Activities of Steeve BRIOIS related to 2016/2148(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Investing in jobs and growth - maximising the contribution of European Structural and Investment Funds - Delayed implementation of ESI Funds operational programmes - impact on cohesion policy and the way forward (debate) FR
Amendments (33)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Is surprised that, instead of the report required by Article 16(3) of the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR), the Communicatission has presented only a communication regarding negotiations of partnership agreements (PAs) and operational programmes (OPs); takes the view that this detracts from what should be the full value of the opinion for consultative purposes;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) are the EU Cohesion Policy’s main financial instruments; underlines the importance of equal access to education and training in delivering genuine convergence and reducing disparities and socioeconomic inequalities among European regionMember States;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the negotiations for PAs and Operational Programmes (OPs) for the period 2014-2020 have been a modernised, strongly adjusted and intensive exercise withestablished a new framework for performance-based budgeting, ex-ante conditionalities and thematic concentration, resulting inadvertently in serious delays in the actual commencement of cohesion policy implementation;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is of the opinion that the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs) must be used to boost quality jobs, sustainable growth and shared prosperity across Europe, with a special focus on supportingsupporting all manufacturing sectors, particularly those most vulnerable groups in societyopen to low-skilled and often vulnerable workers;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas setting ex-ante criteria is a means of making the allocation of EU structural fund resources in Member States contingent on their implementing the structural reforms recommended by the European Commission;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas in moving away from local projects towards large-scale projects located in major cities, the thematic concentration fails to reduce regional disparities within the EU;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas common provisions were established for all five ESI Funds, thereby strengthening the relation between them;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. RegretNotes that the overall level of the MFF 2014-2020 is lower compared with the MFF 2007-2013; stresses that in a period of austerity policies and extreme fiscal adjustments, pressure on Member States’ budgets increases; highlights the fact that such pressure has led to a decrease in public financing for education and has generated high and persistent unemployment, especially among young people; points out that, at the same time, further efforts are being asked of the Member States to finance costly European policies of unproven effectiveness, such as the PNR system, which is estimated to cost EUR 500 million;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas cohesion policy is confronted in the current period with many challenges, deriving from the financial crisis, leading to a decrease in public investment in many Member States, leaving the ESI funds and co- financing by the Member States as the main tool for public investment in many Member States, and from the migration crisiin Member States that have implemented the budgetary austerity policies imposed by the Commission, cohesion policy aims to create an artificial dependence on EU funds;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Considers it highly unfortunate that some of this amount sum will very probably be earmarked for migrants, who are already receiving funding under a separate budget negotiated outside the ESF;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) has failed to date to address the persisting problem of high levels of youth unemployment, which in several Member States remains at over 40 %; points out that, in some cases, this initiative has only superficially addressed the problem of young people, such as in France where 'future-oriented jobs' have led to training only in a third of cases, with preference having been given to contracts in the non-profit sector; calls for all youth initiatives not to lead in reality to insecure jobs for young people, which only bring about a fictitious, short- term fall in unemployment; calls for an evaluation of the YEI following a fully fledged assessment of its performance; asks the Commission to take all necessary actions to ensure its continuation and its revision in order to promote the creation of new high-quality jobs and decent social protection for young people;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that 6 million unemployed young people are to benefithave not benefited as much as expected from the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) -– which willas to have helped them find jobs or improve their skills and qualifications – now that YEI has been integrated into 34 ESF programmes in the 20 eligible Member States; is concerned, however, about the delayed start to the implementation of the YEI; urges Member States to intensify their efforts to ensure that the results envisaged are achieved successfully;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Observes that the keyupdating the communication on cohesion policy projects should focus on European added value and the visibility of success stories; insists that communication on the subject of the ESI Funds should be modernised and intensifiedsupposed European added value will do nothing to remedy the distrust of Europe’s peoples in this supranational institution;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. StresseRecalls that the cEurrent migration crisis poses many challenges for the educational and training systems of the host Member States; calls on the EU institutions to provide, via ESIF and other Union programmes, adequate funding to host countries in order to substantially support the integration of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers into education and training systemopean Structural Funds are primarily intended to reduce regional disparities between Member States and promote sustainable growth; points out that the costs generated by the admission policies for migrants will cut funding for investments in the real economy, which are of vital importance to Member States' citizens who are bearing the brunt of the current economic crisis; calls on the Commission, therefore, to block any reprogramming of structural funds intended for the admission of illegal migrants;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes thematic concentration, as it has turned out to be a good tool for creating a focused policy and resulting effectiveness for the EU priorities and the EU 2020 strategyRemains sceptical as to the effectiveness of this thematic concentration, which overlooks many local projects in favour of large metropolitan areas, thus aggravating regional disparities;
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. NotesRegrets and deplores the fact that only rarely do ESF- supported measures generate revenue directly, and that grants are therefore the appropriate tool for their implementation, while financial instruments could be a useful complementary tool for certain ESF interventions with a possible leverage effect;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines, in particular, that consideration should be given to the circumstances of the distinctively urban or rural regions, the so-called ‘lagging regions’ and regions with permanent natural or geographical handicaps (northernmost regions with very low population density, and cross-border, insular, mountainous or outermost regions); recalls in this context that it is important to support new policy challenges, such as immigration, as well as the broadly understood digital dimension of cohesion policy (including ICT and broadband access issues, which are linked to the completion of the Digital Single Market); points to the Energy Union Strategy, as the ESI Funds have an important role to play in its deliverythe digital dimension of cohesion policy (including ICT);
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Notes and regrets that it is this very procedural complexity that has necessitated the introduction of flat-rate approximation process;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers that ex-ante conditionalities, in particular the onalls for ex-ante macroeconomic conditionality criteria to be don Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3), have proved their usefulness, and suggests that they be further improvede away with in the context of the allocation of resources from the Structural Funds;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. WelcomNotes the fact that more than two thirds of the Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) that were adopted in 2014 are relevant to cohesion policy investments and have been taken into account in Member States’ programming priorities;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Stresses that state aid rules apply to ESI Funds, but not to EFSI and Horizon 2020, causing problems in increasing the level of synergy among the instruments; underlines the fact that if there is an ambition to extend EFSI or any similar types of financial instrument, the question of state aid rules needs to be adapted accordinglyCalls for EFSI to be exempted from state aid rules;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Highlights the European added value of ETC, which should be reflected in an increased level of appropriations for this cohesion policy objective, to be introduced as soon as practicableCalls for a freeze of the level of appropriations for European territorial cooperation programmes; recalls that these programmes are intended to reduce regional disparities within the European Union and that under no circumstances should they be used to pay for the reception of irregular migrants;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. WelcomNotes the code of conduct agreed during the negotiations, which outlines the minimum standards for a well- functioning partnership; observes, however, that while the code has improved the implementation of the partnership principle in most Member States, manyfurther, that most Member States have centralised large parts of the negotiation and implementation of the PAs and OPs;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Emphasises that ESI Funds contribute to GDP in many Member States, an essential element to be considered in the 7th Cohesion Report, to be expected in 2017cohesion policy helps mitigate the harm done by the austerity policies that the European Commission urges Member States to implement;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Considers that thematic concentration must be maintained in the future, as it has proved its viability; expects the Commission to come forward with an overview of achievements brought about by thematic concentration in cohesion policy;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Is convinced that the future performance-oriented cohesion policy must be founded on past experience ion the area (performance-based budgeting, ex- ante conditionalities and thematic concentration), as this provides clear practical guidelines for local and regional authorities – including those who have not so far attempted to apply this approach – on the implementation of its principles;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Believes that the spirit of innovation and smart specialisation must remain an important driver of cohesion policy;