Activities of Victor NEGRESCU related to 2022/0212(BUD)
Plenary speeches (2)
General budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023 - all sections (debate)
2023 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 2023
Amendments (58)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)
Paragraph -1 (new)
-1. Calls for an EU inclusive budget that helps European citizens deal with the current crises, improves access and the quality of education and healthcare across the Union, enables the creation of high-quality jobs, offers life prospects for young people, integrates seniors and disadvantaged communities, and delivers on our global commitments;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)
Paragraph -1 a (new)
-1a. Stresses that the role of the EU budget is to achieve EU strategic objectives such as cohesion, reducing the disparities between and within Member States and upward convergence, high- quality employment and up-skilling and re-skilling of workers, green economy and innovation, education and healthcare;
Amendment 5 #
1 a. Calls upon the Commission to ensure full implementation of the Union programmes in the fields of culture and education in 2023; reiterates the need to make sure that all programmes are accessible across Europe, in particular by small organizations, vulnerable people and people from remote, rural and isolated areas;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that the Union budget should ensure the long-lasting legacy of the 2022 European Year of Youth, mainstreaming youth across all related Union policies, as agreed by the co- legislators; urges the Commission and the Council to integrate in the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2023 additional financial resources allowing the implementation of the results and recommendations resulting from the European Year for Youth;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Regards as insufficient the 1,5 % increase in commitment appropriations for ‘Communication services for citizens’ compared to the 2022 budget; opposes the Council’s position to reduce the funding of commitment and payment appropriations by 12 % and by 6 % respectively; therefore proposes a 5 % increase of the commitment appropriations as compared to the 2023 Draft Budget and to restore the level of payment appropriations of the 2023 Draft Budget in view of funding awareness raising and information activities on the ECI as well as implementation of the proposals included in the conclusions of the CoFE; underlines the importance of involving smaller NGOs, local authorities and stakeholders in communication strategies and actions; calls for making content available in all EU languages and provide native language content to Europeans living in other EU countries;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Calls for the timely introduction of a Youth Test for all Union policies as requested in the recommendations of the Conference for the Future of Europe;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Recalls the importance of using the EU budget actively in order to help our international partners affected by the war in Ukraine and remain active and visible in the neighbouring regions and pre-accession countries, especially in the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership areas;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Calls upon the Commission and the Council to identify and make available additional pre-accession funding to the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in order to allow them to accomplish the new reforms and policies requested as part of their new candidate status to the European Union;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8 a (new)
Citation 8 a (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 8 July 2021 on the Annual Report on the Functioning of the Schengen Area (2019/2196(INI)),
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Underlines the importance of pilot projects and preparatory actions in the framework of the EU budget and calls upon the Commission to show more flexibility in the evaluation and reassessment of the proposals made by the EU budget; calls for a bigger allocation to such initiatives by integrating part of the 'C' evaluated projects considered important by the European Parliament;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Underlines the need for more flexibility in EU budgeting, in coordination with the European Parliament, in order to ensure the adaptation of the MFF to any new challenges important for EU citizens;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4e. Calls upon the Commission to extend by one year the implementation of the projects contracted in the 2014-2020 MFF affected by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine and allow member states to use the already allocated financial resources in that programming period; invites the Commission to elaborate an analysis of the status of the projects delayed for those specific reasons and immediately come with a policy proposal allowing member states to continue the implementation of all those essential EU financed projects by one year; underlines the specific need for support for the implementation of projects involving partners or contractors from Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and the need for the Commission to identify specific measure allowing the continuation and the implementation of those specific projects;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 f (new)
Paragraph 4 f (new)
4f. Calls upon the Commission and the Council, in the context of an increasing number of transfers and adjustments to the EU budget, to respect the rights of the European Parliament when it comes to its budgetary role and asks for a transparent, open and predictable process with regards to those measures;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 g (new)
Paragraph 4 g (new)
4g. Urges the Commission to show more flexibility to the adaptation and changes brought by member states to the recovery and resilience plans and requests a special emergency and rapid procedure for any changes generated by the current context and challenges; calls upon the Commission to initiate such a policy change in 30 days after the EU budget approval allowing countries to improve their plans by the end of the contracting period; invites the Commission and the Council to evaluate the possibility to extend by one year the implementation of the RRF;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 i (new)
Paragraph 4 i (new)
4i. Urges the Commission and the Council to integrate in the EU budget 2023 additional financial resources allowing the implementation of the results and recommendations resulting from the European Year for Youth;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Is of the view that the 2023 Budget should tackle the impact of high energy prices, food insecurity and inflation, while contributing further to the social and economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic; considers, moreover, that the Union’s 2023 budget should focus on concrete actions to deal with the consequences of the war both within Europe and in the world, as well as contribute to the efforts to ensure a sustainable and socially-inclusive future in line with the European Green Deal;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Considers that the surge in energy prices combined with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the rising cost-of-living and the difficulty of many sectors in recovering from the pandemic, have worsened an already difficult situation for many EU citizens; considers, therefore, that the Union’s budget should be mobilised to support European citizens and households in coping with a particularly harsh global context;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Believes that exceptional times require exceptional measures where the Union needs to act as jointly and united as ever; considers, furthermore, that the existing financial programming is unfit to deal with the current situation in the energy market; in this context, believes that the Union’s2023 budget should be endowed with substantial additional appropriations (+300mio) to support energy-related measures that will contribute to the Union’s energy resilience as well as lead to stable and lower prices for European citizens;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that the Union faces an extraordinarily complex set of challenges, including the direct and indirect repercussions of the war in Ukraine, high inflation, high energy prices and security of supply risks, and a worsening economic outlook, in particular for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) ) and the most vulnerable households, the need to secure the recovery from the pandemic, crises in many other parts of the world, technological change, including increasing digitalisation, as well as climate change and its consequences; considers that the Union budget should contribute to tackling those challenges, while expressing concern at the exceptionally limited margins, which are about one third of last year’s, or, in the case of Heading 6, the lack of margin, and the limited flexibility built into the budget; deplores the fact that the draft budget is an insufficient response to the current challenges; recalls that the multiannual financial framework (MFF) was not establishedshould be upscaled in order to address a pandemic, athe war, high inflation, high energy prices, high numbers of refugees, new accessions, food insecurity, and a humanitarian crisise;
Amendment 34 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Calls on the Commission and Members States to actively involve social partners and the civil society in the development and implementation of Union programmes;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Calls on the Commission and Member States to seek for a fair and equitable digitalization of the different Union programmes and projects allowing everyone to participate; underlines the need to strengthen the digital dimension of the Union programmes, as it has been underlined in particular in the resolution of the European Parliament of 25 March 2021 on shaping a digital education policy, by including initiatives related to artificial intelligence, robotics and digital education or an Online European University;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Regrets the Council’s position on the DB, which cuts EUR 1,64 billion in commitment appropriations and EUR 530 million in payment appropriations for the MFF headings compared to the Commission’s proposal; considers that the cuts proposed by the Council neglect the citizens’ pressing needs, are not driven by an objective assessment of either implementation trends or absorption capacities and run counter to core shared policy priorities; considers that the Council should not target programmes that benefit from the adjustment provided for in Article 5 of the MFF regulation for “rebalancing and stabilisation”, since that would contradict the objective of that MFF provision, which was to strengthen specific political priorities; recalls in particular that Article 5 of the MFF regulation does not provide “top ups”, as suggested by the Council; concludes that the Council’s position is far from Parliament’s and citizens’ expectations; decides therefore, as a general rule, to restore appropriations on lines cut by the Council to the level of the DB, for both operational and administrative expenditure, and to take the DB as the starting point for Parliament’s position;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Considers that the Union budget, on account of its size, structure and rules, has a very limited capacity to respond appropriately in 2023 to the challenges facing the Union or to adequately finance new shared Union policy ambitions or initiatives announced in the Commission’s President’s 2022 State of the Union address; recalls in particular that the Heads of State or Government have described the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine as a ‘tectonic shift in European history’ and that the Commission has stated that the ‘unforeseen needs created by war in Europe are well beyond the means available in the current multiannual financial framework’, necessitating new financing sources; is of the view that this is a further demonstration of the urgent need to comprehensively and urgently revise the MFF, including to make it more flexible, raise the ceilings where necessary to reflect emerging needs and new priorities and to address the problems generated by including the European Union Recovery Instrument (EURI) financing costs in Heading 2b;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Underlines the importance of involving smaller NGOs, local authorities and stakeholders in communication strategies and actions; calls for making content available in all the official languages of the Union and for providing native language content to European citizens living in another Member State;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Underlines the importance of pilot projects and preparatory actions in the framework of the Union budget and calls upon the Commission to show more flexibility in the evaluation and reassessment of the proposals made by the Union budget; calls for a bigger allocation to such initiatives by integrating part of the 'C' evaluated projects considered important by the European Parliament;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the need to respond to the consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and, the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation and increasing energy and food insecurity at Union level; recalls that cohesion and agriculture policy cannot be the main source of the financing of urgent priorities, jeopardising the implementation of long-term objectives; calls, on the Commission, in light of limited resources from the Union budget to respond to high energy prices, to analyse potential flexibilities in order in order to support SMEs and vulnerable households;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Underlines the significant contribution of Heading 1 to achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal and to addressing the consequences of the war in Ukraine, inter alia to reduce Union dependence on fossil fuels, including from Russia, by supporting research and investment in sustainable energy and transport sectors; reiterates the potential of the programmes of this heading in anchoring Ukraine in the Single Market, infrastructure network and research area;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Supports the proposal in the DB to make EUR 78,8 million available in decommitments for the three clusters referred to in the relevant Joint political statement attached to the Horizon Europe regulation8 ; notes, however, that the remaining 2021 and 2020 research decommitments amount to EUR 836,09 million; insists, against the backdrop of limited available resources and considerable needs, that this unexpectedly high amount of research decommitments, which was not forecast by the Commission during the MFF negotiations, should be made available in full for Horizon Europe, in compliance with Article 15(3) of the Financial Regulation; recalls the very high Union added value and excellent implementation rate of that programme; believes strongly, therefore, that the remaining amounts should provide significant increases for key research priorities, such as health, climate(including Long Covid, Post Covid and ME/CFS, in particular for clinical trials aiming for authorisation of medicines and treatments), climate, mobility and energy, culture and creativity, (including for the New European Bauhaus), and food, bioeconomy, natural resources and the environment, in order to tackle the pressing challenges faced by the Union and to provide additional support to researchers through the Marie Curie actions, including researchers from Ukraine; _________________ 8 Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 April 2021 establishing Horizon Europe – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, laying down its rules for participation and dissemination, and repealing Regulations (EU) No 1290/2013 and (EU) No 1291/2013 (OJ L 170, 12.5.2021, p. 1).
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Recalls that the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is key to spurring investment in the development of high performance and sustainable trans- European networks; stresses that CEF plays a crucial role in decarbonising the Union economy by supporting alternative fuel infrastructure and renewable energy, thereby accelerating the green transition and increasing the Union’s energy independence and security, and promotes interconnectivity across the Union territory, including with the Iberian peninsula; underlines that Russia's unprecedented and unprovoked military attack against Ukraine calls for urgent support to transport infrastructure in and towards Ukraine (“solidarity lanes”), to enable the transport of critical goods in both directions; proposes, therefore, to increase the funding of the Transport and Energy strands of CEF by a total amount of EUR 90 million in commitment appropriations above the level of the DB;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Emphasises that businesses and SMEs in particular, have been severely hit by the COVID-19 crisis, including in the tourism sector and the culture and creative sectors, and by the consequences of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, in particular high energy prices; recalls that these sectors create jobs and economic activity and generate tax revenues and enterprise turnover and that in order to reap the benefits of these industries, there is a need to further support the sectors while also taking the opportunity to better leverage their economic and social benefits; supports an increase of EUR 10 million above the DB for the SME strand of the Single Market Cluster; proposes also an increase of EUR 1 million above the DB to support the ongoing work of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) in designing high-quality reporting standards, on the condition that EFRAG adopts a work plan outlining the measures to ensure a proper transparent due process and public oversight as well as a balanced representation of stakeholders;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Underlines the pivotal role of cohesion policy as an essential Union investment policy and convergence instrument; anticipates that,calls for the implementation of cohesion policy to gather pace in 2022 after athe delayed start to the programming process experienced in the first two years of the 2021-2027 MFF, implementation will gather pace in 2022; calls on the Member States and the Commission to accelerate the process of programming in order to allow 2023 to be the start of the implementation of the cohesion funds, that will help boost our economy; help the public and private sectors, SMEs, and citizens during these difficult times;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Calls upon the Commission to elaborate an analysis of the status of the projects delayed due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine and to propose the necessary policy adjustments to ensure the complete implementation of all those essential EU financed projects; underlines the specific need for support for the implementation of projects involving partners or contractors from Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and the need for the Commission to identify specific measure allowing the continuation and the implementation of those specific projects;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15 b. Urges the Commission to show flexibility to the adaptation and changes brought by Member States to their National Recovery and Resilience Plans in relation to the impact of the war in Ukraine and inflation in the context of the introduction of their REPowerEU chapters; calls upon the Commission to ensure rapid and efficient procedure for assessing those changes and for a fast implementation of the plans in the current context and challenges;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15 c. Calls upon the Commission to present a proposal for allowing the full mobilisation of the remaining unused funds of the 2014-2020 MFF to finance programmes and initiatives enabling the EU and its Member States to response to the pressing current challenges;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. PUnderlines that, in line with President von der Leyen’s announcement, 2023 should be Europe’s year of education and training and the EU should dedicate special additional resources to education and lifelong learning, and that the Commission should identify targeted initiatives to fulfil this objective; proposes, therefore, EUR 200 million above the DB for the flagship Erasmus+ programme - focused on learning mobility in education and training - in line with the need identified by the Commission to provide support to Ukrainian students and teaching staff, as well as to all students to cope with high inflation; underlines that these appropriations will also help to flatten the heavily backloaded financial profile of Erasmus+, providing more consistent annual financing for a programme with stable year-on-year demand; stresses, furthermore, that increased resources will contribute to ongoing efforts to make the programme greener and more inclusive and enable legacy work following the 2022 European Year of Youth;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Recalls that, under the ‘sport’ strand, Erasmus+ supports not-for-profit sport events aimed at further developing the European dimension of sport and promoting issues of relevance to grassroots sport; underlines the vital role that sport plays in tackling discrimination and promoting social inclusion; proposes atherefore, supports a necessary and targeted reinforcement of EUR 10 million for the ‘sport’ line to enable the programme to support the Special Olympics taking place in Berlin in 2023;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Stresses that the Covid-19 pandemic is not yet over and emphasises the need to maintain support for health systems to improve their resilience and bolster preparedness through the EU4Health programme; underlines, further, the key role that the programme plays in supporting quality access to sexual and reproductive health services, the Beating Cancer Plan, the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe and the newly created Health and Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority; reverses, therefore, the disproportionate and unjustified cut proposed by Council and reinforces the programme by EUR 25 million above the DB;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Highlights the increasingly numerous and severe health and natural disasters in Europe, as evidenced most recently by the record wild fires in the summer of 2022; regrets that, owing to climate change, such emergencies are likely to intensify and multiply; decides, therefore and in line with the Commission President’s pledge in her 2022 State of the Union address, to reinforce the Union Civil Protection Mechanism by EUR 20 million to enhance the Union’s response capacity including capacities for the mobilisation of medical units in emergencies, such as in the form of an EU Blue Medical Corps;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Recalls that the cultural and creative sectors, often small businesses, individual artists and nor for-profit community organisations, have been badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the related public health measures; emphasises the key role that Creative Europe plays in supporting European creations and EU values as well as the recovery of the cultural and creative sectors, fostering media literacy and combatting disinformation; decides, therefore, to increase the programme’s 2023 appropriations by EUR 12 million above the DB;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses the crucial role of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme in strengthening Eu values, European citizenship and democracy, equality and gender equality and the rule of law in the Union, and in supporting victims of gender-based violence; reverses, therefore, the Council’s cuts to the programme; decides, further, to increase the Daphne strand by EUR 2 million above the DB to tackle gender-based violence, which has worsened since the pandemic as well as violence against children, LGBTIQ+ persons and persons with disabilities, which has worsened since the pandemic as well as all forms of violence perpetrated against refugees fleeing conflicts, and the ‘citizens’ engagement and participation’ strand by EUR 1.5 million above the DB, in particular to ensure proper follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Reiterates, in this regard, the need for the EU budget 2023 to allow the implementation of the recommendations coming from the Conference for the Future of Europe;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
24 b. Considers that the impact of the war in Ukraine on inflation affects notably workers and most vulnerable households in the EU and calls for the adequate support to alleviating measures, support for information and training measures and social dialogue; strongly opposes any cut in the budget lines for social dialogue and workers’ trainings and call on the Commission to ensure good absorption of the related budgets;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Expresses its grave concerns about the severe impact of the Russian war in Ukraine and its economic fallout as well as of the extreme weather events on food prices, production and distribution in the agricultural sector and food markets; recalls the strategic role that agriculture plays in avoiding a food crisis by providing safe, high-quality food at affordable prices all over Europe and that 2023 is the first year of the new common agricultural policy that will support Union farmers; believes that the crisis situation justifies the partial mobilisation of the new agricultural reserve by a minimum of EUR 10 million for young farmers; calls on the Commission to prepare pertinent exceptional measures in line with the relevant provisions in the basic act and to increase, as relevant, the amount to be mobilised;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Reiterates the importance of the LIFE programme in supporting climate action and environmental and biodiversity protection; calls for the level of budgetary support for LIFE to be increased across the various programme strands; highlights that any annual reinforcement for the LIFE programme will imply progress towards the mainstreaming targets and ambitions in the areas of climate and biodiversity; considers the present circumstances to justify a particular emphasis on the article covering the Clean Energy Transition;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Stresses the important role of the MFF Partnership Agreementjust transition plans and the need for their timely approval in the current economic and geopolitical situation to secure necessary investments and growth in the Union; emphasises the need to ensure the smooth implementation of the Just Transition Fund as an essential tool for increasing the Union’s energy independence and innovative capacity and addressing socio-economic challenges and the energy transition in response to climate targets;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Notes that, in 2022, as a result of the war against Ukraine, it wais necessary to continue provideing additional financing of EUR 150 million to the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) to support Member States receiving people fleeing the conflict and their efforts to protect women and children from human trafficking, including trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation; welcomes the decision to trigger the Temporary Protection Directive, which, owing to the nature of the conflict, will entail a longer-term financial commitment and necessitate ongoing budgetary support to Member States; decides, therefore, to reinforce the AMIF by EUR 100 million above the DB in 2023;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Recalls that, in 2022, it was also necessary to provide top-up funding to the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI) to enable additional support to be provided to frontline Member States in the context of the war, as well as support the further integration of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia in the Schengen area; regrets, further, that the Commission has repeatedly proposed to erode the agreed financial envelope for the BMVI so as to find resources for justice and home affairs agencies with expanded mandates, including Europol in the DB; decides, on the basis of the above considerations, to increase the BMVI by EUR 25 million above the DB in 2023;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Recalls the vital role that the European Union Asylum Agency plays in supporting Member States with respect to asylum and international protection procedures and notes that the agency’s workload has increased, both as a result of the war against Ukraine and owing to the new tasks entrusted to it under its enhanced mandate; decides, therefore, to increase the agency’s staffing; with a view to long term perspectives;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Highlights the importance of an effective European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) to assist Member States in managing the common external borders of the Union and to ensure integrated border management in full compliance with fundamental rights; notes that Frontex continues to have difficulty in absorbing the steep year-on-year increase in appropriations and recruiting the additional operational staff required, while remaining subject to effective scrutiny; decides therefore to support Council’s proposed cut of EUR 50 million for Frontex in 2023;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Underlines the importance of enhancing European cooperation in defence matters taking into account the Russian war of aggression inagainst Ukraine and the highly unstable international environment; considers that such cooperation not only makes Europe and its citizens safer but also leads to greater efficiency and potential savings; calls in that connection for increased funding for the capability development strand of the European Defence Fund in order to foster an innovative and competitive defence industrial base that will contribute to the strategic autonomy of the Union;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42
Paragraph 42
42. Notes with deep concern that the Russian aggression against Ukraine and its worldwide effects have dramatically increased humanitarian assistance needs, which were already under pressure because of funding gaps and the multiplication of crises in the world; asks to significantly increase humanitarian aid to address the unprecedented gap between needs and available resources; deplores the fact that Heading 6 has no margin left and is therefore not fit for the current situation and would urgently require an upward revision of its MFF ceiling; regrets that the DB is not able to at least sustain the current level of response while humanitarian needs and emergencies are steeply increasing around the globe, notably worsening food insecurity on account of the impact of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, increasingly severe climate-induced disasters and newly emerging conflicts; recalls that, even with the increases proposed by Parliament, there would be insufficient resources to address the humanitarian aid needs in 2023;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43
Paragraph 43
43. Calls for continued and substantial support for the Eastern Neighbourhood, especially for countries helping refugees that are fleeing Ukraine and facing inflation and high energy prices; considers it necessary to support political, economic and social reforms and civil society actors, in particular human rights and democracy activists, civil society organisations defending women’s rights and the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community orand providing assistance to persecuted persons and political prisoners, together with Ukrainian and Moldovan organisations which have been forced to restructure their activities as a result of Russia’s war of aggression, organisations contributing to the fight against corruption, and independent media which help expose disinformation and propaganda;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
44. Asks for additional resources to be allocated to the Southern Neighbourhood in order to support political, economic and social reforms; welcomes the recent announcement of the Union’s continued commitment to multiannual funding to UNRWA; underlines that the increase in appropriations for the Southern Neighbourhood is notabmainly intended to provide additional and predictable funding for UNRWA, in the light of the crucial role it plays in protecting and ensuring the essential needs of Palestinian refugees as well as contributing to their human development;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47
Paragraph 47
47. Calls for Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova to be included as soon as possible within the scope of the Instrument for Pre-Accession and for the related upward revision of the financial envelope of this programme; considers that it is necessary to provide support to Ukraine and Moldova, as new EU candidate countries, and to Georgia, as an aspiring applicant, on their path to EU membership;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. Considers that the Council’s cuts in this heading - which are designed to obviate recourse to the Flexibility Instrument, as proposed in the DB - are unjustified and would not allow the Commission to fulfil its tasks; restores therefore the DB for the Commission administrative expenditure, including with respect to its Offices; ensuring adequate and stable funding for important inter- institutional communication services informing about the EU engaging with citizens at local level even more urgent facing war in Ukraine, countering disinformation and facilitate citizen participation in democratic life;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 a (new)
Paragraph 52 a (new)
52 a. Underlines that for all institutions, bodies and agencies of the Union (EUBAs), the last years revealed the extent of the gap between their preparedness to cyber threats and the rise in frequency and intensity of those; believes all EUBAs should be granted with the appropriate means and staff to recover from this gap both internally and in the context of inter-institutional cooperation;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 b (new)
Paragraph 52 b (new)
52 b. Calls for the swift adoption of the targeted revision of the Financial Regulation proposed by the Commission in relation to the handling of default interest for the late repayment of cancelled or reduced competition fines, so as to avoid pressure on spending under Heading 7;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53
Paragraph 53
53. Recalls the importance of pilot projects and preparatory actions (PP-PAs) as tools for the formulation of political priorities and the introduction of new initiatives that have the potential to turn into standing Union activities and programmes; adopts, following a careful analysis of all the proposals submitted and taking fully into account the Commission's assessment of their respect of legal requirements and implementability, a balanced package of PP-PAs that reflects Parliament’s political priorities; calls on the Commission to swiftly implement PP- PAs and provide precise feedback on their performance and results delivered on the ground;