MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No .../... of 17 December 2013 amending Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences

29.1.2014 - (C(2013)9133 – 2014/2546(RSP))

pursuant to Rule 87a(4) of the Rules of Procedure

Bernd Lange, Vital Moreira, Véronique De Keyser on behalf of the S&D Group
Franziska Keller on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
Helmut Scholz, Paul Murphy on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group

B7‑0089/2014

European Parliament resolution on Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No .../... of 17 December 2013 amending Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences
(C(2013)9133 – 2014/2546(RSP))
 

The European Parliament,

–       having regard to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No …/.. of 17 December 2013 amending Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences (C(2013)9133),

–       having regard to Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–       having regard to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 732/2008[1],

–       having regard to the motion for a resolution tabled by the Committee on International Trade,

–       having regard to Rule 87a(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.     whereas Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 lays down the arrangements for the Union’s Generalised System of Preferences (GSP), which is meant to help developing countries by making it easier for them to export their products to the European Union;

B.     whereas the GSP consists of a general arrangement and two special arrangements, including the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance (GSP+), whereby no duties are levied on imports of over 6 000 tariff lines from beneficiaries;

C.     whereas GSP+ is designed to work as a credible incentive for those countries that want to earnestly commit themselves to implementing core international conventions that are essential in the context of sustainable development;

D.     whereas Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 lays down the conditions which an applicant country needs to fulfil in order to become a GSP+ beneficiary country, and whereas this status is not conferred automatically and requires a case‑by‑case assessment to be made regarding the fulfilment of the requisite conditions;

E.     whereas Article 10(4) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts in order to establish or to amend Annex III in order to grant a requesting country the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance by adding that country to the list of GSP+ beneficiary countries;

F.     whereas Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 does not require the Commission to adopt a single delegated act for all beneficiary countries, but instead leaves the choice of whether all countries should be covered by one delegated act or by individual delegated acts to the discretion of the Commission;

G.     whereas on 17 December 2013 the Commission adopted a delegated act to establish Annex III, adding three additional countries – El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama – by means of a single delegated act;

H.     whereas this limits considerably the scrutiny powers of the co-legislators, forcing them, in the event of opposition to one applicant country, to object to the delegated act, which penalises all the eligible applicants in the delegated act as opposed to a more targeted approach in which separate delegated acts are adopted for each country;

I.      whereas a delegated act will enter into force only if no objection has been expressed by either the European Parliament or the Council within two months of notification of the act; whereas that period can be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council,

J.      whereas, in accordance with paragraph 2 of the Common Understanding between Parliament, the Council and the Commission on delegated acts, the three institutions are required to cooperate throughout the procedure leading to the adoption of delegated acts with a view to a smooth exercise of the delegated powers and effective control of those powers by Parliament and the Council;

1.      Objects to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No …/.. of 17 December 2013 amending Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences (C(2013)9133);

2.      Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and to notify it that the delegated regulation cannot enter into force;

3.      Calls on the Commission to submit a new delegated act which takes account of the following recommendation:

         that, pursuant to Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012, the Commission should adopt a separate delegated act for each country it wants to add to the list of GSP+ beneficiary countries;

4.      Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and to the governments and parliaments of the Member States.

• [1]  OJ L 303, 31.10.2012, p. 1.