Activities of Heidi HAUTALA related to 2018/2107(INI)
Legal basis opinions (0)
Amendments (38)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3
Citation 3
– having regard to the midterm evaluation of the current GSP regulation of AprilJuly 201784 and the Commission’s Report on the application of Regulation (EU) No 978/20125 accompanied by the Commission staff working document of 4 October 20186 , __________________ 4 http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2017/j uly8/ october/tradoc_1557717434.pdf 5 COM(2018)0665. 6 SWD(2018)0430.
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 b (new)
Citation 7 b (new)
– having regard to Article 21 of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU),
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 b (new)
Citation 7 b (new)
– having regard to Article 208 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU),
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 c (new)
Citation 7 c (new)
– having regard to the Commission Communication ‘Trade for all: Towards a more responsible trade and investment policy’ (COM(2015)0497),
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 d (new)
Citation 7 d (new)
– having regard to its resolution of 27 April 2017 on the EU flagship initiative on the garment sector1a, __________________ 1a Texts adopted, P8_TA(2017)0196.
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 e (new)
Citation 7 e (new)
– having regard to its Resolution of 14 June 2017 on the state of play of the implementation of the Sustainability Compact in Bangladesh1b, __________________ 1b Texts adopted, P8_TA(2017)0265.
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 f (new)
Citation 7 f (new)
– having regard to voluntary country-specific partnerships, such as the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact and the Myanmar Labour Rights Initiative,
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 i (new)
Citation 7 i (new)
– having regard to the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals,
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 m (new)
Citation 7 m (new)
– having regard to the Council Conclusions of 12 May 2016 on the EU and responsible global value chains,
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas Article 207 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that the trade policy of the EU must be built on the principles and objectives of its external policy, including Article 21 TEU; whereas Article 208 TFEU establishes the principle of policy coherence for development and sets the eradication of poverty as the main objective; whereas the Commission’s Trade for All Communication bases EU trade policy on three key principles: effectiveness, transparency and values;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas Article 21 TEU provides that the EU's action on the international scene must be guided, inter alia, by the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the respect for human dignity; and that the EU must define and pursue common policies and actions so as to, inter alia, support human rights;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas the EU Ombudsman concluded that (i) good administration necessarily requires observance and respect of fundamental rights; (ii) there cannot be good administration where fundamental rights are not respected; and (iii) the European Commission must accordingly always consider whether its actions both comply with fundamental rights and result in furthering the cause of human rights in third countries;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas pursuant to Article 40 of the GSP regulation, the Commission is to submit a report on the application of the GSP Regulation to the European Parliament and to the Council five years after the adoption of the regulationwhich should inform the next GSP Regulation to be adopted by 2022; whereas this regulation has been effectively in force since 1 January 2014; whereas a thorough independent evaluation of the functioning of the present Regulation has been carried out with a view to informing the review exercise of the Commission, and which has drawn up a list of concrete recommendations;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the scheme contains three arrangements: the general GSP scheme, the GSP+ incentive scheme, and the Everything But Arms scheme (EBA); whereas the standard GSP beneficiaries – currently 18 countries – benefit from reduced customs duties on 66 % of all EU product categories; whereas the eight GSP+ beneficiaries export around 66 % of all product categories duty-free in return for their commitment to effectively implement 27 international core conventions covering labour rights, human rights, good governance and environmental concerns; whereas the 49 least developed countries under the EBA arrangement of GSP are granted duty-free access to the EU for all products, except arms and ammunition; whereas all beneficiary countries are bound by international conventions in the areas of human rights and labour rights under the GSP Regulation, while GSP+ countries are also bound by international environmental and good governance conventions; whereas only the GSP+ scheme provides for a structured dialogue, which assesses the effective implementation of those conventions by the beneficiary countries; whereas GSP beneficiary countries must also be able to implement international standards and norms, including drawing up, implementing and enforcing appropriate legislation, particularly in the area of establishing the rule of law and combating corruption;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas international environmental conventions are a key instrument for building the ground for achieving sustainable development in beneficiary countries; whereas GSP and EBA countries are exempt from ratifying and implementing those conventions;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas the mid-term evaluation final report found out that, out of all EBA eligible countries, 18 of them experienced an improvement in export diversification during the period of review while 29 countries did not realise any change or even faced a deterioration in their export diversification profiles at product-level; whereas it was also found that, in several cases, economic growth and enhanced export opportunities have not gone hand- in-hand with greater adherence to fundamental labour and human rights;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas, based on the mid-term evaluation, it appears that countries with vulnerable economies, such as GSP+ and EBA beneficiaries, face additional competitive pressure from countries that have established a trade agreement with the EU, due to erosion of preferences;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
Ec. whereas, in several countries, Export Processing Zones (EPZs) are generally exempt from national labour or environmental legislation, forbid or limit union activity, and workers have no recourse to legal redress there, which constitutes a clear violation of ILO standards; whereas corruption and exemptions from labour laws and taxation in EPZs could have a negative impact on human rights, in particular by undermining decent work and trade unions' activities and rights;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E e (new)
Recital E e (new)
Ee. whereas gender equality in all EU policies is firmly established in Article 8 of the TFEU; whereas trade and investment agreements tend to affect women and men differently on account of structural gender inequalities; whereas according to the ILO, in 2012, 21 million people worldwide, of whom 55 % were women and girls, were the victims of forced labour, with 90 % of these being exploited in the private economy by individuals or enterprises;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E e (new)
Recital E e (new)
Ee. whereas Article 19.6 of the GSP Regulation requires that the European Commission take account of "all relevant information" in determining whether GSP beneficiary countries duly comply with their human rights obligations including information provided by civil society; whereas the involvement of civil society and social partners in the implementation of GSP scheme can enhance the legitimacy and effectiveness of the Common Commercial Policy;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E f (new)
Recital E f (new)
Ef. whereas the GSP trade preferences are enshrined in the EU’s principle of promoting fair trade, and, therefore, allow the EU to suspend GSP benefits in the most serious cases of human rights violations on the basis of Chapter V, Article 19(1)(a) of the GSP regulation, which provides that preferential treatment may be withdrawn temporarily on a number of grounds, including serious and systematic violations of the principles laid down in the conventions listed in Part A of Annex VIII;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. StressNotes that the current GSP Regulation has been in force only for three years, since the start of the mid-term evaluation process, which therefore limits the up-to-date impact of indicators on economic, social, human rights and environmental issueshas already identified elements to be considered for reform in the next GSP Regulation; welcomes the recommendations provided by the mid-term revaluation final report;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Acknowledges that the GSP scheme has brought economic gains to certain industries in the beneficiary countries and the EU, with increased exports to the EU and improved preference utilisation rates by EBA and GSP+ beneficiaries; asks the Commission to assess which are the companies in the beneficiary countries that most benefit from the scheme, their position in global value chains and their ownership structure; urges the EU to work on raising awareness of the GSP rules in the beneficiary countries to promote an even better uptake of the scheme;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises that, overall, the GSP scheme appears to haveshould created incentives for ratifying international conventions and has therefore created in principle a better framework for progress; stresses the importance of measures to ensure that GSP enhances positive environmental development; calls therefore on the Commission to consider, in view of the next Regulation, putting the general GSP scheme under the GSP+, by phasing the former out, and to also setup a structured dialogue for the EBA scheme with a view to further strengthening the incentives to ratify and implement the international conventions, including the ones on the protection of the environment;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls on the Commission to exclude EPZs from the benefits of the GSP schemes insofar as they are exempt from national legislation and in breach of the relevant international conventions;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Acknowledges the progress oin effective implementaratifying the international conventions through increased monitoring and dialogue between the EU and the beneficiary countries; stresses the need for continued engagement and further improvement of transparency in GSP+ monitrecalls that the full potential of the GSP+ scheme to improve the situation on the ground can only be fulfilled if the monitoring of effective implementation of obligations under the 27 conventions is revised for the better and if the incentive of trade preferences is accompanied by other supporting and better involvement of civil society; takes the view that further coordination and burden-sharing between the embassies of Member States in beneficiary countries is required to streamline the monitoring process; measures; calls on the Commission to consider the establishment of an independent and formal complaints mechanism related to the effective implementation of obligations, in order to adequately take into account all available information, including from reliable local stakeholders; suggests to formally install offices receiving complaints in each EU Delegation in beneficiary countries; equally asks the Commission to draft an annual report to the European Parliament on complaints received and the specific follow up given to each of them;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Commission to lay down specific objectives and benchmarks with regard to the effective implementation of international conventions and to systematically include these in the human rights country strategy papers with a view to ensuring consistency and mainstreaming human rights into trade policy; is of the view that those benchmarks should also be used to assess progress made by one country once withdrawal investigations have been launched;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Suggests that the future reform of GSP+ should take into consideration a progressive phase-in of tariff reduction based on the achievements of the beneficiary country in terms of measurable implementation of the conventions; emphasizes the conditionality of trade preferences to improvements on social and environmental protection;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Recommends greater transparency around the scorecard exercise, notably through their publication; considers it necessary to also publish the agenda as well as a summary report of the dialogues, which would contribute to an overall improved effectiveness of the EU’s monitoring;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the need foEmphasises that acts of secondary EU law must be both designed and interpreted in line with primary EU law and general principles of EU law; thus, calls for a reform of the GSP Regulation that would lead to bind the European Commission to consistently and systematically take immediate steps to initiate the relevant procedures and establish the relevant files leading to a withdrawal of preferences whenever severe and systematic violations are reported by relevant monitoring bodies; calls on the Commission to consider a targeted approach for the withdrawal of preferences and that such withdrawal could be limited to specific sectors;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls for further measures to enhance the diversification of exports from GSP countries; regrets the fact that diversification among beneficiaries seems to have been hampered by removing the possibility of cumulation with countries that have graduatRegrets the fact that the GPS scheme, notably in the case of EBA countries, has not sufficiently contributed to economic diversification; and that, in certain cases, increased export volumes and economic opportunities have also had indirect negative impacts on fundamental rights and social development; calls on the Commission to consider measures in order to support the diversification of exports, such as further reforming and expanding the list of products to be covered by the Regulation in particular with regard to semi-finished and finished fprom GSP, as they can no longer benefit from the Rducts, and, where necessary, easing rules of Oorigins for GSP beneficiaries; calls for this possibility to be reintroduced in a revision of the regulation; notes the significant decrease in export diversification at all sector levels for Standard GSP beneficiariethe most vulnerable countries; further calls on the Commission to carry out a regular impact assessment in order to swiftly put in place mitigating measures to address any negative indirect impacts;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls for a modification of Annex VIII to the Regulation by adding the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, ILO Convention No.169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as an overall enhanced consistency with the Sustainable Development Goals;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses the importance of capacity building in the beneficiary countries to alleviate supply-side constraints on diversification and preference usagsupport them in benefitting the most from the scheme; calls for measures under Aid- for-Trade to be more effectively used in this regard; takes the view that consideration should be given to including services inrequests the Commission to address the issue of coherence and consistency between GSP and FTA regimes in the impact assessment for the next GSP rRegulation in order to further promote increased diversificationaiming at fully preserving the central role of GSP for Developing Countries in the trade policy of the EU;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Takes noteSupports the launch of the first safeguard investigation under the regulation and considers that this clause should ensure that the EU’s financial and, economic, social, environmental and climate related interests are protected while being able to offer preferences for sensitive products; stresses that if trade preferences are not followed by reforms and by the implementation of international conventions, the GSP programs would fail to comply with the ultimate goal of favouring sustainable development in the beneficiary countries;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Highlights that the GSP has made the corporate sector more dynamic, resulting infavoured the participation of women in the labour force in the industries of the export countries that trade with the EU; notes however that despite some limited improvements women continue to be discriminated and increased number of women in the labour force in the industries of the export countries that trade with the EUs concerned in particular for the working, wage and health conditions of women in the Ready Made Garment (RMG) sector; in this regard deems regrettable that the Commission has not followed up the European Parliament resolution on the European Garment Initiative;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls on the Commission to address shrinking space for civil society, threats to independent trade unions and obstacles to EU funding to NGOs in monitoring, scorecards, GSP+ dialogues and “Enhanced Engagement”, as these issues are directly related to legal obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and relevant provisions of the ILO's core conventions, in line with the Commission’s “Trade for All” Communication; urges the Commission to continue funding civil society initiatives that monitor the implementation of this scheme, including through shadow reporting;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. WelcomesAsks for reliable data and a thorough assessment on the effect that the GSP has had on private corporations’ initiatives to adopt cleaner and safer technologies, and thewhether there is a direct positive impact thereof on workers and the environment; takes the view that measures to further encourage this development should be planned; believes that, in any case, voluntary schemes are ineffective and recalls its various initiatives aiming at the establishing due-diligence obligations on European companies;