Activities of Georgi PIRINSKI related to 2014/2245(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Urban dimension of EU policies - Investment for jobs and growth: promoting economic, social and territorial cohesion in the EU (debate)
Amendments (15)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the financial crisis has undermined the positive effects of cohesion policy, widened disparities between regions, and led to higher unemployment rates, increased poverty and social exclusion, and less convergence than expected;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas there has recently been a 15 % decline in public investment in the EU in real terms, and whereas many regions, especially those facing demographic challenges, have not contributed to the Europe 2020 headline target of 75 % employment by 2020 face difficulties in achieving EU 2020 targets given that in transition and less developed regions, employment rates are on average around 10 percentage points below the national target as compared to only 3 percentage points below in the more developed regions;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas it is justifiable that the goals of cohesion policy have evolved over time and that the policy itself has become more closely linked to the overall policy agenda of the EU; whereas, nevertheless, the original role of cohesion policy – the strengthening of economic, social and territorial cohesion in all EU regions, and particularly of less developed and the least favoured regions – should be reinforced; whereas cohesion policy ought not to be regarded as merely an instrument to attain the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy and other EU development strategies;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas according to the Sixth Cohesion Report (2014) the economic crisis has had a negative effect on the long-term trend towards a narrowing of regional disparities and, despite some positive tendencies, at the beginning of the new programming period disparities between regions of many different kinds remain wide;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the Cohesion Fund and the StructuralEuropean Structural and Investment Funds are still one of the EU’'s main investment instruments, with the potential to alleviate negative trends resulting from the economic crisis and to create jobs, if used efficientlyand whereas the European Social Fund particularly is the main instrument for investing in human capital, promoting integration in the labour market and combatting poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers it regrettable that the job creation potential of EU funds is still insufficient, and notes that it should be further strengthened through more efficient and result oriented implementation; expresses in this regard its concern about delays in the adoption and beginning of implementation of operational programs for the programming period 2014-2020 and urges the Commission to speed up the process; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ease the access to funding for all beneficiaries through better management and use of simplified costs;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the recent reform of cohesion policy aimed at tackling these challenges, based on a coherent strategic framework for 2014-2020 with clear objectives and incentives for all Operational Programmes; calls on all actors involved to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of the new legislative framework for cohesion policy by strongly focusing on achievement of better performance and results;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises that, on account of changes in production patterns and the extended retirement age, the role of the European Social Fund and investment in adapting workers’' skills have grown significantly; calls on the Member States and the Commission to ensure that available resources are used as effectively and efficiently as possible with a view to ensuring workers’' employability, including through timely and efficient implementation of the Youth Employment Initiative, increased investments in skills, in modernisation of labour markets, in combating poverty and social exclusion, and strengthening of social protection systems;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that it is high time for the EU to invest in businesses and support business creation; welcomes, therefore, the intention to set up the new European Fund for Strategic Investments as a complementary to the Cohesion Policy tool with the potential to generate 1.3 million additional jobs within three years; calls on the Commission to speed up its mid-term review of the Europe 2020 Strategy in order to ensure that the EFSI is clearly targeted to overcoming the failure so far in progress towards achieving the main goals of the Strategy in the area of employment and poverty reduction.
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Urges Member States, which have not yet covered the ex-ante conditionalities applicable to their operational programmes, to strictly implement their time schedules and to avoid delays in the implementation of programmes by successfully meeting the deadline for such conditionalities at the end of 2016;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes the importance of a solid macroeconomic environment for cohesion investments and welcomes the link of the ESIF to the European Semester; Calls on the Commission to continue considering the option for applying an investment clause in the preventive arm of the SGP allowing temporary deviation, linked to the national expenditure on projects co- funded by the ESIF, from the structural deficit path towards the Medium-Term Objective (MTO) set in the country specific recommendations, or the MTO for Member States that have reached it;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Is convinced that the Code of Conduct on Partnership will strengthen participation in implementation of the operational programmings in the regions, in form and substance, and has a fundamental role to play in boosting the effects of cohesion policy and consolidating its impact; calls on the Commission to inform Parliament about the partners' participation in programming for ESIF assistance for 2014-2020;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Asks the Commission and the Member States to ensure enhanced coordination between different funds and instruments in order to avoid overlapping and duplication of the support for identical projects;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Calls for closer coordination between cohesion policy, the Instrument for Pre- accession and the EU Neighbourhood Policy, as well as for better assessment and dissemination of the results of projects;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to fully explore the potential of the macroregional strategies for solving common problems faced by the participating regions and thus contributing to better use of the available EU funds and achievement of mutually beneficial results;