Activities of Hélène LAPORTE related to 2020/0006(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Just Transition Fund
Amendments (20)
Amendment 11 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) The transition to a climate-neutral and circular economy constitutes one of the most importantUnion's policy objectives for the Union. On 12 December 2019, the European Council endorsed the objective of achieving a climate-neutral Union by 2050, in line with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. While fighting climate change and environmental degradation will benefit all in the long term and provides opportunities and challenges for all in the medium term, not all regions and Member States start their transition from the same point or have the same capacity to respond. Some are more advanced than others, whereas the transition entails a wider social and economic impact for those regions that rely heavily on fossil fuels - especially coal, lignite, peat and oil shale - or greenhouse gas intensive industries. Such a situation not only creates the risk of a variable speed transition in the Union as regards climate action, but also of growing disparities between regions, detrimental to the objectives of social, economic and territorial cohesion.
Amendment 12 #
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. 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. The Union budget has an important role in that regard.
Amendment 17 #
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 by bringing together the Union budget’s spending on climate and social objectives at regional level.
Amendment 20 #
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. 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 25 #
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.
Amendment 31 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6 a (new)
Recital 6 a (new)
(6a) In the current context of the COVID-19 health crisis, during which rates of indebtedness among the Member States have gone through the roof, it is imperative that establishing the JTF should have no budgetary implications. It should therefore be fully financed from already existing resources by reallocating a proportion of the budgetary appropriations earmarked for cohesion policy.
Amendment 33 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
Amendment 45 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) Transitioning to a climate-neutral economy is a challenge for all Member States. 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, butand the distribution of its financial means should reflect the capacity ofdepend on the contribution paid by the Member States to finance the necessary investments to cope with the transition towards climate neutralitythe Union budget.
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
Amendment 54 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10 a (new)
Recital 10 a (new)
(10a). The Just Transition Mechanism is intended to facilitate the conversion of fossil fuel-dependent regions whose development is based on activities with an environmental impact. Since the end of the 20th century, international competition has been the root cause of deindustrialisation in many employment catchment areas in the Union. Since they have been forced into a process of a conversion which they are yet to complete, these regions also deserve to benefit from this mechanism. Any project aiming to complete the reconversion of the regions most affected by deindustrialisation, in particular former mining areas, should therefore be made eligible for the JTF.
Amendment 69 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12 a (new)
Recital 12 a (new)
(12a) The JTF should support companies in their investments, especially SMEs. With a view to avoiding any windfall effects, the allocation of JTF resources should be contingent upon maintaining employment and production on the territory of the country in question.
Amendment 85 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The JTF support should be conditional on the effective implementation of a transition process in a specific territory in order to achieve a climate-neutral economy. In that regard, Member States should prepare, in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders and supported by the Commission, territorial just transition plans, detailing the transition process, consistently with their National Energy and Climate Plans. To this end, the Commission should set up a Just Transition Platform, which would build on the existing platform for coal regions in transition to enable bilateral and multilateral exchanges of experience on lessons learnt and best practices across all affected sectorsmake use of the existing platform and experience already gained with coal regions in transition.
Amendment 104 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article premier – paragraph 1
Article premier – paragraph 1
1. This Regulation establishes the Just Transition Fund (‘'JTF’) to provide support to territories facing serious socio- economic challenges deriving from the transition process towards a climate- neutral economy of the Union by 2050').
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
For the purposes of programming and subsequent inclusion in the Union budget, the amount referred to in the first subparagraph shall be indexed at 2% per yearthe rate of inflation. With a view to ensuring there are no budgetary implications, the budget allocated to the JTF shall be fully financed from already existent cohesion policy resources.
Amendment 148 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point k – indent 1 (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point k – indent 1 (new)
- (1) decommissioning or construction of nuclear power stations.
Amendment 150 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 a (new)
The JTF shall also aim to complete the reconversion of the regions hardest hit by deindustrialisation, such as former mining areas.
Amendment 163 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point a
Amendment 179 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
The JTF resources shall be programmed for the categories of regions where the territories concerned are located, on the basis of the territorial just transition plans established in accordance with Article 7 and approved by the CommissionMember States as part of a programme or a programme amendment. The resources programmed shall take the form of one or more specific programmes or of one or more priorities within a programme.
Amendment 183 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 2
The CommissionMember States shall only approve a programme where the identification of the territories most negatively affected by the transition process, contained within the relevant territorial just transition plan, is duly justified and the relevant territorial just transition plan is consistent with the National Energy and Climate Plan of the Member State concerned.
Amendment 199 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point h a (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point h a (new)
(ha) the allocation of JTF resources shall be contingent upon maintaining employment in the Member State in which the undertaking is established;