32 Amendments of Sven GIEGOLD related to 2011/2288(INI)
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 34 a (new)
Citation 34 a (new)
- having regard to the United Nations Environment Programme's policy brief on the Global Green New Deal published in 2009,
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the financing of the Member States' public debt has the effect of absorbing resources for investment, growth and employment, while capital flight from certain Member States to certain other Member States as well as to certain third countries may contributes to worsening the EU balance of payments situation;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas banks lending, as the most important source of finance in the euro area, accounting for more than equity and bond finance put together, while in the USA and other regions of the world bank credit accounts for a smaller percentage of total finance, have been strongly affected by the recent developments;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas the growth potential provided by sectors, such as Green technologies, health and care, education and social economy can ignite and drive investment through increasing respective demand, thereby boosting investment;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the latest UNCTAD report shows that the EU still has a strong capacity for attracting foreign direct investment, and that, despite the fact that developing countries have strongly increased their share in the Foreign Direct Investment market; achieved to appeal to foreign direct investment, nevertheless the EU has the capacity to remain attractive building on its unique strength such as high degrees of legal safety, personal freedom and creativity and innovation, social peace, a highly educated labour force and an attractive domestic market with high purchasing power;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas internal investment within the Union can significantly expand the markets for foreign direct investment through improvements in sustainable infrastructure for business, education, research and development;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas investment consists of two pillars, which are public investment and private investment and the private pillar is composed of domestic and foreign investment;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
E b. whereas breaking the overdependency on imports of oil, gas and other non-renewable resources requires strong investments in renewable energy, energy and resource efficiency;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
E b. whereas the growth potential provided by sectors, such as Green technologies, ageing education and social economy can ignite and drive investment through increasing respective demand, thereby enormously expanding the amount of attractable investment, pointing out that public investment plays a key role in starting the aforementioned process and tapping this broad investment and growth potential;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
E c. whereas private capital is widely available, the key challenge is to channel this capital to sustainable long-term investment, instead of volatile short-term investment;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E d (new)
Recital E d (new)
E d. whereas the UNEP report on the Global Green New Deal in 2009 underlined the huge potential for growth through fiscal stimulus and investment in efficient buildings, renewable energy, sustainable transport, sustainable agriculture, freshwater, and ecological infrastructure; whereas UNEP argues that an investment of one percent of global GDP over two years would suffice to provide the critical mass of green infrastructure needed to seed a significant greening of the global economy it is essential to complement public stimulus with regulatory and fiscal measures to direct private investment into this critically important sector;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas studies conducted by UNEP and ILO reveal investment in human capital formation is crucial to attract investment in the Green economic sectors and exploiting their high growth potential;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the flow of foreign direct investment in the EU, particularly if directed in such a way as to reduce the disparities between Member States, has positive effects on the real economy and the balance of payments, competitiveness, employment and social cohesion, but also acts as a positive stimulus as regards technological development, innovation, skills and labour force mobility;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas the euro-area and ECB objective of a 2%maintaining an inflation rate just under 2% in the euro area contributes to establishing a framework of stability conducive to attracting investment;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas, in its proposal on a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB), the Commission did not extend harmonisation to corporate tax rates, which are intended to remain within the competence of the Member States, further steps are required to make the tax system in the Union more transparent and less complex for foreign investors while simultaneously harmonizing tax rates towards minimum rates throughout Europe;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that cohesion policy is key to addressing macroeconomic and regional imbalances at EU level and should be a key internal market policy for enhancing competitiveness, productivity, growth and job creation, as well as the essential social and environmental objectives which provide stable long-term investment opportunities, which in turn has the potential to increase the attractiveness of investing in the EU;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that fiscal consolidation and stabilisation and the completion of the internal market should be carried out ensuring a balance between the added value that they can offer and the strengthening of cooperation among economic bodies, as well as building on complementarities between EU economies; and reducing the disparities in foreign direct investment between them in order to promote sustainable long-term economic development, the latter being the crucial precondition for a successful and effective fiscal consolidation;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that it is crucial to maintain strategic European investors' interest in conducting their activities within the EU, bearing in mind that, in conjunction with the broader global financial and economic crisis, the negative feelings and uncertainty created by the debt crisis and a lack of quick responses leads foreign investors to reduce their current exposure to the region and a lack of co-ordinated long term domestic investment will significantly damage the future attractiveness of investing in the EU to such investors;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Believes that the EU should fully exploit its position as the world's largest single common market (including its high standard of living, high labour efficiencproductivity, legal certainty and research and innovation capacity), foreign investor and trader in tackling the fiscaldebt crisis, and highlights the need for more efficient tools and methods, new funding mechanisms and investment schemes, such as EU project bonds, that could exploit Europe's competitive advantages and complementarities between its Member States in order to address the recession and slow growth challenges;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Stresses in particular the enormous potential for attracting foreign direct investment by promoting education, research and development and job creation in the areas of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, developing renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency in order to meet the 2020 targets and make the EU a world leader in Green technology;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Recalls that reducincreasing public investment due tothrough sustainable funding even the fiscal crisis in crucial sectors such as health, education, research and infrastructures can adversely affectenhances competitiveness and attractiveness to investors;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Believes that any strategy aimed at attracting foreign and local investment should be linked to completion of the internal market; cross-border investment and flows, open markets, and fair competitionimproved market access for liberal professions, given the number and variety of new opportunities; considers, in this connection, that the EU should promote the Trans- European Networks and worker, student and researcher mobility and reinforce cooperation and complementarities between EU economies;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the EU to negotiate at global level and in the framework of the WTO, G20 and G8,20, to explore the establishment of common rules that ensure fair competition and a level playing field in the face of international macroeconomic imbalances relating to financial regulation and taxation in order to protect EU competitiveness and ensure the respect of the social and environmental objectives of the Union;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Asks the Commission to step up coordination and harmonisation of Member States' economic, tax and social policies with a view to attractingpromoting a fairer, more transparent and less complex system more conducive to attracting productive foreign investments, while taking into account the economic and social divergences observed between euro-area members and between EU Member States;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the ECB's longer-term refinancing operations (LTRO); deplores the lack of accountability of the banks using the LTRO funds for improving financing conditions for the real economy; calls on the ECB to further act in a decisive way in addressing the current euro-area debt crisis by maintaining price stability while at the same time minimising negative spill-over effects on the real economy and on the investments that the banking sector's liquidity problems could generate; Calls on the EU to ensure that the banking sector takes the necessary steps to address its structural weaknesses with regard to longer-term liquidity risks in order to avoid the need for the ECB to intervene so massively in future, ensure that the sector is able to fulfil its function of sustainable support the real economy and thereby restore long-term investor confidence;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Believes that the forthcoming reform of the Capital Requirements Directive should take into consideration the trade-off between increasing capital reserves andto promote the long-term stability of the banking sector and the short-term need for injecting liquidity into the real economy, a function which the banking sector has failed to perform during the crisis but which is vital for investment;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to encourage institutional investors to participate in European venture capital funds and Social Entrepreneurship Funds, and to eliminate restrictions on the supply of venture capital funding in small and medium-sized enterprises;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Expresses concern about the high youth unemployment figures observed in a number of Member States and the negative employment prospects; notes with concern the EU's limited ability to attract high- quality human capital while there are significant human capital flows from the EU towards the third worldemerging countries;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Supports the objectives of the Innovation Union; calls on Member States to target investment in research and innovation, given the medium- and long- term positive effects it can have on growth and development; supports smart specialisation as an important policy principle and concept for innovation policy and stronger links between research and entrepreneurship, particularly in the area of green technology, an area where the Union can become a world-class player;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Calls for greater fiscal coordination, on both the revenue and expenditure sides; expresses concern about the heavy administrative burdens and high tax compliance costs that European businesses are facing due to a lack of harmonisation, which create disincentives for investment in the EU; asks the Commission and Member States to cooperate further on their respective tax policies against double taxation, double non-taxation, tax fraud, tax evasion and dumping, and to combat the use of tax havens for illicit purposes;