Activities of Dominique RIQUET related to 2022/2046(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on upscaling the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework: a resilient EU budget fit for new challenges
Amendments (14)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. whereas the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RFF) was designed to help the EU emerge stronger and more resilient following the COVID-19 pandemic and to support key policy areas such as the green transition, digital transformation and economic, social and territorial cohesion as well as crisis preparedness;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the recent crises, in particular the Russian waraggression against Ukraine, pose severe challenges for the EU transport sector and its workers, in particular supply chain disruptions and high inflation rates resulting from different factors such as rising energy prices, and require a coordinated response at EU level backed by adequate budgetary means; furthermore, high inflation rates might hamper the financial soundness of infrastructure projects for project promotors and transport operators due to unexpected increases of costs;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas the current MFF, which was agreed in 2020, reflects the priorities of the Union at the time of adoption; whereas in the meantime the European continent has been hit by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, making the strengthening of military mobility of utmost importance;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas the transport sector is undergoing structural changes related to decarbonisation and digitalisation policies resulting from the Green Deal and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
B c. whereas strategic autonomy has become a core political priority for the EU, especially in the transport sector, which has been hit by global semiconductors' shortages forcing factory closures in the car industry, hence highlighting to what extent the EU is dependent on a limited number of third- countries' actors in a complex geopolitical context for the semiconductors' value chain;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Welcomes the RRF as a key instrument and a unique opportunity for the EU to ensure a sustainable, connected, interoperable and resilient transport infrastructure; notes that, according to the Commission RRF scoreboard, the total estimated expenditure in sustainable mobility in the 22 NRRPs approved so far amount to €70.7 billion, which corresponds to 15.7% of the total expenditures in the plans; welcomes the fact that these expenditures have been allocated mainly to support railway infrastructure, urban transport mobility, the roll-out of charging infrastructure or the procurement of clean vehicles; regrets, however, the strong national differences in the share of sustainable mobility expenditure, ranging from 2,0% to 32,7% of national NRRP’s expenditure, and the resulting disappointing signal sent towards infrastructure investment and the completion of the TEN-T;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reiterates its calls for increased financing of transport infrastructure through EU funding, particularly the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF); suggests to this end, for the current multiannual financial framework (MFF), the mobilisation of unused funds under the Recovery and Resilience Facility to ensure the completion of the core network by 2030 and calls on the Commission to plan a successor programme to CEF II for the MFF 2028- 2034, with reinforced funding;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Observes that a significant share of available RRF loan support has currently not been requested by Member States; highlights that in the inflationary context, pushing interest rates higher, the RRF loan support could become more attractive to Member States; encourages therefore Member States to make use of the funding available to address bottlenecks, missing links, cross-border sections, support alternative fuels and digitalisation of transport;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that the CEF is a key enabler for achieving the objectives of the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) policy; points out that investment needs in the TEN-T are estimated at EUR 500 billion to complete the core network by 2030 and EUR 1500 billion for the entire network by 2050 and that measures introduced by the revision of Regulation 1315/2013 on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network could imply additional investments needs representing an increase of around 30% in the average annual investments; stresses also that the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) plays a key role in implementing the CEF through a centralised governance and direct management, which has proven to be an an efficient model of governance to progress in the completion the TEN-T network, and calls therefore for an enhanced budget ensuring that it has the necessary means to meet our infrastructure deployment objectives; advocates for EU funds to replicate CEF governance by promoting dedicated funds under direct management; highlights the strategic value of the TEN-T and CEF for meeting new objectives as regards the EU sustainable and smart mobility strategy, enhanced military mobility in the EU and stronger connectivity with our strategic partners in non-EU countries;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Regrets that the portion of the CEF Transport dedicated to military mobility is only €1.69 billion in the 2021- 2027 MFF; calls for a substantial and rapid increase of the military mobility envelope in order to increase investments for adapting the TEN-T network for dual civil and defence use;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3 b. Recalls that any new legislation applying to the transport sector implies additional responsibilities for EU transport agencies; highlights in particular that the European Rail Agency (ERA) has the smallest budget among these agencies despite the outstanding environmental and climate performance and other benefits of rail transport at a time when railways and modal shift are core policy priorities and given its responsibilities in the deployment of ERTMS; calls therefore for an increase of the budget of EU transport agencies in order for them to be able to participate effectively to the implementation of the new transport legislation resulting from the Green Deal and Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recommends further strengthening synergies between the CEF and other programmes such as Horizon Europe and InvestEU, InvestEU and European Structural and Investment Funds, in order to support innovation, sustainability and safety in the transport sector and optimise the use of budgetary resources; recommends, also, to further optimise the use of blending tools in order to attract private investors for financing transport infrastructures;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Notes with great concern that the proposal on the EU Chips Act, aimed at bolstering competitiveness and resilience in semiconductor technologies, proceeds to a reallocation of funds from the CEF transport and digital envelopes to this new initiative by reducing €400 million of the CEF, including €150 million from CEF Digital and €250 million from CEF Transport, to be reallocated to the financing of the EU Chips Act; stresses that any new European policy needs to come with a new allocated budget and not a reshuffle within the current MFF;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Is convinced, on the basis of the above analysis, that a genuine review of the current MFF is indispensable if the Union is to effectively confront the current geopolitical and economic challenges while fulfilling its decarbonisation agenda, which needs to be backed by corresponding financing instruments; stresses the need for the MFF to be endowed with increased resources to effectively ensure investments, achieve economic, social and territorial cohesion and promote solidarity;