8 Amendments of Maria HEUBUCH related to 2015/2353(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Reminds that the first years of the new MFF were characterised by severe payment shortages in the budget with negative implications for the implementation of external action programmes; calls for avoiding the reoccurrence of this problem by foreseeing an adequate payment level in line with the level of commitment appropriations;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes the massive scale of the global needs for humanitarian aid and for disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness and the building of resilience in developing countries; also notes the upward pressure on these needs stemming from effects of conflicts and wars, growing economic and social inequality, human rights violations, bad governance and corruption, poor provision of basic social services, including weak health systems and the lack of investments into health innovation, as well as climate change and competition for scarce resources; insists that the EU’s financial means for responding to humanitarian and development issues require strengthening, especially considering the newly established 2030 Agenda, and is convinced that this is also essential for the defence of the EU’s own interests, including its security in a broad sense;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Reiterates that actions to tackle humanitarian challenges should not come at the expense of the EU´s development funding and policies in other areas; also notes in this regard that public expenditure to cover the costs for the EU internal management of the current high influx of refugees, although partly covered by the OECD DAC definition of ODA, do not contribute to the strengthening of low- and middle-income countries' economies, governance, or basic social services, thus does not contribute to fighting the root causes of migration;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Recalls that the financing of the African Peace Facility via the European Development Fund was intended to be a provisional solution; regrets that this provisional solution has now been in place for over 10 years; calls on the Commission to make a proposal in order to finance the African Peace Facility through other means;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines the need for adequate resources for the pursuit of the SDGs; recalls the EU’s recent renewal of its collective commitment to raise its ODA to 0.7 % of its GNI; points out that this requires substantial increases, and stresses that the MFF reviewsion should take this into account; calls on the EU to adopt a timeline and a plan in order to reach the 0.7 % goal;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Calls for the mid-term evaluation of the MFF development programmes to take into account existing EU commitments for financial allocation and common principles of development cooperation such as democratic ownership and partnership, participation of civil society, and gender equality, among others; recommends that insufficiently implemented commitments are, if needed, adequately resourced with the necessary budget;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Recalls the EU commitment to allocate at least 20% of its ODA to basic social services, with a focus on education and health; believes that enjoying the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental human right and that universal access to health care and coverage, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, is a powerful development enabler and fundamental to promote gender equality, improved nutrition and education outcomes; consequently stresses the need for health-related expenditure in the context of rapidly emerging epidemics and in light of the need for comprehensive investment to create resilient health systems and provide affordable access to essential medicines in many low and middle income countries in order to deliver on the 2030 Agenda;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Reminds that the EU has taken strong commitments regarding aid effectiveness, in particular the need to respect the principle of democratic ownership of development programmes by aid recipients and alignment of EU aid to developing countries' priorities; notes that these principles have not been upheld in the EU response to migration, e.g. in the set-up of the EU-Africa Trust fund which was specifically created in order to circumvent lengthier EDF procedures respecting aid effectiveness principles; calls on the Commission to fully respect aid effectiveness principles in defining and implementing development policy.