mr president i was the green efa shadow for both the saïfi and the désir reports
we welcome these as important steps forward to secure better human rights and social and environmental standards in the countries that are our trading partners
if those countries want to sell on the lucrative eu markets we should encourage them to adopt decent and sustainable standards at home
securing improvement through mandatory clauses and requirements in trade agreements is one way to achieve this
mrs saïfi who did an excellent job as rapporteur discusses constructively the different levels and aspects of human rights and environmental and social standards at differing levels
we agree with ms saïfi's suggestion that a world environment organisation be formed and that the ilo status should be strengthened
we liked the sustainable development chapter in ftas but wish those standards to be binding not voluntary
similarly the gsp schemes should be given proper teeth and be enforceable
but we could not agree with the rapporteur that the human rights clause in the fta with colombia was satisfactory
in fact we thought that was a meaningless formulaic human rights clause that makes a mockery of the aspirations of this house in that regard
turning to mr désir's report we could not agree more with him when he names the transnational corporations as a source of negative effects on the environment and on our social standards
they have profited from trade liberalisation and they have exploited cheap labour and all too often cheap materials but failed to adequately redistribute the wealth they have created at others expense
we have successfully amended both reports and will be supporting both of them when it comes to the vote
in closing i would very quickly stress that more needs to be done in specifying the human rights and social responsibilities we want to prioritise
we should do so in terms of obligatory requirements and not rely on voluntary codes
