IZVJEŠĆE o planiranju politike i dugoročnim kretanjima: financijske posljedice za izgradnju kapaciteta

16.7.2013 - (2012/2290(INI))

Odbor za proračune
Izvjestitelj: James Elles

PRIJEDLOG REZOLUCIJE EUROPSKOG PARLAMENTA

o planiranju politike i dugoročnim kretanjima: financijske posljedice za izgradnju kapaciteta

(2012/2290(INI))

Europski parlament,

–    uzimajući u obzir opći proračun Europske unije za financijsku godinu 2013.[1], a posebno na pripremno djelovanje „Međuinstitucijski sustav utvrđivanja dugoročnih kretanja” u proračunu za 2013.,

–    uzimajući u obzir Financijsku uredbu (EU, Euratom) br. 966/2012, a posebno njezin članak 54. stavak 2. točke (a) i (b) te članak 54. točku (e), koja se primjenjuje na opći proračun Unije te pravila njezine primjene,

–    uzimajući u obzir izvješće o ESPAS-u (Europski sustav strateške analize i analize politika) „Svjetska kretanja – građani u međusobno povezanom i policentričnom svijetu” koje je izradio Institut Europske unije za sigurnosne studije (EUISS)[2],

–    uzimajući u obzir članak 48. Poslovnika,

–   uzimajući u obzir izvješće Odbora za proračune i mišljenja Odbora za regionalni razvoj i Odbora za ustavna pitanja (A7‑0000/2013),

A.  budući da živimo u razdoblju brzih promjena, što je očito u pogledu dinamike moći, demografskih promjena, klimatskih promjena, urbanizacije i tehnologije, postaje sve potrebnije da tvorci politika na svim područjima ulažu veće napore u proučavanje i praćenje glavnih svjetskih kretanja;

B.   budući da je na inicijativu Parlamenta proračunom EU-a za 2010. bilo predviđeno da Komisija poduzme pilot-projekt u trajanju od dvije godine s ciljem istraživanja mogućnosti uspostavljanja „međuinstitucijskog sustava utvrđivanja dugoročnih kretanja u vezi s glavnim pitanjima politika s kojima se Unija suočava”;

C.  budući da je proračunom EU-a za 2012. odobren prelazak projekta u sljedeću fazu kao pripremno djelovanje tijekom tri godine od 2012. do 2014. s ciljem uspostavljanja Europskog sustava strateške analize i analize politika (ESPAS) koji će do kraja 2014. u potpunosti funkcionirati i obuhvaćati sve relevantne institucije EU-a razvijajući „bliskiju suradnju među istraživačkim odjelima raznih institucija i tijela Unije koji se bave analizom srednjoročnih i dugoročnih kretanja u razvoju politika”[3],

D.  budući da bi uspostavljanje trajnog međuinstitucijskog sustava na administrativnoj razini za utvrđivanje i mapiranje glavnih kretanja koja će vjerojatno oblikovati budući politički kontekst pomagalo i podupiralo institucije EU-a u pripremi i odgovaranju na izazove te određivanju dosljednih strateških mogućnosti za godine koje dolaze;

E.   budući da bi se dobro uspostavljenim i prihvaćenim sustavom osigurala osnova za razmatranja u kontekstu pripreme proračuna EU-a i uspostavljanja političkih prioriteta na godišnjoj i višegodišnjoj osnovi te izravnijeg povezivanja financijskih sredstava s političkim ciljevima;

F.   budući da se osnaživanje žena ne može postići bez priznanja i učinkovite provedbe njihovih prava; budući da bi se u okviru ESPAS-a mogla napraviti učinkovita analiza izazova do kojih dolazi pri promicanju ravnopravnosti spolova, od političkog osnaživanja do suzbijanja svih vrsta diskriminacije žena;

G.  budući da se u prvom izvješću koje je naručio ESPAS a izradio EUISS pod naslovom „Svjetska kretanja 2030. – građani u međusobno povezanom i policentričnom svijetu” utvrđuje nekoliko svjetskih kretanja koja će vjerojatno utjecati na svijet u predstojećim desetljećima;

H.  budući da ta kretanja posebno obuhvaćaju: rastuće osnaživanje pojedinca djelomično potaknuto tehnološkim promjenama, jači naglasak na održivom razvoju u kontekstu rastuće oskudnosti resursa i postojanom siromaštvu povezanim s učincima klimatskih promjena i stvaranje međunarodnog sustava kojeg karakterizira prijenos moći s država s rastućim propustima u upravljanju jer tradicionalni mehanizmi međudržavnih odnosa ne mogu dati prikladan odgovor na javne zahtjeve;

1.   vjeruje da će dosljedna i djelotvorna izrada politika EU-a sve više i više ovisiti o pravovremenom utvrđivanju tih dugoročnih svjetskih kretanja koji imaju utjecaj na izazove i odabire s kojima se suočava Unija u sve složenijem i međuovisnom svijetu;

2.   naglašava važnost da institucije EU-a djelotvorno surađuju radi praćenja i analiziranja dugoročnih kretanja te surađuju i umrežavaju se s drugim subjektima, uključujući širu znanstvenu zajednicu u Uniji i izvan nje koju zanimaju slična pitanja u trećim zemljama; u tom kontekstu podvlači važnost nastavljanja postupka razvijanja učinkovitog kapaciteta za osiguravanje neovisne, visokokvalitetne međuinstitucijske analize i savjeta o ključnim kretanjima s kojima se suočavaju tvorci politika unutar sustava EU-a;

3.  ukazuje na to da je u skladu s načelom supsidijarnosti razvijanje dugoročnih društveno gospodarskih strategija i provedba politika EU-a odgovornost raznih javnih organizacija, kao što su europske institucije, ministarstva, službe regionalnih i lokalnih vlasti te određene agencije; ističe činjenicu da ekonomski i socijalni partneri, nevladine organizacije i drugi dionici također imaju ulogu u razvijanju dugoročnih strategija zajedno s javnim tijelima država članica i europskih institucija; stoga podvlači da bi se trebao primijeniti pristup višerazinskog upravljanja;

4.  ističe da je kohezijska politika zbog njezina višegodišnjeg, dugoročnog i horizontalnog karaktera nužno politika sa snažnom komponentom planiranja unaprijed i da s obzirom na njezin znatan udio u proračunu EU-a treba imati istaknuto mjesto u svim proračunskim planovima koji su usmjereni na budućnost;

5.  vjeruje da formulacija politika u pogledu kohezijske politike i drugih područja sve više ovisi o pravovremenom utvrđivanju dugoročnih svjetskih kretanja; u vezi s tim primjećuje različita izvješća usmjerena na budućnost kao što su „Projekt Europa 2030.” (izvješće Skupine za razmatranje budućnosti EU-a 2030. Europskom vijeću) i „Svjetska kretanja 2030. – građani u međusobno povezanom i policentričnom svijetu” koje je pripremio Institut Europske unije za sigurnosne studije (EUISS) kao dijela projekta Europski sustav strateške analize i analize politika (ESPAS); preporuča bolje usklađivanje takvih inicijativa izvješćivanja;

6.   poziva na uključivanje rodne perspektive u procjenu dugoročnih svjetskih kretanja i budućih izvješća kako bi se suzbili kršenje ljudskih prava, diskriminacija i siromaštvo;

7.  posebno pozdravlja privremen ishod pilot-projekta na administrativnoj razini (2010. – 2011.) i pripremnog djelovanja (2012. – 2014.) izrađenih radi razvijanja Europskog sustava strateške analize i analize politika (ESPAS) kako bi se pomoglo utvrđivanju dugoročnih kretanja u važnim pitanjima s kojima se Unija suočava, te snažno preporuča da se taj proces nastavi nakon isteka tekućeg pripremnog djelovanja; smatra da bi takav sustav trebao obuhvaćati osoblje iz svih relevantnih institucija i tijela EU-a, uključujući Odbor regija; vjeruje da mehanizam izvješćivanja treba biti predmet rasprave među svim relevantnim interesnim skupinama, poduzećima i nevladinim organizacijama;

8.  potiče četiri institucije i tijela koji su trenutno uključeni u proces ESPAS – Komisiju, Parlament, Vijeće i Europsku službu za vanjsko djelovanje – da razrade i potpišu neku vrstu međuinstitucijskog sporazuma, koji bi se u idealnom slučaju sklopio u proljeće 2014., u kojem bi se svaki partner obvezao na kontinuirano održavanje dogovora i sudjelovanje u njemu;

9.  ističe potrebu za tim da institucije sudionice i tijela sudionici u potpunosti u skladu s Financijskom uredbom, a posebno njezinim člankom 54. točkom (e), ulože potrebno osoblje i financijska sredstva u sustav ESPAS u okviru svakog od njihovih proračuna i u okviru godišnjeg proračunskog postupka kako bi se osigurala da se ta sposobnost u predstojećim godinama može razvijati na proračunsko neutralan način, ističe potrebu za tim da institucije ulažu u osoblje s određenim stručnim znanjima kojima mogu u potpunosti doprinijeti analizi i praćenju svjetskih kretanja te stručnim znanjima za utvrđivanje mogućnosti i davanje preporuka za izradu politika u skladu s posebnim potrebama svake institucije EU-a;

10. ustraje na tome da ESPAS-om upravlja i nadgleda ga odgovarajuće sastavljen međuinstitucijski odbor, u kojem će Parlament ako tako odluči biti zastupljen zastupnicima, koji bi odredio mandat i prioritete ESPAS-a te imenovao direktora ili druge službenike, s tim da se podrazumijeva da ESPAS svoj rad u okviru mandata provodi na neovisan način;

11. pozdravlja namjeru da se postupak ESPAS i njegova svjetska mreža iskoriste za stvaranje svjetske internetske zbirke dokumenata i materijala iz raznih izvora u vezi sa srednjoročnim i dugoročnim kretanjima koja bi bila besplatno dostupna tvorcima politika i građanima diljem svijeta;

12. pozdravlja činjenicu da će bliža administrativna suradnja među institucijama EU-a kroz postupak ESPAS u sklopu pripremnih djelovanja dovesti do predstavljanja dugoročnih kretanja analiziranih u izvješću s budućim predviđanjima, uključujući njihove posljedice za izazove i odabire pred kojima se Unija nalazi u razdoblju od 2014. do 2019., a koje treba predati predsjednicima institucija u 2014. godini; smatra da je ta praksa uspješna i da se treba kasnije ponavljati barem svakih pet godina;

13. vjeruje da bi stalni sustav s ciljem osiguravanja redovitih analiza srednjoročnih i dugoročnih kretanja institucijama EU-a radi poticanja strateškog pristupa postupku donošenja odluka trebao obuhvaćati odredbe za predaju godišnjeg izvješća o strateškim kretanjima institucijama prije rasprave o stanju u Uniji i objavu godišnjeg programa rada Komisije radi praćenja i ocjene promjenjivog uzorka dugoročnih kretanja te osim toga proračunskom tijelu osigurati određene informacije u početku pregovora o Višegodišnjem financijskom okviru (VFO) nakon 2020. kao i za svako preispitivanje na sredini razdoblja VFO-a 2014. – 2020.;

14. nalaže svojem predsjedniku da ovu Rezoluciju proslijedi Vijeću i Komisiji te Europskoj službi za vanjsko djelovanje.

• [1]  SL L 66, 8.3.2013., str. 1.
• [2]  27. travnja 2012. http://www.iss.europa.eu/uploads/media/ESPAS_report_01.pdf
• [3]  http://europa.eu/espas/pdf/espas-preparatory-action-amendment_en.pdf

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

‘ESPAS sends out a strong political signal that we as a European Union are willing to look beyond institutional borders, to go beyond internal and external borders even, to tackle future evolutions and new challenges together.’ José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.

1. Budgetary background

The Financial Regulation defines the nature and the purpose of Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions in Article 54 (2) a) and b). Pilot Projects are schemes of an experimental nature designed to test the feasibility of an action and its usefulness. Preparatory Actions are actions in the fields of application of the EC Treaty and the Euratom Treaty and of Title VI of the TEU, designed to prepare proposals with a view to the adoption of future actions.

The EU Budget 2010 included a proposal from the European Parliament through its Committee on Budgets, adopted jointly with the Council as the twin arm of the budgetary authority, for a Pilot Project ‘to set up an inter-institutional system identifying long-term trends on major policy issues facing the EU. This should provide common analyses of probable outcomes on major issues to be available to policy makers’[1].

Following the successful completion of the Pilot Project, the two arms of the budgetary authority, at the initiative of the Parliament, agreed in the Budget 2012, to authorise the project to go to the next phase, as a Preparatory Action for the three years 2012 to 2014. The purpose of the action ‘is to set up an inter-institutional system identifying long-term trends on major policy issues facing the European Union. The intention is to provide common analyses of probable outcomes on major issues to be available to policy-makers. Furthermore, to achieve this goal, it would now be appropriate to explore in detail the design of specific mechanisms for promoting closer working cooperation between the research departments of the various EU institutions and bodies which are devoted to the analysis of medium- and long-term policy trends’[2].

2. Long-term trends analysis

The world, and the European Union with it, is experiencing a period of rapid transition and transformation, in particular of power, demographics, climate, urbanisation and technology. The coming years will be characterised by rising complexity and increasing uncertainty, with the multipolarity of a more globalised world, the multi-level nature of governance, and the multiple players interacting in law-making and political activities, all contributing to a new and more challenging global context.

This new global context will evolve with a higher than usual level of uncertainty. The tracking of global trends will be a fundamental aspect of Europe’s ability to prepare for and respond to coming challenges. It is thus increasingly important for decision-makers to invest in the monitoring, study and analysis of major trends, and to engage in forward policy thinking, as they seek solutions to new complex challenges. Most governments in major capitals around the globe have been developing foresight capabilities of some kind, backed by administrative support. However, until the ESPAS initiative, no coordinated approach had so far been taken within the EU institutions.

Forecasting is more than trying to find out what will happen tomorrow, it is a way to focus on what matters today. A better understanding of global change should help furnish the European Union with information and analysis allowing for more informed choices on issues of key importance.

3. Concept of ESPAS

The objective of both the Pilot Project and Preparatory Action is to set up an inter-institutional system identifying long-term trends on major policy issues, both internal and external, that are likely to shape the future and must be taken into account by the European Union in its attempt to define coherent strategic options for the next governance cycle. In so doing, the intention of the system is not to predict but rather to anticipate possible trends, by providing common analyses of probable outcomes on such issues to policy-makers.

The system has been named ESPAS, the ‘European Strategy and Policy Analysis System’. It brings together officials from the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and (by invitation) the European External Action Service, with a view to developing mechanisms for deeper and more regular cooperation between officials in the various institutions and bodies devoted to forward policy thinking. Together, they are seeking to strengthen the Union’s collective administrative capacity to identify and analyse key trends and challenges, as well as the resulting policy choices, which are likely to confront Europe and the wider world in the decades ahead.

4. Governance

The governance of the ESPAS Project is based on an Inter-Institutional Task Force, which includes representatives of the Commission, Parliament, Council and EEAS, nominated by their respective Secretaries-General. Representatives of other EU bodies may be invited to join the Task Force as guests (the EEAS currently being the sole example to date).

As the institution responsible for the delivery of the Preparatory Action, the Commission (through BEPA) ensures the budgetary execution and day-to-day management of all ESPAS-related activities, in accordance with the Financial Regulation, on the basis of guidance received from the Task Force. The Commission acts as secretary to the Task Force, which is always chaired by a representative from another institution, to ensure appropriate balance. The location of meetings of the Task Force rotates between the various institutions on a basis determined by the Task Force itself.

5. Pilot Project

As a first step under the Pilot Project, the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) was commissioned by the Task Force to assess the long-term, international and domestic, political and economic contexts in which the Union is likely to operate in coming decades. The resulting EUISS report - Global Trends 2030: Citizens in an interconnected and polycentric world - was published in April 2012[3]. This report centred on the likely evolution of citizens’ rights, demands and expectations, rather than adopting a more traditional focus on inter-state relations. As set out in this report, there are three main global trends emerging today that will shape the world in the coming years and that can be influenced by coherent political action to help define different alternatives for the future.

The three trends are:

· Empowerment of individuals and a rising global middle class.

· Climate change and resource scarcity.

· A polycentric world with diffusion of power.

6. Preparatory Action

Progress in the Preparatory Action to date can be summarised under the following headings:

a) Working Groups

Central to the ESPAS Preparatory Action is promotion of a strong habit of cooperation among senior and mid-rank officials in the various EU institutions and bodies whose work involves thinking about future policy challenges and choices and the global trends that might influence them. Accordingly, three inter-institutional, administrative-level Working Groups have been established, to engage in common reflection on the key trends that will influence the policy environment facing the Union in coming decades.

Each Working Group is comprised of up to 15 officials. They deal with i) economy, ii) society and iii) international governance and power. They started work in October 2012 and will meet for the remainder of the Preparatory Action. Their role is to prepare three ‘Trend Reports’, one on each of the three subject areas, to be delivered by the end of 2013. These Trend Reports will identify the main challenges and choices confronted by the Union as a result of global trends. They will feed in turn into a final synoptic report to be supplied by the Task Force for the attention of the in-coming Presidents of the EU institutions during 2014.

In addition to mobilising the in-house capabilities of the EU institutions themselves, the Preparatory Action involves the Commission, through BEPA, engaging independent, external expertise from outside think-tanks, among whom are included CEPS, Chatham House (RIIA) and the Rand Corporation, to assist in deepening the analysis contained in the three Trend Reports.

(Further details of the operation of the Working Groups can be found in the BEPA Monthly Brief, February 2013, Issue 62).

b) Outreach

As the ideas develop within the Working Groups, a rolling outreach programme is being formulated to discuss, test out and validate these ideas in the following three ways:

First, EU officials meet with national policy-planners and other experts engaged in forward policy thinking in Member State administrations. EU officials working in the EU’s delegations to third countries will be included in this dimension, in close cooperation with the EEAS.

Second, later in 2013, some of the key findings of the Working Group reports will be reviewed with non-institutional actors in the wider EU ‘policy community’. These include notably leading think-tanks, academics, NGOs, foundations, major companies with forward-looking research capabilities, and opinion-leaders more generally.

Third, ESPAS will continue to reach out to partners in third-country governments and think tanks that are undertaking global trends work and forward policy thinking. Such outreach has already included inviting such planners and experts to the annual ESPAS conference in February 2013 in Brussels (see ESPAS website).

c) Website

Under the Preparatory Action, it is envisaged that the ESPAS website (to be accessed at www.espas.europa.eu) should become a ‘global repository’ for documents and analysis of future trends and forward policy work, and this will play an important part in the project’s outreach strategy to policy-makers and citizens.

The global repository will pool work about long-term trends produced from within the different EU institutions and make them publicly available at the appropriate time. This is an effort in line with a more cost-effective knowledge management by the institutions and a more transparent EU. The global repository is also designed to host major works on future trends produced by other forecasting centres (public and private) operating within the EU member states in the countries of strategic partners. This will open up to a European audience forecasting work conducted, for example, in the US, Russia, China and India.

7. Capacity-building

How will such a system be justified on the basis of its funding to assist in shaping EU policy development in the long-term? Simply put, by being better aware of what is likely to occur in the development of long-term trends, then it will be easier for the EU institutions to have a greater collective awareness of the emerging priorities ahead on the policy agenda. This becomes all the more important where scarce availability of public funds is likely to predominate for the rest of the decade at least. When considering capacity-building to act on the information as it becomes available, ways should be found through which relevant information can be provided to policy-makers in the most readable manner.

Once a permanent inter-institutional system examining long term trends is in place, it could carry out inter alia the following tasks to assist in better decision-making within the Union:

=  present a report to the incoming Presidents of the EU institutions about policy challenges ahead at the beginning of every five-year institutional cycle, building on experience, during 2014;

=  provide regular input into the EU institutions to nourish long-term and medium-term strategic thinking, collecting and analysing information from relevant institutions, partners and stake-holders, to submit regular reports which could, for example, analyse the likely budgetary impact of observed trends. An annual ‘strategic trends report’ could feed into preparation for the State of the Union debate in the Parliament each September, to track and assess the changing pattern of long-term trends, and other tailored in-puts could be made to the budgetary authority in the run-up to the negotiation of the EU’s post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

=  organise an annual conference on global trends where such reports are reviewed and discussed, helping foster and deepen cooperation between the EU institutions in this field. Furthermore, such an event should also develop links with other countries undertaking global trends work in order to benefit from their expertise as well as providing its own expertise to other countries trying to get a grip on strategic trends and changes.

=  assist these processes by building and maintaining an open website as a global repository for all relevant information and analysis, with wide access to policy-makers and citizens, linking the site to other working websites on long-term trends across the globe.

The organisation and financing of such a system could be best done on the basis of an administrative cooperation agreement between the four institutions and bodies currently involved - the Commission, Parliament, Council and European External Action Service - to be concluded in spring 2014, with each institution or body undertaking to maintain and participate in the system on a continuing basis, providing the necessary staff and financial resources through each of their respective budgets, in a budgetarily neutral way.

Conclusion

Your rapporteur believes that the kind of collaboration which the ESPAS process represents is of high importance and should be supported and encouraged by the Parliament. If ESPAS be can be founded and developed on the solid principles set out in this report, not only will it enable us look more regularly and more seriously at the pattern long-term global trends, it will continuously enhance our capacity to identify key issues, raise the quality of our collective discussion about the policy challenges and choices we face, and ultimately help us take better decisions more quickly in the interests of citizens.

• [1]  budget line 25.01.09 can be found on: http://europa.eu/espas/
• [2]  budget line 25.01.10 can be found on: http://europa.eu/espas/
• [3]  This document can be found on: http://europa.eu/espas/

OPINION of the Committee on Regional Development (24.4.2013)

for the Committee on Budgets

on forward policy planning and long-term trends: budgetary implications for capacity-building

(2012/2290(INI))

Rapporteur: Oldřich Vlasák

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Regional Development calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

1.   Points out that, in line with the principle of subsidiarity, the development of long-term socio-economic strategies and the implementation of policies in the EU is the responsibility of a variety of public organisations, such as the European institutions, government ministries, regional or local authority departments and specific agencies; highlights the fact that the economic and social partners, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders also play a part in the development of long-term strategies alongside public bodies in the Member States and the European institutions; therefore, underlines that a multi-level governance approach should be applied;

2.   Emphasises that, if the harmonious development of the Union and the smooth functioning of Union programmes is to be ensured, these structures need modern administrative and management capacities in order to formulate informed and interlinked forward-looking strategies, which should also include issues specific to the regions, and thereby contribute to the quality and effectiveness of different policies in various fields; stresses that the existing decision-making mechanisms and administrative processes should be assessed with a view to establishing whether the administration needs to be modernised; points out, however, that any increase in capacity should not involve the creation of new mechanisms or institutions but that existing administrative processes should be used more effectively as part of forward-looking strategies; takes the view that, if the harmonious development of the Union and the smooth functioning of Union programmes is to be ensured, the Member States require modern administrative and management capacities; takes the view that particular attention should be paid to Member States which record delays and low absorption rates over the programming period 2007-2013;

3.   Highlights the fact that funding is available under the European Social Fund (ESF), the Cohesion Fund (CF) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for strengthening institutional and administrative capacities at national, regional or local level, for example by modernising human resource management, reorganising the roles and competences of public administration, fighting corruption, reducing the administrative burden on businesses, strengthening regional and local administration, providing support to social partners and NGOs, modernising policy development processes and investing in public capital projects in various e-government fields; considers that preparing future beneficiaries of cohesion policy funding should be a priority for the current programming period;

4.   Takes the view that e-governance can play a key part in capacity-strengthening, administrative modernisation and better horizontal and vertical coordination between the various bodies at national and European level; points out, further, that the implementation of e-governance must build on the wealth of experience gained in the Member States, European institutions and non-governmental organisations;

5.   Stresses that, despite the progress achieved in reducing inequalities in development between regions, there remain major differences in terms of their level of economic and social development, and these differences can also be found in the quality of public services offered to citizens;

6.   Considers that the multiannual financial framework constitutes a very important instrument for the long-term planning of the European project, taking into account the European perspective and the added value of the Union; calls, however, for better coordination between the EU budget and the Member States’ national budgets, and for the spending of public funds from planning to implementation to be done in such a way as to ensure greater complementarity, coordination and synergies without duplication of resources, and an effective contribution to achieving the objectives set; highlights the importance of linking the EU 2020 targets with national development strategies to ensure that investments are made in as effective and responsible a way as possible;

7.   Stresses that, on account of its multiannual, long-term and horizontal character, cohesion policy is necessarily a policy with a strong forward-planning component and that, given its significant share of the EU budget, it needs to have a prominent place in any forward‑looking budgetary planning;

8.   Believes that policy formulation in respect of cohesion policy and other fields depends increasingly on the timely identification of long-term global trends; notes, in this connection, various forward-looking reports such as Project Europe 2030 (the report to the European Council by the Reflection Group on the Future of the EU 2030) and ‘Global Trends 2030 – Citizens in an Interconnected and Polycentric World’, prepared by the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) as part of the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) project;

9.  Recommends closer coordination of such reporting initiatives and the establishment of an interinstitutional system to identify long-term trends in respect of major policy issues facing the Union, and considers that such a system should involve staff from all the relevant EU institutions and bodies, including the Committee of the Regions; believes that the reporting mechanism needs to be the subject of a discussion involving all relevant interest groups, business and non-governmental organisations.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

Date adopted	23.4.2013
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	42 0 2
Members present for the final vote	Luís Paulo Alves, Catherine Bearder, Jean-Jacob Bicep, Victor Boştinaru, John Bufton, Nikos Chrysogelos, Ryszard Czarnecki, Rosa Estaràs Ferragut, Danuta Maria Hübner, Vincenzo Iovine, María Irigoyen Pérez, Seán Kelly, Constanze Angela Krehl, Petru Constantin Luhan, Ramona Nicole Mănescu, Riikka Manner, Iosif Matula, Miroslav Mikolášik, Jens Nilsson, Jan Olbrycht, Wojciech Michał Olejniczak, Younous Omarjee, Markus Pieper, Georgios Stavrakakis, Csanád Szegedi, Nuno Teixeira, Lambert van Nistelrooij, Justina Vitkauskaite, Oldřich Vlasák, Kerstin Westphal, Joachim Zeller, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Joseph Cuschieri, Vasilica Viorica Dăncilă, Karima Delli, James Nicholson, Ivari Padar, Herbert Reul, Elisabeth Schroedter, Richard Seeber, Czesław Adam Siekierski, Patrice Tirolien, Giommaria Uggias, Manfred Weber

OPINION of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (9.7.2013)

for the Committee on Budgets

on forward policy planning and long-term trends: budgetary implications for capacity-building

(2012/2290(INI))

Rapporteur: Elmar Brok

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Constitutional Affairs calls on the Committee on Budgets, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:

A.  whereas such a well established and acknowledged system could provide a basis for reflection in the context of drawing up the EU budget, establishing strategic priorities on an annual and multiannual basis, and linking financial resources more directly to political objectives;

1.   Highlights the importance of the EU institutions cooperating in an effective manner to monitor and analyse these long-term trends, as well as cooperating and networking with other actors interested in similar issues within and outside the European Union; underlines, in this context, the importance of continuing the process of developing an effective capacity for the provision of independent, high-quality analysis which will lead to greater interinstitutional synergy and advice on key trends confronting policy-makers within the EU system;

2.   Urges the four institutions and bodies currently involved in the ESPAS process – the Commission, Parliament, the Council and the European External Action Service – to commit themselves to some form of an interinstitutional agreement, ideally to be concluded no later than the spring of 2014, with each partner undertaking to maintain and participate in the agreement on a continuing basis;

3.   Insists that ESPASS be steered and overseen by a board composed in an appropriate manner, that will determine the mandate and priorities of ESPASS and elect its director, a board on which the European Parliament will be represented by Members, it being understood that, within the framework of its mandate, ESPASS will be able to carry out its research tasks in a fully independent manner;

4.   Stresses the need for an increased involvement of the political level in the oversight of ESPAS in order to increase the political ownership of the process;

5.   Stresses the need for the participating institutions and bodies to devote the necessary staff and financial resources to the ESPAS system through each of their respective budgets, in full compliance with the Financial Regulation, and in particular Article 54(e) thereof, and in the context of the annual budgetary procedure, so as to ensure that this capability can be developed in a budgetarily neutral way in future years; underlines the need for the EU institutions to invest in staff with specific expertise to fully contribute to analysing and monitoring global trends as well as the expertise to identify options and make policy recommendations for the specific needs of each EU institution;

6.   Welcomes the intention to use the ESPAS process and building upon its global network to build up an on-line repository of papers and material from multiple sources relating to medium- and long-term trends, for access by policy-makers and citizens worldwide;

7.   Believes that a permanent system – aiming to provide regular analysis of medium- and long-term trends and their implications for EU policy options and choices in order to encourage a more strategic approach to decision-making – should include provisions for the submission of an annual ‘strategic trends report’ to the EU’s institutions, in advance of the State of the Union debate and the publication of the Commission’s annual work programme, in order to track and assess the changing pattern of long-term trends, and also to provide specific input to the budgetary authority in the run-up to the negotiation of a post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), as well as for any mid-term revision of the 2014-2020 MFF.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE

Date adopted	9.7.2013
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	19 2 3
Members present for the final vote	Alfredo Antoniozzi, Andrew Henry William Brons, Zdravka Bušić, Carlo Casini, Andrew Duff, Roberto Gualtieri, Enrique Guerrero Salom, Zita Gurmai, Gerald Häfner, Daniel Hannan, Stanimir Ilchev, Constance Le Grip, David Martin, Morten Messerschmidt, Sandra Petrović Jakovina, Paulo Rangel, Algirdas Saudargas, Rafał Trzaskowski
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Sandrine Bélier, Elmar Brok, Sylvie Guillaume, Helmut Scholz, György Schöpflin
Substitute(s) under Rule 187(2) present for the final vote	Susy De Martini

REZULTAT KONAČNOG GLASOVANJA U ODBORU

Datum usvajanja	11.7.2013
Rezultat konačnog glasovanja	+: –: 0:	23 3 1
Zastupnici nazočni na konačnom glasovanju	Marta Andreasen, Richard Ashworth, Zuzana Brzobohatá, Jean-Luc Dehaene, James Elles, Göran Färm, José Manuel Fernandes, Eider Gardiazábal Rubial, Salvador Garriga Polledo, Jens Geier, Lucas Hartong, Jutta Haug, Jan Kozłowski, Alain Lamassoure, Claudio Morganti, Jan Mulder, Juan Andrés Naranjo Escobar, Andrej Plenković, Dominique Riquet, Alda Sousa, Oleg Valjalo, Angelika Werthmann, Jacek Włosowicz
Zamjenici nazočni na konačnom glasovanju	Maria Da Graça Carvalho, Paul Rübig, Catherine Trautmann
Zamjenici nazočni na konačnom glasovanju prema čl. 187. st. 2.	Zdravka Bušić