30 Amendments of Bronis ROPĖ related to 2017/2052(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the multiannual financial framework (MFF) needs to be agreed quicklyCouncil Regulation No 1311/2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the years 2014-2020 provides that the Commission should present its proposal for the future post-2020 MFF before 1 January 2018; whereas the legislative proposals for the next MFF need to be presented as soon as possible so that decisions can be taken on the future of cohesion policy, and delays in the next programming period can be avoided;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas regional cohesion policy is one of the EU’s core policies, pursuing the objective enshrined in the Treaties of promoting economic, social and territorial cohesion and solidarity among Member States, bringing Europe together and strengthening its economy, and it is therefore key that sufficient funding for cohesion policy is provided for in the MFF;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that the common agricultural policy (CAP) is fundamental for food security, the restoration of functioning agro-ecosystems, the preservation of rural populations and viability of rural communities, and sustainable development; regrets that the CAP, which once accounted for 75 % of the EU budget is now only 38 % of an increased budget, as laid down in the current multiannual financial framework (MFF), while food requirementproduction standards have increased, as has the need to develop environmentally friendlysustainable farming practices and to mitigate the effects of climate change; urges the Commission to increase, or at least to maintain at its current level, the CAP budget post-2020, in order to ensure that farmers are supported in the transition to an environmentally and economically sustainable food system;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas cohesion policy offers cross-border and other territorial cooperation tools for ensuring continued collaboration with the UK regions after Brexit, by maintaining contacts and working together with its citizens towards common objectives;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas cohesion policy has contributed significantly to the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy and to achieving its goals for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; whereas the strategy should be reviewed for the post-2020 periodEU is still at risk of falling short of these goals by 2020, especially when it comes to poverty reduction, the promotion of renewable energy and the fight against unemployment; whereas the strategy should be reviewed for the post-2020 period and contribute to the achievements of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals: whereas its financing should be secured in the next MFF, giving a major role to cohesion policy;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Stresses the importance of maintaining funding for rural development to continue investing in rural infrastructure for communities and farmers; notes in particular that community-led local development such as LEADER proves an efficient use of CAP funds, despite its necessary complexity;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Believes that the cohesion policy should continue to benefit citizens in all regions, while concentrating resources on the most vulnerable ones;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Believes that a new set of social and environmental indicators complementary to GDP should be developed and introduced in order to allocate ESI Funds more fairly, and to better take into account different types of inequalities;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the Commission to continue defending farmers and to fundcontinue information campaigns on the CAP budget since the amount of aid publicised can be misleading, given that the public is unaware of the factand its delivery of public goods, to provide accurate information to the public, clarifying that the bulk of the CAP is financed at EU level and replaces national spending; stresses that the CAP delivers good quality products at affordable prices to Europeans, notes however that these affordable prices do not take into account the environmental externalities of current agricultural practices, neither do they translate into decent income for all farmers; calls for a more targeted financial framework to build a new contract between the farmers and the society;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls, therefore, for the MFF to provide for sufficientmaintain fundsing for cohesion policy post-2020 at least at its current level, striking a good balance between investments in citizens and investments for citizens and ensuring that the EU’s political goals can be reached;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that regional funding should be protected and should continue to predominantly take the form of grants rather than financial instruments, which domay, however, have an important role to play in certain cases; stresses that in the event of a reduction in the EU’s budgets, scarce resources need to be used smartly, for instance by applying the Energy Efficiency First principle to all EU- funded investments; greater focus on the EU’s core goals is also required;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls that Brexit will have a projected impact of between EUR 3.8 and EUR 4.1 billion a year on the CAP, and calls therefore on the Commission to find alternative forms of financing, for example by increasing Member States’ contributions as a percentage of gross national income; stresses the need to increase funding in line with; stresses the need to provide long term responses to the various cyclical crises in sensitive sectors such as milk, pork, fruits and vegetables, firstly by more closely matching EU supply to demand, and to create instruments that can mitigate price volatility and ensure forecastable farm revenue;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Recalls its opposition to macro- economic conditionalities, and rejects any attempt to use cohesion policy as a punitive tool for non-compliance with other EU policies;
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Considers that a 5+5 year MFF period might be preferable as long as a comprehensive and democratic mid-term revision process takes into account new challenges and political priorities without siphoning off from existing programmes;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Calls for the future MFF to provide for greater citizen oversight, including by strengthening the partnership principle in cohesion policy and streamlining it with other policies, as well as by allowing pilot schemes for participatory budgeting;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Reiterates its request to apply gender mainstreaming across all parts of the EU budget and to provide for appropriate tools for gender budgeting;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Is deeply concerned that the goal of spending at least 20% of the current MFF on climate-change-related action will not be reached;believes that, in light of the European commitments made at the COP21, this climate-related spending target should be substantially increased to reach 50% of the EU budget;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4 d. Calls on the Commission to present a thorough evaluation of the possible impact of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change on the EU budget and to explore concrete ways of improving the current tracking methodology for climate- related spending ahead of its legislative proposal on the future post-2020 MFF;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to keep direct payments intact as they help to avoid distortions of competition between Member States, and to maintain them without any national co-financing; urges the Commission to continue the process of convergence of direct payments between Member Statesto steer them towards a clearer and more coherent incentivisation of public goods, and to maintain them without any national co-financing; taking into account the regulation of the common market and common obligations applied for all its participants, urges the Commission to make greater progress in the process of convergence of direct payments between Member States, to reach equalization by the beginning of the next multiannual financial framework;
Amendment 82 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Emphasises the role of cohesion policy in achieving the objectives deriving from the COP21 Agreement and in ensuring the transition towards a low- carbon and circular economy;believes that post-2020 cohesion policy should actively contribute to the financing of Member States' integrated energy and climate plans for 2030;asks the Commission to introduce further incentives to better align EU funding with the investment needs identified by Member States in their national Energy and Climate Plans for 2030;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the importance of regional cross-border initiatives in promoting economic growthEuropean integration as well as smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; calls therefore for the proportion of the cohesion policy budget dedicated to European Territorial Cooperation to be increased;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that agriculture, especially primary production, is particularly sensitive to the damage caused by climate-induced natural phenomena (droughts, floods, storms, precipitation, etc.), and therefore urges the Commission to develop a mechanism to support measures to reduce and prevent such damage which could also include compensation for losses incurred by primary agricultural producers as a result of climate change-induced disasters;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls for the Commission to look into the possibilities for greater synergies between the different EU funds, including cohesion policy, Horizon 2020 and CEFSI, while maintaining the specific rules necessary to provide for a funding environment tailored to the characteristics and goals of each fund;
Amendment 102 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls for continued support for those most in need, including family farms and small and medium-sized farms, as well as the most disadvantaged, mountain and outermost regions; calls for support to be accurately targeted to those directly working on the land, without excluding part-time farmers, who in many cases have diversified their activities and should not be penalized for such efforts; calls on the Commission to envisage increasing the envelope for programmes of options specific to isolation and insularity (POSEI), as called for by Parliament;
Amendment 112 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers that it is essential, in the context of the new MFF, to ensure that budgetary rules, and rules on cohesion policy spending, are at last simplified. without undermining the horizontal principles of cohesion policy, including on partnership, and a place-based approach;
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to ensure the necessary financial and legal framework for thea fair food supply chain, in orderthrough binding regulation to combat unfair trading practices; and food waste, and to link the latter with consumer awareness and health policy objectives; calls on the Commission, as well, to submit public procurement regulation designed to foster short supply chains;
Amendment 121 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Points out that the conditions for opening up markets under international free trade agreements are aimed not only at opening up greater trade opportunities but, due to the often asymmetric nature of such contracts, also at giving priority to the development of service markets at the expense of primary producers, and thus make the situation more difficult for primary producers; calls, therefore, for greater emphasis to be placed on the interests of European primary agricultural producers in negotiations on new international trade agreements; points out that the conclusion of bilateral international free trade agreements has led to a reduction in import levies on agricultural products and a decline in EU budget revenues;
Amendment 122 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Amendment 125 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Highlights that, whilst international trade agreements aim to provide extended opportunities for trade through opening of markets, they are frequently asymmetric in nature, often prioritizing the expansion of services markets over the interests of primary producers, and hampering the situation of the primary producers; therefore, calls on the Commission to pay greater attention to the interests of European primary agricultural producers in ongoing trade negotiations; notes that free trade agreements have often resulted in lowered agricultural duties and therefore reduced contribution to the EU budget;
Amendment 128 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6 c. Supports the idea of sustainability proofing throughout the next MFF, to ensure that it maximises sustainable support for farmers and can provide evidence of the public goods that the farming sector can deliver for society;