The European Parliament adopted by 488 votes to 67,
with 83 abstentions, a recommendation from the European Parliament
to the Council, the Commission and the European External Action
Service on the negotiations on the modernisation of the trade
pillar of the EU-Chile Association Agreement (AA).
As a reminder, the current association agreement,
including its trade pillar, was concluded in 2002. It has been
greatly beneficial to both parties since it entered into force in
2003, having doubled trade in goods and contributed to increasing
trade in services and investment. In 2016, the EU exported goods to
Chile to a value of more than EUR 8.6 billion, while Chile exported
goods to the EU to a value of EURÂ 7.4 billion.
Parliament called on the EU and Chile to conclude a
modern and ambitious trade agreement. This agreement should include
a number of areas for fostering shared growth, equal opportunities,
decent jobs and sustainable development, including the respect and
promotion of labour and environmental standards and animal welfare
and gender equality for the benefit of the citizens on both
sides.
The resolution recommended, inter
alia:
- placing common values at the heart of the
modernisation process and continue to incorporate a human rights
clause, as in all association agreements;
- maintaining the right of governments to regulate, in
the public interest, such matters as the protection and
promotion of public health, social services, social or consumer
protection, public education, environment, public morality,
protection of privacy and data, and the protection of cultural
diversity;
- achieving a real improvement in market access in
respect of trade in goods, while respecting that there are a
number of sensitive agricultural, manufacturing and industrial
products which should be given appropriate treatment, for example
though tariff-rate quotas (TRQs);
- exploiting fully the potential of trade in
services, audiovisual services should be excluded and explicit
provision should be made for the modernisation of the agreement not
to hinder the parties ability to define, regulate, provide
and support public services;
- including provisions on good tax governance and
transparency standards that reaffirmed the parties commitment
to implementing international standards in the fight against tax
fraud and evasion;
- making progress towards a necessary international
reform of the dispute settlement regime; to seek a
commitment by all parties to prioritise recourse to competent
courts and replace investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) with
a public investment court system (ICS) with an appeal
mechanism;
- including a chapter on trade and sustainable
development that includes binding and enforceable obligations,
subject to dispute settlement mechanisms. This chapter should
cover, inter alia, the commitment of the parties to adopt in
their national laws the principles enshrined in the core ILO
conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as well
as their commitment to implement the conventions on governance, the
Decent Work Agenda, the Equal Opportunities Convention, labour
standards for migrant workers and corporate social responsibility
(CSR);
- ensuring that, as regards Chile's progress in
bilateral trade negotiations with Uruguay and Canada, the parties
include a specific chapter on trade and gender equality and
womens empowerment;
- including a detailed chapter on micro-enterprises
and SMEs foreseeing substantial progress in terms of trade
facilitation, the elimination of trade barriers and unnecessary
administrative burdens;
- including a chapter on energy that would cover, in
particular, renewable energy and raw materials;
- accepting that negotiations should lead to binding
provisions on the recognition and protection of all forms of
intellectual property rights, including ambitious provisions
on geographical indications.
Lastly, Members called on the Council, the Commission
and the EEAS to ensure that the European Parliament receives
full, immediate and accurate information throughout the
negotiations for the purposes of its role of deciding whether
or not to grant consent to the conclusion of the modernised AA with
Chile, including the agreements trade pillar.