Activities of François ALFONSI related to 2020/2039(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on reversing demographic trends in EU regions using cohesion policy instruments
Amendments (21)
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas, although the EU population has seen substantial growth in previous decades, the growth rate is now falling and the population is expected to decrease in the longer term; whereas Europe will account for less than 4in 2019 Europe was at just 6.9 % of the world’'s population (down from 13.5 % in 1960), will account for less than 4 % by 2070, and long- term demographic trends in European regions indicate lower birth rates and ageing societies;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas data from UN World Population Prospects 2019 and from Eurostat suggest an uneven distribution of demographic trends in Europe, with a widescale expectation of sharp declines in the populations of eastern and southern Europe in future decades, especially due to the combination of low fertility rates and net intra-EU migration from these areas; whereas some Member States are projected to have a declining population over the entire period until 2070, namely Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Romania;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the health and economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic made clear that solidarity between generations, along with adequate funding for health and social care and sustainable economy, is one of the driving forces of the recovery process;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas there is a high correlation between the socio-economic conditions of a region and its brain drain/gain dynamic; whereas, within Europe, movements of young educated professionals from southern and eastern Europe to north- western Europe have been recorded since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas natural disasters and climate change, in particular floods and heatwaves, may have a considerable impact on the population of EU regions in the future in particular in Southern regions;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
Fb. whereas women, in rural areas hit by the constant process of depopulation, are more isolated and have less access to health and social care (e.g. counselling about domestic violence, prenatal care, cancer screenings), and there is a need of incorporating a gender perspective in the analysis of these phenomena, taking particularly into account women’s social, personal and occupational dimension;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F c (new)
Recital F c (new)
Fc. whereas EU Transport Policy should acknowledge and address the specific needs of low-density and depopulating regions (including rural areas, islands, remote, peripheral and mountainous regions), also including explicit references to low-density and depopulating areas in the Cohesion and Digital Policy;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses that the lack of connections to and from other regions constitute a major problem especially for insular territories and outermost regions; reiterates that accessibility to most islands is problematic and can be characterised by infrequent and often expensive transport (namely flights), further contributing to a lack of economic opportunities and a to a vicious circle that leads to depopulation;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Notes that in depopulated areas the improvement, maintenance and revitalisation of existing transports and the provision of links to the TEN-T is more efficient and effective than building brand-new infrastructures; reiterates the need for a particular focus on local transport in Members States' transport strategies, as TEN-T network can be effective only if local transport infrastructures are functional;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses that this lack of diversification in the regional economic structure of certain regions risks creating a negative ‘label’, also among their inhabitants, manifesting dissatisfaction with the quality of life and the facilities and services at their disposal; highlights in this context the brain drain effect, leading to the emigration of highly trained and qualified people from a particular region or country to another; points out, in particular, that the ‘exodus’ of medical staff such as doctors and nurses and teaching staff, worsened by austerity policies and significant cuts in public funding to health and social care, has led to a deterioration in the quality of medical care and education, making it difficult, especially in rural areas, to access high- quality care and education;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Notes with concern the considerable and persistent demographic imbalance between men and women in rural areas as the migration balances are often more negative (more people leaving than arriving) for young women than for young men1b; stresses that women in rural areas are an essential aspect for the development of these communities and that a greater recognition of women’s work and rights in the rural labour market would significantly diminish the risk of depopulation;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Stresses that several studies report the increase of the European population exposed to intense climate-change related hazards; highlights that there is a stronger rise in the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, and an upsurge in drought conditions in southern regions; notes with concern that these phenomena will further provoke desertification and consequent depopulation in the most affected abovementioned areas;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Underlines, on the other hand, that overconcentration of the population in certain urban areas has already led to side- effects, such as congestion, rising housing and transport costs, pollution, insufficient water availability, waste-disposal problems, high energy consumption, deterioration of the quality of life, and urban sprawl, as well as a significant risk of poverty and social exclusion for certain segments of the population, and thus local authorities being unable to provide services to all residents of urban areas;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Recalls that the Recovery and Resilience Facility will provide large-scale financial support to make Member States’ economies more resilient and better prepared for the future, and insists that Member States should propose measures for addressing demographic change in the most concerned regions; calls on Member States to properly involve local and regional authorities in designing and preparing their plans in the context of the RRF; highlights the importance of the instruments for a transition to sustainability such as the Just Transition Fund and its implementation mechanism, which aim to support the communities affected by the energy transition and avoid the risk of depopulation;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Reiterates that GDP and population density are not indicators which are in themselves sufficient to classify territories with severe and permanent demographic handicaps; asks the European Commission to draft guidelines for the subsequent development of relevant demographic indicators that could better help define the holistic challenges faced by the territories that are most hit by depopulation;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Calls on Member States to design and prepare, in concertation with the European Commission and in the framework of the new programming period, tailored Operational Programmes to tackle depopulation; in this regard the preservation of endogenous resources and the promotion of territorial initiatives, accompanied by specific projects and funding opportunities aimed at improving local transport and universal access to basic services, should play a pivotal role in territorial attractiveness reversing the current demographic trends;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Invites the Member States and the European Commission to explore the possibility of adopting pan-European explicit “diaspora strategies”, which should be aimed at encouraging returning processes for those who have left for a more “attractive” region and would consider to eventually migrate back and contribute to the development of the ‘sending’ region with skills, knowledge and resources elsewhere acquired; considers that these strategies could be built upon mutually beneficial partnerships between countries which encourage return migration, possibly involving also non-returning migrants in supporting the creation of knowledge networks and human capital investments;
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. Notes with concern that, on average, digital connectivity in rural areas is approximately half (47%) of that across the rest of the EU and points out that the urban-rural digital divide must be tackled to make rural areas more attractive for young people and reduce the trend towards depopulation; stresses that boosting digital connectivity in areas hit by depopulation, providing these latter with adequate broadband internet access for all citizens and favouring digitalisation of small business is also essential to the revitalisation from an economic, social and demographic point of view;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32a. Stresses that the proper implementation of Blue Economy activities, if closely monitored to mitigate any negative environmental externalities and to increase the socio-economic benefits to the whole value chain, including small businesses, hinterland territories and local citizens, could help fight against depopulation in Southern Europe and contribute to extend the revenue from the coastal cities to rural villages, to increase social inclusion and to achieve the objectives embedded in the European Green deal;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Considers that the issue of brain drain in the European Union is complex and multi-factorial, and calls for a pragmatic policy response from both the Union and the Member States; Recommends, where appropriate, the reforma rethinking of education and training systems in the Member States, combined with policies tothat should be aimed at preventing a permanent brain drain from the ‘sending’ regions; insists on using local at regional advantages, as well as the development of economic and social facilities, not only to prevent the brain drain, but also to reverse this phenomenon;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33a. Stresses that brain drain, which is directly triggered by existing social and economic imbalances between the EU regions, can be successfully addressed at the subnational level, not only since local communities are the ones that are directly affected by the consequences of brain drain but also because they are usually systems with relatively clear boundaries, allowing easier analysis of the problem and tailor-made solutions;