24 Amendments of Jonás FERNÁNDEZ related to 2015/2052(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the importance of the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds in providing urgently needed investment for jobs and growth for regions in the EU, also including those which are suffering most from the financial, economic and social crisis; welcomes the objective of making the use of these funds more effective and efficient by strengthening their link with taking into account the EU's economic governance framework;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the importance of the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds in providing urgently needed investment for jobs and growth for regions in the EU, also including those which are suffering most from the financial, economic and social crisis; welcomes the objective of making the use of these funds more effective and efficient, by strengthening their link with context of the EU’ʼs economic governance framework, but achievement of the ESI Fundsʼ political objectives and goals is not to be jeopardised by this;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the importance of the European Structural and Investment (ESI) Funds in providing urgently needed investment for jobs and growth for regions in the EU, also including those which are suffering most from the financial, economic and social crisis; welcomes the objective of making the use of these funds more effective and efficient by strengthening their link with the EU's economic governance framework; regrets the ongoing erosion of the European social model; stresses the need to prioritise on smart, sustainable, long- term and inclusive growth; points out that projects funded by the ESI should as a precondition have a high societal and economic value, particularly a positive impact on quality job creation and EU added value, like spending in healthcare and education services as investment;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Considers that the ultimate beneficiary of ESI Funds is the EU citizen and not the Member State; hence an increased emphasis on economic governance mechanisms cannot jeopardise the achievement of the ESI Fund's policy objectives and goals.
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Draws attention to the contradiction between the coercive nature of certain aspects of Article 23 of the Common Provisions Regulation and the flexibility envisaged under certain circumstances for implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Considers that the requirements of Article 23 of the Common Provisions Regulation have contributed to the significant delay in concluding partnership agreements and operating programmes;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Emphasises the importance of cohesion policy instruments and resources in maintaining the level of European added-value investment in Member States and regions, including islands;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Calls on the Commission to consider the impact on public opinion of a penalty such as those provided for in Article 23 of the Common Provisions Regulation and the opposition to European integration this could engender;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Is of the opinion that implementation of the mechanism provided for in Article 23 of the Common Provisions Regulation will not contribute in general to better economic governance of the Member State concerned, nor to an improved rate of economic growth;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need for a stable and predictable investment environment, not least with a view to attracting private investment; underlines the role of sound economic governance in the creation of this kind of favourablto create a climate which will promote the development of public and private investment environment;and emphasises the need for an overall investment framework in the EU;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need for a stable and predictable investment environment, not least with a view to attracting private investment; underlines the role of sound economic governance in the creation of this kind of favourable investment environment; emphasises the need for an overall investment framework in the EU, while taking into full account the special situation of peripheral islands and regions and avoiding one-size-fits-all approaches;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls for neutralisation in the calculation of debt and deficit in public investment carried out by Member States’ public operators, particularly with regard to the impact of the new ESA 2010 system of accounts, which prevents Member States from paying their co-financing share to the structural funds (in particular the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Youth Employment Initiative) and thus using these funds to escape from the economic crisis and re- launch growth and employment;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to use its reprogramming powers carefully, avoiding this step insofar as is possible, preferring stability over too frequent reprogramming; stresses the need for a well-founded and detailed justification for reprogramming, with a detailed assessment of why it delivers more effective and efficient results;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Considers that macroeconomic conditionality cannot be used to exclude from cohesion policy those public administrations in greater need of ESI Funds on account of their socioeconomic circumstances;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recalls that suspension of payments is a last resort mechanism; it is a matter decided by the Council on the basis of a proposal that the Commission may adopt in the event that the Member State concerned fails to take effective action; hence asks the Commission to, in the event, use its discretionary power to propose the suspension of payments with utmost caution and strictly in line with Article 23(6) CPR, after due consideration of all relevant information and elements arising from and opinions expressed through the structured dialogue. In this regard, welcomes the cautious approach adopted in the guidelines whereby account will be taken of the economic and social circumstances of Member States by considering mitigating factors similar to those envisaged in the suspensions under Article 23(9) CPR;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Asks the Commission to present a white paper on cohesion policy to relaunch the debate on measuring economic growth, establishing in the former a typology for quality of public investment in terms of its long-term effects;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Calls on the Commission to encourage the setting of sound priorities in the use of ESI Funds to avoid Article 23 of the Common Provisions Regulation being applied, and asks therefore for a high degree of coordination to be ensured between the main bodies responsible for the economic governance process and those responsible for implementation of ESI Funds;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3d. Considers that the Commission ought to focus its efforts on preventing fraudulent or inefficient use of the ESI Funds rather than on linking their use to shortcomings in economic governance, as EU citizens, the end beneficiaries of cohension policy, ought not to be penalised for these shortcomings;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to give careful consideration to the economic and social effects on the regions affected by a suspension of payments; underlines the importance of the principles of proportionality and effectiveness when the Commission proposes such a suspension of payments, as well as possible other exceptional circumstances such as natural disasters or emergencies;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Asks the Commission to draw up some guidelines on application of the second part of Article 23 of the Common Provisions Regulation;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls for the continued investment of structural funds in transition regions to ensure continuity in their effects and in the efforts made so far;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that Parliament will carefully apply its scrutiny rights in the decision- making process via the structural dialogue.
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Regrets that the guidelines do not make any reference to the role of Parliament, despite the fact that the CPR was adopted under the ordinary legislative procedure and despite the consistent calls of Parliament to reinforce democratic accountability and control in the context of economic governance;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Considers that the involvement of Parliament in line with Article 23 (15) CPR should formalised, by way of a clear procedure allowing Parliament to be informed at all stages as regards the adoption of reprogramming requests or of any proposals and, in the event, decisions on suspension of commitments of payments;