27 Amendments of Eider GARDIAZABAL RUBIAL related to 2017/2043(BUD)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that in its resolution of 15 March 2017, Parliament confirmed that growth, jobs and securitydecent, quality and stable jobs, socio-economic cohesion and convergence, security, energy transition, migration and climate change are the core issues and main priorities for the 2018 EU budget;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Calls for maintaining the EU support to sports policy, the sports chapter of the Erasmus+ programme and the financing of Special Events, such as the Special Olympics in 2017;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that in general terms the Commission proposal corresponds to Parliament’s view that the 2018 EU budget must enable the EU to continue to generate growth and jobs while ensuring the security of its citizen, decent jobs, socio-economic convergence and energy transition while ensuring the security of its citizens, facing the challenge of climate change and addressing the migration challenges;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that in general terms the Commission proposal corresponds to Parliament’s viewuld be a good starting point for this year negotiations, considering that the 2018 EU budget must enable the EU to continue to generate growth and jobs while ensuring the security of its citizens;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the decision of the Commission to already include in the draft budget the results of the mid-term revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020; is convinced that while the formal adoption is still blocked in the Council, the proposal of the Commission sends a strong signal about the importance of this MFF revision, and the need for increased flexibility in the EU budget that could enable the Union to effectively respond to new emergencies and finance its political priorities; underlines that the European Parliament acted swiftly to grant its consent to the revised MFF Regulation, asks the British government to lift its blockade on the vote in the Council with no further delay and expects that the Council will finalise without any further delay the adoption of the MFF revision, following the UK elections on 8 June 2017;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Reiterates its firm conviction that in order to achieve sustainable growth and job creation in the EU, investments in research, innovation, infrastructure, education and SMEs are key; welcomes in this respect the proposed reinforcements to Horizon 2020, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and Erasmus+ as these programmes will contribute directly to reaching these goals; but considers that the reinforcements should offset the cuts operated in these policies’ financing to the benefit of EFSI financing; regrets, however, that the proposed allocation for COSME is lower in comparison with the 2017 budget and points to the need to further reinforce SMEs, which are the main source of job creation in the EU and have a crucial role in reducing the investment gap and contributing to the prosperity of the EU;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Commends the role of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) in bridging the investment gap across the EU and supports its extension until 2020; underlines its position in the on-going legislative negotiations that no further cuts should be incurred on existing EU programmes in order to finance this extension; considers that EFSI, whose guarantee fund is mostly financed by the EU budget and therefore through contributions from taxpayers, shall not serve the purpose of supporting business operations established or incorporated in jurisdictions non-complying with international tax standards;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. WelcomNotes theat EU initiatives in the field of defence research, which will contribute to achieving economies of scale in the sector and thus lead to greater coordination among Member States in the filead to greater coordination among Member States in the field and, if developed correctly, lead to a more rational defence spending at EU and National leveld;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. RegretNotes that the Commission has not followed up on Parliament’s request to put forward an assessment and relevant proposals for an ‘18th Birthday Interrail Pass for Europe’; is convinced that this proposal has the potential to boost European consciousness and identity and can serve as a concrete example of European added value; strongly reiterates its previous call on the Commission to put forward relevant proposals in this regardreiterates that any new expenditure must be financed by new means and without prejudice for existing programs;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the fact that the draft budget 2018 includes an additional allocation for the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), responding thus to Parliament’s previous calls for the continuation of the programme; notes, in parallel, the proposal for draft amending budget 3/2017 that integrates the provision of EUR 500 million in commitments for YEI, as agreed upon by Parliament and the Council in the 2017 budgetary conciliation; is convinced that while the proposed amounts alone will not be sufficient to tackle youth unemployment, YEI will continue to contribute to the Union’s priority objective of growth and jobs; underlines that YEI can be further improved and become 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 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses that in 2018, cohesion policy programmes are expected to reach cruising speed and emphasises Parliament’s commitment to ensuring adequate appropriations for these programmes; is however preoccupied by the unacceptable delays in the implementation of operational programmes at national level; calls on Member States to ensure that the designation of managing, auditing and certifying authorities is concluded and implementation is accelerated; considers that a higher level of visibility on the implementation of the ESI Funds could result in an increased number of project applications submitted by Member States; and recognises that, by long negotiations of the legal basis, the EU negotiating institutions have their part of responsibility in the low implementation rate;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Is particularly concerned at the possible reconstitution of a backlog of unpaid bills towards the end of the current MFF period, and recalls the unprecedented amount of EUR 24.7 billion reached at the end of 2014; welcomes the fact that the Commission, on the occasion of the MFF mid-term revision, provided a payment forecast until 2020 for the first time, but stresses that this needs to be duly updated every year, in order to allow the budgetary authority to take the necessary measures in time; is convinced that the credibility of the EU is also linked to its ability to ensure an adequate level of payment appropriations in the EU budget that will allow it to deliver on its commitments; underlines, considering the importance for the private sector and notably EU SMEs of the contracts with public bodies, the detrimental effect on the EU growth of their late payments;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Reiterates that while growth and jobs should remain the underlying priority of the EU budget, obtaining sustainable progress in these fields will be impossible if the citizens feel unsafe or insecure; emphasises, moreover, that the unprecedented mobilisation of special instruments has shown that the EU budget was not initially designed to address the magnitude of the migration and refugee crisis; believes that moving to a post-crisis approach is premature given the volatility of the situation in the EU Neighbourhood and the terrorist threat within the EU; questionEmphasises that the unprecedented mobilisation of special instruments has shown that the EU budget was not initially designed to address issues like the current refugee and migration situation. Opposes therefore the proposed cuts in Heading 3 compared to the 2017 Budget which doare not seem to be in line with the EU pledge to deal in an efficient manner with the migration and refugee crisis, enforce security and tackle terrorism and radicalisationoverall financial need for an efficient management of asylum procedures and common borders management;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Reaffirms that tackling the root causes of the migratory and refugee crisisphenomenon represent the long-term sustainable solution and that investments in the countries of origin of migrants and refugees are key to achieving this objective; notes therefore with surprise the decreases in Heading 4 which cannot be fully justified in the framework of past budgetary increases or low implementation rate; is convinced that the EU cannot enter in a post-migratory crisis scenario yetmust be always vigilant and maintain a high level of engagement with our neighbourhood countries and that the efforts to address the instability in the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoodies must be enhanced;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the increase proposed for the eastern component of the European Neighbourhood Instrument responding to Parliament’s previous calls; is convinced that in order to counter the activities of an increasingly aggressive Russian Federation, the EU’s support, especially for the countries that have signed Association Agreements, is essential;asks for an increase in the financial resources dedicated to UNRWA and reminds the importance of ensuring sufficient funds for the Southern Neighbourhood, since stability in the Middle East is a key element for addressing the root causes of migration.
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the increase proposed for the eastern component of the European Neighbourhood Instrument responding to Parliament’s previous calls; is convinced that in order to counter the activities of an increasingly aggressive Russian Federationstabilise this neighbourhood and to reaffirms the inviolability of the borders, the EU’s support, especially for the countries that have signed Association Agreements, is essential;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes that the draft budget 2018 leaves very limited margins or no margin under the MFF ceilings throughout Headings 1a, 1b, 3, 4 and 5; considers this as a logical consequence of the significant new initiatives taken since 2014 (EFSI, migration-related proposals, and lately defence research and the European Solidarity Corps), which have been squeezed within the MFF ceilings agreed in 2013; recalls that the MFF, in particular, once its revision is finalised by the Council, provides for flexibility provisions which, albeit limited, should be used to their fullest in order to maintain the level of ambition of successful programmes and tackle the new and unforeseen challenges; expresses Parliament’s intention to further mobilise such flexibility provisions as part of the amending process;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Takes note of the Commission’s proposal to set up a European Solidarity Corps (ESC); notes, however, with concern that, despite Parliament’s warnings, the legislative proposal adopted on 30 May 2017 envisages that three fourths of the ESC budget would be financed by redeployments from existing programmes, and mainly from Erasmus+ (EUR 197.7 million); is concerned by the risk that this situation would pose to those EU programmes; and reiterates that any new political commitments should be financed with new appropriations and not through flexibility instruments or redeployments of appropriations
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. WelcomNotes the proposed scaling-up of the preparatory action on defence research and the presentation by the Commission of a legislative proposal for a defence industry development programme; recalls its earlier position that new initiatives in this area should be financed by additional funds and not be detrimental to existing programmes; recalls its earlier position that new initiatives in this area should be financed by additional funds and not be detrimental to existing programmes;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Stresses the need for the implementation of the 2014-2020 programmes to reach full speed, and strongly believes that any ‘abnormal’ build-up of unpaid bills must be avoided in the future; calls, in this context, on the Commission and the Member States to resolve, as a priority, any outstanding issues linked with the delayed designation of national managing and certifying authorities, as well as other bottlenecks for the submission of payment applications; sincerely hopes that both the national authorities and the Commission have improved their estimates of the payment needs in the 2018 budget and that the proposed level of payment appropriations will be fully executed; recognizes that the lengthy negotiation regarding the legal basis between the EU institutions are among the several causes of this current low implementation rate;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Notes the proposed EUR 3 473.1 million in commitment appropriations for Heading 3; emphasises the need for joint, comprehensive and sustainable solutions to the current migration and refugee crisissituation, and to addressing safety and security concerns; welcomes, therefore, the Commission’s proposal for an additional EUR 800 million dedicated to tackling these issues;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Considers that 2018 will be a pivotal year in the establishment of the European Agenda on Migration, with several of its key components under development; underlines the need to carefully assess the budgetary implications of a number of legislative proposals on the table, such as the reform of the Dublin common asylum system, the new Entry- Exit and European Travel Information and Authorisation Systems, including the possibility of their late adoption ; stresses the importance of adequate financing to match the Union’s ambition in this regard and urgently achieve the set-up of an effective European asylum and migration policy based on solidarity among Member States ;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Believes, however, that the level of cuts of the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI) and the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI), especially for the southern component, is not entirely justified given the longer-term needs of the EU action on migration, going beyond the migration compacts under the Partnership Framework; in this context, calls forincreasing the financial resources dedicated to UNRWA and reminds the importance of ensuring sufficient funds for the Southern Neighbourhood, since stability in the Middle East is a key element for addressing the root causes of migration.
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Notes the increased support for political reforms for Turkey (IPA II); expects however the same logic to apply to the Western Balkans which arecalls on the European Commission to suspend the pre-accession funds if accession negotiations are suspended; asks, in case that scenario unfolds, to use those funds to directly support Turkish civil society and refugees in Turgent need of financial support for reformkey, and to invest more in people-to-people exchange programmes, such as Erasmus+ for students, academics and journalists;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38 a (new)
Paragraph 38 a (new)
38 a. Underlines the need for financial support for the political reforms in the Western Balkans;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Calls on the Commission, which makes repeated references to a possible prolongation of the FRT, to put forward a genuine proposal for its prolongation as soon as possible if it intends to do so; recalls the commitment by Parliament, the Council and the Commission to ensuring that the establishment of the FRT and trust funds be transparent and clear, and consistent with the principle of the unity of the Union budget, with respect to the prerogatives of the budgetary authority, including parliamentary scrutiny;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Stresses the importance of pilot projects (PP) and preparatory actions (PA) as tools for the formulation of political priorities and the introduction of new initiatives that might turn into standing EU activities and programme; intends to proceed with the identification of a balanced package of PP-PAs; notes that in the current proposal, the margin in some headings is quite limited, or even non- existent, and intends to explore ways to make room for possible PP-PAs without decreasing other political priorities; considers that in its implementation of PP-PAs, the European Commission should inform step by step the Members of the European Parliament at their origin to ensure the full respect of the spirit of their proposal;