17 Amendments of Susana SOLÍS PÉREZ related to 2023/0199(COD)
Amendment 25 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) The STEP should identify resources which should be implemented within the existing Union programmes and funds, the InvestEU, Horizon Europe, European Defence Fund and Innovation Fund. This should be accompanied by providing additional funding of EUR 10 billion, by means of the revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework. Of this, EUR 5 billion should be used to increase the endowment of the Innovation Fund46 and EUR 3 billion to increase the total amount of the EU guarantee available for the EU compartment under the InvestEU Regulation to EUR 7,5 billion,47 taking into account the relevant provisioning rate. EUR 0.5 billion should be made available to increase the financial envelope under the Horizon Europe Regulation,48 which should be amended accordingly; and EUR 1.5 billion to the European Defence Fund.49 _________________ 46 Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading (OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32). 47 Regulation (EU) 2021/523 establishing the InvestEU Programme (OJ L 107, 26.3.2021, p. 30). 48 Regulation (EU) 2021/695 establishing Horizon Europe (OJ L 170, 12.5.2021, p. 1). 49 Regulation (EU) 2021/697 establishing the European Defense Fund (OJ L 170, 12.5.2021, p. 149.)
Amendment 33 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) While the STEP relies on the reprogramming and reinforcement of existing programmes for supporting strategic investments, it is also an important element for testing the feasibility and preparation of new interventions as a step towards a European Sovereignty Fund. The European Sovereignty Fund should strengthen the Union's strategic autonomy in key sectors while supporting the completion of the green and digital transitions. The evaluation in 2025 will assess the relevance of the actions undertaken and serve as basis for assessing the need for an upscaling of the support towards strategic sectors.
Amendment 52 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) In order to help accelerate investments and provide immediate liquidity for investments supporting the STEP objectives under the ERDF, the ESF+59 and the JTF, an additional amount of exceptional pre-financing should be provided in the form of a one-off payment with respect to the priorities dedicated to investments supporting the STEP objectives. The additional pre-financing should apply to the whole of the JTF allocation given the need to accelerate its implementation and the strong links of the JTF to support Member States towards the STEP objectives. The rules applying for those amounts of exceptional pre-financing should be consistent with the rules applicable to pre-financing set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/1060. Moreover, to further incentivise the uptake of such investments and ensure its faster implementation, the possibility for an increased maximum EU financing rate of 100% for the STEP priorities should be available. When implementing the new STEP objectives, managing authorities are encouraged to apply certain social criteria or promote social positive outcomes, such as creating apprenticeships and jobs for young disadvantaged persons, in particular young persons not in employment, education or training, applying the social award criteria in the Directives on public procurement when a project is implemented by a body subject to public procurement, and paying the applicable wages as agreed through collective bargaining. _________________ 59 Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 establishing the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) (OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, p. 21).
Amendment 87 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) The EU industry has proven its inbuilt resilience but is being challenged. High inflation, labour shortages, post- COVID supply chains disruptions, rising interest rates, and spikes in energy costs and input prices are weighing on the competitiveness of the EU industry. This is paired with strong, but not always fair, competition on the fragmented global market. The EU has already put forward several initiatives to support its industry, such as the Green Deal Industrial Plan,40 the Critical Raw Materials Act41 , the Net Zero Industry Act42 , the new Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework for State aid,43 and REPowerEU.44 While these solutions provide fast and targeted support, the EU needs a more structural answer to the investment needs of its industries, safeguarding cohesion and the level playing field in the Single Market, facilitating access to funding and to reduceing the EU’s strategic dependencies. _________________ 40 Communication on A Green Deal Industrial Plan for the Net-Zero Age, COM(2023) 62 final. 41 COM(2023) 160 final 42 COM(2023) 161 final 43 Communication on a Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework for State Aid measures (OJ C 101, 17.3.2023, p. 3). 44 Regulation (EU) 2023/435 as regards REPowerEU (OJ L 63, 28.2.2023, p. 1).
Amendment 108 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) There is a need to support critical technologies in the following fields: deep and digital technologies, clean technologies, and biotechnologies (including the respective critical raw materials value chains), in particular projects, companies and sectors with a critical role for EU’s competitiveness and resilience and its value chains. By way of example, deep technologies and digital technologies should include microelectronics, high-performance computing, quantum technologies (i.e., computing, communication and sensing technologies), cloud computing, edge computing, and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity technologies, robotics, 5G and advanced connectivity and virtual realities, including actions related to deep and digital technologies for the development of defence and aerospace applications. Clean technologies should include, among others, renewable energy; electricity and heatnergy storage; heat pumps; electricity grid; renewable fuels of non- biological origin; sustainable alternative fuels; electrolysers and fuel cells; carbon capture, utilisation and storage; energy efficiency; hydrogen and its related infrastructure; smart energy solutions; technologies vital to sustainability such as water purification and desalination; advanced materials such as nanomaterials, composites and future clean construction materials, and technologies for the sustainable extraction and, processing, recycling and substitution of critical raw materials. Biotechnology should be considered to include technologies such as biomolecules and its applications, pharmaceuticals and medical technologies vital for health security, crop biotechnology, and industrial biotechnology, such as for waste disposal, and biomanufacturing. The Commission may issue guidance to further specify the scope of the technologies in these three fields considered to be critical in accordance with this Regulation, in order to promote a common interpretation of the projects, companies and sectors to be supported under the respective programmes in light of the common strategic objective. Moreover, technologies in any of these three fields which are subjects of an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) approved by the Commission pursuant to Article 107(3), point (b) TFEU should be deemed to be critical, and individual projects within the scope of such an IPCEI should be eligible for funding, in accordance with the respective programme rules, to the extent that the identified funding gap and the eligible costs have not yet been completely covered.
Amendment 119 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Regulation (EU) 2021/1058
Article 3 – paragraph 1 a (new) – subparagraph 7
Article 3 – paragraph 1 a (new) – subparagraph 7
By way of derogation from Article 112 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, the maximum co-financing rates for investments contributing to dedicated priorities established to support the STEP objectives shall be increased to 100 %.
Amendment 135 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) A new publicly available website (the ‘Sovereignty Portal’) should be set up by the Commission to provide information on available support to companies and project promoters seeking funds for STEP investments. To that end, it shouldunder EU funding programmes. This Sovereignty Portal should bring EU funding opportunities closer to the citizens and businesses. For this purpose, the Portal should become a single and common online platform, where all available EU funding opportunities are displayed in an comprehensive, accessible and user- friendly manner the funding opportunities for STEP investments availabl. It seeks to solve an existing market failure, namely an asymmetry of information problem, that hampers the effective uander the EU budget. This efficient implementation of EU funds. This Portal should include information about directly managed programmes, such asincluding but not limited to Horizon Europe, the Digital Europe programme, the EU4Health programme, and the Innovation Fund, and also other programmes under shared or indirect management, such as InvestEU, the RRF, and cohesion policy funds. The Sovereignty Portal should also include a self-assessment tool and information on any open calls as a means to facilitate access to EU funding. The Sovereignty Portal shall display a list of programmes that have been awarded funds under any EU funding programme. Moreover, the Sovereignty Portal should help increase the visibility for STEP investments towards investors, by listing the projects that have been awarded a Sovereignty Seal. The Portal should also list the national competent authorities responsible for acting as contact points for the implementation of the STEP at national level. The Commission should ensure that already existing Portals (such as, the InvestEU Portal) cease to exist once they have been integrated in the common Sovereignty Portal.
Amendment 143 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Regulation (EU) 2021/1058
Article 10 – paragraph 4 (new) – subparagraph 6
Article 10 – paragraph 4 (new) – subparagraph 6
By way of derogation from Article 112 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, the maximum co-financing rates for investments contributing to dedicated priorities established to support the STEP objectives shall be increased to 100 %.
Amendment 146 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Regulation (EU) 2021/1057
Article 12 a (new) – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 6
Article 12 a (new) – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 6
By way of derogation from Article 112 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, the maximum co-financing rates for investments contributing to dedicated priorities established to support the STEP objectives shall be increased to 100 %.
Amendment 156 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) In order to extend support possibilities for investments aimed at strengthening industrial development and reinforcement of value chains in strategic sectors, the scope of support from the ERDF should be extended by providing for new specific objectives under the ERDF, without prejudice to the rules on eligibility of expenditure and climate spending as set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/106055 and Regulation (EU) 2021/105856 . In strategic sectors, it should also be possible to support productive investments in enterprises other than SMEs, which can make a significant contribution to the development of less developed and transition regions, as well as in more developed regions of Member States with a GDP per capita below the EU average. However, even if this possibility exists, it is of the utmost importance that SMEs are not excluded from the programme funding, and a significant and proportionate part of it should still be allocated to them. Managing authorities are encouraged to promote the collaboration between large enterprises and local SMEs, supply chains, innovation and technology ecosystems. Thi, and to ensure that SMEs still have effective access to the programme. These changes would allow reinforcinge Europe’s overall capacity to strengthen its position in those sectors through providing access to all Member States for such investments, thus counteracting the risk of increasing disparities. _________________ 55 Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 laying down common provisions (OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, p. 159). 56 Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 on the European Regional Development Fund and on the Cohesion Fund (OJ L 224, 24.6.2021, p. 31).
Amendment 276 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The Commission shall establish a dedicated publicly available website (the ‘Sovereignty portal’), providing investors with where information about all EU funding opportunities for projects linked to the Platform objectives and grant visibility to those projects, in particular by displaying the following information:programmes under direct, shared or indirect management is displayed.
Amendment 277 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point a
Amendment 278 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point b
Amendment 279 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point c
Amendment 280 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point d
Amendment 282 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. The Sovereignty Portal shall serve project promoters to find available EU funding programmes that are relevant for their project. With this aim, the Sovereignty Portal shall include: (a) information about all EU funding programmes and access to any open calls for proposals and calls for tender, and (b) a self-assessment tool for project promoters, which will gather information about the particular project in order to highlight the relevant EU funding programmes under direct, shared or indirect management, for which the project could be eligible.
Amendment 283 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. The Sovereignty Portal shall display an up to date list of projects that have been awarded funds under any EU funding programme, as well as those projects that have been awarded a Sovereignty Seal according to Article 4 of this Regulation. The Portal shall allow public and private investors to filter the listed projects.