Activities of Alexander Graf LAMBSDORFF related to 2014/2228(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) (debate) DE
Amendments (45)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1
Citation 1
– having regard to the EU directives for the negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and the US, unanimously adopted by the Council on 14 June 20131 and declassified and made public by the Council on 9 October 2014, __________________ 1 http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/docum ent/ST-11103-2013-DCL-1/en/pdf
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
- having regard to the Council Conclusion on TTIP of 20 March 2015,
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses that trade policy is an essential part of the EU's external action and as such, must be formulated in a way that is in line with other foreign policies and policy instruments; encourages therefore a close interaction between relevant commissioners, Directorates General, the European External Action Service and the Member States;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes the TTIP's strategic importance in strengthening and shaping rules-based global trade and economic governance basfounded on the values shared by the EU and the US, particularly in an increasingly multipolar world; notes that its impact would go beyond the bilateral implications by facilitating the establishment of common regulations and rules that could later be adopted at global level; stresses in this regard that bilateral negotiations that the EU conducts must not be a substitute but rather a spring board for further trade liberalisation within the WTO;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas exports through trade and growth through investments are key drivers of jobs and economic growth which do not require government investments;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Emphasises that TTIP must not lower standards on important issues like consumer protection, labour rights or environment, but rather seek to achieve high common standards as a model for the world, as this would strengthen the EU's global economic position, while furthering our values;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the EU's GDP is heavily dependent on trade and export and benefits from rules based trade and investment; whereas an ambitious agreement with the US mayshould support the reindustrialisation of Europe and help achieve the 2020 target for an increase of the EU’s GDP generated by industry from 15 % to 20 %; whereas it has the potential to, by strengthening the trans- Atlantic trade in both goods and services; whereas it should create opportunities especially for SMEs, which suffer more from non-tariff barriers (NTBs) than larger companies; whereas an agreement between the two biggest economic blocs in the world has the potentigoal to create standards, norms and rules which will be adopted at a global level, which would serve to the advantage of third countries as well;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas a comprehensive and ambitious TTIP will likely have geopolitical effects through strengthening a rules-based global trading system, diversifying the EU's exports and strengthening the trans-Atlantic relationship between the world's two largest and most open economic blocs, which are based on a mutual commitment to human rights, fundamental freedoms, upholding standards and strengthening our values globally;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Notes that studies indicate TTIP would have a positive impact for third country economies, including developing countries; stresses that trade and development policy are interlinked and must be shaped in a coherent way;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the Commission and the United States to find a way to more actively involve third countries that would be (indirectly) impacted by TTIP, such as Mexico because of the North American Free Trade Agreement and Turkey because of its Customs Union with the EU;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the recent crises on the EU's borders and developments around the world show the need to invest in global governance and a system based on rules and values
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas the negative impact on EU exporters of Russian sanctions must encourage the Commission to do more to open up new markets to EU businesses large and small;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas, given the growing interconnectedness of global markets – up to 40 % of European industrial products are manufactured from imported upstream products – it is crucial that policymakers shape the way these markets interact; whereas proper trade rules and removing unnecessary barriers are fundamental to creating added value in Europe, since industrial production takes place in global value chains;
Amendment 86 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Believes that this agreement should be accompanied by a deepening of transatlantic parliamentary cooperation, and that the strengthening of trade and investment links through the TTIP should lead in the future to an enhanced political framework to improve global cooperation between the EU and the US; stresses that any instruments created to strengthen cooperation should not affect the European or American legislative procedures and that all legislators and all stakeholders must always be involved in any body that may be created to promote future regulatory cooperation;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas we are faced with an unregulated picture of globalisation and a well-designed trade agreement cshould contribute to harnessingfurther trade liberalisation, while upholding standards and values; whereas such an agreement should not only focus on reducing tariffs and NTBs but should also be a tool tosecure the protection of workers, consumers and the environment; whereas a strong and ambitious trade agreement is an opportunity to create a framework by strengthening regulation towhich sets the highest standards at a global level in order to prevent social and environmental dumpingline with the values upheld and cherished on both sides of the Atlantic;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas even though common high standards are in the interest of the consumers, it should be noted that they also make sense from an economic perspective, as the higher costs stemming from higher standards are compensated by increased economies of scale in a market of 850 million consumers;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas many economic impact studies on TTIP should be taken with caution as they are built on computable general equilibrium economic models with very optimistic predictions about the capacity of the EU and the US to reduce regulatory barriers to trade; whereas the TTIP alone will not resolve economic problems in the EU and no false hopes and expectations should be raised in that respectpredict growth on both sides of the Atlantic; whereas the TTIP alone will not resolve economic problems in the EU, but should be seen as an element in a broader European strategy to create jobs and growth, and to strengthen our position in the global economy;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas previous trade agreements have shown significant benefits for the European economy;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the wellbeing of ordinary citizens, workers and consumers, as well as increased opportunities for businesses as the drivers of growth and jobs, has to be the benchmark for a trade agreement; whereas TTIP should be a model for a good trade agreement responding to these requirements;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the secret character of negotiatEuropean Commissions has they have been conducted in the past has led to deficiencies in terms ofmade significant efforts to increase access to information by launching a transparency initiative, which has increased democratic control of the negotiation process;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas President Juncker has also clearly stated in his Political Guidelines that he will not accept that the jurisdiction of courts in the Member States is limited by special regimes for investor disputes; whereas now that the results of the public consultation on investment protection and ISDS in the TTIP are available, a reflection process – taking account of critical and constructive contributions – is needed within and between the three European institutions on the best way to achieve investment protection and equal treatment of investorsnon- discrimination;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas since July 2013 talks between the US and the EU have been going on, but up to now no common text has been agreed and it is now exactly the right time to undertake a reflection on the state of play;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point a – point ii
(ii) to emphasise that while the TTIP negotiations consist of negotiations on three main areas – ambitiously improving reciprocal market access (for goods, services, investment and public procurement at all levels of government), reducing NTBs and enhancing the compatibility of regulatory regimes, and developing common rules to address shared global trade challenges and opportunities – all these areas are equally important to be included in a comprehensive package; TTIP should be ambitious and binding on all levels of government on both sides of the Atlantic, the agreement should lead to lasting genuine market openness on a reciprocal basis and trade facilitation on the ground, and should pay particular attention to structural means of achieving greater transatlantic cooperation while upholding regulatory standards and preventing social and environmental dumping, welcomes therefore the fact that all major players in the negotiations have publically committed to these goals;
Amendment 329 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point b – point ii
(ii) to aim at the elimination of all duty tariffs, while respecting sensitive products on both sides, noting that CETA could be a good point of reference in this regard;
Amendment 368 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point b – point iv
(iv) to increase market access for services according to the ‘positive listan approach’ whereby services that are to be opened up to foreign companies are explicitly mentioned and new services are excluded while ensuring that possible standstill and ratchet clauses only apply to non- discrimination provisich safeguards governments' right to regulate, protects public services and utilities, but which also fosters innovations and allow for enough flexibility to bring services back into public controlstrengthens the possibilities for innovative goods and services to access both the European and American markets;
Amendment 379 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point v
Paragraph 1 – point b – point v
(v) the negotiations should meaningfully address the current US restrictions on maritime and air transport services owned by European businesses, including in relation to foreign ownership of airlines and reciprocity on cabotage, as well as maritime cargo screeningwhich is caused by legislation such as the Jones Act, Foreign Dredging Act, the Federal Aviation Act and the US Air Cabotage Law, and which seriously hinder market access for EU companies as well as innovation in the US itself;
Amendment 402 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi
(vi) to ensure an adequate carve-out of sensitive services such as public services and public utilities (including water, health, social security systems and education) allowing national and local authorities enough room for manoeuvre to legislate in the public interest; awelcomes the joint declaration reflecting negotiators’ clear commitment to exclude these sectors from the negotiations would be very helpful in this regardstance that public services are excluded from TTIP;
Amendment 414 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi a (new)
(via) to ensure mutual recognition of professional qualifications between the Parties and for the promotion of mobility across the Atlantic through the facilitation of entry for high-skilled professionals in sectors covered by TTIP;
Amendment 419 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b – point vi b (new)
(vib) to promote, in parallel to the negotiations, that the EU-US enter into talks towards an additional agreement lifting work permit requirements, so as to create maximum mobility of professionals between the EU and the US;
Amendment 452 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point viii
Paragraph 1 – point b – point viii
(viii) to ensure that the EU’s acquis on data privacy is not compromised through the liberalisation of data flows, in particular in the area of e-commerce and financial services; to ensure that no commitments on data flows are taken up before European data protection legislation is in placeany provisions on data flows are in accordance with the EU’s acquis on data privacy, in particular in the area of e-commerce and financial services, noting the importance of cross border data flows to both the digital economy and increasingly also to traditional industry; to ensure that the agreement takes account of Article XIV of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) provisions on the protection of personal data;
Amendment 481 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point x
Paragraph 1 – point b – point x
(x) to keep in mind that the agreement should not risk prejudicing the Union’s cultural and linguistic diversity, including in the audiovisual and cultural services sector, and that existing and future provisions and policies in support of the cultural sector, in particular in the digital world, are kept out of the scope of the negotiationsand that the mandate given to the European Commission by the Member States explicitly excludes the audiovisual sector;
Amendment 492 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xi
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xi
(xi) to ensure that account is taken of the large discrepancies in the openness of public procurement markets on both sides of the Atlantic and the huge interest on the part of European companies in obtaining access to public contracts in the US both at federal and state level, for example for construction services, traffic and transport infrastructure and goods and services whil, noting that 85% of the EU public tenders are open to the US while only 32% of US public tenders are open to the EU; to ensure respecting of sustainability criteria for procurement on both sides, inter alia the new EU procurement and concession package entering into force in 2016;
Amendment 501 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xi a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xi a (new)
(xia) to acknowledge the particularly sensitive status of defence procurement and investment, but to ensure that it is not misused as covert state aid;
Amendment 536 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xiv a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xiv a (new)
(xiva) to ensure that TTIP is an open agreement, and to look for ways in which valued partners, which have an interest in the TTIP negotiations because of Customs Union agreements with either the EU or the US, can be more actively informed of the developments;
Amendment 538 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xiv b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point b – point xiv b (new)
(xivb) to seek to ensure that developing countries indirectly benefit from TTIP and to remain committed to advancing the multilateral trade agenda;
Amendment 563 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point i a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point c – point i a (new)
(ia) to address customs issues that go beyond the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) rules and stress that, in order to achieve real administrative burden removal, there is a need to work towards a maximum degree of regulatory alignment on customs and border related policies and practices;
Amendment 597 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point c – point iii
(iii) with regard to the horizontal regulatory cooperation chapter, to give priority to fostering bilateral cooperation between regulatory bodies, which could help develop common definitions and to avoid unnecessary divergence in the future, especially when it comes to new technologies and services, such as electric cars, smart grids, nano technology and green goods; to achieve this through enhanced information exchange and to promote the adoption, strengthening and timely implementation of international instruments, on the basis of successful international experiences such as, for instance, ISO standards or under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29); to establish that the prior impact assessment for the regulatory act, as defined in the horizontal provisions on regulatory cooperation, should also measure the impact on consumers and the environment next to its impact on trade and investment; to handle the possibility of promoting regulatory compatibility with great care and only without compromising legitimate regulatory and policy objectives;
Amendment 641 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point d – point ii
(ii) to ensure that the sustainable development chapter aims at the full and effective ratification, implementation and enforcement of standards which align with the eight fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and their content, the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda and the core international environmental agreements; provisions should be aimed at improving levels of protection of labour and environmental standards; an ambitious trade and sustainable development chapter should also include rules on corporate social responsibility based on the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and a clearly structured civil society involvement;
Amendment 705 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point ix
Paragraph 1 – point d – point ix
(ix) to ensure that TTIP supports the use and promotion of green goods and services, including through facilitating the development of these goods and services, thereby tapping into the considerable potential for environmental and economic gains offered by the transatlantic economy;
Amendment 725 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xi
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xi
(xi) to ensure that TTIP includeswelcome the commitment of both sides and the inclusion of a specific chapter on SME’s andin TTIP that aims at creating new opportunities in the US for European SMEs, for instance by eliminating double certification requirements, by establishing a web-based information system about the different regulations, by introducing ‘fast-track’ procedures at the border or by eliminating specific tariff peaks that continue to exist; it should establish mechanisms for both sides to work together to facilitate SMEs’ participation in transatlantic trade, for instance through a common SME ’one-stop shop’;
Amendment 738 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xii
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xii
(xii) to ensure that TTIP contains a comprehensive chapter on investment including provisions on both market access and investment protection, recognising that the free flow of capital and access to capital stimulate jobs and growth; the investment chapter should aim at ensuring non- discriminatory treatment for the establishment of European and US companies in each other’s territory, while taking account of the sensitive nature of some specific sectors;
Amendment 772 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xiv
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xiv
(xiv) to ensure that foreign investors are treated in a non-discriminatory fashion and have a fair opportunity to seek and achieve redress of grievances, which can be achieved without the inclusion of an ISDS mechanism; such a mechanism is not necessary in TTIP given the EU’recognising that both state-to-state dispute settlement and the use of national courts present significant difficulties and that there are also legitimate concerns regarding the investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses ands the US’ devely have been adopted legal systems; a state-to- state dispute settlement systemin the past in more than 1300 bilateral investment agreements by European Member States; to continue, therefore, to explore all avenues to improve and reform ISDS in such a way that concerns regarding the right to regulate , transparency, appeals procedures and othe use of national courts are the most appropriate tools to address investment dispur procedural aspects of tribunals and the relationship between national courts and ISDS are addressed; to move ahead, alongside the TTIP negotiations, with finding a broader solution to the concerns about ISDS clauses which are contained in other European investment agreements, including treaties between EU member states;
Amendment 796 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xv
Paragraph 1 – point d – point xv
(xv) to ensure that TTIP includes an ambitious and modern Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) chapter that includes strong protection of precisely and clearly defined areas of IPR without impeding the EU's need to reform its copyright system, including enhanced protection and recognition of European Geographical Indications (GIs), using CETA as a model, and reflects a fair and efficient level of protection such as laid out in the EU’s and the US’s free trade agreement provisions in this area, while continuing to confirm the existing flexibilities in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), notably in the area of public health;
Amendment 845 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point e – point iii
(iii) to promote an even closer engagement with the Member States, who were responsible for the negotiating mandate which directed the European Commission to open negotiations with the US, with the aim of forging their active involvement in better communicating the scope and the possible benefits of the agreement for European citizens, ands committed to in the Council Conclusions adopted on 20 March 2015, in order to ensure a broad, fact-based public debate on TTIP in Europe with the aim of exploring the genuine concerns surrounding the agreement;
Amendment 866 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f
Paragraph 1 – point f
(f) to skeek evep on closerly engagementing with Parliament, which will continue to closely monitor the negotiating process and to engage on its part with the Commission, the Member States, and the US Congress and Administration, as well as with stakeholders on both sides of the Atlantic, in order to ensure an outcome which will benefit citizens in the EU, the US and beyond;