Activities of Nicolae ŞTEFĂNUȚĂ related to 2021/0227(BUD)
Plenary speeches (2)
General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022 - all sections (debate)
2022 budgetary procedure: joint text (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022
Amendments (29)
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Recalls the need to implement strict conditionality in regard to financial support for EU’s partner countries and neighbourhood in cases of human rights violations;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Welcomes the increased contribution from NDICI and IPA III to Erasmus+, enabling increased mobility of students from the pre-accession countries;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that the Union budget must be equipped with the tools to enable it to respond to multiple crises simultaneously; reiterates Parliament’s view that the 2022 budget should play a pivotal role in ensuring a positive and tangible impact on citizens’ lives; against this background, supports increases to boost investment with a particular focus on SMEs, strengthen efforts towards the green and digital transitions, give fresh opportunities to young people in particular, build a strong European Health Union; reinforces, further, priorities in the fields of security, migration, fundamental rights, while acknowledging the recent deteriorating situation in external policy and humanitarian aid and the need to be able to react swiftly to the upcoming challenges; emphasises the leading role that the European Union must play in ending the pandemic by financing vaccination through COVAX in the low income countries;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises the need to increase funding for Western Balkan countries and the countries of the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood to support comprehensive political and socio-economic reforms and recovery from the COVID-19 crisis;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Notes that from 2022 onwards the activities funded by the EU Trust Funds will be largely programmed and implemented through NDICI-Global Europe; insists on full involvement of the Parliament in decisions including contributions to the EU Trust Funds from the Union budget; insists on ensuring that the FRT funding will not come at the expense of the newly adopted financing instruments IPA III and NDICI-Global Europe (including the cushion); advocates for the funding of any such initiative through fresh appropriations;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Reaffirms that the EU must continue to provide effective and monitored aid to Syrian refugees in Turkey, ensuring that its funds are directly and in full transparency channelled to non-governmental organisations; insists that the European Parliament will be fully informed about the types of expenditure financed and the channels used to reach all beneficiaries;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Emphasises that the protection and promotion of human rights globally continues to be of core interest for external actions of the Union; encourages a thorough application of the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EU Magnitsky Act) and extension of its scope to acts of corruption;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Insists that all funding for the civil society organisations in Afghanistan will be allocated directly to these organisations without using the Taliban government as an intermediary; calls for special attention to be focussed on the support of women and children in Afghanistan;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Insists that the room for external action expenditure given by the MFF ceiling for Heading 6 'Neighbourhood and the world' and the rules for the mobilisation of the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve must be fully utilised; reiterates that the balance between the resources assigned to the different external action instruments through the respective regulations must be preserved; emphasises that the future funding for the needs of the Syrian refugees was not factored in the MFF or NDICI-Global Europe discussion sand it should therefore not be borne by the programmed instruments; furthermore, as the expected Syrian refugees package is not responding to a new crisis or unforeseen needs, stresses that any funding from the emergency cushion of NDICI-Global Europe towards this should be limited; calls instead on Member States to make available additional "fresh funds" for this package;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Emphasises that optic fibre cables are the central nervous system of the global internet, as 97% of all internet traffic travels through these cables; Underlines that although these cables are a central and indispensable part of the critical infrastructure of the EU and thus of great geopolitical importance, they have recently been the subject of foreign spying operations; believes that the EU should prioritize the security and protection of these cables; calls for the EU to set up an EU optic fibre cables security program, that includes research, coordination, policy-making, the tracking of incidents and the training of coast guards;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Calls on the Bureau to draw up a translation of key foreign policy resolutions adopted under Rule 54 (own- initiative reports) into the non-Union official languages of the United Nations (namely Arabic, Chinese and Russian), as well as country-specific resolutions adopted under Rules 132 (resolution accompanying Commission/VPHR statements) and 144 (urgency resolution) into the official language of the country concerned, with a view to enhancing the impact and outreach of the Parliament's foreign affairs activities, and calls on the budgetary authority to ensure that sufficient appropriations are made available for that purpose;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Calls on strengthening support for fighting disinformation and challenges linked to EU’s work against foreign interference; calls for ensuring appropriate funding and mandates for the EEAS units and projects dealing with this issues; calls for a creation of a Far East Task Force to tackle threats coming from the far east and south east Asia region;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Acknowledges the need to reinforce the EEAS in order to allow it to fulfil its functions under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime; calls for adequate funding for additional staff in order to ensure carrying out the tasks under this new EU foreign policy tool;
Amendment 56 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Stresses the importance of the protection of the EU against foreign interference and influence, notably through hybrid attacks and disinformation, and the key role the EEAS plays therein; recalls that the European Court of Auditors has concluded that the EEAS needs a broader mandate to tackle the surge in hybrid attacks in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and new emerging threats, accompanied with sufficient funding; calls the European Commission to meet those demands and calls for the creation of a dedicated Far East Task Force, to deal with the specific threats coming from the far east and south east Asia region;
Amendment 60 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. SUnderlines the importance of connecting the Common Foreign and Security Policy to the EU Arctic Policy and stresses the responsibility of the Union to support the protection of the Arctic and its local communities.
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Emphasises that youth remains an overarching priority for the Union budget; reinforces therefore funding to meet increasing demand for the Erasmus+ programme by a total amount of just over EUR 137 million, as a 5% increase represents an additional 40,000 mobility exchanges; calls the Commission to present a draft amending budget so that the unspent funds from the 2021 budget should be carried over into the 2022 budget in order to help students regaining the missed opportunities due to the pandemic, so that we do not have a lost generation for Erasmus; furthermore increases the European Solidarity Corps by EUR 5 million as the economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic should not adversely affect support for the youth;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Regrets that the increase for EPPO budget in 2021 voted by both arms of budgetary authority is not respected the Commission; reiterates the fundamental role that EPPO plays in protecting the financial interests of the Union, including the use of funds from Next Generation EU, as well as ensuring the respect of the rule of law; invites the Commission to clarify the blockade of the 7.3 million euro and to ensure that the budget for 2021 and 2022 of EPPO will be fully respected and implemented;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Strongly objects to Council’s cuts to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) as the agency must be adequately equipped and its staff upgraded to enable it to deliver in all areas of responsibility falling under its new mandate; decides, however, to place EUR 90 000 000 into the reserve subject to the recruitment of the remaining 20 fundamental rights monitors at AD grade, the recruitment of the three deputy executive directors and the adoption of a procedure for the implementation of Article 46 of Regulation 2019/18969 ; _________________ 9Regulation (EU) 2019/1896 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2019 on the European Border and Coast Guard and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1052/2013 and (EU) 2016/1624 (OJ L 295, 14.11.2019, p. 1).
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. StressDeplores the ineed to support developing countries in improvquality of vaccination coverage ing their health systems and world; therefore stresses the need to enable accessing to COVID-19 vaccines in developing countries, particularly through the COVAX initiative, as well as supporting the improvement of their health systems; decides, therefore, to earmark the amount of EUR 1 billion under the emerging challenges and priorities cushion of NDICI-Global Europe in 2022 to this effect, including the NDICI carry- over funds from year 2021, as well as a further EUR 100 million under the line “People - Global Challenges” in addition to the pledges already made by the Commission in 2021, including the extra 200 million doses announced at the State of the Union; requests that Member States fulfil with urgency the COVAX pledges already made and invites them to commit additional EUR 2 billion, either to COVAX or in vaccine doses, in the first semester of 2022;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49
Paragraph 49
49. Stresses that, given the new legislative proposals, such as and strategic initiatives arising from the European Green Deal, such as the Biodiversity Strategy to 2030, Chemical Strategy for Sustainability, Fit for 55 package, and increased Union spending due to NGEU and the Recovery and Resilience Facility, some services, in particular the Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), will need staff reinforcements; asks the Commission as honest broker to reassess these needs promptly and to propose thesadequate reinforcements in its Amending letterduring the Conciliation, without undermining the actual human resources level in its other services or agencies;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53 – point g
Paragraph 53 – point g
g) Expects all visitor groups to be informed by the Parliament services about the environmental impact of their transport and that a system of incentive reimbursement of travel costs based on environmental impact is established in 2022; welcomes the future proposal for a revision of the rules governing visitor groups; calls for the revised rules to be in line with Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy – putting European transport on track for the future (COM(2020)0789), in particular its paragraph 9;
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53 – point n a (new)
Paragraph 53 – point n a (new)
n a) calls for faster and more secure wireless networks in the three places of work;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53 – point n b (new)
Paragraph 53 – point n b (new)
n b) calls for increased digital means to directly engage with citizens; supports the establishment of Europa Experiences by 2024 in all Member States; supports the administration in its policy aimed at maximizing synergies;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53 – point n c (new)
Paragraph 53 – point n c (new)
n c) calls to introduce the opportunity for the citizens and the residents of Member States and partner countries to make virtual guided tours in the Parliament in order to achieve better understanding of the work and values of the institution among broader public;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53 – point p a (new)
Paragraph 53 – point p a (new)
p a) Recall Article 27(1) and (2) of the Statute for Members of the European Parliament on the voluntary pension fund set up by Parliament;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53 – point r a (new)
Paragraph 53 – point r a (new)
r a) recalls the political commitment of Parliament as regards its external liaison offices and urges the European External Action Service to ensure the diplomatic status accreditation of Parliament's staff to the authorities of the hosting States;
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 54 a (new)
Paragraph 54 a (new)
54 a. stresses that the European Data Protection Supervisor is a key institution, active in all aspects of the processing of personal data; that its tasks and responsibilities have grown, necessitating an increase in its human and financial resources; recalls that the Commission has integrated its expenditure estimates;