EU/Singapore Partnership and Cooperation Agreement

The Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted the report by Antonio LÓPEZ-ISTÚRIZ WHITE (EPP, ES) containing a motion for a non-legislative resolution on the draft Council decision on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Singapore, of the other part.

Members welcomed the conclusion of the PCA, which is of strategic importance and will provide a legal framework for the long-standing bilateral relations and commitment to strengthening and widening cooperation in regional and international forums, and in areas such as environmental protection, international stability, justice, security and development.

It shall create opportunities in new areas of cooperation, such as human rights, justice, freedom and security and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and for scientific and technological cooperation in fields such as energy, the environment, the fight against climate change, protection of natural resources, and transport, in particular maritime and air transport.

The report reaffirmed the needed commitment and engagement with regard to respect for human rights, including social rights, democracy, fundamental freedoms, good governance and the rule of law, and to working together in this regard.

Singapore is called on to:

- ensure respect for international law, democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms;

- fully protect the rights of the LGBTI community;

- abolish the laws penalising sexual relationships between people of the same gender;

- abolition of the death penalty;

- work together with Singapore and ASEAN to speed up the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement;

Members called for regular exchanges between the European External Action Service (EEAS) and Parliament, to allow Parliament to follow up on the implementation of the PCA and the achievement of its objectives.