Condemning the 1 February coup in Myanmar, on 11 February, the European Parliament called on the European Union to take action.
In a resolution by the Greens/EFA, S&D, Renew Europe, ECR and EPP groups adopted by 667 votes in favour, 1 against and 27 abstentions, MEPs state that the Union and Member States must increase pressure on the Myanmar army and take all necessary measures to ensure the return to power of the elected authorities.
The European Parliament calls the Commission “without ruling out any possible measures including the preparation of sanctions against those responsible for the coup”, to consider developing progressive punitive measures “in order to prepare gradual punitive matters to react adequately to the existing violations and any possible further violations, while bearing in mind the positive effects of previously granted trade preferences on civil society and the civil economy”.
According to the MEPs, the Commission should launch an investigation to suspend trade preferences for Myanmar. They add that companies based in the EU should urgently reassess their trade relations with Myanmar and suspend all relations with military-owned companies.
The Parliament also wants the EU Council to review, and possibly amend, the EU’s arms embargo on Myanmar to ensure that surveillance equipment and dual-use products that can be used by the military in its crackdown on rights and dissent are covered by the embargo.
More broadly, the European Parliament calls on the military to respect the outcome of the democratic elections of November 2020, to restore the civilian government without delay, to end the state of emergency and to allow all elected parliamentarians to exercise their mandate in order to restore constitutional order and democratic standards.
It also calls for the immediate and unconditional release of President Win Myint, State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi, civil society activists, monks and journalists arrested solely for expressing their opposition.
See the resolution: http://bit.ly/3jLP5IU (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)