15 Amendments of Attila ARA-KOVÁCS related to 2023/2029(INI)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the Instrument’s external investment framework brings together blended finance and guarantees under the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) External Action Guarantee (EAG), which is to be implemented by eligible partners in an open and collaborative approach, with a specific role for the European Investment Bank (EIB); whereas the EFSD+ considerably expands the financial envelope of its predecessor, the EFSD, and will be able to guarantee operations up to EUR 53.4 billion through EAG; whereas the ‘policy first’ principle must result in a cooperation driven by policy objectives and ensure that the European financial architecture for development is aligned in this regard; proposes for example to refine the broad and vague MSMEs window into sub-windows that should be dedicated to individual entrepreneurs and cooperatives;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas inequalities are amongst the root causes of instability, insecurity and violence;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the promotion of human rights is a cornerstone of the EU’s external action;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas human development remains a key area for the EU’s external and development policies; whereas investments in health care, education, nutrition and social protection are paramount to ensure universal access to these services which constitute basic human rights;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes the consolidation of most of the EU’s external action in a single Instrument, gradually streamlining and harmonising the numerous previous instruments; is of the opinion, however, that although this simplification has enhanced flexibility and efficiency, it has not been accompanied by sufficient levels of effective accountability; underlines in this regard that measures can only be considered effective when this can be proven by clear and comparable monitoring and evaluation mechanisms; reminds of the findings of the 2023 ECA special report on programming of the Instrument, which points out that baseline and target indicators as well as data sources in MIPs where fragmented or missing; calls on the Commission to make the use of ‘Global Europe Results Framework’ (GERF) indicators compulsory for all measures throughout the entire programming cycle of MIPs, that is planning, implementation and reporting of results and for considerably increasing EU delegations capacities; emphasises that the Instrument should provide an efficient, effective, coherent and inclusive implementation, underpinned by the ‘policy first’ principle and in line with the strategic interests and values of the EU; reiterates its call on the Commission to publish, at least biannually, an aid effectiveness progress report, that consistently includes standardized, comprehensible and comparable indicators, covering joint planning, joint implementation and joint results frameworks; calls on the Commission to present this progress report to Parliament;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses the importance of meeting all the Instrument’s spending targets and calls for detailed information on the progress made in this regard; regrets, in particular, the substantial deficit in reaching the Instrument’s climate target and the biodiversity target; recalls that biodiversity is a crucial factor in combatting climate change; calls for a detailed plan outlining how the Commission intends to meet the climatespending targets by the end of the MFF;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Reaffirms the commitment set out in the Instrument to eradicating poverty, fighting inequalities and discrimination and promoting human development; recalls that actions under the Instrument are expected to contribute at least 20 % of the ODA funded under the Instrument to social inclusion and human development; underlines that the EFSD+ should aim to support investments as a means of contributing to the achievement of the SDGs by fostering sustainable and inclusive economic, environmental and social development; calls in this regard for the full implementation of the EU Gender Action Plan III, as well as the operationalisation of the EU Global Health Strategy and the Youth Action Plan in EU external action; underlines the need to enhance the Union’s efforts to promote and protect human rights in its external action, in view of the mid-term review of the implementation of the EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Reaffirms the commitment set out in the Instrument to eradicating poverty, fighting inequalities and discrimination and promoting human development; emphasises the importance of following a holistic approach to human security as a new guiding paradigm;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Underlines the importance of guaranteeing an effective needs-based and people-centred approach in the EU’s external action; highlights the essential role that local partners and civil society should have in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the programmes;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes the specific role played by the EIB in the European financial architecture for development, as set out in Article 209 of the TFEU and in Article 36 of the Regulation establishing the Instrument, and acknowledges the EIB’s potential to mobilise additional funding that contributes to the Instrument’s objectives; welcomes the creation of EIB Global, which has been operational since 1 January 2022 and sets out to increase the bank’s presence and expertise in developing countries; notes that, since the setting up of the new development branch, the EIB Global has made record use of the dedicated investment window provided by the Instrument, delivering over EUR 10 billion in 2022, notably in support of Ukraine and the Global Gateway; recalls the importance of the EU budget as the sole guarantor for the EIB’s to provide loans outside the EU in support of EU policies; calls for an increase in the guarantees granted to the EIB by the EU budget in order to allow the EU bank to continue to deliver vital public and private sector operations in Ukraine and to expand its activities in the Global South; calls on the EIB to use its position to mobilise investments for sustainable development in line with the purpose and criteria established by the EFSD+; highlights the important role of the EIB in partnering with the Commission to deliver EUR 100 billion of the 300 billion commitment under the Global Gateway strategy; calls on the EIB to continue to strengthen its presence in the field by building on the current approach of co- location within EU delegations, while further exploiting possible synergies with the EBRD and other European DFIs; underlines that EU investment projects should be subject to evaluation, monitoring and reporting, in order to avoid unintended negative impacts; in this regard, calls on the Commission, together with EIB, EBRD and other European DFIs to develop standardised procedures, including ex ante and ex post evaluations and by applying the Commission’s Result Management Framework (ReMF); urges the Commission to publish this Framework and to make sure that DFIs using their own indicators to clearly define them and explain their application and comparability with the ReMF; calls for the introduction of standardised complaint mechanisms for all DFIs that are sufficiently staffed and resourced and easily accessible; calls on the Commission to follow-up environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards of all investment projects; encourages the EIB to continue to actively engage in developing planning, monitoring and evaluation at country level, hand in hand with the EU delegations and through co- financing with development finance institutions; calls for stronger coordination between the Commission and the EEAS and EU delegations to facilitate discussions and cooperation with relevant actors on the ground in order to identify projects which best meet development effectiveness objectives;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Welcomes the Team Europe approach and its aim of increasing the coherence, impact and visibility of EU development projects, and calls for more joint actions with the Member States, in particular Team Europe Initiatives (TEIs); recalls however that individual Member States’ contributions have to be indicated in MIPs in order to ensure certainty over the Member States’ financial support; calls on the Commission to review the effectiveness of the approach including Member States’ compliance, and to inform Parliament of its findings;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Welcomes the Team Europe approach and its aim of increasing the coherence, impact and visibility of EU development projects, and calls for more joint actions with the Member States, in particular Team Europe Initiatives (TEIs); calls on the Commission to review the effectiveness of the approach and to inform Parliament of its findings; calls on the Commission to clarify the roles surrounding the Team Europe approach and to propose a mechanism that increases the transparency and democratic scrutiny of the initiative;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Welcomes the Global Gateway strategy as a concerted EU response to global challenges; regrets, however, the lack of transparency and of a regulatory framework for the strategy’s governance and implementation within the Instrument’s objectives and priorities; is of the opinion that in times of new geostrategic challenges, EU foreign and security policy and development cooperation actors have to better coordinate and cooperate in the framework of the Global Gateway in order to give weight to EU positions and values in a new multilateral world order and to show leadership in international initiatives, such as G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment (PGII); stresses that massive investments are required in both hard and soft infrastructure in developing countries, from digital, transport and energy networks to health, education and food systems; regrets, however, the lack of transparency and of a regulatory framework for the strategy’s governance and implementation within the Instrument’s objectives and priorities; stresses the need for adequate parliamentary involvement and scrutiny as well as better staffed and resourced EU delegations and consultation with the business sector and CSOs through a comprehensible and transparent governance framework that would quickly deliver a boost of investment and visibility of EU in partner countries at the backdrop of a complex geopolitical context; Underlines that the joint communication of the Global Gateway leaves room for interpretation about the relationship of its different bodies that remains largely informal; regrets the limited access of information in particular from the steering committee; calls on the Commission to update the joint communication and to provide a clear definition of what a global gateway project is and how to distinguish it from other investment projects; Calls for clarity as to how the EU financial regulation and public procurement rules apply in the funding of Global Gateway for the joint projects in partner developing countries; calls to ensure that the prerogative is always given to the EU and local partner or like-minded countries companies; regrets the lack of clarity on the financing for the Global Gateway strategy and recalls that such new initiatives should be financed through fresh appropriations and the related upward revision of the Heading 6 ceiling;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Recalls Parliament’s functions of political control and consultation and stresses the role of the high-level geopolitical dialogue in providing general orientations for the implementation of the Instrument; powers of political and budgetary control and consultation; underlines that the Parliament needs full and timely access to documents and has to be able to monitor the impact and progress of projects, which is, why it needs full access to standardised baseline and target indicators as well as data sources; regrets that decision- making processes in particular in the framework of the Global Gateway are still undefined and not fully transparent; points out that the overlap of financial instruments, for example in the context of guarantees, makes scrutiny difficult; calls on the Commission to provide after consultations with the Parliament a comprehensible, clear and complete overview in a single document about the financial instruments their relations with each other and the different actors as well as a complete and precise overview about grants and guarantees and how they are covered; furthermore, calls on the Commission to provide regular information about the Global Gateway steering group and to make the Result Management Framework (ReMF) fully available; calls for an oversight of the complaint mechanisms and for regular information about complaints; calls on the Parliament to establish a sufficiently staffed and resourced parliamentary oversight body for the Instrument including EFSD+ and Global Gateway projects and calls on the Commission to provide a consistent inter-institutional information flow with the European Parliament being kept informed about investment projects including Global Gateway projects; is of the opinion that the format of the high-level geopolitical dialogue alone cannot fully provide general orientations for the implementation of the Instrument; reiterates that Parliament’s positions need to be fully taken into consideration; also reiterates that European Parliament resolutions constitute part of the overall policy framework for the implementation of the Instrument;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)