Activities of Niklas NIENASS related to 2022/2032(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Economic, social and territorial cohesion in the EU: the 8th Cohesion Report - EU border regions: living labs of European integration (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on economic, social and territorial cohesion in the EU: the 8th Cohesion Report
Amendments (63)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
— having regard to the final document of the Conference on the Future of Europe and the recommendations within, brought forward by the three institutions, members of all national parliaments and 800 European citizens and its resolution of 2nd May 2022 on the follow-up to the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe (B9-0228/2022),
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
— having regard to the UN IPCC report on Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change,
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 b (new)
Citation 6 b (new)
— having regard to the agreement adopted at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) in Paris on 12 December 2015 (the Paris Agreement),
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 c (new)
Citation 6 c (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 13 June 2018 on Cohesion Policy and the Circular Economy (2017/2211(INI)),
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 28 a (new)
Citation 28 a (new)
— having regard to the study “EU lagging regions: state of play and future challenges” of September 2020 (PE 652.215),
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the implications of climate change can have the biggest impact on all European regions, bringing more drastic changes to the life of people and livelihood of regions especially in less developed regions, mainly located in the southern and eastern parts of Europe; whereas climate change thus is the biggest external threat to Europe’s cohesion in the future;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas it is of utmost importance to formulate any future Cohesion Policy with a strategic impetus that is being followed during the whole funding period, which should however be reassessed and adjusted in the midterm of the funding period;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas cCohesion pPolicy can helps in an emergency manner to respond effectively to asymmetric shocks such as the current refugee crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine; or the negative economic and social impacts of the Covid19 pandemic; this emergency help should however not undermine or threaten the strategic approach of the whole funding period;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas less developed regions will need a new strategic framework at EU level to boost education and training, increase investments in research and innovation, and improve the quality of their institutions to avoid falling into a development trapin order to overcome the development trap that is affecting their recovery;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas infrastructure quality differs vastly between urban and rural regions as well from the East to West or from South to North of the EU;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas demographic decline is more pronounced in rural regions, and 50 % of the EU population will be living in a region with a shrinking and ageing population by 2050; whereas considering the aging population is crucial in order to ensure justice amongst the generations and, by that, strengthen participation especially for young people;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas brain drain disproportionately affects less developed regions and if left unaddressed, the phenomenon will have long-term and permanent effects on the future of the European Union;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas the goal of a carbon- neutral Europe by 2040 at the latest should be coupled with the goal of a fair and just transition; whereas air and water pollution as well as energy poverty generally remain too high in many less developed regions;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas disparities remain in the speed of the digital transition across Europend connectivity across Europe especially in rural and remote areas;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L a (new)
Recital L a (new)
La. whereas housing and energy prices are rising, realizing the need for cheaper, state owned housing and accelerated deep renovation to fight energy poverty;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas cohesion policy should provide efficient responses for tackling poverty and social exclusion, creating employment and growth, promoting investment in education, including in digital education, health, research and innovation, fighting climate change and tackling demographic challenges; whereas cohesion policy can only fulfil all these tasks if it is embedded in solid funding;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M a (new)
Recital M a (new)
Ma. whereas the democratic understanding is that elections can change the course of the ongoing policy; whereas this democratic understanding means that every newly elected European Parliament must have the possibility to confirm or change the ongoing or new Cohesion Policy;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M b (new)
Recital M b (new)
Mb. whereas Cohesion Policy funding should comply with the Charter of Fundamental rights, the principles of Rule of Law, and the European code of conduct on partnership;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M c (new)
Recital M c (new)
Mc. whereas the pandemic and the current geopolitical tensions have confirmed the need to work towards a renewed Economic Governance Framework, including the Stability and Growth Pact, and to introduce a golden rule for Cohesion Policy investments that do not deviate from the respect of the Paris Agreement’s objectives, including the co-funding of the Structural and Investment Funds;
Amendment 66 #
1. Is convinced that cohesion policy can only continue to play its present role as a vector for investment and job creation and a solidarity mechanism for all EU regions if it has solid funding; stresses that this implies providing for the same level of funding as in the 2021-2027 financial period, topped up with the Just Transition Fund (JTF) II budgetary resource and guided with the strategic approach; underlines that current Cohesion Policy is just enough to halt the further economic separation of European regions, but not able to reverse the trend; stresses that this implies that the future Cohesion Policy must be provided with an increase of funding in regard to the 2021-2027 financial period, also in light of the expected upcoming recession, topped up with the Just Transition Fund (JTF) II budgetary resources, in order to effectively tackle the impacts of climate change on the regions;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that delays in the multiannual financial framework (MFF) negotiations together with the programming of the RRF funds on which Member States focused more, lead to considerable delays in the programming period 2021-2027; calls on the Commission, therefore, to consider creating two distinct parts within the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR), namely the content-related part (political) and the MFF-related part (financial resources), for the programming period post-2027; believes that the content-related part should be negotiated and concluded before the MFF-related part, to allow for the management authorities to start preparing the partnership agreements and programmes in a timely manner; furthermore, calls for the content related part to be active for a 10 year period, being revised after 5 years in order to balance different priorities that could emerge during the programming period, allow more flexibility in programming to adapt to challenges that might occur, and give every newly elected European Parliament the possibility to revisit the Cohesion Policy if needed or majorities change, in order to stay true to fundamental democratic understandings;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises that the European Court of Auditors has criticised the lack of differentiation between climate mitigation and climate adaptation; stresses that future cohesion policy should include such a differentiation in the monitoring of spending and in thematic concentration; furthermore calls on the Commission to propose the specific Climate Adaptation Fund to be introduced in Cohesion Policy to ensure sustainable regional development for resilient regions and to make a revision of the EU Solidarity Fund;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Welcomes the Commission’s view that horizontal policies should incorporate regional proofing, to ensure they respect the principle of ‘do not harm to cohesion’. Calls on the Commission to issue specific guidelines on how to implement and enforce this principle across EU policies;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the Commission’s introduction of the JTF to support regions facing challenges in their transition towards carbon neutrality; calls on the Commission to draw lessons from the implementation of the JTF; asks for a JTF II, which should be fully integrated into the CPR, to be established in the post-2027 programming period, while applying shared management and partnership principles; believes that regions with high CO² per capita, as well as industries in transition, should have access to this fund; calls for this new JTF to be financially increased compared to the current JTF and to differentiate between climate mitigation and adaptation; stresses that a certain proportion of funding should be allocated to the transition, in a socially just way, and to the reduction of the EU’s carbon footprint;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Requires that an additional instrument is to be founded that insures European regions from natural disasters that are caused by climate change; calls at the same time to increase and reform the existing EU Solidarity Fund to be less bureaucratic and more easily accessible; suggests that these two funds should work rather as an insurance in which Member States pay an annual fee based of the number of their inhabitants and invested in safe assets to be available if crisis occur;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Calls for conventional macroeconomic indicators and the GDP to be complemented with new indicators in order to address the new European priorities such as the European Green Deal or the European Pillar of Social Rights and to better reflect the ecological and digital transitions and the wellbeing of people; calls for an impact assessment and a territorial dimension to be considered to allocate Cohesion budget in order to take into account the diverse economic, social and territorial situation in the different Member States;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Believes that there should only be two types of region; notes that mostsome of the current transitional regions will be covered by the newly established JTF II;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 – point a
Paragraph 8 – point a
(a) 8590 % for less developed regions;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 – point b
Paragraph 8 – point b
(b) 705 % for more developed regions;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls for a specific EU initiative to support the Union’s low growth and poorer regions that are diverging both internally and externally from the EU average, building on the lessons learned from the Catching Up initiative; reiterates the need for a place-based policymaking via an appropriate analysis of low-growth patterns and the necessary tools to address them;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Stresses the importance of supporting rural areas by valuing their diversity and potential, improving transport connectivity and high-speed broadband, and helping them meet challenges such as rural desertification, the decline of city- centre communities and insufficient healthcare; recalls the importance of strong rural-urban linkages as well as a particular support of women in rural areas;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Believes that EU ad-hoc initiatives and pilot projects in the coming years should aim at ensuring a fair representation of EU territories, duly taking into account geographic balance, economic development and the urban- rural divide; reiterates that failing to do so may risk jeopardising the very principles of territorial cohesion;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Highlights notably the importance of the re-localisation of food and feed production and processing, where the opportunities offered by the Cohesion Policy and regional environmental strategies can support this re-localisation; stresses the importance of local and regional production and consumption and the need to support education and skills in this regard;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11c. Calls for a better access to funding to enable investments in the local energy transition, including energy efficiency, decentralised distribution of energy and a strong focus on renewable energy and sustainable circular economy;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 d (new)
Paragraph 11 d (new)
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 e (new)
Paragraph 11 e (new)
11e. Stresses the importance of more sustainable mobility solutions throughout the EU, including the TEN-T policy; calls on the Commission to promote smart and green mobility; is of the position that only smart and sustainable mobility solutions should be eligible of EU funding;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 f (new)
Paragraph 11 f (new)
11f. Calls to strengthen the polluter- pays principle and promote decarbonisation both in mobility infrastructure and economy to contribute to the EU Green Deal and Fitfor55 Package;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that only 11.5 % of people living in rural areas work in agriculture, forestry and fisheries21 ; calls, therefore, for the reintegration of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) under the strategic framework of the CPR and the financial increase of that pillar; emphasises that being part of the cohesion policy funds strengthens possibilities for investments in rural areas beyond agriculture and regional development in a more integrated approach; _________________ 21 European Commission, JRC Technical Reports, Territorial Facts and Trends in the EU Rural Areas within 2015-2030, 2018.
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Is convinced that the role of small cities, towns and villages should be bolstered in order to support local economies and address demographic and climate challenges; backurges, therefore, the reinforcement of the second pillaro extract the EAFRD out of the cCommon aAgricultural pPolicy, the EAFRD; and integrate it into the CPR as an individual, yet strategically integrated, fund;
Amendment 198 #
14. Notes that funding should be even more tailor-made and holistic; demands that local and regional authorities as well as citizens and NGOs shall be more included in the decision making and funding process to ensure the needs are addressed properly; notes the potential that exists at local level could be better mobilised and investments in regional development could be more efficient by strengthening and facilitating citizens participation and community- led local development (CLLD) and similar bottom- up tools; takes the view that CLLD shouldall be mandatory for Member States to integrate in their programmes;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Notes with concern the severe drop in recent years of adequate level of national funding of Member States towards their poorer regions; recalls the importance of respecting the EU rule on additionality; calls on the Commission to ensure that national authorities duly take into account internal cohesion while drafting and implementing Structural and Investment Funds’ projects;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Calls for an in depth assessment of the use of back-up projects especially in less developed regions across the EU and their risk in hampering the added value and the strategic vision of cohesion policy objectives;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises that these ‘middle- income trap’ regions need more investments in education and training; urges the Commission to define these regions and to allocate higher amounts to them under the ESF+ in the next programming period;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Believes that cities and urban authorities must have direct access to EU funding; reiterates the importance of safeguards that would avoid an unfair penalization of the regional and local authorities situated in countries that may be subject to the activation of the Rule of Law mechanism; calls in the same time for a regional budget with direct access for regions;
Amendment 235 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Believes that nation-wide structural policies should go hand in hand with a place-based approach in order to contribute to territorial cohesion, address different levels of governance including allowing multi-level governance, ensure cooperation and coordination, and unleash the unique potential of regions, while recognising the need for tailor-made solutions; furthermore, believes that Cohesion Policy should be more geared towards investment in people, as regions’ economies can be boosted by an effective mix of investments in innovation, human capital, good governance and institutional capacity;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Highlights the potential of synergies between the funds under the EU Cohesion Policy and emphasizes in this regard the promotion and support of Multifund- solutions and Multifund- programmes to allow and ensure an even more efficient and sustainable funding of projects, accelerating cohesion within and among European regions; calls in this regard on the Commission to minimize the administrative burdens for regions to introduce Multifund- approaches; calls on the Commission to promote Multifunding as a future standard method throughout Member States;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Recalls the need for minimizing administrative burden for local and regional authorities but for beneficiaries in particular; calls especially for easier funding application and process in order to ensure projects needed in the regions are being realized and supported adequately, also in a financial manner; calls on the Commission to allow the funding of regional guides to support citizen in applying for EU Cohesion Funds; stresses that the Commission shall evaluate and, if needed, oblige Member States to simplify their respective application and funding process;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 c (new)
Paragraph 18 c (new)
18c. Recalls, in that regard, the principle of subsidiarity of EU funding;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 d (new)
Paragraph 18 d (new)
18d. Stresses the crucial role that investments in high quality public services have on building social resilience and coping with economic, health and social crises;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Notes that cohesion policy reform for the financial period 2021-2027 has contributed to greener spending under these funds which is geared towards sustainable investment and more items of harmful spending are excluded from support from the outset compared to previous periods, such as landfills, waste incinerators, etc.; furthermore, simplified and flexible use of funding for beneficiaries and management authorities is enhanced; calls on the Commission to promote further simplification, flexibiclimate-related spending, wider exclusion list to strengthen the do no harm principle and fully phasing out of fossil fuels, gender dimension in Cohesion Politcy and citizen participation EU wide;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Underlines that Cohesion Policy must not contribute to misuse of EU funds or further deterioration of the Rule of Law and democracy in Member States; expects therefore that the Commission takes fully into consideration the aspects of the Rule of Law throughout the ongoing negotiations regarding the Partnership Agreements and Cohesion Policy programmes; requires that the Commission analyses whether the draft documents already submitted or expected to be sent in the future are in full compliance with the enabling conditions on the effective application and implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights as outlined in the Annex III of the Common Provisions Regulation, and not to approve any Partnership Agreement or programme before these in depth analysis on this specific aspects lead to a high level of assurance of no risks;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)
Paragraph 19 b (new)
19b. Emphasises the fast and full support from Cohesion Policy towards Ukrainian refugees as well towards regions affected hardly by the pandemic; however, underlines that extended flexibility provided by the Commission previously with the CRII and CRII+ regulations and currently through the CARE and CARE+ proposals on the ESI funds 2014-2020, together with the RRF funds, undermines the strategic approach of Cohesion Policy that aims to tackle regional disparities across the EU in a long-run, with dedicated budget for climate and thematic concentration for specific policy objectives; underlines that other EU Funds than Cohesion Policy should be mobilised to respond to unprecedented crisis in an emergency manner, that Cohesion Policy should not face budgetary cuts in order to respond to crisis and that Cohesion Policy should be invested to avoid unpreparedness of regions for any challenges that may occur and that way build up resilient and future- proof regions overall the EU;
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 c (new)
Paragraph 19 c (new)
19c. Calls on the Commission to exclude the national co-financing of the investments funded by the ERDF, JTF, ESF+, INTERREG, that do not deviate from the respect of the Paris Agreement’s objectives, from the assessment of the Member States’ fiscal position in the context of the Stability and Growth Pact;
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 d (new)
Paragraph 19 d (new)
19d. Emphasises the importance of small-scale and cross-border projects in bringing people together and in that way opening new potentials for sustainable local development and cross-border cooperation; stresses the importance of cross-border investments to enhance innovations, technology transfer, common solutions and synergies and that way increase territorial cohesion beyond administrative borders and strengthen European solidarity; therefore urges the Commission to develop funding possibilities that bring actors from different regions closer together in bigger projects (INTERREG +);
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 e (new)
Paragraph 19 e (new)
19e. Calls for a specific budget for a minimum of two border regions (NUTS3), other than INTERREG, that can only be spent when all regions addressed within this specific budget allocation participate as well as co-financing is guaranteed by all participating regions, in order to boost cross-border projects and solutions and that way enhance territorial cohesion;
Amendment 268 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on Member States to launch bold strategies to unlock public and private investment in green, digital and demographic transitions in order to restructure their social market economy model in a positive way for society; stresses as well that all EU regions have to play a decisive role in tackling climate change challenges, in coordinated actions with their surrounding regions;
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Stresses that investment in people is crucial to helping them activate their skills, encouraging their creativity and stimulating innovation, and by that, volunteering is a key aspect in all areas; believes that quality employment should be maintained or created in order to strengthen social cohesion and ensure that no one is left behind;
Amendment 281 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Recalls the importance of a stronger gender mainstreaming in Cohesion Policy and highlights the specific role of women, in particular in remote areas, as they play a major role in civil society and sustainable economic growth and at the same time face difficulties in accessing the labour market, as well as equal pay, public services such as health and childcare; emphasizes the role of young women in particular in rural areas and the tendency of their precarious role in rural societies;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21b. Stresses that equality and inclusion aspects must be strengthened even further in regional development; highlights the particular role of youth in Cohesion Policy;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 c (new)
Paragraph 21 c (new)
21c. Highlights the importance of Cohesion Policy to include culture as an important indicator of regional development, in particular in rural areas, to ensure lively regions and increase their attractiveness, to increase cultural exchange and promote diversity and solidarity;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 d (new)
Paragraph 21 d (new)
21d. Highlights the importance of upholding the Partnership Principle in all programming, implementation and monitoring of EU cohesion policy and to set up a strong cooperation between regional and local authorities, NGOs and stakeholders, including environmental NGOs; stresses that this process should take into account the gender perspective as well;
Amendment 290 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission., the Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the national and regional parliaments of the Member States;