26 Amendments of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2012/0000(RSP)
Amendment 6 #
Recital A
A. whereas the Trade Agreement (TA) negotiated between the European Union and Colombia and Peru -following the logic of Free Trade Agreement- aims at opening markets for inter alia goods, services, government procurement and investment;
Amendment 10 #
Recital B
B. whereas the European Union is the second biggest trading partner of the Andean region and whereas the planned TA provides for total liberalisation of trade in industrial products and fisheries, which could increase both Colombian GDP up to 1.3% and Peruvian GDP by 0.7% in the long term, but would have also considerable negative impacts at environmental and social levels according to an independent Sustainability Impact Assessment study;
Amendment 11 #
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the same Sustainability Impact Assessment study shows that the FTA will increase the presence of European companies in economic areas (mining, energy, plantations for bio fuel, ...) in which there are already serious social conflicts causing numerous human rights violations;
Amendment 12 #
Recital F
F. whereas the first article of the TA includes extensive and binding provisions guaranteeing the protection of human rights, statingstates that "respect for democratic principles and fundamental human rights, as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and for the principle of the rule of Law, underpins the internal and international policies of the Parties. Respect for these principles constitutes an essential element of the Agreement"; whereas the failure to respect HRs and democratic principles would constitute a "material breach" of the TA which, under public international law, couldhave to give rise to the adoption of appropriate measures, including the possibility to terminate or to suspend partially or totally the Agreement; deploring that more detailed provisions which are enshrined in the current GSP+ scheme have never been applied in the cases of Peru and Colombia during the last 20 years despite the numerous massacres, and other crimes against humanity; whereas proper monitoring of the respect of HRs by all signatory parties has to be ensured and the practical enforceability of the Human Rights Clause has to be guaranteed;
Amendment 15 #
Recital G.
G. whereas the TA offersdoes not offer adequate guarantees to ensure that the new architecture of the EU trade and investment relations works in favour of far-reaching social, environmental protection and sustainable development by promoting and preserving a high level of labour and environmental protection standards on all sides, as it contains as chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development; is inconsistent with the provisions of the trade related chapters and is not subject to a Dispute Settlement Mechanism;
Amendment 18 #
Recital H
H. whereas both Colombia and Peru have undertaken enormous efforts in recent years to improve the general condition of their citizens lives, including human and labour rights; whereas the human rights problems in both countries have different patterns and need a differentiated approach;
Amendment 22 #
Recital I
I. whereas, despite theose vast efforts, in order to achieve the full completion of the high standards set out and claimed by the individual citizens, the organisations of the civil society, the opposition parties and the government, there is still a substantial work to be done both in Colombia and Peru, especially regarding the effective implementation of the new legislative framework which intends to solve old problems yet not totally solved,problems related to long standing problems of poverty, violence and corruption, civil war (more than 50 years, in the case of Colombia), illegal armed groups, drug trafficking, unsolved murders, impunity, lack of labour and civil rights and land dispossession;
Amendment 25 #
Recital J
J. whereas, despite these efforts, Colombia has been the country with the highest murder rate of trade unionists and of indigenous people worldwide and whereas more than 90% of these crimes still remain unpunished; whereas nearly 4 million people are internally displaced; whereas rate of killings of indigenous people increased by 54.9% from 2010 to 2011, and 34 indigenous communities are in danger of being culturally or physically exterminated; whereas the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people has urged Colombia to invite the United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide to monitor the situation of indigenous communities that find themselves threatened with cultural or physical extermination;1 __________ 1 (http://www.acnur.org/t3/fileadmin/scripts /doc.php?file=biblioteca/pdf/8115)
Amendment 28 #
Recital J a (new)
Ja. whereas 55 human rights defenders have been murdered or disappeared in 2011 and harassment of human rights defenders has increased over the same period of time;
Amendment 29 #
Recital J b (new)
Jb. whereas the sustainable impact assessment shows that the FTA will increase the presence of European companies in areas with a high record of human rights violations and social conflict such as extractive industries (mining, cash crops, bio fuels); whereas this FTA has met an opposition never seen for any other FTA, both in Europe (CES, DGB, UNITE, FGTB, Human Rights organisations, ...) as well as in Colombia (social movement such as the trade unionists, indigenous confederation, peasants organisations, and political opposition party PDA);
Amendment 33 #
Paragraph 1
1. regrets that there is no binding dispute settlement mechanism for the chapter on trade and sustainable development in the TA, and no specific reference to the UN Fundamental Human Rights Conventions; deplores that the use of the measures and sanctions foreseen in the TA's binding general dispute settlement mechanism in cases of violations of the standards set forth in the chapter on trade and sustainable development are excluded, thus constituting a weakening of the current binding conditions under the EU's GSP+ scheme;
Amendment 34 #
Paragraph 2
2. Strongly wWelcomes the commitment showexpressed by all the parties involved in the promotion of Human Rights, democratic principles and the rule of law, as confirmed by the inclusion on the first article of the TA of extensive and binding provisions on these fundamental principles;
Amendment 36 #
Paragraph 3
3. Underlines the importance of maintaining constructive dialogue with our partner countries on the effective implementation of higher standards on HRs; strongly welcomestakes note of the Reciprocal Dialogue Mechanism on HRs (EU- Colombia Human Rights Dialogue) which was established voluntarily in 2009 between Colombia and the European Union and is held twice a year since then and which "is a clear proof that the Colombian government is open to dialogue on Human Rights with the EU, as well as with other international partners, in a way that probably is unparalleled in the world"; regrets however that on one hand the results are not notable, on the other hand European Parliament is neither briefed nor de-briefed on its agenda and outcome on a regular basis and in a comprehensive way;
Amendment 37 #
Paragraph 4
4. Strongly supports the inclusion of a chapter on Trade and Sustainable Development in the TA, and the creation of domestic mechanisms and the dialogue with civil societies, which will involve all citizens interested, be it individually or in a collective organised manner; calls on the parties to make it binding and subject to the same dispute settlement procedures as the rest of the FTA;
Amendment 41 #
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Civil society organisations, both in the Andean Countries and in the European Union to participate in the monitoring mechanisms established in the TA, under the title of Trade and Sustainable Development and calls on the parties to extend this dialogue to all other chapters of the TA; demands the governments involved to set up as soon as possible the legal framework for the domestic mechanisms and the dialogue with civil societies, if they do not exist, including a substantial information and advertising campaign in order to maximise the participation of the interested groups or persons on the monitoring framework of the Civil Society Mechanism; suggests six months for the set up of these procedures after the entry into force of the Agreement, instead of one year as settled in the TA;
Amendment 44 #
Paragraph 7
7. In order to fully accomplish the high standards in HRs advanced by the TA and to which both the Andean governments and the European Union are committed, demands a binding Action Plan as set out hereafter to be established, with concrete steps to be achieved prior to the ratification of the TA; suggests to the parties involved to swiftly establish dedicated Domestic Advisory Group (DAG) on HRs and Democratic Principles, which should accompany and monitor the implementation of this or other TAs, and work as an effective internal consultation body to the domestic offices that participate in the Committee on Trade of the TA, using as model for its functioning the legal framework envisaged in the TA for the participation of the civil society in the Subcommittee on Trade and Sustainable Development; calls upon the parties of the TA to guarantee these DAGs the same level of binding involvement for civil society as in the Free Trade Agreement with South Korea, including a formalised and institutionalised complaint mechanism; furthermore calls upon the parties to ensure the full independence of the DAGs, also as regards their own choice of members of the DAG;
Amendment 48 #
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Is worried about a number of legal steps recently taken and underway in Colombia which undermine any effort to end impunity, such as the "fuero militar"; deeply regrets the public criticism of President Santos of the few decisions of the Colombian tribunals on crimes against humanity committed by member of security forces;
Amendment 49 #
Paragraph 9
9. Deeply regretStrongly condemns the assassination of trade unionists, HRs defenders and, indigenous people, and any victim of the internal armed conflict including civilians, police officers or, militaries and members of the illegal armed groups occurring especially in Colombia; notwithstanding, notes that in the last two years there has been a decline in trade unionists murder cases reported but the number of threats against trade unionists has dramatically increased and there is a strong decline in the number of trade unionists affiliated;
Amendment 53 #
Paragraph 10
10. Supports the Colombian government efforts on fighting impunity and murders against trade unionists orDeeply regrets that in 2011, 29 trade- unionists were assassinated in Colombia and there has been a 40% increase in HRs defenders, which is translated, for example, in an killings in comparison with 2010; recognised as positive the increase ofn the number of investigators aton the General Prosecutors Office (FGN), that specifically in the case of the investigation of crimes directed against trade unionist grew from 100 investigators in 2010 to 243 investigators in 2011; also according to ILO, between 2010 and June 2011 there were 88 sentences, 483 citizens condemned with crimes against trade unionists and 355 arrests; in this respect, underlIs deeply concerned however by the fact that, according to HRW, Colombia remaines the importance of the "Special Protection Program" (SPP) which gives, at the present, State protection to more than 11.000 citizens, including trade unionists (24%), Municipal Councillors (11%),most dangerous country of the world for trade unionists, the impunity on crimes against trade unionists is over 90% with, as a consequence, the fact that the percentage of affiliation to trade unions is currently very low in this country; expresses concern that after the official dismantling of the Secret Service DAS (Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad), which was in charge of the former protection scheme of HRs defenders (18%) and journalists (4%); this program went from a budget of 10.5 million euros in 2010 to more than 120 million euros in 2011; notes that none of the citizens included in this SPP has been murdered;and on numerous occasions used to carry out intelligence work against them, the newly created National Protection Unit, attached to the Ministry of the Interior, will be equipped with at least 600 ex-officers of the DAS1, which runs the risk of repeating old illegal practices; __________ 1 Non-Governmental protection for human rights defenders “We are Defenders”, 2011 Annual Report, Attacks against Human Rights Defenders in Colombia, Op. Cit., Bogota, February 2012, p. 31
Amendment 55 #
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Deplores and condemns the fact that the successive paramilitary demobilization processes resulted in an amnesty de facto for all but 10 of the 35.000 “demobilized" paramilitaries liable for thousands of crimes against humanity, part of which has continued with its illegal activities; and that the military intellectual authors of more than 3000 extrajudicial killings known as “false positives” keep on benefiting from a complete impunity;
Amendment 60 #
Paragraph 13
13. Underlines, in particular, the importance of promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and welcomes its inclusion on the TA; asks all the parties to promote the best business practices related to CSR in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, with the Guidelines on CSR of the OECD or with the recent Communication of the Commission COM(2011) 681 from 25/10, on "a renewed EU strategy 2011-14 for Corporate Social Responsibility"; strongly believes that higher levels for citizens' living standards can only be achieved through active partnerships between entrepreneurs, labour, NGOs and the State, either at central, regional or at the communities level; therefore, reaffirms the importance of the involvement of all the parties involved, especially from the Governments, which must have an essential role in the effective implementation of CSR in their countries; calls on the EU and the Andean Countries to work towards the implementation of binding UN Guiding Principles on CSR to be applied globallyCalls on the EU and Colombia to develop and implement a legally binding Codex on Corporate Social Responsibility for EU enterprises which operate in Colombia requiring them to carry out human rights due diligence to identify and address their actual or potential adverse human rights impacts in accordance with their “responsibility to respect” in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;
Amendment 64 #
Paragraph 14
14. Requests the European Commission and the Andean CountriesColombian Government to ensure the establishment prior to the ratification of the TA of a transparent and binding Action Plan on LabourHuman Rights aimed essentially at preventing all types of violence against employees, especiallyHuman Rights defenders and trade unionists; suggests it to take into account the Action Plan related to Labour and Human Rights between Colombia and the US and comprising the following: • the enacting of new legislation and policy measures which guarantee policy measures which guarantee freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively, without loopholes, in particular for workers in the informal sector, and especially through eliminating the use of cooperatives, collective pacts or other measures that have the purpose or effect of denying workers their trade union rights or the benefits of a direct employment relationship; • strict labour inspections which lead to penalties in the case of discrimination, non-justified dismissals, intimidation and threats against workers; • clear and verifiable steps to strengthen social dialogue on the regional and local level as well as on the side of enterprises; • To assess progress in implementing• taking the necessary steps to end impunity, investigating, prosecuting and punishing in civil courts those most responsible both intellectually and materially for the crimes committed in Colombia; • dismantling illegal armed groups, some of which continue the legacy of predecessor paramilitary organisations; purging the army from officers responsible for human rights violations or actions in favour of impunity; • respecting and ensuring the right to truth, justice and reparation for the victims of crimes against humanity; and guaranteeing the non-repetition of gross human rights violations; • achieving clear, time-bound and result-based targets in each of those above areas; • addressing the serious situation in which Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) are, reinforcing their full enjoyment of human rights in order to obtain a decision of Constitutionality of their situation, and guaranteeing full reparation to displacement victims; Prior to the ratification of the TA, the Colombian Government should at least by that: • achieving a dramatic and sustained decrease in acts of violence against trade unionists; • achieving, in at least a substantial majority of cases of anti-union violence, well-grounded investigations, prosecutions and convictions of the material and intellectual authors and beneficiaries of such violence; • withdraw or oppose any legal initiative aimed to extend the immunity for members of military forces and commit to refrain from taking such an initiative or supporting such a measure in the future; • reach substantial progress in the reduction of impunity of crimes against trade unionists, reaching at least the prosecution in 50% of the cases; • answer positively to the Letters Rogatory sent by judges of EU Members States concerning illegal actions committed by the DAS on the territory of those states; • To assess progress in implementing this Action Plan, the parties should this Action Plan, the parties should produce an annual report, to be produce an annual report, to be presented and assessed by the presented and assessed by the European Parliament. European Parliament.
Amendment 71 #
Paragraph 15
15. Strongly wWelcomes the new "Victims and Land Restitution Law" (also known as "Ley 1448") which came into effect in Colombia on 1st of January 2012, guaranteeingand the announcement of financial compensation and restitution of land for the almost 4 million of victims of the country’s armed conflict and violence over the past 50 years; emphasises the massive financial effort of the Colombian Government, which is estimated in more than 25 billion US dollars for the next ten years, representing about 160 million Euros/month on the next 10 years; underlines the need for thorough monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of this law, in close consultation with civil societydeplores however the lack of application of this law, the serious lack of guarantees in the implementation of the new "Victims and Land Restitution Law" (also known as "Ley 1448"), in particular regarding the protection of returnees, outstanding the fact that in 2011, at least 28 people were recently killed by paramilitary groups in this context; deplores that at the same time, a famous paramilitary leader, Victor Carranza, is celebrating owning 1 million hectares;
Amendment 76 #
Paragraph 16
16. Welcomes the fact that Colombia and Peru have ratified all the 8 Fundamental ILO-conventions plus 3 of the 4 Governance Conventions, as stated by the ILO representative in INTA's Public Hearing on the TA at the European Parliament in Brussels on 29th February 2012; iInsists on the importance of a swift ratification and effective implementing of all the ILO Fundamental and Governance Conventions, especially C122 in the case of Colombia and C129 in the case of Peru; underlines to all parties the importance of ratifying the ILO Convention 135 on workers' representatives; recalls in this context that 24 EU Member States still haven't ratified the ILO C169- Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention; insists on the importance of a swift ratification of the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, of the Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, the Convention on the rights of the child, and the optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
Amendment 80 #
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises the importance of the principles of fair, just and transparent administrative and legal procedures in order to implement national labour laws, including strict labour inspections, as well as international Human Rights standards, in accordance with their international obligations;
Amendment 81 #
Paragraph 18
18. Believes that new European Parliament powers regarding international agreements that are enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty bring newcorresponding responsibilities; therefore proposes, including the obligation to conduct a human rights impact assessment prior to, and after the conclusion of any trade agreement as acknowledged by the European Parliament on various occasions; calls therefore to organise aze public hearings both in the European Parliament and in one of the Andean capitals in the last trimester ofParliaments of Peru and Colombia in 20132; following the hearings, there should be a written report which should be submitted to the INTA Committee and DROI Subcommittee on the results of the application of this TA until date;