9 Amendments of Richard HOWITT related to 2009/2219(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the European Union to uphold the principles of managed and fair trade, which have characterised the development of its own countries and of successful developing countries, including the Asian tigers, rejecting protectionism or any attempt to undermine the legitimate comparative advantages of developing countries that do not undermine human and trade union rights, but applying a different interpretation of WTO Article XXIV than at present to allow for the exemption of vulnerable manufacturing and other sectors from trade agreements where this is justified;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Insists that, whilst working effectively with the ILO and other treaty bodies, the Commission should continue to meet its responsibility to evaluate the impact of trade negotiations on social, environmental and human rights and to consult trade unions as recognised social partners, and environmental and social NGOs from the EU and third countries in a transparent manner at all stages throughout the process of negotiating and implementing trade agreements, guaranteeing them a clear right to raise violations for consideration and action by the Commission itself;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for future trade agreements and the GSP+ regulation revision to overcome existing weaknesses in consistency, transparency and procedural fairness by applying transparent criteria and benchmarks concerning labour, environmental and human rights compliance in partner countries, including any specific recommendations for improvements, where necessary;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the use of Sustainability Impact Assessments, but deplores failures to act fully on their findings, as in west Africa; in, the case of Colombia; emphasisesMediterranean countries and in Colombia; calls for greater emphasis on using the EU's leverage to pursue concrete improvements in respect for labour and human rights in advance of the finalisation of trade agreements, as well as during their subsequent implementation;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recognises that current and future trade agreements are being negotiated in the context of an economic depression; that off-shoring accounts for a high proportion of job losses which is projected to increase the number of people unemployed in OECD countries by eight million in two years; that off-shoring accounts for a high proportion of job losses, for example in Ireland and Portugal (one in four), Denmark (one in six) and Estonia and Slovenia (one in seven); and that EU trade policy should seek to prevent an excessive or over-rapid decline in EU market share and employment levels in any given sector; calls for trade agreements to be concluded in the light of the scope for the EU's Globalisation Adjustment Fund to provide adequate levels of assistance towards consequential restructuring;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the EU's trade negotiations to promote obligations as well as rights for investors and businesses, as laid down in the 'Heiligendamm Process’, initiated by the former German Presidency with the ILO, OECD and UN, and for all trade agreements to requireaim at compliance with the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, the ILO Tripartite Declaration on Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, the UN Global Compact and the Recommendations of the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls for complaints about social problems to be the subject of genuinely independent expert decisions, follow-up and review; ; their recommendations must be part of a defined process which makes for suitably rapid treatment of the issues raised, such that the experts' deliberations are not limited to the issue of reports and recommendations, but result in ongoing follow-up and review provisions, particularly in order to maintain pressure on any governments that allow violations of workers' rights on their territories;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Insists that any inclusion in trade agreements of 'Mode IV' on temporary movement of labour should be made subject to compliance with core labour standards, national labour standards and collective agreements in partner countries;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls for the EU to support the extension of the WTO trade policy review mechanism to cover the trade-related aspects of sustainable development, including compliance with core labour standards, the amendment of the 'Definition of a Subsidy' in the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, with a view to ensuring compliance with core labour standards and respect for human rights in export-processing zones and for the EU's Geneva Delegation to revive and maintain the 'friends of labour' informal grouping it established to promote labour standards in the WTO.