BETA


2022/2059(INI) The role of Cohesion Policy in addressing multidimensional environmental challenges in the Mediterranean basin

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead REGI ALFONSI François (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE) ARIMONT Pascal (icon: EPP EPP), MEBAREK Nora (icon: S&D S&D), SOLÍS PÉREZ Susana (icon: Renew Renew), ROUGÉ André (icon: ID ID), KIZILYÜREK Niyazi (icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL)
Committee Opinion PECH MEBAREK Nora (icon: S&D S&D) Rosa D'AMATO (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), Annalisa TARDINO (icon: ID ID), Lucia VUOLO (icon: PPE PPE)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54

Events

2023/05/09
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2023/05/09
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 564 votes to 14, with 47 abstentions, a resolution on the role of cohesion policy in addressing multidimensional environmental challenges in the Mediterranean basin.

The countries of the Mediterranean basin, which include EU Member States, candidate countries and third countries, are home to 250 million inhabitants, half of whom live in the EU and one third of whom live in coastal areas.

Strengthening cooperation within and outside the EU is essential to find solutions to common problems such as environmental deterioration, pollution and climate change, rising water temperatures, increasing extreme weather events, water scarcity, biodiversity loss and food insecurity.

The Mediterranean: a challenge for Europe

Stressing that the European Union cannot remain passive in the face of the multiple political, social, economic, demographic and environmental challenges facing the Mediterranean basin, Parliament stressed the importance of direct and diversified cooperation for regional peace, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Cohesion policy still has further potential for action to provide appropriate responses to the challenges facing 110 million Europeans. Members believes that the measures provided for under cohesion policy must be coordinated with and complementary to measures under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and other national policies.

Parliament called for a historic effort to limit and manage the increasing pollution from plastics and household waste by promoting the circular economy. It suggested planning to use cohesion funds to invest in technologies and infrastructure specifically designed to recover materials from residual waste. It called for the creation of a pilot project to achieve zero marine pollution in the Mediterranean.

Members also called for measures to ensure water security in a sustainable way and for a more sustainable approach to adapting Mediterranean agriculture to water scarcity.

Parliament called for a more effective and coordinated use of existing funding instruments to address the challenges in the Mediterranean basin, including measures to improve marine biodiversity and to restore and protect marine habitats and species. Noting that spending for the EU's southern and eastern neighbourhood has been increased by around EUR 280 million in the 2023 budget, Members called for this funding to be used inter alia to support ambitious environmental measures in the Mediterranean.

The Mediterranean: potential and problems

The resolution stressed the potential of all the Mediterranean regions for the development of onshore and offshore renewable energy sources and for a just and inclusive ecological transition. Members considered that it is highly uncertain whether higher demand for green energy can be supplied from within the EU unless further investments are made to secure these supplies in the region, as well as accelerating and simplifying procedures for renewable energy projects.

Recalling that overfishing and destructive fishing practices still threaten the survival of many species, the report calls on the Commission to (i) monitor stock data and carry out impact assessments in order to take decisions on fishing quotas; (ii) promote digital transformation and the use of new technologies in the areas of monitoring, reporting and environmental assessment, as well as in governance issues.

Highlighting both the social and environmental effects of tourism due to its seasonality and uncontrolled development, Members called on Member States and regions to develop sustainable tourism action plans.

Members drew attention to the increasing density of maritime traffic and the danger of oil spills and the risks these activities present for marine ecosystems and particularly sea mammals. They also regretted that most EU Member States bordering the Mediterranean have not adopted maritime spatial planning programmes . They called on the Commission to follow up on these Member States to ensure the rapid adoption of such programmes.

The Mediterranean: a common space to be structured

The Mediterranean is a cohesive geographical area facing similar risks of natural disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes, drought and increasing scarcity of water resources. Therefore, Members called on the Commission to study the possibility of tailoring the EU civil protection mechanism better to the Mediterranean basin and to put forward a proposal for a strengthened Solidarity Fund. They called on Member States to adopt measures to mitigate the effects of heatwaves and droughts in coastal areas.

The Commission is invited to support, in particular through the Interreg programmes, the networks of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean.

Parliament asked the Commission to support a macro-regional strategy in the Mediterranean . Such a macro-regional strategy for the Mediterranean, which would entail substantial and active involvement of the regional and local authorities concerned, has considerable potential for addressing the multidimensional environmental challenges of the whole basin.

Lastly, Members believe that "ad hoc" forms of aid and financial support are needed for small-scale fishermen and for the most vulnerable.

Documents
2023/03/29
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details

The Committee on Regional Development adopted an own-initiative report by François ALFONSI (Greens/EFA, FR) on the role of cohesion policy in addressing multidimensional environmental challenges in the Mediterranean basin.

The Mediterranean: a challenge for Europe

Members recalled that the territory of the EU covers half of the Mediterranean basin and the European Union cannot remain passive in the face of the multiple political, social, economic, demographic and environmental challenges confronting the Mediterranean basin.

Cohesion policy still has further potential for action to provide appropriate responses to the challenges facing 110 million Europeans. Members believe that the measures provided for under cohesion policy must be coordinated with and complementary to measures under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and other national policies.

Members deplored the continuous degradation of the environment in the Mediterranean basin, the loss of biodiversity and the increasing air and marine pollution. They are also concerned about the increasing pollution by plastic and domestic waste and called for a historic effort to limit and manage them by promoting the circular economy. They called for sustainable water security measures and for a more sustainable approach to be taken to adapting Mediterranean agriculture to the scarcity of water.

The report called for a more efficient and coordinated use of existing funding instruments to address the challenges in the Mediterranean basin. Noting that expenditure for the EU’s southern and eastern neighbourhoods has been increased by EUR 280 million in the 2023 budget, Members called for this financial allocation to be used, inter alia, to support ambitious environmental measures in the Mediterranean.

The Mediterranean: potential and problems

The report stressed the potential of all the Mediterranean regions for the development of onshore and offshore renewable energy sources and for a just and inclusive ecological transition. Members considered that it is highly uncertain whether higher demand for green energy can be supplied from within the EU unless further investments are made to secure these supplies in the region, as well as accelerating and simplifying procedures for renewable energy projects.

Recalling that overfishing and destructive fishing practices still threaten the survival of many species, the report calls on the Commission to (i) monitor stock data and carry out impact assessments in order to take decisions on fishing quotas; (ii) promote digital transformation and the use of new technologies in the areas of monitoring, reporting and environmental assessment, as well as in governance issues.

Highlighting both the social and environmental effects of tourism due to its seasonality and uncontrolled development, Members called on Member States and regions to develop sustainable tourism action plans.

Members regretted that most EU Member States bordering the Mediterranean have not adopted maritime spatial planning programmes. They called on the Commission to follow up on these Member States to ensure the rapid adoption of such programmes.

The Mediterranean: a common space to be structured

The Mediterranean is a cohesive geographical area facing similar risks of natural disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes, drought and increasing scarcity of water resources. Therefore, Members called on the Commission to study the possibility of tailoring the EU civil protection mechanism better to the Mediterranean basin and to put forward a proposal for a strengthened Solidarity Fund. They called on Member States to adopt measures to mitigate the effects of heatwaves and droughts in coastal areas.

The Commission is invited to support, in particular through the Interreg programmes, the networks of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean.

Lastly, the report asked the Commission to support a macro-regional strategy in the Mediterranean . The diversity and size of the territory concerned also requires the implementation of three different but coordinated strategies, namely for the Western Mediterranean, for the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, and for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Such a macro-regional strategy for the Mediterranean, which would entail substantial and active involvement of the regional and local authorities concerned, has considerable potential for addressing the multidimensional environmental challenges of the whole basin.

Documents
2023/03/22
   EP - Vote in committee
2023/03/01
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2022/12/15
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2022/11/08
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2022/09/06
   EP - MEBAREK Nora (S&D) appointed as rapporteur in PECH
2022/07/07
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2022/05/10
   EP - ALFONSI François (Verts/ALE) appointed as rapporteur in REGI

Documents

Votes

Le rôle de la politique de cohésion face aux problèmes environnementaux pluridimensionnels du bassin méditerranéen - Role of cohesion policy in addressing multidimensional environmental challenges in the Mediterranean Basin - Beitrag der Kohäsionspolitik zur Bewältigung mehrdimensionaler ökologischer Herausforderungen im Mittelmeerbecken - A9-0094/2023 - François Alfonsi - Proposition de résolution #

2023/05/09 Outcome: +: 564, 0: 47, -: 14
DE IT FR PL ES RO NL HU PT BG SE AT CZ BE SK IE HR LT FI DK LV SI EL MT CY EE LU
Total
91
66
71
48
49
28
28
18
18
16
21
17
21
19
13
12
12
10
12
11
8
8
11
5
5
6
1
icon: PPE PPE
156

Hungary PPE

1

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Malta PPE

For (1)

1

Cyprus PPE

2

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1
icon: S&D S&D
129

Czechia S&D

For (1)

1

Belgium S&D

2

Lithuania S&D

2

Finland S&D

1

Latvia S&D

2

Slovenia S&D

2

Greece S&D

1

Cyprus S&D

1

Estonia S&D

1
icon: Renew Renew
88

Italy Renew

2

Poland Renew

1

Hungary Renew

1
3

Austria Renew

For (1)

1

Slovakia Renew

3

Ireland Renew

For (1)

1

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Lithuania Renew

1

Finland Renew

2

Latvia Renew

For (1)

1

Slovenia Renew

2

Greece Renew

1

Estonia Renew

3

Luxembourg Renew

For (1)

1
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
66

Italy Verts/ALE

3

Poland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Romania Verts/ALE

1

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Lithuania Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

3
icon: ECR ECR
61

Germany ECR

1

Romania ECR

1

Bulgaria ECR

1

Sweden ECR

3

Slovakia ECR

Abstain (1)

1

Croatia ECR

1

Lithuania ECR

1

Finland ECR

2

Latvia ECR

For (1)

1
icon: NI NI
38

France NI

Abstain (1)

3

Netherlands NI

Against (1)

1

Slovakia NI

2

Croatia NI

Abstain (1)

2

Latvia NI

1
icon: The Left The Left
32

Netherlands The Left

Abstain (1)

1

Sweden The Left

For (1)

1

Czechia The Left

Abstain (1)

1

Belgium The Left

For (1)

1

Finland The Left

For (1)

1

Denmark The Left

1

Greece The Left

2

Cyprus The Left

2
icon: ID ID
55

Austria ID

3

Czechia ID

Abstain (2)

2

Denmark ID

Abstain (1)

1

Estonia ID

Abstain (1)

1
AmendmentsDossier
206 2022/2059(INI)
2022/12/09 PECH 92 amendments...
source: 739.621
2022/12/15 AGRI 114 amendments...
source: 739.697

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

docs/3
date
2023-05-09T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0133_EN.html title: T9-0133/2023
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2023-05-09T00:00:00
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events/3
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2023-05-09T00:00:00
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EP
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events/4
date
2023-05-09T00:00:00
type
Decision by Parliament
body
EP
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0133_EN.html title: T9-0133/2023
events/4/summary
  • The European Parliament adopted by 564 votes to 14, with 47 abstentions, a resolution on the role of cohesion policy in addressing multidimensional environmental challenges in the Mediterranean basin.
  • The countries of the Mediterranean basin, which include EU Member States, candidate countries and third countries, are home to 250 million inhabitants, half of whom live in the EU and one third of whom live in coastal areas.
  • Strengthening cooperation within and outside the EU is essential to find solutions to common problems such as environmental deterioration, pollution and climate change, rising water temperatures, increasing extreme weather events, water scarcity, biodiversity loss and food insecurity.
  • The Mediterranean: a challenge for Europe
  • Stressing that the European Union cannot remain passive in the face of the multiple political, social, economic, demographic and environmental challenges facing the Mediterranean basin, Parliament stressed the importance of direct and diversified cooperation for regional peace, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean.
  • Cohesion policy still has further potential for action to provide appropriate responses to the challenges facing 110 million Europeans. Members believes that the measures provided for under cohesion policy must be coordinated with and complementary to measures under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and other national policies.
  • Parliament called for a historic effort to limit and manage the increasing pollution from plastics and household waste by promoting the circular economy. It suggested planning to use cohesion funds to invest in technologies and infrastructure specifically designed to recover materials from residual waste. It called for the creation of a pilot project to achieve zero marine pollution in the Mediterranean.
  • Members also called for measures to ensure water security in a sustainable way and for a more sustainable approach to adapting Mediterranean agriculture to water scarcity.
  • Parliament called for a more effective and coordinated use of existing funding instruments to address the challenges in the Mediterranean basin, including measures to improve marine biodiversity and to restore and protect marine habitats and species. Noting that spending for the EU's southern and eastern neighbourhood has been increased by around EUR 280 million in the 2023 budget, Members called for this funding to be used inter alia to support ambitious environmental measures in the Mediterranean.
  • The Mediterranean: potential and problems
  • The resolution stressed the potential of all the Mediterranean regions for the development of onshore and offshore renewable energy sources and for a just and inclusive ecological transition. Members considered that it is highly uncertain whether higher demand for green energy can be supplied from within the EU unless further investments are made to secure these supplies in the region, as well as accelerating and simplifying procedures for renewable energy projects.
  • Recalling that overfishing and destructive fishing practices still threaten the survival of many species, the report calls on the Commission to (i) monitor stock data and carry out impact assessments in order to take decisions on fishing quotas; (ii) promote digital transformation and the use of new technologies in the areas of monitoring, reporting and environmental assessment, as well as in governance issues.
  • Highlighting both the social and environmental effects of tourism due to its seasonality and uncontrolled development, Members called on Member States and regions to develop sustainable tourism action plans.
  • Members drew attention to the increasing density of maritime traffic and the danger of oil spills and the risks these activities present for marine ecosystems and particularly sea mammals. They also regretted that most EU Member States bordering the Mediterranean have not adopted maritime spatial planning programmes . They called on the Commission to follow up on these Member States to ensure the rapid adoption of such programmes.
  • The Mediterranean: a common space to be structured
  • The Mediterranean is a cohesive geographical area facing similar risks of natural disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes, drought and increasing scarcity of water resources. Therefore, Members called on the Commission to study the possibility of tailoring the EU civil protection mechanism better to the Mediterranean basin and to put forward a proposal for a strengthened Solidarity Fund. They called on Member States to adopt measures to mitigate the effects of heatwaves and droughts in coastal areas.
  • The Commission is invited to support, in particular through the Interreg programmes, the networks of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean.
  • Parliament asked the Commission to support a macro-regional strategy in the Mediterranean . Such a macro-regional strategy for the Mediterranean, which would entail substantial and active involvement of the regional and local authorities concerned, has considerable potential for addressing the multidimensional environmental challenges of the whole basin.
  • Lastly, Members believe that "ad hoc" forms of aid and financial support are needed for small-scale fishermen and for the most vulnerable.
docs/3
date
2023-05-09T00:00:00
docs
url: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2023-0133_EN.html title: T9-0133/2023
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docs/3
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2023-03-29T00:00:00
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EP
events/2/summary
  • The Committee on Regional Development adopted an own-initiative report by François ALFONSI (Greens/EFA, FR) on the role of cohesion policy in addressing multidimensional environmental challenges in the Mediterranean basin.
  • The Mediterranean: a challenge for Europe
  • Members recalled that the territory of the EU covers half of the Mediterranean basin and the European Union cannot remain passive in the face of the multiple political, social, economic, demographic and environmental challenges confronting the Mediterranean basin.
  • Cohesion policy still has further potential for action to provide appropriate responses to the challenges facing 110 million Europeans. Members believe that the measures provided for under cohesion policy must be coordinated with and complementary to measures under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and other national policies.
  • Members deplored the continuous degradation of the environment in the Mediterranean basin, the loss of biodiversity and the increasing air and marine pollution. They are also concerned about the increasing pollution by plastic and domestic waste and called for a historic effort to limit and manage them by promoting the circular economy. They called for sustainable water security measures and for a more sustainable approach to be taken to adapting Mediterranean agriculture to the scarcity of water.
  • The report called for a more efficient and coordinated use of existing funding instruments to address the challenges in the Mediterranean basin. Noting that expenditure for the EU’s southern and eastern neighbourhoods has been increased by EUR 280 million in the 2023 budget, Members called for this financial allocation to be used, inter alia, to support ambitious environmental measures in the Mediterranean.
  • The Mediterranean: potential and problems
  • The report stressed the potential of all the Mediterranean regions for the development of onshore and offshore renewable energy sources and for a just and inclusive ecological transition. Members considered that it is highly uncertain whether higher demand for green energy can be supplied from within the EU unless further investments are made to secure these supplies in the region, as well as accelerating and simplifying procedures for renewable energy projects.
  • Recalling that overfishing and destructive fishing practices still threaten the survival of many species, the report calls on the Commission to (i) monitor stock data and carry out impact assessments in order to take decisions on fishing quotas; (ii) promote digital transformation and the use of new technologies in the areas of monitoring, reporting and environmental assessment, as well as in governance issues.
  • Highlighting both the social and environmental effects of tourism due to its seasonality and uncontrolled development, Members called on Member States and regions to develop sustainable tourism action plans.
  • Members regretted that most EU Member States bordering the Mediterranean have not adopted maritime spatial planning programmes. They called on the Commission to follow up on these Member States to ensure the rapid adoption of such programmes.
  • The Mediterranean: a common space to be structured
  • The Mediterranean is a cohesive geographical area facing similar risks of natural disasters such as fires, floods, earthquakes, drought and increasing scarcity of water resources. Therefore, Members called on the Commission to study the possibility of tailoring the EU civil protection mechanism better to the Mediterranean basin and to put forward a proposal for a strengthened Solidarity Fund. They called on Member States to adopt measures to mitigate the effects of heatwaves and droughts in coastal areas.
  • The Commission is invited to support, in particular through the Interreg programmes, the networks of marine protected areas in the Mediterranean.
  • Lastly, the report asked the Commission to support a macro-regional strategy in the Mediterranean . The diversity and size of the territory concerned also requires the implementation of three different but coordinated strategies, namely for the Western Mediterranean, for the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, and for the Eastern Mediterranean.
  • Such a macro-regional strategy for the Mediterranean, which would entail substantial and active involvement of the regional and local authorities concerned, has considerable potential for addressing the multidimensional environmental challenges of the whole basin.
docs/3
date
2023-03-29T00:00:00
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