7 Amendments of Bart STAES related to 2013/2148(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1a (new)
Paragraph 1a (new)
1a. Points out that, while the overall objective of EU-ASEAN cooperation in the period 2011-2013 is to contribute to ASEAN regional integration, i.e. by enabling the setting-up of the ASEAN Community by 2015, cross-sectoral programmes include, among others, negotiating Free Trade Agreements; against this background, reiterates that a "pro-growth strategy" should not be confused with a long term development strategy that entails the financing of long- term objectives, such as health, education, access to energy in rural areas, support of small farmers, etc.; in particular, urges the Commission, in a context where there is no automaticity between the promotion of an export-oriented growth, achieved through the liberalisation of trade, and the reduction of poverty, to ensure that programmes financed under the DCI have a direct link with the overriding objective of eradication of poverty, in line with Policy Coherence for Development, as enshrined in article 208 of the Lisbon Treaty;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3a (new)
Paragraph 3a (new)
3a. Welcomes the fact that ASEAN Charter stresses the importance of the rule of law, good governance, democracy and constitutional government; regrets however that the Charter lacks mechanisms for dispute settlements and sanctions in case of human rights violations;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Considers that the ASEAN countries should advance towards a new phase of inclusive economic and social development, with particular emphasis on promoting their peoples’ human, social, labour and economic rights, in order to ensure fairer and more equal societies; to achieve this, considers that they should use their increased economic wealth to strengthen their social security and protection networks; urges equally the EU to enhance its cooperation on human rights so as to contribute to making the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) effective for the promotion and protection of human rights;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4a (new)
Paragraph 4a (new)
4a. Urges the EU to upgrade its assistance and cooperation to combat corruption, through, inter alia, encouraging the ratification and implementation of the UN Convention Against Corruption;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5a (new)
Paragraph 5a (new)
5a. Expresses its concern about the current global land-grab in Southeast Asia where in some specific countries (e.g. Cambodia, Indonesia, East Timor, Laos, Philippines, Malaysia) it represents a major development problem; underlines that even if the EU does not engage extensively in direct land-grabbing, it contributes to it in various ways, i.e. through banking and finance (via the increasing interest by financial capital on farmland and agricultural investments globally) as well as its trade policy; for instance, points out that Cambodia, that can export their goods without tariffs under the EU's "Everything But Arms" (EBA) Agreement with LDCs, has seen an escalation of human rights abuses as a result of land concessions being granted for agro-industrial development linked to the export of agricultural goods to the EU;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5b (new)
Paragraph 5b (new)
5b. Denounces equally the negative impact of EU biofuel policy on land- grabbing in South Asia, whereby EU Member States constitute a key driving force for the rapid expansion of oil palm production (especially in Indonesia and Malaysia), leading to dispossession and/or adverse incorporation of the rural poor into oil palm plantation; in contrast, deems essential to support, within the context of development aid, the rights to land resources of poor people in developing countries, following a right- based approach;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5c (new)
Paragraph 5c (new)
5c. Urges for the activation of the EU 2004 Land Policy Guidelines to counter land-grabbing; in particular, stresses that donors should engage in land policy which are geared towards the defence and strengthening of small-scale family agriculture;