24 Amendments of Konstantinos ARVANITIS related to 2020/0112R(APP)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the proposal for a Council regulation represents a step forward in making the work of the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) more effective by enabling it to operate fully in all areas of Union competence and by clarifying its tasks and working methods;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the role of the FRA as an independent and fully-fledged EU agency and fundamental rights watchdog should be further strengthened and its mandate enlarged;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas EU ambitions for developing a stronger external dimension should be reflected in the further involvement of the FRA in the monitoring and scrutiny of the acts and activities of the Union and its Member States in the area of the common foreign and security policy, and in particular the common security and defence policy which falls under its aegis;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas in a globalised world, international cooperation with third countriest is increasingly important in order to guarantee sufficientfull protection of fundamental rights within the framework of international cooperation with third countries;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas building trust among EU citizens in the work of police and justice authorities can only be achieved when the acts and activities of the Union and its Member States are sufficicarefully and consistently monitored and scrutinised to ensure that they are in line with fundamental values, andand swiftly brought into line with fundamental rights obligations when breaches occur; whereas breaches of fundamental rights in the area of policing and justice have grave consequences for those affected; whereas therefore FRA activity in the area of freedom, security and justice is therefore of the utmost importance;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. AcknowledgeConsiders the objective of the FRA in providing information, assistance and expertise on fundamental rights and in defending and protecting fundamental rights in the EU to be of the utmost importance; underlines its role as a facilitator in supporting the Union and its Member States when taking measures or formulating courses of action relating to fundamental rights;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Encourages the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament to systematically use the data produced by FRA in policy making;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that antisemitism is aracism and xenophobia are complex phenomenona and requires a holistic response across policy areas; recalls that the rise of Jew-hatred and antisemitismany form of discrimination poses a threat to our democratic values; notes with serious concern the increase in antisemitic hate speech; stresses the need for action in that regard; regrets that although there were some policy developments regarding antisemitism at EU level recently, very few developments addressed racism and xenophobia; stresses that some Member States adopted policies to better address racism and to encourage people to report hate crime, but assessing their impact remains difficult; notes with serious concern that people with minority backgrounds and migrants continued to experience harassment, violence and ethnic and racial discrimination in different areas of life in the EU, and that discriminatory ethnic profiling remains a persistent challenge in a number of Member States1a; _________________ 1aFRA's Fundamental Rights Report 2020, Page 59
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Reaffirms its strong willingness to enable the FRA to operate fully in all areas of Union competence and to fulfil its role as designed by the EU legislators, and therefore to identify the principles and conditions under which it might give its consent;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Regrets that the annual budget of the agency has been static since 2013 while the budgets of other agencies such as Frontex have seen steep increases, and calls on the Commission to allocate an increased budget to allow the Agency to implement new projects identified by the Agency following its stakeholder consultation process, as well as to increase its capacity to monitor the application of fundamental rights and fundamental rights violations;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – point i – paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 4 – point i – paragraph 1 a (new)
Strongly insists that the Agency is competent in the area of police cooperation and judicial cooperation in criminal matters;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – point i a (new)
Paragraph 4 – point i a (new)
(i a) Believes that FRA should be empowered to intervene at its own initiative in the legislative processes;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – point i b (new)
Paragraph 4 – point i b (new)
(i b) Recalls that FRA is also competent to provide input and advice in the context of Article 7 TEU proceedings, and believes that it should carry out a regular monitoring exercise and produce periodic reports on the situation of democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights in the EU and its Member States, and that such reports should be taken into account in the Article 7 TEU proceedings and by national and European authorities;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – point i c (new)
Paragraph 4 – point i c (new)
(i c) Regrets the absence of an explicit coordinating role for the FRA in identifying the main positive and negative developments in each Member States in the new Regulation on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget in case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in the Member States, and urges the Commission to take the necessary steps to provide for an expanded role for the FRA in same;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – point ii – paragraph 1
Paragraph 4 – point ii – paragraph 1
Observer membership should not be restricted to candidate countries or countries with a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, but should be open to other third countries, such as European Economic Area/European Free Trade Association countries, or the UK post- Brexit and countries covered by the European neighbourhood policy;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – point iii – paragraph 1
Paragraph 4 – point iii – paragraph 1
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – point iii a (new)
Paragraph 4 – point iii a (new)
(iii a) Believes that the FRA should have an enhanced operational role in regard to monitoring respect for fundamental rights at the external borders of the European Union;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 – point iv – paragraph 1
Paragraph 4 – point iv – paragraph 1
The proposal by the Commission to discontinue the previouscurrent five-year Multiannual Framework should be taken on board; the FRA should prepare its programming in close consultation with the FRA national liaison officers, in order to coordinate the work in the best possible way with the respective national authorities; the draft programming document should be sent to the competent Council preparatory body and the European Parliament for discussion, and in the light of the outcome of these discussions, the Director of the FRA mustshould submit the draft programming document to the FRA Management Board for adoption;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – introductory part
Paragraph 5 – introductory part
5. Calls on the Commission to consider a broader revision of the FRA Regulation following a thorough impact assessment, in order to strengthen the independence of the FRA; calls for the Commission to reflect in particular uncil to also take into account the following considerations when amending the FRA Regulation:
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – point i – paragraph 1
Paragraph 5 – point i – paragraph 1
As is the case with many other EU agencies, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs should have the right to nominate one additional member of the FRA Management Board; members of the Management Board should have the right to be reappointed once, and the restriction on non-consecutive terms is unnecessary;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 – point iii – paragraph 1
Paragraph 5 – point iii – paragraph 1
Upon the request of the Council, the Commission or Parliament, the FRA should be able to carry out scientific research, surveys, and preparatory and feasibility studies and formulate and publish conclusions and opinions on specific thematic topics; this should also be possible on the initiative of the FRA, and not only upon the request of an EU institution; furthermore, individual Member States or a group of Member States should have the right of initiative;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Calls on the Commission to carry out in the near future a more comprehensive and ambitious revision of the FRA Regulation following a thorough impact assessment, with a view to expanding the mandate and strengthening the independence of the FRA;