19 Amendments of Ellie CHOWNS
Amendment 1 #
2019/2055(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. RStresses that the Union’s ambition to forge a “partnership of equals” with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries implies full respect of the “ownership principle”, in line with the Union’s international commitments on aid effectiveness; reiterates its concerns as regards the use of development funds for non- development objectives and underlines that funding which does not fulfil official development assistance criteria must be sourced from other instruments than the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI); in particular, urges the Union and its Member States to refrain from imposing aid conditionalities regarding migration and trade reforms, which contravenes the development effectiveness principles; underlines the importance of ensuring human rights standards in all cooperation under the DCI and insists that in order to successfully combat poverty in the long-term, the Union must address the root causes of poverty and inequalities;
Amendment 6 #
2019/2055(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Regrets that, in spite of the Union’s commitment to sustainability and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Special Report No 7/2019 of the Court of Auditors shows that the Commission does not report on or monitor how the Union budget and policies contribute to sustainable development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); notes that the Commission has recently published a reflection paper outlining scenarios for a sustainable Europe; regrets, however, that this paper does not include a gap analysis of what more the Union needs to do in terms of budget, policy and legislation, nor does it present the contribution of Union spending programmes towards implementing the SDGs;
Amendment 8 #
2019/2055(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the use of budget support in general to assist developing countries in their reform efforts and in achieving the SDGs, urges, however, the Commission to more clearly assess and define the development outcomes to be achieved through budget support in each case and above all to enhance control mechanisms concerning recipient states' conduct in the fields of corruption, respect of human rights, rule of law and democracy. ; recalls that domestic resource mobilisation is the centre-piece for sustainable financing of development and one of the five key development challenges to be addressed by budget support; calls on the Commission to adopt a trade and investment policy consistent with this goal, which entails among others taking into account least developed countries concerns of economic partnership agreements regarding the erosion of revenues linked to the removal of custom duties and ensuring fair distribution of taxing rights while negotiating tax and investment treaties with developing countries, notably regarding redistribution of tax revenues from natural resources;
Amendment 13 #
2019/2055(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Urges the Union and its Member States to refrain from supporting practices which facilitate tax dodging by transnational corporations and individuals, in the pursuit of its objective to create a business-friendly environment for private investors in developing countries in the remit of the European Fund for Sustainable Development; in addition, stresses the risk of indebtedness linked to the increased Union recourse to blending, notably in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean countries with limited revenues to service their debt; calls on the Union and its Member States to tackle effectively and consistently tax evasion, aggressive tax avoidance practices and harmful tax competition, in line with the principle of Policy Coherence for Development;
Amendment 6 #
2018/0358M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Deplores the fact that no human rights impact assessment was ever carried out prior to the launching of negotiations; recalls that the European Ombudsman, as well as the European Parliament in its urgency resolutions of 9 June 2016, 14 December 2017 and 15 November 2018, notify serious concerns regarding the protection of the human rights in Vietnam especially in relation to freedom of expression, assembly and association, religious freedom, and as regards detention of human rights activists and violence against women; notes with great concern that the human rights situation in Vietnam keeps deteriorating, ever since the implementation of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) in 2012 and since the conclusion of the EVFTA in 2016, notably for human rights defenders in Vietnam;
Amendment 7 #
2018/0358M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Reaffirms in the strongest terms that the parties to the IPA as well as investors protected by the IPA must respect all international human rights standards and obligations, in addition to those arising from domestic laws; takes the view that tangible improvements on human rights in Vietnam is a key precondition to the ratification of the Investment Protection Agreement and calls for the inclusion of an enforceable Human Right Clause, which include mechanism for redress and accountability in relation to communities affected, considering that the human rights mechanism under the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) has proved to be ineffective to address grave and systematic human rights violations;
Amendment 11 #
2018/0358M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. WelcomesTakes note of the use of the transparency rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) for dispute settlement, but underlines that the use of substantive provisions of foreign investment protection, in particular the principles of ‘indirect expropriation’ and of ‘fair and equitable treatment’, does not weaken the Parties’ right to regulate and pursue legitimate public policy objectives, such as public health, safety and environmental protection; insists on regular monitoring and reporting back to the European Parliament on the use of this provision by European investors;
Amendment 14 #
2018/0358M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that protections afforded to investors could possiblyare outpaceing the development of investor responsibilities as the EU- Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) guarantees enforceable rights to foreign investors through the arbitration clause, but does not provide a sanction mechanism for non-compliance with social and environmental standards; reiterates the need to ensure a fair balance of investors’ rights and duties, in terms of corporate, social and environmental standards, in the IPA; underlines in this regard the importance of establishing an independent monitoring and complaint mechanism that can be seized by affected populations and that has the authority to make binding rulings with regard to the negative impact that trade and investment agreements may have, including through sanctions; further calls on the EU and Vietnam to take a leading role in addressing this at multilateral level through active participation in negotiations at the UN for a legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises, which ensures access to justice for victims of human rights violations and provide mechanisms for redress and accountability for the communities affected.
Amendment 3 #
2018/0358(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
The Committee on Development calls on the Committee on International Trade, as the committee responsible, to recommend that Parliament give its consent to the proposal forreject the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Investment Protection Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, of the other part.
Amendment 5 #
2018/0356M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the inclusion of a comprehensive and binding chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) with explicit references to Multilateral Environmental Agreements, the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; deplores, however, that the chapter on sustainable development is explicitly excluded from the state to state dispute settlement mechanism which provides for a suspension of trade preferences; underlines the importance of mandatory and enforceable provisions in the chapter on trade and sustainable development to contribute effectively to the strengthening of labour rights and environmental standards, including corporate responsibility;
Amendment 12 #
2018/0356M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Urges the Commission to earmark specific funding for civil society organisations, such as the domestic advisory groups (DAGs), in order to fulfil the key objectives of the TSD chapter, which include an increased monitoring of commitments, the development of action plans for areas where concerns have been identified, and the triggering of dispute settlement processes in the event that action plans have not been respected; regrets that the mandate of the DAGs is limited to monitoring the TSD Chapter only; regrets that the promotion of gender equality and women empowerment is not prominently mentioned in the FTA;
Amendment 14 #
2018/0356M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Deplores the fact that no human rights impact assessment was ever carried out prior to the launching of negotiations in spite of serious concerns regarding the protection of human rights in Vietnam, notably following the decision of the European Ombudsman of 26 February 2016, which concluded that the refusal of the European Commission to carry out a prior human rights impact assessment of the EU/Vietnam Free Trade Agreement is unjustified and constitutes a case of maladministration;
Amendment 16 #
2018/0356M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Congratulates, as a first step, Viet Nam on ratifying six of the ILO’s eight fundamental conventions, namely No 29 on forced labour, Nos 100 and 111 on non-discrimination, Nos 138 and 182 on child labour and, most recently, No 98 on the right to organise and collective bargaining; urges the Vietnamese Government to quickly ratify outstanding convention No 105 on forced labour and No 87 on the freedom of association, and highlights the crucial importance of ensuring that all of these conventions are fully implemented; into its legal system, prior to European Parliament ratification of the FTA; urges equally the Vietnamese Government to secure tangible improvements on human rights, i.e. by releasing all imprisoned human rights defenders and by repealing penal code provisions that criminalise free speech and association prior to ratification; more broadly, urges for the creation of an effective remedy and compensation mechanism for cases of human rights violations in the EVFTA;
Amendment 23 #
2018/0356M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes Viet Nam’s commitment to revise and quickly ratify its Labour Code, which shall allow effectively the formation of independent trade unions; highlighting the importance of the promotion and practical enforcement of gender equality and female empowerment; reiterates that gender inequality should no longer be seen as a purely social issue, but as an economic one that presents a key challenge to attaining inclusive and sustainable growth; calls on the Commission to monitor developments closely and to keep Parliament regularly updated on the situation.
Amendment 26 #
2018/0356M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Points out that arbitrary expropriation are common phenomena in Vietnam where the land belongs to the State; expresses its concern that the new export opportunities offered by the EU - Vietnam agreement for the European agri-food industry may exacerbate land conflict, while undermining family farming;
Amendment 29 #
2018/0356M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Recalls the importance to adapt trade policies to support national efforts to combat climate change in order to comply with the Paris Agreement; stresses in this context the need to make EU- Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) consistent with EU-FLEGT agreement with Vietnam, notably by including in its trade and sustainable development (TSD) chapters binding and enforceable provisions to halt illegal logging, deforestation, forest degradation and land grabbing; stresses the importance of effective monitoring of these provisions and sanctions mechanisms that allow individuals and communities, outside or within the EU, to seek redress; in particular, underlines that this mechanism must give special consideration to the rights of indigenous peoples, forest-dependent communities, and the rights granted under ILO Convention C169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples where applicable;
Amendment 32 #
2018/0356M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Expresses its concern about the impact of the new stringent provisions on Intellectual Property Rights on Vietnamese access to medicine; calls for the removal of such restrictions to protect the right of access to generic medicines and to healthcare.
Amendment 34 #
2018/0356M(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Recalls that the E.C. issued a “yellow card” to Vietnam in October 2017, in view of his failure to tackle effectively illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; urges the Vietnamese government to comply effectively with EU recommendations prior to the ratification of EVFTA.
Amendment 3 #
2018/0356(NLE)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
The Committee on Development calls on the Committee on International Trade, as the committee responsible, to recommend that Parliament give its consent to the proposal for Creject the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam (INTA/8/14829); (2018/0356(NLE)).