Activities of Ernest URTASUN related to 2022/2006(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the European Semester for economic policy coordination: annual sustainable growth survey 2022
Amendments (17)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
— having regard to the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Sustainable Development Goals,
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas growth is not an objective in itself as meeting the goals of the Green Deal and Paris agreement requires targeted fiscal efforts;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas the premature withdrawal of fiscal stimulus and the lack of coordination of fiscal action can exacerbate already existing divergences in the Eurozone and thus undermine its cohesiveness and integrity;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Points out that the successful roll- out of the RRF will help to make EU economies and societies more sustainable, green, inclusive, resilient and better prepared for the green and digital transitions;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2
Subheading 2
Responsible and sustainable fiscal policies
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact will continue to be applied in 2022 and is expected to be deactivated as of 2023; highlights that the deactivation of the general escape clause should be conditional upon the health, social and economic situation across Member States in order to ensure that fiscal support is provided for as long as needed;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Believes that the review of the EU’s economic governance framework is necessary; agrees with the European Fiscal Board on the importance of having a clear pathway towards a reviewed fiscal framework, preferably prior to the deactivation of the general escape clause; stresses that a premature application of the current fiscal rules under the Stability and Growth Pact would jeopardise both the post-Covid recovery and the required transition to a carbon neutral economy;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Is convinced that the coordination of national fiscal policies remains crucial in underpinning the recovery; notes that the overall fiscal stance, taking into account national budgets and the RRF, is projected to remain supportive in 2022 to sustain the recovery; agrees with the Commission that Member States with low or medium levels of debt should pursue calls for a continued expansionary fiscal stance for as long as needed to support the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and a green, digital and inclusive transfor maintain a supportive fiscal stance, and that Member States with high levels of debt should use the RRF to finance additional investment to support the recovery,tion while ensuring fiscal sustainability; reiterates that supportive national fiscal policy is important to ensure that the RRF’s impact is lasting, sustainable, and fairy distributed across societies and regions; calls for the spending financed by RRF loans to benefit from special treatment in the EU fiscal framework, as otherwise borrower countries while pursuing a prudent fiscal policyl have to reduce their non-RRF spending once the currently suspended fiscal rules are re- activated; agrees with the Commission that all Member States should preserve or broadly preserve their nationally financed investment and stresses that these should be countercyclical and targeted towards investments that ensure long-term environmental and social sustainability;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Stresses that governments’ revenues are essential to guarantee the sustainability of public finances; calls on the Member States to take action to tackle tax fraud, tax avoidance, and tax evasion, as well as money laundering;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Welcomes the fact that the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2022 puts environmental sustainability and fairness across regions and citizens at the core of the EU’s recovery; agrees that the Commission’s green agenda needs to be swiftly implemented and should be supported by significant investment;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Considers that it is crucial to coordinate national reform and investment efforts and the exchange of best practices in order to increase the convergence and resilience of our economies, promote sustainable and inclusive growth, and improve institutional frameworks; stresses that the alignment of the Semester process with the EU’s long-term climate, environmental and social objectives is crucial and must be accelerated, as per the Commission’s engagements under the Green Deal;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Highlights that the RRF presents an unprecedented and unique opportunity for all Member States to address key structural challenges and investment needs and insists that all recovery and resilience plans address all requirements of the RRF Regulation, in particular the six pillars; highlights the interplay between the European Semester and the RRF; calls on the Member States to make the most of this opportunity and to use it to transform their economies and make them sustainable, greener, more competitive and more resilient to future shocks; highlights the role of the European Parliament in the implementation of the RRF, as enshrined in the RRF Regulation; stresses the importance of proper implementation of the reforms and investments under the Recovery and Resilience Plans with full respect of the “do no significant harm” principle and carefully monitoring the full implementation of the non-regression of EU environmental law; calls on the Commission to analyse all payment requests in this light and ensure full compliance of all milestones and targets reached with the regulation before granting payments, in particular compliance with the “do no significant harm” principle and the specific requirements of Annex VI where relevant;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls for the RRF to become a permanent EU instrument beyond the current pandemic crisis; highlights that a permanent facility would provide macro- economic stabilisation to the European economy and at the same time it would finance the much-needed investment in European public goods, such as the green and digital transition;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that many Member States are having to contend with old and new structural challenges that are hindering their growth potential; highlights, therefore, that tackling structural challenges is crucial for a long-lasting sustainable recovery and continued growth; takes the view that implementing reforms to address old and new structural vulnerabilities is key not only to improving the ability to withstand and cope with existing challenges, but also to accomplishing the twin transitions in a sustainable, fair and inclusive manner and to reducing social inequalities; points to the lack of national ownership as one of the main weaknesses in enacting reforms aimed at addressing structural deficiencies;
Amendment 221 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls for a renewed European Semester as the main economic and social policy coordination framework supporting the EU’s long-standing goals of sustainability and upward convergence with stronger national ownership; in this context, calls for the Semester process to be grounded on targets and objectives, while leaving the means to achieve those to the Member States; considers that the Recovery and Resilient Facility offers a great opportunity to improve ownership in the future economic policy coordination and to shift to a logic of positive incentives to push forward a reform agenda that conciliates economic, social, and environmental objectives; stresses that any Semester review should design an enabling framework for Member States to accelerate their green transition, close their climate and environment friendly investment gap, and ensure a rapid phase out of all environmentally harmful subsidies, in particular fossil fuel subsidies;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Calls on the Commission to establish an inventory of all environmentally harmful subsidies, including in the form of tax rebates, that continue to exist at national level and hamper the achievement of the European Green Deal, and to monitor their phase out as soon as possible in the context of the Semester and the CSR; reiterates its call for the reorientation of taxation systems towards an increased use of environmental taxation;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Recognises the importance of the macroeconomic imbalance procedure in identifying, preventing and addressing macroeconomic imbalances in the EU; highlights that continuous monitoring and vigilance will be needed and that Member States should address emerging imbalances through reforms that enhance economic and social resilience and promote the digital transformation and green and just transitions; calls for the MIP recommendations to become more forward-looking and symmetrical with regard to over- and undershooting target values; stresses, in particular, that the current account thresholds should be adjusted so as to apply a symmetric approach between account surpluses and deficits; further calls for the introduction of indicators on households’ disposable income, poverty, capital unit costs, as well as indicators to measure progress towards investment in environmental sustainability and innovation, with respective alert thresholds signalling the build-up of imbalances;