Activities of Kathleen VAN BREMPT related to 2020/2117(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Trade-related aspects and implications of COVID-19 (short presentation)
Reports (1)
REPORT on the trade-related aspects and implications of COVID-19
Amendments (28)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A (new)
Recital A (new)
A. whereas the Covid-19 outbreak has further increased the existing inequalities which added to the already growing concern among citizens about job loss in certain sectors, the changing nature of work and the pressure on workers’ wages and rights, and these problems must be addressed in order to retain public support for global trade;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B (new)
Recital B (new)
B. whereas the Covid-19 outbreak risks creating a set-back in the worldwide fight against climate change, yet, now more than ever, we need global action and cooperation to develop policies and streamline climate action in internal and external policy, as the vaccine alone will not be sufficient to address the social, environmental and economic crisis Covid- 19 has caused;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C (new)
Recital C (new)
C. whereas the European Union substantially reduced its domestic Greenhouse Gas emissions, those embedded in imports have been constantly rising thereby undermining the Union’s efforts to reduce its global Greenhouse Gas emissions footprint;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D (new)
Recital D (new)
D. whereas the European Union, as the world’s largest trading block, finds itself in a unique position to cooperate globally to achieve a sustainable recovery of the world economy, for which trade can be a driver, in line with the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E (new)
Recital E (new)
E. whereas the pandemic has demonstrated strategic vulnerabilities in the EU and global supply chains, including for essential medical goods such as personal protective equipment and active pharmaceutical ingredients;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F (new)
Recital F (new)
F. whereas the divisions within the WTO and the urgent need for its reform, complicated the coordinated response to keep global supply chains open, and the priority now must be to rebuild trust in multilateral institutions being able to deliver global answers, by rapidly moving forward on the discussions on the WTO Trade and Health Initiative and a temporary TRIPS waiver for Covid-19 related health products;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G (new)
Recital G (new)
G. whereas it is important that there is close cooperation between the WTO and other international bodies, notably the WHO, UN institutions and the World Bank, to tackle the crisis in a comprehensive manner, with special attention for the health and economic implications in developing countries;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H (new)
Recital H (new)
H. whereas the Communication on the Trade Policy Review needs to be complemented with a clear timeline and benchmarks for the actions described in the document, and with continued dialogue and transparency with the European Parliament, which will play a key role in its implementation;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Underlines that the post-COVID-19 recovery is a unique opportunity to set the agenda for sustainable growth; calls on the Commission, therefore, to presentspeed up its review of the 15-point action plan on TSD chapters without delayso it can be implemented in all ongoing negotiations without exception; expects the review to address the enforceability of TSD commitments as a matter of urgency, as it is not currently included; recalls, in this regard, the non- paper from the Netherlands and France on trade, social economic effects and sustainable development11 ; suggests that, as a minimum, recent advances in enforceability should be applied to EU trade policy, namely the ability to tackle any non-compliance by partners through unilateral sanctions, including the introduction of tariffs or quotas on certain products or the cross- suspension of other parts of an agreement; __________________ 11 Non-paper from the Netherlands and France on trade, social economic effects and sustainable development, accessed at ‘the Netherlands at International Organisations (permanentrepresentations.nl)’.
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Points out that high up-front costs, which will only repay themselves over time, and a lack of know-how and equipment are currently preventing developing countries from ‘going green’; demands that the Commission use all trade instruments and development cooperation policies at its disposal to increase financial support, technical assistance, technology transfers and digital penetration in order to empower developing countries and enable them to achieve sustainable resilience and to better implement due diligence across the supply chain;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Emphasises that transparency and dialogue are key to creating support for trade policy; insists that the role and responsibilities of civil society and domestic advisory groups must be clearly defined in the EU’s internationalpolitical and trade agreements, and that financial assistance must be accompanied by capacity-building measures to enable it to function effectively;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Emphasises that transparency and dialogue are key to creating support for trade policy; insists that the role and responsibilities of civil society and domestic advisory groups must be clearly defined in the EU’s international agreements and that financial assistance must be accompanied by capacity-building measures to enable it to function effectively; while asking the Commission to cooperate more intensively with the European civil society represented in the EESC;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls for the EU to ensure trade works also for the economically disadvantaged; in this regard recalls that the specific actions to promote ‘fair and ethical trade schemes’ to which the Commission committed in the ‘Trade for All’ strategy have become even more relevant under the current circumstances given that Fair Trade bottom-up initiatives can ensure that trade benefits the economically disadvantaged actors in the supply chain; calls on the Commission to promote Fair Trade initiatives through EU programs involving young people and the private sector, in external action in general, in the implementation of chapters on trade and sustainable development, through EU delegations as well as by rewarding best practices and facilitating knowledge exchange amongst EU local, regional, national authorities, civil society, schools and universities, including through the extension of the ‘EU cities for fair and ethical trade award’ to schools and universities and the setting up of an annual Fair Trade week hosted in Brussels by the European Commission; demands the European Commission to report on the support of Fair Trade initiatives by the EU and the member states;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Underlines that the loss in biodiversity increases the danger of spreading zoonoses and pandemics; stresses that although trade policy cannot replace environmental policy, it should not reinforce or incentivize production methods that are harmful to biodiversity in the EU and internationally; therefore, in the context of FTAs, calls for the linkage of the phasing in of tariff liberalisations with proven measures for the protection of biodiversity amongst which must be the implementation of the CBD and the CITES; underlines that in order to fulfil this expectation, capacity building measures and financial support for developing countries are vital elements;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Calls on the Commission to thoroughly review how and to what extent transfers of emerging and disruptive technologies are taking place from the EU to authoritarian states via trade and investment flows; calls on the Commission to propose new measures to limit such transfers, including supply- chain cooperation with like-minded partners; calls on a dialogue on semiconductors to be started with Taiwan;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Welcomes the proposal by several government leaders for an international treaty on the pandemic response and calls for this to include a strong trade pillar; underlines that the international trade framework must foster cooperation and put into place both structural and rapid response mechanisms to help governments overcome the challenges associated with health emergencies; maintains that progress needs to be made in the areas of transparency on available stocks, global supply networks, production capacities and product pricing of essential health products, the implementation and development of exemptions for public health security in the intellectual property rights framework, increasing the global mobility of essential services, protecting and fostering the resilience of SMEs, and developing an intersectional approach to tackle the negative impact of health crises on gender equality, income equality, and the position of minorities;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Calls to establish a new Committee on Trade and Health on the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in order to prepare guidelines on how governments can implement existing exemptions and flexibilities in international trade law to increase public health security, which mechanisms must be put in place to improve the global response to health emergencies and to lay the groundwork for a trade pillar for the negotiations on a future international treaty on the pandemic response;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Underlines that the vaccines against COVID-19 and its variants are a global public good and that multilateral efforts should be focused on the equitable distribution of vaccines across the world, ramping up global production capacities and technology transfers, including in low and middle- income countries; strongly welcomes, in this regard, the Global C19 Vaccine Supply Chain and Manufacturing Summit held on 8 and 9 March 2021 and calls for the establishment of structural platforms to rapidly scale up vaccine production in more countries; calls for more international efforts to speed up the delivery of vaccines to COVAX;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Emphasises that international trade policy must play a proactive role in this endeavour by facilitating trade in raw materials, alleviating shortages of qualified and experienced personnel, solving supply chain problems and revisiting the global framework for intellectual property rights for future pandemics; insists, in this regard, on a constructive dialogue about a temporary waiver of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in order to ensure that countries do not face retaliation over COVID-19 related patent infringements during the pandemic; calls on the Commission to re-evaluate the TRIPS+ commitments in EU trade agreements in light of lessons learned, and to improve the work on increasing the effectiveness of IPR flexibilities such as, but not limited to, compulsory licensing in the context of bilateral negotiations and dialogue;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Emphasises that international trade policy must play a proactive role in this endeavour by facilitating trade in raw materials, health and medical essential products alleviating shortages of qualified and experienced personnel, solving supply chain problems and revisiting the global framework for intellectual property rights for future pandemics; insists, in this regard, on a constructive dialogue about a temporary waiver of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in order to ensure thato countries do not face retaliation over COVID-19 related patent infringements during the pandemicbute to increasing the industrial capacity for vaccine protection;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Welcomes the TPRrade Policy Review’s affirmation of multilateralism and the extensive proposals made for the necessary in-depth WTO reform of the WTO; shares; shares the emphasis placed by the Commission’s emphasis on sustainable development in its vision for WTO reform and urges the Commission to bring to beardeploy all efforts to implement a sustainable development agenda, including goals on gender, human rights and labour standards; stresses the importance of taking forward the WTO initiative on trade and climate and to assure the swift connection of the WTO and other organizations of the multilateral system as the WHO;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Emphasises that reviving the WTO negotiating function will play a key role in any substantial reform of the organisation; highlights, in particular, the need to address competitive distortions caused by industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises; supports the proposal of the Commission to initiate negotiations on a plurilateral agreement on competitive neutrality with like-minded partners; calls for the Commission to actively pursue a solution to the mismatch between the level of development and the number of commitments undertaken within the international trading system; is convinced that EU leadership is crucial for any meaningful WTO reform to succeed;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Emphasises that reviving the WTO negotiating function will play a key role in any substantial reform of the organisation; highlights, in particular, the need to address competitive distortions caused by industrial subsidies and state-owned enterprises; calls for the Commission to actively pursue a solution to the mismatch between the level of development and the number of commitments undertaken within the international trading system; is convinced that EU leadership is crucial for any meaningful WTO reform to succeed; considers essential that the next WTO ministerial conference address the debate on intellectual property rights, the role of international trade in protecting the world from health threats, and also address the sanctions regime to prevent that the consequences of breaching international trade rules by some members, are paid by sectors not responsible for non- compliance;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Supports thea new, forward-looking wide transatlantic agenda based on common interests and shared values; urges the Commission and the, giving impulse and priority to the development of the EU relations with all the Americas, based on common interests and shared values, aiming to counterbalance the development of the economic and trade cooperation in the Pacific, to achieve meaningful WTO reform and to find common solutions to common problems; in the new political context invites the new US administration to closely cooperate closely in orderwith the EU institutions to secure a level playing field and to agree on ambitious social, labour and environmental standards and build on each other’s experience to enforce these more efficiently enforce them; calls for joint efforts to overcomeget out of the pandemic, speed up the economic recovery and facilitate trade in vaccines and essential medical goods; reiterates that we should work together to achieve meaningful WTO reform and find common solutions to common problems;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Supports the new, forward-looking transatlantic agenda based on common interests and shared values; urges the Commission and the US administration to cooperate closely in order to secure a level playing field and to agree on ambitious social and environmental standards and build on each other’s experience to enforce these more efficiently; calls for joint efforts to overcome the pandemic, speed up the economic recovery and facilitate trade in essential medical goods; reiterates that we should work together to achieve meaningful WTO reform and find common solutions to common problems; calls on close EU-US cooperation on emerging and disruptive technologies, including joint export and import restrictions vis-à- vis authoritarian states;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Is aware of the importance of the EU’s multifaceted trade relationship with China; firmly believes that EU-China trade relations require a more balanced and reciprocal approach; stresses that the process of ratification process of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) can only begin once the EU has the requisitestart when the EU has its necessary autonomous measures in place, including a ban onf products made using forced labour, an upgraded trade defence toolbox and a working sanctions mechanism on human rights; underlines that the ratification process of the EU- China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment will not start until the Chinese sanctions against MEPs are lifted; demands that the Commission to move forward with the Investment Agreement with Taiwan;
Amendment 271 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Points out that the COVID crisis has underlined the significance of a new partnership with the African continent; in this context underlines that the question on debt reductions and debt cancellations needs to be answered; underlines the necessity of extending debt-related initiatives to private creditors; highlights the need to create the policy space in African countries for the successful implementation of health related policy measures;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 b (new)
Paragraph 27 b (new)
27b. Stresses that the EU needs to actively support the diversification of inner-African value chains;