BETA

5 Amendments of Joe HIGGINS related to 2010/2037(INI)

Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
1. Points out that achieving the MDGs shouldmust remain a key objective for the European Union despite the fact that progress towards it is threatened by the financial and economic crisis, negative or stalling economic growth, diminished resources and possible reductions ; emphasises that poverty reduction through the achievement of the MDGs must be recognised unambiguously as the overarching framework for EU policy and that this must be reflected clearly in all relevant policy, including trade policy, and legislative proposals; believes that the MDGs should not be seen as a technical matter which will be resolved simply by providing more money or more trade opportunities without identifying aind flows from donor nationstackling the underlying causes of poverty;
2010/03/24
Committee: INTA
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses that the figures given in the recent UN report 'Rethinking Poverty' are not only alarming but a clear indication that the risk of not meeting the Millennium Development Goals is real: the number of hungry people worldwide rose from 842 million in 1990-1992 to 873 million in 2004-2006 and to 1.02 billion people during 2009, the highest level ever; this was largely a result of reduced access to food because of high food prices and the global financial and economic crisis, which has lead to lower incomes and higher unemployment;
2010/03/24
Committee: INTA
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Stresses that the UN Secretary General regards a lack of commitment from UN member states as an important reason for a possible non-achievement of the MDG; recalls that according to the World Bank an estimated 64 million more people would live on less than $1.25 a day this year than would have been the case without the crisis; therefore insists that additional efforts need to be made to compensate for the effects of the crisis in developing and least developing countries; on the level of trade relations this must include an end to free trade agreements which promote the liberalisation of public procurement, incorporate a "most favourite nation" clause and defend intellectual property and patent rights in the interest of multinational companies etc.;
2010/03/24
Committee: INTA
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
2. Is convinced that trade can be a powerful engine of economic growth; believes that the slow progress of the Doha Round negotiations is hampering the contribution of the international trading system to the MDGs; stresses that a positive conclusion of the Doha Round would deliver an economic sin certain cases and under certain conditions be a powerful complement to national economic growth; takes note of the host of studies by UNCTAD and other institutions that show that the extensive trade liberalisation in LDCs has seldom translated into sustained and substantial poverty reduction, and has contributed to a decline of the terms of trade of developing countries, in partimculus package globallyar of African countries;
2010/03/24
Committee: INTA
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
6. Reiterates that the EU should support those developing countries which use the so-called flexibilities built into the TRIPS Agreement in order to be able to provide medicines at affordable prices under their domestic public health programmes.; stresses that those agreements which guarantee access to generic medicines must not be undermined in free trade agreements; strongly supports the idea of taking the pharmaceutical industry into democratic and public control;
2010/03/24
Committee: INTA