Activities of Mārtiņš STAĶIS
Plenary speeches (6)
The severe situation of political prisoners in Belarus
Presentation of the programme of activities of the Hungarian Presidency (debate)
The important role of cities and regions in the EU – for a green, social and prosperous local development (debate)
Enhancing Europe’s civilian and defence preparedness and readiness (debate)
Critical infrastructure vulnerabilities and hybrid threats in the Baltic Sea (debate)
Misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms, such as TikTok, and related risks to the integrity of elections in Europe (debate)
Institutional motions (10)
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION The severe situation of political prisoners in Belarus
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on continued financial and military support to Ukraine by EU Member States
JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the severe situation of political prisoners in Belarus
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the democratic backsliding and threats to political pluralism in Georgia
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on strengthening Moldova’s resilience against Russian interference ahead of the upcoming presidential elections and a constitutional referendum on EU integration
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on EU actions against the Russian shadow fleets and ensuring a full enforcement of sanctions against Russia
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Georgia’s worsening democratic crisis following the recent parliamentary elections and alleged electoral fraud
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on reinforcing EU’s unwavering support to Ukraine against Russia’s war of aggression and the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION On the continued repression of civil society and independent media in Azerbaijan and the cases of Dr Gubad Ibadoghlu, Anar Mammadli, Kamran Mammadli, Rufat Safarov and Meydan TV
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION 11th year of the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and the deteriorating human rights situation in occupied Crimea, notably the cases of Iryna Danylovych, Tofik Abdulhaziiev and Amet Suleymanov
Amendments (43)
Amendment 148 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises the absolute need for the EU to meet the challenges posed by the multiple and constantly evolving threats to its security, and for this purpose, to engage in improved and new policies and actions that enable the EU and its Member States to collectively and coherently strengthen their defence in Europe and their ability to act at the global level;
Amendment 176 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for the EU and its Member States to accelerate their commitments made in the Versailles Declaration, adopted on 11 March 2022, to assume greater responsibility for their defence and security, including by achieving greater defence readiness and strategic autonomy; stresses that NATO and the transatlantic partnership with the United States remain the cornerstones of European collective defence; stresses the need for EU Member States to step up their efforts by increasing their spending and procuring more jospending more together, jointly procuring more capabilities, developintg capabilities together via, inter alia, pooling and sharing, thereby strengthening their armed forces whether for national, NATO or EU operational purposes;
Amendment 196 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Concurs with the ambition of buildstrengthening athe European pillar within NATO and stresses that the development of a European defence union can go hand- in- hand with the deepening of EU-NATO cooperation;
Amendment 226 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Reaffirms its unwavering support for the EU and its Member States to stand in solidarity with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war of aggression, and to provide it with the necessary military means to defend itself, end the conflict and restore its territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders as soon as possible; welcomes the joint security commitments between the EU and Ukraine, and the bilateral security agreements concluded by Ukraine with severalome Member States; reiterates its call for Member States to accelerate their delivery by Member States of weapons, air defence systems and ammunitions to Ukraine, including air-launched cruise missiles; calls for and to significantly increase relevant quantities; also calls for the lifting by Member States to liftof all restrictions hindering Ukraine from using Western weapons systems against military targets withininside Russia, as allowed by international law;
Amendment 246 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls foron the EU and its Member States to support Ukraine in expanding the international coalition in support of its Victory Plan and Peace Formula presented by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyímir Zelenskyy, as the only viable route to restore Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, on the basis of international law, and thereby holding Russia to account for its war crimes, including the crime of aggression, and ensuring Russian reparations and other payments for the massive damage caused in Ukraine;
Amendment 278 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Stresses the importance of the European Peace Facility (EPF), which has been instrumental in supporting the provision of military capabilities and training to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, while providing coordination for all stakeholders through the clearing house mechanism hosted by the EU Military Staff ; welcomes the setting up of the dedicated Ukraine Assistance Fund under the EPF and calls for financial resources for military assistance to Ukraine to be increased through this instrument while also providing a medium term financial perspective; urges Hungary to lift its veto on EPF military support to Ukraine, including the agreed reimbursements to Member States that delivered military aid to Ukraine;
Amendment 312 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the vision set out in the European Defence Industrial Strategy accompanied by the Commission’s proposal for establishing the European defence industry programme; is deeply concerned about the low level of European collaboration and coordination in the area of defence investment; supports the objective of strengthening EU defence industrial preparedness to further enable Member States to identify and discuss joint defence programming and procurement, as well as European defence projects of common interest; strongly supports the idea to make EU level cooperation the rule in the European defence industrial sector and commit to concrete numerical targets for cooperation as presented in EDIS which focus in particular on joint procurement (at least 40% by 2030), intra-EU trade (at least 35% by 2030), and procurement of EU made defence products (at least 50% by 2030 and 60% by 2035);
Amendment 328 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Calls on the EEAS to develop, together with the relevant Commission services and Member States, a structured and regular civilian Capability Development Process to assess the availabilities of Member States’ capability needs, develop requirements, conduct a gap analysis and periodically review progress; believes a need exists to establish a solid policy on the equipment and services needed by partner countries where civilian CSDP missions take place; calls for the establishment of a dedicated CFSP budget line within an overall increased CFSP budget, or ‘civilian support facility’, to provide partner countries with the equipment and services to enhance their civilian capabilities;
Amendment 342 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Highlights the needcessity to overcome the fragmentation of the EU’s defence industrial landscape and to create an internal market for defence products, as ithe current structure leads to unnecessary duplications and the multiplication of inefficiencies in defence spending and structurally hampers the strengthening of defence readiness; calls on the Commission to present proposals to complete thehat aim to establish an EU internal market for defence products, based, in particular, on an assessment of EU rules for defence procurement and transfer of defence- related products, and on the identification and analysis of limitations and loopholes in the current legal framework and the need to introduce additional internal market rules to the defence sector; strongly supports proposals leading to legally binding technical standards that are in line with existing NATO standards (STANAG) and which guarantee full interoperability;
Amendment 363 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Stresses the need to develop an effective EU level armaments policy which includes the establishment of a functioning and effective external trade dimension which aims to support partners that face threats by aggressive authoritarian regimes and prevents arms deliveries to undemocratic aggressive regimes in line with the existing eight EU criteria; stresses the need to overcome the very narrow and national interpretation of Article 346 TFEU in this respect;
Amendment 365 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11 b. Stresses the need to develop a more proactive role of the EU when it comes to innovation of military and dual- use technology; underlines the need to support in particular the testing of prototypes of new products and to focus on new technologies in close cooperation with Ukrainian defence and technological actors;
Amendment 379 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11 c. Calls on the new Commissioner for Defence and Space and the Member States to adopt an approach incorporating a low energy, carbon and environmental footprint by design when implementing relevant EU funds and to regularly report on progress; recalls that the research and development actions can be directed at solutions to improve efficiency, reduce the carbon footprint and achieve sustainable best practices; welcomes the relevant investment of EUR 133 million provided for in the first annual work programme, but notes that this represents only 11 % of the overall annual EDF budget; recalls the role of NextGenerationEU for climate action and calls on the Member States to use resources from their national recovery plans in order to invest in the green transition of their military infrastructure;
Amendment 404 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Believes that there is an urgent need to use the revision of the Strategic Compass to discuss and agree on which European-wide capability gaps, such as missile defence or drone warfare, should be addressed via which bilateral, multinational or EU level programs, funds, projects and instruments and in which time frame;
Amendment 405 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12 b. Welcomes the Climate Change and Defence Roadmap and calls on the VP/HR to ensure the comprehensive implementation and improvement within the context of a revised Strategic Compass; calls for the timeframes for reviewing the Roadmap to be reconsidered and, in particular, for the overall objectives to be reviewed much earlier than 2030; calls on the Member States to develop national structures in support of the objectives; urges the VP/HR to propose to the Member States an immediate action programme which consists of prioritised actions presented in the Roadmap which can be implemented in the short term;
Amendment 425 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Reiterates its call to strengthen the EU military planning and conduct capabilcity (MPCC) and to achieveing full operational capability in the first half of 2025 at the latest, including through the provision of adequate premises, staff, and enhanced command and control, and effective communication and information systems for all CSDP mMissions and oOperations; reiterates its full support for the Rapid Deployment Capacity to achieveing full operational capability in 2025at the latest by the end of 2025 of the Rapid Deployment Capacity (RDC), with at least 5 000 troops available for rescue and evacuation tasks, initial entry and stabilisation operations or temporary reinforcement of missions; believes that it would make sense to use the White Paper process to launch a discussion about the creation additional permanent multinational EU military units that could fulfil complementary tasks to the RDC;
Amendment 443 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Welcomes the increased budgets and investment in defence by Member States and the increase, albeit modest, in the EU budget for CSDP in 2024; calls on the Member States that have not yet reached the minimum threshold of 2 % of their GDP devoted to defence expenditure, to resolutely commit to gradually increasing their military budgeincreasing gradually their military budgets and to make sure that parts of those budgets are being devoted to EU level collaborative projects; recommends that, on the basis of continuous analysis of capability needs, Member States further increase this threshold, in particular for joint procurement of defence capabilities and fully supports the respective EDIS targets in this respect;
Amendment 458 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to initiate an open discussion based on the recommendations presented in Mr Draghi’'s report on the future of European competiveness, including increasing the resources allocated to security and defence in and around the next mMultiannual fFinancial fFramework and exploring all funding options to this end, including the pooling of parts of national defence budgets at EU level in order to generate synergies and economies of scale and options such as Eurobonds; stresses in this respect the need to discuss whether the establishment of another off-budget facility (besides the existing European Peace Facility) that pools parts of national defence budgets could better help in order to jointly develop military capabilities, addressing their entire life cycle; further calls on EU Member States to amend the EPFuropean Peace Facility financing process to ensure adequate, higher and sustainable support for partners and, allies, while also aligning with CSDP mMissions and oOperations;
Amendment 474 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Welcomes proposals made in the context of the Draghi report and stresses the need to come forward with a strategy on how to consolidate the European defence industrial base including controversial issues like mergers and the creation of regional centres of excellence;
Amendment 520 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Condemns Iran, in the strongest terms, for its destabilising activities in the Middle East region and for its continued support for terrorist groups, which pose a direct threat to regional and global security; expresses, however, full support for and solidarity with Iran’s civil society and democratic forces and calls for increased international efforts to support these groups in their struggle for freedom and human rights;
Amendment 530 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Reiterates itsthe condemnation of the despicable terrorist attacks perpetrated by the terrorist organisation Hamas against Israel on 7th October 2023, which contributed to further destabilisation in the Middle East, intensified by aggressions against Israel by Iranian proxies (such as terrorist organisations including Hezbollah; condemns the disproportionate Israeli military response to the Hamas terror attacks that has caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza; calls on all actors to increase efforts to de-escalate the current situation in the Middle East and to avoid further destabilization in the region; condemns the aggressions from Iranian proxies, in particular Hezbollah missile strikes against the North of Israel, and several waves of missile attacks by the Iranian regime itself against Israel; condemns the Israeli attacks on densely-populated areas in Lebanon and on the Houthis in Yemen) and the Iranian regime itselfUN, including the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL);
Amendment 593 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20 a. Calls for the new Civilian CSDP Compact to be used to strive for the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in civilian CSDP; highlights women’s significant contribution in CSDP missions’ and operations’ success and as a driver of the EU’s credibility as a proponent of equal rights for men and women worldwide;
Amendment 642 #
Amendment 645 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21 a. Calls for the Member States to use the new Civilian CSDP Compact to strengthen their strategic vision of civilian crisis management by clarifying the role, effectiveness and added value of civilian CSDP, and by defining a shared level of ambition for civilian crisis management;
Amendment 646 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21 b. Highlights that success of civilian CSDP missions is highly dependent on openness to the host country’s perspectives and ownership; encourages the use of tailor-made approaches, the active involvement of and cooperation with the host government, civil society and the local population;
Amendment 647 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 c (new)
Paragraph 21 c (new)
21 c. Regrets the fact that the CFSP budget for civilian CSDP missions has only marginally increased from the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2014-2020 to the MFF 2021-2027 (from a starting point of approximately EUR 350 million per year), while at the same time the number and tasks of missions has increased, the security environment has become more challenging, the cost of operations has increased, inflation has grown and the number of contracted personnel has increased;
Amendment 648 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 d (new)
Paragraph 21 d (new)
21 d. Calls for a substantive increase of funding for the CFSP budget, while at the same time ensuring the efficient use of the funds allocated to the CSDP civilian missions, in order to make sure that they effectively respond to crisis situations and unforeseen events;
Amendment 724 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Regrets, during these unstable geopolitical times, the weakening of non- proliferation and arms control regimes, and calls for the redoubling of efforts to reverse this trend and demands a much stronger EU role, in particular in the field of non- proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and dual-use digital surveillance and manipulation tools;
Amendment 851 #
2024/2082(INI)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Stresses that the strengthening of the CSDP as a political priority under the tenth legislative term and the increase in spending on defence policies and programmes at EU level and among the Member States requires full parliamentary scrutiny and accountability in particular as regards the implementation of defence industrial regulations via delegated acts;
Amendment 2 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines that the Commission and the Court of Auditors have repeatedly stated that error is not synonymous with fraud; emphasises that the error rate does not necessarily indicate that the resources have been misspent, nor does it call into question the positive results and added value of cohesion policy; acknowledges that the risk of fraud is nevertheless a cause of concern and should be minimised; stresses therefore the importance of strengthening the single audit principle, reducing duplication, and clearly distinguishing between unintentional errors and frauds;
Amendment 6 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Considers that the increase in the error rate for cohesion policy funds is rather symptomatic of the complexity of the rules applicable to this spending area and the insufficient administrative capacity of national authorities, regional and local authorities; calls for the adoption of a single set of eligibility rules for all cohesion policy funds and further expansions of SCOs (simplified cost options);
Amendment 11 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that the Committee on Regional Development called for urgent additional advisory support from the Commission to national authorities to avoid that situationand respective municipalities to avoid that situation and to support administrative capacity building, best practice sharing, peer-to-peer reviews, technical assistance, etc.;
Amendment 12 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Underlines the need for genuine simplification and administrative improvements, ensuring that these reforms are pursued consistently by all relevant EU and national actors;
Amendment 13 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Underlines that shared management, the partnership principle and subsidiarity should remain the cornerstone of any reform and simplification of cohesion policy;
Amendment 14 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3 c. Urges the Commission to enhance a bottom-up approach in the upcoming simplification of the cohesion policy by ensuring a proper consultation and involvement of LRAs, NGOs, and SMEs;
Amendment 18 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Reiterates its previous calls for further simplification to help reduce the risk of errors; urges the Commission and Member States to simplify unnecessarily complex rules and procedures wherever possible, work on a common interpretation of certain legal requirements and avoid gold-plating; furthermore, stresses the critical role of digitalisation in the management of EU funds and utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for detecting frauds in financial transactions;
Amendment 23 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Recalls the importance of a stronger gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting in cohesion policy that represent a real benefit to the distribution of funds;
Amendment 24 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Calls for a commitment to partnership and evidence-based approaches, with all simplification proposals developed through open and continuous dialogue with stakeholders, civil society organisations, and audit institutions;
Amendment 25 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Recalls that, in line with Article 11.2 TEU, EU institutions must maintain an open, transparent and structured dialogue with civil society organisations and representative associations; stresses in particular in this regard that access to structural funding is a prerequisite to ensure public participation, without which it would not be possible for citizens to have their voice channelled at the EU level through their representative associations, sustain a regular dialogue with EU institutions contributing to democratic participation in policy making, establish an open and wide-ranging dialogue, ensuring that the diversity of views and concerns are taken into account with equal access for public interest as compared to commercial interest, exercise a monitoring role on the implementation of EU policies and legislation, including the use of EU funds, or act as checks and balances to the rule of law; recalls the commitment of the Commission in its political guidelines to step up its engagement with civil society organisations that have expertise and an important role to play in defending specific societal issues and upholding human rights; reminds that this entails that, while the Commission should not mandate NGOs to pursue certain activities or support specific positions or policies, it remains fundamental that civil society organisations, through EU funding, can engage in an “open, transparent and structured dialogue with EU institutions” as enshrined in article 11 TEU through activities such as advocacy activities, demonstrations, or judicial actions and that these should remain eligible in the relevant funding programs and have sufficient dedicated funding available;
Amendment 29 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Highlights the important role of the European Anti-Fraud Office and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office in protecting the financial interests of the Union; welcomes that in 2023 a working arrangement was signed with Denmark and cooperation started with Poland and Ireland;
Amendment 30 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Underlines that cohesion policy must not contribute to misuse of EU funds or further deterioration of the Rule of Law and democracy in Member States;
Amendment 31 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Stresses the fundamental role cohesion policy has played in addressing the emergency crisis over the last years and emphasizes the need to keep its long- term strategic investment rationale and objectives;
Amendment 35 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Acknowledges that through CRII(+), CARE and REACT-EU, cohesion policy played a key role in addressing the consequences of crises; reiterates, however, that the role of cohesion policy is to bring added value in regional development and contribute to fight against climate change, Green Deal, just transition and competitiveness, not to bear the consequences of those crises, and therefore crisis repair should not come at the expense of the strategic long-term cohesion objectives;
Amendment 44 #
2024/2019(DEC)
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines the need for the new multiannual financial framework to be better designed to allow the use of relevant instruments, outside of cohesion policy, to adapt to emerging needs in the post-2027 period; stresses that local and regional authorities should be more involved in setting the policy’s priorities and have direct access to cohesion funds; furthermore, recalls the need for minimizing administrative burden for local and regional authorities but for beneficiaries in particular.