22 Amendments of Gheorghe FALCĂ related to 2023/0000(BUD)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the transport sector is essential for the Union’s economic and social development and cohesion and for ensuring mobility, accessibility and connectivity for all citizens and all regions and particularly for the EU’s outermost regions, which are highly dependent on air and maritime connections;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas transport and tourism sectors represent an important part of the EU’s economy in terms of GDP and employment;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the transport sector accounts for around a quarter of emissions in the EU and must contribute significantly to efforts to reach Union-wide climate neutrality by 2050; whereas there are also significant external costs associated with transport including air and noise pollution, which require concerted actiono achieve this systematic change all transport modes need the right incentives to drive the transition in technologically neutral way;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas air and waterborne transport will have greater decarbonisation challenges in the next decades; whereas due to current lack of market ready zero-emission technologies, long development and life cycles of aircraft and vessels, the required significant investments in refuelling equipment and infrastructure, and international competition in these sectors is crucial;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas mobility in Europe should be based on an affordable, smart, efficient and interconnected multimodal transport system for both passengers and freight, enhanced by an affordable high-speed rail network and infrastructure; recalls in this regard Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas transport is key for the just, digital and green transitions and, to avoiding anyone being left behind, it is essential to ensure that transport is accessible and affordable for all European citizens and their mobility as a vital tool for their economic and social life must not be limited; whereas parts of the transport sector are experiencing labour shortages and in some cases working and safety conditions need to be improved;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas digitalisation will become an indispensable driver for the modernisation of the entire system, making it seamless, more efficient and safe; whereas Europe also needs to use digitalisation and automation to further increase the levels of safety, security, reliability, and comfort, thereby maintaining the EU’s leadership in transport equipment manufacturing and services and improving our global competitiveness through efficient and resilient logistics chains;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
C b. whereas the transport sector is contributing around 5% to EU GDP and employing more than 10 million people in Europe, the transport system is critical to European businesses and global supply chains;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
C c. whereas tourism is an essential sector of the Union economy and plays an important role in fostering its competitiveness, employment and social well-being;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the transport and tourism sectors and businesses were among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis and by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraineillegal and unjustified Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, whereas these sectors and businesses of the sector require a coordinated response at EU level, backed by adequate budgetary means; whereas transport, in particular, has shown itself to be a vital lifeline for Ukraine; whereas Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine highlights the fact that the EU transport network cannot be viewed in isolation;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas the Union transport sector needs to become independent from Russian fossil energy sources and avoid any future dependencies on single countries or world regions for critical energy, fuels or raw materials supply, including for the production of batteries for use in battery electric vehicles and power storage solutions;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
D b. whereas, in the current economic context characterised by subdued economic growth, unprecedentedly high inflation levels and increasing interest rates, investments in transport infrastructure have become significantly more expensive;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
D c. whereas the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes have become the lifeline of Ukraine's economy, in addition, they are currently the only option for Ukraine to export all of its non-agricultural goods to the rest of the world, and to import what it needs, such as fuel and humanitarian assistance;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Recital D d (new)
Recital D d (new)
D d. whereas transport still faces a wide range of financing challenges across the EU: underinvestment, lack of suitable financing solutions, ageing infrastructure, insufficiently developed and non-transparent pipelines of transport projects, continuous growth of urban populations, and regulatory and administrative barriers;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Recital D f (new)
Recital D f (new)
D f. whereas the Commission further integrates Moldova and Ukraine into EU Single Market through the Connecting Europe Facility for infrastructure funding; whereas this agreement will enable Moldovan and Ukrainian project promoters to apply for EU funding for projects of common interest in the transport, energy and digital realms, improving the country's connectivity with its EU neighbours and will promote growth, jobs and competitiveness;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the Union’s draft budget for 2024 shows that that the current Multiannual Financial Framework is unable to meet the needs of the Union, has not enough flexibility to face unexpected developments, it is not capable of properly financing all its subsequent priorities, especially the transport, travel and tourism sectors and does not compensate for high inflation levels and unfavourable financing conditions; whereas this opinion is intended to set out a number of priorities reflective of the limited margins of manoeuvre for financing from the Union’s 2024 budget;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure the required long- term funding of Union transport projects that provide interconnected, efficient and affordable transport and mobility for citizens and goods and to accelerate the green and digital transitions; strongly believes the Multiannual Financial Framework review must be ambitious enough to ensure the Union’s long-term transport policy goals are not undermined by inadequate budgetary resources and inflation, as well as new priorities;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that cross-border infrastructure is the backbone of the Single Market, allowing goods, services, businesses and citizens to move freely across borders; reiterates the crucial role of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for the timely completion of the trans- European network and for support under the Solidarity Lanes and enhancement of EU military mobility, as well as for achieving stronger connectivity with our strategic partners in non-EU countries; strongly regrets the decrease in the CEF- transport budget commitments for 2024 compared to 2023; criticiseregrets the reallocation of funds from CEF to areas such as the Chips Act and the Commission’s executive communication budget; remarks that the oversubscription of CEF funding, and the exhaustion of allocated funding justifies a frontloading of funding for CEF to avoid shortfalls; urges, therefore, for a substantial and rapid increase of the CEF envelope to meet all its existing and new policy goals;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the increase in the Cohesion Fund allocation to the CEF for transport in 2024 but remarks that inflationary pressures cancel out this small increase and thus calls for an additional increase;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the increase in the Climate, Energy and Mobility cluster under Horizon Europe but believes further increases are warranted, but regrets the decreased budget for Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking; recalls the importance of ensuring that industrial alliances, as well as the joint undertakings match their level of responsibility and that they are sufficiently funded;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the increase in the budget contributions to the Union transport agencies - European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) -, but reiteratemarks that their funding for these agencies shouldshould be increased to more closely match their level of responsibility and the EU’s transport policy objectives; remarks that fuies in case for EASA and EMSA regarding the uptake of the aviation and maritime alternative fuels, and ing for ERA should be increased to more closely match that of EMSA and EASA case of ERA with particular regard to the implementation of the fourth railway package and to provide additional support for TEN-T completion objectives.