Activities of Tokia SAÏFI related to 2016/2140(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on EU flagship initiative on the garment sector
Amendments (13)
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas at European level the textile and garment industry occupies 185 000 businesses, which employ 1.7 million people and generate a turnover of EUR 166 billion;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas all recently concluded EU free trade agreements iconclude ‘Trade andd by the EU must include ambitious sustainable development’ chapters;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Supports the Commission’s examination of a possible EU-wide initiative on the garment sectorDeplores the fact that the Commission has still not submitted the EU-wide initiative on the garment sector, and calls on it to launch it as soon as possible; notes, in addition, that the current multiplication of existing initiatives could result in an unpredictable environment for companies;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses therefore the need to draw up an overview of existing corporate social responsibility measures being implemented by European businesses, in order to be able to identify good practices more effectively and contribute to the creation of a common action framework at European level; recalls, with this in mind, that the private sector has also launched many initiatives to increase the responsibility displayed within the supply chain;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need for a unified approach to the collection of data on social, environmental and labour performance, to be applied along the whole supply chain in order to increase the coherence of the assessment of corporate social responsibility, taking into account the diversity of the players in the sector; points out that the industry-driven Higg Index covers all key impact areas;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. CRecalls that 90% of the European textile and garment industry consists of SMEs, and calls on the Commission, therefore, to take into account the special needs of SMEs and base its approach on the scalability principle; recalls the need to establish technical assistance and specific financial support for SMEs in connection with the development of their duty of due diligence;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recalls that the traceability and transparency of the supply chain is the key to achieving sustained change; calls on the Commission, therefore, to increase the traceability and transparency of the supply chain in the garment industry in a realistic and balanced way which can be pursued while taking into account the diversity and specific characteristics of the players in the chain; recommends that trustworthy, clear and meaningful information on sustainability be made available to consumers;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that the negotiation by the European Union of free trade agreements containing an ambitious sustainable development chapter represents an opportunity for the European Union to help to improve respect for the rights of workers – particularly women – and contribute to the abolition of all forms of child labour and forced labour; stresses that the implementation of free trade agreements facilitates, in particular, the development of a dialogue between businesses and civil society regarding the supply chain in the garment industry, and can thus help to improve production conditions and the safety of workers;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Recalls that the establishment of schemes such as the GSP+, by means of the requirement to ratify and implement the 27 conventions, could help to improve the situation with regard to workers’ rights, promotion of gender equality and abolition of child labour and forced labour; with this in mind, stresses the need to monitor carefully the implementation of the GSP+ and respect for the conventions by the countries concerned;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Stresses that the Sustainability Pact launched after the Rana Plaza disaster is a worthwhile European initiative which could serve as a basis for the planning of fresh measures in partnership with third countries in order to pursue the aims of improving working conditions, health and safety at work in the garment industry;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Calls on the Commission to continue and intensify its international cooperation with such organisations as the ILO, the OECD or the United Nations in order to promote greater responsibility on the part of players in the supply chain of the textile and garment industry;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Believes that the development of industrial relations and collective bargaining and the establishment of easy- to-access and effective grievances mechanisms, according to internationally agreed standards, are among the main guarantees for the proper respect of labour standards and human rights in supplier countries; encourages the European Union to develop and continue a dialogue with certain third countries in order to help improve the rights of workers and respect for human rights in those countries;
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls for the gender aspect to be taken into account in the EU garment initiative, particularly to enable significant progress to be made with regard to wage equality.