Activities of Joachim KUHS related to 2020/0104(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Recovery and Resilience Facility
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council regulation establishing a Recovery and Resilience Facility
Amendments (46)
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a regulation
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The European Parliament rejects the Commission proposal.
Amendment 119 #
Proposal for a regulation
Citation 5 a (new)
Citation 5 a (new)
Having regard to Opinion No 6/2020 of the European Court of Auditors,
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) In accordance with Articles 120 and 121 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ('the Treaty'), Member States are required to conduct their economic policies with a view to contributing to the achievement of the objectives of the Union and in the context of the broad guidelines that the Council formulates. Under Article 148 of the Treaty Member States shall implement employment policies that take into account the guidelines for employment. The coordination of the economic policies of the Member States is therefore a matter of common concerna common concern, due to the mismatch between the introduction of the euro as a common currency and the economic realities in the different Member States.
Amendment 139 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) The national and regional lockdown measures following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 changed the economic outlook for the years to come in the Union and in the world, calling for an urgent and coordinated response from the Unionall Member States in order to cope with the enormous economic and social consequences for all Member. The challenges linked to the demographic context have been amplified by COVID- 19. The current COVID-19 pandemic as well as the previous economic and financial crisis have shown that developing sound, solvable and resilient economies and financial systems built on strong equity-based economic and social structures helps Member States to respond more efficiently to shocks and recover more swiftly from them. The medium and long-term consequences of the COVID-19 crisis will critically depend on how quickly Member States’ economies will recover from the crisis, which in turn depends on the fiscal space Member States have available to take measures to mitigate the social and economic impact of the crisis' budgetary discipline, and on the resilience of their economies. RGrowth enhancing reforms and investments to address structural weaknesses of the economies and, strengthen their resilience and reduce their dependency on debt-financing will therefore be essential to set the economiMember States back on a sustainable recovery path and avoid further widening of theovercome the economic, social and territorial divergences in the Union.
Amendment 163 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) The implementation of reforms contributing to achieve a high degree of resilience of domestic economies, strengthening adjustment capacity and unlocking growth potential are among the Union’s policy priorities. They are therefore crucial to set the recovery on a sustainable path and support the process of upward economic and social convergence. This is even more necessary in the aftermath of the pandemic crisis to pave the way for a swiftustainable, equity-based recovery.
Amendment 190 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) Past experiences have shown that investment is often drastically cut during crises. However, it is essential to support investment in this particular situation to speed up thecrisis situations create disincentives for investors to invest, as a result of increased economic and institutional uncertainty. However, deflation and a recalibration of the investment opportunities in the market are a necessary precondition for recovery and strengthen long- term, sustainable growth potential. Investing in green and digital technologies, capacities and processes aimed at assisting clean enNormalised interest rates are important to inform investors propergly transition, boosting energy efficiency in housing and other key sectors of the economic are important to achieve sustainable growth and help create jobs. It will also help make the Union more resilient and less dependent by diversifying key supply chainso make sustainable investment decisions, which will lead to economic growth and help create jobs. It will also help make the Member States more resilient.
Amendment 195 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) Currently, no instrument foresees direct financial support linked to the achievement of results and to implementation of reforms and public investments of the Member States in response to challenges identified in the European Semester, and with a view to having a lasting impact on the productivity and resilience of the economy of the Member States, apart from the current monetary policy of the ECB, which financially supports Member States which are reluctant to implement reforms and overspend, through buying up corporate bonds, artificially lower interest rates on government bonds, and increasing Target 2 imbalances.
Amendment 212 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) Against this background, it is necessary to strengthenwould de detrimental to add to the current framework for the provision of support to Member States and provide direct financial support to Member States through an innovaother redistributive tool. To that end, a Recovery and Resilience Facility (the ‘Facility’) should not be established under this Regulation to provide effective financial and significant support to step up the implementation of reforms and related public investments in the Member States. The Facility should be comprehensive and should also benefit from the experience gained by the Commission and the Member States from the use of the other instruments and programmes.
Amendment 219 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8 a (new)
Recital 8 a (new)
(8a) The European Court of Auditors has reflected great concerns in Opinion No. 6/2020 that the scope as well as the objectives of the Facility are rather broad and cover a wide range of policy areas. As a result, not all of these objectives can be addressed to the same extent and achieving some objectives may come at the price of others. In addition, there is neither a quantification of the expected results at EU level nor for the allocation of funds to different objectives, which may potentially reduce the efficiency of the RRF.
Amendment 221 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8 b (new)
Recital 8 b (new)
(8b) Whilst the RRF shares some of the objectives of the MFF’s structural funds, it still follows a different purpose and spending logic. The first aims to support broad reform and investment programmes based on progress milestones, the latter offers reimbursement of specific programme- or project-related costs. This may be challenging in practice, as it requires combining different objective and indicator systems and may create a disincentive for Member States to coordinate the two funding streams effectively.
Amendment 223 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) The types of financing and the methods of implementation under this Regulation should be chosen on the basis of their ability to achieve the specific objectives of the actions and to deliver results, taking into account, in particular, the costs of controls, the administrative burden, and the expected risk of non- compliance. In case of non-compliance, 110% of the financing shall be paid back by the Member State concerned. This should include consideration of the use of lump sums, flat rates and unit costs, as well as financing not linked to costs as referred to in Article 125(1)(a) of the Financial Regulation.
Amendment 253 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Reflecting the European Green Deal as Europe’s sustainable growth strategyThe sense of urgency stemming from the COVID-19 crisis requires the Union to shelve the European Green Deal and the translation of the Union'’s commitments to implement the Paris Agreement and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, the Facility established by this Regulation will contribute to mainstreaming climate acuntil the health crisis is resolved and the virus is exterminated. Relevant actions should be identified during the instrument’s preparations and environmental sustainability and to the achievement of an overall target of 25 % of the EU budget expenditures supporting climate objectivimplementation, and reassessed in the context of the relevant evaluations and review processes.
Amendment 275 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) In order to implement these overall objectives, relevant actions will be identified during the Facility’s preparation and implementation, and reassessed in the context of the relevant evaluations and review processes. Also, due attention should be paid to the impact of the national plans submitted under this Regulation on fostering not only the green transition, but also the digital transformationthe budgetary situation and sovereign debt of the Member State concerned. They will both play a priority role in relaunching and modernising ourthe economyies of the Member States.
Amendment 292 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) In order to enable measures to be taken that link the Facility to sound economic and budgetary governance, with a view to ensuring uniform implementing conditions, the power should be conferred on the Council to suspend, on a proposal from the Commission and by means of implementing acts, the period of time for the adoption of decisions on proposals for recovery and resilience plans and to suspend and reclaim payments under this Facility, in the event of significant non- compliance in relation to the relevant cases related to the economic governance process laid down in the Regulation (EU) No XXX/XX of the European Parliament and of the Council [CPR] (…). The power to lift those suspensions by means of implementing acts, on a proposal from the Commission, should also be conferred on the Council in relation to the same relevant cases.
Amendment 298 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13 a (new)
Recital 13 a (new)
(13a) The Council should provide solutions to potential rent-seeking problems such as hold-out effects, in which Member States will block reforms until their demands from the budgetary instrument are met.
Amendment 315 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The Facility’s general objective should be the promotion of economic, social and territorial cohesion, with full respect of national sovereignty. For that purpose, it should contribute to improving the resilience and adjustment capacity of the Member States, mitigating the social and economic impact of the crisis, and supporting the green and digital transitions aimed at achieving a climate neutral Europe by 2050, thereby restoring the growth potential of the economies of the UnionMember States in the aftermath of the crisis, fostering employment creation and to promoting sustainable growth.
Amendment 327 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) The specific objective of the Facility should be to provide financial support with a view to achieving the milestones and targets of reforms and budgetary, profitable and credible investments as set out in recovery and resilience plans. That specific objective should be pursued in close cooperation with the Member States concerned.
Amendment 338 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) To ensure its contribution to the objectives of the Facility, the recovery and resilience plan should comprise measures for the implementation of reforms and public investment projects through a coherent recovery and resilience plan. The recovery and resilience plan should be consistent with the relevant country- specific challenges and priorities identified in the context of the European Semester, with the national reform programmes, the national energy and climate plans, the just transition plans, and the partnership agreements and operational programmes adopted under the Union funds. To boost actions that fall within the priorities of the European Green Deal and the Digital Agenda, the plan should also set out measures that are relevant for the green and digital transitions. The measures should enable a swift delivernational reform programmes and operational programmes adopted under the Union funds. The measures should enable a sustainable achievement of targets, objectives and contributions set out in national energy and climate plans and updates thereof. All supported activities should be pursued in full respect of the climate and environmental priorities of the Union.
Amendment 367 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17
Recital 17
Amendment 387 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) In order to ensure a meaningful financial contribution commensurate to the actual needs of Member States to undertake and complete the reforms and investments included in the recovery and resilience plan, it is appropriate to establish a maximum financial contribution available to them under the Facility as far as the financial support (i.e. the non- repayable financial support) is concerned. That maximum contribution should be calculated on the basis of the population, the inverse of the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the sustainability of sovereign debt, and the relative unemployment rate of each Member State.
Amendment 410 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) In order to ensure the national ownership and a focus on relevant reforms and investments, Member States wishing to receive support should submit to the Commission a recovery and resilience plan that is duly reasoned and substantiated. The recovery and resilience plan should set out the detailed set of measures for its implementation, including targets and milestones, and the expected impact of the recovery and resilience plan on growth potential, job creation and economic and social resilience; it should also include measures that are relevant for the green and the digital transitions; it should also include an explanation of the consistency of the proposed recovery and resilience plan with the relevant country-specific challenges and priorities identified in the context of the European Semesterincreasing debt sustainability and sound budgetary governance. Close cooperation between the Commission and the Member States, including national parliaments, should be sought and achieved throughout the process.
Amendment 437 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) The Commission should assess the recovery and resilience plan proposed by the Member States and should act in close cooperation with the Member State concerned and its national parliament. The Commission will fully respect the national ownership of the process and will therefore take into account the justification and elements provided by the Member State concerned and assess whether the recovery and resilience plan proposed by the Member State is expected to contribute to effectively address challenges identified in the relevant country-specific recommendation addressed to the Member State concerned or in other relevant documents officially adopted by the Commission in the European Semester; whether the plan contains measures that effectively contribute to the green and the digital transiimproving the budgetary situations, and to addressing the challenges resulting from them; whether the plan is expected to have a lasting impact in the Member State concerned; whether the plan is expected to effectively contribute to strengthen the growth potential, job creation and economic and social resilience of the Member State, mitigate the economic and social impact of the crisis and contribute to enhancing economic, social and territorial cohesion; whether the justification provided by the Member State of the estimated total costs of the recovery and resilience plan submitted is reasonable and plausible and is commensurate to the expected impact on the economy and employment; whether the proposed recovery and resilience plan contains measures for the implementation of reforms and public investment projects that represent coherent actions; and whether the arrangement proposed by the Member State concerned are expected to ensure effective implementation of the recovery and resilience plan, including the proposed milestones and targets, and the related indicators.
Amendment 448 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) For the purpose of simplification, the determination of the financial contribution should follow simple criteriaclear and unambiguous criteria, including criteria for recovery of the financial contribution in case of failure to achieve the objectives of the recovery and resilience plan, and fraud. The financial contribution should be determined on the basis of the estimated total costs of the recovery and resilience plan proposed by the Member State concerned.
Amendment 452 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) Provided that the recovery and resilience plan satisfactorily addresses the assessment criteria, the Member State concerned should be allocated the maximum financial contribution where the estimated total costs of the reform and investment included in the recovery and resilience plan is equal to, or higher than, the amount of the maximum financial contribution itself. The Member State concerned should instead be allocated an amount equal to the estimated total cost of the recovery and resilience plan where such estimated total cost is lower than the maximum financial contribution itself. No financial contribution should be awarded to the Member State if the recovery and resilience plan does not satisfactorily address the assessment criteria. In case of fraud, 110% of the financial contribution should be paid back.
Amendment 464 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) To ensure that the financial support is frontloaded in the initial years after the crisis, and to ensure compatibility with the available funding for this instrument, the allocation of funds to the Member States should be made available until 31 December 2024. To this effect, at least 650 percent of the amount available for non- repayable support should be legally committed by 31 December 2022. The remaining amount should be legally committed by 31 December 2024.
Amendment 468 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) Financial support to a Member State’s plan should be possible in the form of a loan, subject to the conclusion of a loan agreement with the Commission, on the basis of a duly motivated request by the Member State concerned. Loans supporting the implementation of national recovery and resilience plans should be provided at maturities that reflect the longer-term nature of such spending. Those maturities may diverge from the maturities of the funds the Union borrows to finance the loans on capital markets. Therefore, it is necessary to provide for the possibility to derogate from the principle set out in Article 220(2) of the Financial Regulation, according to which maturities of loans for financial assistance should not be transformedArticle 220(2) of the Financial Regulation should be fully respected. The interest on the loans should be discounted from the contributions of the Member States who did not apply for support from the RRF, to the EU budget, pro rata of their national contribution.
Amendment 475 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) The request for a loan should be justified by the financial needs linked to additional reforms and investments included in the recovery and resilience plan, notably relevant for the green and digital transitions, and by therefore, by a higher cost of the plan than the maximum financial contribution (to be) allocated via the non- repayable contribution. It should be possible to submit the request for a loan together with the submission of the plan. In case the request for loan is made at a different moment in time, it should be accompanied by a revised plan with additional milestones and targets. To ensure frontloading of resources, Member States should request a loan support at the latest by 31 August 2024. For the purposes of sound financial management, the total amount of all the loans granted under this Regulation should be capped. In addition, the maximum volume of the loan for each Member State should not exceed 4.72% of its Gross National Income. An increase of the capped amount should not be possible in exceptional circumstances subject to available resources. For the same reasons of sound financial management, it should be possible to pay the loan in instalments against the fulfilment of results.
Amendment 498 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32
Recital 32
(32) For the purpose of sound financial management, specific rules should be laid down for budget commitments, payments, suspension, cancellation and recovery of funds. To ensure predictability, it should be possible for Member States to submit requests for payments on a biannual basis. Payments should be made in instalments and be based on a positive assessment by the Commission of the implementation of the recovery and resilience plan by the Member State. Suspension and, cancellation and recovery of the financial contribution should be possible when the recovery and resilience plan has not been implemented in a satisfactory manner by the Member State. Appropriate contradictory procedures should be established to ensure that the decision by the Commission in relation to suspension, cancellation and recovery of amounts paid respects the right of Member States to provide observations. Penalties should be established in case of fraud or gross mismanagement of the financial contribution.
Amendment 543 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 39
Recital 39
Amendment 567 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 41
Recital 41
(41) Since the objectives of this Regulation cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States alone, but can rather be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle ofThe Parliament is looking forward to an assessment of the RRF's accordance with the principle of subsidiarity and proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond that which is necessary to achieve that objective 5 of the Treaty on European Union.
Amendment 1079 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 2
Article 16 – paragraph 2
2. When assessing the recovery and resilience plan and in the determination of the amount to be allocated to the Member State concerned, the Commission shall take into account the analytical information on the Member State concerned available in the context of the European Semester as well as the justification and the elements provided by the Member State concerned, as referred to in Article 15(3), and any other relevant information including, in particular, the one contained in the National Reform Programme andof the National Energy and Climate Plan of the Member State concernedMember State concerned, the probability of failure of the recovery and resilience plan and, if relevant, information from technical support received via the Technical Support Instrument.
Amendment 1086 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. The Commission shall assess the importance and coherence of the recovery and resilience plan and its contribution to the green and digital transitions, and for that purpose, shall take into account the following criteria:
Amendment 1093 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point a
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point a
Amendment 1116 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point b
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point b
Amendment 1167 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point d
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point d
(d) whether the recovery and resilience plan is expected to effectively contribute to strengthen the growth potential, job creation, and economic, budgetary and social resilience of the Member State, mitigate the economic and social impact of the crisis, and contribute to enhance economic, social and territorial cohesion;
Amendment 1194 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point g
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point g
(g) whether the arrangements proposed by the Member States concerned are expected to ensure an effective implementation of the recovery and resilience plan, including the envisaged timetable, milestones and targets, the probability of failure, and the related indicators.
Amendment 1238 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. The financial contribution referred to in paragraph 1 shall be determined on the basis of the estimated total costs of the recovery and resilience plan proposed by the Member State concerned, as assessed under the criteria set out in Article 16(3), and independently reviewed by the Court of Auditors. The amount of financial contribution shall be set as follows:
Amendment 1242 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – point a
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – point a
(a) where the recovery and resilience plan complies satisfactorily with the criteria set out in Article 16(3), and the amount of the estimated total costs of the recovery and resilience plan is equal to, or higher than, the maximum financial contribution for that Member State referred to in Article 10, the financial contribution allocated to the Member State concerned shall be equal to the total amount of the maximum financial contribution referred to in Article 10, discounted with the independently assessed probability of failure of implementation;
Amendment 1250 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – point b
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – point b
(b) where the recovery and resilience plan complies satisfactorily with the criteria set out in Article 16(3), and the amount of the estimated total costs of the recovery and resilience plan is lower than the maximum financial contribution for that Member State referred to in Article 10, the financial contribution allocated to the Member State shall be equal to the amount of the estimated total costs of the recovery and resilience plan, discounted with the independently assessed probability of failure of implementation;
Amendment 1316 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 2
Article 18 – paragraph 2
2. Where the Commission considers that the reasons put forward by the Member State concerned justify an amendment of the relevant recovery and resilience plan, the Commission shall assess the new plan in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 and shall take a new decision in accordance with Article 17 within four months of the official submission of the request. The financial aid granted in this reviewed decision shall not be higher than the financial aid attributed in the initial procedure.
Amendment 1334 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – title
Article 19 – title
Rules on payments, suspension, recovery and cancellation of financial contributions
Amendment 1371 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 6
Article 19 – paragraph 6
6. Where the Member State concerned has not taken the necessary measures within a period of six months from the suspension, the Commission shall cancel the amount of the financial contribution pursuant to Article 14(1) of the Financial Regulation after having given the Member State concerned the possibility to present its observations within two months from the communication of its conclusions, and recover the parts and tranches that have already been disbursed.
Amendment 1376 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 7 – introductory part
Article 19 – paragraph 7 – introductory part
7. Where, within eighteen months of the date of the adoption the decision referred to in Article 17(1), no tangible progress has been made in respect of any relevant milestones and targets by the Member State concerned, the amount of the financial contribution shall be cancelled pursuant to Article 14(1) of the Financial Regulation, and the parts and tranches that have already been disbursed shall be recovered, at a repayment rate of 105%.
Amendment 1383 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 8 a (new)
Article 19 – paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. In the event that the Commission gives a positive assessment to a recovery and resilience plan of a Member State, the positive effect of that plan in terms of increased GDP per capita, calculated at the end of the current MFF, will be taken into account to calculate an increase in that Member State´s national contribution to the Union budget. The annual contributions of the Member States which did not receive financial support from the RRF will be decreased, in correspondence with the increase for those Member States who did receive financial support.
Amendment 1385 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 8 b (new)
Article 19 – paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. In the case of fraud in the implementation of any relevant milestones and targets by the Member State concerned, the amount of the financial contribution shall be cancelled pursuant to Article 14(1) of the Financial Regulation, and the parts and tranches that have already been disbursed shall be recovered, at a repayment rate of 110%.
Amendment 1410 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph 1
Article 21 – paragraph 1