14 Amendments of Alfred SANT related to 2017/2043(BUD)
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Reiterates its firm conviction that in order to achieve sustainable growth and job creation with a long-term goal of achieving upward socioeconomic convergence 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;
Amendment 40 #
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, with renewed rules aimed at enhancing geographical coverage, and in this context 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 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. WelcomesTakes note of the EU initiatives in the field of defence research, which willith the aim to contribute towards achieving economies of scale in the sector and thus lead to greater coordination among Member States in the field;
Amendment 63 #
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 that, with an equivalent alternative or supplement to young Europeans that do not have access to a train connection from their home region, such as those residing in the peripheral islands of Europe, 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 regard;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Reiterates that while growth and jobs should remain the underlying priority of the EU budget,; Believes that obtaining sustainable progress in these fields will be impossible if the citizens feel unsafe or insecureis to go in conjunction with a strengthening in the improvement of safety and security of EU citizens; emphasises, moreover, 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 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 deal in an efficient manner with the migration and refugee crisis, enforce security and tackle terrorism and radicalisation;
Amendment 111 #
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 Federation, the EU’s support, especially for the countries that have signed Association Agreements, is essential;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Maintains that the EU needs to focus on an investment strategy towards its southern neighbourhood;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Takes note ofWelcomes 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 byasks for in-depth clarifications on the risk that this situation would pose to those EU programmes;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. WelcomesTakes note of 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 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22 a. Asks for targeted commitments towards the Union's peripheral regions with the aim of slowing down the growing socioeconomic cleavage between the European centre and its peripheral regions;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Notes that the Commission has left a EUR 713.5 million margin under the ceilings of Heading 2; points to the fact that increased volatility of agricultural markets, as was the case with the dairy sector crisis in the past, as well as nature caused emergencies such as droughts and floods, might envisage recourse to this margin; calls on the Commission to ensure that the margin left under the ceilings is sufficient to address any crises that may arise;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Is of the opinion that the importance and urgency of these issues is not in line with the significant decreases in commitment (-18.9 %) and payment appropriations (-21.7 %) proposed for Heading 3 compared with the 2017 budget, notably on the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), the Internal Security Fund (ISF) and the Justice programme; considers that those cuts are not fully justifiable given the delays in implementation of the agreed measures and the delays in the adoption of the new legal proposals; calls therefore on the Commission to ensure that adequate budgetary resources are provided for and that any additional needs will be swiftly addressed;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Believes, however, that the level of cuts of 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 oin migratthe regions, going beyincluding its policy ond the migration compacts under the Partnership Frameworkeconomic and democratic development of the region, as well as the area of migration;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Reiterates its conviction that the European agencies active in the Justice and Home Affairs field must be urgently provided with the necessary operational expenditure and staffing levels to allow them to achieve the additional tasks and responsibilities they have been given in recent years; welcomes, in this regard, the substantial staff increases proposed for the European Coast and Border Guard Agency (Frontex) and the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), which it considers a minimum to ensure that these agencies can effectively perform their operations; requests the Commission to reassess whether the proposed operational funding (-23.6 % compared to 2017) and staffing levels (-4) for Eurojust will indeed allow this agency to fulfil in an effective manner its key role in the promotion of judicial cooperation in civil and criminal matters, including in the fields of drug policy and crime prevention;