Activities of Cristian Dan PREDA related to 2013/2074(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on corruption in the public and private sectors: the impact on human rights in third countries PDF (254 KB) DOC (147 KB)
Amendments (27)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that systemic corruption undermines democracy, governance and the rule of law and weakens state institutions andthus impairsing governments' ability to fulfil their human rights obligations, particularly with regard to the economic and social rights of the most vulnerable and marginalised;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Stresses that corruption often fuels crime and contributes to conflict and fragility and takes the view that fighting corruption should be given greater weight in EU's conflict prevention efforts and its actions in dealing with situations of fragility;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that corruption is a global phenomenon and that the EU needs to fight both the external and the internal dimension of corruption in order to limit the chances that the EU exports corruption; calls, in this context, for greater accountability regarding the use of EU aid money and for the establishment of a framework for initiating legal proceedings against EUforeign companies suspected of engaging in corruption in third countries;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas corruption is part of the good governance principle, such as upheld and defined by articles 9(3) and 97 of the Cotonou Agreement;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas corruption is generally deeply entrenched in the mentality of the societies where it permeates and all efforts to combat it should focus first and foremost on the education system, targeting people at the earliest age possible;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas states may enable and even foster violations of rights of their citizens bysometimes failing to act in preventing or punishing corruption in public and private sectors, in breach of their international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the other relevant international and regional human rights instruments;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Recalls the commitments undertaken through the Busan Partnership for Effective Development and calls on the EU and its Members states to implement them in order to intensify the joint efforts to fight corruption and illicit flows;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas, according to the World Bank, corruption represents 5% of global GDP (US$ 2.6 trillion) with over US$ 1 trillion paid in bribes each year. Corruption adds up to 10% of the total cost of doing business on a global basis and 25% to the cost of procurement contracts in developing countries1; __________________ 1 From International Chamber of Commerce, Transparency International, UN Global Compact, World Economic Forum, Clean Business is Good Business, 2009
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas the World Bank estimates that each year, US$ 20 to US$ 40 billion, corresponding to 20% to 40% of official development assistance, is stolen through high-level corruption from public budgets in developing countries and hidden overseas; 2 __________________ 2 International Chamber of Commerce, Transparency International, UN Global Compact, World Economic Forum, Clean Business is Good Business, 2009
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas human rights defenders, media and civil society organisations (CSOs) and investigative journalists play a crucial role in the fight against corruption by scrutinising public budgets, monitoring government activities, offering capacity- building skills and expertise and demanding transparency and accountability; whereas journalists reporting on corruption and organised crime are increasingly targeted and harassed by organised crime groups, ‘parallel powers’ and the public authorities, especially in developing countries;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas 25% of the total opened investigations by the European Anti- Fraud Office regarded European external aid to third countries, and 17.5 millions Euros were recovered as a result of these investigations;4 __________________ 4 OLAF Annual Report 2011
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas aid donors and international financial institutions (IFIs), such as the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have lost the opportunity toshould foster truhe governance reform in debtor countries in the past and haveand contributed to the corruption and concentration of power by the elites by not assessing and addressing the risks of corruption and degradation of human rightan effective fight against corruption, also by addressing the risks sometimes associated with many measures imposed in the context of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs), such as the privatisation of state-owned businesssuch as the privatization of state-owned industries and resources, foreseen in the Structural Adjustment Programmes;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. HighlightWelcomes, in this regard, the need to further the use of automatic information exchange and to extend the scoperenegotiation of the Savings Taxation Directive in order, meant to effectively end banking secrecy; considers that strengthening the regulation of, and transparency as regards, company registries and registers of trusts in all EU Members States is a prerequisite for dealing with corruption, both in the EU and in third countries; believes that EU rules should impose an obligation of registration on all legal structures and their beneficial ownership data, and that these data should be published, at no charge, online, electronically tagged, and in a searchable format;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. UrgesCalls on the Commission to propose an extension of the definition of human rights defenders in the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders to include anti-corruption activists, investigative journalists and, notably, whistleblowers;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Points out that the EU, as a majorworld leading donor, should follow and expand recent instances of linking the delivering of EU external aid to budget reforms towards greater transparency, access to data and participatory processes and harmonising guiding principles in this regard with other donors; is of the opinion that the EU should establish clear and public benchmarks and incentives for recipient governments to open up their budget processes and incorporate transparency, public participation and oversight components into their efforts, through training or technical assistance; urges the EU to promote and support the development of an enabling environment for oversight bodies in developing countries (including parliaments, courts of auditors, CSOs and the media) to carry out their core functions and therefore fight corruption;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Points out, on the other hand, that the EU should not foster ‘advanced partnerships’ with kleptocratic regimes which do not show the political will to genuinely implement the above-mentioned principles, unless dialogue, pressure and cooperation from the EU towards the need for reform is visible and transparentthat the EU should use the framework of 'advanced partnerships' in order to pressure those regimes that suffer from endemic corruption to adopt reforms; takes the view that the EU should publicly condemn the enactment of laws which restrict the freedom of the media and the activities of civil society as cornerstones of accountability and that it should draw up strategies to adapt relations with those countries so as to foster reform in a visible way;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Welcomes the G20 Seoul Anti- Corruption Action Plan and believes that the momentum created should be sustained so as to ensure a coordinated international effort meant to combat corruption in key areas;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls on the European Commission to consolidate the cooperation with other donors and the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions to develop capacities of Supreme Audit Institutions in aid recipient countries, in order to implement the International Standards for Supreme Audit Institutions in developing countries;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Invites the EU Member States to support the establishment of a UN Special Rapporteur on corruption and human rights with a comprehensive mandate, including an objectives-oriented plan and on a periodic evaluation of the anti-corruption measures taken by States;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Welcomes the agreements reached between the European Parliament and the Council requiring companies in the extractive sector and loggers of primary forests to disclose payments to governments on a country-by-country and project basis; urges governments of all partner countries to require country-by-countryequivalent disclosure of payments of transnational companies registered or listed on financial markets in their jurisdiction; urges the EU to promote this standard of reporting in the context of its relations with partner countries;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29a. Points out that all efforts to combat corruption should be accompanied by support for programmes meant to prevent corruption through education and awareness-raising campaigns;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. Is of the opinion that the standard human rights clause introduced in all agreements with third countries should also include a commitment towards the protection and promotion of good governance;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 b (new)
Paragraph 30 b (new)
30b. Encourages the Commission to propose in the next revision of the Cotonou Agreement the respect of good governance as an essential element of the Agreement and to widen the scope of the definition of corruption, allowing the sanctioning of breaches of the good governance clause in all serious circumstances, and not only when related to economic and sectoral policies and programmes on which the European Union is a significant partner in terms of the financial support;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Emphasises that a human rights- based approach to the asset-recovery process by states emerging from corrupt dictatorships, namely Arab Spring countries, demands that Member States, as recipient countries, understand repatriation not as a discretionary measure but as a duty arising from the obligations of international cooperation and assistance; considers, moreover, that a human rights-based approach requires that repatriated funds be appropriately used in the creation of conditions to assure compliance with human rights obligations and to avoid new corruption- based diversions; requires that the EU assist in ensuring that repatriated funds be appropriately administered in a transparent and efficient manner that benefits the citizens of the country in question, in full compliance with international human rights obligationWelcomes the decision of the EU- Egypt and EU-Tunisia Task Forces to finalise a roadmap for the return of the illicitly acquired assets which are still frozen in a number of third countries; considers that asset-recovery provisions will support the efforts of countries to redress the worst effects of corruption and urges the EU and its Member States to make further significant efforts aimed at facilitating the return of misappropriated assets stolen by the former regimes to the people of Arab Spring countries;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. CallPoints onut the EU and its Member States to take a lead in the UN efforts to ratify and implement the International Arms Treaty, establishing common binding standards, based on international human rights and humanitarian law, to assess international weapons transfers; encourages the EU to go beyond the treaty and set up independent mechanisms to monitor all arms transfers and combat the opaqueness in the arms trade sector and demand far greater transparency, especially in at corruption in the arms trade represents a large proportion of the corruption present in global transactions; welcomes the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) adopted by the UNGA on 2 April 2013; welcomes the commitment of the Member States to sign the Arms Trade Treaty at the earliest possible date and calls on them to also take a lead in the UN efforts for the rapid ratification and implementation of the International Arms Trelation to the use of intermediaries and economic/industrial offsety by all UN member states;