31 Amendments of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2019/2209(INI)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls that Parliament aims to reinforce the social and economic integration of the EaP countries and that the common goal remains to create and make use of additional market opportunities such as business developmentan inclusive economic development; considers it important to this end, to create and make use of additional market opportunities such as development of a favourable business environment for SMEs, access to services, increased connectivity and the digital economy; calls on the EaP countries toand the Union to cooperate in funding the necessary reforms and to, which can further deepen their mutual relations with the EU;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses the importance of the deep and comprehensive free trade areas (DCFTAs), the comprehensive economic partnership agreements and the partnership and cooperation agreements between the EaP countries and the EU, and the importance of fully implementing them; calls for the EU to support their implementation through coordinated assistance, to promote sustainable development and the achievement of the United Nations' SDGs by 2030, including economic development, and to support economic reforms and major reforms of the banking and financial sector aiming to combat money laundering and tax evasion; urges the EU to ensure that the DCFTAs do not contradict the climate objectives and initiatives set out in the framework of the European Green Deal;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Notes that the balance of trade in services with all EaP countries has developed highly in favour of the EU, and considers this imbalance of trade unsustainable; calls for increased efforts to develop a modern and competitive services sector within the EaP countries with local ownership and to create new job opportunities at the local and regional level; stresses the importance of a functioning public services sector in providing access to services essential both for citizens and businesses;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Calls on the Commission to provide as soon as possible a thorough ex- post impact assessment of the trade and association agreements between the Union and the EaP countries, with a focus on the social and economic development within the societies of the EaP countries; calls on the Commission to include in the impact assessment also a section reflecting the implementation of obligations arising from the signatures to the Paris protocol and our joint effort to fight against climate change;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Notes that according to the Commission and the EEAS and with regard to the 20 deliverables for 2020, progress lacks behind on cross cutting issues such as engagement with civil society organisations, increase of gender equality and non-discrimination, harmonising of digital markets, the enhancing of energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy, the reduction of Greenhouse Gas emissions, support for the environment and adaptation to climate change; points out that progress in these areas is extremely important for achieving sound economic and trade relations and to prevent positive developments from external shock situations;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas employees in the neighbourhood countries are still facing poor and unsafe working conditions, growing inequalities, dire social conditions, informal and unstable employment, discrimination at the workplace; whereas trade unions as well as employees and employers’ organisations are facing serious problems in their daily activities including the ability to strengthen labour inspection systems;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
-Aa. whereas participation of organised and unorganised civil society in the governance structures of EaP countries remains limited; whereas the problems range from a general lack of transparency to legal frameworks which do not guarantee comprehensive consultations with civil society on legislation; whereas they are facing restricted access to funding, restrictions on registration as well as authorities surveillance, repressive actions including politically motivated prosecution, imprisonment and even occasional torture of representatives of civil society organisation;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A b (new)
Recital -A b (new)
-Ab. whereas the EU is facing a series of challenges which weakens its capacities: challenging BREXIT negotiations, complicated relations with the United States, enlargement fatigue, lack of solidarity and unity, rising racism and radicalisation across Europe; whereas the EU needs to change before it can continue to enlarge;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A c (new)
Recital -A c (new)
-Ac. whereas the Eastern Neighbourhood policy needs a review that should start from a realistic and critical analysis of the state of play of bilateral relations, achievements and progress as well as problems and failures; the EU should realistically assess its readiness to support Eastern neighbourhood countries in their political and economic transformation; therefore EU member states should avoid to make promises that cannot be met;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A d (new)
Recital -A d (new)
-Ad. whereas strategic rivalry with Russia has resulted into serious challenges and dangers for security and stability in the Eastern neighbourhood countries as well as between EU and Russia; whereas this problem needs to be addressed to re-orientate cooperation with all stakeholders in a spirit of mutual respect and political will to recognize the various interests of all actors involved; whereas there is no military solution for this problem;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A e (new)
Recital -A e (new)
-Ae. whereas the countries which have signed Association Agreements with the EU have committed themselves to EU and international labour standards; whereas in reality so far little progress has been done to meet these standards, in particular in the fields of labour inspections, anti-discrimination measures, and social dialogues;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas cooperation between the EU and all EaP countries can be achieved and maintained only in so far as those core values and principles are respected; whereas fight against oligarchic structures, corruption and nepotism should be on top of the reform agenda;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas EU’s neighbouring countries did not evolve into "a ring of well governed countries to the East of the EU and on the borders of the Mediterranean with whom -the EU- can enjoy close and cooperation relations"[1]; whereas most of the Eastern neighbourhood countries are still facing an unfinished transformation period both in political and social-economic dimension, characterised by the continuous dominance of oligarchic elites on political decision-making processes of the executive and legislative powers, marred by ongoing corruption that is seriously undermining the further ability to strengthen democracy, rule of law and respect for human rights; __________________ 1aSee European Security Strategy: " A safer Europe in a better world", p. 8, http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/c msUpload/78367.pdf
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas even the commitments undertaken by those countries which have signed Association agreements with the EU - Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine – have not been translated into full implementation of the reform, in particular in the areas of democracy, rule of law, civil rights, fight against corruption and nepotism as well as in the social areas; whereas the social gap including gender pay gap and equality between women and men remains a crucial challenge; whereas the failure to give young generations trustworthy perspectives for their lives, in particular for those in rural areas and the lack of any progress is undermining the trust of citizens in both the EaP countries and EU Member States;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas even more advanced forms of cooperation and integration are possible, provided that comprehensive reforms are implemented in a timely and sustainable manner;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point c
Paragraph 1 – point c
(c) embrace an enhanced and future- oriented vision for the next decade of the EaP with the aim of ensuring lasting and irreversible achievements and deepening EU-EaP cooperation; ensure that this cooperation should not undermine cooperation of EaP countries with third partners;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e
Paragraph 1 – point e
(e) embark on a process to create a common economic space that facilitates deeper political and economic integcooperation with the EU;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f
Paragraph 1 – point f
(f) devise additional measures for deeper integenhanced cooperation such as in selected EU agencies, intra-EU programmes and initiatives, in full compliance with existing conditionalities and pursuant to the more for more principle;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g
Paragraph 1 – point g
(g) provide greater financial assistance, including in the context of the external financial instruments that are currently under legislative negotiation; such assistance should be tailored to the specific needs of tailored to the specific needs of the individual partner countries and used to implement activities under the EaP programme, focusing in particular on eradicating poverty, strengthe nindividual partners and used to implement activities under the EaP programmeg civil society, implementing commitments in the area of labour law and deepening the reform of the legal system;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i
Paragraph 1 – point i
(i) acknowledge the associated partnership status of advanced EaP countries, notably the signatories of AAs with DCFTAs, in order to accommodate the mutual need for more venues for political dialogue, further economic cooperation and legislative harmonisation; ensure that civil society, including state and non-state trade unions, becomes a full partner in monitoring and ensuring the implementation of the Association agreements; therefore guarantee the full and inclusive functioning and work of the Domestic Advisory Group;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point j
Paragraph 1 – point j
(j) engage further insupport State building and in strengthening institutions, by making instruments similar to the Support Group for Ukraine available to the associated partners first and foremost; s. Strong, independent and efficient institutions at a central and local level are key to democratic accountability, deoligarchisation, and the fight against corruption and State capture;
Amendment 291 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m
Paragraph 1 – point m
Amendment 323 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point p a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point p a (new)
(pa) turn the Eastern Partnership region into a connectivity hub for EU- China trade and investment flows, not just a conveyor belt for the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI); ensure that connecting the Chinese and European markets should also benefit the Eastern Partnership countries en route as full beneficiaries of a two-way street in trade and investment; start a high-level dialogue between the EU, the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and the countries with Association Agreements/Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreements (DCFTA), with the aim of developing cooperation between the partners involved;
Amendment 335 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point q
Paragraph 1 – point q
(q) extend to other associated partners the approach employed by the EU in its efforts to support the recovery of the Ukrainian economy, including by means of tailored and flexible macro-financial assistance and instruments and, engagement and coordination of international financial institutions and donors, and by improving the environment for foreign direct investment (FDI);
Amendment 342 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point q a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point q a (new)
(qa) strengthen the conditionality between macro-financial conditionality and progress in the fights against oligarchic structures, corruption and nepotism, rule of law and respect of human rights;
Amendment 349 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point q b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point q b (new)
(qb) address the shortcomings in the implementation of the commitments with regard the social policies and labour rights and to protect the EU labour market from social dumping; check not only the transposition of relevant EU directives and norms in national law, but also their actual implementation: create together with the EaP a monitoring scheme for fundamental labour rights involving trade unions and civil society organisation; use the disbursement of macro-financial assistance as a leverage or conditionality to force the countries to enhance the labour conditions;
Amendment 364 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point r
Paragraph 1 – point r
(r) address the EU’s qualified labour shortabrain drain of EaP countries which endangers by increasing labour mobility from the EaP countries and providing social guaranteea sustainable and independent development in the EaP countries by losing high skilled workers;
Amendment 409 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point v
Paragraph 1 – point v
(v) acknowledge the importance of security and stability for the future development of EaP members by boosting cooperation in security and defence and devoting particular attention to regional conflicts;
Amendment 421 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point v a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point v a (new)
(va) engage in constructive, result oriented dialogue with Russia on implementing the Minsk Agreement, military confidence building, prevention of conflict and disarmament in a short, mid and long term perspective;
Amendment 435 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point w
Paragraph 1 – point w
(w) acknowledge the unique experience and expertise of EaP countries; recognise the contribution of the associated partners to common security and defence policy (CSDP) missions; deepen cooperation in EU-related defence policies for boosting cooperation within the OSCE framework;
Amendment 472 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point x a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point x a (new)
(xa) raise awareness about ongoing attacks on civil activists in EaP countries by far right forces and also state authorities which undermine EU values, international human rights standards and joint obligations to ECHR;