16 Amendments of Feleknas UCA related to 2008/2170(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas Article 36(1) of the Cotonou Agreement contains the agreement of the European Union and the ACP States to conclude "“WTO compatible trading arrangements, removing progressively barriers to trade between them and enhancing cooperation in all areas relevant to trade"”; whereas under Article 37(6) of the Cotonou Agreement ACP countries have the right to explore alternatives to EPAs,
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas it is absolutely crucial to promote and support the trade inside and between ACP regions and between ACP countries and other developing countries (South- South) can, which will have important positive effects on the development of ACP countries and decrease their dependence,
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O a (new)
Recital O a (new)
Oa. whereas the 'most-favoured nation clause' may jeopardise the South-South trade and constrain the development in ACP countries,
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P a (new)
Recital P a (new)
Pa. whereas, concerning that women produce 60-80% of food and work in the agricultural or in the informal sector with low levels of income, little job and social security and few job alternatives in developing countries, the opening up to food imports from Europe and liberalisation under EPAs might negatively effect the unemployment rate and intensify the existing inequalities between women and men,
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q a (new)
Recital Q a (new)
Qa. whereas EPAs de facto revoke the 15% tendering preferences which ACP companies enjoyed under EDF rules,
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Reiterates that full EPAs have to include binding provisions for development cooperation in order to reach their ultimate goal which is sustainable development and regional integration in ACP countries,
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a. Calls on the Commission to be vigilant that the issue of compatibility with WTO rules does not take precedence over the overall aim of development,
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Urges the Commission and the ACP countries to make best use of the funding available for Aid for Trade in order to support the reform process in areas essential for economic development; to improve infrastructure where it is necessarydue to the needs, especially of local and regional production to benefit more effective from the opportunities offered by the EPAs; to compensate the net loss of customs revenue and encourage tax reform fostering knowledge exchange on the most cost effective measures for implementing fiscal adjustments so that public investments in social sectors are not reduced; and to invest in the production chain in order to diversify export production; and to produce more highly processed export goods utilising and promoting already locally available resources, i.e. staff as well as means of production, infrastructure etc.; in this regard, EPAs should not limit the ability of governments to use export taxes on basic raw materials to encourage the development of value added processing;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that support measures linked to the EPAs shouldhave to take into account the importance of regional integration and economic relations with other developing countries to the development of the ACP countries; notes, that the extension of preferences to third parties which ACP exporters do enjoy, will trend to result in loss of tariff preferences and undermine the ACP countries' competitive position and hence reducing the value of traditional preference;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Urges the Commission to give ACP negotiators sufficient time to evaluate the agreement and to make suggestions before adopting the relevant agreement. After such an evaluation, if a country chooses not to take part, it should not be pressured to join, as agreed upon in article 37(6) of the Cotonou agreement;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Underlines, considering that customs revenues are the most important source of income in ACP countries, that the 'most- favoured nation clause' might hamper South-South trade and development and stresses that EPAs should not include the 'standstill clause' which fixes the tariffs at their current rates within the transition periods and would even affect products which are on the exclusion list;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Urges the ACP governments to implement necessary reforms in order to realise good governance, in particular in the field of public administration, such as in public financial management, collection of customs duties, tax revenue system, fight against corruption and mis- management; in this context the sovereignty of spending the taxpayers' money has to remain in the ACP- governments' hands to ensure that spending in social sector has precedence over expenditures or subsidy for the private sector;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Urges the Council, the Commission and governments of the EU Member States to do their utmost to re-establishing an atmosphere of confidence and trustconstructive dialogue in so far as it has been damaged in the course of negotiations and to recognise the ACP states as equal partners in the negotiation and implementation process;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Stresses the importance of public services for development and democracy and consequently asks the Commission to act with caution when considering the liberalisation of service sectors, and in particular to exclude water, health and education from liberalisation,
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Stresses that EPAs must also promote equal participation of women and men for the benefit of all development processes through women’s equal access to productive resources, land, capital, credit and technology, gainful employment, and decision-making;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Stresses that it is crucial that forests, biodiversity and indigenous people or forest-dependent people are not put at risk; in this regard, ACP countries should be allowed to implement rules that limit the export of timber and other unprocessed raw materials and be allowed to use these laws in order to protect forests, wildlife and domestic industries;