19 Amendments of Isabelle THOMAS related to 2017/2043(BUD)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that in its resolution of 15 March 2017, Parliament confirmed that growth, jobs and securitydecent, quality and stable jobs, socio-economic cohesion and convergence, security, energy transition, migration and climate change are the core issues and main priorities for the 2018 EU budget;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that in general terms the Commission proposal corresponds to Parliament’s view that the 2018 EU budget must enable the EU to continue to generate growth and jobs while ensuring the security of its citizen, decent jobs, socio-economic convergence and energy transition while ensuring the security of its citizens, facing the challenge of climate change and addressing the migration challenges;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the decision of the Commission to already include in the draft budget the results of the mid-term revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020; is convinced that while the formal adoption is still blocked in the Council, the proposal of the Commission sends a strong signal about the importance of this MFF revision, and the need for increased flexibility in the EU budget that could enable the Union to effectively respond to new emergencies and finance its political priorities; underlines that the European Parliament acted swiftly to grant its consent to the revised MFF Regulation, asks the British government to lift its blockade on the vote in the Council with no further delay and expects that the Council will finalise without any further delay the adoption of the MFF revision, following the UK elections on 8 June 2017;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Reiterates its firm conviction that in order to achieve sustainable growth and quality and decent job creation in the EU, investments in research, innovation, infrastructure, education and SMEs are key; welcomes in this respect the proposed reinforcements to Horizon 2020, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and Erasmus+ as these programmes will contribute directly to reaching these goals; regrets, however, that the proposed allocation for COSME is lower in comparison with the 2017 budget and points to the need to further reinforce SMEs, which are the main source of job creation in the EU and have a crucial role in reducing the investment gap and contributing to the prosperity of the EU; Underlines that a reinforced Youth guarantee would contribute to achieve sustainable growth and quality and decent job creation in the EU;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Commends the role of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in bridging the investment gap across the EU and between the EU's territories and helping to implement strategic, transformative and productive investments that provide a high level of added value to the economy, the environment and society, and supports its extension until 2020; underlines its position in the on-going legislative negotiations that no further cuts should be incurred on existing EU programmes in order to finance this extension;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. WelcomNotes the EU initiatives in the field of defence research, which will contribute to achieving economies of scale in the sector and thus lead to greater coordination among Member States in the field; stresses, however, that this activity should be endowed with fresh resources, as it is a new political initiative with a significant impact on the EU budget;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Regrets that the Commission has not followed up on Parliament’s request to put forward an assessment and relevant proposals for an ‘18th Birthday Interrail Pass for Europe’; is convinced that this proposal has the potential to boost European consciousness and identity and can serve as a concrete example of European added value; strongly reiterates its previous call on the Commission to put forward relevant proposals in this regarunderlines, once more, that without additional resources, such new expenditures cannot be considered;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the fact that the draft budget 2018 includes an additional allocation for the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), responding thus to Parliament’s previous calls for the continuation of the programme; notes, in parallel, the proposal for draft amending budget 3/2017 that integrates the provision of EUR 500 million in commitments for YEI, as agreed upon by Parliament and the Council in the 2017 budgetary conciliation; is convinced that while the proposed amounts alone will not be sufficient to tackle youth unemployment, YEI will continue to contribute to the Union’s priority objective of growth and jobs; underlines that YEI can be further improved and become more efficient; calls on the Member States to be fully involved in the implementation of YEI;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the fact that the draft budget 2018 includes an additional allocation for the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), responding thus to Parliament’s previous calls for the continuation of the programme; notes, in parallel, the proposal for draft amending budget 3/2017 that integrates the provision of EUR 500 million in commitments for YEI, as agreed upon by Parliament and the Council in the 2017 budgetary conciliation; is convinced that while the proposed amounts alone will not be sufficient to tackle youth unemployment, YEI will continue to contribute to the Union’s priority objective of growth and jobs; calls for the generalisation of YEI to all NEETs in the EU; underlines that YEI can be further funded, improved and become more efficient;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recalls that the cohesion policy plays a primary role for the development and growth of the EU; Stresses that in 2018, cohesion policy programmes are expected to reach cruising speed and emphasises Parliament’s commitment to ensuring adequate appropriations for these programmes; is however preoccupied by the unacceptable delays in the implementation of operational programmes at national level; calls on Member States to ensure that the designation of managing, auditing and certifying authorities is concluded and implementation is accelerated;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Is particularly concerned at the possible reconstitution of a backlog of unpaid bills towards the end of the current MFF period, and recalls the unprecedented amount of EUR 24.7 billion reached at the end of 2014; welcomes the fact that the Commission, on the occasion of the MFF mid-term revision, provided a payment forecast until 2020 for the first time, but stresses that this needs to be duly updated every year, in order to allow the budgetary authority to take the necessary measures in time; warns of the severe consequences that a payment crisis would have especially in the field of humanitarian operations and on beneficiaries of the EU budget such as students, universities, SMEs, researchers, NGOs, local and regional authorities and other relevant entities; is convinced that the credibility of the EU is also linked to its ability to ensure an adequate level of payment appropriations in the EU budget that will allow it to deliver on its commitments;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Reiterates that citizens' security and safety is an EU priority which concern the preservation of peace and border security as well as food security and energy security; questions therefore the proposed cuts in Heading 3 compared to the 2017 Budget which do not seem to be in line with the EU pledge to enforce security and tackle terrorism;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Reiterates that while growth and jobs should remain the underlying priority of the EU budget, obtaining sustainable progress in these fields will be impossible if the citizens feel unsafe or insecure; emphasises, moreover,Emphasises that the unprecedented mobilisation of special instruments has shown that the EU budget was not initially designed to address the magnitude of the migration and refugee crisis; believes that moving to a post-crisis approach is premature given the volatility of the situation in the EU Neighbourhood and the terrorist threat within the EU; questions theref, one more, the proposed cuts in Heading 3 compared to the 2017 Budget which do not seem to be in line with the EU pledge to deal in an efficient manner with the migration and refugee crisis, enforce security and tackle terrorism and radicalisation;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Reaffirms that tackling the root causes of the migratory and refugee crisis represent thea long-term sustainable solution, along with stabilisation of the EU neighbourhoods, and that investments in the countries of origin of migrants and refugees are key to achieving this objective; stresses, moreover, that a possible reform of the Dublin Regulation could require additional budgetary means; notes therefore with surprise the decreases in Heading 4 which cannot be fully justified in the framework of past budgetary increases or low implementation rate; is convinced that the EU cannot enter in a post-migratory crisihallenges scenario yet and that the efforts to address the instability in the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood must be enhanced;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the increase proposed for the eastern component of the European Neighbourhood Instrument responding to Parliament’s previous calls; is convinced that in order to counter the activities of an increasingly aggressive Russian Federationstabilise this neighbourhood and to reaffirms the inviolability of the borders, the EU’s support, especially for the countries that have signed Association Agreements, is essential;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes that the draft budget 2018 leaves very limited margins or no margin under the MFF ceilings throughout Headings 1a, 1b, 3, 4 and 5; considers this as a logical consequence of an undersized overall level of the current MFF, which has been effectively reduced compared to the previous programming period, and the significant new initiatives taken since 2014 (EFSI, migration-related proposals, and lately defence research and the European Solidarity Corps), which have been squeezed within the MFF ceilings agreed in 2013; calls, once again, for the introduction of new genuine own resources in the EU budget; recalls also that the MFF, in particular, once its revision is finalised by the Council, provides for flexibility provisions which, albeit limited, should be used to their fullest in order to maintain the level of ambition of successful programmes and tackle the new challenges; expresses Parliament’s intention to further mobilise such flexibility provisions as part of the amending process;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Takes note of the Commission’s proposal to set up a European Solidarity Corps (ESC); notes, however, with concern that, despite Parliament’s warnings, the legislative proposal adopted on 30 May 2017 envisages that three fourths of the ESC budget would be financed by redeployments from existing programmes, and mainly from Erasmus+ (EUR 197.7 million); is concerned by the risk that this situation would pose to those EU programmes; recalls its position that new priorities should be financed through additional resources;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. WelcomNotes the proposed scaling-up of the preparatory action on defence research and the presentation by the Commission of a legislative proposal for a defence industry development programme; recalls its earlier position that new initiatives in this area should be financed by additional funds and not be detrimental to existing programmes;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Believes, however, that the level of cuts tof the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) and the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI), especially for the southern component, is not entirely justified given the longer-term needs of the EU action on migration, going beyond the migration compacts under the Partnership Framework;