Activities of Zdzisław KRASNODĘBSKI related to 2020/0108(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the InvestEU Programme
Amendments (17)
Amendment 33 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) The Covid-19 pandemic is a major shock to the global and Union economy. Due to the necessary containment measures, economic activity in the EU dropped significantly. The contraction in EU GDP in 2020 is expected to be around 7.58.3%, far deeper than during the financial crisis in 2009. The outbreak of the pandemicUnlike that crisis, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic hit all Member States in a symmetric way. It has shown the interconnectivity of global supply chains and exposed some vulnerabilities such as the over-reliance of strategic industries on non-diversified external supply sources. Such vulnerabilities need to be addressed, to improve the Union’s emergency response as well as the resilience of the entire economy, while maintaining its openness to competition and trade in line with its rules. Investment activity is expected to have dropped significantly. Even before the pandemic, while a recovery in investment-to-GDP ratios in the Union could be observed, it remained below what might be expected in a strong recovery and was insufficient to compensate for years of underinvestment following the 2009 crisis. More importantly, the current investment levels and forecasts do not cover the Union’s needs for structural investment to restart and sustain long-term growth in the face of technological change and global competitiveness, including for innovation, skills, infrastructure, small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) and the need to address key societal challenges such as sustainability or population ageing. Consequently, in order to achieve the Union's policy objectives and to support a swift, inclusive and healthy economic recovery, support is necessary to address market failures and sub-optimal investment situations and to reduce the investment gap in targeted sectors throughout the Union, thus preventing consolidation or deepening of existing imbalances between Member States' economies.
Amendment 45 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) The cultural and creative sectors are key and fast growing sectorsand occupy a significant place in the Union's economy, generating both economic and cultural value from intellectual property and individual creativity. However, restrictions on social contacts put in place during the Covid-19 crisis had a significantly negative economic impact on these sectors. Moreover, the intangible nature of the assets in those sectors limits the access of SMEs and organisations from those sectors to private financing which is essential to be able to invest, scale up and compete at an international level. The InvestEU Programme should continue to facilitate access to finance for SMEs and organisations from the cultural and creative sectors. The cultural and creative, audiovisual and media sectors are essential for our cultural diversity and democracy in the digital age, and an intrinsic part of our sovereignty and autonomy, and strategic investments in audiovisual and media content and technology will determine the long-term capacity to produce and distribute content to wide audiences across national borders.
Amendment 54 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13 a (new)
Recital 13 a (new)
(13a) Taking into account the deterioration of the economic situation in the Union caused by the containment measures introduced as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with, in consequence, the expected contraction of the overall Union GDP by 8.3% in 2020 and, in some Member States, by more than 10%, the Programme, while facilitating transition of European industries to digitalisation and climate- neutrality, should prioritise Union economic recovery, reactivation of industrial production and employment.
Amendment 62 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) Low infrastructure investment rates in the Union during the financial crisis and again during the Covid-19 crisis undermined the Union's ability to boost sustainable growth, competitiveness and convergence. It also creates risk of consolidating imbalances and impacts regions’ development long-term. Sizeable investments in Union infrastructure, in particular with regard to interconnection and energy efficiency and to creating a Single European Transport Area, are essential to meeting the Union's sustainability targets, including the Union’s commitments towards the SDGs, and the 2030 energy and climate targets. Accordingly, support from the InvestEU Fund should target investments into transport, energy, including energy efficiency and renewable energy sources and other safe and sustainable low- emission energy sources, environmental infrastructure, infrastructure related to climate action, maritime infrastructure and digital infrastructure. The InvestEU Programme should prioritise areas that are under- invested, and in which additional investment is requiredreas throughout the Union. To maximise the impact and added value of Union financing support, it is appropriate to promote a streamlined investment process that enables visibility of the project pipeline and maximises synergies across relevant Union programmes in areas such as transport, energy and digitisation. Bearing in mind threats to safety and security, investment projects receiving Union support should include measures for infrastructure resilience, including infrastructure maintenance and safety, and should take into account principles for the protection of citizens in public spaces. This should be complementary to the efforts made by other Union funds that provide support for security components of investments in public spaces, transport, energy and other critical infrastructure, such as the European Regional Development Fund.
Amendment 66 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) Tourism is an important area for the Union economy and the sector, whichsince, together with travel sector, it directly contributes 3.9% to Union GDP and accounts for 5.1% of the total Union labour force. The sector, which comprises hotels, restaurants, tour operators, travel agencies, passenger transport companies and attraction sites, is mainly composed of SMEs, including family businesses, that experienced a particularly severe contraction as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. The InvestEU Programme should contribute to strengthening itsits recovery and long-term competitiveness by supporting operations promoting sustainable, innovative and digital tourism. Where necessary, the Programme should also take into account the need to reduce Member States' over-dependence on tourism, which turned out to be one of the most vulnerable sectors of the Union economy to immediate and unpredictable obstacles to the free movement of persons in the Union.
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) The strategic European investment window should also target suppliers established and operating in the Union whose activities are of strategic importance to the Union, do not represent a threat to the security and defence interests of the Union and that would need long term investment or are covered by the Foreign Direct Investment Screening mechanism. In addition, important projects of common European interest should in particular be able to benefit from the strategic European investment window.
Amendment 108 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 59
Recital 59
(59) In the context of the InvestEU Fund, there is a need to provide support for project development and capacity building to develop the organisational capacities and market development activities needed to originate quality projects. Such support should also target financial intermediaries that are key to help small and medium companies’ access financing and realise their full potential. Moreover, the aim of the advisory support is to create the conditions for the expansion of the potential number of eligible recipients in nascent market segments, in particular where the small size of individual projects considerably raises the transaction cost at the project level, such as for the social finance ecosystem, including philanthropic organisations, or for the cultural and creative sectors. The capacity-building support should be complementary and in addition to actions taken under other Union programmes that cover specific policy areas. An effort should also be made to support the capacity building of potential project promoters, in particular local organisations and authorities.
Amendment 123 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point g
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point g
(g) the sustainable, proportional and inclusive recovery of the Union economy after the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, upholding and strengthening its strategic value chains and maintaining and reinforcing activities of strategic importance to the Union in relation to critical infrastructure, transformative technologies, game-changing innovations and inputs to businesses and consumers.
Amendment 124 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) increasing the access to and the availability of finance for SMEs and for small mid-cap companies and to enhance the global competitiveness of such SMEs, in the areas referred to in point (c) of Article 7(1);
Amendment 129 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – point e
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – point e
(e) to support financing and investment operations in sectors referred to in point (e) of Article 7(1) in order to maintain and reinforce the strategic autonomyresilience of the Union and of its economy.
Amendment 133 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The EU guarantee for the purposes of the EU compartment referred to in point (a) of Article 8(1) shall be EUR 75 153 8560 000 (current prices). It shall be provisioned at the rate of 45 %. The amount referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 34(3) shall be also taken into account for contributing to the provisioning resulting from this provisioning rate. (Necessary to maintain consistency with the numbers provided in Annex 1.)
Amendment 138 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
An amount of EUR 41 500 0010 000 (current prices) of the amount referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall be allocated for operations implementing measures referred to in Article 2 of Regulation [EURI] for the objectives referred to in points (a)-(d) of Article 3(2). (Necessary to maintain consistency with the numbers provided in Annex 1.)
Amendment 142 #
(c) an SME policy window which comprises access to and the availability of finance primarily for SMEs, including for innovative SMEs and SMEs operating in the cultural and, creative and tourism sectors, as well as for small mid-cap companies;
Amendment 150 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point e – point ii
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point e – point ii
ii) critical infrastructure, whether physical or virtual, including infrastructure elements identified as critical in the fields of energy, transport, environment, health, secure digital communication, 5G and very high-speed electronic communication networks, internet of things, online service platforms, secure cloud computing, data processing or storage, payments and financial infrastructure, aerospace, defence, communications, media, education and training, electoral infrastructure and sensitive facilities, as well as land and real estate crucial for the use of such critical infrastructure;
Amendment 168 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point e – point iv – point b
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point e – point iv – point b
(b) renewable energy technologies, energy storage technologies including batteries, sustainable transport technologies, clean hydrogen and fuel cell applications, decarbonisation technologies for industry, carbon capture and storage, circular economy technologies, and, where necessary to achieve Union climate transition objectives, nuclear energy technologies,
Amendment 194 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 1
Article 7 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 1
Implementing partners shall apply a target of at least 650 % of the investment under the sustainable infrastructure policy window contributing to meeting the Union objectives on climate and environment.
Amendment 247 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex V – part 2 – paragraph 1 – point 11
Annex V – part 2 – paragraph 1 – point 11
(11) The decommissioning, or operation, adaptation or construction of nuclear power stations