Schriftelijke stemverklaringen Luke Ming FLANAGAN

I voted against this report as from its inception, the system was managed by the Council General Secretariat, but the Commission proposed in the last revision of FRONTEX to attribute the management of the system to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency. The concept of FRONTEX an intrusion by the EU into matters of national sovereignty.

I voted in favour of the Joint resolution on the ‘EU’s priorities for the 64th session of the UN commission on the status of women’ as it outlines that we need to combat all forms of violence against women, fight gender stereotypes, eliminate the gender pay gap, the pension gap and to make sure that sexual and reproductive health and rights are accessible.

I voted against this report on the ‘Conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the socialist republic of Vietnam’ as I do not believe it to be beneficial for the EU for many reasons. For example, it may mean that some European industries will relocate to avail of the low cost of Vietnamese labour, which is a negative for Europe as it could put 2million jobs at risk. In terms of ecological effects, trade liberalisation directly impacts the environment via pollution as well as the degradation of natural resources. There is also the workers and social and human rights issue that should have been added as an enforceable mechanism to the agreement in order to ensure compliance, as Vietnam currently has a large number of political prisoners, journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders imprisoned.

I voted against this report on the ‘Conclusion of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and the socialist republic of Vietnam’ as I do not believe it to be beneficial for the EU for many reasons. For example, it may mean that some European industries will relocate to avail of the low cost of Vietnamese labour, which is a negative for Europe as it could put 2million jobs at risk. In terms of ecological effects, trade liberalisation directly impacts the environment via pollution as well as the degradation of natural resources. There is also the workers and social and human rights issue that should have been added as an enforceable mechanism to the agreement in order to ensure compliance, as Vietnam currently has a large number of political prisoners, journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders imprisoned.

I voted against this report on the ‘Investment Protection Agreement between the EU and its Member State and the Vietnam’ as I do not believe it to be beneficial for the EU for many reasons. For example, it may mean that some European industries will relocate to avail of the low cost of Vietnamese labour, which is a negative for Europe as it could put 2million jobs at risk. In terms of ecological effects, trade liberalisation directly impacts the environment via pollution as well as the degradation of natural resources. There is also the workers and social and human rights issue that should have been added as an enforceable mechanism to the agreement in order to ensure compliance, as Vietnam currently has a large number of political prisoners, journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders imprisoned.

I voted against this Resolution on the ‘Investment Protection Agreement between the EU and its Member State and the Vietnam’ as I do not believe it to be beneficial for the EU for many reasons. For example, it may mean that some European industries will relocate to avail of the low cost of Vietnamese labour, which is a negative for Europe as it could put 2million jobs at risk. In terms of ecological effects, trade liberalisation directly impacts the environment via pollution as well as the degradation of natural resources. There is also the workers and social and human rights issue that should have been added as an enforceable mechanism to the agreement in order to ensure compliance, as Vietnam currently has a large number of political prisoners, journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders imprisoned.

I voted in favour of this objection as the list contains a high number of fossil fuel projects (oil and gas), and this support moves the EU away from meeting the Paris Agreement. Natural gas is principally composed of methane, a greenhouse gas 87 times more powerful then carbon dioxide (on a 20-year timeframe). Along with this impact on climate, many projects have other unacceptable environmental impacts, including the use of fracking, which has been banned in Ireland.

I voted in favour of this objection as on 15 January 2020, in its resolution on the European Green Deal, Parliament explicitly stated that banned substances should not be reintroduced on the EU market in consumer products through recycling activities.

I chose to vote in favour of this motion for a resolution on ‘An EU strategy to put an end to female genital mutilation around the world’ as it highlights that this is a violation of human rights and impacts gender equality. It also notes that specialist healthcare should be provided for those who have been impacted by FGM, including psychological assistance, which is positive.

. ‒ I voted in favour of this resolution as it calls upon the Commission to monitor much consumer-related legislation with the new reality of automated decision-making in mind. Monitoring of the Better Enforcement Directive is also necessary in order to make sure consumers are informed when the prices of goods or services have been personalised on the basis of automated decision-making and profiling of consumer behaviour allowing traders to assess the consumer’s purchasing power.