2020/2040(INI) | [ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas the full economic, employment and social consequences of the pandemic are still unknown; whereas preliminary studies suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities, having a disproportionate impact on women and girls and in particular women and girls from marginalised groups, which Cohesion Policy should take into account;

Amendment 13 #

Draft opinion
Recital C

C. whereas the full economic, employment and social consequences of the pandemic are still unknown; whereas preliminary studies suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has ~~exacerbat~~changed existing ~~inequalitie~~situations, which Cohesion Policy should take into account;

Amendment 14 #

Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)

C A. Whereas wage differences are an expression that reflects a higher level of exploitation and discrimination against women in the labor market, considering that this discrimination between women and men is deliberately promoted to facilitate and intensify policies that seek the imposition of low wages and deregulation of the labor market; knowing that the root causes of wage discrimination between men and women result from the reality of deregulation and devaluation of work, but also from the absence of measures that allow an appropriate balance between women's professional, family and personal life, as a result of conditions each increasingly precarious work conditions that result in shorter periods of work throughout life and impose more precarious work situations on women, such as part-time or temporary work and lower wages;

Amendment 15 #

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas the provision of care is of the utmost importance in enabling women to remain active in the labour market; as they are mostly involved in care responsibilities; whereas in light of emerging demographic trends, such as ageing societies, lower birth rates and consequently the decline of the working age population, the need for formal and informal long-term care services becomes more important than ever; whereas COVID-19 has exposed a long-standing problem in care provision in the EU; whereas care needs to be viewed holistically along a continuum, from childcare to afterschool care, to care for those with disabilities to care for older persons;

Amendment 16 #

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas the provision of care is of the utmost importance in enabling women to remain active in the labour market by promoting work-life balance; whereas investment in the care sector will also provide working opportunities in the formal economy for informal carers;

Amendment 17 #

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas the provision of care is of the utmost importance in enabling women to remain active in the labour market; without calling into question the paramount importance of intergenerational links and the education of children by their parents;

Amendment 18 #

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas ~~the~~ improvi~~sion of care~~ng the accessibility and affordability of care services is of the utmost importance in enabling women to remain active in the labour market and contributes, among other things, to closing the gender pension gap;

Amendment 19 #

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas the provision of ~~care~~accessible and affordable quality care facilities is of the utmost importance in enabling women to remain active in the labour market;

Amendment 2 #

Draft opinion
Recital A

A. whereas equality between women and men is a core value of the EU enshrined in Articles 8 and 19 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; ~~whereas gender mainstreaming is therefore an important tool in the horizontal integration of this principle into EU policies, measures and actions, including Cohesion Policy;~~

Amendment 20 #

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas the provision of care is of the utmost importance ~~in enabling women to remain active in the labour market~~;

Amendment 21 #

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas the provision of care is of the utmost importance in enabling women to remain active in the labour market; if they so wish;

Amendment 22 #

Draft opinion
Recital D

D. whereas the provision of care is ~~of the utmost importance in~~necessary for enabling women to remain active in the labour market;

Amendment 23 #

Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)

D a. Whereas women are a fundamental pillar of rural sustainability and play a key role in developing a strong social fabric for our societies; whereas in many Member States, women in rural areas have a more limited access to employment and social services, especially in depopulated rural areas or areas facing demographic handicaps; whereas Cohesion Policy is the appropriate instrument to tackle gender inequalities present in rural areas; Whereas improving conditions generally in rural and depopulated areas will result in achieving an improved status and quality of life for women in those areas;

Amendment 24 #

Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)

D a. Whereas women due to gender stereotypes and pay gap structures carry a disproportionally higher share of unpaid care work than men; with deep implications on their labour market representation and performance;

Amendment 25 #

Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)

D a. whereas Cohesion Policy and dedicated funding for projects benefiting civil society organisations may contribute to implementing specific actions targeted at preventing and combating gender- based violence;

Amendment 26 #

Draft opinion
Recital D b (new)

D b. Whereas the participation of women is still limited in all stages of cohesion policy cycle, especially in the development of Operational Programmes, decision-making processes and integration of gender equality in the implementation of the selected projects;

Amendment 27 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 (new)

-1. Stresses the important role that Cohesion Funds should play in promoting gender equality and implementing the EU Gender Equality Strategy; recalls that all policy goals need appropriate resources dedicated to their implementation and, therefore, stresses the importance of aligning EU’s gender equality goals with its programmes, in particular in the area of Cohesion Policy;

Amendment 28 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 a (new)

-1 a. Points at the relevant role of Cohesion Funds in securing investment in care services; requests the Commission to propose a Care Deal for Europe aimed at supporting a transition towards a care economy in which Cohesion Policy should play a fundamental role;

Amendment 29 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 b (new)

-1 b. Emphasises that one essential aspect of Cohesion Policy is to ensure social, territorial and economic cohesion through, among other measures, combating disparities with job creation; stresses that it is essential that, in this process, no one is left behind and that investments in job creation are gender- responsive and therefore include measures such as combating precarious contracts, informal work, the gender pay gap and ensuring women’s participation in the sectors that receive funds;

Amendment 3 #

Draft opinion
Recital A

A. whereas gender equality ~~between women and men~~ is a core value of the EU enshrined in Article~~s 8 and 19~~ 2 of the Treaty on European Union; whereas Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union~~; whereas~~ establishes the principle of gender mainstreaming ~~is therefore~~which is an important tool in the horizontal integration of ~~this principle~~gender equality into EU policies, measures and actions, including Cohesion Policy;

Amendment 30 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 c (new)

-1 c. Recalls that in supporting the green and digital transitions, Cohesion Policy should pay special attention in ensuring access to training for women in order to bridge the gender digital gap;

Amendment 31 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 d (new)

-1 d. Stresses that intersecting disadvantages create additional barriers and negative socio-economic impacts for specific groups of women; urges therefore to include targeted measures in Cohesion Policy to tackle multiple discriminations that women from marginalised groups suffer, in particular measures to combat poverty and social exclusion;

Amendment 32 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 e (new)

-1 e. Underlines the crucial role of Cohesion Policy in investing in high quality public services which has a positive effect on combating gender inequalities, as women are more dependent on such services;

Amendment 33 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 f (new)

-1 f. Calls on the Commission to address health related priorities as defined in the Gender Equality Strategy 2020- 2025 in Cohesion Policy, in particular SRHR as a fundamental human right and an essential aspect to peoples’ well-being and the advancement of gender equality;

Amendment 34 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph -1 g (new)

-1 g. Regrets that for the new programming period, the Commission did not put forward new measures to improve gender equality and instead remove the gender equality conditionality from the Common Provisions Regulation and removed the sub-programme ‘Women in rural areas’; stresses the importance of including binding conditionalities to advance gender equality and the need for targeted measures in Cohesion Policy,

Amendment 35 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts to promote gender equality and non- discrimination in Cohesion Policy through effective gender mainstreaming in all phases of the policy cycle, showing strong political commitment at EU, national and regional level; encourages close cooperation with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in that regard, providing high-quality research and data to support better- informed and evidence-based decision- making by policymakers and other key stakeholders working to enhance equality between women and men; stresses that knowledge sharing by the EU institutions and agencies and support for capacity building is key to preventing high administrative costs and an unnecessary increase in bureaucracy;deleted

Amendment 36 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts to promote gender equality and non- discrimination in Cohesion Policy through effective gender mainstreaming in all phases of the policy cycle, showing strong political commitment at EU, national and regional level; encourages close cooperation with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in that regard, providing high-quality research and data to support better- informed and evidence-based decision- making by policymakers and other key stakeholders working to enhance equal dignity between women and women~~; stresses that knowledge sharing by the EU institutions and agencies and support for capacity building is key to preventing high administrative costs and an unnecessary increase in bureaucracy~~;

Amendment 37 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts to promote gender equality and non- discrimination in Cohesion Policy through effective gender mainstreaming in all phases of the policy cycle, showing strong political commitment at EU, national and regional level and to encourage the use of ex ante gender conditionalities; encourages close cooperation with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and national gender institutes and equality bodies in that regard, providing high-quality research and data to support better-informed and evidence- based decision-making by policymakers and other key stakeholders working to enhance equality between women and men; stresses that knowledge sharing by the EU institutions and agencies and support for capacity building is key to preventing high administrative costs and an unnecessary increase in bureaucracy; Encourages the use of common output and result indicators in the different Member States, and the use of gender disaggregated and gender specific data, to measure gender inequalities on social and economic dimensions, to ensure the gender perspective in the evaluation criteria, implementation and monitoring systems of the funds;

Amendment 38 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts to promote gender equality and non- discrimination in Cohesion Policy through effective gender mainstreaming in all phases of the policy cycle, showing strong political commitment at EU, national and regional level; encourages close cooperation with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in that regard, providing high-quality research and data to support better-informed and evidence- based decision-making by policymakers and other key stakeholders working to enhance equality between women and men; stresses that knowledge sharing by the EU institutions and agencies and support for capacity building is key to preventing high administrative costs and an unnecessary increase in bureaucracy; stresses the importance of close cooperation with gender equality partnersfrom civil society in all stages of the Cohesion Policy cycle;

Amendment 39 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts to promote ~~gender~~ equality between men and women and non- discrimination in Cohesion Policy through effective gender mainstreaming in all phases of the policy cycle, showing strong political commitment at EU, national and regional level; encourages close cooperation with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in that regard, providing high-quality research and data to support better-informed and evidence- based decision-making by policymakers and other key stakeholders working to enhance equality between women and men; stresses that knowledge sharing by the EU institutions and agencies and support for capacity building is key to preventing high administrative costs and an unnecessary increase in bureaucracy;

Amendment 4 #

Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)

A A. Whereas the long-term effects of neoliberal policies imposed by the EU contribute to inequalities between men and women, with rising unemployment, deregulation of the labor market, increased precariousness and low wages, which affect women in particular; whereas cuts in public services, mainly in health, education and social benefits further aggravate the multiple forms of discrimination and inequality that women face;

Amendment 40 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up their efforts to promote gender equality and non- discrimination in Cohesion Policy through effective gender mainstreaming in all phases of the policy cycle, showing strong political commitment at EU, national and regional level; encourages close cooperation with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in that regard, providing high-quality research and data to support better-informed and evidence- based decision-making by policymakers and other key stakeholders working to enhance gender equality ~~between women and men~~; stresses that knowledge sharing by the EU institutions and agencies and support for capacity building is key to preventing high administrative costs and an unnecessary increase in bureaucracy;

Amendment 41 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Stresses that in order to ensure gender mainstreaming, the Commission should implement a gender impact assessment for each policy and legislative proposal in the area of Cohesion Policy, define gender-responsive indicators, collect data disaggregated by gender and carry gender responsive evaluations; stresses in addition that all bodies created in the area of Cohesion Policy should be gender balanced and include gender equality experts and women’s rights and women’s organisations;

Amendment 42 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. Stresses that all the Policy Objectives established in the Common Provisions Regulation should be addressed with agender perspective in order to improve gender equality as regards access to infrastructures and services, to improve their opportunities in the labour market and the economy, and to enhance the contribution of Cohesion Policy to socio-economic growth;

Amendment 43 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)

1 b. Recalls that gender mainstreaming must be applied also in all the stages of the budgetary process, in particular, stresses the need to track spending on gender equality not only for targeted measures but also in all budget lines; requests the Commission, in cooperation with the European Court of Auditors, to propose a methodology for that purpose;

Amendment 44 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)

1 c. Applauds the decision of the Commission to reject 6 town twinning applications involving Polish authorities that adopted 'LGBTI free zones' or 'family rights' resolutions; urges to broaden the discussion on the rule of law conditionality in order to include fundamental rights and avoid creating a hierarchy of EU values;

Amendment 45 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Commission to raise awareness of the need for gender equality and to develop and provide specific tools and guidelines to help the Member States integrate a gender perspective at the implementation and monitoring stage; stresses the importance of gender mainstreaming training for the officials managing the Cohesion Policy funds;deleted

Amendment 46 #

2. Calls on the Commission, Member States, and regional and local authorities to raise awareness of the need for gender equality and to develop and provide specific tools and guidelines to help the Member States integrate a gender perspective at the design, implementation and monitoring stage; stresses the importance of linking national gender equality strategies to Cohesion Policy, as ESI funds are a key instrument to promote structural changes in society; stresses the importance of gender mainstreaming training for the officials managing the Cohesion Policy funds;

Amendment 47 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Commission to raise awareness of the need for gender equality and to develop and provide specific tools and guidelines to help the Member States integrate a gender perspective at the implementation and monitoring stage making use of the existing tools developed by EIGE such as its toolkit for gender budgeting in the EU Funds; stresses the importance of gender mainstreaming training for the officials managing the Cohesion Policy funds at European, national, regional and local levels;

Amendment 48 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Commission to raise awareness of equality between men and women withe n~~eed for gender equality~~o adherence to an ideology of other contrived social genders and to develop and provide specific tools and guidelines to help the Member States integrate a gender perspective at the implementation and monitoring stage; stresses the importance of gender mainstreaming training for the officials managing the Cohesion Policy funds;

Amendment 49 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Commission to raise awareness of the need for gender equality and to develop and provide specific tools and guidelines, while respecting the division of competences between the Member States and the EU, to help the Member States integrate a gender perspective at the implementation and monitoring stage; stresses the importance of gender mainstreaming training for the officials managing the Cohesion Policy funds;

Amendment 5 #

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas Cohesion Policy addresses disparities between various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions with a view to achieving economic, social and territorial cohesion, of which the achievement of gender equality is an essential part, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), Just Transition Fund (JTF), which are subject to the principles of non- discrimination and equality between women and men; whereas these funds should pay particular attention to women living in rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition, and regions which suffer from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps such as regions with very low population density and island, cross-border and mountain regions;

Amendment 50 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Commission to raise awareness of the need for gender equality, respecting differencies and complementarity between men and women, and to develop and provide specific tools and guidelines to help the Member States integrate a gender perspective at the implementation and monitoring stage; stresses the importance of gender mainstreaming training for the officials managing the Cohesion Policy funds;

Amendment 51 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Calls on the Commission to raise awareness of the need for gender equality and to develop and provide specific tools and guidelines to help the Member States integrate a gender perspective at the implementation and monitoring stage~~; stresses the importance of gender mainstreaming training for the officials managing the Cohesion Policy funds~~ where these are relevant;

Amendment 52 #

2 a. Stresses the role played by the cities that have long been at the forefront of working towards gender equal societies; highlights the necessity to address gender stereotypes and structural discrimination of women in the regional labour market, ensuring equal opportunities for participation in public and political life, and improving conditions for reconciliation of work and family life;

Amendment 53 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. Calls on the Commission, the Members States and their respective authorities to follow the principle of rule of law when it comes to decisions on funding programmes or regions and to respect gender equality and non- discrimination, stressing that so-called LGBTI-free zones undermine these principles;

Amendment 54 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2 A. Reiterates that the cohesion policy should promote political recommendation that leads to fight precarious working relationships, deregulation of working hours, reduced wages, an attack on collective bargaining or the privatization of public services and social security;

Amendment 55 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)

2a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that officials working on cohesion policy remain able to exercise their judgement freely and independently;

Amendment 56 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)

2 b. Calls on the Members States and their respective authorities to privilege programmes that aim at preventing, combating violence against women and helping victims of violence, considering that domestic violence increased during the COVID-19 crisis in most Member States; stresses the important role of the Istanbul-Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence; urges all Member States that has still not ratified the Istanbul-Convention to do so;

Amendment 57 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)

2 b. Highlights the necessity of the cities to work in partnership with regional employers and NGOs in order to promote gender equality, such as by using gender clauses in public procurement, the cities also could play a key role in raising public awareness of gender inequalities as well as of domestic violence and protecting victims whilst providing targeted support;

Amendment 58 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)

2 c. Urges the Council to conclude the EU’s ratification of the Istanbul Convention;

Amendment 59 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)

2 d. Calls on the Commission and Member States to take into account the special situation of women in rural and remote areas in view of the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis and to strenghten their role;

Amendment 6 #

Draft opinion
Recital B

B. whereas Cohesion Policy addresses disparities between various regions and the backwardness of the least favoured regions with a view to achieving economic, social and territorial cohesion through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF), which are subject to the principles of non-discrimination and gender equality ~~between women and men~~;

Amendment 60 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Member States and their respective authorities to share good practices in the application of gender mainstreaming through knowledge sharing, technical assistance, training and awareness raising;deleted

Amendment 61 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Calls on the Member States and their respective authorities to share good practices in the application of gender mainstreaming through knowledge sharing, technical assistance, training and awareness raising; encourages the decision-making committees to adopt gender-balance within their boards to improve diverse decisions and invites the Member States and their respective authorities to support such a gender- balanced appointment within decision- making committees;

Amendment 62 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. ~~Calls on the Member States and their respective a~~Encourages Member States and the Commission to ensure that equality between men and women and the integration of gender perspective is promoted in all the stages of the evaluation, implementation and monitoring of ESI Funds; Calls on the Commission, Member States and Managing Authorities to share good practices in the application of gender mainstreaming through knowledge sharing, technical assistance, training and awareness raising;

Amendment 63 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Calls on the Member States to prioritise available funds within the cohesion policy for provision of care to meet not only growing demand for care infrastructure, but also to effectively address gender gaps in employment, labour market segregation and consequently pay and pension gaps; encourages the Members states to share best practices at European level about the efficient use of EU funds to contribute to the development of quality care services;

Amendment 64 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Calls on the Member States to utilize the Cohesion Policy funding to further reduce regional economic and social disparities with particular focus on combating the feminisation of poverty, women's exclusion from many economic opportunities, preventing and combating all forms of gender-based violence and discrimination as well as promoting and pursuing women's empowerment;

Amendment 65 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3 a. Calls on the Member States and their respective authorities to make equal pay for men and women, for equal work and equal skills, a priority;

Amendment 66 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses the role of Cohesion Policy funding, in the light of the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 crisis, in supporting, facilitating and promoting programmes that, through consideration of the special needs of women, including rural women~~, encourage women’s employment and entrepreneurship~~ and those living in poorer, mountainous and outermost regions, encourage women’s employment and entrepreneurship, facilitate their childcare duties, enhance work-life balance and wellbeing, improve their access to land, credit and financial instruments, boost their skills and performance through education, training and advisory services, increase their participation in decision making on national and regional level, in local action groups and the development of local partnerships, and address infrastructural deficiencies, including in relation to the provision of different types of care; stresses that cooperation at European level, together with the efficient use of EU funds, can contribute to the development of high- quality, accessible and affordable care services that are vitally important to maintaining women’s labour market activity.;

Amendment 67 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses the role of Cohesion Policy funding, in the light of the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 crisis, in supporting, facilitating and promoting programmes that, through consideration of the special needs of women, including rural women and women in remote areas and border regions, encourage women’s employment and entrepreneurship, improve their access to land, credit and financial instruments, boost their skills and performance through education, training and advisory services, increase their participation in local action groups and the development of local partnerships, and address infrastructural deficiencies, including in relation to the provision of different types of care; stresses that cooperation at European level, together with the efficient use of EU funds, can contribute to the development of high- quality, accessible and affordable care services that are vitally important to maintaining women’s labour market activity.;

Amendment 68 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Stresses the role of Cohesion Policy funding, in the light of the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 crisis, in supporting, facilitating and promoting programmes that, through consideration of the special needs of men and, above all, women, including rural women, encourage women’s employment and entrepreneurship, improve their access to land, credit and financial instruments, boost their skills and performance through education, training and advisory services, increase their participation in local action groups and the development of local partnerships, and address infrastructural deficiencies, including in relation to the provision of different types of care; stresses that cooperation at European level, together with the efficient use of EU funds, can contribute to the development of high- quality, accessible and affordable care services that are vitally important to maintaining women’s labour market activity.;

Amendment 69 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 A. Recalls that, before the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, most women already had precarious or part-time jobs, and that this trend was exposed and reinforced by the worsening economic situation; Demands that cohesion policy rejects the creation of job offers based on precarious employment; Calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote collective bargaining, wage appreciation, the promotion of open-ended contracts and the regulation of working hours;

Amendment 7 #

Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)

B a. whereas, promoting gender equality is essential for achieving main goals of the Cohesion Policy, namely, long-term and sustainable regional economic and social development in the EU, and whereas Cohesion Policy promotes and enhances gender equality by targeting horizontal and vertical labour market segregation and persistent gender gaps in employment, social inclusion, education, by promoting business start- ups and entrepreneurship among women, by facilitating women’s access to research and innovation as well as by taking into consideration women’s needs with regards to transport and social infrastructures;

Amendment 70 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Stresses that women - also those outside the job market - who are active as mothers and housewives are invaluable members of society and faced enormous challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking on care and education tasks in addition to their everyday work, as these were rendered necessary by the closure of schools and kindergartens;

Amendment 71 #

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Recognizes the importance of involving gender experts, equality bodies, social partners and civil society representatives in the process of preparing, implementing and monitoring Operational Programmes of ESI Funds in accordance with the Partnership Principle and encourages the use of community led projects through existing instruments such as CLLDs and ITIs to ensure a bottom-up approach in the development of projects;

Amendment 72 #