MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the EU2020 strategy - flagship initiatives
14.6.2010
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Corien Wortmann-Kool, Peter Liese, Richard Seeber, Pilar del Castillo Vera, Andreas Schwab, Jean-Paul Gauzès, Csaba Őry, Othmar Karas, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Lambert van Nistelrooij, Albert Deß on behalf of the PPE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0348/2010
B7‑0353/2010
European Parliament resolution on the EU2020 strategy - flagship initiatives
The European Parliament,
– having regard to statements by the Council and Commission on the EU2020 strategy - flagship initiatives,
– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. regrets that the goals of the Lisbon Strategy have not been fulfilled due to the weak governance structure and lack of accountability of the Member States. In particular, considering the current economic crisis, there is an urgent need to have an effective strategy to bring the EU back to growth and jobs,
B. whereas to avoid an economic and social deadlock which has already occurred in other parts of the world; e.g. due to ageing societies both the European Union and the individual Member States should make a better effort to take into account the external dimension of the Union's global competitiveness,
C. whereas in order to achieve results, European tasks and responsibilities must be shared in a well orchestrated way between European, national, regional and local levels of European governance. They all must be of the highest quality and accountability. The real drivers of change - businesses and universities working in partnership with local and regional authorities and civil society – should play a key role in the new delivery mechanism,
D. whereas underlines the importance of considering the demographic crisis and its consequences. Future generations should not be sacrificed in order to maintain the established benefits of previous generations. It is important to promote a demographic upturn and to create a family friendly policy,
GROWTH: JOBS AND COMPETITIVENESS
1. Underlines that the prime objective must be growth. Without growth there will be no jobs. Without growth there will be no solution to the crisis in public finances and company's financial results. Economic growth is the basic prerequisite for the functioning of social security schemes. The crisis has severely damaged economic growth opportunities in Europe and therefore the return to growth must be swift and substantial;
2. Points out that structural reforms are necessary in order to overcome the underlying weaknesses of the European economy, such as sharply growing debts and deficits, low productivity and lack of competitiveness. Public money has to be used much more efficiently. Objectives of such structural reforms are: business-friendly regulatory environment, efficient government, non-distortionary taxation, high labour participation rate, especially among women, as well as a good education system. All of these are necessary preconditions for growth;
3. Considers that new growth engines must work towards strengthening European cohesion: economic, social, and territorial, as foreseen in the Art. 4 par.2c of the Treaty. Aiming for cohesion is not a cost; it taps unused potential, expands the basis for growth, and generates European social capital. Innovation that can bring productivity gains and technological options, that can create new demands and markets, requires local and regional focus and a place-based integrated approach to investment and growth policies;
4. Deplores the impossibility to clearly identify, from a budgetary point of view, the financial implications on the Draft Budget 2011 of the EU2020 Strategy flagship initiatives; expresses, therefore, its strong doubts on whether an adequate funding for these key initiatives can be ensured; requests that the Commission manages to single out the exact budget lines that are covered by each one of these flagship initiatives ahead of the June trilogue;
5. Reiterates its demands for a more inclusive and competitive labour market. Restructuring of social security systems is needed so as to ensure that a change of occupation does not entail a reduction in social protection, that temporary retraining for a different job does not result in a drop in income and the flexicurity approach is not unilaterally focused on labour market flexibility;
6. Is convinced that with the right policy framework and adequate budgetary resources, agriculture and forestry can play an important role in an overall European strategy designed to secure economic recovery, while at the same time contributing to EU and global food security, preserving the rural landscape which accounts for 90% of the EU's territory, securing environmental benefits and making an important contribution to the search for alternative energy sources;
SMEs IN A SOCIAL MARKET ECONOMY
7. Underlines that the EU should stimulate and encourage SMEs & Entrepreneurship as they are crucial actors for job conservation & creation. Administrative and regulatory burdens and rules should be simplified, in order to better enable SMEs to grow more, by freely commercialising their products/services to the 500 million consumers making up the EU's single market. We must further reduce red tape. Further, underlines the importance of achieving full implementation of the Small Business Act, through political efforts at all levels;
8. Underlines that the SMEs are the backbone of our social market economy and creator of jobs, playing a crucial role in reinvigorating economic growth. Priority should therefore be given to further efforts in the area of reform such as the further implementation of deregulation targets and SME-friendly legislation, creating a vibrant environment for start-ups, encourage entrepreneurship and improve access to finance; is furthermore of the opinion that the EU2020 strategy should include targets and initiatives which would encourage increasing the average equity and venture capital share in companies;
9. Asks to create a fertile, business-friendly environment for EU industries by setting smart and less burdensome framework conditions allowing industry and SMEs to operate and to innovate, while leaving the technology options to the industry and also by ensuring proper access to and efficient use of resources;
10. Recalls that micro-business is often a way to tackle a lack of employment. Setting up a business is often a way to succeed despite social inertia. The first pre-condition for the development of SMEs is their ability to raise adequate funds for their activities. Maintaining guarantee mechanisms for SMEs, dynamic second markets and a banking sector that promotes economic activity in Europe are pre-conditions for the development of SMEs;
11. Calls on the Commission to put forward practical measures to improve access to financing, in particular, towards better availability of risk capital and to make advancements in the area of pre-commercial public procurements;
BOLDER INITIATIVES NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE INTERNAL MARKET
12. Underlines that the internal market is one of the main drivers of European growth and it still needs to be fully completed. The persistence of certain obstacles against the free circulation of people, goods, services and capital calls for a further effort on the part of all the European institutions, so as to create a better, more competitive and more effective single market. In addition, removing infrastructural bottlenecks at national and European level will enable smooth functioning of the internal market and strengthen economic growth;
13. Underlines that the single market should be considered in the strategy not only as a means to reach the goals but also as a goal itself. We must seriously tackle the "Missing links" issue in the strategy because it is the condition sine qua non of the efficiency of all other internal policies;
14. Welcomes the report of Mario Monti on the Internal Market; calls on the Commission to draw up a 'Single Market Act' consisting of a package of legislative and non-legislative initiatives from across the board, with a view to achieving the desired aim of a sustainable and highly competitive social market economy;
15. Recalls that businesses and entrepreneurs must be given a real possibility to scale up and sell services/products to Europe's 500 million consumers. Today the internal market fails to facilitate and boost the development of Europe's service economy. While the trade of goods is important, the service economy is the future and it is therefore crucial that we have a fully functioning internal market for services;
16. Considers that it is important that the EU2020 strategy considers:
• extending and fully implementing the Service Directive. For example; health services etc.;
• facilitate cross-border commerce via a review of the e-commerce Directive;
• fully implements the 3rd Postal Directive;
• establishment of 'one-stop-shop' for VAT;
• secure that SMEs can operate all over Europe by granting them access via mutual recognition and reduction of red tape;
17. Underlines that it is important to keep free trade and access to global markets as a key factor and to not move towards protectionism. Innovative entrepreneurs and companies can develop only in a free and global market;
18. Recalls that the Commission should shape its "trade strategy for Europe 2020" in order to transform EU trade policy into a true vehicle for job creation and sustainable development worldwide and to foresee an open dialogue with the European Parliament and civil society early on in the EU priorities for the post-Doha era, in particular social and environmental standards and WTO reform;
INNOVATION UNION: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY - NEW SKILLS AND NEW JOBS
19. Urges the Commission and Member States to preserve the overall 3% GDP for the R&D target. Calls on the Member States to make better use of the synergy potential of funds of the cohesion policy and the funds for R&D. To make European applied research more efficient it is crucial to streamline existing structures in a better way. A more research and innovation-friendly investment climate should be created both in the public and private sector. Calls on the Commission to put forward practical measures to improve access to financing, in particular towards a better availability of risk capital;
20. Asks to increase the innovation potential of the European knowledge-based economy by investing more in basic and applied R&D in order to address the key societal challenges and by defining an innovation policy which is broad in scope and includes all related policy areas;
21. Regrets the lack of a true internal market for innovations in the EU, and calls on the Commission and the Member States to coordinate their efforts in this area, notably where prompt agreement on a Community patent and a single patent court system are concerned, and stresses the importance of standardisation for the development of innovative products;
22. Considers that in today's world economy 'know how' is central to economic development and we must create the best conditions for transforming our society into a knowledge based society;
23. It is important that the EU2020 strategy considers to:
• intensify collaboration between European researchers by introducing a research voucher scheme which provides money for research when researchers move to universities in all Member States, contributing to centres of excellence, independent universities, increased mobility among researchers, attracting more researchers from other continents;
• open up European universities to competition and to students all over Europe
• increase the financial resources spend on R&D (within the 8th research framework programme);
• provide low skilled workers with appropriate training to develop skills necessary for a modern knowledge economy;
24. Asks the Commission to strengthen the synergies between the different Community instruments to support research and innovation (such as the Structural Funds, the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) and the Research Framework Programme) and come forward with substantial and bold proposals in order to reduce the bureaucracy and unnecessary red-tape connected to these instruments;
25. Welcomes the setting up of three new European Innovation Partnerships in the fields of bio-economy, key enabling technologies and technologies for the elderly;
26. Underlines that these sectors can contribute effectively to the objective of green growth notably by greater use of environmentally-friendly agricultural practices and through the utilisation and promotion of new technologies, especially biotechnology and green chemistry;
27. Is convinced that the community fisheries sector will play an important role to guarantee the proteins supply for the future generations. To achieve this scope, the future Common Fisheries Policy needs more investments for target research in order to guarantee a competitive fishing and aquaculture sector in the framework of environmental sustainability;
YOUTH ON THE MOVE: EDUCATION, TRAINING AND LIFELONG LEARNING
28. Asks Member States to adopt the ambitious targets set out in the Commission's Communication on "Europe 2020" that, by 2020, school drop-out rates should be below 10% of the age cohort and at least 40% of the population should have completed tertiary or equivalent education;
29. Strongly supports the decision of the Commission to dedicate one of the EU2020 strategy - flagship initiatives to youth, education and training and believes that this will create a strong impetus for the development of a comprehensive EU youth strategy; stresses, in this respect, that the Parliament has also identified youth as one of its key priorities for the Budget 2011 and has clearly expressed its intention to further support all major programmes in the field in financial terms;
30. Welcomes the new instrument of the structured dialogue to include the demands of the youth in the field of employment and social integration. It is of utmost importance to integrate the variety of national stakeholders and to announce intermediate data for a sustainable development;
31. Stresses the importance of forging ever closer links between the education world and the job market, so as to ensure that our education system, through its different programmes, offers a clear, achievable 'pathway to work' to young and old Europeans alike;
32. Underlines that tackling youth unemployment and fostering an effective matching of skills and market needs should be focal points. Public-private partnerships in education need to be developed. Cross border mobility for students and researchers in exchanges, internships should add to boosting the importance of enhancing the international attractiveness of Europe's higher education institutions. Retaining the target of spending 3% of GDP on R&D boosts innovation through research and higher education;
33. Considers that higher education is a major driver for economic and social development and innovation and growth. Therefore greater emphasis should be put on the follow-up to the Bologna Process and the implementation of the agreed principles by Member States across the European Higher Education Area;
A DIGITAL AGENDA FOR EUROPE
34. Welcomes the digital agenda project, however, success depends on concrete and ambitious proposals and will only be effective if there is strong leadership if it is 'owned' by all political levels and if it is implemented as a shared responsibility at EU, national and regional levels;
35. Stresses that the digital economy functioning well is imperative for the well–being of the entire EU economy. Notes however, that at present, the free movement of digital services is severely hindered by fragmented rules at national level. Businesses are facing many barriers to selling across the borders, mainly because of the different regulations applicable at Member State level in areas such as consumer protection, VAT, recycling of electrical and electronic equipment, specific products regulations, and payment transaction. Unless this is solved, businesses and consumers will never reach the full potential of the digital economy;
36. Underlines the importance to empower Europeans in the new digital society by ensuring access to a resilient and reliable broadband network as well as by promoting e-skills and users' rights and to give priority to the development of a European Digital Single Market by allowing for free movement of digital services and fully implementing the new legal framework;
37. Considers that the Digital Agenda offers enormous prospects which would result in job creation and sustainable economic growth. To achieve this goal it is necessary that we link the digital agenda with the development of new services such as e-trade, e-health, e-learning, e-banking etc.:
• harmonisation of rules that today are hampering the development of a European Digital Single Market and consequently the implementation of new digital services
• investments in high-speed internet networks;
• creating a common EU copyright framework enabling digital content to be distributed freely in all 27 Member States;
• insurance that the digital dividend leads to real economic growth;
• creation of a pan-European market for spectrum trading enabling a real telecoms economy;
• the launch of a ‘Digital literacy and inclusion action plan’ at EU and Member State levels and incentives for private-sector initiatives to provide digital skills training to all employees;
• the elaboration of a European Charter of citizens’ and consumers’ rights in the digital environment;
• the need for urgent transposition and full enforcement of the new electronic communications regulatory framework before the established deadline and to empower national regulators accordingly;
38. Considers that Internet is a great challenge for our civil society in terms of ensuring more growth and competitiveness for our economy. It has also great potential to bring about behavioural change in consumers across the continent. When dealing with technology, it is important to ensure the centrality of the individual and to set up adequate safeguard mechanisms so as to avoid an even greater gap between:
• larger companies and SMEs;
• public authorities and the private sector;
• urban and rural, insular, mountain or remote areas;
• national and cross-border e-commerce;
39. Considers that the creative industry also plays an important role within the digital environment in reflecting the cultural and diverse values in the EU;
RESOURCE-EFFICIENT EUROPE
40. Asks to ensure access to and availability of affordable and diversified climate-friendly energy-sources by fully implementing an integrated energy market, developing the European energy infrastructure, in particular in the area of renewable and other low-carbon energy sources and by promoting energy efficiency in all relevant areas;
41. Recalls that European industries are in many areas up to 100% dependent on imports of industrial non-energy raw materials and points to the fact that raw material prices have substantially increased in recent years mainly due to a fast growing demand by emerging economies and aggravated by speculative activities; considers it essential that the EU strengthens its policies to this end and develops a coherent political approach ensuring a fair access to raw materials for industry, including all relevant areas of policy (external action, trade, environmental, development and research and innovation policy);
42. Considers that the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Programme, as a means to ensure the efficient transport of people and resources, is a cornerstone of the Union's economy and a significant boost for the creation of employment and the global competitiveness of the EU as it moves out of recession. This strongly calls for a significant increase in funding and ambition for the TEN-T Programme. Without further delay, agreed TEN-T projects need to be proceeded with. The European Commission should call upon Member States to fulfil their obligations in this respect;
43. Recalls that a better and efficient coordination of the European infrastructure within and between all transport modes is a key element of the EU transport policy. The completion and strengthening of the TEN-T network and interconnections between the TEN-T projects and third countries (especially in Eastern Europe) must abolish existing bottlenecks which still prevent a European single transport market. The extension of multimodal platforms will accelerate the implementation of full co-modality. Such a coordinated implementation of infrastructure, based on scientific analysis of high risk events, will ensure environmental protection, better social and employment conditions for workers as well as the safety and security of passengers;
44. Considers that the decarbonisation of transport is a key challenge for transport policy and is crucial to meeting the Union's environmental goals and ensuring that it is at the forefront of the development of innovative technologies in delivering a "Single European Transport Area" for its citizens;
CLEAN AND EFFICIENT ENERGY: ENERGY EFFICIENCY AS A GOAL OF EU
45. Considers that the EU should preserve its leading role in sustainable economy technologies and extend its competitive margin in this field, and therefore concrete policy measures, ambitious targets and adequate financial supporting measures are needed;
46. Underlines the already legally binding EU commitment to reduce CO2-emissions by at least 20 percent until 2020 and the EU should communicate its willingness to move to a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in a more effective way, provided that the other countries are ready to commit themselves to taking adequate action too. There must be clear and objective indicators to measure progress towards a sustainable and energy-efficient social market economy. In this context, the targets set should be realistic and achievable;
47. Underlines that sustainable production processes coupled with resource efficiency and an integrated energy policy, and further development of renewable energy sources will not only enable the EU to meet its climate and energy targets, but also to maintain a strong manufacturing base in Europe, and to increase competitiveness, growth and employment. Indeed, energy efficiency, such as in the field of the energy performance of buildings is not only the most cost-effective means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance energy security, but could also contribute to job creation;
48. Points out that it is essential to complete the internal energy market and to encourage Member States to implement the 3rd energy package rapidly, in order to stimulate economic growth, market opening, better consumer rights and to enhance the EU's security of energy supply. Substantial investments in the energy infrastructure will be needed until 2020 and beyond, notably to upgrade Europe's energy networks, including Trans European Energy Networks;
49. Underlines the need to bring forward a European super-grid, to develop smart grids and to build interconnections, which are necessary for stimulating the internal energy market and for integrating an increasing share of renewable sources of energy as well as to develop further major infrastructure projects in third countries, notably in the Mediterranean and Eurasian regions. The Commission's intention to present an energy infrastructure package is welcomed;
50. Underlines there will be no competitive industry in Europe without energy security if there is no security of energy supply. It is important to guarantee the energy security of the EU as a whole. Energy security means not only guaranteed supplies but also affordable, stable prices. There will be no energy security without an unprecedented effort to interconnect networks. There will be no energy security without raising the issue of a return to nuclear energy;
AN INDUSTRIAL POLICY FOR THE GLOBALISATION ERA
51. Asks to establish an industrial policy creating the best environment to maintain and develop a strong, competitive and diversified industrial base in Europe" and both welcome and underline that such a policy covers the industrial sector in its entirety and has the main objective to set the right framework conditions;
52. Asks to create an adequate framework condition for a new industrial policy. Companies should be able to choose among the different technology options themselves. There should be no additional regulatory burdens on companies;
53. Underlines that there is a need for a horizontal industrial policy in order to give sustainable impetus to European industries, notably by examining the various policies in the field of innovation, research funding, demonstration projects, competition law, Single Market rules, trade policy and environmental obligations;
54. Recalls that EU2020 should disclose the costs and benefits of the conversion to a sustainable, energy-efficient economy and recalls that the facilitation of the adjustment of industry to structural change is an objective of the union and the Member States;
55. Expects that a purposeful and comprehensive strategy for key enabling technologies and their application in the economy should therefore be part of EU2020. This must go beyond the promotion and commercialisation of key enabling technologies as announced by the Commission in the initiative on industry policy;
EUROPEAN PLATFORM AGAINST POVERTY: SOCIAL INCLUSION AND COHESION
56. Considers that a strong and well-financed cohesion policy embracing all European regions must be a key complementary element of the EU2020 Strategy. This policy, with its horizontal approach, is a pre-condition for a successful delivery of the EU2020 goals, as well as for achieving social, economic and territorial cohesion. Therefore, the implementation rules for cohesion policy should be further simplified in order to make it user-friendly, respecting the accountability principle and to ensure it is a more reactive policy in the face of future challenges and in case of economic crisis;
57. Regrets that the employment potential of older as well as disabled workers has been neglected; expects, therefore, the submission of proposals designed to enhance this potential;
58. Believes that both high employment and job quality must be central points of the strategy and that a stronger focus on well-functioning labour markets, both national and European, and on social conditions is vital in order to boost growth and productivity and improve employment performance; furthermore believes that the new strategy must give much more emphasis to job quality and decent work and to combine supply-oriented and demand-oriented economic policies so that much more support for demand in the labour market will be provided;
59. Takes the view that the ageing of Europe's population requires lifelong learning policies whereby training opportunities should be encouraged and should accompany individuals throughout their professional life. It will be necessary to maintain the number of active people on the labour market and to strengthen social inclusion;
60. Taking into consideration (a) the increasingly ageing population and (b) the mounting pressure to the public finances and private productivity, the increase of expenses for this ageing population is a structural problem for the Member States; the European Union should adopt the policy of firm promotion of the principle of prevention (in terms of medical practices as well as in terms of encouraging healthier lifestyles) and the introduction of services such as E-health in to its long term strategy. Health indicators will contribute to significant improvement of the economic indicators;
61. Considers that the global crisis should be used as an opportunity to lay down the foundations to ensure our European social market economy is turned into a model of society based on sustainability, solidarity, knowledge, a decisive decrease in poverty and creation of jobs via appropriate structural reforms of labour market and long term investments. The EU2020 strategy should develop the job potential of the transition towards a sustainable economy;
62. For the reasons stated above, it is proposed to the Member States to establish a 'Territorial Pact of Local and Regional Authorities for Europe 2020' as a part of the governance of the strategy, aiming at stimulating regions and cities to properly contribute to the success of its objectives. Such a pact may be based on the existing Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform of the Committee of the Regions. The European Parliament has to be involved in this process;
63. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the European Council and the Commission.