Activities of Patrick LE HYARIC related to 2015/2105(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on a new forward-looking and innovative future strategy on trade and investment
Amendments (51)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 a (new)
Citation 11 a (new)
– having regard to the mandate given in June 2014 to the UN Open Ended inter-Governmental Working Group (OEIGWG) to develop a legally binding international instrument on Transnational Corporations and other business enterprises,
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Emphasises that future trade agreements should take into account Parliament’s resolutions on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and on the Trade in Services Agreement, which remain valid for the future EU trade policy, in particular as far as the protection of workers’ rights and public services is concerned;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the EU’s trade and investment policy must be bolstered not only by ensuring beneficial outcomes in terms of employment and wealth creation for citizens and businesses, but also by guaranteeing a coherence with the EU policies to guarantee and strengthen citizens' social and environmental rights, cultural diversity and development co- operation, the highest level of transparency, engagement and accountability, by maintaining constant dialogue with social partners, stakeholders and local and regional authorities, and by setting clear guidelines in the negotiations;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the EU is currently the largest trading bloc in the world, controllrepresenting a third of world trade, and whereas by 2020 this will decrease to about 26 %, what is still high, considering that the EU represented only 7.1% of the world's population in 2013, and it is decreasing in percentage;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the centre of wealth generation is clearly shifting eastwards, towards the Asia-Pacific Region with China, which has already surpassed Japan and will probablycould overtake the US to become the world’s largest economy in 2025, while the gap with most developing countries and the LDCs is increasing, often as an effect of trade liberalisation, illegitimate external debt and structural adjustments;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that labour standards, including the eight fundamental International Labour Organisation’s eight fundamental and four priority conventions, must be mandatory and equally implemented in all chapters of trade agreements, and that these agreements must include, firstly, a revision clause allowing a party to leave the agreement or to suspend commitments in the event of infringements of labour and social standards and human and labour rights, and secondly, a binding social clause seeking to include provisions relating to labour, preventing the dismantling of social legislation;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomesTakes note of the Commission’s new strategy ‘Trade for all – Towards a more responsible trade and investment policy’; regrets the Commission’s delay in presenting a new strategy, given that Parliament requested that a revised mid- and long-term trade strategy be presented by summer 2012 but deeply deplores that, despite the growing criticism of the current EU international trade policy by the European citizens, Commission is not redirecting this policy it and proposing concrete steps in order to ensure that international trade is contributing to defend and guarantee, -and not to undermining in favour of corporate companies and investors-, the citizen's social and environmental rights, job creation and defence of quality jobs, public services including health services, family and middle scale farming, food security and sovereignty, cultural diversity and coherence with the development cooperation goals and SDGs;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Recalls that trade liberalisation is not positive per se, in terms of reducing poverty inequalities, and could even have negative effects on sustainable development if it is not properly regulated and accompanies by binding control mechanism for corporations and by re- distribution through fair and progressive tax systems;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Deplores the fact that the new strategy is not sufficiently focused on the role of the manufacturing sector in the CCP, which is vital for the reindustrialisation of Europe, and to surpass the problem of the relocation of the European industry, while priority is given by Commission to corporate companies, and to financial sectors investing abroad and importing into the EU; calls on to tackle the problem of the relocation in countries with lower wages, without social protection nor the necessary environmental standards;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that the Domestic Advisory Groups handling the infringements of social clauses ofwithin trade agreements and failures to uphold labour law and social standards must have sufficient financing, and that they must consist of a balanced representation of labour and business organisationthe social partners, union and labour organisations, and businesses from civil society;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the new EU trade policy will not endanger the level of intra EU exchanges, that are more sustainable, ecologically and socially, instead of weakening it through liberalization and trade deals in benefit of corporate companies interests and investors such as TTIP, CETA, TiSA and EPAs;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to regularly update its trade and investmentinternational trade strategy and to publicly present a detailed annual implementation report to Parliament; assessing the impact of this strategy on citizens' rights and interests;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Emphasises the need to increase the staffing levels of, and the resources available to, Member States’ labour inspectorates, in keeping with ILO recommendations, and to increase the resources available to them, to allow for effective monitoring of labour standards and to ensure that workers’ rights are upheld;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recalls that only fair and properly regulated trade if aligned with SDGs could have potential for sustainable development; calls on the Commission to support the implementation of SDGs by including comprehensive and enforceable chapters in all trade agreements;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the Commission’s attempts to increase transparency and openness at all stages of trade negotiations, such as the Commission’s TTIP transparency initiative; acknowledges that, after a number of requests from Parliament, the Commission enhanced the transparency of negotiations by providing all Members of the European Parliament and of the national parliaments access to classified negotiating documents and providing more information to stakeholders; recalls that enlarged access to classified information by Members of Parliament in the TTIP negotiations has strengthened parliamentary scrutiny, thereby allowing ParliamentEncourages the Commission to guarantee to all Members of the European Parliament and of the national parliaments and to the public in general, full access to all negotiating documents; recalls that this access would allowing Parliaments and stakeholders to assume itstheir responsibility under the CCP even better; calls therefore for a widening of the Commission’s transparency initiative to extend its key elementsfull transparency and possibility for public scrutiny to all ongoing trade negotiations;
Amendment 92 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses the importance of binding measures for due diligence in the production chain, ensuring liability going beyond voluntary corporate social responsibility initiatives; takes the view that corporate social responsibility requires a fair tax policy and is therefore incompatible with tax evasion strategies; calls for proportionate penalties to be applied in the event of breaches of labour provisions and standards;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that theCalls on the Commission to ensure a strong and balanced involvement of civil society and stakeholders, including through appropriate public online consultations, is crucial in order to strengthen the legitimacy of trade policy and to improve its contentdeeply transform and improve the content of the EU's international trade policy and orient it to the defence of citizen's rights, and thereby strengthen its legitimacy;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recalls that the CCP is toshould be conducted in the context of the principles and objectives of the Union’s external action as set out in Article 21 TEU; recalls that the EU’s trade and investment policy must be consistent with other external policies; stresses that the EU has a legal obligation to respect human rights, and should foster the sustainable economic, social and environmental development of trading countries; points out that in somemost cases trade and investment agreements may have negative effects contrary to the EU’s external objectives as enshrined in the Treaties; is of the opinion that the EU has a responsibility to help tackle anythe negative impact caused by its CCP;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. RecognisesTakes note of the Commission’s efforannouncements to strengthen sustainable development and promote human rights, labour and social standards and environmental sustainability worldwide through its trade and investment agreements and calls on to present soon concrete and ambitious proposals in this direction; shares the Commission’s view that the EU has a special social responsibility as regards the impact of its trade policies on developing countries and in particular on least-developed countries (LDCs);
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers forced migration to be one of the main challenges the EU is facing in the 21st century, and is related to trade and investments policies; emphasises that the EU’s trade and investment policy choices are fundamental in order to tackleavoid it to be a push factor of migration; regrets that this has not been sufficiently reflected in the ‘Trade for All’ strategy;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Recalls that the ILO estimates that 865 million women around the world, if better supported, could contribute more robustly to economic growth; noteregrets that women-owned businesses represent an underutilised lever to boost competitiveness, accelerate business and sustain growth; statesthe Commission does not address the gender dimension of trade agreements in its ‘Trade for All’ communication, especially regarding the impact of thate trade policy can have differing gender impacts across the various sectors of the economy; regrets that the Commission does not address the gender dimension of trade agreements in its ‘Tradon women's and girls' rights such as the rights to health -and associated rights, including reproductive health- access to education, training, food, work, safe fwor All’ communication;king conditions and water, and calls on the Commission to step up its efforts to ensure that both women and men can take advantage of the benefits of trade liberalisation andto be protected from its negative effects;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Calls on the Commission to include in any new or already existing trade agreement the necessary rules to guarantee a successful fight against money laundering, tax evasion and tax elusion, -instead of facilitating them through finance service liberalization;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Calls the Commission to safeguard the right for all countries to regulate and preserve policy space in order to develop infant industries; urges the Commission to ensure that trade agreements and policies do not undermine developing countries strategic economic sectors and do not challenge partner countries efforts to increase the domestic value added in order to upgrade along the global value chain;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 c (new)
Paragraph 13 c (new)
13c. Recognizes that universal access to quality public services and common goods such as water and sanitation, education, healthcare and access to medicines is a key component of Member States capacity to guarantee Human and social Rights; therefore calls on the Commission and Member States to refrain from including negative lists in trade deals, nor standstill and ratchet clauses, that threaten states' capacity to reverse achieved liberalisation floors;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Acknowledges that thea careful internationaliszation of the world’'s production system has resulted incould contribute to new openings for economic development and an employment-based path out of poverty for, but so far it has resulted in a huge increase of inequalities and enormous environmental problems, threatening the future of hundreds of millions of people; recalls that, according to the ILO, around 780 million active women and men are not earning enough to be lifted out of poverty; underlines that the expansion of GVCs has created job opportunities but also propelled somemany supplier firms to ignorerelocate their economic activities outside the EU in particular to countries that have very low labour standards, do ignore existing labour laws, engage workers in unsafe and unacceptable conditions, demand exhaustive working hours and deny workers their fundamental rights; recalls that these practices create unfair competition for suppliers that are compliant with labour laws and international labour standards and for governments that want to improve wages and living standards; calls on the Commission to improve conditions in GVCs; emphasises that the EU’s further integration into GVCs must be driven by the dual principles of safeguarding the European social and regulatory model and securing and creating sustainable growth and jobs in the EU and for its partners;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Urges the Commission to advance the UNCTAD comprehensive Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development and to defend the interests of developing countries on trade issues;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Demands that Aid for Trade and technical assistance to focus on the empowerment of poor producers, micro and small enterprises, women equality and women empowerment and cooperatives in order to boost their benefits from trading in local and regional markets;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15c. Urges to revise EPAs and EGA ensuring they are negotiated in a balanced manner and taking into account the views and concerns of CSOs and trade unions, both from the EU and the partner countries;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 d (new)
Paragraph 15 d (new)
15d. Calls on the Commission to focus on a diversified strategy that can also address antidumping policies in the renewable energy sector, intellectual property regimes, tight financing programmes and the lack of national environmental policies that create the demand for green goods;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Stresses that better protection of the entire spectrum of intellectual property rights (IPR) and more effective enforcement is of fundamental importance for further integration into GVCUrges the EU to reconsider its intellectual property rights policy (IPR); stresses that a fair and reasonable protection of the intellectual property rights (IPR) should be accompanied by a proactive policy of transfer of technology to less developed poor countries; calls on the Commission to support all developing countries in making full and effective use of all flexibilities built into the TRIPS Agreement, recognized by the TRIPS Agreement and affirmed by the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS agreement and Public Health adopted on 14 November 2001, in order to be able to provide affordable medicines under their domestic public health programmes;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on the Council to meet their commitments to the Doha Declaration by ensuring that the Commission's mandate explicitly excludes pharmaceutical related TRIPS plus provisions which negatively affect access to medicines such as data exclusivity, patent extensions and limitation of grounds for compulsory licences within the framework of futures bilateral and regional trade agreements with developing countries and when developing countries engage in accession to the WTO;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Calls on the Commission to refrain from implementing financial sanctions on third countries that make use of WTO- compliant rules as has been envisaged in its new strategy on IP enforcement in Third Countries;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16c. Calls on the Commission to provide full transparency of the content of its IP related assistance programmes for LMICs, and ensure that parallel assistance on intellectual property does not undermine other health-related development projects supported by the Commission's Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 d (new)
Paragraph 16 d (new)
16d. Calls on the Commission to generate data of better quality on the economic and social impacts of Intellectual property protection and enforcement, including on the adverse impact on generic competition and public health; calls on the Commission to ensure that ISDS or ICS existing and eventual future clauses clearly exclude pharmaceutical intellectual property from the scope of dispute settlement;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 e (new)
Paragraph 16 e (new)
16e. Recalls that EU investment policy, especially when involving public money, must contribute to the realisation of the SDGs; recalls the need to enhance transparency and accountability of DFIs, PPPs, to effectively track and monitor the money flows, debt sustainability and the added value for sustainable development;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 f (new)
Paragraph 16 f (new)
16f. Calls on the EU to ensure in all its trade and investments policies a human needs based approach to debt sustainability through a binding set of standards to define responsible lending and borrowing, debts audits and faire debt workout mechanism, which should assess the legitimacy and the sustainability of countries' debt burdens and possible cancellation of unsustainable and illegitimate debt; asks the EU to engage constructively in the UN negotiations on multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring with a view to alleviating the debt burden and avoid unsustainable debt;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls on the Commission not to request provisional application of trade agreements, including trade chapters of association agreements, before Parliament gives itsthe European Parliament and the national parliaments give their consent; recalls that it could seriously undermine Pparliament’s' rights and create potential legal uncertainty vis-à- vis the agreement’s other signatory and the economic operators concerned;
Amendment 204 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Stresses that the international and multilateral trading system embodied in the WTO remains the best optionUNCTAD, the WTO, -when reoriented-, remain important for guaranteeing an open, fair and rules-based system which takes account of and balances the many varying interests of itstheir members; reiterates that Parliament is a strong advocate of the international and multilateral agendas;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Notes that improvements were achieved at theTakes note of the decision taken at 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in 2015; recognises the differences among WTO members on how to proceed as regards the Doha Round, including the need to consider new approaches to solve outstanding issues; welcomesis concerned by the interest of some WTO members in starting to address again the Singapore issues and certain other new negotiating areas; believes that the outcome of the Nairobi Ministerial Conference could provides an opportunity to give new life to the WTO’s negotiating function; urges the Commission to take the initiative in reforming and strengthening the WTO in order to ensure greater effectiveness, transparency and accountability;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Considersriticizes the increase of plurilateral negotiations at the margin of the WTO or within the WTO such as ACTA, TiSA, the Information Technology Agreement and the Environmental Goods Agreements to be the second-best option; emphasises that trade policy should also be used as a tool for increasing the competiveness ofaccessibility of socially and environmentally beneficial products; stresses the importance of multilateralising the ‘green goods’ initiative and of considering whether bilateral or unilateral trade agreements could provide premium preferences for environmental goodplurilateral negotiations at a stage and with a method that gives a chance to all countries to provide inputs on the content of the agreements;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Calls on the Commission to focus in a balanced way on the conclusion of the ongoing trade negotiations, and to showassess the potential benefits of the concludimpact of the implemented trade agreements before launching new FTA negotiations; reminds the Commission to carry out a thorough, impartial and unprejudiced ex-ante evaluation of European interestsand ex- post sustainable assessment studies, - using adequate economic models recognized by the United Nations, such as UNCTAD modelling method, before deciding on future FTA partners and negotiation mandates;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Underlines, in the context of the current talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the EU- Japan FTA, the high importance of focusing on core sensitive issues such as thedecent and quality jobs, on small and middle sized agriculture, on safeguarding public services, on maintaining the right to regulate, on protection ofng geographical indications (GIs) and public procurement, respect of democratic bodies, health and educational services, data protection and public procurement for SMEs, and with adequate social and environmental conditions, when negotiating FTAs;
Amendment 328 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. WBelcomieves the Commission’s intentiat more could be done to use trade policy to tackle new forms of digital protectionism and to set rules for e-commerce and cross-border data flows in compliance with EU data protection and privacy law; believes that much more needs to be done to create a climate favourable to e-commerce and entrepreneurship within the EU; stresses that ensuring regulatory cooperation, mutual recognition and harmoncreate a more favourable and secured digital climate for consumers and entrepreneurship within the EU; notes that it should start by delivering tangible benefits for consumers such as reducing monopolies and abuses of monopolistic positions in the telecom market, reduced geo-blocking practices and concrete redress solutions; calls for more co- operation between enforcers, especially on unfair commercial practices carried on- line; urges to systematically incorporate comprehensive horizontal provisions that fully exempts exisation of standardng and future UE rules ion the digital trade sector is vitalprotection of personal data from all agreements;
Amendment 364 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 a (new)
Paragraph 42 a (new)
42a. Calls on the EU and its Member States to follow UNCTAD's comprehensive Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development recommendations to stimulate more responsible, transparent and accountable investments;
Amendment 371 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 a (new)
Paragraph 43 a (new)
43a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to actively support the UN Open Ended Inter-Governmental Working Group (OEIGWG) developing a legally binding international instrument on Transnational Corporations and other business enterprises launched in June 2014;
Amendment 372 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43 b (new)
Paragraph 43 b (new)
43b. Welcomes the progress made since the establishment of the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact and calls Commission to expand binding frameworks to other sectors; urges in this regard the European Commission to enhance due diligence initiatives that complement the existing EU timber regulation, on the proposed EU regulation on conflict minerals, for other sectors; thereby ensuring the EU and its traders and operators live up to the obligation to respect human rights, and the highest social and environmental standards;
Amendment 378 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Calls for the eliminarecognition of the public procurrement imbalances as regards the degree of openness of public procurement markets between the EU and other trading partners; calls on the Commission to go even further in seeking an ambitious and reciprocal openas an important policy tool both for the EU ant its Member States and for our trading partners; calls on the Commission to consider the adoption of a Buy European Act or a Small Business Act, (giving up3% of international public procurement markets,the PP market to discriminated minorities) while guaranteeing the exclusion of services of general economic interests; stresses that European economic operators, but especially European SMEs, need better access to public contracts in third countriebetter access to public contracts in third countries is a priority for corporate companies, not for most of genuine SMEs;
Amendment 385 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Emphasises that access to resources on equal terms is of vital importance for fair competition on the global markenatural resources are limited and should be used in an economically and environmentally sustainable way, giving priority to recycling, and helping developing countries and especially LDCs to use part of their raw materials for their own industrialization and development; recalls that common goods such as air, water, and energy are limited and producers should compensate their cost for consuming these resources by paying to public funds for sustainable development; recalls that European trade policy needs to pursue a consistent, sustainable, comprehensive and cross- policy strategy concerning raw materials as already outlined by Parliament in its resolution on a new trade policy for Europe under the Europe 2020 strategy;
Amendment 403 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Shares the OECD’s view that open and fair trade and investment policies need a range of effective flanking policies in order to maximise the gains and minimise the lossescompensate the impact of trade liberalization on the populations, in Europe and abroad, and on the economy ; urges the Members States and the Commission to do much more to complement trade opening by a range of supporting measures in order to ensure inclusive growth – such as educationsustainable development, – such as reinforcement of public service for education and health, active labour market policies, supporting research and development, and infrastructure for development, and social protectiondequate rules to guarantee social and environmental rights;
Amendment 412 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to change their trade and investment policies in order to avoid trade deals with negative effect on the industrialization, to find more sophisticated ways of introducing mitigating measures to redevelop industries and regions that lose out; emphasises that in this respect the European Structural and Investment Funds, and in particular both the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund, can play an outstanding role; points out that the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund could also be an important instrument if reformed and shaped in a way that it is adequately funded;
Amendment 414 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52
Paragraph 52
52. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee and, the Committee of the Regions, to UNCTAD and to the WTO.