Activities of Cristian Dan PREDA related to 2010/2203(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Towards a comprehensive European international investment policy
Amendments (10)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Is convinced that investment can have a positive impact on growth and jobs, not only in the EU but also in developing countries; supports, therefore, an coherent EU investment policy that promotes, and helps to foster the necessary conditions for, liberalisation of foreign direct investment;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes also that, given healthy growth rates and significant potential in many developing nations, many of which enjoy long-standing privileged relationships with Europe, the proposed improvements to investment policy as well as an effective and efficient cooperation could be extremely beneficial both to the EU and to developing economies;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that the investment risk is generally higher in developing countries, and that good governance is a prerequisiteand transparency are the key principles for strong, effective investor protection; is of the opinion that investment treaties can help improve governance and bring about the stable, secure environment to encourage investment into these countries; considers increased investment in developing countries essential for development, as part of an approach moving towards partnership agreements that bring about the reduction of poverty in line with MDG commitments;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is disappointed, therefore, that the Commission Communication focuses very littlCalls on the European Commission to focus more on developing countries as potential investment partners; recalls, in this respect, that the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU obliges the EU to practise policy coherence for development, i.e. to ‘take account of the objectives of development cooperation in the policies that it implements which are likely to affect developing countries’;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5a (new)
Paragraph 5a (new)
5a. Underlines the need for stronger investment promotion provisions in investment agreements when they concern developing countries;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the EU to meet its aid-for-trade commitments and to step up support for capacity building anreinforcing institutional and regulatory capacities and good governance, especially for parliaments, the judiciary, infrastructure, strengthening tax systems and promoting access to capital and microfinance in developing countries, in line with the recent Commission Green Paper on development policy, so as to make them more attractive as locations for foreign investment and in order to help them improve their institutional and regulatory capacity to manage foreign investments;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Believes that EU investment policy should, particularly regarding developing countries, work to encourage flexibility, as regards foreign investment, in activities and sectors with a clear and significant impact on sustainable development, in which they might otherwise not engage because of the risks involved; considers that greater support should be given to local firms, notably through incentives for strengthening their productivity and cooperation, and improving skills of the workforce , which represents considerable potential for boosting economic development, competitiveness and growth in developing countries ;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7a (new)
Paragraph 7a (new)
7a. Points out that industrial development has a tremendous transformative potential for national economies and opposite to agriculture exports or natural resources extraction, which expose economise to shocks, is more likely to offer bigger scope for long-term productivity growth; therefore calls on developing countries to address this issue by designing and implementing industrialisation related policies with a special focus on manufacturing specialisation and trade-capacity building;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Urges the EU to respect developing countries' ownership of their economic strategies and to cooperate with them to reach investment agreements that are mutually beneficial; underlines that these agreements must provide the necessary flexibility for developing countries in order to enable them to concentrate investments in the sectors that are the most relevant for them and that can bring about sustainable grouwth;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. BStresses the added-value of a coherent and integrated EU investment policy; believes developing countries would benefit greatly from having the EU as a solemain interlocutor regarding investment arrangements, rather than multiple agreements with individual Member States; sees therefore as vital the establishment of an appropriate deadline by which time Member State bilateral treaties must be replaced by EU-level agreements.