41 Amendments of Hélène LAPORTE related to 2020/0104(COD)
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 145 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) 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 Union 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 and resilient economies and financial systems built on strong 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 – which will be seen to be extremely asymmetric – to take measures to mitigate the social and economic impact of the crisis, and on the resilience of their economies. Reforms and investments to address structural weaknesses of the economies and strengthen their resilience will therefore be essential to set the economies back on a sustainable recovery path and avoid further widening of the divergences in the Union.
Amendment 148 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) 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 Union 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 and resilient economies and financial systems built on strong 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 onby the fiscal space Member States have available to takespeed of intervention and adoption of economic measures to mitigate the social and economic impact of the crisis, and on the resilience of their economies. Reforms and investments to address structural weaknesses of the economies and strengthen their resilience will therefore be essential to set the economies back on a sustainable recovery path and avoid further widening of the divergences in the Union.
Amendment 160 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) The implementation of reforms and investments decided by Member States 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 swift recovery.
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 174 #
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 the recovery and strengthen long- term growth potential. Investing in green and digital technologies, capacities and processes aimed at assisting clean energy 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 chains. Particular support will need to be given to SMEs in beneficiary countries which are less resilient than medium-sized or large companies.
Amendment 188 #
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 the recovery and strengthen long- term growth potential. Investing in green and digital technologies, innovations, capacities and manufacturing processes aimed at assisting clean energy 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 chains.
Amendment 196 #
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. There is a need to raise the limits set by the European Semester, of whose recommendations only a quarter, more or less, are implemented fully or largely by the Member States, whilst around a third of these have made little or no progress.
Amendment 197 #
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.
Amendment 216 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) Against this background, it is necessary to strengthen the current framework for the provision of support to Member States and provide direct financial support to Member States through an innovative tool which takes into account the precise characteristics of a systemic crisis. To that end, a Recovery and Resilience Facility (the ‘Facility’) should 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 241 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Reflecting the European Green Deal as Europe’s sustainable growth strategy 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 actions and environmental sustainability and to the achievement of an overall target of 25 % of the EU budget expenditures supporting climate objectives. The method currently used by the Commission focuses on the share of spending allocated to climate objectives, whether or not climate change is a declared objective of expenditure: an approach which differs from the OECD recommendations for monitoring expenditure on development cooperation. The concept of climate spending should therefore be clearly defined.
Amendment 251 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Reflecting the European Green Deal as Europe’s sustainable growth strategy 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 actions and environmental sustainability and to the achievemThe Facility established by this regulation, by reviewing the forecasts of the European Green Deal in order to achieve an EU growth strategy, must contribute to the economic recovery resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, placing, at the centre of an overall target of 25 % of the EU budget expenditures supporting climatits objectives, the industrial growth, the economic development and the jobjectives creation.
Amendment 256 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11 a (new)
Recital 11 a (new)
(11a) The proposed link between the high-level EU objectives could be further strengthened in practice through, for example, compulsory common indicators, as suggested by the Court of Auditors. This would reduce the risk of a weak connection between the milestones and targets set in individual Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs) and the more general objectives at RRF level or even at EU level.
Amendment 266 #
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, dDue 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 transformation. They will both play a priority role in relaunching and modernising our economy.
Amendment 271 #
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 transformeconomic growth and to the job creation. They will both play a priority role in relaunching and modernising our economy.
Amendment 287 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
Amendment 307 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The Facility’s general objective should be the promotion of growth, economic development, job protection and employment as well as economic, social and territorial cohesion. 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 2050increase of production and employment, especially of the most affected sectors, such as tourism and food supply chain, the development of infrastructures and transport, 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 337 #
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 transitionsplan should also set out measures that are relevant for the economically sustainable growth. The measures should enable a swift deliver 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 365 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17
Recital 17
Amendment 373 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) To inform the preparation and the implementation of the recovery and resilience plans by Member States, the Council should be able to discuss, within the European Semester, the state of recovery, resilience and adjustment capacity in the Union. To ensure appropriate evidence, this discussion should be based on the Commission’s strategic and analytical information available in the context of the European Semester and, if available, on the basis of the information on the implementation of the plans in the preceding years. However, the Member States will have the opportunity to introduce new elements concerning the recovery plans which the European Semester does not contain.
Amendment 385 #
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) and the relative unemployment rate of each Member State in the five years preceding the allocation of funds, up to 2024.
Amendment 395 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) It is necessary to establish a process for the submission of proposals for recovery and resilience plans by the Member States, and the content thereof. With a view to ensuring the expediency of procedures, a Member State should submit a recovery and resilience plan at the latest by 30 April, using, for example, the Technical Support Instrument, in the form of a separate annex of the National Reform Programme. To ensure a fast implementation, Member States should be able to submit a draft plan together with the draft budget of the forthcoming year, on 15 October of the preceding year.
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 415 #
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 Semester. Close cooperation between the Commission and the Member States, as well as local authorities, 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 439 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) Appropriate guidelines should be set out, as an annex to this Regulation, to serve as a basis for the Commission to assess in a transparent and equitable manner the recovery and resilience plans and to determine the financial contribution in conformity with the objectives and any other relevant requirements laid down in this Regulation. In the interest of transparency and efficiency, a rating system for the assessment of the proposals for recovery and resilience plans should be established to that effect. The European Parliament may ask to see the ratings in order to monitor the fairness of the Commission’s assessment work.
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 461 #
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 670 percent of the amount available for non- repayable support should be legally committed by 31 December 2022, and the Facility should, in particular, provide assistance to those Member States which have adopted long-term short-time working arrangements. 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 474 #
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 4.7% of its Gross National Income. An increase of the capped amount should 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 518 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 35
Recital 35
(35) In order to ensure an efficient and coherent allocation of funds from the Union budget and to respect the principle of sound financial management, actions under this Regulation should be consistent with and be complementary to ongoing Union programmes, whilst avoiding double funding for the same expenditure. Particular attention needs to be paid to the risk of overlap with other programmes such as the Just Transition Fund or InvestEU. In particular, the Commission and the Member State should ensure, in all stages of the process, effective coordination in order to safeguard the consistency, coherence, complementarity and synergy among sources of funding. To that effect, Member States should be required to present the relevant, information on existing or planned Union financing when submitting their plans to the Commission. Financial support under Facility should be additional to the support provided under other Union funds and programmes, and reform and investment projects financed under the Facility should be able to receive funding from other Union programmes and instruments provided that such support does not cover the same cost.
Amendment 535 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 37
Recital 37
(37) It is opportune that the Commission provides an biannual report, in order to offset the risk of fraud, to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the Facility set out in this Regulation. This report should include information on the progress made by Member States under the recovery and resilience plans approved; it should also include information on the volume of the proceeds assigned to the Facility under the European Union Recovery Instrument in the previous year, broken down by budget line, and the contribution of the amounts raised through the European Union Recovery Instrument to the achievements of the objectives of the Facility.
Amendment 1096 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point a
Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point a
Amendment 1212 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 5
Article 16 – paragraph 5
Amendment 1219 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 1
Article 17 – paragraph 1
1. The Commission shall adopt a decision within fourtwo months of the official submission of the recovery and resilience plan by the Member State, by means of an implementing act. In the event that the Commission gives a positive assessment to a recovery and resilience plan, that decision shall set out the reforms and investment projects to be implemented by the Member State, including the milestones and targets, and the financial contribution allocated in accordance with Article 11.
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 1291 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 5
Article 17 – paragraph 5
5. Where the Commission gives a negative assessment to a recovery and resilience plan, it shall communicate a duly justified assessment within fourtwo months of the submission of the proposal by the Member State.
Amendment 1327 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 3
Article 18 – paragraph 3
3. Where the Commission considers that the reasons put forward by the Member State concerned do not justify an amendment of the relevant recovery and resilience plan, it shall reject the request within fourtwo months of its official submission, after having given the Member State concerned the possibility to present its observations within a period of onetwo month of the communication of the Commission's conclusions.
Amendment 1394 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 1
Article 20 – paragraph 1
Amendment 1415 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph 2
Article 21 – paragraph 2
Amendment 1511 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 a (new)
Article 26 a (new)
Article 26 a Articles 107, 108 and 109 TFEU shall not apply to the funding of the resources provided by Article 5.