23 Amendments of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2017/2130(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the Eastern Partnership is based on a shared commitment between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the European Union to international law and fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and gender equality, as well as to the market economy, sustainable devesustainable development, good governance and a market economy geared to full emplopyment and good governancesocial progress;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas in the altered international situation the Eastern Partnership is currently geared more to the aim of stabilisation of the neighbourhood than to promoting political and economic reforms, which is also reflected in a stronger emphasis on common interests;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the main sources of influence by Europe over security and prosperity in its neighbourhood are the attractiveness of its socioeconomic model, unity and solidarity among EU Member States, sustainable and environmentally sound growth, arrangements for democratic participation in developments within society and decision-making, and respect for human rights and democratic freedoms;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point b
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point b
(b) to live up to the high expectations of citizens in all the partner countries in the Eastern Neighbourhood, and also in the EU Member States, as regards eradicating corruption and bolstering the rule of law and good governance; to therefore seek a renewed commitment by the partners to adopt and fully implement reforms related to the judiciary, public administration and the fight against corruption; to urge the partner countries to draw up roadmaps for this field, with clearly defined aims and time limits;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point c
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point c
(c) to strengthen civil society in the partner countries and its role within the Eastern Partnership by uncompromisingly opposing all measures and legislation that seeks tocan be used to prevent or curtail itsthe legitimate activities of civil society actors such as human rights and environmental activists and independent trade unions and by encouraging its deeper involvement in planning, scrutinising and monitoring the implementation of reforms related to the Partnership as well as by promoting the transparency and accountability of public institutions;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point e
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point e
(e) to ensure that the outcomes of the November 2017 Summit will provide for the delivery of tangible results for citizens, notably in terms of employment, transport and connectivity, energy independence, mobility and education, noting that a new European External Investment Plan (EEIP)combating the serious socioeconomic disparities in the Eastern Partnership countries and promoting social rights, employment, measures to combat youth unemployment, transport and connectivity, energy independence, mobility and education, noting that a new European External Investment Plan (EEIP), which will create effective local stimuli for growth in the Eastern Partnership countries and which must be geared to autonomous, sustainable and viable growth in value added, is an important instrument in this regard;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point g
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point g
(g) to pursue efforts aimed at tackling unemployment, especially youth unemployment, including through a package of support measures for young people such as the EU4Youth programme, and developing skills needed in the labour market, including through vocational training, fostering entrepreneurship, supporting sustainable agriculture and, developing the digital economy, expanding infrastructure and the public and private services sector, inter alia in the field of health and care, and tourism;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point l
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point l
(l) to call for recalibrated EU support to the Association agendas and to the related structural reformreform processes, notably those allowing for improved competitiveness, a more favourable business environment and adequate access to sources of financing, including through the EU4Business initiative; to develop on behalf of the EU, jointly with the Eastern Neighbourhood partners, practical strategies for avoiding the high social costs of these reform processes, as these undermine not only stability in the partner countries but also, directly, public acceptance of the partnership; in this context, to build on the good experience within the EU with democratic participation by citizens at local and regional level and participation by local authorities;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point n
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point n
(n) to improve both energy independence and efficiency through specific investments in the development and use of renewable energy, strengthened cooperation in all priority areas covered by the EU Energy Union and by closer integration of the partners’ energy markets with the European energy market with a particular focus on interconnectivity and infrastructure, whilst scrutinising closely the consequences, and also the possible use, of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from the point of view of the EU's future;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point n a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point n a (new)
(na) to take account of the possibility that energy prices might be massively increased in certain partner countries in the Eastern Neighbourhood; together with the Eastern Neighbourhood partners, to draw up practical strategies to support sections of the population suffering from energy poverty and, in so doing, to focus on promoting the affordability of energy and enabling all citizens to enjoy the right to an energy supply;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point o
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point o
(o) to also increase prioritisation of the highest levels of nuclear safety standards and environmental protection and the fulfilment of climate change commitmentsin all energy- producing fields of national economies, including at existing nuclear power plants and with regard to the final disposal of nuclear waste; to increase attainment of climate change targets in accordance with the commitments given under the Paris Agreement, including through raising public awareness;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point p
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point p
(p) to ensure that the outcomes of the November 2017 Summit also address, where possible, the security threats that affect the sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and political, social and economic stability and development of the partners and of the region as a whole;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point p a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point p a (new)
(pa) in promoting stability and prosperity in the EU Neighbourhood, to analyse potential political, economic and social threats in their complexity, to tackle them at the root by means of practical measures, not to disregard socioeconomic causes in this context, and generally to take account of the fact that there is no alternative to a complex and cooperative approach to overcoming the challenges to stability in the Neighbourhood;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point q
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point q
(q) to commit to sustaining the unity of action among EU Member States in maintaining collective pressure on Russia, in particular through strengthened targeted restrictive measures, to solving the conflict in Ukraine through genuine implementation of the Minsk agreements, to re-establishing Ukraine’s full sovereignty in Crimea, and that of Georgia in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and of Moldova in Transnistria, and to putting an end to the additional threats of state-sponsored assassinations, cyber warfare, disinformation and other types of destabilisationagree on a policy to be further jointly developed by the EU Member States for the practical pursuit of relations with the Russian Federation, including, if it becomes necessary, greater use of targeted restrictive measures against all forces that undermine a solution to the conflict in Ukraine through genuine implementation of the Minsk agreements;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point q a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point q a (new)
(qa) in the interests of a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine, to urge that all sides comply fully and immediately with the Minsk agreements concluded in the Normandy format, and that they cease all attempts to undermine the integrity of the Minsk agreements by means of activities or rhetoric; to advocate retention of the OSCE observer mission in Ukraine, which is having a stabilising effect, and at the same time to commit themselves to an approach in the Member States whereby they will pursue constructively, irrespective of geopolitical considerations, initiatives aimed at attaining stable peace in Ukraine on the basis of experience of the implementation of the Minsk agreements; in acting on such initiatives, primarily to employ the tried and tested framework of the United Nations;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point q b (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point q b (new)
(qb) to draw attention to the continuing importance of economic cooperation and political dialogue between the EU and the Russian Federation, an extremely important neighbour of our neighbours, and aim to ensure that the potential of continuing cooperation at subnational level and between civil society and economic stakeholders and of appropriate forms of dialogue is used to develop good- neighbourly relations with the Russian Federation and overcome the existing conflicts and disputes between the EU, the Eastern Neighbourhood partners and Russia;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point s
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point s
(s) to call for continued support to the work carried out by the EU and OSCE missions in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine as essential operations to ensure peace and security first and foremost for the benefit of the citizens on the ground; to reflect, jointly with the partner countries, on the prospect of an enhanced role for the EU in solving these conflicts, including by launching ambitious fully-fledged Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions tasked with enhancing security and stabiland in so doing, with reference to the positive experiences of the OSCE, to place the emphasis on active confidence-building and on close linkage of solutions in the fields of political/military, economic, ecological and also human security;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point t
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point t
(t) to consider an attractive ‘EaP+’ model for associated countries, based on the highest possible common denominator, that would include joining the customs union and Schengen area, further EU internal market access, participation in other EU programmes, increased involvement in the CSDP, as well as more immediate measures such as additional unilateral tariff preferences, the abolition of roaming tariffs between the partners and the EU and the development of high-capacity broadband; in this context, to urge democratic parliamentary control over the associated practical impact on the everyday lives of citizens in the associated partner countries and also of the EU Member States; to open the ‘EaP+’ model to other EaP countries once they are ready for such enhanced commitments;
Amendment 195 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point w a (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point w a (new)
(wa) jointly with the Eastern Neighbourhood partners, to devise strategies for cooperation which will avoid a situation in which they might have to choose between closer cooperation with the EU or with other partners; in this context, to draw attention to new approaches in the negotiations between the EU and Armenia and also use these experiences in the development of relations with Belarus and Azerbaijan;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point y
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point y
(y) to invite Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to focus on the implementation of the Association agendas in the context of a broad, transparent, social debate in order to unlock all the opportunities available through the Association Agreements, engaging also in the joint discussions on the progress, opportunities and challenges relating to the AA/DCFTA-related reforms; reiterates the importance of genuine implementation of the abovementioned reforms for the future stability and development of the countries and the wellbeing of their societies; to reaffirm that the prospect of EU membership requires significant progress in terms of the implementation of these reforms, notably as regards the rule of law, respect for human rights and good governance;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point aa
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point aa
(aa) to support the multilateral dimension of the Eastern Partnership as a means of increasing multilateral confidence-building, creating opportunities for regional cooperation and providing additional added-value, including in the sectoral policies; to arrive at specific agreements with the Eastern Neighbourhood partners to develop cooperation at local and regional level involving local and regional authorities and their associations, including the Conference of Regional and Local Authorities for the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP);
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ab
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ab
(ab) to highlight the importance of communicating policies related to the Eastern Partnership coherently and effectively, internally as well as externally, and of providing communication activities tailored to specific regions, which should be intended to overcome the existing deficit of knowledge about the EU and about the existing agreements between the Eastern Neighbourhood countries and the EU; to address the challenge of better information about the concrete benefits and goals of the Eastern Partnership, as well as to target disinformation through fact-based and accessible quality information in all languages of the partner countries and ensuring full respect for the freedom of expression;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ac
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2 – point ac
(ac) to maintain that EU support should be tailor-made to match the level of shared ambition regarding cooperation with each partner following the principles of both ‘more for more’ and ‘less for less’; to call in particular for the EU to align budgetary instruments such as the European Neighbourhood Instrument and the European Fund for Sustainable Development to political ambitiontasks and implementation strategies, notably within its annual and multiannual budgetary procedures;