16 Amendments of Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ related to 2020/2140(DEC)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Takes note that by the end of 2019, outstanding commitments continued to rise, reaching EUR 298.0 billion; highlights that this increase was due to the fact that commitment appropriations systematically exceeded payment appropriations and that payment needs were being postponed to the next MFF, basically owing to delays in the implementation of the European Structural and Investment (ESI) funds; notes that despite the fact that the absorption of ESI Funds has accelerated, it is still slower than under the previous MFF; calls, therefore, on the Commission to analyse the reasons for the low absorption level and to simplify the new rules for the post- 2020 period in order to avoid unnecessarily complex and/or burdensome rules with no added value;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas this Parliament has repeatedly asked the Commission to promote and implement the use of gender mainstreaming, gender budgeting and gender impact assessments in all the Union policy areas and the European Court of Auditors (ECA) to incorporate a gender perspective, including gender- disaggregated data, into its reports on the implementation of the Union budget;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. NHighlights the importance of the EU cohesion policy in supporting the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights; notes with concern that the estimated overall level of error in the policy area ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’ in 2019 stood at 4.4 % (2018: 5.0 %); underlines that despite the slight decrease in comparison with the previous year, this figure is still largely above the 2 % materiality threshold and the estimated level of error in expenditure for the Union budget as a whole (2.7 %); stresses that the new control and assurance framework was designed to ensure that annual residual error rates are below 2 %; agrees with the Court's conclusions that further improvements are necessary in terms of the implementation of the framework by managing authorities, audit authorities and the Commission in order to reduce the high level of error;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas equality and the rule of law are founding values of the Union and the European institutions shall aim to promote them according to Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU); whereas this responsibility should be also shared by Member States according to the principle of sincere cooperation enshrined in Article 4(3) TEU;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Notes that ineligible expenditure and public procurement procedures have been detected as the most common types of irregularities; stresses the need to take effective measures to reduce those sources of error while achieving a high performance and calls on the Commission to implement swiftly the Court’s recommendations in this policy area;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas women are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly women working in precarious employment, feminised sectors and the informal economy;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that women’s rights and a gender equality perspective should be integrated and ensured into all policy areas; reiterates therefore its call for the implementation of gender budgeting at all stages of the budgetary process; including the implementation of the budget and assessment of its implementation;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Stresses the importance of the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) to encourage high level of employment, the creation of quality jobs and fight against poverty and social exclusion; highlights the need to provide them the continued financial and political support of the EU, national and regional institutions in the delivery of their targets in the years to come;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Notes that, on average, more than one out of five persons and one out of four children are still at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the European Union; recalls the EU commitment to provide support for the most deprived through FEAD, alleviating the worst forms of poverty in the Union, such as food deprivation, homelessness, and child poverty; notes that about 13 million people, including approximately 4 million children under the age of 15, are supported by FEAD annually;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the fact that gender equality and mainstreaming has been introduced as one of the horizontal principles for Union funds in the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for 2021-2027, stipulating that gender equality and gender mainstreaming will now be prioritised in the MFF; through a thorough gender impact assessment and monitoring of the programmes;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Recognises that the five decentralised agencies (Eurofound, Cedefop, ETF, EU-OSHA and ELA) under the remit of DG EMPL provide significant contribution and haveeach of them has an important added value to the achievement of the specific objectives of DG EMPL’s policy areas; expresses its satisfaction that the assessment confirms a positive evaluation report on the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and added value of the agencies, as well as the need to reinforce cooperation in order to achieve synergies;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Recalls that the ELA was created in March 2018 and started its operation in October 2019; highlights the importance of making the ELA fully operational without undue delay in order to improve the application and enforcement of Union law relating to labour mobility and social security coordination so as to ensure fair mobility and the effective cross-border enforcement of workers’ rights; stresses the need of ensuring sufficient financial resources in this regard;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Expresses its concern at the interrelation between the attacks on the rule of law and the backlash on gender equality and women’s rights; calls for this issue to be addressed through the Article 7 procedure against Member States concerned;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Strongly reiterates its demand to increase resources and for a budget line dedicated to preventing and combating gender-based violence under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values, especially following the escalation of violence against women during the COVID-19 crisis;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Stresses a need to further increase resources in European Social Fund Plus (EFS+) to allow inclusion in the labour market and adapted training, as the COVID-19 crisis affected women’s employment disproportionally, in particular women working in the informal economy and in precarious working conditions, and in some heavily impacted and highly feminised sectors;
Amendment 46 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Asks the Commission, more generally, to implement as soon as possible all outstanding Court's recommendations, to provide specific implementation reports and, in a longer-term perspective, to take the Court’s recommendations into account when implementing actions under the new ESF+ as of 2021.