3 Amendments of Rolandas PAKSAS related to 2011/2073(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses the fact that the European Union must strengthen its reaction capacity, given the growing number of major natural disasters; with this in mind, recalls that the European Parliament has for many years been calling for a more realistic humanitarian budget in the interests of remedying the chronic underfunding of the relevant budget lines and, making it possible to provide a margin of financial manoeuvre throughout the financial year, and maintaining the required balance between the financing of measures to prevent humanitarian disasters and measures to ensure rapid responses to natural and man-made disasters; welcomes the recent Commission Communication on the 2014- 2020 Multiannual Financial Framework, which provides for an increase in the humanitarian aid instrument budget of EUR 6.4 billion over this period (i.e. an annual average of EUR 915 million, as against EUR 813 million in 2007-2013); also notes with satisfaction the increase in the emergency aid reserve for the same period, bringing it to EUR 2.5 billion, and asks the Commission to ensure that these funds continue to be earmarked primarily for urgent humanitarian needs;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recognises the potential benefits of the consortium-based organisation advocated by DG ECHO; calls at the same time for the diversity of the actors involved in financing and implementing the European humanitarian programmes – the United Nations, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, NGOs – to be borne in mind; encourages the work of strengthening the capacities of local stakeholder, given that disasters often transcend national borders and require multilateral, coordinated responses; encourages the work of strengthening the capacities of local stakeholders and increasing assessment and rapid response capabilities on the ground through DG ECHO’s offices as well as field experts;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Emphasises the quality of DG ECHO’s partners, achieved by means of an effective selection method and the development of standards and practices applicable in the humanitarian field; stresses also that effective monitoring of the use of funds in the form of audits of the partners carried out by private audit firms is essential and helps to legitimise the humanitarian sector; notes, however, in the interests of safeguarding the diversity of the partners and guaranteeing access for small and medium-sized NGOs, the complexity of the administrative access procedures and the difficulties experienced with undergoing audits, given the lack of human resources, and calls for the tools used to be appropriate to the specific requirements of the humanitarian sector and to local requirements, so that humanitarian aid is targeted appropriately and coordinated action by the various aid organisations involved begins at an early stage;