16 Amendments of Martina MICHELS related to 2017/2279(INI)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas cohesion policy aimsis the European Union’s key toolkit to express the EU’s solidarity as one of the fundamental principles of the Union, by pursuing its Treaty based objective to promote harmonious development of the whole Union, leading to a strengthening of its economic, social and territorial cohesion, in a spirit of solidarity and with the aim of promoting growth, and reducing the backwardness of the least favoured regions;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas balanced social and economic development throughout Europe is crucial to maintain and promote social peace and an innovative, sustainable and inclusive European integration process that is based on broad public support;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas one of the key pieces of new information provided by the 7th Cohesion Report concerns the identification of certain areas described as being caught in the ‘middle-income trap’, which risk being left behindstagnation or even falling back again behind the already reached level of development;
Amendment 38 #
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 commensurate with the challengessolidarity, development and investment instrument, based on long-term strategy and perspectives, and with a budget commensurate with the challenges; demands therefore that the current 1%- ceiling for the EU’s expenditure be increased to at least 1.3% of the GNI, in order to be able to continue to support existing policy areas while avoiding funding new challenges at their expense and while maintaining the share of cohesion policy at the current level, i. e. more than one third of the MFF;
Amendment 58 #
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 disparities towards the upward adaptation of living standards;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that cities, towns and urban areas combine opportunities and challenges, because of the concentration of people facing serious economicserious social, economic, environmental difficulties and the existence of pockets of poverty, including in relatively prosperous cities;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Emphasises that efforts to consolidate the territorial dimension of cohesion policy require greater attention to be paid to peri-urban, cross border and rural problems, with a particular focus on to medium-sized towns;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Is convinced that a major challenge for future cohesion policy will be to provide appropriatesufficient support to these regions to keep up their positive development paths, and that cohesion policy must both reduce disparities and prevent vulnerable regions from falling behind, by taking account of the different trends and dynamics and possibly expanding the scope of and support for the transition region category;
Amendment 143 #
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 lagging behind or are the most vulnerable to globalisation; considers that cohesion policy could contribute to the promotion of social and fiscal convergence by providing incentives, but reiterates its position that cohesion policy must not be subject to any conditionalities at European level that cannot be influenced by local and regional authorities and other beneficiaries; calls on the Commission to take better account of this aspect in the European Semester;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Supports a strong thematic concentration on a limited 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,social integration and culture, decent employment and education, combating poverty and discrimination, civil research and innovation, support for SMEs, climate changeaction and the circular economy should constitute priority areas for cohesion policy in future;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Emphasises that financial instruments can be an effective lever and that they should be promoted if they generate added value; stresses, however, that their effectiveness hinges on many factors (nature of the project, of the territory or of the risk) and thatReiterates that grants must remain the basis of the financing of cohesion policy and points out that financial instruments can play a complementary role, but stresses, that their effectiveness hinges on many factors (nature of the project, of the territory or of the risk) and that they should be used with caution, based on an appropriate ex-ante assessment; grants should be complemented only where such financial instruments demonstrate an added value, and all regions, regardless of their level of development, must be free to determine the most appropriate method of financing; opposes any binding targets for the use of financial instruments;
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Calls for a genuine single set of rules to be introduced for the various funds; supports consistent treatment of European funds under direct management and cohesion funds where State aid is concerned and, more generally, harmonised rules for European instruments aimed at the same beneficiaries; stresses the importance of greater complementarity between cohesion policy and the future EU research programme, in order to cover the full cycle from basic research to commercial applications; general exemption from state aid rules should be considered for support measures in the framework of European Territorial Cooperation (ETC);
Amendment 304 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Calls for requirements in respect of the programming, implementation and monitoring of ESI Funds in future to be based on the principle of differentiation, based on transparent and fair criteria, in accordance with the amounts allocated to programmes, the risk profile, the quality of administration and the level of financing by recipients;
Amendment 310 #
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"trust bonus" 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 321 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
Amendment 336 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. WelcomNotes the positivereliminary results of the Juncker investment plan; stresses that cohesion policy and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) are based on different concepts and objectives which in certain cases can be complementary, but that one cannot be a substitute for the other, irrespective of the level of development of the regions; calls for maintaining clear delimitations between the EFSI and cohesion policy, together with the provision of opportunities for their combination and facilitated use where appropriate without mixing them;