24 Amendments of Gheorghe FALCĂ related to 2022/2046(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the recent crises, in particular the Russian war against Ukraine, pose severe challenges for the EU transport sector, its businesses and its workers, in particular supply chain disruptions and rising fuel and energy prices, and require a coordinated response at EU level backed by adequate budgetary means;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas a combination of higher energy and transport prices would impact all citizens, and in particular low-income households, with increased risk of transport poverty;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas higher fuel cost for aviation, road and maritime transport is having a direct impact on final goods and services prices and the increase of fuel prices is affecting the recovery of tourism from the pandemic;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
B c. whereas Members states should aim to reduce the cost of doing business by lowering VAT and energy taxes, abolishing levies on energy and flexible application of state aid rules;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Calls on the Commission to urgently carry out an economic and social assessment of the consequences of the war on all modes of transport in the EU market and to swiftly present, where necessary, support, including through further legislative and/or financial measures within MFF framework, to mitigate the negative effects and to ensure the well-functioning, level-playing field and the fair completion for the European transport sector;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Calls on the Commission to continue exploring ways to support the transport of passengers or any kinds of goods towards/from Ukraine and its neighbouring EU countries as humanitarian aid and to provide for the necessary relief in terms of road tolls, infrastructure charges, access during weekends, taxation etc;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Supports the Commission’s proposal to conclude transport agreements with Ukraine and Moldova, by partly liberalising road transport for their hauliers, which will allow to shift important export goods from sea routes – currently unavailable due to the Russian military aggression – and to make increased use of EU sea ports for the export and import goods to and from Ukraine; strongly supports in this respect the rapid rehabilitation of formerly abandoned rail and waterway links between Ukraine and Romania in particular; calls on the Commission to explore financial support within the MFF;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reiterates its calls for increased financing of transport infrastructure through EU funding, particularly the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF); suggests to this end, for the current multiannual financial framework (MFF), the mobilisation of unused funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility and calls on the Commission to plan an ambitious successor programme to CEF II for the MFF 2028- 2034, with reinforced funding;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Calls on the Commission to support Ukraine and its efforts to strengthen rail connections between Ukraine and the EU. Specific funds should be provided to increase the wagon shifting and transhipment capacity at the Ukrainian border in connection with increasing upstream and downstream rail infrastructure capacity both on the EU and Ukrainian side;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Strongly regrets the severe cut of the final envelope on the newly created military mobility budget line under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF II) programme 2021-2027, when adopting the figures under the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, especially in light of the current needs; calls on the Commission to find and present solutions to significantly increase the military mobility budget line under the CEF II programme and suggests the mobilisation of unused funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) in this regard in order to strengthen our common European security; emphasizes the importance of ensuring that military mobility aspects are thoroughly assessed and addressed both in terms of infrastructure and funding, with a view to ensure optimal cross-border cooperation and mobility within the Union; in this respect, calls on the Commission to propose targeted support of major infrastructure projects better connecting all Member States and to increase transport infrastructure connections with the Western Balkans, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine; asks in particular for a strengthening of all major dual use infrastructure leading to the Union’s Eastern border;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Reiterates that the funding for European transport agencies and joint undertakings should match their level of responsibility;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Regrets the recent downscale of the EU funding available to the European Railway Agency (ERA) and recommends that over the next few years the Agency is provided with a level of resources and EU subsidies more commensurate to the increasingly urgent tasks concerned with the implementation of the Fourth Railway Package and with the need to ensuring sustained progress towards the creation of the Single European Railway Area;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3 d. Highlights the importance of TEN-T network for stronger connectivity with our strategic partners in non-EU countries. In the view of the Russian war in Ukraine, stresses that the funding of the TEN-T network revision shall well reflect and further focus on the extension of connection towards the Eastern Neighbourhood as well as revising priorities of the Eastern Member States towards cross-border missing links. Requests also the Commission to propose an 'EU-Eastern Europe' or 'Eastern Partnership' Transport Community, including an Eastern Europe Investment Framework, which could be partly modelled on the Western Balkans Transport Community;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 e (new)
Paragraph 3 e (new)
3 e. Calls on the Commission to provide the necessary funding in the EU Member States for developing of the dual use infrastructure with strategic role required in meeting present and future needs; emphasises the necessity to improve the EU capacity to assess and control the ownership and the investments in the field of strategic infrastructure, as a key aspect for guaranteeing the security of the EU and our citizens;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 f (new)
Paragraph 3 f (new)
3 f. Considers that the Russian attack on Ukraine and the resulting transport needs within the EU have underlined the necessity for the EU railway system to accommodate higher volumes of passengers and freight; calls therefore on Member States to accelerate the standardisation, harmonisation and interoperability of the railway systems across Member States and on the Commission to continue monitoring the implementation and the remaining shortcomings.
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recommends further strengthening synergies between the CEF and other programmes such as Horizon Europe and, InvestEU and RePowerEU, in order to support competitiveness, innovation, sustainability and safety in the transport sector and optimise the use of budgetary resources;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Welcomes new strategic initiatives, such as the EU Chips Act and the Secure Connectivity Programme, in response to the current geopolitical crisis and acknowledges the lack of dedicated budgetary lines in the current MFF; reiterates that reallocation of resources from existing Programmes should be limited and that should not negatively affect the overall CEF Transport objectives and the deployment of sustainable transport infrastructure. In this regard, calls on the Commission to carry out a solid budgetary assessment of those initiatives in the context of the mid- term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027, in order to provide new adequate resources;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Calls on the Commission to evaluate and to present a strategy for EU airlines and airports and their workforces and to explore further financial instruments within the MFF to support the sector, which has been severely hit, first by the COVID-19 pandemic and now by overflight bans for Russia and Belarus, high fuel and energy prices and dropping demand; stresses, however, the need to ensure a level-playing field and fair competition between airlines, in particular when providing financial support;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Underlines the urgent need to significantly increase the Union domestic production, supply and storage of renewable and low carbon fuels/energy and to further increase the diversification of the European Union’s energy supplies, also through imports of alternative fuels in the short-term, including through EU port terminals for LNG as a transitional fuel, whilst carefully avoiding lock-in affects and stranded assets, and in alignment with EU climate goals; further underlines the need to strengthen energy interconnections between Member States. Calls on the Commission to develop within the MFF a Strategic Autonomy Fund for Europe (SAFE) to provide the necessary investments in key areas such as energy infrastructure, transport and industrial competitiveness and food security;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Stresses the importance of creating a diversification strategy to ensure the supply of critical raw materials, such as rare earth metals so as to increase resilience to shocks and crises;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Considers that the synergies and complementarities of the TEN-T and TEN-E should be promoted, while fully ensuring existing and future funding opportunities and levels of funding for the development of the TEN-T;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that the transition to a smart and sustainable mobility system has to be fair and inclusive and requires mitigating the risk of energy and mobilitytransport poverty and protecting the most vulnerable; considers that to ensure a successful transition, it is essential to investments in the upskilling and reskilling of workers should be accompanied by measures to support the most impacted EU industrial supply chains, such as the automotive one; therefore insists on targeted measures and financing opportunities within the ‘Fit for 55’ package in that respect, in coordination with Member States’ plans;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Regrets the fragmentation of the funding possibilities available for tourism in the current MFF; highlights that this economically important sector, especially themade for 99% of small and medium-sized enterprises, is struggling to overcome the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis caused by the current war; reiterates the urgency of creating a specific EU programme on sustainable tourism and introducing a dedicated budget line to address the needs of the sector; reiterates that coordination is key for the recovery of the EU tourism industry as a short-term solution and insists on its request for the establishment of a European crisis mechanism for the EU tourism sector and of a European agency for tourism. to maintain Europe's standing as a leading destination;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Asks the Commission to create specific calls and actions for tourism ecosystem under the current funding programmes of the MFF 2021-2027;