Activities of Tomas TOBÉ related to 2021/2178(INI)
Opinions (1)
OPINION on the future of EU-Africa trade relations
Amendments (15)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Underlines that Africa is and will remain a key partner of the EU, in particular in common challenges on sustainable agriculture and food security; believes that the EU and Africa can build back better after COVID-19 and truly deliver on the UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 ‘Zero Hunger in 2030’; stresses that this will require greater commitments from both sides to form a closer and more effective partnership, based on mutual interest, strategic priorities, structured and effective cooperation and clear long-term goals;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1 a. Points out that the European Union and Africa share the objective to transform the way we produce, distribute and consume our food; therefore, cooperation between the EU and its African partners must focus on the central issue of food supply, for instance with targeted investments in a sustainable agricultural revolution that provides African farmers with the means to make farming resistant to climatic related challenges, while improving productivity and increasing the income of smallholder farmers, who form the backbone of the African agriculture; underlines in this regard the high potential of public- private-partnership and microfinancing to further empower local farmers;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Underlines that the communication of the European Commission ‘Towards a comprehensive Strategy with Africa’ rightly declares that the EU and Africa must address the challenges of nutrition and food security by boosting safe and sustainable agri-food systems in order to increase the efforts to reach the Sustainable Development Goal of ‘Zero Hunger in 2030’; stresses that the strategy rightly points out that an EU- Africa partnership on agriculture would support local production and integrate environment and biodiversity concerns, including setting sanitary and phytosanitary standards and the protection of natural resources;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the positive shift in EU- Africa relations towards a partnership on an equal footing, based on reciprocity and mutual benefit, exceeding a donor- recipient relationship, allowing both sides to pursue their own interests but also to identify common areas of cooperation; stresses that free, fair and sustainable trade facilitates inclusive economic growth and sustainable development and contributes to poverty reduction; 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 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Welcomes the new EU Trade Strategy published in February 2021, which places a special focus on Africa and highlights the need to promote greater sustainability in line with the commitment of fully implementing both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the 2017 EU Joint Aid for Trade Strategy to support enhanced integration in the world economy of vulnerable developing countries;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Stresses that the agricultural sector provides a lot of employment possibilities in Africa and has an important impact on the income of people, especially in rural areas;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Underlines that trade by respecting fair conditions should be the baseline for European exports and imports of food and other agricultural products; stresses, at the same time, the need to ensure that agricultural exports do no contradict the goal to establish a more resilient food sector in Africa;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Believes that the EU can contribute to significantly reduce Africa’s current dependence on imports of food, seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, through financial and technical support, policy dialogue, knowledge exchange, new technologies as well as by promoting African innovation;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. 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 diversify intra-African trade;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4 d. Emphasises that breeding techniques and genomic techniques must be an important part of strengthening food production in Africa, for instance to have crops that are more resistant to extreme weather conditions or to increase the nutritional value of certain food products; calls on the Commission to contribute to this through research, shared knowledge and good practices; underlines that this can strengthen local communities, which in turn can boost trade between the EU and Africa;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4 e. Calls on the Commission to promote sustainable development by negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) combining the interests of European producers as well as producers in Africa, fostering development by promoting good and sustainable agricultural practices, regional integration, creating opportunities for trade and investment, improving economic governance and reducing poverty; calls for strengthening the EU’s partnership with Africa onagri- food products in the long-term perspective of a comprehensive continent-to-continent FTA;
Amendment 33 #
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 diversify intra-African trade; calls for chapters ensuring consistency with development needs and policies and the UN sustainable development goals to always be included and implemented, taking into account in particular climate change (and the need for climate change mitigation measures), desertification/deforestation and biodiversity; stresses the opportunities that different trade agreements represent from a sustainable development perspective;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the reform of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences as one of the EU’s key trade instruments for supporting developing countries in their efforts to promote sustainable development, reduce poverty and ensure respect for human rights, in order to meet today’s challenges, shortcomings and ambitions; welcomes, in particular, the aim to facilitate increased economic growth and job creation in developing countries on the African continent; calls on the EU to make sure that European trade policy does not contradict efforts by African partners to establish viable economic structures., for example in the agricultural sector;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes that the development of deeper economic and trade ties with Africa necessitates further development of transport and digital infrastructure with and within Africa, which in turn requires modern, sustainable investments on a large scale, respecting in particular social and environmental standards and the Paris agreement, and which can only be achieved by leveraging public and private financing; stresses that the EU and European businesses should get fully involved in developing such infrastructure, also in view of keeping a strong EU presence on the ground to balance the activities of other players; welcomes in this regard the newly adopted Joint Communication Global Gateway, which pays particular attention to Africa and aims to address the infrastructure- financing gap in low and middle-income countries, which has widened greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and help develop their climate, energy, transport and digital infrastructure and strengthen their health and education systems; emphasises, in particular, the importance to facilitate investment in sustainable infrastructure and regulatory environment for the local production of medicine and medical technologies, to help integrate the current fragmented markets;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Calls on the Commission to push strongly for the recognition of the regionalisation principle, especially with South Africa in relation to avian influenza (HPAI), and for the compliance with all internationally agreed rules on HPAI; stresses that no embargoes should be imposed on entire Member States, but only on the affected regions within the EU; emphasizes, moreover, that embargoes should be lifted within the normal period agreed within the OIE, i.e. 28 days since the last outbreak in that country;