63 Amendments of Bettina VOLLATH related to 2021/2066(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
— having regard to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Report of 2010 on Post-public employment: Good practices for preventing Conflict of Interest,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 b (new)
Citation 6 b (new)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 a (new)
Citation 11 a (new)
— having regard to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2011) and the development of standards in the fight against corruption,
Amendment 6 #
— having regard to the Council Regulation (EU)2020/1998 of 7 December 2020 concerning restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuse,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
— having regard to the Council Decision (CFSP)2021/1277 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Lebanon,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 b (new)
Citation 13 b (new)
— having regard to the adoption of new binding provisions by the French Parliament for the restitution of confiscated stolen assets to the people in the countries of origin,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 14 a (new)
Citation 14 a (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 17 December 2020 on sustainable corporate governance,
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 20 a (new)
Citation 20 a (new)
— having regard to art. 83(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union on areas of crimes with a cross-border dimension, including corruption, in which the EU may establish common rules, by means of directives,
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 23 a (new)
Citation 23 a (new)
— having regard to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers Recommendation to Member States on common rules against corruption in the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns,
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 23 b (new)
Citation 23 b (new)
— having regard to the Regulation 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations,
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas the OECD has declared that bribery and corruption are damaging to democratic institutions and the governance of corporations and a duty to adopt preventive measures against corruption should be part of the due diligence obligations imposed on companies operating in the Union;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas corruption typically involves the misuse of power, the capture of structures of the State, a lack of accountability, the obstruction of justice, the use of improper influence, the institutionalisation of discrimination, clientelism, nepotism and the distortion of market mechanisms among other things, and is facilitated by inadequate transparency and access to information; whereas rising authoritarianism provides fertile ground for corruption, the combating of which calls for international cooperation with like- minded democracies;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. whereas the external credibility of the EU also depends on effective anti- corruption action within its Member States and at EU level; whereas many EU Member States have put in place measures to prevent cases of undue influence and risks of corruption involving lawmakers and public officials; whereas these rules are only partially enforced and whereas harmonised rules at EU level are lacking and falling short to prevent risks of undue influence, conflict of interest and corruption;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
G b. whereas external actors such as Russia and China are using strategic corruption as a new foreign policy weapon within the EU, in countries in the EU’s eastern and southern neighbourhood and elsewhere in the world, thus destabilising these countries and hampering their progress towards functioning democracies;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G c (new)
Recital G c (new)
G c. whereas foreign states and non- state actors are increasingly implementing strategies of elite capture, including at EU level and within EU Member States, and the technique of co-opting top-level civil servants, among them former European politicians and highly qualified staff, recruited to advance specific interests in regulatory and legislative processes; whereas the regulation of professional activities and employment of former public officials in the private sector is a long-standing tool in the international fight against corruption and enshrined in the UNCAC;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas the EU is the destination of several billion euros of misappropriated public funds and assets stolen from third countries; whereas European authorities are not yet able to confiscate and return the large majority of these stolen assets; whereas legal framework on stolen asset recovery is highly fragmented in the EU; whereas France has newly adopted a restitution mechanism for illicitly acquired assets to be returned to the country of origin;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
H b. whereas the protection of whistleblowers from discriminatory and retaliatory actions in public and private sector environments is essential to encourage the reporting of misuse of public funds, fraud, active bribery and other acts of corruption; whereas providing effective legal protection and clear guidance on reporting procedures is integral to efforts to combat corruption, to promote public sector integrity and accountability and to help businesses to prevent, detect and tackle bribery in commercial transactions;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)
Recital H c (new)
H c. whereas the private sector and business enterprises can play a significant role in addressing corruption in multinational groups and in global supply chains and have a key role in limiting Human Rights impacts and fighting corruption globally; whereas only three EU Member States are imposing legal obligation on larger companies related to the prevention and detection of corruption;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H d (new)
Recital H d (new)
H d. whereas States parties of the UNCAC, including all EU Member States, have committed to establishing the bribery of foreign public official as a criminal offence, punishable by criminal penalties and to establishing the liability of legal persons for the bribery of foreign public officials;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas corporate due diligence rleguislations are indispensable means to prevent and tackl, tackle and effectively remediate human rights and environmental violations globally; whereas the provisions of the UNCAC should form part of the due diligence obligations envisaged in the forthcoming Commission proposal on the matter;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
I a. whereas several States have in place Investor Citizenship and Residence Schemes, also called ‘golden visas’ programmes, which offer facilitated routes to citizenship or residence rights to foreign investors; whereas in order to make their programmes more competitive and to attract foreign direct investments, States, including EU Member States, tend to weaken their due diligence and integrity requirements, which increases the risk of misuse of these programmes for the purposes of money laundering or hiding funds obtained via corrupt activities and avoiding confiscation and persecution in home jurisdictions; whereas clients of these programmes increasingly come from China, followed by Russia;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
J a. whereas the new EU framework for targeted restrictive measures to address the situation in Lebanon provides for the possibility to impose sanctions against persons and entities responsible for undermining democracy and rule of law, including for serious financial misconduct, concerning public funds, insofar as the acts concerned are covered by the UNCAC, and the unauthorised export of capital; whereas the EU should avoid fragmentation of its legal framework with country-based sanction regimes and should rather adopt an horizontal regime against acts of corruption;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c
Paragraph 1 – point c
(c) formulate a comprehensive EU global anti-corruption strategy by taking stock of existing anti-corruption instruments and good practices in the EU’s toolbox, identifying gaps, increasing funding, and expanding support to anti- corruption CSOs, as already requested by the European Parliament in its resolution of 13 September 2017 on corruption and human rights in third countries; take urgent action to prevent corruption by putting in place preventing measures, policies and practices, enhancing efforts and resources for education and training in the public and private sectors, including through public global corruption prevention campaigns;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
(c a) establish a dedicated Council Working Party for preparatory works on anti-corruption matters in order to inform the discussions in the Council;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e
Paragraph 1 – point e
(e) insist on the full implementation and enforcement of existing national and international anti-corruption instruments such as the UNCAC, OECD Convention on Combating the Bribery of Foreign Public Officials, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption; encourage all States that have not yet done so to ratify those anti-corruption instruments as matter of priority; launch an inclusive and comprehensive process to review the EU’s implementation of the UNCAC;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f
Paragraph 1 – point f
(f) advance efforts in all EU Member States to freeze and confiscate stolen assets in their jurisdictions, in line with the UNCAC, and to return them in a transparent and accountable manner to the country of origin; ensure greater transparency and access to information on foreign assets detained on the EU territory, including on the origin of these assets, while taking into consideration possible threats to the owners’ safety and safeguarding their fundamental rights; encourage the adoption of legislations and take further measures to freeze and confiscate stolen assets in their jurisdictions, in line with the UNCAC, and to return them in a transparent and accountable manner to the country of origin; ensuring that fundamental rights are respected and preventing further corrupt practices in the country of asset origin; meaningfully involve CSOs in the entire process, from identification of assets to monitoring the use of return assets;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
(f a) provide technical assistance and resources to States lacking sufficient capacity to address corruption and business-related human rights challenges; insist on the need for strengthened resources and additional capabilities for national law enforcement bodies dealing with corruption, including for enhanced technological capabilities to investigate corruption; promote and support the role of parliaments and other legislative bodies in the management of public resources and ensure their capacity to exercise effective budget oversight;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 2
Paragraph 1 – subheading 2
Internal-external coherence: fighting corruption in EU democracies
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g
Paragraph 1 – point g
(g) strengthen the credibility of EU external anti-corruption action by more effectively combating corruption and money laundering within the EU; recognise that systemic corruption in some EU Member States undermines anti-corruption efforts in third countries and take action to terminate it; recognise that a lack of harmonisation and determined action, delays and a gap in implementing the anti- corruption regulations within the EU emboldens corrupt actors both inside and outside of the EU;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g a (new)
(g a) request the Commission to put forward an EU anti-corruption directive on the basis of Art. 83 TFEU, establishing common EU rules for the definition of criminal sanctions for corruption and creating EU provisions regarding the return of confiscated stolen assets to countries of origin, including the reversal of the burden of proof for assets confiscation in corruption cases; align these standards with most advanced legal provisions in existing national legislations and best practices in EU Member States;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g b (new)
(g b) thoroughly analyse foreign interferences, including in the EU and its Member States, by foreign States and non-State actors using corruption as a tool to undermine democratic processes, notably by means of party funding and elite-capture;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g c (new)
(g c) urge Member States to prohibit extra-EU funding to political parties and those entities directly funded by political parties to campaign on their behalf; urge the strengthening of national rules, institutional frameworks and enforcement practices in respect of extra-EU funding of political foundations and electoral campaigns, particularly with transparency and oversight provisions; ensure coordination and harmonisation of national rules and enforcements practices to improve effectiveness both at EU and non-EU level, including by increasing resources for the European Coordination Network on Elections to take up this role; promote dedicated programmes on transparent political party financing and campaign spending in the EU’s external democracy support in third countries;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g d (new)
(g d) adopt and apply strict standards for post-public employment and consistently monitor and enforce compliance with national post- employment rules designed to guard against corruption of former elected office holders and public officials increasingly exposed to corruption and co-opted by foreign stakeholders to exert undue influence towards EU and national institutions; tackle the current legal fragmentation, including at EU level, for post-public employment by creating harmonised rules, including at EU level, a robust oversight system and an appropriate sanction regime;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g e (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g e (new)
(g e) address the impunity for grand corruption as a priority because of its grave negative impact on human rights, including through the creation of a European Observatory on the fight against impunity; develop principles and work for an internationally recognised legal definition of grand corruption, including its systemic nature, as a crime in national and international law; address ongoing cases of impunity for grand corruption by stronger enforcement of anti-corruption laws to ensure accountability for the perpetrators of grand corruption schemes; explore comprehensive approaches that includes reforms to international justice institutions, including extending the jurisdiction of the ICC; encourage States, including EU Member States, to make use of their universal jurisdiction to prosecute acts of grand corruption;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g f (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g f (new)
(g f) work with third countries for the adoption and implementation of a comprehensive legislation on whistleblower protection in line with international human rights standards, providing for confidential and secure reporting mechanisms and robust legal protection from reprisals to all whistleblowers, including those reporting to CSOs, the media, and to international mechanisms; advance all efforts in EU Member States to swiftly transpose the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive into their national legislation and to effectively implement it; guarantee the same level of protection for staff of EU institutions and harmonise internal rules and standards in this regard; apply a minima the same level of protection for persons reporting breaches of national law;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g g (new)
Paragraph 1 – point g g (new)
(g g) adopt common standards and mechanisms for enhanced transparency and reduction of the corruption and money laundering risk posed by ‘Citizenship by Investment’ programmes; require proper control and oversight of applicants and investments before granting ‘golden visas’ and regulate national schemes on the basis of minimum standards and practices harmonised at EU level to terminate competition between single Member States;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 3
Paragraph 1 – subheading 3
Human rights and anti-corruption: enriching and operationalising the EU’s toolbox
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point h a (new)
(h a) create an EU anti-corruption task force, gathering anti-corruption experts, with the mandate to conduct ex-ante assessments of the level of corruption in third countries and to design comprehensive reform plans to tackle corruption prior to the conclusion of any EU agreement and the programming of EU funds; place this taskforce’s work under European Parliament’s oversight and grant this task force with adequate powers and resources to conduct investigations and evaluation on the ground and to provide technical and operational assistance to partner countries to implement required reforms; condition any EU bilateral assistance and bilateral agreement to full cooperation with this taskforce and genuine anti- corruption reform steps;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j
Paragraph 1 – point j
(j) ensure that the highest ethical and transparency standards are applied in EU funding, that CSOs and independent actors are included and that grievance mechanisms are available and accessible; ensure that all EU bodies and agencies improve access to information and refrain from charging fees for access to information; including the financing of projects and loans by the European Investment Bank (EIB), that CSOs and independent actors are fully involved in the monitoring of these funds and that grievance mechanisms are available, accessible and ensure accountability for the possible misuse of funds; ensure that all EU bodies and agencies guarantee free, swift and easy access to information, including regarding the allocation, the final recipient of funding and the final use of funds;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l
Paragraph 1 – point l
(l) include in all EU-third country trade and investment agreements, include a strong and mandatory human rights conditionality framework with transparency provisions and binding and enforceable anti- corruption clauses; as a last resort,include commitment and high-standards of whistleblower protection in all EU trade and investment agreements with third parties; impose sanctions or suspend agreements in the event of serious acts of corruption;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point l a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point l a (new)
(l a) apply inclusive and meaningful transparency in trade negotiations, enable public oversight and public awareness of strategies and priorities; require similar degree of transparency from the negotiating partners;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o
Paragraph 1 – point o
(o) recognise the crucial role of CSOs, human rights defenders (HRDs) and investigative journalists in the fight against corruption, through changing societal norms, fighting impunity, gathering data, and achieving better implementation and enforcement of anti-corruption measures; insist on the need for victims of corruption to be able to participate in judicial corruption proceedings and to claim for compensations;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point o a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point o a (new)
(o a) insist on the importance of creating a safe and enabling environment and protecting journalists, whistleblowers, witnesses and anti-corruption activists from threats arising from their activities in preventing and fighting corruption;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point p
Paragraph 1 – point p
(p) design programmes to provide more financial support to CSOs, independent media, whistleblowers and HRDs working on preventing and exposing corruption, advancing transparency and accountability,; inclumprove smaller CSOs’ access to EU funding; support against strategic lawsuits (strategic lawsuits against public participation, SLAPP suits); improve smaller CSOs’ access to EU fuparliaments in their oversight roles with capacity building and advance internal party democracy with capacity building and ingternal reforms;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point p a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point p a (new)
(p a) strengthen their support to civil society stakeholders targeted by strategic lawsuits against public participations (SLAPPs) and come forward with an EU directive enacting protection and legal safeguards for victims of SLAPPs, including the possibility for the victim to request the dismissal of abusive lawsuits;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point q
Paragraph 1 – point q
(q) empower and allocate dedicated resources to EU delegations and Member States' representations to strengthen protection of witnesses, whistleblowers and anti-corruption HRDs, including through temporary visa schemtheir relatives and other persons close to them, as appropriate, including through issuing emergency visas and providing temporary shelter in EU Member States;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point r
Paragraph 1 – point r
(r) promote strong access to information laws, including improved transparency of public procurement and lobbying, with independent oversight bodies; promote greater policy coherence, including by integrating human rights due diligence and anti-corruption provisions into public procurement;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point s
Paragraph 1 – point s
(s) support and strengthen independent, impartial and effective judiciaries, prosecution and law enforcement bodies; for the successful investigation, prosecution and adjudication of corruption offences, including through sufficient financial and training resources;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point t
Paragraph 1 – point t
(t) continue supporting free and fair electoral processes and promote accountability to voters with special attention to electoral fraud and vote buying; promote transparency and impartiality rules to counter illicit political financing; ensure a more systematic follow-up on the recommendations of international observer missions;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point ab
Paragraph 1 – point ab
(ab) promote the inclusmeaningful and effective participation of non- governmental stakeholders, including academia and CSOs, as observers in subsidiary bodies of the Conference of States Parties of the UNCAC and other multilateral anti-corruption mechanisms;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point ab a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point ab a (new)
(ab a) advance efforts to effectively enforce the prohibition of corruption in the private sector, in line with the UNCAC, to effectively enforce penalties on corporations for acts of corruption and to extend the prohibition of corruption to all corporation under national jurisdictions, regardless of where the act of corruption takes place;
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point ab b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point ab b (new)
(ab b) require all large companies and all listed companies, included those established in the EU and non EU companies operating in the EU market, to report on the impact of their activities and on the policy they implement on anti- corruption and anti-bribery matters;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point ac
Paragraph 1 – point ac
(ac) urgently set up an EU mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (HRDD) instrumentlegislation that requires companies to engage actively in the identification, assessment, mitigation, prevention and notification of any adverse impacts of their businesses and supply chains on human rights, and which includes strong anti-corruption provisions and obligatory grievance mechanismsundertakings, including banks and financial institutions, to identify, prevent, mitigate, cease and account for human rights violations, including acts of bribery and corruption arising from their business models and operations in their global value chains, with robust enforcement mechanisms and liability regimes enabling victims to hold companies into account and to seek for remedy;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point ac a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point ac a (new)
(ac a) ensure that due diligence obligations apply to the bribery of foreign public officials, occurring directly or through intermediaries and is imposed to all entities and business relationships on a company’s global value chain; ensure liability of the company directing, authorizing or covering acts of corruption;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point ad a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point ad a (new)
(ad a) enact binding provisions and guidance for companies to guarantee safe internal and confidential reporting by directors, officers, employees and business partners on breaches of anti- corruption rules and professional ethics within the company and to protect these stakeholders, in line with the EU whistleblower directive;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point ae
Paragraph 1 – point ae
(ae) reconfirm the importance of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by ensuring that all Member States that have not yet adopted national action plans do so as soon as possible, and promote the adoption of action plans and corporate due diligence legislations by third countries; engage constructively and actively in the negotiations on the UN Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subheading 8
Paragraph 1 – subheading 8
Sanctioning corruption through the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EU Magnitsky Act )
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point af
Paragraph 1 – point af
(af) swiftly come forward with a legislative proposal to amend the current EU Global Human Rights Screate a stand-alone global sanctions regime to tackle acts of corruption defined on the basis of the UNCAC; ensure oversight of the European Parliament on the implementation of this new sanctions Rregime by extending its scope to include acts of corrupand adopt strict reporting requirements to monitor the implementation of sanctions; note the risk of corrupt actors moving their assets to the EU as more and more countries adopt stricter frameworks;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point af a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point af a (new)
(af a) swiftly adopt targeted sanctions, including asset freeze and travel bans, to high-ranked officials and economic actors responsible for acts of corruption; share information and coordinate with likeminded partners;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point aj
Paragraph 1 – point aj
(aj) recognise the causal linkages between environmental degradastruction as an impediment to the enjoyment of human rights, and the underlying networks of corruption, bribery or organised crime; work towards mainstreaming anti- corruption in EU climate action,nd environmental action advancing transparency and good governance of natural resources and the fight against land grabbing, and focusing on the sectors most at risk, such as the extractive industries;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point ak
Paragraph 1 – point ak
(ak) protect environmental HRDs and land defenders, particularly women and indigenous HRDs, who face the greatest risk of harassment, intimidation and violence and killings, including through issuing emergency visas and providing temporary shelter in EU Member States;