Activities of Rebecca HARMS related to 2017/2130(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Eastern Partnership: November 2017 Summit (debate) DE
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council, the Commission and the EEAS on the Eastern Partnership, in the run-up to the November 2017 Summit PDF (302 KB) DOC (64 KB)
Amendments (23)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the Eastern Partnership is based on a shared commitment between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the European Union to international law and fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and gender equality, as well as to thesocial market economy, sustainable development and good governance;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the Eastern Partnership pursues the common goals of promoting stability, confidence-building and cooperation, supporting democratic reforms, good neighbourly relations, peaceful conflict resolution and regional cooperation, enhancing people-to- people contacts and boosting trade, in order to increase political dialogue and association as well as economic cooperation and integration;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas, given that the EU considers cooperation to be a value in itself and strongly believes that it leads to win- win situations for all parties concerned, there is a commitment on the side of the EU to continue to work with all Eastern Partnership countries regardless of their strategic choices as long as the European core values are not questioned or undermined;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas since the launch of the Eastern Partnership in Prague some founding members experienced an overall deterioration of the human rights situation and a reversal of democratisation trends; whereas one of the main challenges should be to facilitate the ongoing transition towards inclusive, accountable, stable and viable democracies;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas increased mobility and the enhancement of people-to-people contacts between the partner countries and the EU remains an indispensable instrument for the promotion of European values;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. whereas the EU should play a more active role in the peaceful resolution of the existing conflicts, notably those of frozen or protracted nature, which represent currently an insurmountable obstacle to the full development of the EaP hindering good-neighbourly relations and regional cooperation;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)
Recital I b (new)
Ib. whereas the EU and its eastern partners are vulnerable to hybrid threats stemming from the Russian Federation aimed at dividing the EU and sowing discord and mistrust within the EU and the Eastern Neighbourhood;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the Eastern Partnership policy is based on the sovereign right of each partner to choose the level of ambition and the goals to which it aspires in its relations with the EU; whereas, at the same time, on the part of the EU the effective use of the "more for more" principle is of fundamental importance in shaping and differentiating the relations with partner countries;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point b
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point b
(b) to live up to the high expectations of citizens in all the partner countries as regards eradicating corruption, fighting organised crime and bolstering the rule of law and good governance; to therefore seek a renewed commitment by the partners to adopt and fully implement reforms related to the judiciary, public administration and the fight against corruption and organised crime;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point d
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point d
(d) to encourage electoral reforms that are in line with international standards, that implement recommendations by OSCE-led international observation missions and Venice Commission opinions and that are the subject of a transparent process, broad consultation and, as far as possible, consensus with opposition and civil society, in order to improve electoral frameworks without any bias towards ruling parties;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point d a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point d a (new)
(da) to stress once again that the Eastern Partnership is not aimed at cutting traditional and historic relations of partner countries with other neighbours;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point h a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point h a (new)
(ha) to promote and actively support the implementation of anti-discrimination policies in all the sectors of society;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point l a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point l a (new)
(la) to promote and support a genuine reform of the economic system aimed at phasing out monopolies and oligopolies circumscribing the role of oligarchs through the introduction of adequate laws on the conflict of interests as well as a deep reform of the banking and financial sector aimed at combatting money laundering and tax evasion;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point n
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point n
(n) to improve both energy independence and efficiency through specific investments, strengthened cooperation in all priority areas covered by the EU Energy Union and by closer integration of the partners’ energy markets with the European energy market with a particular focus on interconnectivity and infrastructure, whilst scrutinising closely the consequences of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline; to ensure that all possible new offshore and onshore parts of pipeline infrastructure within the region, including the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, can only become a reality if they in no way undermine regional energy security and the Energy Union strategy as well as respect environmental rules and key principles enshrined in relevant EU legislation;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point n
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point n
(n) to improve both energy independence and efficiency, to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels and to promote the use of renewables through specific investments, strengthened cooperation in all priority areas covered by the EU Energy Union and by closer integration of the partners’ energy markets with the European energy market with a particular focus on interconnectivity and infrastructure, whilst scrutinising closely the consequences of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point o
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point o
(o) to also increase prioritisation of the highest levels of nuclear safety standards in the existing power plants and of the phase-out of the obsolete ones and environmental protection and the fulfilment of climate change commitments, including through raising public awareness;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point r
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point r
(r) to call for an immediate end to military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan which unnecessarily claim the lives of civilians and soldiers whilst hampering socioeconomic development; to reaffirm support to the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of both countries as well as to the OSCE Minsk Group co-Chairs’ efforts to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and to their 2009 Basic Principles; to call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to re-launch negotiations in good faith with a view to implementing these principles to solve the conflict; to make the ratification of new agreements between the EU and each of the parties conditional on meaningful commitments and substantial progress as to solving the conflict through maintaining the ceasefire and supporting the implementation of the 2009 Basic Principles and the respect for international law;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point s a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point s a (new)
(sa) to step up confidence-building programmes in conflict areas with a view to restoring dialogue and facilitating people-to-people exchanges; to involve citizens and the engage public actors in conflict areas in horizontal partnerships and twinning with counterparts from the Union, and to engage with society and the younger generation as a factor for change;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point y a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point y a (new)
(ya) to monitor closely the implementation of DCFTAs in order to avoid social and environmental dumping calling for more transparency and engagement of all relevant stakeholders in the process of reforms and policy formulation, notably in the areas of trade, investment, energy and migration; to make systematic impact assessments of trade and investment and migration agreements as well as of EU assistance within the framework of the EaP, notably in relation to human rights, public services, decent work and social development;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point z
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point z
(z) to ensure that strict conditionality is always attached to current and further levels of cooperation and support for the partners, and that it is also observed; to underline that EU financial support to its partners will be conditional on concrete reform steps and that the EU’s incentive- based approach will continue to benefit those partners most engaged in ambitious reforms; to emphasise in particular that no comprehensive agreement will be ratified with a country that grossly violates EU values, notably through the non- implementation of ECHR decisions and the harassment, intimidation and persecution of human rights defenders, NGOs and journalists; to implement accountability measures to ensure that those responsible for violations in partner countries are neither supported nor encouraged; to also highlight that clear benchmarks need to be met before any new dialogue on visa-free regimes is launched and concluded; to reiterate that backsliding on prior achievements will systematically lead to the suspension of agreements, including in the area of visa-free regimes and EU funding;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point aa a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point aa a (new)
(aaa) to complement the multilateral dimension by increasing the number of activities and initiatives in this context paying particular attention to strengthening cross-border projects, stepping up people-to-people programmes, developing incentives for regional cooperation and further enhancing an active dialogue with civil society;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ad a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ad a (new)
(ada) to envisage possibility of further macro-financial assistance for those partners who successfully completed previous programmes and are still in need of assistance;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ae
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ae
(ae) to reiterate its strong support for parliamentary input to and scrutiny of the Eastern Partnership policy; in this respect, to enhance the role of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly within the new multilateral architecture of the Eastern Partnership, as well as of the Parliamentary Association or Cooperation Committees (PAC/PCC) within the Association or Cooperation Councils; to welcome the Comprehensive Democracy Support Approach (CDSA) programmes that are being implemented; to invite parliamentarians from the partner countries to work together to scrutinise implementation and exchange best practices; to step up the involvement in this process of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society forum;