Activities of Erik MARQUARDT related to 2020/2045(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT Implementation report on the EU Trust Funds and the Facility for Refugees in Turkey
Amendments (53)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1
Citation 1
— having regard to Articles 208, 210, 214 and 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
— having regard to Article 21 of the Treaty on European Union,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 b (new)
Citation 1 b (new)
— having regard to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)
Citation 3 a (new)
— having regard to Council Regulation(EC) No 1257/96 on humanitarian aid,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 a (new)
Citation 4 a (new)
— having regard to the Commission communication of 18 November 2011 on the Global Approach to Migration and Mobility (GAMM) (COM(2020)0743),
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 b (new)
Citation 4 b (new)
— having regard to the Commission communication of 7 June 2016 on establishing a new Partnership Framework with third countries under the European Agenda on Migration (COM(2016)0385),
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 d (new)
Citation 4 d (new)
— having regard to the Commission communication of 23 September 2020 on a New Pact on Migration and Asylum (COM(2020)0609),
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 e (new)
Citation 4 e (new)
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
— having regard to the new European Consensus on Development of 30 June 2017,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 4 c (new)
Citation 4 c (new)
— having regard to the Commission Staff Working Document of 30 April 2014 on a rights-based approach, encompassing all human rights for EU development cooperation(SWD(2014)0152),
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 b (new)
Citation 6 b (new)
— having regard to the Consensus on Humanitarian Aid of 30 January 2008,
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15 a (new)
Citation 15 a (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 25 March 2021on a new EU-Africa Strategy – a partnership for sustainable and inclusive development,
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas four EUTFs have been established since 2014 to respond to the need for flexible and quick instruments to provide a coherent and reinforced aid response to crises: the Bêkou EUTF, established on 15 July 2014, with the objective of supporting all aspects of the Central African Republic’s exit from crisis and its reconstruction efforts; the Madad EUTF, a European Union Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis to allow for pooling and tailoring resources and response at a regional level, established on 15 December 2014; the Africa EUTF, a European Union Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa, established on 12 November 2015; and the Colombia EUTF, established on 12 December 2016 to support the implementation of the peace agreement in the early recovery and stabilisation post- conflict;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the revision of the Financial Regulation in 2018 rejected the European Commission’s proposal to expand the scope and the role of the EUTFs and introduced provisions strengthening Parliament’s scrutiny powers when new EUTFs are established or the current ones are extended; whereas such provisions remain too limited to ensure full democratic scrutiny from the European Parliament as well as complete Parliamentary scrutiny from the budgetary authority;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas existing legal, regulatory and budgetary solutions should have been used to the full extent before creating and/or extending the EUTFs which should remain a last resort instrument; whereas the Commission has not sufficiently presented the added value of EUTFs in the medium and long-run;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas Parliament issued positive opinions in 2020 on the requests to extend the EUTFs until the end of 2021 underlining the Commission’s repeated reassurances that such extension requests concerning the Trust Funds are the last and final ones; whereas, in such opinions, Parliament reminded that the EUTFs are established under the Development Cooperation Instrument, and must be aligned to the primary objective of the development policy of the European Union, which remain “the fight against poverty” and stressed furthermore that the respect for human rights, fundamenta l freedoms, the promotion of the rule of law, democratic principles, transparency, good governance, peace and stability and gender equality, are essential and part of the Constitutive Agreement establishing the EUTF;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
D a. whereas Article 208 TFEU clearly states that the primary objective of Union development cooperation policy shall be the reduction and, in the long term, the eradication of poverty;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Notes with concern that there are shortcomings in the application of EU public procurement law with regard to the EU’s external migration policy; considers that provisions in Article 3 of the Decision C(2015) 7293 establishing the EUTF for Africa, as well as humanitarian aid projects funded via the Madad Fund and the FRT are incompatible with or exempted from EU public procurement law; stresses the lack of transparency regarding the application and scope of public procurement law procedures in the selection of implementing partners; deplores that procedures and criteria for selecting projects are not sufficiently clear or documented; calls for the simplification and better communication regarding applications to procurement procedures in order to facilitate access to EU funding for smaller and local NGOs;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that Committee Chairs and relevant Members have been granted observer status in meetings of the Strategic Boards of the Trust Funds and in the FRT Steering Committee; notes furtherregrets that this status has not been formally reflected in the Constitutive Agreements of the Trust Funds;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Continues to expresse serious concerns over the limited role of Parliament in the supervision and scrutiny of the Union contributions to the EUTFs; recalls Parliament’s request to monitor the activities of the Operational Committee, and calls on the Commission to provide in good time detailed information on the decisions taken in that Committee and to ensure that Parliament is represented at its meetings;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Calls on the Commission to regularly report to Parliament on the implementation and programming for EUTFs and FRT and calls for a specific impact assessment covering their human rights impact to be carried out by the European Commission, with the support of the Fundamental Rights Agency; calls on the Commission to timely present the result of such impact assessment to the European Parliament, including within the framework of the working groups on external financial instruments of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Development Committee;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Believes that Parliament must make full use of its powers of scrutiny of implementation and budgetary control and ensure that EU funding decisions and related allocations comply with the Union’s principles of legality and sound financial management;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the Commission’s efforts to closely monitor and evaluate interventions, and to generate knowledge about the activities of the EUTFs and of the FRT, through a dedicated set of reports; hails these efforts to achieve greater transparency by publishing relevant data, including specific details of projects funded and results achieved vis-a-vis the stated objectives, on the web pages of the EUTFs and the FRT;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Considers that the Bêkou Trust Fund has partially proven its value as an importantone of the tools to address the post-conflict situation in the Central African Republic (CAR); notes that the EUTF made a major contributioned to the nexus approach of development and humanitarian needs in the CAR;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. NoteHighlights the conclusions by the European Court of Auditors, published in its 2017 special report, that the Bêkou Trust Fund has had positive achievements overall and has attracted aid, but few additional donors, and that most of its projects have delivered their expected outputs and provided enhanced visibility to the EU; considers therefore that the Bêkou Trust Fund missed one of its primarily objectives;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Underlines the presence of conflicts of interest reported by the European Court of Auditors, with Member States in the Operational Committee of the Bêkou trust fund being represented by their own national development agencies, which in turn are selected as project implementers and lead on the largest projects, while NGOs are awarded smaller ones;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that the emergingdue to the new security challenges in the CAR will require well- targetedstill ongoing in the CAR further EU support will require well- targeted programmes, and where relevant, flexible EU supportfunding, both under the NDICI-Global Europe to enhance peace and security, democratisation and strengthening democratic institutions in the CAR and to evaluate better the impact of the EU support on ongoing conflicts and populations on the ground;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Emphasises the importance of continuous support for refugees, internally displaced persons and for vulnerable host communities, both inside Syria andincluding in the wider region, affected by the continued conflict, by means of a mix of longer-term, predictable, fully transparent, and rapidly deployable funding under instruments established for the 2021- 2027 multiannual financial framework (MFF) and potential contributions from the Member States as external assigned revenue, taking into account all financial instruments provided under the Financial Regulation;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. ConsiderNotes that the Trust Fund for Africa represents an important tool to providewas created as an emergency trust fund to contribute to address the crises in three regions in Africa, with the aim of achieving long-term stability and development goals; considers that the EUTF for Africa represents a swift, and flexible and targeted response to emerging challenges and underlines thattool, highlights however that, considering the unprecedented challenges that it aims at addressing, including common, global challenges, such as migration and forced displacement, the impact of climate change and economic crises in the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, make this flexibility and rapidity more necessary than everits design should have been more focused; deplores that the Commission has not defined which particular crises (e.g. per regions, per countries, the causes and impact on stability) the EUTF for Africa is meant to address and instead established very broad objectives which have allowed for flexibility, at the expense of having a strategy that is focused enough to steer action across the three windows and supports the measuring and reporting on results;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the fact that the EUTF for Africa has in some cases contributed to the triple humanitarian-development-peace nexus approach, which was not possible with the EU financial instruments under the previous MFF, by better linking humanitarian assistance and development cooperation to anticipate, prepare for and respond to crises and disasters, man-made or natural; recalls that as a fundamental principle, humanitarian assistance must be independent and dissociated in particular from security or stability agendas;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Deplores the fact that 37% of the EUTF is allocated to measures intended to restrict and reduce migration while less than 9% is allocated to addressing the drivers of migration and forced displacement; notes that there is no long- term assessment of the consequences of the measures on migratory routes and the security situation; notes with concern that the EUTF for Africa has financed operations which affect human rights and counter the aims of development aid, such as the “Support to integrated border and migration management in Libya” or the ‘Road Project’ (“Reconnecting Eritrea and Ethiopia through rehabilitation of the main arterial roads in Eritrea”) using forced labour in Eritrea;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. WelcomNotes the generally strong degree ofpotential for local ownership, the involvement of local authorities and civil society organisations (CSOs) in projects supported by the EUTF for Africa; calls on the Commission to actively engage with local authorities and CSOs in order to fully make use of this potential of local ownership;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Considers that the Trust Fund for Colombia has proven its value and represents, under the current circumstances, an important tool to support the implementation of the peace agreement between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Coluombia (FARC); points out that the extension of the Colombia EUTF has further reaffirmed the EU’s commitment and provided much-needed support to the Colombian peace process; calls however, for the implementation of the Colombian peace process to be prioritised as part of long- and medium-term, fully transparent funding programmes and monitoring, and for these programmes to count with the appropriate democratic scrutiny and involvement of the European Parliament and appropriate, transparent and inclusive stakeholder consultations, notably of the local civil society;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Recalls the important role played by Turkey in welcoming refugees from Syria; takes the view that the EU should continue to give the necessary support to Syrian and other refugees and host communities in Turkey; calls for a fully- fledged human rights impact assessment of the EU-Turkey Statement and underlines the importance of both parties’ compliance with fundamental rights as part of its implementation;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Reiterates its deep regret that Parliament was not formally consulted or asked to give its approval to the creation or extension of this Facility and was only involved as one arm of the budgetary authority, thereby undermining the democratic accountability of the FRT; affirms that it should not be confronted with this situation again;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21 a. Recalls the serious concerns about the implementation and the transparency in the use of funds of the Refugee Facility; notes, that whether implemented by the Government or local authorities or NGOs, the funds have to be exclusively used for accommodating all physical and psychological needs of refugees, including housing, food, education and guaranteeing a decent living standard; stresses the importance of a transparent implementation and the approval of the Turkish Parliament's in case funds are implemented through the government or local authorities; recalls the necessity of scrutiny of the funds implemented by the Turkish government and the local authorities;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21 b. Is concerned by several reports of expulsion and return of migrants and refugees, raising concerns in relation to the respect of the principle of non- refoulement, especially with regard to Syrian nationals, as well as to those who have been returned to a third country without having been granted access to asylum procedures; urges the Commission to ensure a close monitoring of the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement, including in relation to the human rights situation of asylum seekers and migrants returned to Turkey as part of the EU-Turkey Statement and report back to Parliament;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Reiterates its request that Turkey respect the principle of non-refoulement, in particular on the Syrian border, and that it not use the flows of refugees against the EUcalls on both Turkey and the EU not to instrumentalise concerns of migration management and refugees reception for broader political purposes; Calls on the Turkish authorities to grant full access to UNHCR to the removal centres at the Turkish Syrian border to be able to monitor the respect of the principle of non-refoulement;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Underlines the necessity of better addressing, in the long-and medium-term, the funding needs in situations of protracted crisis and with a view to the coordination and transition between humanitarian relief, reconstruction and development in a flexible and interconnected manner, while respecting the fundamental principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence at the heart of humanitarian action, as set in the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid and the Humanitarian Aid Regulation;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. ReiteratesWhile noting that the Financial Regulation allows for the creation of Trust Funds for external action, reiterates further Parliament’s long- standing insistence that external assistance be financed in full from the Union budget and be implemented in a coherent way, following a streamlined set of rules, based on co-legislated instruments and in full respect of the EU Treaties, in particular Article 208 TFEU, and of Parliament’s legislative, budgetary and monitoring prerogatives, and of the principles of accountability, transparency, effectiveness and sound budgetary management; calls on the Commission to delete the EUTF- related articles in the Financial Regulation in the next revision of the Financial Regulation;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Paragraph 25 b (new)
25 b. Notes that a complete, public overview of EU funding to third countries to facilitate cooperation on migration issues remains unavailable; calls on the Commission to provide improved transparency and participatory mechanisms for civil society and stakeholder consultations, including by establishing a clear overview of the funds used to finance cooperation with third countries, including in the field of migration management, across all its financial instruments and their implementation, including information on the amount, purpose and source of funding as well as detailed information on any other potential support measures provided by EU agencies such as the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, in order to ensure that Parliament can efficiently perform its institutional role of scrutiny of the implementation of the EU budget;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. ExpectsCalls on the Commission to fully and primarily make use of the possibilities afforded by the programme-based approach under the geographic pillar of the NDICI-Global Europe and IPA III, complemented by global thematic programming,; insists that the rapid response funding and the large unprogrammed reserveemerging challenges and priorities cushion under the NDICI- Global Europe be targeted at well-defined emergency situations in coherence and consistency with all programmes and actions, to allow for proper monitoring and reporting on the results of EU’s intervention;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26 a. Recalls that the funds from the Emerging challenges and priorities cushion under the NDICI-Global Europe are expected to top-up funding from the geographic, thematic programmes and rapid response actions; underlines that the Commission has committed to discuss the use of these funds as part of the geopolitical dialogue with the European Parliament, and to provide detailed information before their mobilisation, whilst fully taking into consideration the remarks of the European Parliament on the nature, objectives and financial amounts envisaged;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Is confident that the NDICI-Global Europe will allow for increased flexibility and responsiveness, allowing itwhile learning from past experiences and assessments of the existing trust funds, allowing it, when relevant, to continue and adapt their activities of the existing Trust Fundswithin the objectives of the Regulation and thereby safeguard the unity of the Union budget;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. In the event of greater needs in the MFF 2021-2027, advocates increasing the NDICI-Global Europe envelope through a revision of the MFF and the NDICI-Global Europe regulations, or a strengthening of the relevant NDICI-Global Europe budget lines with contributions in the form of external assigned revenue; stresses that, should a need for a duly justified new Trust Fund nevertheless arise, itany flexible funding mechanism established in the framework of the NDICI-Global Europe should comply with the thematic spending targets defined in the Regulation; insists that Parliament must be fully involved from the very outsin the potential transition process of existing Trust Funds towards the NDICI from the very outset; calls on the Commission not to create any new trust fund or equivalent mechanism outside of the Union budget;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Calls on the Commission to prioritiseconsider the nexus approach in the implementation of the NDICI-Global Europe, and calls for the cooperation between EU humanitarian and development actors in compliance with the principle of independence of humanitarian aid, notably in post-crisis settings and in protracted crises, to be increased in order to better adapt to local needs and deliver more efficient results;
Amendment 271 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29 a. Notes that the possibilities of mainstreaming migration policy in EU external policy are significantly broadened by the inclusion of migration in the thematic, geographical and rapid response component of NDICI; notes with concern, however, that through the ‘rapid response’ component, cooperation with third countries on migration management can be funded without the need for the Commission to publish any programming documents or consult civil society actors, and without the involvement of Parliament, including in the framework of the ‘Migration Preparedness and Crisis Blueprint’, which lacks mechanisms to assess the possible adverse impact of such interventions; insists in this regard on the need to ensure that the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework is accompanied by a robust human rights framework for the identification, implementation and monitoring of future migration cooperation programmes;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 b (new)
Paragraph 29 b (new)
29 b. Notes that NDICI-Global Europe foresees mid-term and final evaluations and the detailed annual reporting by Commission to Parliament and Council on the ongoing activities, results delivered, effectiveness, as well as progress towards the thematic targets and objectives of the Regulation; calls on the Commission to develop and implement a precise methodology for tracking the 10% expenditure earmarked for migration and forced displacement to effectively ensure proper transparency and accountability regarding this expenditure, as required by the Regulation;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Notes thatWelcomes the close-to-ground decision-making procedure and, adaptation to the local realities of the EUTFs and the FRT is of high added value, and needs to be mainstreamedand the possibility to implement cross-border and multi-year funded projects in the EUTFs and the FRT; calls for mainstreaming such aspects in the future programming exercises linked to budgetary instruments for EU external policy;
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 a (new)
Paragraph 31 a (new)
31 a. Stresses the importance of allocating a substantial share of future EU funding in the field of migration to civil society groups in third countries for providing assistance and for the protection and monitoring of the rights of migrants, and of ensuring that a significant part of EU funding is earmarked for the improvement of human rights, international protection, and the future perspective of refugees;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 b (new)
Paragraph 31 b (new)
31 b. Reiterates that the EU has a global responsibility in hosting a fair share of people in need of international protection; stresses that financial assistance to third countries for the reception of refugees can under no circumstances substitute this responsibility;