33 Amendments of Maxette PIRBAKAS related to 2022/2147(INI)
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the ORs represent major assets, but also face permanent difficulties as a result of their insularity (except for French Guiana), geographical dispersion, remoteness, small size, rough terrain and harsh climate, and economicnarrowness of the local economic markets, and dependence on a few products;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas GDP per capita in the ORs is below the EU average, including below their own countries’ averages, and whereas poverty rates are sometimes among the highest in Europe;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas these regions have high levels of young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEETs) and early school leavers and of youth illiteracy or digital illiteracy, higher than the EU and national averages7; _________________ 7 https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/source s/policy/themes/outermost-regions/pdf/rup- 2022/comm-rup-2022-glance_en.pdf
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has exposrevealed the fragilities of the ORs’ economies, which are too dependent on a few sectors of activity, notably tourism; whereas the Russian invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated the socio-economic impact ofweaknesses revealed by the pandemic;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas air and maritime transport are essential for connecting the ORs with each other, within the archipelagos which they often comprise, and to the European mainland;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas in certain ORs the situation regarding migration is worrying, and there are problems when it comes to assimilating a large immigrant population locally;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
Gb. whereas the ORs and the overseas countries and territories are extremely important when it comes to conserving global biodiversity, and whereas their land and marine ecosystems are fragile;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reaffirms the need to maintain and strengthen coordinated action at EU, national, regional and local level; supports the greater involvement of regional and local authorities in the design of EU policies; emphasises the positive impact of the regular organisation of meetings of the presidents of the ORs that MEPs and members of the Commission also attend;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Regrets the fact that Article 349 is still not being automatically applied in every legislative initiative from the Commission, while recognising that some progress has been made with regard to the need to take account of the specific characteristics of the ORs;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to expand the POSEI model to other sectors, in particular fisheries, and to increase the POSEI budget accordingly;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines the importance of ensuring the continuity of all tax regimes in the ORs, given their impact on the local economies; calls on the Commission to initiate a tailor-made consultation procedure with the ORs on the future of, and developments in, the dock dues scheme;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Uunderlines the importance of young people for the revitalisation of traditional sectors in the ORs; calls for measureon the Commission to support the measures taken by Member States and professional organisations to attract young people into the primary sector;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to launch a pilot project, as soon as possible, aimed at combatingprovide additional support for policies put in place by Member States and regional authorities to combat illiteracy, digital illiteracy and early school leaving in the ORs;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Points out that the call for proposals ‘Empowering youth in the EU Outermost Regions’ did not have the expected participation levels; defends an enlargement of the initiative to people up to the age of 30 and asks for the involvement of regional authorities and socio-professional organisations in its promotion;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Underlines the need to define strategies to retain young people in the ORs and to combat the brain drain; calls on the Commission to put in place a tailored mobility plan for the ORs to make it easier for their inhabitants to travel to the mainland;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Emphasises the importance of having a well-coordinated, humanitarian, effective and safe EU Migration Policy, which takes into account the specific realities of the ORs, particularly those dealing with high migration flows that are considered to be excessive at local level;
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Recalls that the ORs’ fishing fleet is old and obsolet, which is often traditional and small-scale, is very much at risk because its vessels are old and obsolete, which is partly why the sector is unattractive; regrets the fact that the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) still does not support the renovation of fleets by covering the purchase of new vessels, despite votes in favour of this measure;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Defends the importance of effectively compensating the ORs’ fishermen for their efforts to meet the Commission’s goal of protecting 30 % of the EU’s marine areas by 2030;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Stresses the role that the ORs could play in combating illegal fishing and ocean pollution and in conserving marine biodiversity;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Reiterates the need to achieve a reasonable degree of food security in the outermost regions by stimulating local food production; calls on the Commission to establish a common definition of the concept of food self-sufficiency and reliable indicators by which to calculate this;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Reiterates the need to restore a co- financing rates for the ORs tof at least 85 % in the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD);
Amendment 226 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Is concerned about the growing pressure on water resources and about usage conflicts between the general public and farmers; calls on the Member States to improve water sanitation, supply and storage systems in order to alleviate this pressure;
Amendment 232 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Supports the creation of a POSEI transport scheme in order to tackle the rising costs resulting from insularity and remoteness; highlights the fact that the introduction of this new scheme should lead to an increase in the allocation for POSEI;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Stresses the crucial role of tourism for the development of the ORs, which are highly exposed to externalities; urges the Commission to develop a truly European tourism policy and to launch further measures to promote the recovery of the sector; acknowledges the need to promote a more responsible model of tourism in the outermost regions in order to reduce its impact on biodiversity and foster an upgrade to the tourism offer;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. emphasises the inadequacy of public transport in most outermost regions and calls on the Member States to support the regions' related initiatives;
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Regrets the fact that the specificities of the ORs have not been systematically taken into account in the ‘Fit for 55’ package and that the measures included in certain policies are not adequately guaranteed;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Underlines the ORs’ vulnerability to climate change effects, in particular to extreme weather events; defends the position, therefore, that the EU Solidarity Fund should be revised to enable it to respond to smaller-scale disasters and to include the costs associated with prevention, evacuation and the disruption of local economies in the event of extended seismic or cyclonic activity;
Amendment 283 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Reiterates the potential of the ORs for the development of innovative pilot projects on renewable energies; emphasises that ever-increasing energy consumption dictates a rapid roll-out of renewable energies tailored to the specific characteristics of each area;
Amendment 290 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Calls on the Commission to guarantee its support to Member States in order to ensure the swift use of all opportunities to fund digital infrastructure and connectivity; underlines that some of the submarine cables connecting the ORs are in need of urgent replacement and that that work should help to stimulate the local digital economy sector;
Amendment 294 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Points out the fragility of the ORs’ health systems, which are characterised by a lack of infrastructure and health professionals; is concerned about the health scandals in some ORs, which undermine public trust in public health strategies;
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Calls on the Commission to support regional authorities in designing and funding plans to attract and retain health professionals; criticises the behaviour of certain Member States which laid off healthcare workers in the middle of the COVID pandemic, seriously reducing hospital capacities;
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Underlines the privileged location and available infrastructures in some of the ORs for space activities; regrets the lack of specific commitments by the Commission in this area; calls on the Commission to better support national plans to relaunch space activities, which are a major source of innovation and European sovereignty;
Amendment 318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Recognises the relevance of the Recovery and Resilience Facility for effective recovery in the ORs; points out, however, the importance of reconsidering the execution deadlines, taking into account the current context of war, inflation and labour and raw material shortages; calls for greater flexibility in the processing of files;