Activities of Petros KOKKALIS related to 2022/2150(INI)
Shadow opinions (2)
Opinion on the European Semester for economic policy coordination 2023
OPINION on the European Semester for economic policy coordination 2023
Amendments (8)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines the exceptionally uncertain EU health, social and economic outlook resulting from the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequences of the war against Ukraine; Underlines that the European Semester should enable to strengthen Member States public healthcare system to ensure high quality, accessible and equitable healthcare for all citizens’, especially in pandemic periods; Emphasises that the Union’s recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and energy crisis offers a unique opportunity to boost the transition to climate neutrality; stresses the importance of significant public investment to support a fair and inclusive recovery in the EU, upward social and economic convergence, social and economic resilience;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the robustness of the labour market; highlights the stabilising effect of national short-time work schemes supported by the European instrument for temporary support to mitigate unemployment risks in an emergency (SURE); welcomes the fact that the recovery and resilience facility is mitigating those consequences and contributing to the Union’s competitive sustainability; stresses that its successful implementation requires the completion of milestones and targets, in particular compliance with the rule of law and the general regime of conditionality, to be monitored transparently and thoroughly; welcomes the Commission’s proposal to include a REPowerEU chapter in the national recovery and resilience plans; insists that the financing of REPowerEU must not divert resources away from other EU priorities and especially from cohesion policies;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that the Union budget primarily supports strategic, targeted and growth-enhancing investment and entails a lower risk of inflationary pressure compared to untargeted and extensive national fiscal stimulus; considers that a revision of the Stability and Growth Pact is needed in order to promote a just, sustainable and future-oriented economy; calls on the Commission and the Member States to urgently reform the EU economic governance framework well in advance of the deactivation of the general escape clause in order to effectively promote fair, inclusive and sustainable growth, enhance democratic accountability and avoid a new debt crisis; calls on the Commission and the Member States, in the revision of the EU economic governance framework, to treat gross national income- based contributions to the Union budget in the same way as the national investment commitment;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is concerned at the social and economic impact of the aforementioned crises on the Union and on national budgets; regrets that, in the past, the European Semester process has proved insufficient to address social and economic disparities and inequalities in the EU stresses that crisis response has led Member States to adopt extensive economic measures; highlights the long- term impact of these measures on economic sustainability, but considers that it should be possible to return to a state of economic discipline in the long run; is also concerned at the Union’s increasing debt repayment obligations if not appropriately handled; stresses that Union borrowing should not increase further as long as there are no new own resources to cater for debt repayment.; recalls that the design of NextGenerationEU requires debt repayment through the introduction of new own resources to the EU budget;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Calls on the need to further strengthen the link between quality employment, gender equality, sustainable growth, social and climate goals, with the European Semester, with the ultimate objective of improving quality of life and citizens’ wellbeing;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Welcomes further the inclusion of the Sustainable Development Goals to the European semester process; calls on the Commission to continue the reform of the European Semester to balance economic, social and environmental priorities, so that it drives a long-term social, environmental and economic transformation and improves the integration of the 2030 Agenda, the European Pillar of Social Rights and the European Green Deal at all levels, fully involving local and regional authorities and complementing reforms and investments in the Member States; considers that such a reform should ensure that European SDG policy coordination does not lead to a policy process parallel to the European Semester, but instead consists of an integrated and coherent approach based on a new sustainable development pact; expects the Semester process to enhance the capacities of the Member States in monitoring progress on SDG implementation;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Reiterates the need for Member States to have the necessary control in place to ensure respect for the rule of law and protect the EU’s financial interests, notably to prevent fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest and secure transparency;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4 d. Calls on the Commission to develop a climate indicator - to be used as a guide for the European Semester -to assess the discrepancy between the structure of Member States’ budgets and the Paris-aligned scenario for each of their national budgets; stresses the need for this indicator to provide Member States with information on their trajectory within the framework of the Paris Agreement in order to ensure the achievement of climate-neutrality targets by 2050;