Activities of Indrek TARAND related to 2015/2132(BUD)
Plenary speeches (2)
2016 budgetary procedure: joint text (debate)
General budget of the European Union for 2016 - all sections (debate)
Shadow reports (2)
REPORT on the joint text on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016 approved by the Conciliation Committee under the budgetary procedure PDF (203 KB) DOC (189 KB)
REPORT on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016 PDF (354 KB) DOC (319 KB)
Amendments (20)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Stresses that Parliament's reading of the 2016 budget fully reflects the political priorities adopted by an overwhelming majority in its abovementioned resolutions of 11 March 2015 on general guidelines and of 8 July 2015 on a mandate for the trilogue; recalls that those consist in internal and external solidarity, in particular an effective tackling of the migration and refugee crisis, as well as in boosting competitiveness through employment, enterprises and entrepreneurship (the “three Es”); welcomes the first steps of the greening of the Union budget, and points out the need to further accelerate its pace;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Highlights that climate- (20% target) and environment-friendly spending is only one side of the coin; the other side necessitates increasing efforts to more closely monitor and phase out harmful funding;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that Parliament has, from the outset, placed a particular focus on migration and refugees in the 2016 budget; recalls its earlier statements that the handling of migration flows lies at the crossroads of internal and external solidarity and that external financing instruments should also be mobilised, in an integrated approach, in order to address the root causes of the problemchallenges the Union is faced withand arriving refugees are facing;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Decides to also take action with regard to the ongoing crisis affecting European farmers, notably in the dairy sector, and to already integrate in its position on the 2016 budgetthe additional funds for the 2016 budget contributing to the EUR 500 million support emergency measures announced by the Commission; trusts that the Commission's Letter of Amendment 2/2016 will allow the exact budget lines that will be reinforced in this context to be determined and to which extent; recalls that without measures such as supply management, the emergency assistance will turn out to be ineffective to resolve the current unsustainability of agricultural markets; notes, furthermore, that relying on outdated instruments to effectively export our structural surplus has already proven to be detrimental to markets and farmers in the developing world; hence believes that additional funding should not lead to increased Union exports to developing countries at prices undermining markets and livelihoods there;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Regrets that Commission expert groups continue to be excessively dominated by corporate interests;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 c (new)
Paragraph 11 c (new)
11c. Is encouraged by the Budget Commissioner's discourse on gender equality and consequently asks the Commission to deepen its reflection on how to integrate gender budgeting principles into the Union budget and to make concrete proposals in the course of 2016;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Ascertains the need to revise the MFF at mid-term to boost the Union budget;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Confirms its support for the ITER programme and is committed to securing its appropriate financing; is concerned, however, about possible further delays and about management failures leading to delays and significant additional costs of thise ITER programme as well as the related potentially serious repercussions on the Union budget; regreadmits, therefore, that it was unable to assess the level of the 2016 ITER appropriations against the updated payment plan and schedule, which is only due to be presented in the ITER Council in November 2015; expects, however, that this revised plan will provide sufficient evidence that Parliament's recommendations, as set out in the relevant 2013 discharge resolution8 , have been properly taken into account and that financial soundness and spending efficiency will be ensured; intends to raise this matter in the 2016 budgetary conciliation; proposes therefore to put appropriations into reserve, to be released only if the updated project plan due to be presented in November 2015 provides sufficient evidence that Parliament's recommendations have been properly taken into account; is alarmed by the recent affirmation by amongst others the German government that neither the timetable nor the spending plan - already revised upwards - are realistic; __________________ 8 European Parliament resolution of 29 April 2015 with observations forming an integral part of the decision on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget for the Joint Undertaking for ITER and the Development of Fusion Energy for the financial year 2013 (Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0168).
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Underlines the huge discrepancy between funding for nuclear activities in the Union budget and support for future- oriented renewable energy; believes therefore that abandoning the ITER project would free up much needed resources, which could be used for investing into already working renewable energy technologies;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Believes that the Euratom budget line on Nuclear fission and radiation protection should be reoriented towards the decommissioning of nuclear power plants; in the same vein, believes that the appropriations for nuclear activities of the Joint Research Centre should be used only for activities necessary for implementing safeguards;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Welcomes the Commission's ambition to play a stronger role in the preparation and implementation of programmes under the European Structural and Investment Funds; demands in particular that the requirements for the involvement of local and regional actors as well as civil society organisations are met to increase ownership of the policy and reach Union targets in the field of climate change and poverty reduction; calls on the Member States to take full advantage of available instruments and methodologies such as climate change tracking to increase the visibility of their efforts;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Welcomes the presentation by the Commission of a EUR 500 million comprehensive package of emergency measures to support European farmers, notably in the dairy sector amid falling commodity prices and greater milk production; stresses that the effects are most severe in remote areas where the socio-economic importance of the dairy sector is unquestionable; incorporates this amount in its reading as a show of support for the Commission's announcement, and looks forward to its full inclusion in the course of the conciliation procedure on the basis of the Amending Letter; underlines that this package should add up to the range of measures aimed at addressing the losses and long-term effects on European farmers of the Russian embargo on agricultural products, Russia being thus far the second most important destination for Union agricultural exports; recalls that without measures such as supply management, the emergency assistance will turn out to ineffective to resolve the current unsustainability of agricultural markets and risks to lead to further dumping of Union agricultural products in developing countries;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26a. Calls on Member States to ensure a fair distribution of funds by increasing support for sustainable farming systems, which preserve biodiversity, protect water resources and soil fertility, respect animal welfare and employment;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 b (new)
Paragraph 26 b (new)
26b. Considers export refunds to be trade distorting and in contradiction to the Union development goals; supports therefore their complete elimination;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 c (new)
Paragraph 26 c (new)
26c. Reiterates that CAP appropriations or any other appropriations from the budget should not be used for financing lethal bull fighting activities; recalls that such funding is a clear violation of the European Convention for the protection of animals kept for farming purposes (Council Directive 98/58/EC);
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Decides, in light of the current, exceptional flowsmovement of migrants and refugees to concentrate its reinforcements on strengthening the AMIF; strongly supports in this context the second EUR 780 million package on the relocation of 120 000 persons; decides to incorporate it in its reading, and to align the first relocation package with the second one by adding EUR 20 million to finance transport costs (EUR 500 per migrant to Italy and Greece); approves an additional increase of EUR 79 million for general reinforcements of the AMIF; finally decides to reinforce the agencies with migration-related tasks for a total of EUR 26 million; calls for reinforcing the Fundamental Rights Office within Frontex;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Calls for these extra appropriations to be used in particular to increase the funding for the Union Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis and for the Emergency Trust Fund for stability and addressing root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa, while at the same time catering to the needs of displaced persons in third countries, with particular emphasis on health and education, as well as for immediate assistance via the UNHCR and the World Food Programme; calls on the individual Member States to bring additional contributions to the Trust Funds and to the UN agencies without further delay; notes that the pipeline of projects potentially funded by the Trust Funds further weakens the Council’'s case for an alleged lack of absorption capacity in Heading 4;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66 a (new)
Paragraph 66 a (new)
66a. Requests an assessment on the results of the voluntary approach chosen by the Joint Working Group to limit business class flights by Members and staff;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66 b (new)
Paragraph 66 b (new)
66b. Urges the Secretary General of the European Parliament to present in the run-up to the negotiations on the 2017 budget a comprehensive plan as to how to make further savings, or to generate revenue, in areas including, but not limited to, the car parks, car fleet, energy consumption, and business class flights;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 67 a (new)
Paragraph 67 a (new)
67a. Believes that in the medium term the Members' Statute should be revised in order to agree on sensible savings;