34 Amendments of Julien SANCHEZ
Amendment 4 #
2024/0275(COD)
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that the European Parliament has repeatedly called for more resources for the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) in view of the increasing number and intensity of natural disasters and the need to speed-up procedures so that support reaches Member States and regions hit by natural disasters more quickly; notes that the RESTORE proposal provides additional assistance and further flexibility to Member States affected by natural disasters for their cohesion policy programmes 2021-2027 to respond to such disasters; regrets that cohesion policy is again used as an emergency response tool and maintains that this approach risks undermining its longer-term policy and investment objectives and is a symptom of a lack of flexibility and crisis response capacity in the EU budget; calls for the RESTORE proposal to explicitly include a commitment to allocate a significant portion of the funds to support the creation or renovation of infrastructure for natural disaster risk prevention, which would help mitigate the impact of future disasters and consequently reduce the costs required for repairs;
Amendment 14 #
2024/0275(COD)
Paragraph 9
9. Fears that a broad definition of ‘natural disaster’ could lead to more than estimated programme amendments, thus potentially triggering higher than estimated payment needs that have not yet been factored in for the coming years; recalls the need for a more precise definition of the concept of ‘natural disaster’ to avoid ambiguous interpretations and to ensure that RESTORE resources are allocated exclusively to genuine emergencies and to supporting the creation or renovation of infrastructures for natural disaster risk prevention; calls on the Commission to revise this definition to prevent any misuse or improper reallocation of funds;
Amendment 17 #
2024/0275(COD)
Paragraph 10
10. Highlights the importance to prevent double financing and calls on the Member States and the Commission to ensure that support under RESTORE is in addition to support under Union programmes, including the EUSF; calls on the Commission to establish strict monitoring mechanisms to ensure the exclusive use of funds, limit redundancy in financing, and strengthen transparency;
Amendment 18 #
2024/0274(COD)
Paragraph 11a (new)
11a. Calls for the immediate cessation of negotiations and the abandonment of the association agreement between the European Union and MERCOSUR; strongly denounces the unacceptable risks posed by this draft agreement, as it would allow the massive importation of low-cost agricultural products produced under practices that blatantly disregard the strict environmental, social, and health standards imposed on European producers; underlines that this agreement would create additional unfair competition for European farmers and livestock producers on several products, exposing them to imports derived from farming and cultivation practices that fail to comply with European sanitary and environmental standards; warns of the risk of European farms being weakened or even driven out of business by the influx of meat and other agricultural products from MERCOSUR that do not meet European standards; insists that Europe must not become an open market for food products that fail to meet the sustainability and safety requirements we impose on our own producers, especially given that major public health concerns cannot be ignored;
Amendment 1 #
2024/0252(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Welcomes the increased payment needs for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), coupled with those for the Common Agricultural Policy in the Global Transfer (DEC 11/24), as a sign that programme implementation is gathering pace after a worryingly slow start in the 2021-2027 period; underlines that the EUR 2,9 billion increase for the ERDF, primarily for the STEP platform, reveals unpredictable budget management; regrets that such a significant amount was not foreseen from the outset, highlighting major shortcomings in the Commission’s planning;
Amendment 2 #
2024/0252(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that the increased payment needs are almost entirely covered through revenue from fines and penalties, in particular the EUR 2,4 billion competition fine imposed on Google for antitrust infringements; expresses concern about the growing dependence on revenue from fines and penalties to fulfil payment appropriation requirements; notes that this opportunistic approach raises doubts regarding the long-term sustainability of a budget reliant on unpredictable income sources, such as the EUR 2,4 billion from competition fines;
Amendment 5 #
2024/0252(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the inclusion of revenue and expenditure budget lines for the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism; underlines the importance of sustained financial support to Ukraine in a context where financing under the Ukraine Facility and existing macro-financial assistance (MFA) arrangements falls short of needs;
Amendment 6 #
2024/0252(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the inclusion of revenue and expenditure budget lines for the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism; underlines the importance of sustained financial support to Ukraine in a context where financing under the Ukraine Facility and existing macro-financial assistance (MFA) arrangements falls short of needs; underlines that peace is the only viable and sustainable path to resolve the conflict; stresses the importance of a peaceful solution and calls on all parties to prioritise dialogue to reach a solid and lasting agreement;
Amendment 7 #
2024/0252(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Takes note of the higher-than- budgeted salary adjustment for 2024, which impacts both remuneration and pensions, with a higher-than-forecast number of new pensioners in 2024 further pushing up pension costs; welcomes the fact that almost all additional costs across institutions have been covered through internal redeployments and that recourse to the Single Margin Instrument is therefore contained; notes with concern, however, the increase of EUR 68,5 million to cover salary and pension expenses, as a result of a salary adjustment that significantly exceeds forecasts;
Amendment 8 #
2024/0252(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Underlines that the salary adjustment also affects decentralised agencies, which have been struggling with inflation above the 2 % deflator by which their annual budgets increase and are particular insofar as staff and operating costs represent a large portion of their outgoings; welcomes the fact that agencies that could not find the resources through redeployments see a 1,7 % increase in the Union contribution; reiterates that the current treatment of decentralised agencies’ budgets as separate from administrative spending under Heading 7 of the MFF requires further reflection as part of the Commission’s preparations for the post- 2027 MFF; reiterates that decentralised agencies should prioritise optimising their expenditure rather than relying on budgetary adjustments for personnel expenses; stresses that any increase in the Union’s contribution should be an exceptional measure and not a systematic solution;
Amendment 10 #
2024/0252(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes the increase in appropriations for European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) to cover rising costs and the corresponding decrease in appropriations for the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA); recalls that the EUAA was reinforced as part of the mid- term revision of the MFF in order to enable it to cCommission has requested an increase in Frontex staffing to 30 000 agents and that it is therefore essential to implement the necessarry out new tasks in accordance with the Pameasures to achieve this goal; requests, on an experimental basis and for a duration of three years, that the correct ion Migration and Asylum; calls on the Commission to work closely with the agency to ensure that it is equipped to perform those new tasks and absorb the additional appropriations from 2025coefficient applied to Warsaw and Poland be set at 100, aligning it with that of Brussels; calls on the Commission to stop relying on Frontex’s vacancy rate to justify the lack of reinforcement, as this criterion is unsuitable given the specific nature of the agency’s operations, particularly with regard to the recruitment method for operational personnel in the European Standing Corps (Category 1 under EU public agent status); demands a staff increase for Frontex, equivalent to that of other decentralised agencies;
Amendment 13 #
2024/0252(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes the additional appropriations for the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) in 2024 in the wake of the June 2024 cyber-attack on the agency; insists on the need for lessons to be learnt and for further technical support to be provided to other agencies by the Cybersecurity Service for the Union entities (CERT-EU),regrets, nevertheless, that the increase in funding for cybersecurity at the CEPOL results from a reactive management approach to cyber-attacks, highlighting the urgent need for a preventive strategy to ensure the security of all agencies’ infrastructures in view of the high cybersecurity threat;
Amendment 15 #
2024/0252(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the fact that, with the recast Financial Regulation now in force, it is possible to include negative revenue in the budget for the payment of compensatory interest in lost court cases; notes that the Commission is currently establishing the precise amount of such interest and calls on the Commission to provide this information to the budgetary authority as soon as possible in 2025; urges the Union to adopt a stricter policy of financial responsibility to reduce losses due to compensatory interest in cases of legal disputes, as such expenses could be avoided with better management of procedures and rigorous oversight;
Amendment 16 #
2024/0252(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. regrets the increasingly frequent use of the Flexibility Instrument established in Article 12 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093;
Amendment 1 #
2024/0185(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3
Citation 3
– having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/20121 , and in particular Articles 6, 20 and 44 thereof, _________________ 1 OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1046/oj.
Amendment 4 #
2024/0185(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Takes note that the decrease in the amount of own resources other than GNI (in particular with respect to customs duties) and in the size of the UK contribution to the budget results in an increase in GNI contributions of EUR 5,63 billionCalls on the European Commission to prioritise the reduction of non-essential expenditure, instead of increasing Member States' contributions based on GNI, which places a significant burden on the affected Member States;
Amendment 5 #
2024/0185(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Calls on the European Commission to present customs duties, both in this draft amending budget no. 4 and in all their future budget proposals, in a three-column format indicating their gross amount, the amount of 75% returned by the Member States, and, above all, in the name of the principles of budgetary accuracy and transparency as recalled in Article 6 of the Financial Regulation, the amount of 25% that the collecting Member States retain as their recovery costs; further requests the European Court of Auditors to conduct an accurate assessment of custom duties amounts;
Amendment 6 #
2024/0185(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Notes with regret that the customs duties forecasts for 2024 have been revised downwards by 18.3%, indicating inadequate budgetary estimates, which results in a substantial loss of own resources for the Union, estimated at approximately 4.5 billion euros; emphasises that this decline necessitates an increase in contributions based on Member States' GNI, thereby imposing an additional burden on European citizens; calls for more rigorous management of the EU budget's own resources and for more reliable and accurate forecasting;
Amendment 18 #
2024/0185(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Regrets the lack of transparency in the negotiation of the sublease contract for the former headquarters of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in London with the company WeWork, a renegotiation which has led to substantial revenue losses for the EMA; regrets the EU’s balancing contribution to the EMA to compensate for the decrease in rental income from the building, due to this questionable and opaque renegotiation; calls on the European Court of Auditors to carefully examine the compliance of this renegotiated rental contract, particularly in light of the principles of sound financial management and transparency, as well as the conditions under which it was drafted;
Amendment 24 #
2024/0185(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Regrets that the Flexibility Instrument, designed to be used as a last resort, is being mobilised with increasing frequency; strongly urges the Commission to look for more sustainable and structured budgetary solutions, in order to avoid systematically resorting to exceptional mechanisms to address budgetary challenges;
Amendment 76 #
2024/0176(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 91 #
2024/0176(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Intends, therefore, to restore the cuts proposed by Council; to ensure that programmes are properly resourced and that the budget’s flexibility and response capacity are maintained throughout the annual budgetary procedure; insists on the need forDemands the Commission to provide reliable, timely and accurate information on NGEU borrowing costs and on expected Recovery and Resilience Facility disbursements throughout the budgetary procedure; recalls that Parliament is deeply concerned about the impact of the inherent uncertainty for the EURI interest line and questions the forecast from the Commission on NGEU borrowing costs and expected Recovery and Resilience Facility disbursements throughout the budgetary procedure;
Amendment 126 #
2024/0176(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
Amendment 190 #
2024/0176(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37 a (new)
Paragraph 37 a (new)
37 a. Expresses its deep concern at the fact that the Commission has financed or co-financed campaigns to promote the veil, claiming, for example, that ‘freedom is in the hijab’; stresses that the EU budget must no longer finance future campaigns that may promote the veil or indirectly make the wearing of the compulsory veil commonplace;
Amendment 214 #
2024/0176(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Underscores the negative impact of droughts and other extreme, climate change induced, weather patterns on the agricultural sector; underlines the importance of the fruit and vegetables sector, of school schemes as well as promotional measures of agricultural products under the Common Agricultural Policy; decides, therefore, to increase the allocation of these budget lines under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund by a total of EUR 56 million above the DB; emphasises equally the importance of investing, where possible, in the digitalisation of small and medium-sized farms and the acquisition of equipment to implement good environmental practices in farming and to contribute to environmental sustainability in Union agriculture;
Amendment 226 #
2024/0176(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47 a (new)
Paragraph 47 a (new)
47 a. Notes the amount of EUR 450 million earmarked for the agricultural reserve and recalls that EUR 516,5 million was needed in 2024; calls on the Commission to provide sufficient and coherent funding for the agricultural reserve in order to mitigate the economic effects of extreme weather events on farms and to preserve food security and self-sufficiency, while ensuring that direct payments are not reduced and considering the mobilisation of non-CAP funds, as well as allowing the use of margins to finance this reserve; points out that the agricultural reserve was not deployed for the first time until 2022 and that it has been used more frequently since then; insists on Parliament's role in the use of the reserve and calls on the Commission to apply objective and transparent criteria for the allocation of funds;
Amendment 236 #
2024/0176(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Notes that additional financing is needed under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) in order to ensure appropriate and speedy implementation of the Asylum and MigratioStresses the failure of EU policies to prevent migratory flows and trafficking in human beings; reiterates its concern about the role played by instruments such as the Internal Security Fund and the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, which should ensure the proper implementation of a rigorous asylum policy in Pact; decides, therefore, to reinforce the AMIF by EUR 25 million above DB in 2025 given AMIF’s positive contribution in providing immediate support to refugeescordance with international standards, while blocking illegal immigration and ensuring border controls and a proper repatriation policy;
Amendment 248 #
2024/0176(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51 a (new)
Paragraph 51 a (new)
51 a. calls on the Commission to immediately mobilise substantial EU funds and resources to help Member States strengthen external border protection capacities and physical infrastructure, such as walls, surveillance resources, including aerial surveillance, and equipment;
Amendment 278 #
2024/0176(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62
Paragraph 62
62. Underlines that the war continues to have significant effects on countries in the Eastern Neighbourhood, such as Moldova, that have provided shelter and assistance to refugees fleeing the war and faced the knock-on effects of sky-high inflation and energy prices; underlines the importance of sustained support for candidate countries in implementing the necessary accession-related reforms and in enhancing their resilience and preventing and countering hybrid threats; decides, therefore, to increase appropriations by EUR 50 million above the DB for the Eastern Neighbourhood; proposes, furthermore, to increase accession-related support under the Instrument for Pre- Accession (IPA III) by EUR 3 million in 2025;
Amendment 287 #
2024/0176(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 64 a (new)
Paragraph 64 a (new)
64 a. Stresses that the EU's overseas countries and territories (OCTs) and outermost regions need special support because of their remoteness; draws attention in particular to the difficulties of access to drinking water and sanitation and the poor state of water supply networks, problems common to the OCTs and outermost regions;
Amendment 291 #
2024/0176(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68
Paragraph 68
68. Recalls that spending under Heading 7 should be set at a level that guarantees that the Union has an effective and efficient administration; considers that the Council’s cutsalls for a reduction in this he adming are unjustified and would not allow the Commission to recruit suitable staff in Luxembourg and to fulfil its tasks; restores therefore the DB for the Commission administrative expenditure, including with respect to its Officesistrative appropriations allocated to the European institutions, particularly as regards expenditure on Housing allowance in Luxembourg from the Commission and impacted Offices (-EUR 5.42 million) and in the Commission's buildings related expenditure (-EUR 5 million); calls for greater rationalisation of the EU's administrative services to avoid duplication and reduce costs; calls for savings to be reallocated to the Union's strategic priorities, such as border security, support for SMEs, and research and innovation;
Amendment 4 #
2024/0089(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 5 #
2024/0089(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. WelcomNotes the fact that the 2023 surplus is considerably lower than the 2022 surplus, pointing to improved budgetary forecasting and management byexistence of a surplus which reflects poor budgetary planning on the part of the Commission;
Amendment 7 #
2024/0089(BUD)
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Takes note of the calculation of the adjusted annual GNI lump-sum reductions for the five beneficiary Member States, which amount to around EUR 5,4 billion net; highlights the fact that these rebates are inflation-linked and have therefore increased at a higher rate than the MFF ceilings, which are adjusted annually on the basis of the 2 % deflator; stresses that this anomaly increases the burden on the otherCalls for a review of flat-rate reductions to ensure a fairer distribution of the burden between all Member States;