ALDE
31-05-2010 MEPs Concerned about Unfair Migration Policies
At the heart of both migration and development are human beings who are entitled to human rights. The right to emigrate is a fundamental right embedded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. MEPs Helene Flautre (Greens/EFA) Ana Gomes (S&D) Rui Tavares (GUE/NGL) Gabriele Zimmer (GUE/NGL) and Sonia Alfano (ALDE) are concerned for the human rights of migrants that are violated by and in Europe. Read more »
09-03-2010 MEPs Submit Amendments to INTA Opinion on PCD
On the 2nd of February the amendments on the INTA Draft Opinion on EU Policy Coherence for Development and the Official Development Assistance plus concept by Joe Higgins were due. On the 23rd of February, these amendments were voted on. All in all the amendments were a reflection of the never ending debate on neoliberalism and the international capitalist system within the committee on international trade; the EPP and the ECR versus the Greens and S&D. Some really good amendments were written, with references to incoherences that Fair Politics has also tackled like TRIPS and access to medicines, biofuels, agricultural subsidies, migration issues and partnership agreements with ACP countries. Despite this, some of these amendments were not adopted and amendments that were less progressive towards PCD, were. Read more »
01-03-2010 MEP Guerrero Salom Drafts Report on the Effects of the Financial Crisis
Developing countries are not the root or cause of the financial crisis, yet the effects of it have shown to be devastating for the poorer countries. It has become an economic, social, development and humanitarian crisis. Every field of activity has been effected. Unemployment levels have increased, there has been more migration and therefore brain drain, drop in prices of raw materials, decrease in development finance, greater debts and especially a drop in trade. The EU has increased its trade restrictions to protect its own market and has cut back on all development efforts. Within the Development Committee (DEVE) of the European Parliament, an own initiative report was taken up on this subject, with Enrique Guerrero Salom as rapporteur. Read more »
14-12-2009 The Second Revision of the Cotonou Agreement
The Cotonou Agreement which was signed in June 2000, between the African, Carribean and Pacific (ACP) Countries (most of them former colonies of Europe) introduced some radical changes in the past ACP-EU cooperation. The Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) were one of those changes. Within these partnership agreements there are incoherencies with the EU development policy that are harming the development process of third countries (see case study). Article 95 of the Agreements states that the agreements itself needs to be reviewed every five years. Therefore the European institutions, including the parliament have been giving their opinions on the matter. Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Eva Joly, chairwoman of the Development Committee (DEVE), was responsible for drafting the report titled "the second revision of the Partnership Agreement ACP-EU." Read more »
29-07-2009 MEPs concerned about Uzbeki children
Different MEPs from parties such as the ECR, ALDE and S&D have raised the issue of forced child labour that is used by the Uzbeki government in order to provide for harvest of their cotton each year. While this led to a call for boycott by the World Fair Trade Organisation, the EU the biggest single destination for Uzbek cotton continued importing the product under the preferential system. Graham Watson (ALDE) particularly highlights the incoherence of this by referring to the commitments the Commission made to eradicating child labour at a global level. We would like to thank Bill Newton Dunn (ALDE), Roger Helmer (ECR), Graham Watson (ALDE), Claude Moraes (S&D) and Charles Tannock (ECR) for raising this issue. Read more »
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