19 Amendments of Sylvie BRUNET related to 2020/0006(COD)
Amendment 73 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) The regulatory framework governing the Union’s cohesion policy for the period from 2021 to 2027, in the context of the next multi-annual financial framework, contributes to the fulfilment of the Union’s commitments to implement the Paris Agreement, the European Pillar of Social Rights and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by concentrating Union funding on green objectives. This Regulation implements one of the priorities set out in the Communication on the European Green Deal (‘the European Green Deal’)11 and is part of the Sustainable Europe Investment Plan12 providing dedicated financing under the Just Transition Mechanism in the context of cohesion policy to avoid leaving anyone behind and to address the economic and social costs of the transition to a climate-neutral and circular economy, where any remaining greenhouse gas emissions are compensated by equivalent absorptions. __________________ 11 COM(2019) 640 final, 11.12.2019. 12 COM(2020) 21, 14.1.2020.
Amendment 93 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) In order to be successful, the transition has to be fair and socially acceptable for all and go hand in hand with the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, ensuring upward social convergence and avoiding leaving anyone behind. Therefore, both the Union and the Member States must take into account its economic and social implications from the outset, and deploy all possible instruments to mitigate adverse consequences and accompany that transition by creating new sustainable, quality jobs. The Union budget has an important role in that regard.
Amendment 110 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) As set out in the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Europe Investment Plan, a Just Transition Mechanism should complement the other actions under the next multi-annual financial framework for the period from 2021 to 2027. It should contribute to addressing the social and economic consequences of transitioning towards Union climate neutrality and creating sustainable jobs by bringing together the Union budget’s spending on climate and social objectives at regional level.
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) This Regulation establishes the Just Transition Fund (‘JTF’) which is one of the pillars of the Just Transition Mechanism implemented under cohesion policy. The aim of the JTF is to mitigate the adverse effects of the climate transition by supporting the most affected territories and workers concerned. In line with the JTF specific objective, actions supported by the JTF should directly contribute to alleviate the impact of the transition by financing the diversification and modernisation of the local economy and by mitigating the negative repercussions on employment, particularly by means of continuing training and retraining of workers. This is reflected in the JTF specific objective, which is established at the same level and listed together with the policy objectives set out in Article [4] of Regulation EU [new CPR].
Amendment 133 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) In view of the importance of tackling climate change in line with the Union’s commitments to implement the Paris Agreement, the commitment regarding the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the increased ambition of the Union as proposed in the European Green Deal, the JTF should provide a key contribution to mainstream climate actions. Resources from the JTF own envelope are additional and come on top of the investments needed to achieve the overall target of 25% of the Union budget expenditure contributing to climate objectives. Resources transferred from the ERDF and ESF+ will contribute fully to the achievement of this target, in line with the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Amendment 154 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) The transitioning to a climate- neutral economy is a challenge for all Member States, as well as providing opportunities for sustainable and quality job creation in future-oriented sectors. It will be particularly demanding for those Member States that rely heavily on fossil fuels or greenhouse gas intensive industrial activities which need to be phased out or which need to adapt due to the transition towards climate neutrality and that lack the financial means to do so. The JTF should therefore cover all Member States, but the distribution of its financial means should reflect the capacity of Member States to finance the necessary investments to cope with the transition towards climate neutrality.
Amendment 164 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) This Regulation identifies types of investments for which expenditure may be supported by the JTF. All supported activities should be pursued in full respect of the climate and environmental priorities of the Union, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The list of investments should include those that support local economies and social innovation and are sustainable in the long- term, taking into account all the objectives of the Green Deal. The projects financed should contribute to a transition to a climate- neutral and circular economy which creates sustainable jobs. For declining sectors, such as energy production based on coal, lignite, peat and oil shale or extraction activities for these solid fossil fuels, support should be linked to the phasing out of the activity and the corresponding reduction in the employment level. As regards transforming sectors with high greenhouse gas emission levels, support should promote new activities through the deployment of new technologies, new processes or products, leading to significant emission reduction, in line with the EU 2030 climate objectives and EU climate neutrality by 205013 while maintaining and enhancing employment and, avoiding environmental degradation and promoting energy efficiency with a particular focus on the risk of energy poverty. Particular attention should also be given to activities enhancing innovation and research in advanced and sustainable technologies, as well as in the fields of digitalisation and connectivity, provided that such measures help mitigate the negative side effects of a transition towards, and contribute to, a climate- neutral and circular economy. __________________ 13 As set out in “A Clean Planet for all European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy”, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Investment Bank - COM(2018) 773 final.
Amendment 177 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) To protect citizens who are most vulnerable to the climate transition, the JTF should also cover the up-skilling and reskilling of the affected workers, with the aim of helping them to adapt to new employment opportunities, as well as providing job-search assistance to jobseekers and their active inclusion into the labour market, with particular attention to young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs). It should be underlined that the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), being an instrument of European solidarity, will also assist workers made redundant as a result of the transition to a climate-neutral economy in their process of re-skilling, training and reintegration into the labour market. In this sense, sharing common objectives, the JTF will have to be implemented in a manner consistent with the actions funded by the EGF for workers in the Member States.
Amendment 195 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) In order to enhance the economic diversification of territories impacted by the transition, the JTF should provide support to productive investment in SMEs., in particular start-ups and undertakings active in the field of social innovation. Productive investment should be understood as investment in fixed capital or immaterial assets of enterprises in view of producing goods and services thereby contributing to gross-capital formation and employment. The aim must also be to create high-quality, sustainable jobs in future-oriented sectors and to promote social inclusion. For enterprises other than SMEs, productive investments should only be supported if they are necessary for mitigating job losses resulting from the transition, by creating or protecting a significant number of jobs and they do not lead to or result from relocation, entirely in line with the actions financed by the EGF. Investments in existing industrial facilities, including those covered by the Union Emissions Trading System, should be allowed if, and only if, they contribute to the transition to a climate-neutral economy by 2050 and go substantially below the relevant benchmarks established for free allocation under Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council14 and if they result in the protection of a significant number of jobs. Any such investment should be justified accordingly in the relevant territorial just transition plan. In order to protect the integrity of the internal market and cohesion policy, support to undertakings should comply with Union State aid rules as set out in Articles 107 and 108 TFEU and, in particular, support to productive investments by enterprises other than SMEs should be limited to enterprises located in areas designated as assisted areas for the purposes of points (a) and (c) of Article 107(3) TFEU. __________________ 14Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC (OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32).
Amendment 226 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) The territorial just transition plans should identify the territories most negatively affected, where JTF support should be concentrated and describe specific actions to be undertaken to reach a climate-neutral economy, notably as regards the conversion or closure of facilities involving fossil fuel production or other greenhouse gas intensive activities. Those territories should be precisely defined and correspond to NUTS level 3 regions or should be parts thereof. The plans should detail the challenges and needs of those territories and identify the type of operations needed in a manner that ensures the coherent development of climate-resilient economic activities that create sustainable, quality jobs that are also consistent with the transition to climate-neutrality andby 2050, the objectives of the Green Deal, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Only investments in accordance with the transition plans should receive financial support from the JTF. The territorial just transition plans should be part of the programmes (supported by the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund or the JTF, as the case may be) which are approved by the Commission, and should take into account situations in which the EGF has been used or might be used.
Amendment 285 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point a
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point a
(a) productive investments in SMEs, including start-ups and businesses active in the field of social innovation, leading to economic diversification and reconversion;
Amendment 301 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point d
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point d
(d) investments in the deployment of technology and infrastructures for affordable clean energy, in greenhouse gas emission reduction, energy efficiency and renewable energy, with the aim of combating energy poverty;
Amendment 311 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point f
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point f
(f) investments in regeneration and decontamination of sites, land restoration and repurposing projects, while ensuring full compliance with the ‘polluter pays principle’;
Amendment 323 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point i
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point i
(i) job-search assistance to jobseekers, with a particular focus on young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs);
Amendment 334 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Additionally, the JTF may support, in areas designated as assisted areas in accordance with points (a) and (c) of Article 107(3) of the TFEU, productive investments in enterprises other than SMEs, provided that such investments have been approved as part of the territorial just transition plan based on the information required under point (h) of Article 7(2), that they accord with the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights and that they permit the creation of sustainable, quality jobs and better social inclusion. Such investments shall only be eligible where they are necessary for the implementation of the territorial just transition plan and that they do not perpetuate dependence on fossil fuels.
Amendment 340 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 3
The JTF may also support investments to achieve the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from activities listed in Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council provided that such investments have been approved as part of the territorial just transition plan based on the information required under point (i) of Article 7(2). Such investments shall only be eligible where they are necessary for the implementation of the territorial just transition plan and that they do not perpetuate dependence on fossil fuels.
Amendment 398 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) an assessment of the transition challenges faced by the most negatively affected territories, including the social, economic, and environmental impact of the transition to a climate-neutral economy by 2050, identifying the potential number of affected jobs and job losses, the needs in terms of new skills, the development needs and the objectives, to be reached by 2030 linked to the tgransformation ordual disengagement from activities that depend on fossil fuels or the closure of greenhouse gas-intensive activities in those territories;
Amendment 407 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point e
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point e
(e) an assessment of its consistency with other national, regional or territorial strategies and plans, as well as with other Union funds such as the [ESF+], the ERDF and the EGF, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the principles set out in the European Pillar of Social Rights;
Amendment 417 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point g
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point g
(g) a description of the type of operations envisaged and their expected contribution to alleviate the impact of the transition in terms of creating sustainable, quality jobs and the need for new skills;