11 Amendments of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2017/2037(INI)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital –A (new)
Recital –A (new)
-A. whereas the Lisbon Treaty contains an express European Union commitment to the principle of self- government for cities, but, given EU institutions' degree of regulatory detail and depth, cities' scope for action is increasingly determined by, and subject to, EU law;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the Maastricht Treaty instituted the European Committee of the Regions, thus ginvolving cities a- through their representation on the committee - in its consultative role in the EU decision- making process;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Protocol No 2 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality gives the European Committee of the Regions the power to bring action, via the Court of Justice of the European Union, against legislative acts if the principle of subsidiarity or proportionality is not respected in the case of acts for the adoption of which the treaty provides that the Committee be consulted; whereas cities thus have a tool that can be used to defend their interests in the European Union;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas most EU policies and legislation are implemented at local and regional level, including at the level of cities, and today extend to almost all political, economic and social domains;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the institutional architecture of the EU is based on the principle of multi-level governance and subsidiarity; whereas the expanded role of cities in implementing EU policies and the increasing encroachment of EU policies on fields of municipal competence and regulation have strengthened cities' call for a formal and mandatory role in designing, implementing and assessing European policies; whereas such an EU policymaking role for cities is still under discussion;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas the Charter for Multilevel Governance in Europe, adopted by the Committee of the Regions, points to the close correlation between loyal cooperation in partnership between the European Union, Member States and regional and local authorities and the equal legitimacy and accountability of each level within their respective competences;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O a (new)
Recital O a (new)
Oa. whereas, in the light of the political requirements deriving from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change, cities have enhanced their ability to develop innovative policy solutions and instruments in the interests of social, ecological and economic sustainability and fair trading systems and to link up within the EU, and internationally, going beyond existing formats, in order to put them into practice;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that there is as yet no legal basis in the Treaties allowing cities to be formally involved in decision-making at EU level; points up its firmly held belief that Parliament should swiftly take on the task of establishing the basis, along with its partners, for that to be changed as part of a subsequent process of amending the Treaty, with a view to making local- authority involvement mandatory at all policy cycle stages; believes, however, that, in tandem with this, the current institutional set-up allows for encouraging platforms of cooperation between cities, and between cities and the decision-making bodies at both national and EU level;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Deems it necessary to build upon the current institutional set-up of the EU and to gauge recent developments, in order to reinforce cities’ early and coordinated involvement in the current EU decision- making and institutional architecture, in the light of the principle of subsidiarity and with regard for the respective constitutional realities in Member States and for the diversity of territorial authorities, and to strengthen democratic legitimacy and accountability within the spirit of the Treaties, while also safeguarding transparency in policy and decision-making;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission, when devising policy initiatives that, when implemented, would have an impact at local level, to carry out a territorial impact assessment on principle, including a mandatory appraisal as to whether, for instance, as regards the provision of public services, the unrestricted freedom of cities and local authorities to define and design those services would continue to be observed; calls on the Commission at the same time not only to be receptive to policy input about its plans from municipal and local government and administrations, but also to structure those plans solely in such a way that local self-government, which is expressly recognised in the Lisbon Treaty, and democratic participation are strengthened;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Reaffirms its expectation that the Commission will continue to provide express support for innovative initiatives and instruments originating in cities and local authorities and incorporate them into its own policymaking; points to considerable positive experience in this respect, including, for instance, in connection with ecological structural change (Green Capital), communication with citizens (Capital of Culture) and volunteering by citizens (Volunteering Capital), but also with the social, economic and ecological sustainability of cities' international trade ('EU City for Fair and Ethical Trade');