17 Amendments of Terry REINTKE related to 2016/2064(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that Cohesion Policy is the main investment policy of the Union, aimed at reducing regional disparities and contributing to the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; Acknowledges the initial results of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) to mobilise private investments; recalls that the EFSI must also contribute to economic, social and territorial cohesion and that efforts are needed to enhance synergies and complementarity between the EFSI and European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs); underlines the importance of ensuring additionality of the EFSI with respect to other EIB initiatives and EU- funded programs;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Believes that the main aim of projects financed under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) should be to create growth and a dynamic labour market in Europe, and hence todeliver on the Agenda 2020 targets by creating quality jobs, inclusive sustainable real-economy growth and a dynamic labour market in Europe that benefits society as a whole and is sustainable in economic, social and environmental terms, and hence to reduce inequalities and enhance the well-being of EU citizenseveryone;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Is concerned about the weak compliance with the principle of additionality which makes it difficult to determine whether EFSI projects help address market failure or suboptimal market situations and whether they would have been carried out also in the absence of EFSI; Urges the Commission and the EIB to step-up efforts and put in place mechanisms including a set of criteria that ensure the verification of additionality;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Considers that implementation of EFSI remains below the expectations in terms of achieving the leverage effect envisaged and contributing to overarching Union priorities and objectives;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to help SMEs and micro- enterprises contribute to achieving the EU 2020 targets through respecting the principles of quality jobs, social inclusion and environmental sustainability to tap into funding more easily, so as to increase their capacity to implement projects and afford them better access to advisory services and technical support;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. WelcomNotes the publication of the Commission’s new guidelines of 22 of February 2016 on combining ESIFs and the EFSI; takes note, however, that the number of existing synergies between EFSI and ESIFs funds is still extremely low and calls on the Commission, the EIB, the national promotional banks and institutions (NPBI) and the managing authorities to accelerate the design and implementation of further synergies; emphasizes that EFSI and ESI Funds should complement each other;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Is concerned about the Commission proposal requiring the highest risk-taking tranche of the investment to be covered by ESI Funds instead of EFSI when the instruments are combined; Believes that this leads to legal uncertainty in the use of ESI Funds, and runs counter to the initial EFSI rationale to provide for new risk-bearing capacity for EU investment;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Member States to develop national and regional platforms using the EFSI to invest in high-quality social, care and health services for new-generation jobs;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Considers that the Commission, the EIB, the Committee of the Regions, and the managing authorities should better cooperate to ensure that more integratedcomplementary ESIF-EFSI projects are put forward to boost territorial development and cohesion policies;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for the EFSI to operate in closer conjunction with the Structural Fundsand better respect of the Structural Funds to target the regions most affected by high unemployment and poverty in order to reduce inequalities through creating quality jobs, fostering social inclusion and enhancing environmental sustainability; regrets the policy shift from cohesion to investment policy as investment is not targeting need but take-up capacity;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to engage more actively in consultation at local level, especially in cooperation with national investment banks; believes that the EFSI should focus in particular on business startup projects and projects to reduce unemploymentthrough active involvement of stakeholders concerned by the investment and, where appropriate, in cooperation with national investment banks, the EIB and the managing authorities of the European Structural and Investment Funds; believes that the EFSI should focus in particular on projects to reduce unemployment that have a high European added-value and contribute to achieving the objectives of the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as to the Treaty-based objectives of strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion and reducing regional disparities;
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission and the ECB to increase investment in projects aiming at social inclusion and enhancing environmental sustainability in the outermost regions, which are particularly handicappdisadvantaged by underinvestment in job opportunities, resulting in unemployment, exclusion, and emigration;
Amendment 69 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Considers that there is a need to develop the thematic concentration of EFSI projects related to cohesion policyEFSI projects need to respect the requirements for thematic concentration when complementing ESI funding;
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Considers it disappointing that the Commission’'s assessmentevaluation of the EFSI has failed to record the number, types and prospects of jobs created to date under the Fund and to assess its gender impact;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Believes that the selection of EFSI financing operations and the managing of projects should be more transparent, accountable, based on defined criteria and involve local and regional stakeholders at an early stage; stresses that the European Investment Advisory Hub (EIAH) and the EFSI investment committee should use the expertise of regional authorities in order to promote integratedcomplementary ESIF-EFSI projects; with a view to this, the EIAH should play an active role in enabling even more local and regional authorities to make the most of the EFSI;
Amendment 92 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Requests that integrated ESIF- EFSI projectssustainable investment should be excluded from calculations of budgetary adjustments under the Stability and Growth Pact; Considers that no distinction should be made whether a project is financed under the ESI Funds or by EFSI, as long as the investment concerned generates long-term societal and environmental benefits;
Amendment 98 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Member States to lay down more clear-cut investment priorities and to draw up projects in collaboration with the European Investment Advisory Hub and local stakeholders which should be provided with the right to veto investments that are not in compliance with the EU 2020 targets and the criteria outlined in Art. 5 of the EFSI Regulation; calls on the Commission to work in closer cooperation with Member States in the European Semester process in order to help them begin as soon as possible to implement the recommendations, in particular by carrying out economic and social reforms, thus removing national barriers to investment.