13 Amendments of Carles PUIGDEMONT I CASAMAJÓ related to 2020/0006(COD)
Amendment 30 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 a (new)
Recital 2 a (new)
(2a) This Regulation should take into consideration that some European regions industrialised themselves in different historical periods, whereas others have experimented a new wave of industrialisation as a complementary response to the financial and economic crisis that began in 2008. Therefore, the characteristics of these regions should be respected and they should be assisted in their transition towards a sustainable, diversified and circular economy.
Amendment 34 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) In order to be successful, the transition has to be fair and socially acceptable for all. Therefore, both the Union and the Member States must take into account its economic and social implications from the outset, as well as the characteristics and specificities of their regions, and deploy all possible instruments to mitigate adverse consequences. The Union budget has an important role in that regard.
Amendment 54 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) This Regulation identifies types of investments for which expenditure may be supported by the JTF. All supported activities should be pursued in full respect of the climate and environmental priorities of the Union. The list of investments should include those that support local economies and are sustainable in the long- term, taking into account all the objectives of the Green Deal. The projects financed should contribute to a transition to a climate-neutral and circular economy. For declining sectors, such as energy production based on coal, lignite, peat and oil shale or extraction activities for these solid fossil fuels, support should be linked to the phasing out of the activity and the corresponding reduction in the employment level. As regards transforming sectors with high greenhouse gas emission levels, support should promote new activities through the deployment of new technologies, new processes or products, leading to significant emission reduction, in line with the EU 2030 climate objectives and EU climate neutrality by 205013 while maintaining and enhancing employment and avoiding environmental degradation. Particular attention should also be given to activities enhancing innovation and research in advanced and sustainable technologies, as well as in the fields of digitalisation and connectivity, provided that such measures help mitigate the negative side effects of a transition towards, and contribute to, a climate- neutral and circular economy. The Commission should take into account those initiatives made before the entry into force of this Regulation in Member States, regions or municipalities and that could complement the know-how and expertise for the just transition foreseen in this Regulation. At the same time, the Commission should share the good practices consequent to the implementation of this Regulation. _________________ 13 As set out in “A Clean Planet for all European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy”, Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions and the European Investment Bank - COM(2018) 773 final.
Amendment 65 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) To protect citizens who are most vulnerable to the climate transition, the JTF should also cover the up-skilling and reskilling of the affected workers, with the aim of helping them to adapt to new employment opportunities, as well as providing job-search assistance to jobseekers and their active inclusion into the labour market, assisting them in the acquisition of new professional skills, also in the field of digitalisation.
Amendment 69 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) In order to enhance the economic diversification and to ensure the economic renovation and modernisation of territories impacted by the transition, the JTF should provide support to productive investment in SMEs. Productive investment should be understood as investment in fixed capital or immaterial assets of enterprises in view of producing goods and services thereby contributing to gross-capital formation and employment. For enterprises other than SMEs, productive investments should only be supported if they are necessary for mitigating job losses resulting from the transition, by creating or protecting a significant number of jobs and they do not lead to or result from relocation. Investments in existing industrial facilities, including those covered by the Union Emissions Trading System, should be allowed if they contribute to the transition to a climate-neutral economy by 2050 and go substantially below the relevant benchmarks established for free allocation under Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council14 and if they result in the protection of a significant number of jobs. Any such investment should be justified accordingly in the relevant territorial just transition plan. In order to protect the integrity of the internal market and cohesion policy, support to undertakings should comply with Union State aid rules as set out in Articles 107 and 108 TFEU and, in particular, support to productive investments by enterprises other than SMEs should be limited to enterprises located in areas designated as assisted areas for the purposes of points (a) and (c) of Article 107(3) TFEU. Furthermore, those companies that may have received grants from other entities before having received funds from the JTF should disclose the information regarding the origin and quantity of these funds to the Commission. _________________ 14Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC (OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32).
Amendment 77 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The JTF support should be conditional on the effective implementation of a transition process in a specific territory in order to achieve a climate-neutral economy. In that regard, Member States should prepare, in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders and supported by the Commission and the participation of regional or local entities, territorial just transition plans, detailing the transition process, consistently with their National Energy and Climate Plans, having into account the opinions of their regions. To this end, the Commission should set up a Just Transition Platform, which would build on the existing platform for coal regions in transition to enable bilateral and multilateral exchanges of experience on lessons learnt and best practices across all affected sectors.
Amendment 82 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) The territorial just transition plans should identify the territories most negatively affected, where JTF support should be concentrated and describe specific actions to be undertaken to reach a climate-neutral economy, notably as regards the conversion or closure of facilities involving fossil fuel production or other greenhouse gas intensive activities. Those territories should be precisely defined and correspond to NUTS level 3 regions, or make coalitions between two and six of them, or should be parts thereof. The plans should detail the challenges and needs of those territories and identify the type of operations needed in a manner that ensures the coherent development of climate-resilient economic activities that are also consistent with the transition to climate-neutrality and the objectives of the Green Deal. Only investments in accordance with the transition plans should receive financial support from the JTF. The territorial just transition plans should be part of the programmes (supported by the ERDF, the ESF+, the Cohesion Fund or the JTF, as the case may be) which are approved by the Commission.
Amendment 175 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Those companies that may have been granted funds from other entities before having received funds from the JTF shall disclose the origin and quantity of the former to the Commission.
Amendment 185 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1
Article 7 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall prepare, together with the relevant authorities of the territories concerned, one or more territorial just transition plans covering one or more affected territories corresponding to level 3 of the common classification of territorial units for statistics (‘NUTS level 3 regions’) as established by Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 868/201417 or parts thereof, in accordance with the template set out in Annex II. These regions shall be able to make coalitions between two and six of them. Those territories shall be those most negatively affected based on the economic and social impacts resulting from the transition, in particular with regard to expected job losses in fossil fuel production and use and the transformation needs of the production processes of industrial facilities with the highest greenhouse gas intensity. _________________ 17Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the establishment of a common classification of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) (OJ L 154 21.6.2003, p. 1).
Amendment 189 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) a description of the transition process at national, regional and local levels towards a climate- neutral economy, including a timeline for key transition steps which are consistent with the latest version of the National Energy and Climate Plan (‘NECP’);
Amendment 214 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 2 a (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 4 – subparagraph 2 a (new)
Territorial just transition plans shall be in all the official and regional languages of the Member States. The Commission and the Member States shall guarantee that all the languages of the Union be used in the making of the territorial just transition plans.
Amendment 216 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 a (new)
Article 8 a (new)
Article 8 a Good practices and lessons learned The Commission and the Member States shall guarantee that good practices be shared among NUTS 3 regions or their coalitions of between two and six of them. The Commission and the Member States shall also guarantee that lessons learned, both positive as well as negative, from the implementation of territorial just transition plans, be shared.
Amendment 221 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 a (new)
Article 11 a (new)
Article 11 a Overall assessment The Commission, assisted by the information given by the NUTS 3 regions and the coalitions of between two or six of them, shall assess the implementation of the territorial just transition plans. The Commission shall also take into account the reports on the JTF made by the Parliament. Before 31 December 2024, the Commission shall present an overall assessment of the JTF and the implementation of the territorial just transition plans throughout the Union, with the aim to introduce possible amendments to the current Regulation, having into account good practices, the reports about the JTF made by the Parliament, and the experience of the regions that have implemented the territorial just transition plans.