22 Amendments of Ska KELLER related to 2011/0303(NLE)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
The Committee on International Trade calls on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, as the committee responsible, to propose that Parliament decline to give its consent.
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Citation 3 b (new)
Citation 3 b (new)
– having regard to the proposal for a European Parliament recommendation to the Council on the negotiating mandate for an association agreement between the European Union and its Member States, and the countries of Central America,
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Citation 3 c (new)
Citation 3 c (new)
– having regard to the trade chapter of the EU-Central America Association Agreement,
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Citation 3 d (new)
Citation 3 d (new)
– having regard to the final report on the EU-Central America Trade Sustainability Impact Assessment (TRADE08/C1/C14 & C15 – Lot 2)1, _____________ 1‘ Trade Sustainability Impact Assessment of the Association Agreement to be negotiated between the EU and Central America’.
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the PA must meets the EU’s objective to promote regional integration through trade, laid down in Commission Communication ‘Trade, Growth and World Affairs’ and in line with the Europe 2020 strategy, uses trade as an engine for competitiveness and developmentand social cohesion, taking into account the asymmetries between the two regions,
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the Council is proposing that the trade-related part should be applied provisionally before the political and cooperation pillars enter into force,
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. stressing the magnitude of the trade part of the PA that qualitatively and quantitatively extends the range of goods and services that will benefit from a free trade area and establishes a framework for legal security and certainty that will stimulate the flow of goods, services and investments; whereas although this is the first comprehensive association agreement between regions, it is regrettable that the PA focuses more on trade than on the other aspects involved,
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Recital D
Recital D
D. anticipating that the trade part of the PA will facilitate, on a sector-by-sector basis, immediate or gradual open access tariff payment, with the objective of creating a bi-regional free trade area subject to a stable and predictable regime that will encourage prothat means losing the tariff flexibility permitted by the WTO, and recognising that the use of export ductive investment, greater penetration of the region in world trade, efficient resource management and increased competitivenesses is vital for governments with limited resources and constitutes a political tool with which to generate added value in the mining and farming sectors with a view to promoting industrialisation,
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas instead of building on the benefits of GSP+, the EU pushed for the large-scale opening-up of the services market in Central America, going against the European Parliament’s recommendation to ‘take into account the importance of guaranteeing universal access to essential services and of national rights to regulate, and thus of proceeding cautiously in the negotiations on the liberalisation of trade in services’,
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas one of the PA’s main objectives to contribute to greater regional integration and stability in CA will be achieved provided that the states party to it show a clear political will and make a commitment to overcoming difficulties and achieving further dynamic integration (including Panama), by adopting effective, equivalent and appropriate measures in order to bring together synergies, and strengthen that agreed within the PA, thereby contributing to economic,whereas for this to happen the PA should go beyond customs union and include the consolidation of a joint institutional structure that is both political and sojudicial developmentin nature,
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Recital F
Recital F
F. reiterating the positive effects for both parties of establishing a framework to strengthen legal security and to encourage an increase in trade and investment flows and sectorial and geographical diversification; anticipating that the most significant effect for the EU will be the savings resulting from the staggered reduction or elimination of tariffs and trade facilitation, and investment in a framework of stability and mutual trust, stressing the commitment of both regions to international standards, especially those of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and International Labour Organisation (ILO); noting that for CA it will imply a greater international presence, a strategic partnership with an established market, and an opportunity for diversificati for the benefit of the production chains of major companies, the investment opportunities involved in buying up national industries, broader intra- company trade as a result of liberalisation or efforts to prevent the establishment of a regulatory framework, within a WTO-plus scheme, with a dispute resolution mechanism, while breaches of ILO standards are not subject to sanctions; noting that for CA the social and environmental impact report predicted that production would be focused on primary sectors such as fruit, vegetables and dried fruits, that there would be more pressure on land for attracting long- term productive investmentsand water resources and that social conflict would increase,
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Recital G
Recital G
G. recognising the asymmetry of the PA, indicated, inter alia, by the graduation and the establishment of different transitional periods for both regions, enabling productive structures to be adapted to new economic and commercial realitthe sole indication of which is the granting of longer phasing-out periods for tariffs on certain products; whereas the decision to go beyond the WTO framework by including the liberalisation (or by effectively making any future regulation impossible) of sectors that are vital for development, such as services, public procurement and intellectual property rights, gives the Central American countries rlesulting from its implementations room to manoeuvre politically in deciding on their development strategies,
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Recital H
Recital H
H. highlighting among its principles respect for democratic principles and fundamental human rights, and the rule of law that will stre; regretting then the domestic and international policies of both partiesat no specific mechanism has been included to guarantee its effectiveness, as the European Parliament had recommended; stressing the importance of including a specific heading on ‘Trade and Sustainable Development’ with references to international standards and agreements on labour, the environment and governance, consistent with the objective of sustainable and balanced development that reduces disparities between and within the parties, thereby setting an important precedent for future negotiations; anticipating; regretting that this heading is not linked to the dispute settlement mechanism, which means that the requirement to meet these standards is less of a priority thatn trade will foster economic development, green growth and social cohesion; welcomhe provisions of the GSP+ system currently in force; regretting the inclusion of institutional and monitoring mechanisms such as the Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development and the Civil Society Dialogue Forum, which do not involve wider civil society in the follow-up to the agreement, as recommended by the European Parliament,
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Recital I
Recital I
I. emphasising that the commitment of both regions in respect of geographical indications and intellectual property in accordance with international standards is most unilaterally beneficial for European industry and trade,
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Recital J
Recital J
J. recalling that all states in CA benefit from the Generalised System of Preferences Plus scheme (GSP+), which will cease to apply on 31 December 2013; noting that the new GSP scheme will not apply to those countries with upper-middle income, thereby Costa Rica and Panama would lose their right to benefit from this system; further noting that the GSP is unilateral, temporary, revisable, covers a smaller range of products and excludes most agricultural products, whereas the PAwhereas when the Association Agreement enters into force the countries of Central America will improleave the trading position of all CA states by establishing a new, more comprehensive, secure and mutually beneficial legal framework; welcoming that this new scheme will enable progressive liberalisation in the exchange of goods and services, public procurement and the promotion of investment without compromising the achievements made in complying with international standards on society, labour and the envirspecial GSP+ scheme under which they receive trade preferences in return for ensuring the effective implementation of 27 international conventions, including the ILO’s four core conmvent;ions,
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Recital J a (new)
Recital J a (new)
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Recital J b (new)
Recital J b (new)
Jb. whereas the 2003 Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and Central America only entered into force in June 2012, and whereas the corresponding parts of the Association Agreement are just as likely to be subject to severe delays in implementation, while the trade-related part will come into effect in line with its provisional implementation following a vote in favour by the EP,
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point i
Paragraph 1 – point i
i) FacilitateEmphasise that the Agreement boosts the processing, ratificatile of the Central American countries as exporters of raw materials, which will ratchet up the pressure on land conclusion of the PAand water and focus production on a small number of sectors such as fruit, vegetables and dried fruit, as pointed out in the social and environmental impact report commissioned by the Commission;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point ii
Paragraph 1 – point ii
ii) Contribute to the revitalisation and strengthening of economic and trade relations and the integration of the productive fabric of both regions in order to achieve maximum benefits from implementing the PA, thus promoting balanced and sustainable growth that gives rise to new economic, trade and investment opportunities that enable greater integration of CA ad intra and ad extra in the international trade structurExpress concern about the foreseeable social and environmental impact that the Agreement will have and the effects of this in a region that is already worryingly prone to natural disasters, something that will worsen as a result of climate change;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point iii
Paragraph 1 – point iii
iii) Ensure compliance with the conditions defined in the PA, seeking greater synergy between both regions but without sacrificing general interests, including geographical indications and intellectual propertDraw attention to the way in which the discussions on this Agreement have totally ignored the signs that democracy is receding in the region, the tendency towards militarisation and the human rights violations that are continuing in some countries and occurring once again in others, including the increasing number of murders of trade union activists and the consistently rhights, and EU economic and trade priorities number of murders of women;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point iv
Paragraph 1 – point iv
iv) Promote cooperation with appropriate technical anCall for the 2003 Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement, which recently entered financial resources in strategic sectors for both regions, particularly on trade and sustainable development, and scientific and technical cooperation in areas such as institutional capacity building, harmonisation of standards, customs procedures and statistics, intellectual property, provision of services, government procurement, electronic commerce, industrial development, sustainable resource management, sanitary and phytosanitary standards, support to SMEs and diversification; recognise the importance of modernisation and technological innovation and use this PA as an instrument with which to achieve themto force, to be implemented as soon as possible; call for the establishment of the technical conditions that the countries of Central America need to continue to benefit from GSP+ following the entry into force of the new scheme, which, being open-ended, brings predictability and security for exporters in Central America; and call for both partners to start discussions on the shape of an agreement that enhances regional integration, regulates the sectors that caused the financial crisis and develops the tools needed to address the challenges of climate change, environmental degradation, violence, public insecurity, increasing inequality and low civic participation;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – point vi
Paragraph 1 – point vi