17 Amendments of Louis MICHEL related to 2016/2323(BUD)
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 1
Subheading 1
A budget for sustainable growth, jobs and security
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the important role played by the EU budget in delivering concrete answers to the challenges the EU is facing; stresses that jobs, economic growth and sustainable economic growth, climate change, migration, and security and tackling populism are the main concernhallenges at EU level and that the EU budget remains part of the solution to these issues; underlines that only a strong EU budgetand efficient EU budget with a genuine European added value will benefit all Member States and EU citizens alike; expects that the Commission will put forward a draft 2018 budget that enables the EU to continue to generate prosperity and ensure the safety of its citizens;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Notes with concern that the EU's 2020 biodiversity targets will not be met without substantial additional efforts; stresses, therefore, the importance of mainstreaming biodiversity protection across the EU budget, with a particular focus on LIFE programme and Natura 2000 network, and reiterates its previous call for a tracking methodology that takes into account all biodiversity related spending and its efficiency;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Regrets that the implementation of the EU budget does not currently match with the EU's high-level commitment to gender equality; stresses that gender equality should be mainstreamed as a distinct policy objective in all titles of the EU budget;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that investments in research and innovation represent a pre- condition for achieving genuine competitiveness in the EU; regrets the factnotes with concern that, as a result of an alarmingly low success rate ofhigh amount of high-quality applications, fewerseveral high- quality projects in the field of research and innovation are receivingleft without EU funding; calls in this respect for an adequate level of appropriations to be ensured for Horizon 2020;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines the important role and potential of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in reducing the investment gap in Europe, and recognises the positive results achieved so far; welcomes also the Commission proposal for extending the EFSI until 2020, which will serve to further improve its functioning, especially as regards the additionality principle and the geographical balance; with added focus on technological additionality; underlines that the selection of projects finances through EFSI should be based on quality and demand-driven; welcomes the Commission's intentions to reinforce the role of the European Investment Advisory Hub in terms of providing more targeted local technical assistance across the EU; has reservations on the proposal to again cut funds from Connecting Europe Facility;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers education to be a prerequisite for well-paid, stsustainable jobs; welcomes in this respect the role played by Erasmus+ in facilitating intra-European mobility of young students; calls, in this context, for the financing of this programme to continue to be increased in 2018;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Underlines that youth unemployment is one of the main concerns at European level and that it puts at risk an entire generation of young Europeans; stresses that, as part of the conciliation agreement for the 2017 EU budget, a EUR 500 million allocation will be granted to the Youth Employment Initiative through an amending budget in 2017; remains firmly committed to securing adequate funding to fight against youth unemployment and for the continuation of the Youth Employment Initiative until the end of the current MFF, while at the same time improving its functioning and implementation;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Acknowledges the importance of Erasmus+ programme as a key component in increasing fellowship among European youth; believes that especially in the times of rising nationalism and populism it is important to facilitate natural interaction between different European nations and cultures to increase European consciousness and identity;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is convinced that, under the current circumstances, where the ceiling in Heading 3 is too low, the EU budget has maximised its impact in dealing with the effects of the migratory and refugee crisis; points out, however, that a sustainable solution must be found to this issue, as it has been shown by the repeated mobilisation of special instruments, such as the flexibility instrument, that the EU budget was not initially designed to address crises of such magnitudehas proven to insufficient to provide for appropriate funding for the internal dimension of the current security as well as humanitarian and migratory challenges, as it has been shown by the repeated mobilisation of special instruments, such as the flexibility instrument; points out that a sustainable solution must be found in the future to this issue as a matter of utmost urgency and priority; recalls, however, that the necessity to mobilise supplementary means to face these challenges should not take precedence over other important Union policies, for example in the field of jobs and growth;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the role played by instruments such as the Internal Security Fund (ISF) and the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) in addressing the effects of the migratory and refugee crisisecurity and humanitarian and migratory challenges, and calls for adequate budgeting in the coming years for these funds; welcomes also the role of EU agencies in the area of justice and home affairs, such as Europol and the, European Asylum Agency, European Border and Coast Guard, Eurojust and EU-LISA, and calls, in this context, for their mandate to be executed through adequate budgeting and staffing; is convinced that the EU needs to invest more in strengthening its borders, managing migration, enhancing cooperation between law enforcement national authorities and agencies, fighting terrorism and, radicalisation and ensuringserious and organized crime, ensuring the interoperability of information systems and guarantee sound return operations;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Strongly supports initiatives in the field of defence research with the aim of encouraging better cooperation between Member States and calls for a defence research programme with a dedicated budget within the next Multiannual Financial Framework; recalls that, while respecting provisions enshrined in the Treaties, strengthened cooperation in the field of defence is needed in order to meet the security challenges that the EU is facing, which are generated by prolonged instability in the EU neighbourhood and uncertainty regarding the commitment of certain EU partners towards NATO objectives; underlines, furthermore, the need to improve the competitiveness and innovation in the European defence industry that can contribute to stimulate growth and job creation;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Reaffirms its conviction that in order to tackle the root causes of the migratory and refugee crisicurrent humanitarian and migratory challenges, the EU needs to step up its role through investments in the countries of origin of the refugees and migrants; notes that investments in infrastructure, housing, education, medical services and support for SMEs are part of the solution to tackle the root causes of migration; welcomes therefore the External Investment Plan as a coherent and coordinated framework to promote investments in Africa and the Neighbourhood countries;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. MaintainsNotes that the Commission's decision to resort itself to satellite budgetary mechanisms, such as trust funds, has not always been a full success and that there is a risk that this kind of solutions undermine the transparent management of the budget and hamper budget control measures; Maintains, therefore, its previous position that ad hoc external financial instruments which emerged in recent years must be incorporated into the EU budget, with Parliament having full scrutiny over the implementation of these instruments;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18 a. Welcomes in principle the establishment of European Defence Fund, with research and capability windows, as a promising model of an EU project with genuine European added value as the union faces unprecedented security challenges both within and beyond its borders;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Underlines that predictability and long-term sustainability of the EU budget is a prerequisite for a strong and stable European Union; draws attention to the fact that the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU will provide an opportunity to address the long-standing issues which have prevented the EU budget from reaching its real potential, especially as regards the revenue side of the budget; reaffirms its position in favour of an in- depth reform of EU own resources, and welcomes in this respect the presentation of the final report of the High-Level Group on Own Resources (HLGOR); invites all involved parties to draw the appropriate conclusions from this report and analyse the feasibility of implementing the recommendations of the HLGOR that would help make the EU budget more stable and predictable; welcomes the conclusion of the HLGOR regarding the fact that the EU budget needs to focus on areas bringing the highest European added value and regarding the ‘juste retour’ approach, which should end, as it has been shown by the report that all Member States benefit from the EU budget, irrespective of their ‘net-balance’;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Encourages the Commission to continue developing and implementing the 'EU budget focused on results' strategy; underlines, in this regard, the importance of simplifying rules, streamlining the monitoring process and developing relevant performance indicators;