10 Amendments of Luke Ming FLANAGAN related to 2018/0229(COD)
Amendment 21 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) With 1.8% of EU GDP, down from 2.2% in 2009, infrastructure investment activities in the Union in 2016 were about 20% below investment rates before the global financial crisis. Thus, while a recovery in investment-to-GDP ratios in the Union can be observed, it remains below what might be expected in a strong recovery period and is insufficient to compensate for years of underinvestment. More importantly, the current investment levels and forecasts do not cover the Union’s structural investment needs 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, continued support is necessary to address market failures and sub-optimal investment situations to reduce the investment gap in targeted sectors to achieve the Union's policy objectives.
Amendment 24 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) In the last few years, the Union has adopted ambitious strategies to complete the Single Market and to stimulate sustainable growth and jobs, such as the Capital Markets Union, the Digital Single Market Strategy, the Clean Energy for all Europeans package, the Union Action Plan for the Circular Economy, the Low- Emission Mobility Strategy, the Defence and the Space Strategy for Europe. The InvestEU Fund should exploit and reinforce synergies between those mutually reinforcing strategies through providing support to investment and access to financing.
Amendment 27 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) The InvestEU Fund should contribute to improving the competitiveness of the Union, including in the field of innovation and digitisation, the sustainability of the Union's economic growth, the social resilience and inclusiveness and the integration of the Union capital markets, including solutions addressing their fragmentation and diversifying sources of financing for the Union enterprises. To that end, it should support projects that are technically and economically viable by providing a framework for the use of debt, risk sharing and equity instruments underpinned by a guarantee from the Union's budget and by contributions from implementing partners. It should be well publicised and demand- driven, while support under the InvestEU Fund should at the same time focus on contributing to meeting policy objectives of the Union.
Amendment 28 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) The InvestEU Fund should support investments in tangible and intangible assets to foster growth, investment and employment, andsustainable employment that complies with all Union labour standards, thereby contributing to improved well-being and fairer income distribution in the Union. Intervention through the InvestEU Fund should complement Union support delivered through grants.
Amendment 39 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) According to the 2018 Global Risks Report issued by the World Economic Forum, half of the ten most critical risks threatening the global economy relate to the environment, built into which are the risks posed by the increasing number of major trade deals, which results in more centralised methods of food production and manufacturing, which further results in increased global transport traffic. Such risks include air, soil and water pollution, extreme weather events, biodiversity losses and failures of climate-change mitigation and adaptation. Environmental principles are strongly embedded in the Treaties and many of the Union's policies. Therefore, the mainstreaming of environmental objectives should be promoted in the InvestEU Fund related operations. Environmental protection and related risk prevention and management should be integrated in the preparation and implementation of investments. The EU should also track its biodiversity-related and air pollution control-related expenditure in order to fulfil the reporting obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity and Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and of the Council15 Investment allocated to environmentally sustainability objectives should therefore be tracked using common methodologies coherent with that developed under other Union programmes applying to climate, biodiversity and air pollution management in order to allow assessing the individual and combined impact of investments on the key components of the natural capital, including air, water, land and biodiversity. _________________ 15 Directive (EU) 2016/2284 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants, amending Directive 2003/35/EC and repealing Directive 2001/81/EC (OJ L 344, 17.12.2016, p. 1).
Amendment 51 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) The InvestEU Fund should operate under four policy windows, mirroring the key Union policy priorities, namely s: 1) Sustainable infrastructure; r2) Research, innovation and digitisation: 3) SMEs; and s4) Social investment and skills.
Amendment 52 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) TSubject to the same rules and regulations, the InvestEU Fund should be open to contributions from third countries that are members of the European Free Trade Association, acceding countries, candidates and potential candidates, countries covered by the Neighbourhood policy and other countries, in accordance with the conditions laid down between the Union and those countries. This should allow continuing cooperating with the relevant countries, where appropriate, in particular in the fields of research and innovation as well as SMEs.
Amendment 56 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 44
Recital 44
(44) TSubject to all rules and regulations of individual programmes, third countries which are members of the European Economic Area (EEA) may participate in Union programmes in the framework of the cooperation established under the EEA agreement, which provides for the implementation of the programmes by a decision under that agreement. Third countries may also participate on the basis of other legal instruments. A specific provision should be introduced in this Regulation to grant the necessary rights for and access to the authorising officer responsible, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) as well as the European Court of Auditors to comprehensively exert their respective competences.
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Amendment 119 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph 1
Article 21 – paragraph 1
1. The InvestEU Portal shall be established by the Commission. It shall be an well publicised, easily accessible and user-friendly project database, providing relevant information for each project.