Activities of Maria MARTENS related to 2008/2318(INI)

Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)

Ba. whereas over the last year most of the institutional architecture of the joint Africa-EU strategy has been set up but little actual progress has been achieved on the ground,

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

Ea. whereas bringing the European Development Fund within the EU budget, as Parliament has repeatedly called for, would permit greater policy coherence and parliamentary oversight of development spending,

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)

Fa. whereas illicit capital flight is causing African economies to haemorrhage billions of euros every year, while 'brain drain' robs the continent of much of the intellectual capacity that is essential for its future development,

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)

Ga. whereas Africa is underrepresented in the international organisations and multilateral fora that decide on many of the issues affecting the continent's future,

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)

Gb. whereas the longstanding EU-Africa relationship takes on a new significance with the arrival on the scene of non- traditional donors whose agendas and priorities for Africa present new risks and challenges,

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)

Ia. whereas the partnership should take into account that, although a “partnership of equals” means that the EU and the AU are equal in terms of participation in the discussion and policy setting, it should also address the stark reality that both continents and their institutions are still far from equal in terms of institutional development, decisional capacity and resources,

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Welcomes the establishment of EU implementation teams with the participation of interested Member States, not only because the financing of the joint strategy depends to a considerable extent on contributions from the Member States, but also because direct involvement of member states will contribute to increased awareness, continuity and sustainability of the actions foreseen in the Action Plan;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Proposes that the Presidents of the Pan-African and European Parliaments systematically attend and address EU- Africa Summits to present our Parliaments’ conclusions on the implementation of the action plan and suggestions for the future orientations of the joint strategy;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7a. Considers that the Pan-African and European Parliaments should participate at an appropriate level in both the joint expert groups and the AU-EU task force;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8

8. Welcomes the fact that the European Commission has established a EUR 55 million ~~budget line~~support progamme in the 9th EDF for strengthening the capacities of the AU institutions; insists once again that part of this budget must be made available for strengthening the administrative and operational capacity of the Pan-African Parliament and ~~the regional and national legislatures of the AU regions and member states~~calls on the Commissions to draw up the action plans for the use of these budgets in close consultation with the Pan-African Parliament and in cooperation with the European Parliament;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Invites the EU and AU Commissions to simplify procedures to ensure ~~that the~~direct and efficient dialogue with Parliaments i~~s effective and fluid and not dogged by~~n order to avoid unacceptable delays, taking due account of their procedural specificities;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)

9a. Calls yet again for the budgetisation of the European Development Fund and, in the meantime, asks the Commission to keep the European and Pan-African Parliaments informed at all stages of the budgetary process;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)

10a. Regrets that, whereas the Action Plan indicates that each of the Africa-EU Partnerships is open for a wide range of actions, overwhelming reference is placed on state actions; stresses that the inputs and involvement of parliaments and non- state actors, such as civil society organisations, local authorities and other non-state actors in the process need to be deepened and further clarified;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Pierre SCHAPIRA, Maria MARTENS

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)

12b. Believes that sustainable economic, social and environmental development can only take place in countries that offer guarantees of peace, democracy and human rights;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 c (new)

12c. Calls on the Commission to ensure coherence between this strategy and the other European policies which may have an adverse impact on the promotion of a new strategic partnership between the EU and Africa, in particular commercial, environmental, migration and agricultural policies; stresses that the political dialogue between the EU and Africa should cover these issues;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)

15a. Welcomes the establishment in September 2008 by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon of an AU-UN Panel of distinguished persons to identify ways the international community can support AU peacekeeping operations established under a UN mandate;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16

16. Points out that the concept of governance ~~goes beyond merely fighting corruption and~~ should be a measure of how well a society functions, through law and order, respect and active promotion of human rights, fight against corruption, wealth creation and transparent and equitable wealth distribution and essential health and social services; stresses that external actors must not assess governance solely on externally- imposed criteria but instead on the basis of mutually agreed and shared values and standards;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16a. Stresses the importance of sustainable democracy including good governance and democratic elections which must include support for parliamentary capacity building, the organisation of civil society and the involvement of local authorities in the political dialogue;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)

16b. Stresses that governance must be improved on both sides: it is not only a priority in Africa but also on the European side which must improve governance and accountability as regards aid commitments and better donor coordination with a view to taking greater account of the so-called 'aid orphans'; stresses that national and continental parliaments, non-state actors and local authorities have an important role to play in this field;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)

16c. Calls for increased support to existing African initiatives, such as the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), which is the most serious effort yet by African leaders to improve governance on the continent, and the various instruments put in place by the AU, which will increase African ownership of the process;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 d (new)

16d. Expresses serious concern that the "governance profiles" developed by the Commission for each ACP country, which will guide programming for development assistance in relation to the EUR 2,700,000,000 additional funds under the 10th EDF, have been prepared without any participatory element; notes that eligibility for additional funds of beneficiary countries has been judged according to a set of criteria with only one directly linked to the MDGs; expresses dismay that the Commission's "profiles" risk hollowing out the APRM process; calls on the Commission to consult and inform the European Parliament and the Council on the follow-up and the implementation of these funds in order to make sure they are allocated to governance initiatives, to support the AU governance agenda and the APRM process;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Subtitle III

IIII. Trade, economic development and regional integration

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Considers, as regards the partnership on trade and regional integration, that under the right conditions, increasing trade is an essential driver of economic growth; welcomes therefore the aims of this partnership to support African regional integration and to strengthen the continent's trade capacities;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)

18a. Looks forward to a speedy conclusion to the WTO Doha Development Round, but insists that it must remain essentially a 'development round', favouring African nations' integration into the global economy, effectively reducing trade-distorting agricultural subsidies and abolishing agricultural export subsidies;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)

18b. Believes that the EU should help African states to ensure their agriculture is self-sufficient and to foster essential services and vulnerable domestic industries;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25

25. Notes that basic health and primary and secondary education are crucial catalysts to achieving the MDGs; consequently encourages the African countries to make these areas one of the main priorities of their poverty reduction strategies; calls on the partnership to promote such a development, considering the European Commission commitment to spend at least 20% of the Community’s aid budget in these sectors; calls on the Commission to extend this commitment to the European Development Fund;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)

25b. Encourages the AU and EU member states to attach greater importance to African food security and food sovereignty and to support actions to increase the productivity and competitiveness of African agriculture, in particular food production for local markets, and promotion of "green belts"around cities;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 c (new)

25c. Calls on the Member States to include in their debates, within and beyond the EU-Africa strategy, the issue of equitable wealth distribution resulting from the exploitation of natural resources; insists that national revenues from natural resources should as a matter of priority be more equitably allocated to satisfying the basic needs of their populations, particularly in the fields of health, education, the conservation of natural resources and the environment, thus helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)

27a. Calls for the new EU 'blue card' scheme to discourage the depletion of skilled workers from developing countries in sectors where these countries suffer from labour shortages, particularly in the areas of health and education;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 c (new)

27c. Encourages both sides, as regards the science and technology partnership, to aim to bridge the digital divide by stepping up cooperation on technology development and transfer, particularly concerning telephony and the internet;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Maria MARTENS, Pierre SCHAPIRA, Marie-Arlette CARLOTTI

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 d (new)

27d. Expects the joint strategy to take specific steps to improve opportunities for women, children and people with disabilities in Africa, as these groups face particularly serious difficulties in developing countries;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 b (new)

28b. Calls once again on the EU institutions to create a specific financial instrument for implementing the joint strategy, centralising all existing sources of funding, in a clear, predictable and programmable way; questions to what extent the joint strategy will be able to achieve its lofty ambitions or offer genuine added value without any new funding whatsoever or even reprogramming of existing funding;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 c (new)

28c. Calls on governments in the EU and in Africa to communicate more effectively and systematically to their people the actions and achievements of the joint strategy and to endeavour to broaden media coverage;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29

29. Looks forward to a meaningful involvement of the European and Pan- African Parliaments, following the experience of the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon on 8 and 9 of December 2007, in the run-up to the third Africa-EU summit in 2010 and their active participation in the summit itself;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)

29a. Calls on the EU and AU Commissions and Presidencies to agree to the proposals outlined above aimed at enhancing parliamentary involvement in the implementation and monitoring of the joint strategy;

2009/02/04
Committee: DEVE