76 Amendments of Frithjof SCHMIDT
Amendment 11 #
2009/2000(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 − point d
Paragraph 1 − point d
(d) to foster the debate initiated by the Secretary General about the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle, so as to achieve renewed consensus on and a more operational approach to this cornerstone of the UN doctrine whilst resisting attempts to reduce its scope,
Amendment 13 #
2009/2000(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 − point e
Paragraph 1 − point e
(e) to ensure that the preventive and "last resort" character of R2P is adequately emphasised in the above debate and that adequate attention is paid to helping vulnerable and unstable countries develop the capacity to shoulder such responsibility,
Amendment 21 #
2009/2000(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 − point l a (new)
Paragraph 1 − point l a (new)
(la) to insist that all UN members ratify the statutes of the International Criminal Court, starting with the members of the Security Council and in view of this year's review conference of the ICC to actively support efforts to achieve an agreement on the still outstanding definition of the crime of aggression and the conditions under which the Court could exercise its jurisdiction, as foreseen in Article 5.2 of the Rome statutes,
Amendment 22 #
2009/2000(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 − point q
Paragraph 1 − point q
(q) to take a lead in the current debate on global governance, including economic and financial governance, with a view to strengthening the mandates and improving the practices of the IMF and the World Bank, while at the same time re- vitalisingfully support the work of the UN- Commission on macro-economic coordination and the reform of the global financial governance led by former World Bank President Joseph Stiglitz, with a view to integrate the IMF and the World Bank more fully into UN policy coherence, for example through their reporting to a new UN Economic Security Council or a structurally reformed ECOSOC,
Amendment 28 #
2009/2000(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 − point t
Paragraph 1 − point t
(t) to promote conditions for a successful 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) notably by endorsing and promoting the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention and the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol, to achieve consensus around the proposed Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, to strive for the adoption by the Conference on Disarmament of a substantive programme of work in order to make this body operational and, finally, to engage multilaterally and bilaterally with UN Member States in order to relaunch the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,
Amendment 10 #
2008/2305(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the fact that the Commission recognises the need to ensure coherence with other policies that have an impact on international protection; calls therefore on the Commission to support and introduce initiatives to review and adapt all border management policies and practices such as FRONTEX and EUROSUR to guarantee refugees' access to protection in the EU and full respect for the principle of non- refoulement at the EU's external borders. In addition, stresses that the duty to render assistance as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is legally binding upon Member States, the EU and FRONTEX.
Amendment 6 #
2008/2288(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Recalls the unsolved human rights problems in Brazil and calls on both the Brazilian authorities and the European Union to increase and coordinate their efforts to stop slave labour, particularly in sugar cane production;
Amendment 7 #
2008/2288(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Supports Brazil's efforts to combat AIDS with cheap medicines, and calls on the EU to further investigate in compulsory licensing for medicines addressing neglected pandemic illnesses poor people suffer from;
Amendment 8 #
2008/2288(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Highlights the fact that Brazil alone accounts for nearly half of global forest loss, stresses that deforestation and the expansion of large-scale agriculture endanger the livelihood of indigenous and other forest-dependent people, threaten forest ecosystem services such as supply of potable water, fuel climate change due to huge amounts of CO2 emissions, and have led to a loss of biodiversity in vast areas; notes that global climate change and deforestation may lead to potentially catastrophic consequences for the rainforest and the whole region and therefore insists on the importance of integrating global climate change into the cooperation strategies while ensuring the rights and participation of indigenous and other forest-dependent people;
Amendment 9 #
2008/2288(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Brazilian authorities to keep a balance between new renewable energy sources and global food security; stresses therefore that it is essential to involve the country in a long-term strategy for sustainable development and production of advanced biagrofuels for local consumption, avoiding monocultures with destructive effects for the environment;
Amendment 10 #
2008/2171(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Hopes thatCalls on the Chinese authorities willto live up to the promises they made before the Olympic Games in 2008 on human and minority rights, democracy and the rule of law; and remains deeply concerned about the continuing repression of Tibetans and other minorities in China, as well as the ongoing restrictions on freedom of expression in the media and politics in China; calls on the Commission to insist on the strengthening of the human rights clause in negotiations with China about a renewed Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA);
Amendment 11 #
2008/2171(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission to insist on a legally binding Sustainable Development Chapter when negotiating a Trade and Investment Chapter in the renewed Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with China;
Amendment 16 #
2008/2171(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Deplores the lack of regional and local implementation of ecological and environmental planning in China which has led to huge problems in air, water and soil pollution which are a major threat to the sustainability of industrial and agricultural activity as well as a threat to the health of the population; calls on the Chinese authorities to meet stricter targets for CO2 emissions and to impose tight restrictions on industrial and urban polluters; is aware of the EU's co-responsibility for the situation, given that a high share of Chinese industrial production is owned by EU firms or ordered by EU retailers for consumption in Europe; recalls the Joint Declaration on Climate Change of 2005 between China and the EU, which established a Partnership on Climate Change, and the need to speed up its implementation;
Amendment 21 #
2008/2171(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes Chinese investment in Africa and Latin America but is extremely concerned about the lack of any reference to existing social, environmental and human rights standards for foreign investments, as developed in the last few decades by international lending institutions, UN agencies and governmental donors; calls on the Commission to monitor developments closely to ensure that such activities are not to the financial, environmental or social detriment of the local populations in the least developed countries, whereas imports of Chinese consumer goods have proved to undercut local production and cost African jobs; therefore calls on the Commission to initiate a dialogue in this regard through the EU-China-Africa trialogue swiftly;
Amendment 1 #
2008/2170(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
- having regard to Christiane Taubira's report, which was commissioned by France government in April 2008 in preparation for the Council's presidency,
Amendment 35 #
2008/2170(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Stresses that EPAs concluded with individual ACP countries, or with a group of countries not including all countries within one region, run the risk of undermining regional integration. Calls upon the Commission to recalibrate its approach taking account of this risk, and to refrain from concluding EPAs which might endanger regional integration;
Amendment 40 #
2008/2170(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that trade-in-goods agreements suffice to render EU ACP trade regimes WTO compatible, calls upon the Commission to refrain from pushing non-trade-in-goods issues such as the Singapore issues or services, unless explicitly called for by the partner countries;
Amendment 45 #
2008/2170(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Considers that any trade agreement between ACP and EU, affecting the livelihood of the population, should be the result of an open and public debate with full participation of ACP national parliaments; and calls therefore that the ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreements should be first ratified by the respective ACP parliaments before the EP proceed to the ratification process;
Amendment 52 #
2008/2170(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses that the implementation of the EPAs should be monitored by a parliamentary body, which has to be provided for in the EPA texts, and that this Parliamentary body should in each case evolve fromthe ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) and its bodies and remain closely connected to, or part of, JPAregional and sub-regional assemblies in conformity with Article 17 of the Cotonou ACP-EC Partnership Agreement;
Amendment 8 #
2008/2135(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Amendment 11 #
2008/2135(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Urges the Commission to insist, in the negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement, on a chapter on sustainable development establishing legally binding and enforceable minimum social and environmental standards;
Amendment 17 #
2008/2135(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas market access is being hampered by Non-tariff Barriers to Trade (NTBs) such as health and safety requirements or technical barriers, quantitative restrictions, conformity procedures, trade defence mechanisms, customs procedures, internfor both sides is to be regarded in the view of sometimes arbitrary Non-tariff Barriers to Trade (NTBs) or technical barriers and a failure to adopt international norms and standards; whereas NTBs or technical barriers often aim at upholding health, social and environmental staxation, and a failure to adopt international norms and standardsndards and therefore constitute legitimate barriers to trade,
Amendment 24 #
2008/2135(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas the FTA should include binding and enforceable commitments on social and environmental standards and sustainable development,
Amendment 25 #
2008/2135(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas studies show that the more ambitious the FTA, the more positive economic effects for both EU and India, uch as the Global Analysis Report for the EU-India Trade Sustainability Impact Assessment by Ecorys, CUTS International and Centad (2008) also predict some undesirable economic effects such as an increase in inequality in India, including significant job losses in key sectors in India, as well as declines in overall real income and private household consumption,
Amendment 55 #
2008/2135(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Regrets that India maintains the principle of asymmetry; urges the Commission to push for a reciprocal, symmetrical FTAStresses that commitments must reflect the different levels of social and economic development of the two parties, including principles of asymmetric market opening;
Amendment 64 #
2008/2135(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that India is concerned about the lack of harmonisation of micro-biological standards in the EU, implications of REACH, costly certificates and conformity procedures; stresses that these issues must be resolved in the FTA; calls on both parties to ensure that regulation and NTBs do not get in the way of tradeNTBs maintained in the EU; calls on the Commission to provide technical assistance to support Indian producers in their efforts to reach EU standards, in particular concerning the health, environmental and social dimensions of production, thus creating win-win situations;
Amendment 109 #
2008/2135(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Regrets that India is not willing to includPoints out that an agreement should secure the right of governments to continue to use public procurement in the FTA; callas oan the Commission to negotiate effective and transparent procurement systemsinstrument to encourage local economic development;
Amendment 118 #
2008/2135(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Welcomes India's commitment to a strong IPR regime; encourages its rigorous implementation and enforcementthat IPRs are part of the negotiation; stresses that the protection of biodiversity and traditional knowledge must guide the negotiations;
Amendment 135 #
2008/2135(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Stresses that human rights and democracy clauses constitute an essential element of the FTA; is concerned by the continuing persecution of religious minorities and human rights defenders in India and extrajudicial killings and unmarked mass graves in the Indian Administrated Kashmir; calls on the Indian Government to grant access for the UN Special Rapporteurs to investigate these mass graves; also in the spirit of the human rights and democracy clause, calls on the Commission and the Council to work together with the Indian Government to improve the situation of the underprivileged sections of the population, in particular women, children and disadvantaged groups of persons, e.g. Dalits and Adivasis; stresses in this context that the caste system constitutes a human rights violation in itself;
Amendment 136 #
2008/2135(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Calls on India to ensure that the benefits of the FTA reachthe Commission, the Council and India to ensure that the FTA is not harmful to disadvantaged groups such as Dalits and Adivasis, and other marginalised trithat potential benefits of the FTA reach all members and castesof society;
Amendment 2 #
2008/2117(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Requests the Commission to submit to Parliament within six months of the date of adoption of this resolution, on the basis of Article 308 of the EC Treaty, a legislative proposal for one of the following: - a financing instrument for actions other than Official Development Assistance in countries falling under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006; - amendments to Council Regulation (EC) No 1934/2006 of 21 December 2006 establishing a financing instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories to extend its application to countries falling under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006; Calls for the resulting legislation to be used to finance non-ODA activities in countries in which ODA-activities are financed under Regulation (EC) No 1905/2006;.
Amendment 3 #
2008/2111(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Citation 5 a (new)
Citation 5 a (new)
– having regard to the 2009 Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,
Amendment 43 #
2008/2111(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 – point o a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point o a (new)
(oa) believes that the upcoming effects of climate change will make natural disasters, affecting millions of people, ever more frequent in the coming years, and that the New Orleans and Burma experiences indicate that more has to be done on the international and national level to prepare governments for efficient disaster management; calls on the Council to support the creation of a disaster counselling unit at UN level, possibly under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross – as a neutral body –, in order to offer systematic screening and advice to governments on effective disaster preparedness,
Amendment 45 #
2008/2111(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 – point o b (new) (plus new heading)
Paragraph 1 – point o b (new) (plus new heading)
The EU and the UN Millennium Development Goals (ob) deeply concerned that the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals will be made even more difficult by the current dramatic food crisis, in which rising prices are rendering staple foods inaccessible for the poor in many developing countries, and by the impact of climate change – the costs of adaptation and mitigation being estimated by UN experts at between USD 50 and 100 billion per year, reminds the Member States of their commitments to significantly increase financing for official development aid (ODA) step by step in order to reach 0.56% of the collective gross national income by 2010, so that the EU as a whole reaches 0.7% in 2015,
Amendment 46 #
2008/2111(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 – point o c (new)
Paragraph 1 – point o c (new)
(oc) deeply worried by the fact that, instead, the EU Member States have reduced official development aid in 2007 compared to 2006, calls on the Council and Member States to place the achievement of the MDGs and the increase in the financing needed to attain them at the core of their priorities at the UN,
Amendment 47 #
2008/2111(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 – point o d (new)
Paragraph 1 – point o d (new)
(od) recalls that the Court of First Instance of the European Communities and the Council of Europe have found that the UN system of blacklists imposing targeted sanctions on certain persons and entities with a view to combating terrorism (originating with Security Council Resolution 1267 (1999) and Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001)) violates the fundamental principles of human rights and the rule of law; calls particularly on those Member States of the European Union which are permanent or non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to fight for a substantial improvement of the sanctions system in order to bring it into line with the obligations imposed by the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (UNCCPR), in particular by means of the introduction of an appeal mechanism,
Amendment 55 #
2008/2111(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 – point r
Paragraph 1 – point r
(r) calls on all EU Member States to remain engaged in the preparations for the 2009 Durban Review Conference and ensure that the Conference provides the opportunity for all stakeholders to renew their determination and commitments to fight racism, racial and caste discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and to adopt concrete benchmarks in view of the eradication of racism,
Amendment 92 #
2008/2111(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 – point -y b (new) (plus new heading)
Paragraph 1 – point -y b (new) (plus new heading)
The EU and UN activities in the field of security (-yb) believes that the EU should launch a debate within the UN prior to the ICC review conference with a view to achieving an agreement on the still outstanding definition of the crime of aggression and the conditions under which the Court could exercise its jurisdiction, as provided for in Article 5(2) of the Rome Statute,
Amendment 100 #
2008/2111(INI)
Proposal for a recommendation
Paragraph 1 – point aa
Paragraph 1 – point aa
(aa) is concerned byabout the stalemate in disarmament-related talks and negotiations, particularly with regard to cluster bombs, depleted uranium munitions and the arms trade; urges the Council to bring these talks back onto the UN agenda on such issues as nuclear testing and biological weapons; nevertheless recognises that the 63rd UN session offers the EU an excellent opportunity to show leadership in promoting the conclusion of international treaties such as that banning cluster munitions, the Arms Trade Treaty and an international treaty imposing a global ban on (depleted) uranium weapons; urges the Council to make use of this year’s 40th anniversary of the Non-Proliferation Treaty to start to work hard towards the conclusion of the International Treaty banning nuclear weapons as proposed by a group of Nobel prize-winners and world leaders; last but not least, reminds the EU and the UN that they must continue to work hard for the strengthening of the UN programme on small arms and light weapons and for the expansion and strengthening of the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines,
Amendment 30 #
2008/2050(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Deplores that there is little reference, in the Commission's annual progress report 2008 on the Monterrey process1, to ongoing discussions on odious and illegitimate debt and the principles of responsible finance; welcomes the Commission's call for action against aggressive litigation by commercial creditors and distressed debt funds; 1 SEC(2008) 432/2 "The Monterrey process on Financing for Development - the European Union's contribution to Doha and beyond".calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to follow the Norwegian example and work towards swift debt cancellation in the case of odious debts; welcomes the Commission's call for action against aggressive litigation by commercial creditors and distressed debt funds;
Amendment 36 #
2008/2050(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Regrets that the Commission communication package on aid effectiveness1 does not mention capital flight as a risk factor for the economies of developing countries; points out that capital flight does serious damage to the development of sustainable economic systems in developing countries; calls on the Commission to include measures to prevent capital flight in its policies, as required by the Monterrey Consensus, with the goal of closing down tax havens, some of which are located within the EU or operate in close connection with Member States;
Amendment 40 #
2008/2050(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Calls on Commission and Council to renew efforts to establish Tobin and Tobin-like taxes on currency transactions, with the dual aim of generating additional resources for development cooperation and of stabilising volatile international financial markets;
Amendment 48 #
2008/2050(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Calls on the European Investment Bank (EIB) to investigate possibilities for the immediate setting up of a guarantee fund in support of micro-credit and risk- hedging schemes that respond closely to the needs of local food producers in poorer developing countries;
Amendment 10 #
2008/2031(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recommends the establishment of sanctions committees and expert panels to monitor the implementation of EU sanctions, which would enhance the transparency and coherence of the EU's policy; in addition, calls upon the Council and the Commission to take the initiative to strengthen the UN sanctions regime along these lines;
Amendment 40 #
2008/0149(COD)
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph (a)
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph (a)
(a) measures to improve access to agricultural inputs and services, including fertilizers and seedin particular of small-scale and female farmers to locally adapted, sustainable agricultural inputs and services, including fertilizers and seeds, local markets and infrastructure, including local seed and food banks, storage facilities, land ownership, professional training in farming, breeding, soil conservation and irrigation techniques which increase yields while minimising environmental degradation and the use of scarce resources;
Amendment 41 #
2008/0149(COD)
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph (a)
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph (a)
(a) measures to improve access to agricultural inputs and services, including fertilizers and seeds; agricultural inputs and services must as far as possible be locally purchased, the negative impact of importing inputs and services on local producers and markets must be prevented and dumping excluded;
Amendment 44 #
2008/0149(COD)
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph (b)
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph (b)
(b) safety net measures aiming at maintaining or improving the agricultural productive capacity, and at addressing the basic food needs of the most vulnerable populations such as food vouchers for school children.
Amendment 45 #
2008/0149(COD)
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph (c) (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph (c) (new)
(c) measures to support partner governments in defining and implementing an effective national pro- poor policy on food security in close cooperation with small holder and medium holder farmers and consumers;
Amendment 48 #
2008/0149(COD)
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
All measures taken shall be in line with the findings of the 2008 International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD).
Amendment 23 #
2007/2265(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Considers an ambitious sustainable development chapter, to be an essential part of any agreement but recalls that the ultimate objective is the enforcement of agreed standards; takes the view that this requires the chapter to be subject to the standard dispute settlement mechanism, including its provisions for compensation;
Amendment 24 #
2007/2265(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Believes that the agreement shouldCalls for any agreement to incorporate binding social and environmental clauses, committing the parties to ratifying the core International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and ensuring their effective implementation;
Amendment 26 #
2007/2265(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Recommends that the Commission investigate and identify companies which continuously and persistently permit the violation of core labour standards in any part of the production and supply chain and calls for such a list to be made available to EU-based importers;
Amendment 34 #
2007/2265(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls on the negotiation partners to make sure that an agreement includes mechanisms to safeguard the traditional and customary rights of indigenous and local communities to use their forests when implementing forest management and licensing schemes, and to enhance the capacity of national parliaments and civil society, including local communities and indigenous people, to participate in decision-making regarding the conservation, use and management of natural resources, and to demarcate and defend their land rights;
Amendment 3 #
2007/2184(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses the need to create a WTO parliamentary assembly with consultative powers, given the WTO's lack of democratic accountability and legitimacy, and welcomes any reform that will strengthen the association of parliamentarians with the WTO; stresses however that, ultimately, the legitimacy of the WTO can only derive from statutory changes that make the organisation part of the family of UN agencies and subject its rule-setting to the basic rights embodied in the UN Charter;
Amendment 4 #
2007/2184(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4b. Recalls still unimplemented GATT Article XXXVIII, paragraph 2(a), laying down the commitment of all WTO members to stabilise and improve market conditions for primary products of particular interest to less-developed countries, and regards decisive action on this Article as an important feature of a reformed WTO;
Amendment 5 #
2007/2184(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Regards, in the light of the fact that tariffs have been reduced to historical minimum levels, the maintenance of multilateral rules through the Dispute Settlement Mechanism as probably the main function of the WTO in the future against which the efficiency and legitimacy of the WTO will be measured; perceives this WTO function less as one of arbitrating in rules infringements than as a means to fairly achieve compromises between different interests and values; therefore regards it as necessary that a standing body of elected judges, including experts from the UN specialised agencies, be appointed to the Dispute Settlement Unit, that proceedings be open to the public, and that financial and technical support be made available to all members in filing disputes for settlement;
Amendment 6 #
2007/2184(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Stresses the need to ensure that the Dispute Settlement Body interprets WTO rules in such a way that it does not prevail over applicable international environmental and social law and, where needed, calls on the Commission and WTO membership as a whole to amend WTO rules in this regard;
Amendment 7 #
2007/2184(INI)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses the need for closerimmediate need for structured cooperation between the WTO and other UN Specialised Agencies, such asespecially UNCTAD, WHO and ILO, as an essential step towards a more sustainable model of globalisation;
Amendment 3 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Citation 14 a (new)
Citation 14 a (new)
- having regard to its resolution of 22 May 2007 on halting the loss of biodiversity by 2010,
Amendment 4 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
having regard to the report of the Committee on International Trade on the proposal for a Council decision on behalf of the European Community of the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006 (Rapporteur Caroline Lucas),
Amendment 5 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas the UN Millennium Declaration calls upon all States to ensure policy coherence for development,
Amendment 6 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
-Aa. whereas the EU is strongly committed to ensuring policy coherence for development in accordance with Article 178 of the EC Treaty, which stipulates that "the Community shall take account of the objectives of community policy in the sphere of development cooperation in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries",
Amendment 7 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the Conclusions of the May 2005 European Council contain the commitment to enhance the EU´s Policy Coherence for Development, in particular in twelve priority policy fields, including trade, fisheries, environment, climate change, migration and employment,
Amendment 8 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. Whereas the UN defines West Africa as the westernmost region of Africa comprising the following 16 countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cap Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo (that is to say the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) plus Mauritania),1 and whereas, moreover, Cameroon is often seen as being part of West Africa,
Amendment 13 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Recalls that the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Bali from 3 to 14 December 2007 acknowledged the significant contribution of deforestation to greenhouse gas emissions and thus to climate change, and emphasised the need to support developing countries in their efforts towards the preservation and sustainable management of their forests; urges for the EU and the Member States to substantial financial contributions to international initiatives for the preservation, sustainable use and management of forests in developing countries and in particular for support to African countries;
Amendment 15 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Is concerned that cheap imports of illegal timber and forestry products, together with non-compliance by some industry players with basic social and environmental standards, destabilises international markets and reduces the tax revenues of producer countries;
Amendment 16 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Is concerned that, according to FAO data, less than 7% of the global forest area is eco-labelled and less than 5% of tropical forests are managed sustainably;
Amendment 17 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Welcomes the fact that in West Africa, the Commission is engaged in official negotiations with Ghana and Cameroon and in preliminary discussions with Liberia, with a view to signing Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA) to control the legality of timber products exported directly to the EU;
Amendment 18 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2d. Emphasises that all forest preservation schemes, including the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT), need to safeguard the traditional and customary rights of indigenous and local communities to the use of their forests in accordance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People;
Amendment 19 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers that fisheries resources in West Africa, though already depleted in many cases, still represent a significant potential for local development and contribution to food security; notes with concern that according to the most recent scientific assessments by the Fishery Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF) from 2006, many stocks in West Africa are over-exploited and at least one is at risk of extinction;
Amendment 22 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers that an evaluation of the extent of coherence between the Community’'s development policy and its fisheries policy involves many aspects beyond the bilateral fisheries partnership agreements signed with several third countries in West Africa; equally important are Community policies with respect to: - the monitoring, control and surveillance of the waters off West Africa and EU contributions to the fight against IUU fishing; - support for scientific research into fish stocks and the structure of the ecosystem; - the export and re-flagging of EU vessels to West Africa; - phyto-sanitary standards for the importation of fish and other non-tariff barriers to trade; - EU market policy and the type and quantity of fish imported from West Africa;
Amendment 25 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10c. Considers that the EU's fisheries policy, including in its relations with West Africa, must respect the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries of 1995;
Amendment 28 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Deplores the fact that the Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) of the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements of May 2007 commissioned by the Commission fails to investigate the forestry sectors and only touches on fisheries questions;
Amendment 29 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Requests the Commission to - generally conduct more and more detailed Sustainability Impact Assessments (SIAs); - mainstream PCD questions more thoroughly into the SIAs; - commission two SIAs for the EPA in West Africa with a special focus on PCD in the fish and timber sectors, including an assessment of the impact on local and indigenous communities;
Amendment 30 #
2007/2183(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the Secretariats of the ACP andACP, ECOWAS, the AU, the OECD and, the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) and the Fisheries Committee for the Eastern Central Atlantic (CECAF), the governments of all ECOWAS countries, as well as Mauritania and Cameroon.
Amendment 5 #
2007/0223(CNS)
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 a (new)
Recital 2 a (new)
(2a) In order to be compatible with WTO rules on non-discrimination and national treatment, nothing in this regulation should result in discriminatory treatment with respect to measures taken to combat IUU fishing.