Activities of Heidi HAUTALA related to 2018/2106(INI)
Legal basis opinions (0)
Amendments (15)
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
– having regard to the European Economic and Social Committee’s Opinion of 15 February2018 on Trade and Sustainable Development chapters (TSD) in EU Free Trade Agreements (FTA),
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 b (new)
Citation 7 b (new)
– having regard to its recommendations of 13 December 2017 to the Council and the Commission following the inquiry into money laundering, tax avoidance and tax evasion,
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas there is now a sufficient amount of experience, data and statistical information to assess the implementation of the trade in goods part of the AA; whereas the trade in services part, as well as data related to money laundering, mispricing and tax evasion, as well as on trade and climate change are still absent from the implementing report; whereas Parliament’s resolutions adopted in parallel with its consent to the AA outlined the aims for the trade part of the agreement and included suggestions on follow-up during its implementation which are relevant for the ongoing analysis;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas it is desirable to maintain the previous format of implementing reports for each FTA (Free Trade Agreement) or AA (Association Agreement) in order to ease access, also for the broader public, outline specific shortcomings and facilitate an understanding on how to review and reform, as the current format cutting issues into bits and pieces does not allow for an appreciation of a particular FTA or AA as a whole, be it intended or not;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Underlines that Central America is one of the regions most affected by climate change and natural disasters, and therefore urges a most careful investigation into the relationship between change of land use due to liberalisation of investment and access to ownership, and the expansion of monocultures; into protection and access to water resources and fresh water and the need to maintain and/or develop respective public utilities, and into cooperation in the development of non-polluting public transport and energy systems;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Equally underlines that violence related to the expansion of monocultures such as palm oil, bananas and sugar adds a further dimension to the worsening social situation in central America and is a key reason for a massive migration flows to the North; regrets that this dimension is not tackled in the report;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Notes that data on imports from Central America are extremely fluctuating as long as Central American exports concentrate on commodities and their prices on the world market or product parts in the global value chains; puts as an example the relocation of a multinational company producing chips in Costa Rica to South East Asia, which exported 86 percent of total machinery and equipment imported from Central America before and fell to close to 0 afterwards;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Concludes therefrom that all parties have to better define investment, also in the agreement, and distinguish between productive and speculative investment, while the latter should not be covered by agreement provisions; notes that foreign direct investment usually mostly consists of mergers and takeovers which tend to not create more and better jobs, but mean restructuring, closing down of factories and job losses; asks the Commission to dedicate a chapter on investment trends in this respect in the next implementation report;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Underlines that the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers reveal how much Central American countries are involved in unlawful tax avoidance and investment flow practices; urges the Commission to apply the recommendations set out in the final report of the PANA committee, revise the pertinent chapters on financial services and establishment accordingly and come forward with concrete proposals for a revised version of these chapters, which effectively protects against tax evasion;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that further progress needs to be made, for example on the problem of Costa Rica’s discriminatory taxes on imports of alcoholic beverages; is also concerned about pending issues related to effective protection of geographical indications (GIs), for example in Costa Rica (Manchego), Guatemala (Parmigiano) or Honduras (list of generics), and recommends that further efforts be made as regards compliance and insists that local production for local consumption is key to the fight against hunger and rural exodus and the maintenance of diverse cultures;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Underlines that the existence of SMEs should not just be the result of strategies often used by multinational companies to split up into branches or outsource services, which makes the created SMEs totally dependent on strategic decisions of the contracting companies; asks the Commission to provide data on purpose, independence from multinationals and ownership of SMEs;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Insists on the effective implementation of the specific commitments related to Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) provisions, which are an integral part of the AA and are essential to the accomplishment of the objectives set; welcomes, in particular, the fact that civil society advisory mechanisms are now established in all CA countries; regrets, in this context, that the meetings of the Association Committee and Subcommittees and the Civil Society Dialogue Forum have not always taken place as foreseen, and insists that meetings take place at least on an annual basis; invites all parties to the Agreement to swiftly establish mechanisms and the necessary financial means to strengthen Domestic Advisory Groups foreseen in the Agreement, and make sure that their members are independent from official structures or the states, and respect a gender balance; is of the opinion that these DAGs of all countries should hold a permanent dialogue with the members of the different subcommittees and take part in regular monitoring reports;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Asks the Commission for assurances that goods or parts of goods produced in Export Processing Zones do not fall under the preferential tariffs of the Agreement, as EPZs are freed from the respect of international labour law standards and national environmental laws; asks the Commission for concrete information on customs or other provisions applied to distinguish products coming from EPZs and hence not falling under tariff elimination;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Stresses that recent political and economic developments in somthe generalized scenario of violence, fragile justice systems and deficient rule of law in most of the Central American countries can have a negative impact on the region as a whole and might lead to the destabilisation of the region;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Recalls that violence and impunity affecting citizen's rights also means impunity with regards to crimes affecting international investors, which makes it imperative to first and foremost support forces which are dedicated to the investigation into corruption, including international bodies, and strongly recommends to discourage any investment and trade relationship with countries suffering from endemic corruption;