29 Amendments of Andrea COZZOLINO related to 2017/2279(INI)
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the 7th Cohesion Report shows that regional disparities are narrowing again, but that the picture isattern is very uneven, and that certain disparities persist, or are shifting or growing, between and within regions, in particular in some eurozone Member States;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the 7th Cohesion Report draws attention to the diversity of regions and territories, including within current categories of regions, owing to their specific circumstances (ultraperipherality, low income, low growth, etc.), making a tailored territorial approach essential;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas public investment in the EU is still below its pre-crisis level with major gaps in some of the countries most affected by the crisis as the public investment in the EU fell from 3.4 % of GDP in 2008 to 2.7 % in 2016;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
Gb. whereas cohesion policy in the 2014-2020 programme plan supported 1.1 million SMEs, leading directly to the creation of a further 420,000 new jobs, helping more than 7.4 million unemployed people to find a job and helping in addition over 8.9 million people to gain new qualifications;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers it crucial that cohesion policy should continue to cover all European regions and remain the European Union’s main investment instrument, with a budget which is commensurate with the challenges and at least equal to the current budget;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises that cohesion policy investments provide European added value by contributing to European public goods and to the Treaty objective of reducing disparitiehave as their priority objective, as laid down in the Treaties, reducing disparities between regions, but that they also provide European added value and can help to produce European public goods;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises that European added value is also reflected in European territorial cooperation, in all its dimensions; calls for an increase in its share of the budget allocated to cohesion policy, while improving coordination between different programmes to avoid overlaps, by means of ambitious tailored strategies, funding and measures which help to generate increased synergies with other EU funds, to avoid overlaps and attract complementary financial support under the post-2020 multiannual programming period;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises that European added value is also reflected in European territorial cooperation, in all its dimensions; calls for an increase in its share of the budget allocated to cohesion policy, while improving coordination between different programmes to avoid overlaps; reminds the importance of macroregional strategies in the achievement of the cohesion policy objectives;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the importance of supporting rural areas in all their diversity, by valuing their potential and supporting projects which boost local economies, improving their transport connectivity and very high-speed broadband and providing support to help them meet the challenges they face: rural desertification, the destruction of city- centre communities, areas without health care, etc.;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls for greater account to be taken of certain specific territorial characteristics, such as those of island, mountain or border regions, and of territories in which people are required to travel long distances to avail themselves of essential services (e.g. health, education, collective mobility) when investment priorities are set;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Recalls that, in order to support the middle-income regions and to offer solutions to their problems, the future cohesion policy should properly cover, support and include them in the next programming period; furthermore, the Commission should reflect on an alternative system of categorization not based on a rigorous separation, but instead guided by a continuum principle along which all the different regions might be properly placed; in this context, recalls the importance of complementary indicators to the GDP in order to offer a more precise picture of the socio- economic conditions of these specific regions;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses that social and fiscal convergence help to foster cohesion while improving the functioning of the single market; takes the view that divergent practices in this area may run counter to the objective of cohesion and are liable to cause further problems for territories which are laggfalling behind or are the most vulnerable to globalisation; considerspoints out that cohesion policy could contribute to theis geared to promotion ofng social and fiscal convergence by providing incentives, economic and territorial convergence; calls on the Commission to take better account of this aspect in the European Semester;
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Supports a strong thematic concentration on a limin appropriated number of priorities linked to major European political objectives, leaving managing authorities the task of drawing up their territorial strategies on the basis of their needs; stresses that employment, innovation, support for SMEs, climate change and the circular economy should constitute priority areas for cohesion policy in future;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 c (new)
Paragraph 19 c (new)
19c. Stresses that although cohesion policy has mitigated the impact of the recent economic and financial crisis in the EU, and that of the austerity measures, regional disparities, as well as disparities in competitiveness and social inequalities, remain high; calls for strengthened action to reduce these disparities and prevent the development of new disparities in all types of regions, while maintaining and consolidating support for the regions so as to facilitate ownership of the policy in every type of region and to achieve EU objectives throughout the EU; considers, in this context, that more attention needs to be paid to making regions more resilient to sudden shocks;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Believes that it is both legitimate and necessary to establish a link between cohesion policy and the guarantee of an environment conducive to investment, effectiveness and the proper use of funds, while stressing that cohesion policy is not meant to be reduced to an instrument for serving priorities without reference to its objectives; expresses its support for a balanced link with economic governance where this helps to maximrules out any link between the ESI Funds and economic governance that might lead to the consequence of commitments or payments being suspended despite of the regularity of the action taken by beneficiaries; emphasises the impact of ESI Fundsat such situations necessarily jeopardise the very essence and objectives of the ESI Funds and significantly weaken their impact on the ground; calls on the Commission to overhaul the European Semester to strengthen its territorial dimension and take account of other factors which contribute to the achievement of cohesion objectives, such as real convergence;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Believes that it is both legitimate and necessary to establish aestablishing a positive link between cohesion policy and the guarantee of an environment conducive to investment, effectiveness and the proper use of funds, while stressing that cohesion policy is not meant to be reduced must not on any account reduce cohesion policy to an instrument for serving priorities without reference to its objectives; expresses its support for a balancedby the same token, regards a link with economic governance, where this helps to maximise the impact of ESI Funds; calls on the Commission to overhaul the European Semester to strengthen its territorial dimension and take accoun, as balanced and non-punitive; calls on the Commission to take account of the reform ideas put forward as part of other factors which contribute to the achievement of cohesion objectives, such as real convergence European Semester with a view to strengthening its territorial dimension;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Believes that it is both legitimate and necessary to establish a link between cohesion policy and the guarantee of an environment conducive to investment, effectiveness and the proper use of funds, while stressing that cohesion policy is not meant to be reduced to an instrument for serving priorities without reference to its objectives; expresses its support for a balanced link with economic governance where this helps to maximise the impact of ESI Funds; calls on the Commission to overhaul the European Semester to strengthen its territorial dimension and take account of other factors which contribute to the achievement of cohesion objectives, such as real convergence;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Calls for the smart specialisation strategies to be continued, and acknowledges the importance of ex-ante conditionalities, which have proved their worth, but stresses that they have been a source of complexity and delays in the development and launching of programming; calls on the Commission to reduce the number of ex ante conditionalities and, in this field, to improve compliance withvise and rationalise the conditionality mechanism, applying the principles of proportionality and subsidiarity more strictly, making maximum use of existing strategic documents and selecting ex ante conditionalities which have a direct bearing on the effectiveness of the investments;
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Notes that the quality of public administration is a decisive factor in regional growth and the effectiveness of ESI funds; emphasises the need to increase administrative capacities, provided that any increase is accompanied and supported by the administrative measures needed to achieve results in many territories which, more than others, encounter problems in using EU funds properly and effectively;
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Stresses, at the same time, the need to make operational programmes genuine strategic documents which are more concise and more flexible, establishing a simplified procedure for their modification during programming, by cutting red tape, calling for greater flexibility as regards compliance with the macroeconomic conditions laid down as part of the European Semester and, at the same time, releasing co-financing from the budgetary straitjacket imposed by the Stability Pact;
Amendment 301 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Welcomes the establishment of a task force on subsidiarity and proportionality, and looks to this working group to make practical proposals to improve compliance with these principles in the context of cohesion policy, on the basis of the closer involvement of all stakeholders, and to consolidate the vertical and horizontal partnerships in order to improve the way the strategy is implemented;
Amendment 302 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. WelcomNotes the establishment of a task force on subsidiarity and proportionality, and looks to ithis working group to make practical proposals to improve compliance with these principles in the context of cohesionEU policyies;
Amendment 303 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
Amendment 308 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Regards it as essential that the relationship between the Commission and managing authorities should evolve towards a ‘contract of confidence’; calls on the Commission to build on the work already done in the area of sound public finance management, introducing the principle of a new label to reward managing authorities which have demonstrated their ability to comply with the rules; in relation to monitoring, calls for greater reliance on national and regional rules where their effectiveness has been verified and validated;
Amendment 318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Is concerned at the Commission’s recent statements concerning the cuts to the cohesion policy budget that might be made under the next MFF and which would exclude certain regions from the scope of cohesion policy; wishes to see a budget commensurate with theall the major challenges facing the regions, and calls for cohesion policy not to be made an adjustment variable; points out that the coverage of all EU regions is a ‘red line’ for the European Parliament; stresses that the theory of ‘economic development clubs’ confirms the importance of differentiated support for all European regions, including regions with a very high income, which must remain competitive with their global competitors;
Amendment 323 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36 a (new)
Paragraph 36 a (new)
36a. Points out that the coverage of all EU regions is a ‘red line’ for the European Parliament; stresses that the theory of ‘economic development clubs’ confirms the importance of differentiated support for all European regions and that, while adequate resources must still be set aside for less-developed regions, regions with a high income, which must remain competitive with their global competitors, must also still continue to receive support;
Amendment 338 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Welcomes the positive results of the Juncker investment planNotes the extension of the scope of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and the data on the take-up of resources, but draws attention to the consistent failure to provide information on the progress of the projects funded and the leverage effect generated by attracting private capital; stresses that cohesion policy and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) are complementary, but that one cannot be a substitute for the other, irrespective of the level of development of the regions;
Amendment 346 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Calls for every effort to be made to avoid delays in programming for the new period; stresses the importance of submitting all documents relating to the future legal framework on time in all the official languages and of simplifying the formalities which managing authorities must complete before they can start the programming process (e.g. ex-ante conditionality, designation of the managing authority itself);
Amendment 348 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40 a (new)
Paragraph 40 a (new)
40a. Takes the view that any move to increase co-financing levels must take account of the problems which some Member States and regions in particular have in raising funds without placing a strain on national budgets; emphasises that any such increase must be covered by mechanisms for the netting of resources invested, excluding these from the calculation of the deficit for the purposes of the Stability and Growth Pact;