27 Amendments of Kosma ZŁOTOWSKI related to 2015/2347(INI)
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas ESI Funds have been the main source of public transport investments in Central and Eastern Europe and whereas the Connecting Europe Facility constitutes a key funding instrument in developing further the transport infrastructure in the region as part of the TEN-T core network corridors;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas well-developed cross- border transport connections are essential for regional competitiveness and for fostering expansion of SMEs in border areas and, with regard to public transport in particular, for supporting the social inclusion of economically vulnerable populations; whereas good transport connections, in particular rail connections, which cross national borders are still lacking in many Central and Eastern European Member States;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Draws attention to the possibilities that hybrid public-private partnership projects offer by linking sources of infrastructure investment funding from EU grants (up to 85% of the total eligible costs), public funding in the shape of the cofinancing that the beneficiary is required to provide, and money from private enterprise; emphasises, at the same time, that EU funds and budgetary resources are a factor in increasing the reliability of investments, as they reduce the risk to the private sector; points out that, at the same time, the private sector benefits from stable, long-term contracts that are not dependent on economic, political and budgetary fluctuations within countries;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Encourages the Member States to make use of public-private partnerships, which are an extremely advantageous way of investing in infrastructure, in particular as regards the implementation of complex infrastructure projects requiring extensive expenditure and generating a low level of return, on the one hand, and a desire to guarantee the effective provision of a high-quality public service, on the other hand;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Emphasises how important cohesion policy funding is for the development of the transport infrastructure in countries in central and eastern Europe, the quality of which still lags far behind that of the transport networks in western Europe, and with that in mind calls for the necessary resources and level of funding to be guaranteed in the next multiannual financial framework;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Maintains that an expanded transport network into which Europe’s major transport routes are integrated is an important asset for the tourist industry, helping make regions more appealing to tourists; takes the view that countries in central and eastern Europe have enormous potential for tourist industry development which cannot be fully exploited owing to a lack of appropriate transport infrastructure;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Sees enormous potential in international infrastructure projects such as the New Silk Road with regard to helping central and eastern Europe make better use of the potential of the global economy; takes the view that thanks to its favourable geographical location, central and eastern Europe can become an important logistics centre and communications hub between Europe and Asia;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11c. Emphasises that increasing transport accessibility in central and eastern Europe and the investment involved in doing so should provide an impetus for the development of local firms and businesses; points out that tendering procedures and the implementation of projects should be SME-friendly; calls on the Commission to pay more attention to the problem of the major contractors and subcontractors involved in projects engaging in unfair cooperation, the victims of which are very often the lowest- skilled workers;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 d (new)
Paragraph 11 d (new)
11d. Maintains that there is a need to take into account the needs of those living in regions that are sparsely populated and difficult to access, such as mountain areas, in the planning of infrastructure solutions in central and eastern Europe; maintains that a lack of access to transport can lead to social exclusion and calls on the Commission to take into account the needs of those who use local transport routes; emphasises that the profitability of transport links cannot be the only criterion for assessing their usefulness;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 e (new)
Paragraph 11 e (new)
11e. Emphasises the importance of developing cycling infrastructure in the countries of central and eastern Europe, which will increase safety, reduce the number of road accident victims, and improve the quality of life and the health of people in the EU;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recalls that the development of cross-border roads is essential to facilitate cooperation between populations and enterprises in border regions; calls on the Member States to continue modernising roads and to strengthen regional and local connectivity to the TEN-T network;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Underlines the need to ensure fair road charging systems in the EU; points out that flexibilities should be kept for Member States, owing to their particular characteristics, when establishing such systems; maintains that those systems should be designed in cooperation with the business community and commercial road users, and that the latter should not be required to pay any additional or disproportionate charges that would render their business activities less profitable;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the urgent need to enhance the road infrastructure network along the eastern border of the EU, starting in Estonia, passing through Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria and ending in Greece; considers that such efforts should build on the long-standing planning done already under the Via Carpatia project; believes that the possibility of opening the Rhine-Danube corridor to the north of the EU through the Via Carpatia should be exploited; , on which representatives of the countries concerned signed a declaration in Warsaw on 3 March 2016 on further cooperation on the development of the corridor and updating the route; takes the view that, with the construction of the Via Carpatia, outlying regions of the EU will have the opportunity of accelerated development and will be able to catch up more quickly with more developed areas of the EU; points out that the construction of the route will also stimulate investment and business growth, and improve security for the EU as a whole, in particular in the context of the armed conflict in Ukraine; believes that the possibility of opening the Rhine-Danube corridor to the north of the EU through the Via Carpatia should be exploited; at the same time, encourages the Member States to set up financing for that project using every possible financial instrument, such as the Connecting Europe Facility and the European Fund for Strategic Investments, and, looking ahead to the next review of the TEN-T guidelines, encourages the Member States to make every possible effort to ensure that the Via Carpatia route is included in its entirety in the TEN-T core network;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Reiterates that the quality of road infrastructure has a direct impact on road safety; is concerned that road fatalities remain relatively high in many central and eastern Member States; underlines that measures to improve road safety should be further promoted at Member State and EU level; calls for infrastructure investment projects to include transport solutions that reduce the risk of death or serious injury in road accidents, and for account to be taken of the needs of pedestrians living near routes with high volumes of traffic;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Emphasises that the construction and modernisation of road infrastructure in central and eastern Europe should take account of the needs of cyclists, and of the need to improve the integration of the EuroVelo European cycle routes, in particular the Iron Curtain Trail, the East Europe Route and the Atlantic – Black Sea Route;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on the Member States to adopt clear, long-term rail transport development strategies and to remove barriers to rail projects implemented using EU funding;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Calls on the Commission to continue supporting investment in rolling stock in central and eastern European countries, as this will make it possible to restore the potential of rail within those countries’ public transport systems;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Criticises the underinvestment in cross-border railway lines and the low level of passenger rail services in many border areas; calls on the Member States to (re-)establish missing connections and to remove existing bottlenecks; reiterates its support for the deployment of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) on all TEN-T core network corridors crossing the region as a priority;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the progress made in the construction of the Rail Baltica rail link; expects this project to be an example of good practice in cooperation for other Member States; stresses that the entire Rail Baltica project is of significant strategic importance for all the Member States involved as well as for the region starting from Finland (with the possible "Bothnian extension"), continuing to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and going further to Germany, Netherlands and Southern Europe; therefore calls on the national authorities of the Baltic States to do their utmost to ensure that the project is irreversibly moving forward as, if the European Commission's rules, timetable and expectations are not respected, the EU co-funding of app 85% will be lost since it becomes available to all the other Cohesion Member States for their CEF transport infrastructure projects;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls on the Governments to recognise and to strengthen the role of the RB Rail Joint Venture as the most optimal body, in accordance with the shareholders' agreement and the CEF Grant Agreement, for management of a cross-national project of as significant a scale as "Rail Baltica"; stresses that joint and efficient co-ordination is essential to avoid technological barriers for interoperability of rail systems and with this regard the Joint Venture is the most efficient way to submit joint applications for EU funding, proceed with both joint as well as national public procurements, co-ordinate the project's works, and to demonstrate that involved Member States are able to co-operate; moreover, efficient project management and its realization will reveals true European added value to the EU citizens and tax payers;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Welcomes joint international initiatives taken by the Member States in the region with a view to developing and modernising rail infrastructure, such as the creation of the new rail freight corridor, No 11, linking commercial and industrial centres in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia by means of joint action in the allocation of traffic capacity for international freight trains; points out that such projects promote rail as a means of international freight transport, boost the competitiveness of rail transport and ensure that better use is made of existing international freight traffic capacity;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Emphasises the need to support joint projects and investment with non-EU countries, paving the way for the complementary exploitation of the potential of rail transport corridors that have been modernised using EU funding, for example, in links between the EU and countries in Asia;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Underscores the role of the Danube River as the key transport waterway in the Danube macro-region; invites the riparian states to ensure the continuous navigability of the river and to implement their master plan for fairway rehabilitation and maintenance endorsed in 2014; in this context emphasises that links between the Oder, the Elbe and the Danube could boost the transport and communication capacities of the entire region on the North-South axis;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Highlights the special importance of international waterways E40 and E70 as regards improving the integration of central and eastern European countries into European inland transport routes; emphasises that the establishment of good multimodal connections between those waterways and the Baltic – Adriatic core TEN-T corridor would be a significant boost to the investment potential of eastern regions in the EU;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Notes the enormous potential that small and medium-sized airports have in terms of transport accessibility in central and eastern Europe, especially for business travellers and tourists; reiterates that in recent years many regional airports have been built and modernised in central and eastern Europe, but that their potential is not being sufficiently exploited owing to a lack of decent links between those airports and the major transport routes; highlights the need for these airports to be used more effectively via the building of new road and rail links;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Stresses that the region of Central and Eastern Europe is characterized by a lower number and poorer quality of air connections compared to Western part of the EU; these connectivity gaps were identified by an independent analysis conducted at the request of the European Commission;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 b (new)
Paragraph 26 b (new)
26b. Recalls that European Commission identified the issue of gaps in connectivity in recently developed Aviation Strategy for Europe; however, since the proposed solutions are of a limited potential, encourages the European Commission to monitor the air connectivity within the EU, especially in the CEE region, and to develop further proposals aimed at reducing the gaps in the access to air transport services;