21 Amendments of Louis MICHEL related to 2019/2001(BUD)
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines that the 2020 Union budget is the bridge to the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) for the period 2021-2027 and should contribute to creating a common, long-term vision on the future political priorities of the Union which bring the highest European added value; expects that, at the time of adoption of the 2020 budget, the Council and Parliament will be engaged in fully-fledged MFF negotiations, following a political agreement in the European Council; believes that a strong, responsible and forward-looking 2020 budget will facilitate an agreement and the transition towards the next MFF;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Believes that the last annual budget of the current MFF calls for special attention to its diligent implementation; expresses its support for the performance-based budgeting approach and reinforcing of the well performing programmes in the 2020 budget;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that the transition from Horizon 2020 to Horizon Europe must be smooth to ensure stability for businesses, research facilities and academia; underlines the importance of Europe’s claim to leadership in key technologies in areas such as space, healthcare, the environment, safety and transportation, digitalisation and artificial intelligence; recalls at the same time the important role of fundamental research; requests an increase in financial resources to ensure that research and innovation activities continue to provide solutions for Europe’s needs and challenges and competitiveness; is alarmed by the substantial underfunding of Horizon 2020 during the entire period, resulting in a low success rate for excellent applications;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Underlines that the 2020 budget is expected to be the largest annual budget of Horizon 2020 and calls on the Commission to make full use of the upward flexibility when increasing its resources; calls for deepening of synergies with the European Structural and Investment Funds, for example by using these to enhance R&I capabilities especially in Member States with below average research and innovation performance;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Considers the protection of the EU’s external borders with the support of a strengthened European Border and Coast Guard to be an inseparable condition for a European Union without internal borders, the proper functioning of the Schengen area and freedom of movement within the EU; considers it to be an obligation to ensure adequate funding, staffing and training of staff for all agencies operating in the field of border control, migration and security, acknowledging the considerable increase in their responsibilities, the importance of cooperation among them, and their vital role in reinforcing cooperation and coordination among the Member States;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Stresses the importance to deepen European defence cooperation and support the competitiveness and innovative capacity of the EU defence industry; highlights therefore the importance of further increasing the EU defence budget; further encourages the European Council to lead the progressive framing of a common Union defence policy and to provide additional financial resources to ensure its implementation, with a view to its establishment under the next MFF;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Strongly supports initiatives in the field of defence with the aim of encouraging better cooperation between Member States; 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 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that cybersecurity is critical to the Union’s prosperity and security, as well as to the privacy of its citizens, that cyberattacks and manipulation are threatening open societies, and that economic espionage is hindering the functioning of the digital single market and endangering the competitiveness of European enterprises; requests adequate financial resources to secure network and information systems and build strong cyber resilience; supports the new strategic cooperation agreement between the centre of expertise for cyber security in Europe (ENISA) and Europol to facilitate collaboration and exchange of expertise in the fight against cybercrime; considers it necessary to ensure adequate funding and staffing for ENISA;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Highlights the importance of a strong coordinated EU response to the challenges of disinformation and to enhance systematic use of strategic communication tools, including tracking and uncovering disinformation spread by foreign powers; stresses the importance to further support the EEAS Strategic Communications Division with a special focus on the EU neighbourhood;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Believes, with reference to its resolution of 25 October 2018 on the use of Facebook users’ data by Cambridge Analytica and the impact on data protection, that the fight against disinformation and any other type of foreign interference is a priority to ensure fair and democratic elections, in particular in the year of the European elections; requests additional financial resources to invesupports the guidelines that the Commission has set out on how exist in tools such as the recent What the EU does for me initiative to inform citizens on the Union’s work and highlight the efforts undertaken to promote peace, democracy, the rule of law and freedom of speechg EU rules should be used to tackle the use of personal data to target citizens on social media during election periods and guarantee the fairness of the electoral process; calls on all the political parties and foundations which are increasingly using these data to participate in the implementation of these guidelines;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Stresses that many citizens have the impression that Europe today does nothing for them but the opposite, and that Europe is viewed as a mechanics, distant and anonymous, from which only the economic, political, cultural or media elites benefit; requests, therefore, adequate financial resources to invest in tools such as the recent Citizens’ App and What Europe does for me initiative to inform citizens on the Union’s work and highlight the efforts undertaken to promote peace, democracy, the rule of law and freedom of speech; considers that such tools should be better disseminated at national level;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Requests additional financial resources to meet future demand for Erasmus+, the primary programme for education, training, youth and sport in Europe, also taking into account its external dimension; highlights the need for adequate resources for vocational education and training and for making the Programme’s funding accessible for people from all backgrounds; recalls that Parliament requested that the financial envelope for this programme be tripled in the next MFF; calls for cooperation to be strengthened between education and research, apprenticeship and research and in the area of sharing best practices based on participation in the Programme’s actions to maximize its added value;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Stresses that the fight against youth unemployment requires substantial additional financial efforts to create opportunities for education, training and employment; underlines, in this respect, the positive impact of the Youth Employment Initiative, supporting approximately 1.7 million young people until the end of 2017, thanks also to additional appropriations that Parliament secured for this programme in the EU budget over the years; underlines however that the Youth Employment Initiative should be further improved and be made more efficient, notably by ensuring that it brings real European added value to youth employment policies in the Member States and does not replace the financing of former national policies;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Stresses the importance of democratising Erasmus+ in order to develop a European Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeship as a way to boost the fight against youth unemployment; considers that the structural funds could be deployed in a more targeted manner for the financing of Vocational Education and Training (VET) centres as well as any relevant action undertaken to support apprenticeships; believes that, depending on the regional level of development, this support should be more saliently reflected in the investment priorities of the European Social Fund (for the apprentice’s work compensation and the social security coverage) as well as of the European Regional Development Fund as regards the provision of infrastructure and equipment for the VET centres;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Reiterates that social cohesion in Europe must contribute to sustainable solutions to long-term structural demographic change; emphasises the need for financial resources for research to provide ageing populations in Europe with adequate support in terms of access to mobility, healthcare and public services;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recalls the need for solidarity and responsibility-sharing between the Member States in the area of migration and for asylum seekers, with a focus on effective integration of migrants and refugees in the Member States, as well as fair and mutual beneficial partnerships with countries in need; calls on the Member States to make good use of AMIF funds through national programs; reaffirms that tackling the root causes of migration represents a long-term sustainable solution; recalls therefore the necessity to devote sufficient financial means to instruments that aim at tackling issues such as lack of investment, instability and conflict in the countries of origin and transit especially in Africa;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Stresses that 2020 is the last year to achieve 20 % climate mainstreaming in the budget over the years 2014-2020; considers that a significant increase in climate-related spending is essential; calls for a robust, annual consolidation exercise to progress towards the mainstreaming target, with concrete and coherent safeguards that guarantee climate proof budgetary decisions are in line with the EU’s commitments under the Paris agreement, with comprehensive reporting and monitoring of results and a realistic assessment of climate change needs that corrects overestimations and proposes additional measures in case the exercise shows that targets will not be met; calls furthermore for the establishment of climate and sustainability proofing throughout the budget, where applicable;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses that the 2020 budget must significantly contribute to tackling environmental challenges and climate change; recalls the Union’s pledge to make the transition to a low-carbnet-zero emissions circular economy, but regrets that the Union might fall short of its climate goals; requests increased financial resources for LIFE and other programmes to support projects with European added value contributing to a clean energy transition and resource efficiency, as well as nature conservation, with a focus on biodiversity, habitats and endangered species;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Stresses that, in view of a coherent and effective approach to tackling climate change, the ratification and implementation of the Paris Agreement should be a condition of the EU for future trade agreements; recalls in this regard the European Parliament resolution of 3 July 2018 on climate diplomacy and its call on the Commission for a comprehensive assessment of consistency of existing free trade agreements with the Paris Agreement commitments; considers that if these commitments should not be fulfilled by a EU partner, the Commission could impose a temporary suspension of EU trade liberalisation commitments towards those partners;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. IRequests the application of Article 15(3) of the Financial Regulation, allowing de-committed amounts made as a result of total or partial non- implementation of corresponding research projects to be made available again to the benefit of the research programme in the framework of the annual budgetary procedure; recalls that contrary to the previous Financial Regulation where this possibility only existed under exceptional circumstances and had to be duly justified, no pre- conditions are now set for the implementation of this article; invites the Commission to report specifically on the amounts de-committed for research programmes and to provide all relevant information and details concerning Article 15(3) of the Financial Regulation; expects this Article and its corresponding procedure to be fully respected in the context of the 2020 budgetary procedure;