Activities of José Manuel FERNANDES related to 2022/2147(INI)
Opinions (1)
OPINION on the assessment of the new Commission communication on outermost regions
Amendments (25)
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Urges the Commission, the Member States and regional authorities, with a view to achieving energy self-sufficiency from renewable sources in those regions, to coordinate the best use of available EU funds and to add to them;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the scourge of drug addiction contributes to social and economic exclusion and, disengagement from the labour market in the ORs and poses a risk to young people’s health and public safety;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Stresses the need to take account of the ORs' vulnerability in the funds being designed to support environmental transition under the 'fit for 55' package (Social Climate Fund, Modernisation Fund, Ocean Fund and Innovation Fund or Climate Investment Fund, etc.), ensuring access for its households and SMEs and support for small-scale projects;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses the importance of mainstreaming support for ORs across EU programmes and instruments, in particular the European structural and investment funds (ESIF), the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT-EU) programme; highlights the need to extend the execution deadlines of the RRF to boost economic recovery in ORs; underlines the need to revise the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF), including by adapting the current provisions applicable to the ORs in an appropriate manner, so that it can better respond to regional disasters;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the worrying levels of early school leaving, which are higher than national and EU averages, undermine the ORs’ future and put pressure on these regions’ social responses;
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that the social situation of young people is a central concern for the ORs; calls, in this regard, for the reinforced Youth Guarantee to be fully and properly deployed in the ORs; believes that an evaluation of the guarantee’s implementation is necessary in these territories, including an assessment of the existing barriers for young people;
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses the need to ensure the empowerment of women in the ORs by promoting access to stable, high-quality jobs; supports, in this regard, the need for measures for the ORs that improve gender equity and ensure the social, economic and political empowerment of women in these regions;
Amendment 91 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Supports measures that ensure the health and well-being of women in the ORs and prevent and combat violence and sexual harassment; calls on the Commission to support and encourage projects in these regions to change this state of affairs and that put the emphasis on education, which has a fundamental role in promoting women’s empowerment and combating stereotypes;
Amendment 94 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to focus on prevention, social reintegration and the return to employment in the implementation of the EU drugs strategy; warns of new addictions found in the ORs, particularly the rise in synthetic drug use, which poses serious risks to young people’s mental health and causes crime to soar in these regions and which merits special attention from the EU;
Amendment 111 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Reiterates the need to consider the specific features of the ORs in every annual cycle of the European Semester and for those features to be reflected in the country-specific recommendations (CSRs) for Portugal, Spain and France;
Amendment 114 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Highlights the disparities that exist even between ORs, some of which have not yet been able to provide their populations with access to basic sanitation and drinking water; points out, furthermore, that many of the most isolated people in these regions do not have good broadband internet coverage or even access to broadband internet;
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Highlights the shortage of labour in fundamental sectors for the ORs and the increase in material prices, which makes it impossible to carry out structural projects for these regions;
Amendment 120 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)
Paragraph 6 d (new)
6d. Emphasises the importance of traditional sectors for maintaining employment in the ORs, particularly farming and fisheries; considers that these sectors should continue to receive particular attention from the EU by increasing the budget allocation of its specific agriculture programme (POSEI Agriculture) and reinstating a specific programme for fisheries (POSEI Fisheries) based on the EMFAF article relating to the ORs;
Amendment 123 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 e (new)
Paragraph 6 e (new)
6e. Reiterates the need to create measures to encourage the establishment of health care professionals in order to reduce disparities in health services;
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 f (new)
Paragraph 6 f (new)
6f. Points out that there are still significant inequalities in the health sector in the EU, particularly in the ORs, including in preventing and combating cancer; stresses the need to identify and pay special attention to the inhabitants of these regions in order to ensure they have proper access to cancer prevention and combating services, by encouraging and supporting the creation of public policies as part of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan;
Amendment 127 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 g (new)
Paragraph 6 g (new)
6g. Stresses the need to establish measures to promote and support the establishment of teachers, particularly in STEM disciplines, which are important to accompany the twin transition and ensure literacy in these areas and awaken the interest of young people;
Amendment 128 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 h (new)
Paragraph 6 h (new)
6h. Stresses the importance of school canteens to ensure children in the ORs receive proper nutrition and in many cases to ensure they have a regular meal; defends, therefore, the importance of the EU school fruit and vegetables scheme, which should take into consideration the vulnerability of these regions; calls, in particular, for national plans to be adapted to better respond to these needs;
Amendment 130 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 i (new)
Paragraph 6 i (new)
6i. Points out the risk of energy poverty for families in the ORs, as a result of the higher cost of living and higher energy prices; urges, therefore, the Commission to take this situation into account in all the extraordinary tools and measures that it may create to ensure access to essential energy services;
Amendment 132 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 j (new)
Paragraph 6 j (new)
6j. Stresses that the ageing population, increase in average life expectancy and decline in birth rate, despite the number of young people, are also of concern in the ORs, not only because they result in a shrinking labour force and significant pressure on social security systems, but also because of the need to create measures to ensure our fellow citizens enjoy autonomy and a dignified end of life;
Amendment 134 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 k (new)
Paragraph 6 k (new)
6k. Supports the promotion of active ageing measures in these regions, such as broadening the scope for the ‘sport’ actions of the Erasmus+ programme to include initiatives promoting physical activity for elderly people and intergenerational sporting activities; supports, furthermore, in the framework of a lifelong learning approach, incentives to set up a European network of senior universities in the ORs, with specific learning tools and access to information, sharing best practices and student exchanges;
Amendment 136 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 l (new)
Paragraph 6 l (new)
6l. Points out that there is still a considerable need for social housing in the ORs, the infrastructure of which should also meet a series of sustainability requirements, in line with the targets for achieving climate neutrality; takes the view that such requirements should not impair the fight against inequalities or impair social justice in these regions, and it is therefore incumbent on the EU to encourage and provide the necessary instruments;
Amendment 138 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 m (new)
Paragraph 6 m (new)
6m. Stresses that regular, safe and accessible mobility for people in the ORs is also a social cohesion measure that provides access to new employment, education and training opportunities, as well as health care; reiterates, therefore, the need for a European transport policy that allows this objective to be met and, in particular, a specific programme for transport in these regions;
Amendment 141 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 n (new)
Paragraph 6 n (new)
6n. Reiterates the important role of social support institutions in the ORs, which complement the work of regional and local authorities to combat poverty and social exclusion, as well as creating jobs;
Amendment 142 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 o (new)
Paragraph 6 o (new)
6o. Supports the creation of a pilot project for a simplified, direct-access EU programme aimed at private social support institutions in the ORs, with non- repayable funding lines for small-scale projects, support for training for technical and auxiliary staff in the different areas of intervention, co-financing for large- scale projects involving cross-border partnerships and support for initiatives to share best practices;