16 Amendments of Iskra MIHAYLOVA related to 2014/2245(INI)
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines that cohesion policy is the main instrument of the European Union aimed at reducing the economic, social and territorial disparities across European regions, boosting their competitiveness, tackling climate change and energy dependence, while at the same time contributing to the achievement of the Europe 2020 Strategy goals; underlines that cohesion policy investments have cushioned significantly the negative effects of the economic and financial crisis and has given stability to regions by ensuring the flow of funding when national and regional public and private investments fell sharply; underlines that cohesion policy funding was equivalent to 21% of public investment in the EU as a whole and to 57% in the cohesion countries taken together;
Amendment 28 #
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; calls on all actors involved to establish properly functioning multilevel governance and coordination mechanisms to ensure consistency between programmes, support to the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Country Specific Recommendations;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Expresses its serious concern about the significant delay in the implementation of cohesion policy 2014-2020, including the delay in adoption of Operational Programmes, with only just over 100 O251 ESIF Operational Programmes (43% of all ESIF operational Pprogrammes) adopted atby the end of 2014, as well as a backlog in payments amounting to ca EUR 25 billion for the 2007-2013 programming period; stresses that these delays aremight undermininge the credibility of cohesion policy, effectiveness and sustainability, challenging national, regional and local authorities’ capacity to plan effectively and implement the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) for the 2014- 2020 period;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that it is imperative to start the implementation of the Operational Programmes as soon as they are adopted, in order to maximise the results of the investments, boost job creation and raise productivity growth, and that the Commission and the Member States should do their utmost to speed up their adoption; demands that the Commission – while keeping a high focus on quality and the need to keep up the fight against fraud – analyses all possible ways of streamlining its internal procedures in order to ensure that Operational Programmes resubmitted after the deadline of 24 November 2014 are also taken into consideration; is aware that two scenarios are envisaged for the adoption of Operational Programmes, both implying further delays as regards the start of implementation;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Reiterates the original role of cohesion policy to promote economic, social and territorial developmentcohesion and reduce regional disparities, providing particular support to less developed regions; underlines that by its nature and original set up, as stipulated in the Treaty, the policy contributes inherently to the objectives of the Union, in particular to the Europe 2020 goals of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes the new European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) and its potential leverage effect; advises the parties concerned to build on the experiences gained from the implementation of the European Economic Recovery Plan in 2008, in particular regarding smart investments; calls for the coordination of all EU investment policies – in particular cohesion policy – to ensure complementarity, enhanced synergy and avoid overlaps; suggests that the implementation of this new EU investment plan build on the experiences of the three joint initiatives JEREMIE, JESSICA and JASMINE, which allowed an increase in the delivery of Structural Funds from EUR 1.2 billion in 2000-2006 to EUR 8.4 billion in 2007- 2012;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Underlines that cohesion policy legislation provides for the extended use of financial instruments, in order to double their contribution to about EUR 25-30 billion in 2014-2020, by extending their thematic scope and offering more flexibility to Member States and regions; highlights their role in mobilising additional public or private co- investments in order to address market failures in line with the Europe 2020 Strategy and cohesion policy priorities; supports, in particular, the risk-sharing ‘SME initiative’, and calls on the Commission to make all efforts to make financial instruments easily usable and tempting for Member States and regions, thus ensuring that the doubling is achieved on its own merits and that stakeholder ownership of this target is well established;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Highlights the importance of all measures aimed at increasing the effectiveness, efficiency and result orientation of cohesion policy that should ensure a shift from funds absorption criteria towards quality of spending and high added value of the co-financed operations;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Emphasises, in this context, Parliament’s responsibility to control; demands that the Commission and the Council provide full, transparent and timely information on the criteria for, and on the entire procedure that could trigger, a suspension of commitments or payments of the ESIF in accordance with in Article 23(15) of the Common Provisions Regulation; points out that the decision on the suspension of payments should be taken as a last resort, when all other options have been exhausted and after assessment of possible repercussions on growth and jobs, because suspending payments could have serious consequences for the respective programmes and regions severely hit by the crisis, as well as for the achievement of cohesion policy goals as a whole;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Points out that a simplification of management and procedures would also allow for error rates in the implementation of cohesion programmes to be reduced; underlines that these errors stem to a considerable degree from legislation outside of cohesion policy, such as public procurement and state aide rules; is concerned about the low rates of disbursement of financial instruments to beneficiaries, in particular in view of the objective to increase the use of these instruments; underlines that simplification should be directed towards reducing the administrative burden on beneficiaries, optimization and more flexibility of the management and control systems, stronger focus on risk assessment and correct allocation of responsibilities of all authorities, at the same time not undermining establishing strengthened control procedures in order to more effectively prevent irregularities and, in consequence, to avoid financial corrections, as well as interruptions and suspensions of payments;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Stresses that the ESIF could make a significant contribution to reversing the negative social consequences of the crisis, and that, for this to happen, an integrated approach offered by multi-fund programming should be pursued, with more efficient coordination of, and greater flexibility among, the funds, allowing for better exploitation of the synergies between the ESF and the ERDF, in particular; emphasises that investments funded by the ESF cannot produce optimal results if the relevant infrastructure and appropriate institutions are not in place; stresses that the integrated and territorial approach is particularly essential when it comes to environmental and energy matters; draws attention to the fact that the ESIF can effectively support social inclusion, and should therefore be mobilised to help the integration of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups such as Roma and persons with disabilities, as well as to support the transition from institutional to community-based services for children and adults;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Regrets that the Sixth Cohesion report does not include in-depth assessment on the achievements of the technical assistance facility JASPERS, which provided the Member States during 2007-2013 period with the technical expertise needed to prepare high quality major projects to be co-financed by EU funds; welcomes the launched in 2013 JASPERS Networking Platform for capacity building activities and the established in 2014 Networking and Competence Centre division for delivery of specialist expertise in project preparation for the programming period 2014-2020; welcomes the establishment of a Competence Centre on administrative capacity building regarding ESIF that should contribute to enhancing the capacity of all authorities in the Member States involved in management and implementation of ESIF;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Regrets that the Sixth Cohesion Report does not refer to polycentric territorial development as a key element of achieving territorial cohesion and territorial competitiveness in line with the EU Territorial Agenda 2020 and the ESPON Report "Making Europe Open and Polycentric"(2013); highlights the role of small and medium-sized towns and the importance of enhancing the functional links of the urban centres with their surrounding areas to achieve balanced territorial development;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Notes with regret that the role of Cohesion Policy in supporting macroregional strategies has not been developed in the Sixth Cohesion Report and points out their potential to address macroregional challenges, to rationalise existing resources and use them more efficiently;