Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-11-21-Speech-3-472-000"
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"en.20121121.29.3-472-000"2
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"Mr President, as rapporteur of the EU-Kazakhstan report, I have the pleasure of opening this debate by presenting to you our recommendations on the negotiations. The recommendations we are now dealing with are the result of an intensive process of cooperation with the shadow rapporteurs, including consultation with stakeholders, experts and the valuable debriefings by our chief negotiator, Mr Wiegand. I also would like to thank the INTA Committee for their very good opinion and it has been my endeavour to ensure consistency with our EU policies and strategies on Central Asia and on human rights.
The golden rule that we stressed in Parliament’s March resolution is that economic development must be linked to political development, and therefore progress in the negotiations on the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement must be linked to progress in political reforms. In fact, this meets Kazakhstan’s important commitments and obligations to international and European standards.
However, declarations have to be followed up by tangible and concrete steps. In this regard, it was negative news that the appeal of Mr Kozlov was turned down by the court. This appeal process was open but not fair. A serious concern we took note of is the legal move to shut down and ban the independent media outlets, as we heard yesterday. We are very concerned about the further limitation of political freedoms and the independent media and call on Kazakhstan to repeal the vague criminal charge of ‘inciting social unrest’ in its criminal code.
The recommendations focus on three main topics: first on economic cooperation, second on the political dialogue and cooperation, including with regard to security in the region, and thirdly on the really crucial issue of human rights and democracy.
Indeed, economy, trade, investment, energy and security matter for both partners. To extend trade and foreign investment the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers is necessary. The convergence of standards towards EU standards would favour the modernisation or diversification of Kazakhstan’s economy.
On human rights and democracy, the EU and Kazakhstan still need to find a common language during the ongoing PCA negotiations. Kazakhstan needs to bring its legal system fully in line with international standards. Kazakhstan should draw on the assistance and recommendations of the Venice Commission and finally ensure the full implementation of its very good human rights action plan.
We support visa facilitation between the EU and Kazakhstan. In every sense, we give our strong support for legal, academic and vocational training and for cultural exchange programmes, and we call on Kazakhstan to hold an impartial investigation into all recent allegations of torture and ill-treatment in connection with violence in Zhanaozen.
All in all this is a fair and balanced report."@en1
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