Brussels, 05/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - The Socialists and Democrats group (S&D) in the European Parliament (EP) has condemned the EPP veto of its demand for action against forced child labour in Georgia during a vote this week on the trade components of the Eastern Partnership.
Romanian MEP George Cutas regrets that, despite the support of the other political groups, 40 MEPs from the EPP Group vetoed his amendment which “encouraged Georgia to perfect its legislation, including the implementation of international labour rights conventions, in particular concerning the elimination of forced child labour”.
Cutas noted in a press release that both the International and the European Trade Union Confederations (ITUC and ETUC) last year expressed their concerns to Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht about Georgia's failure to comply with international labour standards, in particular condemning child labour.
In a resolution adopted on 3 July (see EUROPE 10647 - Eastern Partnership: European Parliament encourages free trade), the EP calls in particular on Georgia to address the problem of the pirating of counterfeit software, Georgia being the country with the highest prevalence of this activity in the region.
A deep and comprehensive free-trade agreement has been under negotiation between the EU and Georgia since March as part of the association agreement, talks on which began in July 2010. (EH/transl.rt)