19 Amendments of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2015/2081(INI)
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recommends that the EU’s approach to Turkmenistan strike a balance between the promotion of democracyreal involvement on the part of broad sections of society in state decision-making processes and support for the development of a modern state and of economically sustainable structures and social security systems in Turkmenistan and the pursuit of EU’s strategic interests in stability in the region; underlines that the ratification of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) will contribute to the achievement of EU objectives in these areasthe EU's wide-ranging objectives in the region and vis-à-vis Turkmenistan;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recommends a more ambitious and coherent EU engagement in the country and in Central Asia, as reflected in the current review of the EU Strategy for Central Asia, whilst taking into accountin keeping with the multi-faceted and contradictory transformation processes under way and the corresponding development conditions and options, and points out that this recommendation must also inform the current review of the EU Strategy for Central Asia; notes that in that connection the focus should be on the challenges facing and the development possibilities open to Turkmenistan and the other states in the region and that due account must be taken of the differences between, and the uniqueness of each of, the countries in the region;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Council and the Vice- President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR), to proceed towards the setting up of a full- fledged EU Delegation in Ashgabat; emphasises that the new Delegation could mmust be in a positioni tor the situa develop, for the benefit of both parties, a cooperation strategy geared to development conditions and requirements in Turkmenistan, to enable diplomacy on the ground, as well as manage projects under the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) and the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) in a better way;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Takes note of the constitutional reform announced for this year, possiblywhich should includinge a strengthening of the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judiciary branches, reinforcing the role of Mejlis, and the creation of an office with the function of Ombudsman;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Calls on the Government and Parliament of Turkmenistan to ratify the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court, including the compromise secured in Kampala on the fourth pillar of international jurisdiction;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Notes that the EU has held seven rounds of Human Rights Dialogue with Turkmenistan since 2008, and that while the last round in September 2014 was held in a constructive and open atmosphere, it has, disappointingly, so f so far produced no results; points out that in their annual reports for 2015 Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are had very scant resultsighly critical of the human rights situation in Turkmenistan and identify no real progress in the year in question, irrespective of the laws adopted in the past;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Recommends TurkmenistanDraws attention to the consistent reports concerning the continued use by the Turkmen security authorities of torture to extract 'confessions' and to secure 'evidence' implicating third persons, and calls on the Government of Turkmenistan to put a stop to this practice immediately and immediately to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Takes note of some limited improvements regarding freedom of the media, including a new law adopted in 2013; calls on the Turkmen authorities to fully guarantee freedom of speech, to lift any state controls on print and electronic media and to allow foreign media outlets access to the country andaccess to information;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Notes the adoption in March 2015 of a new law allowing certain groups to organise peaceful rallies; calls for the constitution to guarantee all citizens freedom of association in all circumstances;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Points out that for years Turkmenistan has had high growth rates of around 10%, largely generated by exports of gas, oil-based products and oil; points out that the revenue from these exports is not currently being used to narrow social divisions in the country, poverty (which affects some 25% of the population) and unemployment (which affects up to three-fifths of the active population), to overcome the backwardness of the farming sector, which still employs extensive resource-use methods, and to develop a sustainable economic structure in the country;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21b. Points out that the Government of Turkmenistan's policy of budget consolidation, justified by reference to the falling world market prices for hydrocarbons, even despite the presence of a long-term customer in the form of China, has had a one-sidedly negative impact on 'social' subsidies and employment, and thus brings with it the risk of political destabilisation of the country, and is at the same time delaying the economic diversification and modernisation which Turkmenistan needs and the development of the infrastructure essential for regional cooperation;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. CPoints out that in 2014 Turkmenistan, a signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), was ranked 169th among the 175 countries covered by the Corruption Perception Index; calls on the Turkmen authorities urgently to address the problem of rampant corruption and to meet all their obligations under the UNCAC;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls on the Turkmen authorities to implement the laws banning child labour, which have been in force since 2005, in a better way;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Notes that a major component of the PCA is the further development of trade relations; points out that at present the EU is not a significant trading partner of Turkmenistan and has yet to develop a holistic approach to strategic cooperation with the country;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Notes that the Turkmen Government has adopted a National Development Programme for the period 2011-30 aimed at a gradual modernisation of the economy; points out that one of the fundamental principles underpinning this development programme is improvements to the living standards and quality of life of the Turkmen people, but that the basic thinking behind Turkmenistan's current economic policy and the recent economic decisions taken by its government are completely at odds with that principle;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Is concerned that the disastrous over- use of the scarce water resources in Central Asia has created diplomatic tensions, and calls on the EU to engage its water diplomacy more effectively; , which stems from technologically backward, predominantly extensive farming and the use of inefficient irrigation systems not suited to the local climate, has created diplomatic tensions, and calls on the EU to engage its water diplomacy more effectively in an effort to depoliticise the issue of the use of water and reconcile the diverging interests of states through which the major rivers of central Asia flow; points out that the most recent surveys conducted by the FAO in central Asia, and in Turkmenistan in particular, have identified real scope for increasing agricultural productivity and making better use of available land by employing new technologies and halting processes of desertification and soil salinisation, but that this would call for substantial investment and can therefore only be achieved on the basis of cooperation between all the countries in the region, including China; is convinced that this area can be of strategic significance for the EU's economic cooperation in the region;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Takes note of the US ‘New Silk Road Initiative’ and supports closer EU cooperation with the US in initiatives to promote democracy, human rights, social and economic progress, and security challenges in the region; Points out that since Turkmenistan became independent the principle of 'positive neutrality' has underpinned a foreign policy based on a peaceful approach to international relations, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states, non-interference in the affairs of others and non-alignment; points out that this neutrality has been formally recognised by the United Nations1; notes, in that connection, the US 'New Silk Road Initiative', which, although it incorporates initiatives to promote democracy, human rights, social and economic progress, and security challenges in the region, seeks to drag Turkmenistan and the other central Asian states into a confrontation with China; is convinced that such a confrontation would run counter to the stabilisation of the region, inter alia through closer economic integration, would be at odds with Turkmenistan's economic priorities and would deprive the countries concerned of the prospect of economic development which would be sustainable in the medium term; __________________ 1General Assembly resolution 50/80, Maintenance of international security, A/RES/50/80 (12 December 1995).
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Takes note of China’s ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ policy for the Central Asian region and beyond, and cautions against Turkmenistan’s increasing economic dependence on China; lls on the Commission resolutely to continue the cooperation begun under the EU-China Connectivity Platform and, in that connection, with mutual benefit in mind, to urge all the parties concerned to develop and adopt binding rules and internationally recognised standards, not least in the interests of strategic cooperation with the central Asian states; is convinced that this cooperation framework can offer an alternative to Turkmenistan's ever more one-sided, and in some respects economically unworkable, export policy;