8 Amendments of Vilija BLINKEVIČIŪTĖ related to 2021/2106(DEC)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Takes note that by the end of 2020, outstanding commitments continued to rise, reaching EUR 303.2 billion; highlights that this increase was smaller than in previous years, partly due to the additional payment appropriations being made available for combating the COVID- 19 pandemic; notes that according to the Commission’s long-term forecasting, which does not include the Next Generation EU (NGEU) instrument, the amount of outstanding commitments should remain fairly stable at this high level until 2027; notes that despite the fact that the absorption of European Structural and Investment (ESI) funds has accelerated at the end of 2020 (55%), it is still slower than at the same time under the previous MFF (2000-2006: 68 %; 2007-2013: 62 %); 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 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Expresses satisfaction that the biggest part of the Union budget went to boost sustainable growth and enhance competitiveness by reducing the economic gaps between regions, stimulate the creation of quality jobs, fight climate change, and address the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU, as well as provide assistance to third countries; welcomes in this regard the increased flexibility and the simplification of administrative requirements for the use of existing ESI funds to help Member States in their efforts to deal with the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. ENotes that in 2020, EUR 173.3 billion was allocated under subheading 1a; expresses satisfaction that EUR 3.1 billion (12.8%) of the spending under the MFF subheading 1a is dedicated to Education, training, youth and sport;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Stresses the importance of the 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; expresses the need to provide them with 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 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. 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 the 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 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes with concern that the estimated overall level of error in subheading 1b ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’ stood at 3.5 % in 2020 (2019:4.4 %, 2018: 5 %); underlines that despite the slight decrease in comparison with the previous years, 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 the Member States’ programme authorities and by the Commission in order to reduce the high level of error;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Expresses satisfaction that SURE reached a total volume of EUR 94.3 billion and a total level of disbursements of EUR 89.6 billion (as of May 2021) on a budget of EUR 100 billion; welcomes that SURE have supported approximately 31 million people and 2.5 million firms in 2020; calls in this context on the Commission to put forward a permanent European Unemployment Reinsurance Scheme without farther delay taking into account the fact that job layoffs will most probably increase;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Recognises that the five decentralised agencies (Eurofound, Cedefop, ETF, EU-OSHA and ELA) under the remit of DG EMPL provide significant contribution and each have 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;