29 Amendments of Daniel CASPARY related to 2008/0000(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
– having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled "Global Europe: Competing in the world – A contribution to the EU's Growth and Jobs Strategy" (COM(2006 )0567) and "Global Europe: A Stronger Partnership to deliver Market Access for European exporters" (COM(2007)0183),
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas raw materials and commodities should be understood as agricultural food products, agricultural primary commodities, metals, minerals and energy products and industrial commodities (i.e. metals, minerals),
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the European Union's economy depends considerably on imports of raw materials from third countries and access to raw materials plays a crucial role for EU competitiveness,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the recent price increase for raw materials has led to a lack of economic growth in the European Union and threatens EU competitiveness,
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas in many cases a trend of creating obstacles to free and fair access to raw materials in emerging economies can be observed,
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas a further increase in worldwide demand for raw materials in the future is expected; whereas this increase will be due to economic growth in emerging economies,
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas in the past the short-term variations of prices in raw materials and commodities have shown extreme volatility and become even worse over time with phases of overproduction being followed by periods of shortages, but in future the price level is expected to stay at a higher level,
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the recent price increases on international markets for raw materials and commodities are due to a significant increase in the demand from emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil, changed weather patterns, some restrictive practices from some exporting countries and a boom in the market of agro fuels as well as livestock production,
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas women make up a significant majority of the world's poor who are often dependent on the producacquisition, production and transformation of raw materials and commodities for their survival and livelihood,
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas the European Union currently does not provide a coherent strategy to face the challenges for the competitiveness of its economy due to enhanced competition in access to raw materials,
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Title (after end of recitals) (new)
Title (after end of recitals) (new)
Secure supplies of raw materials for the EU and ensure access to raw materials on the world markets
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph –1 a (new)
Paragraph –1 a (new)
–1a. Stresses the importance of free and fair access to raw materials for the competitiveness of the EU economy due to its lack of domestic supply of several raw materials,
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph –1 b (new)
Paragraph –1 b (new)
–1b. Notes with concern the prospects of an increasing demand for raw materials on world markets; is worried about the limits of exploration capacity for the near future; takes note of the limited involvement of European companies in the exploration of raw materials in third countries,
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph –1 c (new)
Paragraph –1 c (new)
–1c. Is concerned about the trend to restrict free access to raw materials in third countries by trade distorting measures such as export duties, export quotas, discriminatory systems of licences, subsidies, limitation of foreign investment etc.,
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph –1 d (new)
Paragraph –1 d (new)
–1d. Is concerned about those investment activities aimed at better access to raw materials which neither comply with standards of fair and free competition nor to the principles of good governance and sustainability,
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph –1 e (new)
Paragraph –1 e (new)
–1e. Asks the Commission to promote investment in research and development in technologies concerning the recycling of raw materials and the efficient and economic use of raw materials; calls on the Commission and the Member States to give more weight to this objective in their research activities,
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph –1 f (new)
Paragraph –1 f (new)
–1f. Urges the Commission to continue to address the issue of free and fair access to raw material markets in the framework of the WTO, especially in the ongoing Doha round; asks the Commission to pursue actively the objective of multilateral elimination of trade distorting measures in the sector of raw materials such as export bans, export quotas, export duties, tax refunds, subsidies, investment restrictions etc.,
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph –1 g (new)
Paragraph –1 g (new)
–1g. Asks the Commission to give more weight to the issue of free and fair access to raw material markets in all bilateral negotiations on free trade agreements or WTO accessions; sets out the objective of abandoning all trade distorting measures in the sector of raw materials as an important objective in all possible agreements; stresses that this objective will serve as an important criterion in the evaluation of all possible agreements by the European Parliament,
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph –1 h (new)
Paragraph –1 h (new)
–1i. Asks the Commission to include the issue of raw materials in the market access strategy; welcomes the consultation on the supply of raw materials; calls on the Commission to elaborate a coherent strategy on the supply of raw materials; asks to be involved in all phases of these activities,
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Title (before paragraph 1) (new)
Title (before paragraph 1) (new)
Make least developed countries profit from raw materials
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Regrets that many least developinged countries have been locked into the production and export of raw materials and commodities whose volatile prices have been declining over the long-term, constituting a serious impediment to the alleviation of poverty as well as the realisation of the MDGs; underlines the opportunities for the producer countries which lay in the own exploration and management of raw material deposits when fundamental rules of transparency and fair competition are respected; stresses that the development prospect of the world's poorest people and countries is today being endangered by climate change;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Supports current efforts in least developinged countries to diversify their economies and develop economic activities at more advanced stages of the production process, to also include processing and marketing, to enhance quality, productivity and production of products with a higher degree of value added, urges the Commission to support national commodity development and diversification strategies with support from the European Development Fund when necessary;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Encourages least developinged countries to raise the necessary investments and consolidate economic diversification through strengthened infrastructure and institutional capacity building, as well as facilitating access and distribution of products from small scale producers to local markets which also would strengthen regional integration and economies of scale, urges the Commission to use aid-for- trade as an important tool for development as well as strengthen existing mechanisms for transfer of technology, especially as a means to manage climate change; asks the Commission to promote transparency of the revenues stemming from raw materials via programmes like the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) process;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. EmphasisRecognises that the DDA negotiations would significantly reduce tariff escalation; notes that the European Union musthas already phased out export refunds and harmful tariff escalation, as well asits tariffs on agricultural products from the least developed countries (through the Everything But Arms initiative) and from many ACP countries (through Economic Partnership Agreements), and supports developing countries in identifying and implementing rules regarding special products and effective safeguard mechanisms for the sustainability of their markets and production;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Asks the European Union's Member states as well as partners around the world, including the emerging economies, to ratify core International Labour Organisation (ILO) labour standards and relevant Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) guidelines, especially regarding the exploration and refining of raw materials; believes that the involvement of civil society and national parliaments is crucial to obtain an environmental and socio- economic sustainable development;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 (new)
Paragraph 6 (new)
6. Calls on the Commission to review its compensatory finance scheme, FLEX, to ensure it is responsive and effective in supporting developing countries; believes there is a necessity to develop a broAsks third countries to comply with international trade commitments and to ensure that markets are free, transparent and open; recognises that restrictions on trader international compensatory finance system aiming at the stabilisation of export revenues in commodity-dependent exporting developing countries which should complement other relevant measures taken at the national level and support the work being done by UNCTAD raw material are to the detriment of the competitiveness of EU industry both in the European Union and worldwide;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recognises that liberalisation of trade in agricultural food products and agricultural primary commodities has exposed small scale farmers in least developinged countries to many new challenges. As small scale farmers are largely comprised of women, this can have a disproportionately negative effect on them if they are not able to cope with the external competition;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Urges the Commission to step up its efforts to obtain an international agreement on conflict resources whose primary objective would be to forbid all trade in resources fuelling or resulting from armed conflicts, insists in the meantime on the development of a regulation prohibiting the trading and marketing of conflict resources in the European Union and urges all countries involved in the diamond trade to subscribe fully to the Kimberley certification scheme for international trade in rough diamonds; calls for the promotion of transparency via the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) and other initiatives;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States and UNCTADrelevant international organisations such as UNCTAD, WTO, World Bank, CFC (Common Fund for Commodities) and FAO.