Activities of Tokia SAÏFI related to 2011/2157(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Neighbourhood Policy (debate)
Amendments (27)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2
Citation 2
– having regard to the Commission Communications of 11 March 2003 on Wider Europe - Neighbourhood: A New Framework for Relations with our Eastern and Southern Neighbours (COM(2003)0104), of 12 May 2004 on European Neighbourhood Policy - Strategy Paper (COM(2004)0373), of 4 December 2006 on Strengthening the ENP (COM(2006)0726), of 5 December 2007 on A Strong European Neighbourhood Policy (COM(2007)0774), of 3 December 2008 on Eastern Partnership (COM(2008)0823), of 20 May 2008 on The Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean (COM(2008)0319) and, of 12 May 2010 on Taking Stock of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) (COM(2010)0207) and of 24 May 2011 on ‘A dialogue for migration, mobility and security with the southern Mediterranean countries’ (COM(2011) 292),
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5
Citation 5
– having regard to the Foreign Affairs Council conclusions on ENP of 26 July 2010 and 20 June 2011, and to the Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) conclusions of 26 September 2011,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7
Citation 7
– having regard to the Joint Declaration of the Prague Eastern Partnership Summit of 7 May 2009 and that of the Warsaw Summit of 30 September 2011,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 14 a (new)
Citation 14 a (new)
– having regard to Council Decision 2011/424/CFSP of 18 July 2011 appointing a European Union Special Representative for the Southern Mediterranean region2 and Council Decision 2011/518/CFSP of 25 August 2011 appointing the European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia3, __________________ 2 OJ L 188, 19.7.2011. 3 OJ L 211, 27.8.2011.
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16
Citation 16
– having regard to its resolutions of 19 January 2006 on the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)2, of 15 November 2007 on strengthening the ENP3, of 6 July 2006 on the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI)4, of 5 June 2008 on the annual report from the Council to the European Parliament on the main aspects and basic choices of the CFSP5, of 19 February 2009 on the review of the ENPI6, of 19 February 2009 on the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean7, of 17 January 2008 on a Black Sea Regional Policy Approach8, of 20 January 2011 on an EU Strategy for the Black Sea9, of 20 May 2010 on the Union for the Mediterranean10, of 20 May 2010 on the Need for an EU Strategy for the South Caucasus11, of 9 September 2010 on the situation of the Jordan River, with special regard to the Lower Jordan River area12,of 3 February 2011 on the situation in Tunisia13, of 17 February 2011 on the situation in Egypt14, of 10 March 2011 on the Southern Neighbourhood, and Libya in particular, including humanitarian aspects15 and, of 7 July 2011 on Syria, Yemen and Bahrain in the context of the situation in the Arab World and North Africa, and of 15 September 2011 on the situation in Libya16 and the situation in Syria17, __________________ 16 Text adopted, P7_TA(2011)0386. 17 Texts Adopted, P7_TA(2011)0387.
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
– having regard to its Written Declaration of 4 April 2011 on the establishment of Euro-Mediterranean Erasmus and Leonardo da Vinci programmes,
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas it is in the highest interest of the EU to be economadopt a mutually beneficially, ambitious and politically focused in its, responsible and flexible strategy based on support tofor democratic transitions,
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Insists that differentiation based on performance and achievements should be predicated on clearly defined criteria and assessable and regularly monitored benchmarks;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Although the EU does not seek to impose a model or a ready-made recipe for political reforms, uUnderlines that the ENP is based on shared values and the commitment to democracy, human rights, the rule of law and good governance;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. WelcomNotes the proposal for a European Endowment for Democracy, which is a timely response to the clamour for democracy by the populations of our neighbouring countries; underlines that it should be based on the principles of transparency and flexibility and should complement already-existing EU Instruments and the exemplary work of longstanding European political or non- political foundations; stresses that its scope and organisation should be clearly defined and that its structures and procedures should be light and straightforward; calls for a truly political steering committee to be established with the participation of the European Parliament, which should also be involved in the ex-post control mechanismsstresses that the Endowment should not hinder or duplicate the action already being taken by these foundations, or as part of existing European programmes, such as the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights; calls for a truly political steering committee to be established with the participation of the European Parliament, which should also be involved in the ex-post control mechanisms; proposes that the Endowment should support the establishment of a European programme to extend invitations to prominent individuals within the neighbourhood who are working to promote democracy;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses the importance of building a partnership with societies and, in that context, takes note of the proposal forestablishment of a Civil Society Facility (CSF) as a way to target resources more effectively and efficiently towards civil society;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the EEAS and the Commission, under their new ‘more for more’ performance-based approach, to continue to encourage all types of political reform, taking into account the needs and level of economic growth and social development of each partner country; calls on them to provide a clear methodology and detailed benchmarks to assess the democracy record of these ENP countries and to deliver regular sufficiently detailed reports, which should be the basis for the allocation of funds under the new performance- based approach ‘more for more’; asks for these reports to be presented annually to its Committee on Foreign Affairs; insists on the need to systematically include civil- society organisations at all stages of the review process;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers that human rights situations should be continuously monitored and that an annual assessment of the situation could be included in the annex to the annual progress report of each partner country with a clear mechanism to reconsider and progressively limit bilateral cooperation if human rights violations are confirmed;Does not affect English version
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Strongly supports the promotion of sub-regional cooperation and stresses the importance of developing complementary partner-to- partner bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation, which would bring tangible benefits for citizens and improve the political climate in the region;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Underlines the opportunity that negotiations on association agreements provide to boost reforms; stresses that all the components should be linked in order for the EU to deepen its relationship in a holistic and coherent manner; believes that they should therefore include concrete conditions, timetables and performance benchmarks which should be regularly monitored;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the reference to Article 49 of the TEU and believes that all partner countries of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) have a legitimate right to strive for EU membership; believes that the conclusion of association agreements does not exclude this perspectiveBelieves that the conclusion of association agreements does not affect the EU accession prospects of the Eastern Partnership countries but can, on the contrary, be an important step towards further European integration;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Reaffirms that, for the Southern partnership, the aim should be mutually beneficial and ambitious trade arrangements which can lead to DCFTAs, which will surely represent the first step towards a big ‘Euro-Mediterranean Economic Space’, which will also help to solve the economic problems of our neighboring partners in the South; and facilitate South-South integration; calls on the Commission and the Council to facilitate the implementation of the six packages of measures outlined in the Commission document of 30 March 2011 concerning the monitoring of trade and investment initiatives for the benefit of partners on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, namely: stepping up trade and the liberalisation of goods, continuing to work towards the conclusion of agreements on conformity assessment and acceptance of industrial products (ACAAs), liberalising services and establishment, ensuring that the Convention on pan- Euro-Mediterranean rules of origin enters into force rapidly, developing a Euro-Mediterranean mechanism to facilitate trade and investment, putting in place a large and comprehensive free trade area;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes thatBelieves that sharing a common area means sharing responsibilities fairly, and calls for closer cooperation, in particular with regard to all policies and issues entailing a cross-border dimension; calls, therefore, for the regional and cross- border dimensions of sectoral cooperation shouldto be strengthened;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Recalls that the EU should improve the management of migration, inter alia by providing better conditions for the establishment of legal migrants in the EU; considers that the EU needs to favour legal labour migration by concluding mobility partnerships which take account of the demographic, sociological and occupational balance on both sides;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Underlines the importance of paying particular attention to the younger generatio people, in particular young women; stresses that the EU should increase cooperation in the field of education, immediately broadening and increasing scholarship programmes and mobility of students and of teachers and lecturers by promoting university and high-school exchanges and public-private partnerships in the field of research; stresses the strong need for a structuredneed to strengthen the information policy towards the citizens of the ENP partners concerning the possibility of participation in EU programmes, inter alia by translating key information into their own languages;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20b. Calls on the Commission to take over Parliament’s proposal, produced in the wake of the Arab Spring, to establish a Euro-Mediterranean Leonardo da Vinci programme aimed at encouraging the mobility of young people wishing to acquire vocational training abroad, the object being to help combat the youth unemployment endemic to the southern Mediterranean;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Recalls the importance of cofinancing specific tangible regional projects to contribute to a shared process of development and integration; in this regard, welcomes the opportunity offered by the establishmentreactivation of the UfM to strengthen complementarity between bilateral policies and regional policies, in order to achieve more effectively the goals of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation, based on the mutual recognition of common values and on the establishment of an area of peace, security, and prosperity; proposes that the projects be aimed first and foremost at young people, specifically in four priority areas, namely the development of sustainable energy sources, civil cooperation, mobility (through the Mediterranean Office for Youth), and the development of SMEs; calls for an increase in ENP funding to enable the UfM to function on a permanent basis; calls for Libya to join the UfM as quickly as possible;
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Welcomes the work that international organisations, particularly the OSCE and UN agencies, carry out on the ground in conflict and post-conflict situations and in promoting sustainable development throughout the neighbourhood, notably the long-standing commitment of UNRWA to Palestinian refugees;
Amendment 305 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Stresses that the European Parliament plays an important role, through its parliamentary delegations and its delegations to parliamentary assemblies, in strengthening political dialogue and promoting fully-fledgedndamental freedoms, democratic reforms and the rule of law in its neighbouring partner countries and underlines that these contacts could also be a way to assess the fulfilment of the forthcoming criteria;
Amendment 311 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Welcomes the proposal for the new European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) and the increase of funding for the ENP, as requested in its previous resolutions; considers that the distribution of funds should be flexible and adequate for both regions, with an approach that is driven by performance-driven and objective needs and not geographically driven; hopes, however, that the interpretation of this new ‘more for more’ approach will be such as to ensure that the most fragile democratic reforms can continue to be encouraged; notes that more flexibility and simplification should respect the right of democratic scrutiny and be accompanied by increased supervision of the spending;
Amendment 335 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33a. Welcomes the decision of the G8 member countries to increase loan facilities for Southern partnership countries which have embarked on a democratic transition; considers that the commitments entered into in the ‘Deauville Partnership’ on 27 May 2011 are likely to encourage financial mobilisation in support of democracy and development in the EU’s partner countries;
Amendment 341 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Welcomes the work carried out by the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and underlines the importance of and the need for more synergies with other national and international financial institutions also active in these countries; supports the modification of the EBRD’s statutes in order for the Southern neighbourhood partners also to be eligible for its assistance;