Activities of Gerben-Jan GERBRANDY related to 2016/2076(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
EU action plan against wildlife trafficking (debate)
Amendments (42)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5
Citation 5
— having regard to Council Decision 2008/801/EC of 25 September 2008 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Community, of thethe 2003 United Nations Convention against Corruption3, __________________ 3 OJ L 287, 29.10.2008, p. 1.
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
— having regard to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention),
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7
Citation 7
— having regard to the 2016 World Wildlife Crime Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) entitled,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 a (new)
Citation 11 a (new)
— having regard to the Declaration signed at the 2014 London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 b (new)
Citation 11 b (new)
— having regard to the 2016 Buckingham Palace Declaration on the prevention of wildlife trafficking in the transport sector,
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
— having regard to the report of the 2014 EU Action to Fight Environmental Crime (EFFACE) research project,
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 b (new)
Citation 16 b (new)
— having regard to the report of the Secretary General of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice of 4 March 2013 entitled 'Illicit trafficking in protected species of wild flora and fauna and illicit access to genetic resources',
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 c (new)
Citation 16 c (new)
— having regard to the 2016 rapid response assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Interpol entitled 'The Rise of Environmental Crime',
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas CITES is a major international agreement in force since 1975 with 181 parties (including all EU Member States and since July 2015 the EU itself) covering 35,000 animal and plant species;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas the EU Agenda on Security for 2015-2020 identifies wildlife crime as a form of organised crime that must be tackled at EU level by considering further criminal sanctions throughout the EU by means of a review of the existing legislation on environmental crime;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C d (new)
Recital C d (new)
Cd. whereas Operation COBRA III conducted in May 2015 was the biggest ever coordinated international law enforcement operation targeting the illegal trade in endangered species and resulted in 139 arrests and more than 247 seizures, which included elephant ivory, medicinal plants, rhino horns, pangolins, rosewood, tortoises and many other plant and animal specimens;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C e (new)
Recital C e (new)
Ce. whereas the demand for illegal wildlife products in destination markets promotes corruption across the wildlife trafficking supply chain;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls foron the EU and each Member State to address wildlife crimeCommission, the Member States, the European External Action Service and the EU agencies Europol and Eurojust to recognise that wildlife crime is a serious and growing threat and to address it with the greatest political urgency; highlights the need for comprehensive and coordinated approaches across policy areas including trade, development, foreign affairs, and justice and home affairs;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Insists on timely implementation of all elements of the Action Plan to reflect the urgent need to prevent further species decline; calls on the Commission to provide Parliament and the Council with yearly written implementation updates;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for a targeted and coordinated series of awareness-raising campaigns by the EU, third countries, stakeholders and civil society with the aim of reducing the market demand for illegaldemand related to the illegal trade in wildlife products through real and long- term social and behavioural change;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the EU to support initiatives promoting the development of sustainable and alternative livelihoods for local communities close to the wildlife concerned andto contributinge to the recovery and conservation of wildlife populations, minimise human wildlife conflict and promote wildlife as a valuable community income;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for the EU, as a matter of urgency, to address corruption and the shortcomings of international governance measures across the wildlife trafficking chain; calls for the EU and its Member States to engage with partner countries through the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and other fora to tackle the problem in source, transit and destination markets; calls on all Member States to fully comply with and effectively implement the provisions of UNCAC;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recognises the need to provide assistance and guidance to source, guidance and training in a coordinated way with other agencies involved in this work to source, transit and destination countries concerning investigation, enforcement and judicial procedures at local, regional and national level; calls for the EU to enable training, specialised equipment and expertise to be provided where necessary;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Takes note of the Council Conclusions on the EU Action Plan against Wildlife Trafficking of 20 June 2016, recognising that wildlife crime is a serious and growing threat to biodiversity and the environment but also to global security, the rule of law, human rights and sustainable development; strongly regrets the lack of clear commitments by the Member States; stresses the decisive role of the Member States in the full and coherent implementation of the Action Plan at a national level in delivering the objectives set out therein;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Welcomes the Commission's call for a monitoring and evaluation mechanism to assess Member States progress on the implementation of the Action Plan by providing regular data and information updates on seizures of illegal wildlife products, arrests of wildlife traffickers and to share best practice;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Urges the Member States to ensure that enforcement agencies, prosecution services and national judiciaries have the necessary financial and human resources and appropriate expertise to combat wildlife crime;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Underlines the need for improved inter-agency cooperation and for functioning and timely data sharing between national and EU-level implementation and enforcement agencies; calls for the creation of strategic enforcement networks at both EU and national level in order to facilitate and improve such cooperation;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Welcomes the efforts of the Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of EU Environmental Law (IMPEL), the European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment (ENPE), the EU Forum of Judges for the Environment (EUFJE) and the network of police officers focusing on tackling environmental crime (EnviCrimeNet);
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10c. Notes the inclusion of illegal wildlife trade in the EU Agenda for Security 2015 -2020 which recognises that the illegal trade in wildlife threatens biodiversity in source regions, sustainable development and regional stability;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Underlines the need for inter- agency cooperation and cCalls on the Member States to provide Europol with continuous and relevant intelligence and data; urges Europol to consider wildlife crime in the next EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA); calls for the establishment of a specialised Wildlife Crime Unit within Europol, with transnational powers and responsibilities and sufficient financial and human resources, enabling centralised information and analysis and coordinated enforcement strategies and investigations;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to review Directive 2008/99/EC on the protection of the environment through criminal law, in particular with regard to its effectiveness in combating wildlife crime within the time frame foreseen by the EU Agenda for Security; is deeply concerned that some Member States have not yet fully implemented Directive 2008/09/EC;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Urges the Member States to effectively implement and comply with the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) as a basis for international action and mutual legal assistance and as a key step towards a common approach to combating wildlife crime; deeply regrets, in this connection, the fact that eleven Member States have not yet implemented UNTOC;.
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Considers that action against wildlife crime requires consistent and dissuasive criminal penalties; urges the Member States to define wildlife trafficking as a serious crime in accordance with article 2(b) of the UNTOC;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Calls on EU and Member State enforcement agencies to identify and monitor the patterns of other forms of serious and organised crime, such as human trafficking, to inform prevention activities and the investigation of irregularities in the supply chain in the case of tackling wildlife trafficking; for example suspicious shipments and financial transactions;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17b. Calls on the Commission to promote the EU-TWIX system as a proven and well-functioning tool for Member States to share data and information and to ensure a long-term financial commitment to it;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 c (new)
Paragraph 17 c (new)
17c. Welcomes UNEP's expert review process which is seeking to create a universally recognised definition of environmental crime; in that regard, notes that the legal boundaries between different types of environmental crimes are sometimes unclear which can reduce opportunities for effective prosecution and punishment;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to establish a Trust Fund or similar facility under Article 187 of the revised financial regulation applicable to the general budget of the Union, with the objective of safeguarding protected areas and combating wildlife trafficking and poaching, as part of the Action Plan against wildlife trafficking;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls foron the EU to continue to support the International Consortium on cCombating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), comprising CITES, Interpol, UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime), the World Bank and the World Customs Organisation; welcomes any strengthening of support including through the provision of financial resources and specialist expertise, in order to facilitate capacity-building by governments and the exchange of information and intelligence, and support enforcement and compliance by ICCWC members;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls for the EU to continue to support the International Consortium on cCombatting Wildlife Crime (ICCWC);
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Welcomes international law enforcement operations like Operation COBRA III which result in significant seizures of illegal wildlife products, arrests of traffickers and provide increased public visibility of wildlife trafficking as a serious organised crime;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20b. Calls on Member States to reinforce the CITES budget so the organisation can expand its monitoring activity and species designation; in that regard, regrets that from the years 1992- 2015 six Member States still have outstanding payments to be made to CITES;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Notes that CITES, the EU Timber Regulation and the EU IUU regulatory framework are tools for regulating international wildlife trade; is concerned, however, about regulatory gaps with regard to species and actors; calls, therefore, for the EU to review and asupplemendt the existing legislative framework with a view to prohibiting the making available and placing on the market, transport, acquisition and possession of wildlife that has been illegally harvested or traded in third countries; considers that such legislation would harmonise and simplify the existing EU framework and that the transnational impact of such legislation can play a key role in reducing global wildlife trafficking;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Welcomes the 2016 Buckingham Palace Declaration in which signatories from airlines, shipping firms, port operators, customs agencies, intergovernmental organizations and conservation charities commit to raising standards across the transport sector with a focus on information sharing, staff training, technological improvements, and resource sharing across companies and organisations worldwide; calls on all parties to fully implement the commitments of the Declaration; encourages the Member States to promote voluntary commitments similar to the Buckingham Palace Declaration in other areas in particular the financial and e- commerce sectors;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Considers traceability in the supply chain to be essential for legal and sustainable trade, whether commercial or non- commercial; highlights the need for cooperation and coordination at the international level as well as between the public and private sectors; calls foron the EU to strengthen the existing control instruments andincluding the use of traceability mechanisms; considers that the transport sector should play a key role, especiallypivotal role, for example by implementing an early warning detection systems; notes the important role that the private sector and public-private partnerships can play in this regard;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls on the Member States to ensure the immediate confiscation of any seized specimens and the care and re- homing of seized or confiscated live specimens at recognised and certified animal welfare centreanimal welfare centres; in that regard, calls on the Commission to provide guidance for animal welfare centres to provide suitable and harmonised welfare standards;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Calls on the Member States to consider "positive list" species systems, whereby exotic species are assessed objectively and according to scientific criteria for their safety and suitability for trading and keeping as pets;