18 Amendments of Helmut SCHOLZ related to 2018/2093(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas differentiated integration is a polysemous concept that can define various phenomena both from a political and from a technical point of view various developments linked to accession to the EU, withdrawal from the EU and association with the EU with regard to the further development and implementation of the EU political and legal acquis;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas in the EU integration processes are characterised by a rapidly increasing diversity and number of situations entailing differentiated integration, in the context of both primary and secondary legislation;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the political perception of differentiated integration varies significantly depending on the national context; whereas in some Member States that have been members of the Union for longer, it can carry a positive connotation of creating a “pioneer group”e concept is regarded as entailing the creation of a ‘pioneer group’ or as a way of achieving more rapid progress in the deepening of integration both in fields for which the EU alone is responsible and elsewhere, while in other Member States that have more recently joined the Union it is often perceived as a path towards the creation of first-class and second-class Member Statedifferentiated integration is increasingly seen as a way of preserving national sovereignty or identity, or creating scope for the pursuit of diverging interests or objectives, by claiming the right to deviate from the political and legal acquis of the EUnion;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the increasingly differentiated development of integration processes in the EU is being driven by disparities in the consistency of the implementation of the political and legal acquis in the context of enlargement and the deepening of integration;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas differentiation has been a stable feature of European integration in fields for which the EU alone is responsible, but also elsewhere, and has occurred simultaneously with the deepening and widening of the EU; whereas, as a consequence, one cannot oppose differentiation and integration nor present differentiation as an innovative path for the future of the Union;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas experience shows that, if interdependence works as a factor of integration, politicization often works as an obstacle to it; whereas, as a consequence, Union policy areas with the deepest integration are mostly the least politicized ones, such as internal market harmonization and regulation, while differentiated integration seemis most likely to arisecommon in policy areas characterised by high political polarisation, such as economic management, monetary policy, defence, borders control, fundamental rights or taxation; ;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the Treaties foresee the possibilities for Member States to take different paths of integration, namely via enhanced cooperation (Article 20 TEU) and Permanent structured cooperation (Article 46 TEU)provide for enhanced cooperation (Article 20 TEU) and permanent structured cooperation (Article 46 TEU), thus making tools available to make arrangements for transitional periods and to organise processes in the implementation of integration, but there is no provision for permanent flexibility or differentiation of integration, either as an objective or as a guiding principle of the EU’s development;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas, due to the increasing size of the EU and diversity of its Member States’ interests, internal decision- making has become far more complicated, which makes it significantly more difficult to find common, democratically legitimate solutions;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Considers that differentiated integration should reflect the idea that Europe does not work on a one-size fits all approach and should adaptnot act in a way contrary to the needs and wishes of its citizens but rather adapt to them; believes that differentiation should be used as a constitutional tool to ensure flexibility for a limited period of time without undermining the general interest of the Union and the equality of rights and opportunities between citizens;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Considers that it conflicts with the letter and spirit of the Treaties to use the option of orderly withdrawal from the EU, which was first formally provided for in the TEU, to carry out an individual country-specific dismantling of the political and legal acquis in key areas of EU competence;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls that Parliament believes that differentiated integration must remain open to all Member States and continue to act as an example of deeper European integration, not as a way toPoints out that, under Articles 20 and 46 TEU, differentiated integration in the various fields of policy must remain open to all Member States, that no Member State may be excluded long-term and that such integration must not facilitate ‘à la carte’ solutions’;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Observes, in the context of the preparation of decision-making in small circles by Member States that in most cases are economically strong and are long-standing members, that this increasingly common practice is contrary to the principle of equality in the Union, to the requisite democratic legitimacy and to the transparency of decision-making;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Emphasises that democracy and representation of the interests of citizens should never be the price to pay for differentiation and that differentiated integration should not lead to more complex decision-making processes that would undermine the democratic accountability of Union institutions;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Demands that permanent opt-outs from the Treaty provisions should not be permissible, as they lead to negative differentiation in Union primary law and distort the homogeneity of Union lawin general, and those concerning social rights and freedoms that affect the interests of citizens in particular, should not be permissible, as they lead to negative differentiation in Union primary law, distort the homogeneity of Union law and are contrary to the development of social cohesion in the EU; reiterates its belief that, in the context of a revision of the Treaties, the large number of general opt- out clauses or derogations should be greatly reduced, while at the same time introducing changes capable of overcoming the shortcomings in the EU’s democratic and social legitimacy, possibly through differentiated integration processes;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Believes that a step further would be to go beyond the existing Treaty limits and to initiate a change to the Treaty which would introduce two types of membership: full membership and associated membership; considers that such an innovation presupposes the development of clear criteria for admission and the transition from associate to full membership;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Suggests that full membership would require full compliance with Union primary law and all the policy areas whereas associated membership would entail the participation in certain policies only and would not be fully, although in these fields integratedion into the EU decision-making process would be possible; believes that the associated membership should be accompanied by obligations corresponding to the associated rights, as for example a contribution to the EU budget and should be conditional to the respect of the Union’s fundamental values and to the four freedoms;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Underlines that flexibility and differentiation should go hand in hand with a reinforcement of common rules in core areas in order to ensure that differentiation does not lead to political fragmentation; therefore, considers necessary the existence, in a future European institutional framework, of European Pillars of Political, Economic, Social and Environmental rights that it would not be possible to evadbe permissible only to develop further, but not to evade or regressively dismantle;