8-oji Parlamento kadencija Jan ZAHRADIL

I have decided to vote in favour of this vote, principally for economic motives. With the largest trade relation in the world of over $1 trillion, it is imperative to maintain positive relations with the United States. While there are some threats in the domain of trade from the current administration in the U.S., it is not the time for European protectionism. We must seek solutions, not by responding in kind, but by following rules-based processes in the WTO with other members, since we are unable to seek a permanent exemption from American tariffs. Simultaneously we must continue dialogue between EU and U.S. on eventually agreeing on deep and ambitious FTA. Nonetheless, our current trade disputes should not change our position on national security and defence cooperation. The 2018 adoption of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) is ineffective and creates redundancy with the ongoing NATO membership of the majority of EU member-states. The best policy is to continue developing our strong relations with the U.S. and maintain the deep and strategic partnership transatlantic link through NATO. We share the same values and must remain close allies.

I decided to abstain on this vote. China is an important strategic partner of the EU. The enormous and expanding market of China brings many potential economic benefits to all of Europe. China is currently the EU’s second largest trading partner, only after the US, and the total trade figure is expected to grow. It is especially important to uphold a strong partnership with China now, when it is expanding on the international stage with programmes like Xi Jinping’s One Belt One Road agenda. This enormous programme spans the continent of Asia to the outer reaches of the European Union, and even provides prospective infrastructure programmes in southeastern Europe. However, our trade relations must be based on free and fair conditions. We must address the issue of state subsidies in Chinese exports as well as the question of intellectual property rights that are not sufficiently enforced by the Chinese Government.

. ‒ I have decided to vote against the proposed European Solidarity Corps (ECS). While this initiative may sound favourable on the surface, when one takes into consideration the details of the proposal it becomes quite clear that it is not cost effective. Back in 2007, we had a very similar proposal known as the European Voluntary Service in which only 35 000 young people participated at the cost of EUR 885 million over 7 years (2007-2013). This new proposal attempts to attract 100 000 young people with a budget of only EUR 375.6 million in three years (2018- 2020), a measure which is economically infeasible. Also, with a plethora of volunteer opportunities for young people including: the Erasmus+ program, the European Social Fund and the Youth Employment Initiative, it is completely unnecessary to fund another expensive program which has a parallel aim. Finally, the proposal is a clear overreach of EU competence, volunteering is a positive activity which benefits young people, however it should be mainly organised on national level, where most of the projects take place anyway.