Activities of Paul RÜBIG related to 2011/2056(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on an effective raw materials strategy for Europe PDF (392 KB) DOC (284 KB)
Amendments (22)
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes the new Commission Communication and its move beyond the RMI to include commodity markets; cCalls on the Commission to give adequate focus to commodity markets and the RMI separately; the problems are different in nature and call for different measures;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the Commission’s work on identifying critical raw materials (CRM); calls on the Commission to follow this up by analysing the supply chains depending on CRM, the refining capacity and the interaction between CRM and their associated base metals and the need to observe also non-scarce but important raw materials with a view to countering tendencies towards inflation giving rise to concentrations in ownership of suppliers;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Points out that effective governance of RM policy is key to an effective strategy; emphasises the need for close co- ordination within the Commission and between Member States; recommends the establishment of an inter-departmental RM task force, as is the case in France and the United States, to elaborate, monitor and review policies including partnership agreements, to ensure strategic coherence and promote the establishment of an early- warning system; calls on the Commission to foster co-ordination between the Member States on the external dimension; believes the upcoming communication on the external dimension of energy could serve as a template;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that the RM challenges are also an opportunity to invigorate the EU’s industrial base and increase competitiveness via an ambitious industrial innovation strategy; notes that in the medium to longwhile action in trade policy is the key problem to address in the short term, increasing efficiencies, recycling and lowering resource use will be key to competitiveness, sustainability and supply security; remarks that social innovation, lifestyle changes and new concepts such as eco-leasing, chemical leasing and sharing should be supported by the Commission;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Underlines that access to raw materials is fundamental to the whole industrial sector including SMEs, especially the unpredictable price fluctuation;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the Commission’s plan to launch a flagship initiative on resource efficiency; calls on the Commission to incorporate a resource efficiency improvement target of 3% per year net of GDP evolution; calls on the Commissidevelop a reliable methodology for measuring resource efficiency as well as for existing potential for further improvement within its Flagship Initiative ‘A resource-efficient Europe’ that also allows for drawing comparisons to develop a reliable methodology for measuring resource efficiencyindustries in other countries so that goals for improving raw materials efficiency in Europe could be discussed on an objective basis;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Believes that a tax for mineral resources is not an adequate tool, but; calls on the Commission to investigate whether a tax on water and land use could be of benefitconcentrate on increasing raw materials efficiency in Europe;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes the importance of creating industrial synergies on recycling and helping companies discoverto evaluate how their energy, waste and by-products can serve as resources for others; calls on the Commission and Member States to promote approaches such as that taken by the UK with its National Industrial Symbiosis Programmethe identification of best practices and their further dissemination;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission to investigate whether closed landfills could be re-opened to recycle potential scrap material with best available technologies (BAT), to also examine remaining mining waste and metallurgical waste dumps, to complete a EU database on mining waste sites by 2012 and enforce the mining waste directive, to ensure that this waste is treated with the BAT, and to encourage the lifecycle management of buildings to ensure the recyclability of materials used in their construction;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the Commission to develop economic incentives for recycling currently uneconomical CRM including rare earths (REE), to investigate how markets for recycled materials can be supported by inter alia greenvoluntary certificates for recycled materials, eco-design requirements and fiscal incentives, and to ensure that cohesion policy and budgets are also leveraged to promote resource efficiency and recycling;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls on the Commission to identify priorities and allocate budgets for research into lifecycle recycling, substitution and resource efficiency using FP7 and FP8 funding, particularly for CRM such as REE; calls on the Commission to address within research programs existing challenges with regard to recycling and the aim of further increasing resource efficiency; insists on the importance of a European Innovation Partnership on RM; calls on the Commission to launch such a partnership in 2011;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Welcomes co-operation between national geological surveys and the publication of an annual European RM Yearbook (ERMY); stresses that data on secondary resources and urban mining should be included; asks the Commission to assess whether the creation of an EU Geological Service that pools the work of national surveys and works with international partners is necessary; supports the Commission'’s work in improving the EU'’s geological knowledge base; calls on the Commission to publish aromote in cooperation with the member states the development of a digital resource map of the Union;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Reaffirms that the NATURA 2000 guidelines provide a sound basis under which non-energy extraction activities must take place; notes that codes of practice to achieve technical, social, competitive and environmental excellence are important instruments; calls on the Commission to protect environmentally sensitive areas that might hold RM, such as the Arctic, Barents Sea and Greenlandunderlines that RM held in one Member State pose a strategic and economic potential for the EU as a whole and therefore calls on the Commission to protect environmentally sensitive areas that might hold RM, and if possible extend existing partnership agreements with such countries to include financial aid for mining with the possibility to give undertakings priority access to the extracted RM;
Amendment 190 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Notes that the obligatory 'renaturation' of companies following raw material extraction often improves biodiversity in extraction areas compared to the state before the extraction; notes the importance of R&D in sustainable mining to further minimise the environmental footprint and possible adverse social and ecological effects;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Notes the importance of setting up land use planning policies for minerals that comprises a geological knowledge base;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Welcomes the EU'’s intention to pursue an RM diplomacy, particularly for CRM; believes that priority actions for REE need to be developed in the very short term; calls on the Commission to address the issue of export restrictions and other trade distorting measures with regard to industrial relevant raw materials in form of a RM diplomacy encompassing various policies such as trade policy, development and foreign policy (bilateral dialogues);
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Calls on the Commission to evaluate the outcome of the WTO case against China and to make future use of WTO mechanisms where appropriate; calls on the Commission to continue its efforts on reaching an agreement on a ban of exports taxes on raw materials on the multinational level, ideally within the WTO;
Amendment 246 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Regrets that the Communication fails to name other regions or countries; calls on the Commission to establish other mutually beneficial partnerships with resource-rich countries such as a revised partnership agreement with the Home Rule Government of Greenland; believes that the EU should offer ‘infrastructure- resource’ partnerships which involve European companies; calls on the EU to support resource-rich developing countries in developing their geological knowledge; proposes in this context the establishment of co-operatively financed chairs at geological faculties;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. IUnderlines that the policy of some emerging countries, especially China, sourcing raw materials worldwide, in particular in Africa, might endanger the European Union's access to commodities on the continent; is concerned that a strategy for dialogue and co- operation with China is not identified; stresses the need for atrade and technology dialogue with China; calls on the Commission to examine how pilot projects on sustainable mining, substitution or recycling of CRM can be established with China; that also help to improve raw materials security in Europe;
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Concurs that development policy plays a role in helping countries turn their resource wealth into sustainable and inclusive growth, inter alia by enhancing governance and transparency; does not consider development policy an RM diplomacy tool; agrees that trade agreements should provide the necessary flexibility to support developing countries in creating linkages from the extractive industry towards local industry; believes that countries'’ resource sovereignty must be respected in this context; nevertheless, the EU should consider on a case-by-case basis the possibility to limit autonomous preferences vis-à-vis countries that apply restrictive unjustified trade and investment measures on raw materials;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Welcomes the work on RM and sustainability in the OECD, G8 and G20; calls on the Commission to promote the work of the OECD on the impact of export restrictions and about their use as a policy tool; supports the inclusion of non-OECD members in these discussions; calls for the creation of strategic co- operation between the EU, US and Japan on CRM in sharing demand and supply data, common forecasting, exchanging best practice, analysing supply chains, investigating the possibility for joint strategic stocks, and the establishment of joint R&D projects; asks the Commission to investigate the feasibility of an international statistics initiative on CRM based on the example of the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI);