13 Amendments of Monika SMOLKOVÁ related to 2016/2326(INI)
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas since the financial crisis of 2008 regional disparities have increased more than differences between Member States, and public services such as education and health continue to be the most vulnerable sectors, cohesion in its economic, social and territorial dimension remains an urgently necessary policy;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas cohesion policy is one of the most highly valued EU policies, with measurable and visible results and with positive effects on GDP in all Member States and their regions;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas EU cohesion policy has more elements of solidarity than national cohesion policies, since it is far more effective particularly in promoting various forms of territorial cooperation;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines that growth and regional, economic and social convergence cannot be achieved without good governance and the effective involvement of all partners at national, regional and local level, as is enshrined in the partnership principle (Article 5 of the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR)); reiterates that the EU cohesion policy’s shared management arrangementensures better ownership of and responsibility for the policy implementation on the ground among all stakeholders involved and provides the EU with a unique tool to directly address the concerns of citizens in relation to internal and external challenges; is of the opinion that shared management is of more significant value than simple shared implementation or administration as it provides for establishment, implementation and financial management of the funds as well as strategic coverage of various policies on the national and European level and the involvement of the European, national and regional authorities;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the accelerated implementation of the operational programmes during the year 2016 and strongly encourages all actors involved to continue to speed up their activities; stresses that it is essential for accelerated implementation of operational programmes that managing authorities do not, once a call procedure has been completed, then cancel them; considers that where this happens, and where the process is not duly justified, the managing authority must repay the eligible costs incurred by an applicant in connection with an application under the call;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Stresses that although cohesion policy hasconvergence among the regions was improving before the crisis thanks to cohesion policy; notes that in the years of crisis cohesion policy mitigated theits impact of the crisis,; is, however, still of the opinion that regional disparities and social inequalities remain high; calls for continuous action to reduce disparities, particularly in less developed regions, while maintaining support for transition and for more developed regions so as to facilitate ownership of the policy in all regions;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Encourages managing authorities in the Member States, with a view to reducing the administrative burden and accelerating the implementation of the structural funds, to make wider use of the possibilities of EU legislation, which permits the granting of so-called specific types of expenditure such as standard scales of unit costs, flat-rate amounts and flat-rate financing;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Points out that Cohesion Policy management and implementation has to be based on the principles of predictability, proportionality and subsidiarity; emphasises in this respect the need for improving trust among all stakeholders involved, in particular the Commission and the Member States;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Stresses that the obligation to publish data on the granting of non- repayable funding from the ESI Funds is a means to increase transparency, public scrutiny and public awareness;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Asks the Commission to reflect on solutions based on proportionality and differentiation, especially with regard to the multiple layers of audit and the number of controls in order to find the right balance between the result orientation of the policy and the level of checks and controls or simplification of procedures, to a greater harmonisation between cohesion policy and competition policy, in particular state aid rules, as well as with regard to the possibility of a single set of rules for all ESI Funds;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Stresses the importance of the Europe 2020 strategy, which has been made more effective since being linked to the use of ESI Funds; notes that Europe 2020 serves as a long-term European strategy for economic, social and environmental development, which also contributes to a better awareness of cohesion policy performance; at the same time, notes that cohesion policy can also serve to fulfil the goals of sustainable development;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Highlights the fact that in order to improve the visibility of ESI Funds, greater focus must be placed on participation by stakeholders and recipients; urges, furthermore, the Commission, Member States, regions and cities to communicate in a more efficient way on both the achievements of cohesion policy and the lessons to be learned; invites the Commission to reconsider the rules for communication of the achievements of Cohesion Policy so that the contents and results prevail over procedures;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Reiterates that it is high time to prepare the post-2020 EU cohesion policy in order to launch it effectively at the very start of the new programming period; calls on the Commission to establish, in this respect, a platform with representatives and key political decision makers of the Member States, the Commission, the European Parliament as well as other relevant stakeholders for debating the future architecture of Cohesion Policy;