Dobesedni zapisi razprav

Ponedeljek, 18. januar 2021 - Bruselj

21. Instrument za tehnično podporo (razprava)

  Presidente. – L'ordine del giorno reca la relazione di Alexandra Geese, Othmar Karas e Dragoș Pîslaru sulla proposta di regolamento del Parlamento europeo e del Consiglio che istituisce uno strumento di sostegno tecnico (COM(2020)0409 – C9-0148/2020 – 2020/0103(COD)) (A9-0173/2020).

Voglio ricordare agli onorevoli deputati che per tutte le discussioni di questa tornata non è prevista la procedura "catch-the-eye", né tantomeno saranno accettate domande "cartellino blu".

Sono inoltre previsti interventi a distanza dagli Uffici di collegamento del Parlamento negli Stati membri di elezione.

  Alexandra Geese, rapporteur. – Mr President, I have the honour today to present a small European success story. The Technical Support Instrument (TSI) generates knowledge for Member States’ public administrations and it allows them to implement sustainable reforms and investments, drawing – with the help of the European Commission – on the best and tailor-made expertise available. So it is no coincidence that it enjoys strong support from all Member States.

Thanks to a strong position of the European Parliament – and here I would like to thank my co-rapporteurs, Othmar Karas and Dragoș Pîslaru, for their excellent cooperation on this file – today we have a Technical Support Instrument that is substantially greener, more gender-equal and ensures stronger transparency. That is to say, it is more in line with today’s European priorities. First of all the European Green Deal, because knowledge about climate mainstreaming and climate tracking methodologies, for example, will help Member States to make their economies and their societies future—proof.

Strong transparency mechanisms will help to showcase the positive contribution of the European Union and foster pro—European attitudes, and more power to local and regional levels will enhance change from the bottom with the more direct involvement of citizens. So, we have many reasons to be proud of this new instrument.

But let me first explain what the Technical Support Instrument actually is. It supports Member States in their efforts to implement reforms and investments, giving them the institutional and administrative capacity they need. That means that Member States can simply ask the European Commission for help and the European Commission will either provide the expertise directly, or task experts to do so, working very closely with Member States.

The TSI replaces the Structural Reform Support Programme, which has successfully supported over 1 000 reform projects in the 27 Member States since 2017. It has a budget of EUR 864 million for the period 2021—2027, and although it is a standalone instrument it will also assist the national authorities in implementing the recovery and resilience plans successfully.

As I mentioned at the beginning, the TSI is more than the continuation of a successful programme. It specifically addresses crucial challenges of our time – climate change and the European Green Deal – listing among the eligible actions, which are a sort of menu for the Member States to pick and choose from, methodologies for climate tracking. This is a crucial instrument, which we need in order to fulfil not only our climate goals, but also to raise awareness on local, regional and national levels to the many ways in which reducing CO2 emissions can also improve the life of citizens. For example by reducing air pollution in cities, which is something our citizens care about.

Then there is the resilience of our health care systems. We are still in the midst of the COVID—19 pandemic, which has demonstrated all too clearly how essential well—organised public health systems are. There is also the digitalisation of public services, upskilling policies in the labour market – we know how much change we will experience in the labour market in the next years – and the fight against poverty and income equality.

Then there is the last point, which is particularly close to my heart: gender equality. Because when we speak about competitivity and growth, we often forget one of the key factors to achieve sustainable growth, competitivity and more social justice at the same time, and that is gender equality. There is ample evidence that gender equality in the labour market is closely linked to economic growth. There is also ample evidence that women are currently paying the highest economic price for the COVID—19 crisis.

So, in order to overcome this crisis successfully, we need to support gender equality. The right way to do this is to invest public funds equally between men and women. This is not easy, because it requires a good methodology and often even external expertise, and that is one reason why many administrations still shy away from it. Unfortunately, this has also been true for our European Commission, which shied away from gender impact assessments in the Recovery and Resilience Fund for that reason.

This is the reason why Parliament insisted on including expertise on gender budgeting and gender impact assessment among the eligible actions.

All administrations therefore have access to the best methods to determine what impact their measures and budgets have on women and men and how to promote a more gender—equal – and therefore more inclusive and more successful – society.

I am convinced that the Technical Support Instrument will make an important contribution to the socially inclusive, green and digital transition we urgently need in Europe.

  Dragoș Pîslaru, rapporteur. – Mr President, we started 2021 with optimism after one year of struggles, of sadness, of fear and insecurity. The COVID-19 pandemic changed our economy and society for the years to come. But now we see the light at the end of the tunnel and we now have the means to think about our future. Optimists understand that life can be bumpy and they learn from mistakes and failures in order to be prepared next time. Now it’s time for us to learn the lessons. I heard once an African proverb saying ‘if you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together’. We aim here to go far in Europe and the truth is that we cannot continue as before, we need to help each other and stick together in an ever closer Union.

Member States unfortunately implemented only half of the recommendations that the Commission addressed to them in the European Semester. This means health systems only half prepared, social protection systems only half effective, economies half strong and sustainable. This means a future half bright for our next generation. The year 2021 comes with new challenges and we are to face them and we need to know how, and the technical support instrument will bring this help and knowledge to the Member States.

Together with my colleagues Othmar Karas from the PPE and Alexandra Geese from the Greens, with the other shadow rapporteurs, with the German Presidency and with the precious help from Commissioner Ferreira and her team, we have put forward a very thorough and comprehensive instrument which, through its capacity and size, can be seen as investment in the future with high European value added. The technical support instrument has a more challenging task than its predecessor, the structural reform support programme, and therefore has a larger budget: EUR 864 million worth of technical support is right now available for the Member States, and that’s for those Member States that wish to undergo long-term reforms and encourage public and private investment.

This instrument will prove essential if we aim to truly address the green and digital transitions, to achieve the Union’s 2030 climate and energy targets and climate neutrality by 2050. Member States can also receive assistance when designing digital infrastructure skills and the e—government solutions of building a secure digital communication system.

A stronger Europe, a stronger Union, is one that overcomes social divergence. For that the instrument helps Member States that wish to fight against poverty to promote entrepreneurship, labour market integration, lifelong learning and vocational education and ensure access to health care and child care. These measures are not possible without solid institutions and this is why Member States should use the Commission’s expertise to build capacity to better absorb EU funds, to build capacity of competition, and antitrust authorities then to strengthen financial supervision.

But before aiming to achieve convergence and resilience, we need to address our urgent demands. The most important role of the instrument lies in the recovery of EU Member States after the pandemic. Therefore, as part of the recovery package, this instrument will first and foremost be available to prepare, to amend, and to implement and revise the national plans the Member States will put forward to access recovery money under the recovery and resilience facility. It is highly recommended, and if we wish to have a sustainable and fair economic and social recovery, we need to use this instrument.

The pandemic showed how valuable our civil society is and there is no doubt that it has to be treated as a partner when implementing large scale reforms. Measures to empower civil society, as well as consultations with relevant stakeholders, are crucial and are particularly encouraged by this instrument. We also need to think more about gender equality since women have been hit especially hard by the consequences of this outbreak. The instrument will show expertise on gender budgeting, on collecting gender disaggregated data and providing gender-impact assessments.

This instrument will show a positive example of proper communication and transparency. Transparency promotes good governance and builds trust in the decision-making process. It is extremely important as a tool to prevent corruption and bad governance practices. I wish to assure you that all EU actors play their role in this instrument, including the European Parliament. This House will receive information on Member States’ requests and this information, as well as the outcomes of the support provided to the Member State, will also be published on the Commission website. We will look forward to receiving annual reports from the Commission and we will gladly welcome the Commission in this House to discuss about the implementation of this instrument.

We see governments leaving their citizens in crisis in a moment in which people truly rely on them. To them and to all Member States I wish to say, leave politics aside and please use this instrument. Use it to prepare your national recovery resilience plans in order to access the funds needed for reforms and investments. Use it to implement the measures listed in the plans and to recover. Use it afterwards until 2027 to create a sustainable and fair economic, social and gender-equal future beyond the pandemic. This way we will truly become more resilient for the upcoming challenges.

  Mariya Gabriel, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, the last 12 months have highlighted the crucial role of public administrations and public services at all levels of government. In the roll—out of vaccines, support to businesses, digital solutions for work and schooling, public administrations have to adapt quickly and find the right tools and solutions that best serve their citizens. This is why the modernisation through reforms is so crucial for both the public and private sectors.

Today we are discussing a powerful tool for supporting growth—enhanced reforms and for building better public administrations: the Technical Support Instrument. Reform support has come a long way in the last ten years, from crisis management to structural challenges, and from just two Member States to working with all Member States. In the past four years, we have supported more than 1 000 reform projects in a broad range of policy areas. Most importantly, these were nationally owned reforms, requested by Member States. With a results—oriented and hands—on approach, we have gained the confidence of Member States.

But reform is never a goal in itself. Reform is a means to an end, a better environment for business, more resilient healthcare systems, better social and educational systems, better resilience to crisis and a smooth return to sustainable growth. Our method is Europe at its best. We aim to act as the catalyst bringing together Member States so they can help each other, sharing the expertise that is already there. We do so in respectful partnership with Member States.

This expertise is needed today more than ever in the recovery from COVID—19, in the transformation of our economies to prepare the green and digital transition, and in preparing and implementing the European Recovery and Resilience Facility. In fact, I would say that this instrument will be important for the success of the MFF and the Next Generation funds. The Recovery and Resilience Facility offers unprecedented support for reforms and investments, but will be a massive administrative challenge, a challenge requiring strong project management skills and robust administrative capacity.

With the Technical Support Instrument, we send a clear message to all Member States and regions: we stand by you, we will do what it takes to help you succeed, including when it comes to making the most of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. I can think of no better example than the spirit of Europe than standing together both in crisis and in good times, facing events such as this pandemic, and building our digital and green future.

I thank the rapporteur and the co—rapporteurs for their work on this instrument, and not least for speeding up the legislative process to ensure we are ready to deliver support on the ground already by early spring. I look forward to our discussion.

  Dragoș Pîslaru, rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. – Mr President, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs provided an opinion on this instrument that shows how its use is essential in truly implementing the European pillar of social rights in accomplishing the United Nations sustainable goals. On behalf of all my colleagues in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee that were hard in challenging conditions to provide our input, I wish to urge you to support the instrument as well as, you know, the Member States to use it in order to address the reforms needed in all key economic and societal areas.

We hope that it will be accessed with a view to creating quality jobs, education and training, that it will foster great ideas for the promotion of youth and children policies and will set up the framework for social protection policies that will focus on vulnerable groups. We hope that the Commission expertise will help the Member States to improve the capacity of public institutions to guarantee mobile and cross-border workers’ rights. Member States need social progress and the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) is a great tool to show how economic and social convergence can bridge.

  Eider Gardiazabal Rubial, en nombre del Grupo S&D. – Señor presidente, señora comisaria Gabriel, hoy debatimos, para su aprobación, el Instrumento de Apoyo Técnico, un programa con un presupuesto de tan solo 864 millones de euros para veintisiete países y siete años, pero con un valor añadido altísimo. Su antecesor, con apenas 220 millones de euros para tres años, ha sido capaz de financiar —lo decía la comisaria antes— más de mil proyectos en áreas tan diferentes como el diseño de estrategias para la protección de las costas o el desarrollo de la telemedicina.

Y en este caso, el nuevo Instrumento, con ese presupuesto reforzado, va a permitir que los Estados miembros sigan beneficiándose de ese apoyo técnico especializado, además en un contexto de mayor necesidad y, por lo tanto, de mayor utilidad, ya que estamos en la elaboración de los programas nacionales en el Mecanismo de Recuperación y Resiliencia.

De las negociaciones con el Consejo, me gustaría destacar que hemos conseguido incluir entre los objetivos de este Instrumento el apoyo a la elaboración de presupuestos para alcanzar objetivos climáticos, la perspectiva de género y el apoyo a la lucha contra la planificación fiscal agresiva, el fraude, la evasión y la elusión fiscal.

Un agradecimiento especial a los tres ponentes por su fantástico trabajo.

  Gunnar Beck, im Namen der ID-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Der EU-Aufbaufonds, kurz RRF für Recovery and Resilience Facility, ist das Herzstück des notgeborenen NextGenerationEU-Programms, mit dem die Kommission vorgaukelt, die EU endlich krisenfest zu machen. Das Rezept: „Ever Closer Union“, das heißt, die Ursache selbst der EU-Dauerkrise. Mit dem RRF schreibt die EU den Mitgliedstaaten einen schuldenfinanzierten Scheck über 672,5 Milliarden Euro, die Vorabbelohnung für Reformen, die Europäisches Semester, rechtswidrige Schuldengemeinschaft, vertragswidrige EZB-Anleihenkäufe, Nullzinsen und leere Drohgebärden der Kommission bislang weder erzwingen noch anregen konnten, Reformen – das lehren uns zehn Jahre Erfahrung –, die nie kommen werden.

Wieso? Weil die EU den Ausbruch der Krise verschlief, dieses Haus lieber über das dritte Geschlecht, Menschenrechte auf Borneo, Klimarettung oder Eingriffe in die Meinungsfreiheit debattiert, als Grenzschließung, Wettbewerbsfähigkeit oder selektiven Schutz für besonders COVID-Gefährdete als Alternative zu Lockdowns und von der Leyens Kommission zu wenig Impfstoff bestellt und inmitten der Krise lieber neue Afrikastrategien und sichere Zugangswege für mehr Corona-infizierte Migranten ersinnt. Mangels Impfstoff steigen Sterberaten und Schulden, indes die Wirtschaft schrumpft.

Das technische Unterstützungsinstrument hier sei: Nun soll die EU Staaten bei Ausarbeitung und Umsetzung der Rekordausgaben unterstützen. Weitere 864 Millionen Euro für mehr Bürokratie und externe Berater, weil den Mitgliedstaaten die Expertise fehlt mangels Reformen – trotz zehn Jahren Reformversprechen. Die EU gleicht täglich mehr einem antiautoritären Kindergarten für schwer erziehbare Kinder, die belohnt werden, bevor sie sich bessern. NextGenerationEU ist auf dem schnellsten Wege in die säkulare Stagnation – säkular nicht für weltlich, sondern für langfristig und wohl alle Zeiten.

  Mikuláš Peksa, za skupinu Verts/ALE. – Vážené kolegyně, vážení kolegové, dovolte mi prvně říct, že nástroj pro technickou podporu je pro mě dokonalou ukázkou rozsahem malého, ale možným dopadem zásadního nástroje evropské investiční politiky. Je v zájmu nás všech, aby naše státy byly skrze reformy robustnější, efektivnější a transparentnější.

Jak vidíme v současné krizi až bolestně přímo, veřejná správa musí být schopna odolávat otřesům a krizím. Musí být schopna poskytovat občanům kvalitní služby a musí mít jejich naprostou důvěru. To lze nejlépe dosáhnout právě skrze transparentnost. Nejde jen o čas ztracený na úřadech, ale jak bohužel vidíme, může jít v důsledku i o lidské životy. Investovat do podpory reforem se tak jednoznačně vyplatí.

Jsem také velmi rád, že jsme jako Parlament připravili velmi kvalitní materiál. Materiál, který by zavedl širokou transparentnost a zveřejňování výsledků a studií zpracovávaných v rámci nástroje pro technickou podporu. U nástroje pro podporu reforem veřejné správy to vnímám jako naprostou nutnost. Občané mají právo vědět na základě jakých dat, ve spolupráci s kým a proč dojde v jejich státě ke změnám.

Musím vyjádřit zklamání, že v trialozích se Rada jasně postavila proti transparentnosti. Považuji to za velmi nešťastné i z pohledu národních států. Prosím berme v úvahu, že transparentnost státního aparátu a zahrnování občanů do rozhodnutí nejsou hrozbou, ale cestou k efektivnější správě společných věcí.

  José Gusmão, em nome do Grupo The Left. – Senhor Presidente, sete anos depois dos programas de ajustamento da troica, as equipas técnicas da Comissão Europeia estão de volta. O meu país conhece-as bem. A última vez que fomos governados de acordo com as orientações dessas equipas técnicas, a Comissão Europeia não poupou elogios ao Governo de direita da altura. O resultado foi a maior recessão económica e a maior catástrofe social da História da nossa democracia.

Estas equipas recomendaram uma desregulação ainda maior do mercado de trabalho, que fez disparar o desemprego e recomendaram, ainda, cortes sem precedentes no nosso Serviço Nacional de Saúde, que o deixou debilitado para enfrentar os desafios que enfrenta hoje.

Dizem sempre que é tudo muito voluntário e agora vem mascarado com belas intenções. Mas já conhecemos este filme!

E, portanto, sugiro à Comissão que deixe os seus técnicos em Bruxelas, dê o dinheiro aos Estados-Membros e deixe governar aqueles que os cidadãos europeus escolheram, com os programas que foram sufragados. Chama-se democracia.

  Κώστας Μαυρίδης (S&D). – Κύριε πρόεδρε, η συμφωνία για εφαρμογή αυτού του Μέσου Τεχνικής Υποστήριξης είναι σημαντική, διότι στην πράξη είναι βασικό εργαλείο για την αντιμετώπιση των οικονομικών και κοινωνικών επιπτώσεων της πανδημίας. Επί της ουσίας, όμως, επιτρέπει στην Επιτροπή να συνεχίσει να παρέχει εμπειρογνωμοσύνη στα κράτη μέλη, ούτως ώστε να βελτιώσουν τις ικανότητές τους για ανάπτυξη και υλοποίηση μεταρρυθμίσεων και επενδύσεων, στο πλαίσιο των δικών τους σχεδίων αλλά και στο πλαίσιο ανάκαμψης και ανθεκτικότητας του σχετικού μηχανισμού.

Ως πολιτική ομάδα καταφέραμε να εισάγουμε πολλές προτεραιότητές μας, όπως ο κοινωνικός πυλώνας, η συμμετοχή των κοινωνικών εταίρων και πολλά άλλα. Θέλω, όμως, να τονίσω και το εξής: πέρα από την υγεία, την ανάπτυξη θέσεων εργασίας, τη στήριξη των μικρομεσαίων επιχειρήσεων, την έρευνα και την καινοτομία, την προώθηση βιώσιμων επενδύσεων, τελικά καταλήγουμε στον ρόλο που θα πρέπει να διαδραματίσει η ίδια η Επιτροπή. Η ίδια η Επιτροπή θα πρέπει να παρέχει ευελιξία, ενθαρρύνοντας τα κράτη μέλη να επιλέξουν μεταρρυθμίσεις και επενδύσεις που ανταποκρίνονται στις δικές τους ανάγκες.

  Δημήτριος Παπαδημούλης (The Left). – Κύριε Πρόεδρε, τώρα που ολοκληρώνουμε επιτέλους το νομοθετικό πλαίσιο για το Ευρωπαϊκό Ταμείο Ανάκαμψης, έχουμε μπροστά μας μια διπλή πρόκληση: Πρώτον, να επουλώσουμε το ταχύτερο δυνατό τις πληγές της μεγάλης ύφεσης που προκάλεσε η πανδημία, να επιταχυνθεί η έγκριση των εθνικών σχεδίων, να ξεκινήσει άμεσα η εκταμίευση των κονδυλίων του Ευρωπαϊκού Ταμείου Ανάκαμψης για να στηριχθούν η απασχόληση, οι κοινωνικά ασθενέστεροι και η μεσαία τάξη. Ταυτόχρονα, επειδή συνεχίζεται η πανδημία, πρέπει να βρούμε ευρωπαϊκές λύσεις για τη ρύθμιση και την ελάφρυνση του αυξημένου δημόσιου χρέους που προκαλεί η ύφεση και η πανδημία και να επιταχύνουμε τον μαζικό εμβολιασμό και την ταχύτερη παραγωγή εμβολίων, γιατί αν δεν δαμάσουμε οριστικά την πανδημία, δεν θα ανακάμψει η οικονομία.

  Mariya Gabriel, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, honourable Members, I have taken good note of the points you have made: reinforced budgets, concrete projects with real added value, the importance of the instrument for the recovery, the importance of women.

All of these aspects are very important and I would really like to thank you, but I would like to close with a reminder that we need flexible, high—quality public administrations that are quick to introduce digital services, such as e—health and digital education, and administrations that are better at designing and implementing business support – administrations that pave the way to recovery with strong green and digital agendas, administrations that are modern and ahead of the game. Divergence in administrative capacity means divergence in recovery. The technical support instrument is the cohesion policy of public administration, building administrative capacity and implementing growth—enhancing reforms so that no Member State or any European is left behind.

Thank you for this discussion today and several times this past year. I have been encouraged by the speed of the co—legislators and the support of this Chamber. Let us all keep up the good work!

  Presidente. – La discussione è chiusa.

La votazione si svolgerà nella giornata di martedì 19 gennaio 2021.

Dichiarazioni scritte (articolo 171)

  Othmar Karas (PPE), schriftlich. – Diese Woche gehen wir einen weiteren Schritt, um das größte EU-Investitionsprogramm aller Zeiten mit Leben zu erfüllen. Das sogenannte „Instrument für technische Unterstützung“ – das wir morgen beschließen – ist viel mehr als sein Name auf den ersten Blick vermuten lässt: Es ist ein essenzielles Rad im Getriebe von „NextGenerationEU“, das den Mitgliedstaaten bei den Zukunftsprojekten unter die Arme greift, die Planung, Umsetzung und Überarbeitung der Aufbaupläne unterstützt und zu dringenden Reformen und Investitionen ermutigt.

Zunächst möchte ich mich herzlich für die ausgezeichnete Zusammenarbeit bedanken: bei meinen beiden Ko-Berichterstattern sowie beim gesamten Verhandlungsteam, der Kommission und der deutschen EU-Ratspräsidentschaft. Wir haben institutions-, ausschuss- und fraktionsübergreifend an einem Strang gezogen, um das bereits erfolgreiche Vorläuferinstrument noch besser zu machen.

Wir stellen das „Instrument für technische Unterstützung“ verstärkt in den Dienst unserer Zukunft mit einer Anpassung des Anwendungsbereichs an unsere gemeinsamen Herausforderungen. Wir unterstützen die Umsetzung des Europäischen Semesters mit einer klaren Verbindung zu den länderspezifischen Empfehlungen. Wir stärken die demokratische Kontrolle mit regelmäßigen Umsetzungsberichten und Anhörungen im Europäischen Parlament. Wir erhöhen die Transparenz mit einem öffentlichen Online-Register. Wir verbessern die Sichtbarkeit mit gemeinsamen Kommunikationsaktivitäten. Wir erweitern die Flexibilität mit der Ermöglichung zusätzlicher nationaler Budgetbeiträge. Und wir verschärfen die Durchsetzung der Rechtstaatlichkeit.

  Csaba Molnár (S&D), írásban. – Mint már oly sokszor hangoztattuk: a koronavírus okozta globális válságra uniós szinten, közös eszközökkel kell reagálni. Ennek a mottónak felel meg a vitában bemutatott Technikai Támogatási Eszköz, ami a 672,5 milliárd eurós összegű Helyreállítási és Rezilienciaépítési Eszközt egészíti ki. Ez a 864 millió eurós költségvetésű uniós támogatás biztosítja első sorban a tagállamok gazdasági és társadalmi fellendülését és az uniós jog végrehajtásához szükséges közigazgatási kapacitások megerősítését. A tárgyalások során az Európai Parlament végig kiállt amellett, hogy az eszköz hozzájáruljon a társadalmilag befogadó zöld és a digitális átállás végrehajtásához, illetve az uniós források szétosztásának átláthatóságához. Ez az eszköz egy lehetőséget nyújt az összes uniós tagállamnak arra, hogy a bizonytalansággal teli 2020-as évet követően egy kiszámíthatóbb, ellenállóbb, a társadalmi érdekeket szolgáló gazdasági és egészségügyi rendszert állítson fel. Ennek megvalósítása viszont a tagállamok kormányain múlik. Egy biztos, mi itt az Európai Parlamentben egy szorosabb integrációért küzdünk, melynek egyik jeles eredménye ez az új uniós instrumentum, a Technikai Támogatási Eszköz, amit remélhetőleg minden tagállam az állampolgárok megsegítésére fog felhasználni.