which means that their knowledge is better geared to the situation in Europe or America than in Africa;
Amendment 88 #
2010/2037(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. CallPoints onut the EU and partner governments to increase investment in farming and food securityat many developing countries are seriously neglecting their agriculture, and therefore calls on those countries to ldevels that guarantee freedom from hunger for all, looking particularly at urgent hunger needs, small-scale farming and social protection programmesote far more of their national budgets to agriculture and to implement a comprehensive agricultural development policy; points out in this connection that a study by the UN food agency has shown that Congo could easily feed 700 million people, 10 times its population, but that it is a net importer of every conceivable type of food;
Amendment 9 #
2009/2171(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
Amendment 10 #
2009/2171(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas both EU donors and developing country governments are failing to meet their spending benchmarks for health and education,
Amendment 12 #
2009/2171(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the developing world faces an urgent shortage of qualified health personnel and whereas many skilled workers, in health and other sectors, are not returning home to benefit their own communities; whereas the European blue card will result in a further brain drain from developing countries, with all the detrimental effects which it entails,
Amendment 14 #
2009/2171(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
Amendment 16 #
2009/2171(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
Amendment 29 #
2009/2171(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Urges all developing countries to foster independent parliaments, able to contribute effectively to deepening democracy by freely exercising their legislative, budgetary and scrutiny functions; at the same time, draws attention to the enormous importance of a judicial system which operates independently and is properly developed;
Amendment 49 #
2009/2171(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
Amendment 53 #
2009/2171(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 67 #
2009/2171(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Believes that the EU should take account of human rights and governance criteria when drawing up trade agreements with developing countries and should not hesitate to apply sanctions when states fail to respect their governance obligations; deplores the fact that the clauses dealing with human rights and good governance (the 'essential element' clauses) have to date in many cases remained ineffective, although both now and in the past numerous manifest and persistent violations have occurred;
Amendment 76 #
2009/2171(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
Amendment 37 #
2009/2165(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Urges ACP countries to establish policies, based on respect for human rights, democratic principles, rule of law, sound economic development and decent work, in order to combat brain drain and allow ACP countries to use their trained work force for their own development; considers in this context that the blue card system and the Commission's reception centres in Africa yet further encourage and aggravate this brain drain;
Amendment 38 #
2009/2165(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Urges that, when revising the agreement, full consideration be given to fighting illegal immigration and that the granting of development aid (or part of it) be made dependent on efforts by the countries concerned to combat it and their readiness to take back their nationals if they are deported;
Amendment 153 #
2009/2069(DEC)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 101 a (new)
Paragraph 101 a (new)
101a. States that the matter upon which the President of the Bureau said that the Bureau would have to reflect carefully at its meeting of 16 June 2009, namely the decline in turnout in European elections, is a political issue and as such is a matter exclusively for the appropriate political bodies of Parliament, that is to say the committees and the Plenary;
Amendment 154 #
2009/2069(DEC)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 101 b (new)
Paragraph 101 b (new)
Amendment 160 #
2009/2069(DEC)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 107 a (new)
Paragraph 107 a (new)
107a. Notes that, since the political groups receive funds from the European Parliament budget, the Financial Regulation is fully applicable to them;
Amendment 163 #
2009/2069(DEC)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 113 a (new)
Paragraph 113 a (new)
113a. Believes that the large annual increase in the allocation to European political parties is not justifiable, and asks that the amount should at least be frozen;
Amendment 164 #
2009/2069(DEC)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 113 b (new)
Paragraph 113 b (new)
113b. Notes that the audit reports submitted by European political parties are far too sketchy; asks that Parliament should only accept proper audit reports which express an opinion on the legality, appropriateness, fitness for purpose and efficacy of the expenditure in question;
Amendment 169 #
2009/2069(DEC)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 117 a (new)
Paragraph 117 a (new)
117a. Deplores the Bureau's careless and inadequate attitude in regard to the scrutiny of spending by European political parties;
Amendment 171 #
2009/2069(DEC)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 120 a (new)
Paragraph 120 a (new)
120a. Notes that the failure of almost all the political foundations to submit detailed work programmes prompts the conclusion that they are unable or unwilling to meet the statutory requirements for receiving European grants, and as a result render themselves ineligible to receive such grants;
Amendment 172 #
2009/2069(DEC)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 120 b (new)
Paragraph 120 b (new)
120b. Decides that grants to a political foundation which fails to submit a detailed work programme will be halted forthwith;
Amendment 173 #
2009/2069(DEC)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 120 c (new)
Paragraph 120 c (new)
120c. Deplores the Bureau's careless and inadequate attitude in regard to the scrutiny of spending by European political foundations;
Amendment 176 #
2009/2069(DEC)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 123
Paragraph 123
123. Supports fully the creation of European political parties and European political foundations and their activities; believes that full transparency as regards the parties' and foundations' financial management and achievement of planned results is of utmost importance for theto European citizens;