Activities of Carlos ZORRINHO related to 2020/2076(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
A New Industrial Strategy for Europe (short presentation)
Amendments (36)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)
Citation 3 a (new)
- having regard to Article 3(3) TEU which refers to internal market, sustainable development and social market economy,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 b (new)
Citation 3 b (new)
- having regard to the European Pillar of Social Rights,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 c (new)
Citation 3 c (new)
- having regard to the Commission communication of 27 May 2020 entitled ‘Europe’s moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation’ (COM(2020)456),
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 d (new)
Citation 3 d (new)
- having regard to the findings of the Digital Economy and Society Index 2020, published on the 11th of June 2020,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
- having regard to the Commission communication of 27 May 2020 entitled ‘Adjusted Commission Work Programme 2020’ (COM(2020)440),
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the Union requires a new industrial strategy that makes its industries more globally competitive, resilient and environmentally sustainable; whereas such a strategy should cover the transition of European industries to digitalisation and climate-neutrality, prioritising the ‘energy efficiency first’ principles, energy savings and renewable energy technologies, including support to strengthen the European value chain in clean technologies;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the social market economy model has importantly contributed to the prosperity of Europe; whereas such an approach should be preserved in the policies dealing with the digital and environmental transition;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the Union’s industrial strategy should ensure the correct functioning of the single market, avoid market distortions, create a level playing field inside and outside EU and ensure easier access to finance, raw materials and markets, in addition to ensuring appropriate levels of investment, research and innovation, education and skills to boost competitiveness and sustainability;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas in the European Union there are still “missing entrepreneurs”, such as youth, migrants, senior, women, whose entrepreneurial potential still needs to be fully developed; whereas the Union’s industrial strategy could represent an opportunity to foster the entrepreneurial culture of under- represented or disadvantaged categories and to enable them to fully contribute to the digital and environmental transition;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout have created an unprecedented economic downturn in Europe, which risks to exacerbate inequalities and social tension in the European Union, especially among the most vulnerable citizens; whereas in this context any future- looking industrial strategy should start by addressing industrial recovery;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the COVID-19 crisis has shown the crucial role of digital assets, including connectivity and networks, as well as of digital skills, as a tool enabling workers and companies to adapt the way they carry out their tasks and operations to the emergency situation; whereas the resilience of the digital infrastructure and the enhancement of the digital skills of the workforce are priority areas to boost the competitiveness of the European enterprises, especially SMEs;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Is of the opinion that digital and environmental transitions should be at the very core of all Unions strategies until 2050; in this context, calls on the Commission to define a comprehensive industrial strategy which manages these transitions, fosters transformation and guarantees the Union’s strategic autonomy, including their value chains;
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is aware that market dynamics alone do not bridge the fractures created during the transformation process if there is no proper management of the transitions and no strong industrial policies; is, furthermore, aware that while markets, competition and innovation push fast towards transformation, it is society and the environment that face the impact of these transformations; considers that balancing out the number of jobs lost in traditional industries with new jobs created in the digital and environmental sectors is not enough in itself as these new jobs are neither created in the same regions nor taken up by the same workers; calls on the Commission, therefore, to ensure that these transitions are fair and socially just, and that every action aimed at accelerating a transformation process (digital, environmental, etc.) is accompanied by a corresponding initiative to up-skill and reskill workers, with the aim of managing the effects produced by that accelerated process on both regions and people; underlines in this regard the importance of lifelong learning to guarantee the permanence of workers in the labour market;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Believes that the new long-term strategy for Europe’s industrial future should contribute to combating the gender pay gap and the gender pension gap that still affect the European labour market and, more generally, the European society; calls on the Commission to take into due account the gender dimension in the implementation of the European industrial strategy - both in the recovery and in the reconstruction and transformation phases, including the use of gender budgeting tools in the definition of the financial instruments supporting the industrial and economic growth of the European Union;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Reiterates that, in order to ensure a long-term and sustainable industrial future for the European Union, it is key to focus on the enhancement of the skills and of the entrepreneurial capacity of the EU citizens as a powerful form to support their labour market participation;
Amendment 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to include in the recovery plan a strategy to redeploy industries in Europe and to relocate industrial production and key value chains in strategic sectors; calls, moreover, on the Commission to adopt a stronger stance on unfair global competition and predatory acquisitions by SOEs and sovereign funds; is of the opinion that, in this context, the Union should implement a provisional TDI scheme;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Is of the opinion that the industrial recovery plan should help to create new ambitious and innovative European industrial projects which go hand in hand with the current revision of the guidelines for ‘Important Projects of Common European Interest’ (IPCEI), in order to encourage the emergence of European leaders in strategic industrial sectors that are capable of competing on a global scale and contribute to achieving the climate neutrality and the digital leadership;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – point a
Paragraph 9 – point a
a. has sufficient financial capacity to offset the damage caused by the COVID- 19 crisis to European industries to mitigate the short-term working capital shortage and to push forward capital investment in the medium and long-term in order to support the transition to the green economy and catalyse the digital transformation;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 9 – point a a (new)
aa. has a specific focus on small and medium enterprises, which have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 crisis, and support their access to finance;
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – point b a (new)
Paragraph 9 – point b a (new)
ba. takes into account the specificities of the Member States, which have been hit by the crisis in diverse ways;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 – point f a (new)
Paragraph 9 – point f a (new)
fa. channels funding to high- multiplier, climate-friendly sectors that will contribute to the EU’s future economic resilience;
Amendment 384 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Highlights the potential of the circular economy for modernising the Union’s economy, reducing its energy and resource consumption and transforming whole industrial sectors and their value chains; underlines that the renovation wave will represent another relevant opportunity for many sectors and for the European society during its environmental transition due to the very high multiplier and leverage effect of the construction industry on other economic sectors;
Amendment 393 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Highlights the potential of the circular economy for modernising the Union’s economy, reducing its energy and resource consumption and transforming whole industrial sectors and their value chains; improving autonomy and security of supply in the digital and green transitions;
Amendment 412 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Considers that there is significant potential in domestic and global markets for, and global EU leadership in, low- emission technologies and sustainable products, processes and services throughout the whole value chain from raw materials to energy-intensive industries, manufacturing and the industrial services sector; considers that renewable energy technologies in particular should be considered strategic and prioritised by a new EU industrial policy; considers, moreover, that the Climate Law is a first step towards enshrining climate targets into Union legislation; believes that a more holistic and systematic target framework is also required in order to ensure policy coherence across all Union policies and a homogenous governance approach in all policy areas, paving the way towards a clear and stable strategy for European industries;
Amendment 431 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Highlights the potential of automotive electrification which should be encouraged through the use of renewable electricity, green hydrogen, smart charging and supporting research on batteries;
Amendment 456 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Maintains that a truly effective European industrial policy needs a dashboard of climate targets as a roadmap to shape the industry of the future; considers that all sectors should contribute towards achieving the Union’s climate objectives and, in this regard, underlines the importance of decarbonised and renewable gas as a means of energy transition and clean hydrogen, especially green hydrogen, as a potential breakthrough technology; calls also for greater attention to be paid to network security and energy supply; calls on the Council to increase spending from the EU budget on climate change efforts; calls on the Commission to ensure that industries with high carbon leakage do not benefit from EU subsidies, and for better use to be made of the EIB, as the Union’s ‘Climate Bank’, to enhance sustainable financing to the public and private sectors and to assist companies in the decarbonisation process, and to use the Border Carbon Adjustments mechanism as a way to protect EU manufacturers and jobs from unfair international competition;
Amendment 499 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Highlights the need tofor support for a just transition, to ensure no one is left behind and believes that a well- designed Just Transition Mechanism, including a Just Transition Fund, would be an important tool to facilitate the transition and reach ambitious climate targets, to guarantee a more inclusive transition, it is required to include the participation of all local stakeholders, including civil society and community representatives in the design phase of the Just transition plans, the JTM should also exclude any investments in fossil fuels (including natural gas and all fossil-derived gases); while addressing social impacts; stresses that robust financing of this instrument, including additional budgetary resources, would be a key element for the successful implementation of the European Green Deal;
Amendment 505 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Highlights the need to support a just transition, and believes that a well- designed Just Transition Mechanism, including a Just Transition Fund, would be an important tool to facilitate the transition and reach ambitious climate targets while addressing social impacts; underlines that clean technology investments have a key role in this regard to support long-term economic development of regional economies; stresses that robust financing of this instrument, including additional budgetary resources, would be a key element for the successful implementation of the European Green Deal;
Amendment 522 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Commission to tailor its industrial strategy to the scaling-up and commercialisation of breakthrough technologies in the Union, by providing risk financing for early-stage technology and developing early value chains to support first commercial-scale, climate- neutral technologies and products; considers that the European industrial strategy should provide a framework and targets for moving towards a green and digital economy that the industry can rely on when planning its investments;
Amendment 544 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Considers it imperative to digitalise the Union’s industries, including traditional ones; calls on the Commission to invest, inter alia, in the data economy, artificial intelligence, smart production, mobility, and resilient and secure very high-speed networks, paying special attention to encouraging women's participation as these are areas in which women are still under-represented; invites the Commission, in this respect, to assess the effectiveness of co- financed National Tax Credit schemes that could complement or replace traditional ‘on demand’ grants/tender-based support, especially for SMEs; highlights the importance of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the CohesionStructural and Investment Funds (CESIF) in supporting job creation, business competitiveness, economic growth and sustainable development as well as in enhancing the skills of European workers and in boosting the capacity of small and medium enterprises to make them able to successfully cope with the twin transitions so that no one will be left behind;
Amendment 558 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Regrets the still significant gap between large and small/medium enterprises with reference to the integration of digital technologies in their business operations, underlines that bridging this gap would constitute an improvement of the functioning of the internal market and would be beneficial for the overall European industrial competitiveness; calls on the Commission to assess and enhance the outreach of the European Digital Innovation Hubs, which - due to their knowledge of the local economic ecosystems - can represent an effective way to help SMEs digitalise;
Amendment 603 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Considers that industrial transformation requires the integration of new knowledge and innovation into existing markets and their use in the creation of new ones; regrets, in this respect, that the Union invests less in R&D as a percentage of GDP than its global competitors and that it suffers from a serious lack of innovative capacity in small and medium-sized enterprises due to a shortfall in the necessary risk capital; calls on the Commission to and to a shortage of adequate skills; calls on the Commission to enhance the pervasiveness of the innovation policies through the increase the budget for those programmes that underpin the transformation of the Union’s industry, including Horizon Europe, and to foster synergies between regional, national, European and private financial sources by taking advantage of synergies among all Union programmes;
Amendment 611 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Believes that social economy enterprises should be fully involved in the outcome of the industrial strategy since they create public value and leave an essential impact on the local communities they are grounded in; calls in this regard on the Commission to take into account the specificities of this category of enterprises in the design of the financial instruments under the Union investment programmes in order to support their access to finance;
Amendment 633 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Is of the opinion that ecosystems will be key components of the next industrial revolution, providing affordable and cleaner energy, transformative manufacturing and service-provision methods; believes, moreover, that supporting collaboration among industry, academia, SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups, trade unions, civil society, end-user organisations and all other stakeholders will be key to solving market failures and supporting efforts to cross the ‘valley of death’, including in areas not yet covered by industrial interests; recalls, in this regard, the importance of promoting the social dialogue and the consultation of workers in designing and implementing industrial policies, coherently with the European Pillar of Social Rights;
Amendment 664 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Is of the opinion that - in order to make the reconstruction and transformation phase truly effective - the public administration should play a key role to ensure a business-friendly economic environment and to reduce the administrative burden on enterprises while ensuring the highest standards of transparency and workers’ safety; believes that e-government tools, digital innovation policies and the enhancement of digital skills should be promoted within the public sector and among its employees; calls on the Commission to ensure the exchange of national and regional best practices in the field, with specific reference to the public management of economic competitiveness;
Amendment 679 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Commission to adopt a strong Key Performance Indicator (KPI) system to analyse the ex-ante impact of Union regulations and instruments, and to monitor progress and results; underlines that the KPI system should be based on objectives that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-oriented;