55 Amendments of Ingeborg GRÄSSLE related to 2013/2015(DEC)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Welcomes the Court of Auditors' report and notes its damning appraisal of the measures undertaken by both the Commission and Member States;
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a. Underlines that the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) claims to promote sustainable fishing, which implies the long-term viability of the fishing sector and a balance between fishing resources and the capacity of the fishing fleet in order to avoid overexploitation of fish stocks;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 b (new)
Paragraph -1 b (new)
-1b. Takes note that, although the reduction of fishing overcapacity has been a recurrent theme in previous reforms of the CFP and has been addressed in the Court of Auditors' Special Reports No 3/1993 and No 7/2007, the expensive measures taken to date to reduce fishing overcapacity by adapting the fishing fleet to fishing resources have been unsuccessful;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 c (new)
Paragraph -1 c (new)
-1c. Recognises that, as from 1995, the trend for Union fish catches has been declining and that, according to the Commission's April 2009 Green Paper, this decline is largely due to overfishing and forms part of a vicious circle involving fishing overcapacity and low economic performance of the fishing fleets;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 d (new)
Paragraph -1 d (new)
-1d. Is concerned that, since the last reform of the CFP in 2002, fish catches have declined by 1 million tonnes and jobs in the fishing sector have declined from 421 000 to 351 000 ;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 e (new)
Paragraph -1 e (new)
-1e. Notes that, although there is no official definition of overcapacity, declining catches and lost jobs caused by overfished fish stocks demonstrate de facto overcapacity; therefore calls on the Commission to define overcapacity and consider more relevant and robust measures to facilitate actions to balance fishing capacity with fishing opportunities;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 f (new)
Paragraph -1 f (new)
-1f. Believes that it is essential that the Commission urgently draft a report containing the data on existing overcapacity in the Union, broken down by fishery and country;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 g (new)
Paragraph -1 g (new)
-1g. Is concerned, furthermore, that fleet capacity ceilings, as a measure to restrict the size of the fishing fleet, have become irrelevant since the actual fleet size is well under the ceilings and could even be 200 000 tonnes bigger, while still complying with the rules; stresses that, at the same time, due to technological advances, the fishing capacity of the fleets has increased with an average of 3 % per year during the last decade;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 h (new)
Paragraph -1 h (new)
-1h. Notes that the CFP measures vessel capacity in terms of power (kilowatt) and size (gross tonnage) and that, however, these measures do not take into account technological progress in fishing methods, which complicates the task of setting appropriate targets for its reduction; notes that the Commission wants to maintain these static parameters until the end of 2015;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Notes that, in terms of reducing fishing capacity, the Commission's new proposal for the CFP is founded on a new, market-based approach (schemes for granting transferable fishing rights), since the Commission has reached the conclusion that these schemes have a positive role to play in reducing fishing overcapacity;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Expresses its concern at the shortcomings encountered in the rules for the treatment of fishing rights when fishing vessels are scrapped with public aid, and at the failure to define clear and effective criteria for selecting vessels; considers that the scrapping schemes have, in part, been badly implemented, with examples of tax payers' money being used for the scrapping of already inactive vessels or even being used indirectly for building new vessels; notes, however, that some Member States have had scrapping schemes that have fulfilled their purpose; stresses, therefore, the need of strict safeguards when using scrapping schemes, as a way of reducing overcapacity in order to avoid abuse;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Regrets that investment on board fishing vessels funded by the European Fisheries Fund (EFF) could increase the ability of individual vessels to catch fish; considers that the interpretative note, prepared by the Commission and sent to Member States following the Court of Auditors' Special Report on the ability of the vessels to catch fish in which the Court called for national authorities to enforce stricter checks before deciding on the funding of projects of investments on board, is insufficient;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Believes that, particularly in the current economic climate, the emphasis should move to more efficient and fairer revenue collection systems and emphasises that the improvement of such systems should be of the utmost priority for the Union and all Member States, in particular those facing the biggest economic difficulties;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Recalls that, according to a study carried out on behalf of the Commission, the estimated average VAT gap in the Union is 12 %; draws special attention to the fact that this VAT gap has been at an alarming level of 30 % and 22 % in Greece and Italy respectively, the Member States which are experiencing the most difficult debt crisis;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Notes with regret that since its introduction, the VAT collection model has remained unchanged; believes that it is outdated, given the many changes to the technological and economic environment that have occurred;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Regrets that the Court of Auditors' report does not include sufficient information on levels of error or fraud and on the follow up, including judicial where necessary, as well as on the performance evaluation;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Is concerned that, in addition to the Court of Auditors´ significant focus on aligning legislation, continual monitoring will be needed and measures need to be put in place to address: - inadequate absorption levels on a number of recent programmes; - adequacy of external audit and internal control capacity; - stability of the procedures in programmes for funding; - transparency issues and the need to improve the awareness of stakeholders and the general public; - questions of efficiency, effectiveness and economy in use of funds, through performance evaluations;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 a (new)
Paragraph 31 a (new)
31a. Notes that a number of outstanding issues still remain to be addressed in several of the acquis chapters; in particular, attention is to be paid to legislative alignment in secondary legislation concerning public procurement, especially in the field of defence procurement, and also to the proper implementation of the newly adopted legislation, especially at local level, also with a view to the future management of the Structural Funds;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33a. Underlines that increased efforts are needed in some areas, in particular, agriculture and rural development, where attention must be given to further legislative alignment and strengthening of administrative capacity in the areas of direct payments and rural development;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Paragraph 34 a (new)
34a. Notes the delays in the implementation of pre-accession assistance; welcomes the progress achieved in addressing the issue, and urges the Commission and Croatia's authorities to continue improving the speed of implementing assistance, especially by strengthening capacity- building; stresses that capacity-building in the framework of pre-accession assistance should target central institutions as well as regional and local structures; is concerned that, in the case of Croatia, insufficient attention to the latter may result in them lacking adequate administrative capacity and experience to implement Union assistance;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Invites the Croatian authorities to take measures addressing the abovementioned concerns, and calls on the Commission to report on Croatia's progress in tackling these and other outstanding issues;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)
Paragraph 39 a (new)
39a. Welcomes the establishment in December 2011 of the Croatian Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, and the fact that the Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds has also been appointed to serve as a Deputy Prime Minister, which shows the commitment of the new government to the issues of regional development and utilisation of the Union funds;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 b (new)
Paragraph 39 b (new)
39b. Notes that Croatia has put considerable effort into the establishment of a sound financial management and control system, which should result in the expected waiver of the ex ante controls in the second half of 2012; stresses, however, that further sustained action is needed, given that, in most areas, the Commission has not yet authorised Croatia to implement pre-accession assistance without ex ante checks;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 c (new)
Paragraph 39 c (new)
39c. Welcomes the fact that, as of January 2012, the new Act on Public Procurement has entered into force, ensuring increased transparency, and that 2011 saw the realisation of the IPA 2008 Twinning Light facility project "Strengthening Capacities to Remedy Irregularities in Public Procurement Procedures", which included inter alia efforts with regard to awareness-raising;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 d (new)
Paragraph 39 d (new)
39d. Urges the Commission and the Croatian authorities to prioritise the build-up of robust public procurement capacities; emphasises, in this context, that the fight against corruption plays a central role in the entire accession process, and failure to implement preventive anti-corruption measures will impede the future absorption of Union assistance;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. NotStresses that decommissioning will be an increasingly important issue in the coming years because one third of the 133 nuclear reactors operating in 14 Member States are to be shut down by 2025*1 and many others will follow; calls on Member States, at the same time, to take the necessary precautions to secure the required financing;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Notes that decommissioning will be an increasingly important issue in the coming years because one third of the 133 nuclear reactors operating in 14 Member States are to be shut down by 2025* and many others will follow; calls on Member States, at the same time, to take the necessary precautions to secure the required financing; 1 Cf. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council of 12 December 2007: Second Report on the use of financial resources earmarked for the decommissioning of nuclear installations, spent fuel and radioactive waste (COM(2007)0794, p. 10). 2 Cf. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council of 12 December 2007: Second Report on the use of financial resources earmarked for the decommissioning of nuclear installations, spent fuel and radioactive waste (COM(2007)0794, p. 10).2; Or. en
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 a (new)
Paragraph 47 a (new)
47a. Recalls that the Accession Treaties of Bulgaria and Slovakia establish the limits for providing the Union's financial assistance to 2009 and 2006 respectively;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 a (new)
Paragraph 50 a (new)
50a. Reiterates and stresses mutual commitments taken by the Union and Bulgaria, Slovakia and Lithuania with regard to decommissioning of, respectively, four units of Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1 and Unit 2 of Bohunice V1 Nuclear Power Plant and Units 1 and 2 of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77 a (new)
Paragraph 77 a (new)
77a. Deplores that for the tenth EDF, food security, agriculture and rural development have been selected for fewer partner countries as a focal sector than for the ninth EDF and that several food- insecure countries have received little or no Union development aid in this area; agrees with the Court of Auditors that this is inconsistent with the critical situation as regards Millennium Development Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and the increased priority that the EDF was expected to give to food security; calls on the Commission and Member States to give more attention to this area when drawing up the EDF country strategy papers and to allocate more funding for this purpose;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 79 a (new)
Paragraph 79 a (new)
79a. Deplores the fact that, despite strong economic growth, one quarter of the population of sub-Saharan Africa still suffers from malnutrition; points out that the region has the technology, the knowledge and the natural resources to change this; stresses that peace, democracy and political stability is essential since access to land and markets, property rights and education will allow for the increased influence and accountability of governments and of public authorities;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 81 a (new)
Paragraph 81 a (new)
81a. Stresses the importance of strengthening the link between relief, rehabilitation and development in order to ensure the effectiveness of aid; reiterates the importance of allocating an appropriate share of Union overseas development assistance (ODA) to the agriculture sector; regrets that there has been a dramatic reduction in the level of development aid allocated to agriculture since the 1980s and calls on the Commission to prioritise agriculture in its development aid, including assistance to farmers in accessing markets; points out that development assistance is part of a larger scheme where trade, remittances and other sources of income are today more important than the total ODA payments for most developing countries, and that the common agricultural policy hinders a free and fair trade with emerging markets;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 81 b (new)
Paragraph 81 b (new)
81b. Stresses that the whole food chain, from farm to fork, must be addressed in order to enhance the resilience of the agricultural sector; believes that long- term political commitments by governments in sub-Saharan Africa are necessary to reduce the vulnerability of the agricultural sector; points out that temporary subsidies, in the form of seeds that withstand extreme weather conditions, can serve as an important safety net for small-scale farmers and families who would otherwise be severely affected; stresses the importance of early warnings and preventive work on sanitation, seed and feed for animals; deplores that violence and insecurity is an obstacle to a food secure future;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 81 c (new)
Paragraph 81 c (new)
81c. Stresses the need to refocus on food policy beyond food aid, inter-donor and donor-recipient cooperation with enhanced local partnership at European and global level, as well as the crucial role of partner countries in providing the basic requirements for any significant progress in this sector, such as internal peace and investment in rural infrastructure; further stresses that long-term social and economic development requires sustainable sources of income other than aid; considers that free and fair trade relations between Europe and developing countries, in line with World Trade Organization principles, is key to strengthening food security and accelerating human development in sub- Saharan Africa;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 89 a (new)
Paragraph 89 a (new)
89a. Stresses that SMEs are the backbone of the Union economy, generating employment, innovation and wealth; notes, however, that SMEs may suffer from financing gaps, in that they cannot obtain access to the type and the amount of finance they need at a given time;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 89 b (new)
Paragraph 89 b (new)
89b. Recognizes that at the time of fiscal constraint and reduced lending capacity of the private sector, SMEs and in particular micro-enterprises have been the most affected and should accordingly be targeted with strengthened Union support to continue generating employment, innovation and growth; notes that particular attention must be given to SMEs generating sustainable development at local level and that cohesion policy, as the major investment instrument for convergence and sustainable development of the whole Union, is one of the two main Union support channels for SMEs; stresses, therefore, that the use of FIs in cohesion policy in relation to the SMEs should be reinforced in the future as it can guarantee revolving funds, foster public- private partnerships and achieve a multiplier effect with the Union budget;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 89 c (new)
Paragraph 89 c (new)
89c. Recalls that to support entrepreneurship, the Union implements its enterprise policy and its cohesion policy mainly using grants but progressively more through financial instruments in the ERDF framework; notes that the FIs are repayable and revolving thereby ensuring that successive waves of SMEs can benefit;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 90 a (new)
Paragraph 90 a (new)
90a. Stresses that lack of access to finance has led to a fall in the number of start- ups, which means that the role of FIs co- funded by the ERDF in stimulating entrepreneurship is assuming ever increasing importance;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 99 a (new)
Paragraph 99 a (new)
99a. Recognizes the potential of innovative financial engineering instruments to build up capital and enhance investments, as opposed to grants consistently perceived to be excessively cumbersome and bureaucratic by their beneficiaries; stresses that financial engineering instruments could play an important role in achieving the Europe 2020 Strategy's objectives by attracting funding from other investors in areas of strong Union's interest;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 102 a (new)
Paragraph 102 a (new)
102a. Urges the Commission to submit an integrated, clarifying proposal as soon as possible on the problems caused by the current range of definitions of SMEs, which vary in the Union according to the different purposes or objectives, and to propose possible ways of remedying the situation;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 112 a (new)
Paragraph 112 a (new)
112a. Is of the opinion that the multiplier effect should illustrate the extent to which private funding has been attracted by both the Union's and Member States' initial financial contributions; considers that Member States' co-financing of FIs should be seen, together with the Union contribution, as a part of public funding;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 124 a (new)
Paragraph 124 a (new)
124a. Asks the Commission to disseminate even more extensively elaborated checklists and best practice manuals (with special focus on eligibility rules) to be followed by the Member States and to strengthen its supervision on how these elements are taken into account;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128 a (new)
Paragraph 128 a (new)
128a. Reminds the Commission that the error rate in the policy area Cohesion has increased in the Court of Auditors' Annual Report 2010, which reverses the positive trend observed in previous years and is contrary to an accelerated reduction of error rates, as called for by Parliament in the context of the 2008 discharge1;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128 b (new)
Paragraph 128 b (new)
1 See par. 4 of the Resolution of the European Parliament of 5 May 2010 with observations forming an integral part of its Decisions on discharge in respect of the implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2008, Section III - Commission and executive agencies (OJ L 252, 25.9.2010, p. 39). 28b. Reiterates the importance of the supervisory role the Commission exercises in order to be able to bear the ultimate responsibility for the implementation of the budget including the areas of shared management; recalls the action plan to strengthen the Commission's supervisory role under shared management of structural actions and the improved legal framework for the 2007-2013 programming period which aimed at reducing the level of error in structural actions and thus to protect the EU budget1; notes, however, that the action plan of 2008 came only into force at the end of the programming period 2000-2006 and could therefore cover the closure process of that period only; calls on the Commission therefore to fully enforce measures as stated in the action plan for the 2007-2013 programming period and beyond; expects in this context from the Commission a considerable and steady decrease in error rates, in particular of programmes that are expected to have the highest error rates; proposes that the Court of Auditors carry out a regular assessment of the technical and ethical quality of national audit authorities, with particular regard to their independence, and that it report its findings and conclusions to Parliament and the Council;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 133 a (new)
Paragraph 133 a (new)
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 189 a (new)
Paragraph 189 a (new)
189a. Recalls that the reform of the common organisation of the market in wine was aimed at balancing supply and demand, and that the main financial instruments of this reform included a temporary grubbing-up scheme and the setting up of national support programmes, allowing each Member State to choose the measures (among 11 available) best adapted to its particular situation;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 190 a (new)
Paragraph 190 a (new)
190a. Takes note that the Union is the world's biggest wine producer with 3 5 million hectares (ha) of vines; recalls that the Union produced approximately 160 million hectolitres (hl) during the wine year 2007-08, accounting for around 60 % of the world's wine production; furthermore, notes that there was a downward pressure on wine prices at producer level, compounded by the overall decrease in wine consumption in the Union in the 20 years leading to 2009;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 191 a (new)
Paragraph 191 a (new)
191a. Notes that Special Report No 7/2012 stresses that the expected reduction of the production did not materialise as a consequence of the insufficient use of some common market organisation instruments such as green harvesting and promotion, and the rejection by the Council of the Commission proposal to ban enrichment with sucrose;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 209 a (new)
Paragraph 209 a (new)
209a. Notes that consumption of organic food constitutes less that 2% of the entire food market, though the trend is likely to be rising;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 209 b (new)
Paragraph 209 b (new)
209b. Highlights the fact that the importance of organic production goes beyond healthy nutrition; organic farming is an innovative, knowledge- based approach to agricultural production with efficient use of resources, which can be an engine of rural development and employment; increasing use of biotechnologies and organic production could provide a "European added value" for agriculture, which could result in a stronger role for Europe in global competition; furthermore, it contributes to long-term environmental, economic and social sustainability, such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, slowing reduction in biodiversity and improving animal welfare standards;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 209 c (new)
Paragraph 209 c (new)
209c. Recalls that Parliament has always supported organic farming and will continue to do so and has actively participated in creating legislation for production and labelling rules of organic food;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 209 d (new)
Paragraph 209 d (new)
209d. Believes that in the context of the next Multiannual Financial Framework greater attention and more support should be directed to the production of organic products
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 209 e (new)
Paragraph 209 e (new)
209e. Expresses its concern that many organic products are more costly than non-organic products; as a result, price- sensitive consumers and people living on lower incomes are not able or are less able to afford these healthier products;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 209 f (new)
Paragraph 209 f (new)
209f. Recognises that an effective system of controls for organic production sets a number of hurdles for operators (including producers, importers and processors) to overcome but at the same time validates their quality, giving operators credibility whilst allowing the consumer to have confidence in products labelled as organic;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 209 g (new)
Paragraph 209 g (new)
209g. Draws attention to the growth of the organic food market from EU-grown and imported organic goods, which may also create the potential for unfair commercial practice, and points out that this requires stronger control systems at Union and Member State level; emphasises that controls should provide insurance that products labelled as organic are really organic;