Activities of Heidi HAUTALA related to 2017/2070(INI)
Legal basis opinions (0)
Amendments (14)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Emphasises, in a context where EU’s trade agenda towards developing countries has been characterised by a drive for liberalisation, that trade is not an end in itself, but that an inclusive and fair trade policy aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the European Consensus on Development is an important element contributing to poverty- eradication; recalls the principle of policy coherence for development, requiring that the objectives of development cooperation be taken into account in policies that are likely to affect developing countries;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. CNotes that the proliferation of FTAs has negatively impacted the competitiveness of several ACP exports, particularly the banana and the sugar sector; against this background, calls on the Commission to further assess the impact of preferential trade agreements on developing countries, including the effects of preference erosion and the diversion of trade and investment from developing countries to developed countries with EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs); calls on the EU for appropriate remedial actions to mitigate these effects;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the conclusion of the Regulation on Conflict Minerals1[1] and calls for its speedy and effective implementation, by enforcing ambitious accompanying measures; encourages the Commission to introduce greater transparency and accountability in global supply chains, including binding due diligence obligations for supply chains in the garment sector; _________________ 1 Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 laying down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas, OJ L 130, 19.5.2017, p. 1.
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Warmly welcomes OECD sectorial due diligence guidelines that constitute a global approach to improve transparency and accountability of global value chains and calls on the European Commission to introduce horizontal mandatory due diligence proposals that are based on the OECD guidelines building on the examples on Member state level;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Recalls that greater access to customs data on imports entering the EU would increase GVC transparency and accountability;Calls on the Commission to make extensions on customs data requirements and include the exporter and the manufacturer as mandatory customs data ele-ments thereby enhancing the trans-parency and traceability of global value chains;calls equally on the Commission to seek ways to enable parties having a public interest stake to access the customs data collected from parties trading in products or goods imported into the EU;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Notes with concern that decent work deficits are particularly acute in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) linked to global supply chains, which are often characterized by exemptions from labour laws and taxes, restrictions on trade union activities and collective bargaining;recalls that business enterprises should establish operational-level grievance mechanisms for workers impacted by their operations, including in EPZs;likewise, stresses the need to scale-up cross-border social dialogue through the conclusion of International framework agreements (IFAs) to promote workers' rights in the supply chains of MNEs;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Reiterates its call on the EU and its member states to constructively participate in the intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights with the aim to set up a mandatory and enforceable international treaty;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Emphasises the need to reform the international investment regime to balance rights and obligations of investors, i.e. by allowing claims by affected individuals and awarding remedies against foreign investors if they breach the binding obligations;invites the European Commission to undertake a thorough examination, in consultation with civil society, of existing barriers to justice in cases brought before Member State courts for alleged abuses to human rights committed by EU enterprises or within their supply chain in third countries;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recalls that EU trade and development policy must contribute towards regional integration and the incorporation of developing countries into global value chainregional and ultimately global value chains through economic diversification, which necessitates fair and pro- development global trade rules;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes the progress on the conclusion and implementation of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs); deems that an in-depth analysis on their impact on African economies and their sub-sectors, their respective labour markets, and the promotion of intra- regional trade in Africa is needed; and calls on the Commission to advance dialogue in a spirit of genuine partnership; calls for the timely implementation of accompanying measures including the disbursement of EDF resources;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes, furthermore,Notes that the implementation of the Cariforum EPA; notes that further awareness-raising is need raises concerns to be addressed to ensure that CARICOM countries are able to take advantage of opportunities under the Agreement; welcomes the establishment of the Joint Consultative Committee, but urges the Commission to ensure that future civil society institutions are convened in a timely fashion;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses the importance of robust monitoring mechanisms in trade agreements with developing countries, including engagement with civil society organisations; calls on the EU to ensure that human rights conditions linked to unilateral trade preferences such as GSP or GSP+ are effectively implemented and monitored; on this line, welcomes the fact that EU monitoring missions are being sent to all GSP+ countries and urges the Commission to carry out a critical assessment of progress reports in order to evaluate the ability of trade preferences to deliver development outcomes;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. WNotes with concern that many difficulties remain to assess the relationship between trade and gender, due to a number of factors, including a lack of data; welcomes the development of gender equality provisions in the ongoing negotiations with Latin American countries; emphasises the need for further mainstreaming of gender equality in EU trade policy., which requires to use sex- disaggrated statistics in every single sector of the economy concerned;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Stresses the importance to adapt trade policies to support national efforts to combat climate change in order to comply with the Paris Agreement, which should be considered as an “essential clause” in all future EU trade agreements;