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26 Amendments of Bogusław LIBERADZKI related to 2017/2052(INI)

Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Subheading -1 (new)
-1 Objectives of the MFF
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Underlines the importance of the MFF which should reach the objectives of sustainability, bringing citizens closer to the EU Budget, and bridging the gap between Member States through cohesion policy;
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a. Points that the MFF should be planned on amounts which can secure strategic growth, levering EU added value, making the EU economy stronger, making societies more pro-European; point that the EU budget should be readable and transparent;
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls Parliament’s view that the duration of the MFF should be reduced from seven to five years so that it is aligned with the political mandate periods of Parliament and the Commission1 1; points out that in 2020 there will be an opportunity to bring the long-term strategy cycle in line with the budgetary cycle, and strongly recommends that this opportunity be taken; considers that the Commission should also examine the possibility of introducing a rolling programme in which each MFF, while having the same duration as now, would partially cover the previous one, on the premise that overlapping could help mitigate naturally existing peaks and troughs;recalls its view that, given the rapidly changing political environment and with a view to ensuring greater flexibility, some elements of the MFF should be agreed for 5 years while others, notably those related to programmes requiring longer-term programming and/or policies foreseeing complex procedures for the establishment of implementation systems, such as cohesion policy or rural development, should be agreed for a period of 5+5 years with compulsory mid-term revision. __________________ 1 See paragraph 73 of its resolution of 6 July 2016 on the preparation of the post electoral revision of the MFF 2014-2020: Parliament’s input ahead of the Commission’s proposal (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0309) and paragraph 5 of its resolution of 27 April 2017 with observations forming an integral part of the decisions on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2015, Section III – Commission and executive agencies (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0309).
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 – introductory part
4. AskUrges the Commission, before drafting its to come forward with a proposal for a new MFF and, to carry out a thorough and comprehensive spending review that would assess the extent to which:
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 – indent 1
- the allocation of resources in the EU budget reflects the EU’s strategic priorities and opportunities to add value, in particular in policies that have shown to drain a lot of resources while serving merely redistributive functions, such as the Cohesion Policy and the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), and in recent priority policy fields that have shown to have insufficient budget measures in times of variable circumstances, such as immigration policy and external action, and the extent to which
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
8. Points out that in the course of the current MFF period, the EU has suffered multiple crismay face many new challenges; calls on the Commission to provide flexibility in the budget planning so that it is able to tackle unexpectedly changing circumstances more efficiently; considers, in this regard, that adequate emergency measures still need to be taken, in coordination with other actions, to alleviate the European crises, especially in the areas of agriculture and migration, along with measures to ensure that Parliament’s role in implementing and adopting the MFF is fully respected and that the Council does not act without Parliament’s consent;
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
10. Reiterates Parliament’s call to integrate the European Development Fund into the EU budget in order to be able to control and tackle the root causes of excessive migration in a better way, and one that is in line with Union policies and strategies, using tools and methods deriving from the Union’s budgetary competence; considers that common European challenges in development policy could be better mastered through common administration from the EU budget;
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
11. Endorses the suggestion made by the European Court of Auditors in its briefing paper on the mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 that it is better to determine the duration of programmes and schemes on policy and citizens’ needs, rather than basing it on the length of the financial planning period4 ; __________________ 4 See points 39 and 40. See points 39 and 40.
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13
13. Encourages the Commission to examine the possibility of changing the structure of the EU expenditure in the Cohesion Policy since a majority of the original Union objectives can be considered achieved, and since more efficient results could be gained with emphasis on natural competition on development and modernisation, instead of sustaining the current framework for, and practices of, mere redistributive financial support; is, however, of the opinion that the economic, social and territorial Cohesion Policies of the Union could still provide support for the less developed regions, and for better cross- border cooperation, but should focus even more on growth, innovation, mobility, climate change, energy and environmental transition, while applying the same criteria to the whole of the EU;deleted
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission to consider introducing a mechanism for using incentives and sanctions to regulate cohesion expenditure, e.g. by binding it to the structural reforms outlined in its annual country reports and/or by requiring full compliance with common rules and decisions regarding the use and control of EU funds, and with European values and human rights;deleted
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15
15. Points out that a new balance is needed between, on the one hand, the CAP and Cohesion Policies, and, on the other hand, the other EU internal policies and a reinforced external capacity of the Union, including the elements of security and defence; encourages the Commission to emphasise cooperation in security and defence when preparing its proposal for MFF post-2020, and when reforming and implementing financial instruments of the EU such as the European Fund for Strategic Investments (ESIF); supports the idea of further European integration and concrete initiatives in the field of security and defence;deleted
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 61 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16
16. Recalls its remarks5 of the unsustainable structure of CAP expenditure: 44.7 % of all Union farms had an annual income of less than EUR 4000, and on average 80 % of the beneficiaries of CAP direct support received around 20 % of the payments; points out that in times of volatility or crisis, larger farms do not necessarily need the same degree of support for stabilising farm incomes as smaller farms do, since they often benefit from potential economies of scale that are likely to make them more resilient; considers that the CAP financing schemes could focus more on farmers under special constraints: small farms, climatically and geographically challenging areas and sparsely populated regions; __________________ 5 See paragraph 207 of its resolution of 27 April 2017 with observations forming an integral part of the decisions on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2015, Section III – Commission and executive agencies (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0309).deleted
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 18
18. Strongly regrets the persistence of aing high levels of outstanding commitments that iswhich is on one hand the result of delays by Member States in submitting payment claims and on the other hand caused by the European Commission being considerably late in proposing the programs; points out that this circumstances makes any effective evaluation and review of the budget implementation impossible, whether at mid-term or at the end of the programming period; regrets that this handicaps the forecasting capacity of the budgetary authority; regrets, in particular, that the outstanding commitments increased significantly by the end of 2016, to reach EUR 238 billion, and that the increase relative to the figure for 2015 – over EUR 21 billion – was twice as high as initially expected;
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Subheading 6
Performance-based budget: framework to determine cut-offs
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 21
21. Asks the Commission and the Member States to significantly modernise and redesign the EU budget along the principles of performance-based budgeting in order to fit the new priorities that have been agreed on at the EU-27 level, and to back up a fiscal stabilisation function for the euro area using own resources;
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 22
22. Considers that if any possible new budgetary capacity is proposed specifically for Member States in the euro area, it should be developed within the Union framework and subject to proper democratic scrutiny and accountability through the existing institutions, and any financial assistance from this capacity should be made conditional on the implementation of agreed structural reforms;deleted
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 24
24. Recalls that in its resolution accompanying the discharge 20156 , [1],Parliament called on the Commission to fundamentally reconsiderpropose necessary updates of the design and delivery mechanism for the ESIFs taking into account also the suggestions of the high level simplification group in order to strengthen the cohesion policy contribution to tackle disparities in inequalities between Union regions and Member States and to foresee, for the next programming period, more manageable and measurable performance indicators; insists that all future expenditure should focus on programmes, with proven EU added value, designed to deliver results at minimum cost, and that performance should be at the centre of the next generation of all programmes and schemes together with better geographical balance, which should ensure a fair distribution of financing across Europe; __________________ 6 See paragraph 190 of the resolution of 27 April 2017 with observations forming an integral part of the decisions on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2015, Section III – Commission and executive agencies (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0309).
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 25
25. Points out that the EU-27 should consider halting commitments, or doing less, in domains where the Union is perceived as having limited added value, or as being unable to deliver on promises; believes, however, that there should be a clearly stated link between the aims and the allocated funds, that where ambitious aims are set, sufficient funds should be allocated, and that where new goals are set, new resources should be presented; stresses that taken altogether, EU finances should be able to meet the financing needs of new priorities, such as countering terrorism, managing migration through border controls, and minimising the effects of the possible financial gap resulting from Brexit;deleted
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 25
25. Points out that the EU-27 should consider halting commitments, or doing less, in domains where the Union is perceived as having limited added value, or as being unable to deliver on promises; believes, however, that there should be a clearly stated link between the aims and the allocated funds, that where ambitious aims are set, sufficient funds should be allocated, and that where new goals are set, new resources should be presented; stresses that taken altogether, EU finances should be able to meet the financing needs of new priorities, such as countering terrorism, managing migration by better addressing the root causes, improving integration and through border controls among other things, and minimising the effects of the possible financial gap resulting from Brexit;
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Calls on the Commission to improve its strategy to communicate the added value of EU funds to the citizens and counter the dissemination of distorted facts which threaten to undermine the trust of citizens in the EU.
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 26
26. Considers that while the United Kingdom’s decision to withdraw from the Union is an unfortunate event that will have a negative influence on the future of the lives of citizens in the UK and in the remaining Member States, it also creates an opportunity to redefine and reform the EU-27’s political ambitions and the needed budget tools and methods; considers that the EU-27 should be ambitious in its budget reform and aim to maintain an annual EU budget similar in size to that of the EU-28;
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 27
27. Believes that those policy fields likely to suffer most significantly from the budget gap resulting from Brexit should be protected from major setbacks in order not to destabilise in an excessive way any current economic, social or administrative framework; points in particularfor example to the need to secure the Union’s resources in the field of research, development and innovation in order to enhance the Union’s global leadership; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to examine carefully the consequences of different Brexit scenarios when preparing the MFF proposal and its impact assessment;
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 28
28. Points out, however, that when filling the budgetary gap, the main objective should not be to increase the share of public funding, but to provide a more sustainable financial basis for all policy fields and to mobilise the maximum leverage of private resources; calls, in this regard, for a paradigm shift in EU expenditure from grant-based subsidising towards a more financial, instrument- oriented system;deleted
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 105 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 31
31. Considers that the possibility to collect a CO2 levy through carbon pricing (using either taxation or market-based instruments) – as presented by the High Level Group on Own Resources in its report on the future financing of the EU7 – should be examined by the Commission in the first instance as a way to strengthen the EU-27 budget; believes that such an instrument could also provide extra added value in Europe, as the levy could function as an incentive to change consumer and producer behaviour in favour of a less carbon-intensive future; considers, however, that any tax-based EU solution should be as neutral as possible for the total tax ratio of a given Member State, and should instead rely on higher contributions from risk actors; __________________ 7 European Commission, ‘Future financing of the EU – Final report and recommendations of the High Level Group on Own Resources’, 4 January 2017, pp. 41-43.deleted
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT
Amendment 109 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 32
32. Encourages the Commission and the Member States also to consider othernew tax- based resources available to the EU-27 that could provide for more European added value in certain risk-related policy fields, while at the same time strengthening the EU budget; believes that a tax on financial transactions, CCTB, a European Corporate Income Tax, or a CO2 levy through carbon pricing should be part of future genuine own resources to be considered by the European Commission.
2017/10/30
Committee: CONT