Пълен протокол на разискванията

Вторник, 19 октомври 2021 г. - Страсбург

7. Общ бюджет на Европейския съюз за финансовата 2022 година – всички раздели (разискване)

  Il-President. – Il-punt li jmiss fuq l-aġenda huwa r-rapport tal-Onor. Ressler u l-Onor. Boeselager dwar il-Baġit ġenerali tal-Unjoni Ewropea għas-sena finanzjarja 2022 - it-taqsimiet kollha [11352/2021 - C9-0353/2021- 2021/0227(BUD)] (A9-0281/2021).

  Karlo Ressler, rapporteur. – Madam President, dear Vice—President, Commissioner, colleagues, after several weeks of really intense talks, finally this week Parliament will have the opportunity to vote on our official position on the European budget for 2022.

The compromise I propose today adopted at the committee level is a comprehensive package which outlines shared priorities between political groups, but also between specialised committees here in the Parliament and provides a European budget based on the actual needs of specific policy areas.

I strongly believe that with this package we would manage to meet the expectations of the European citizens, which are understandably very high. Already in the guidelines, the Parliament defined clear political priorities for the budget to support the recovery, boost investments and lay the foundations for a more resilient Union, something that we have been communicating throughout the whole budgetary process.

Having this in mind, we were disappointed by the Council’s proposed cuts, notably in successful Union programmes such as Horizon, Digital Europe and LIFE, at a time when we are making political declarations about the digital and green transitions. It would be a mistake also, and a great missed opportunity from the point of view of the Parliament if we didn’t fully use the decommitments under Article 15(3) of the Financial Regulation.

Furthermore, the budgetary process has been, obviously, impacted by several global developments which need to be taken into account. This certainly includes the crisis in Afghanistan, as well as the European ambition in making vaccination against COVID—19 accessible globally through the COVAX programme.

The key element of our position is undoubtedly the restoration of the arbitrary cuts and the reinforcement of lines that have an added value for Europeans, that have excellent implementation rates and also that have the operational capacity to absorb the additional appropriations.

It is especially important to use additional appropriations in certain key areas, such as the following ones. First, supporting the driving force of the European recovery and economy: small and medium enterprises. Secondly, reinforce future—oriented programmes in research, innovation and education with a special focus on youth and children. Thirdly, to strengthen the European Health Union. And fourthly, to boost our efforts towards a digital, green and secure Europe.

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to also use this opportunity to really thank my colleagues, shadow MEPs from all political groups, as well as representatives of all specialised committees that participated in achieving this position. Despite our differences, despite our different backgrounds and perspectives, we all understand that Europe has to be more resilient and that recovery has to be tailored to support all sectors, all regions and all generations in Europe.

This is now the moment when we turn our political talk, our political declarations into tangible support to recovery, and this is the moment when we turn our commitment to preparing Europe for a post—pandemic global environment and digital era, and also really reinforce it by concrete funding.

  Damian Boeselager, rapporteur. – Madam President, I am still in shock from this morning’s attack on our rule of law, and also on our institutions by extension, so excuse me if I’m still grappling with this, especially also because good institutions are really the solid rock on which we stand.

They are extremely important and a source of – and the first line of defence for – the prosperity and progress of our continent. Good institutions allow us all to negotiate our different ideas, our different interests and preferences, and decide a common political direction. They provide judgments, solve conflicts, discover fraud and fight villains who selfishly seek to profit off the community.

Whereas bad institutions, on the other hand, allow a small number of foul apples to put their own power and money above the progress of the many. Bad institutions turn a blind eye to fraud and corruption and bad institutions open the door to state capture, inaction and inequality of citizens in front of the law. Bad institutions allow politicians like Prime Minister Morawiecki to act against the interest of his own people.

So what is a good institution then? It’s, quite simply, one that is up to the task, that has the legal means, the people and the political backing to do its job, one that is independent and that can’t be corrupted. Do I think that our current institutions are up to the task? To be honest – and this is quite sad – I don’t think they fully are. We ourselves are completely to blame for this. Despite massive changes in the world and great new challenges for the EU, national governments have not reformed the EU since the treaty change in 2007, and the Council continues to block better decision-making.

The EU institutions are not given the means to do their jobs well. We have had the stable staffing policy and cuts of staff for the last years, and somehow this golden calf of austerity really is hurting our institutions and endangering the progress and prosperity that I have been talking about. So we can’t really continue as we currently are. There are many reasons why this has become more of a problem today.

First, let’s look at the recovery plan. We have an unprecedented amount of money that is flowing through the different budgets to the Member States. Hundreds of people are needed to really look in the various institutions, to supervise the planning, to monitor the spending of money and to organise the flow of it. Corona has also seen a vast increase in capacities to try to basically grapple with the situation, we have Brexit and other difficult procedures at our borders, and we obviously need to fight climate change, where more resources are needed.

So Mr Ressler and I have been tasked to defend the Commission’s budget, but also the other institutions’ budgets, against indiscriminate and horizontal cuts. I wanted to use the opportunity here to thank the fellow shadows for the great cooperation that we had in coming up with Parliament’s position on these matters.

Despite all these challenges that I have been outlining, the Council did not come up with a better and more, let’s say, detailed view on where we stand, but really tried to just go for stable staffing, austerity and always the same old narrative.

But today, Madam Minister, when we also formally start our discussions about the budget, I would ask you to potentially take into account all these factors that I’ve been mentioning and not just see these numbers, but also the tasks that stand behind them because they are quite important and we need to save our institutions.

To say it with slightly more fun words: to stop villains getting fatter, let’s make our institutions matter, to rebut the Polish letter, let’s make our institutions better.

  Charles Goerens, rapporteur pour avis de la commission du développement. – Madame la Présidente, évoquons quatre points importants pour le budget 2022 en matière de développement.

Premièrement, l’aide publique totale des États, qui est environ quatre fois supérieure à celle dont dispose la Commission européenne. Celle-ci dispose donc d’un levier important, comme le prévoit le traité, pour convaincre les États membres d’agir dans le même sens.

Deuxièmement, le rôle stratégique de la Commission devrait se concentrer sur les meilleures approches pour remplir les objectifs du développement durable. À ce propos, la réduction des inégalités par le biais d’une meilleure politique fiscale dans les pays en développement et par l’accès à la sécurité sociale dans ces pays devrait constituer un objectif majeur.

Troisièmement, les menaces qui pèsent sur la sécurité et la santé et les bouleversements politiques majeurs rendent nécessaire le recours à la réserve du budget. Ladite réserve doit servir à faire face aux imprévus plutôt que de venir compléter les postes budgétaires dont les estimations de dépenses ont été inférieures à la réalité.

Quatrièmement, l’Union européenne va devoir accentuer ses efforts en matière de lutte contre le changement climatique, un domaine dans lequel elle occupe d’ores et déjà un rôle de premier plan. Référence est faite à ce levier car il faudra convaincre d’autres pays, puisque le défi auquel nous devons faire face est un défi mondial.

  Luděk Niedermayer, rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. – Madam President, just four quick points. As rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, let me express great appreciation of the work of the rapporteurs. Thanks for taking all points on board, but let me just add three more, focused rather into the future, that are not reflected.

First of all, we should pay attention to proper financing of the European Supervisory Authority. As they are getting more assignments they must be properly staffed and be ready to fulfil the goals.

Second, I guess there is a general understanding that pilot projects represent a very good way how to improve the functionality of the European Union. I would just call for more transparency and possible flexibility on the side of the Commission to better utilise this tool.

Last but not least, in the budget we are often dealing with the millions while we are losing billions. I am talking about tax evasion, tax avoidance, that is the problem across the EU. We will get great support from the OECD agreement, but we should do also our homework and we can do much more to protect the money of the Member States and the European Union.

  Billy Kelleher, rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. – Madam President, I welcome the fact that this House is very committed to providing a budget that addresses the major issues and challenges facing us in terms of the COVID pandemic and the need to have resilience built into the economies in the years ahead. I was very disappointed with the Council’s decision, of course, to pare back on some of the key most important issues like innovation research, like in the digital economy and other very significant areas.

Reference has been made to the fact that the committee wanted to prioritise investment in research, innovation and in education, and specifically in young people. Now there is also in the report an issue with which I have serious concerns, and that is the reserve of EUR 20 million being placed on funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency – UNRWA. I reject that proposal. I think it’s sneaky, it’s unfair and it is politicising children in Palestine where I have visited and seen first-hand the appalling conditions they live in. And while the curriculum must be readjusted to ensure that it does not propose hatred to the Israelis, we still at the same time must provide our funding to ensure that Palestinians are educated in the first place.

So I welcome the committee’s decision, but I want to reject that amendment and that proposal.

  Eugen Jurzyca, Spravodajca Výboru pre vnútorný trh a ochranu spotrebiteľa požiadaného o stanovisko. – Pani predsedajúca, za hlavný problém európskeho rozpočtu považujem jeho orientáciu na výstupy, a nie na výsledky. Európsky dvor audítorov zdvihol varovný prst napríklad nad spoločnou poľnohospodárskou politikou, ku ktorej odporúča vypracovať spoľahlivé ukazovatele posudzujúce jej vplyv. Vlajkový investičný fond InvestEU vyhodnocuje niektoré svoje úspechy podľa počtu podporených podnikov.

Efektivita použitia verejných zdrojov sa však nemá merať podľa toho, koľko spoločných peňazí sa rozdalo, ale akú pridanú hodnotu občanom priniesli. V tejto súvislosti pokladám za chybu šetrenie na Európskom úrade boja proti podvodom. Navyšovanie európskeho rozpočtu musí ísť ruka v ruke s personálnym posilnením jeho kontrolných orgánov.

  Isabel García Muñoz, ponente de opinión de la Comisión de Transportes y Turismo. – Señora presidenta, comisario Hahn, todos sabemos el gran impacto que ha tenido la COVID—19 en el transporte y el turismo europeos, sectores importantísimos para el buen funcionamiento de nuestro mercado interior. El transporte supone alrededor del 5 % del PIB europeo y el turismo cerca del 10 %, y ambos emplean a millones de europeos y europeas; por si fuera poco, se hace imperiosa la necesidad de avanzar hacia un modelo de economía más sostenible, y eso implica un gran esfuerzo de estos sectores en inversión y en planificación a nivel europeo y nacional, así que no queda otra: el presupuesto de 2022 debe ser el presupuesto de la recuperación socioeconómica europea.

En transporte tenemos retos importantes: desarrollar los corredores europeos, desplegar infraestructuras de combustibles alternativos, mejorar el transporte de pasajeros y la distribución de mercancías a través de la multimodalidad, hacer las infraestructuras más resilientes al cambio climático y adaptarlas a los avances tecnológicos como los coches autónomos; por suerte, contamos con las agencias europeas de transporte —AFE, AESA y AESM—, cuyo papel es clave en este proceso transformador, y necesitamos que así lo refleje su presupuesto.

  Paolo De Castro, relatore per parere della commissione per l'agricoltura. – Signora Presidente, signor Commissario, onorevoli colleghi, i nostri agricoltori e produttori agroalimentari hanno dato prova di una straordinaria resilienza e abnegazione di fronte alla crisi sanitaria ed economica che ci ha colpiti.

Nonostante ciò, alcuni settori tra i più emblematici della nostra tradizione alimentare continuano a soffrire le conseguenze a causa di una richiesta di mercato ancora distante dai livelli pre-pandemia. Per questo, la commissione per l'agricoltura insiste sulla necessità di una dotazione finanziaria aggiuntiva per l'anno 2022, in grado di supportare la ripresa dei nostri agricoltori.

Su questo punto, signor Commissario, urge una riflessione sull'utilità e l'efficacia della riserva di crisi della PAC, soprattutto in considerazione dei significativi miglioramenti nel suo funzionamento, che il Parlamento ha inserito nel processo di riforma della politica agricola comune.

Non possiamo più permettere, infatti, che le aree rurali vengano lasciate in secondo piano, mettendo a repentaglio il senso di appartenenza europea di una parte dei nostri concittadini. Per questo, ci auguriamo che alla visione di lungo termine presentata dalla Commissione seguano iniziative concrete e adeguatamente finanziate già a partire dal 2022.

  Romeo Franz, Verfasser der Stellungnahme des mitberatenden Ausschusses für Kultur und Bildung. – Herr Präsident, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Die für den Kulturausschuss relevanten Punkte wurden in den Gesamthaushaltsplan der Europäischen Union für das Jahr 2022 im Wesentlichen aufgenommen. Das ist ein richtiges Zeichen an unsere Bürgerinnen und Bürger.

Der vorliegende Haushaltsplan reagiert auf die Notwendigkeit von Investitionen in Bildung und Kultur, gerade im Hinblick auf die Auswirkungen der COVID-19-Gesundheitskrise. Dass der Kultur- und Kreativsektor und all die Menschen, die in diesem Sektor arbeiten, am schlimmsten von der Pandemie getroffen wurden, zweifelt niemand an. Auch nicht, dass gerade Kinder und junge Menschen am meisten unter den Konsequenzen dieser Krise gelitten haben. Daher ist es wichtig, in diese Politikbereiche zu investieren, denn sie leisten einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Stärkung der Demokratie.

Bedauerlich in diesem Zusammenhang ist jedoch, dass der Aktionsbereich „Bürgerbeteiligung und Teilhabe“ des Programms „Bürgerinnen und Bürger, Gleichstellung, Rechte und Werte“ keine entsprechende Aufstockung der Ressourcen erhalten hat. Ich hoffe daher sehr, dass der vom Kulturausschuss eingebrachte Änderungsantrag eine Mehrheit findet.

  Domènec Ruiz Devesa, ponente de opinión de la Comisión de Libertades Civiles, Justicia y Asuntos de Interior. – Señora presidenta, el presidente Biden dijo una vez: «No me digas lo que valoras. Dime cuál es tu presupuesto y sabré lo que valoras». Y efectivamente, es algo en lo que yo también creo.

Este Parlamento aspira a un presupuesto que precisamente esté conforme con nuestros valores y con nuestras normas. Por esta razón, me satisface que hayamos alcanzado un acuerdo para introducir una reserva para Frontex de 90 millones de euros con condiciones relativas al nombramiento de observadores de los derechos humanos, a un procedimiento claro para la suspensión de las operaciones cuando se produzcan violaciones serias o sistemáticas de los derechos humanos y al nombramiento de directores adjuntos.

Creo que el Parlamento debe respaldar de manera fuerte esta posición y también proporcionar a la EASO los recursos y el personal necesario para cumplir su mandato.

  Gabriele Bischoff, rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs. – Madam President, indeed, I’m speaking on behalf of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs. We contributed to this resolution and I would really like to reiterate the need for allocation of proper financial means for the Committee on Constitutional Affairs’ to be able to respond to its priorities in the next budget.

I would like to reiterate that communication with citizens is essential here. The roll out of the Conference on the Future of Europe, the existing participatory instruments like the European Citizens’ Initiative, the Citizens Equality Rights and Values Programme all play a crucial role in strengthening European citizenship and democracy, as we heard this morning.

And last but not least, activities aimed at raising awareness and countering disinformation. I am also very much looking forward to seeing the continuation of the implementation of two pilot projects; one of them, in particular, namely Building Europe with Local Entities, which is very important with a view to implementing pilot projects and the Temporary Citizens Assembly.

  Samira Rafaela, rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality. – Madam President, central to the EU budget for 2022 is the recovery from an unprecedented crisis and when one must recover, one focuses on where the harm is, so a doctor treats his or her patients and focuses on where the pain is.

In the European Union it is women that have been hurt the most. They were on the forefront in all of our healthcare services, and they have experienced excessively high rates of violence at home and enormous difficulties with accessing sexual and reproductive health services during the lockdowns. And despite these challenges, this budget does not contain a single reference to sexual and reproductive health and rights in its 1 348 page document, and the Commission often refers to its commitment of achieving a Union of equality.

True equality does not exist if we ignore the unequal strain that this pandemic has had on women in Europe. So the recovery must focus on where the harm is done. We must put our money where it is needed and make gender equality the priority in the budget for 2022.

  Pierre Karleskind, rapporteur pour avis de la commission de la pêche. – Madame la Présidente, Monsieur le Commissaire, chers collègues, un milliard d’euros, en tout cas près d’un milliard d’euros pour les secteurs européens de la pêche, de l’aquaculture et des affaires maritimes en 2022, c’est ambitieux, mais c’est nécessaire.

Un secteur de la pêche et de l’aquaculture touché de plein fouet par une crise sanitaire d’une ampleur sans commune mesure et qui a déstabilisé en profondeur le marché des produits de la mer. Un secteur qui doit faire face au quotidien aux conséquences graves d’un Brexit qui empêche d’avancer sereinement vers l’avenir. Et un secteur qui, malgré toutes les incertitudes, doit relever les immenses défis du pacte vert pour l’Europe, de la nécessaire décarbonation et de la protection de la biodiversité. Et, enfin, un secteur qui devra répondre aux attentes toujours plus fortes des consommateurs européens concernant la traçabilité, la qualité et l’étiquetage, par exemple.

Ce budget 2022 marque la montée en puissance du Fonds européen pour les affaires maritimes, la pêche et l’aquaculture. Un FEAMPA qui a été pensé pour répondre à tous ces défis. Donc, pêche et aquaculture ont encore de nombreux défis à relever. Ambitieux et nécessaire, le milliard ne sera pas de trop.

  Irena Drmaž, President-in-Office of the Council. – Madam President, Commissioner, dear Members of the European Parliament, I am again honoured to be here today at the debate on the budget for 2022. We already had the opportunity to talk about this in mid—September, when I presented to you the Council position.

The core priorities for the Union – and I think we share the same view – are the recovery of the European economy, the fight against climate change and the EU green and digital transition. On this, I think, we are of a common view.

In this respect, the events that we have confronted recently with the pandemic, with natural and other disasters, as well as the dramatic developments at the international level, are the confirmation that we need to foresee sufficient margins in the EU budget to face challenges that could occur in many areas, including security, humanitarian aid and migration.

If these margins do not exist, the EU will not be able to act on these occasions. Parliament, with these margins, proposes to increase the expenditures above the Council’s positions of 4.1 billion in commitment appropriations and 2.5 billion in payment appropriations. We are just at the beginning of the current multiannual financial framework (MFF). The Council cannot accept the full use of the margins in almost all headings, as well as the substantial use of special instruments requested by Parliament.

What the Union needs is a budget for 2022 that creates trust for the future, avoids unnecessary expenditure and foresees sufficient margins to face any unexpected circumstance or challenge that may arise in the next years.

Allow me to touch upon a few more detailed points.

Regarding the financing of research and innovation: the Council recognises that Horizon Europe is an essential instrument to support the recovery of our economies from the pandemic and to contribute to the Green Deal, to a climate—neutral economy and to a successful digital transition. However, Parliament’s proposal to increase the allocation foreseen by the Council by more than 1.51 billion goes against the attempt to make a stable evolution for the future.

The Council also considers that the opportunity offered in Article 15.3 of the Financial Regulation needs to be employed in a responsible manner and back—loaded for the second part of the MFF period. This would bring a more appropriate and stable financing of Horizon once the top—ups from Next Generation EU stop.

Moreover, the Council is surprised by the proposal to make use of the more than 400 million resulting from the remaining 2020 research decommitments as they were neither forecasted nor included in the MFF agreement.

With regard to the investment in people and social cohesion and values, Parliament proposes an additional EUR 700 million for the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) to foster the implementation of the European Child Guarantee.

I would like to note here that Parliament and the Council have agreed on a provision to finance the measures necessary to deal with this important topic for the years 2021—2027 in the framework of the ESF+ Regulation, which entered into force from July this year. It is difficult to understand why a few months later Parliament wants to change the agreed approach. Moreover, here there is also the implementation aspect. The ESF+ is mainly implemented under shared management, and Member States’ programmes are already underway.

As regards the financing of the recovery and resilience, while the Council fully acknowledges the importance of programmes such as EU4Health and Erasmus+, these programmes have already been reinforced in the draft budget. Therefore, a further increase of EUR 300 million does not seem reasonable.

The Council reaffirms its strong commitment to ensuring sufficient funding for the important areas of migration, border security and defence. However, Parliament’s proposed increases in these areas do not seem well funded, and what is more would leave us without any room for manoeuvre in case of unexpected events.

Regarding the external action of the Union, the Council takes note of the proposed increase of over one billion as compared to the Council’s position. The Council acknowledges that the situation in external policy, and humanitarian aid in particular, can fluctuate quickly, as shown by the evolution in Afghanistan this year, and the Council agrees that there is a need to be able to react swiftly to possible oncoming challenges.

However, we also note that when the situation in a country deteriorates, development aid is often substituted by humanitarian aid. They are not systematically complementary. This will, in all likelihood, be the case for Afghanistan as EU development assistance is based on clear conditions and principles.

A partial shift on the NDICI cushion for the margin would allow for a quick, controlled mobilisation of resources when they are most needed, including humanitarian aid.

Also, in particular, the Council finds it difficult to understand the increases proposed for staff, notably in the case of the European Parliament. In the case of the budget of this House, especially, we regret that there is at the moment no explanation for such a significant increase in staff. Under these circumstances, our citizens might find it difficult to understand that the EU administration bears no part of the effort and even more difficult to understand that this increases its ranks, notably in the case of the European Parliament itself.

I have listened today to all your arguments and debates during this meeting, and I will inform my colleagues in the Council accordingly of what you have said. The Council will do its utmost to engage in a constructive dialogue, allowing us to come to an agreement on the budget for 2022 within the deadlines foreseen in the Treaty.

  Johannes Hahn, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, first I would like to thank the European Parliament, especially the Committee on Budgets and all specialised committees, for the intensive work on the Commission’s proposal for the draft budget 2022, which apparently resulted in more than 1 400 proposed amendments.

I welcome the timely achievement of the two rapporteurs, Mr Ressler and Mr Boeselager, in reaching a broad support among political groups and committees. I further appreciate that the amendments proposed by the Parliament reinstate most of the expenditure at the level proposed by the Commission in the draft budget. Third, the Parliament proposes reinforcements for a number of programmes for 2022, for example in research and innovation, including the use of Article 15(3) of the Financial Regulation, climate action, employment opportunities for youth, including the Child Guarantee, actions related to asylum and migration and health.

Both the European Parliament and the Council have now set the framework of their respective negotiation mandates, and I could only reiterate my great regret at the Council cuts, which are not in line with the MFF agreement and don’t follow the Council’s own priorities. The overall cut amounts to EUR 1.4 billion in commitments and EUR 724 million in payments. At the same time, the Parliament requests substantial increases of EUR 2.7 billion in commitments and EUR 1.8 billion in payments. This request exceeds the available margins in nearly all headings, as well as the availabilities under the special instruments.

The positions of the Parliament and the Council diverge substantially, which is, in a way, surprising, given the still fresh agreement on the MFF reached less than one year ago, but I would say that this is obviously the provisional start of negotiations and now we have to see how to converge. Today’s debate and the exchange of views should increase our mutual understanding, facilitate progress towards a common approach and indeed find a common denominator.

The Commission services are examining thoroughly all amendments proposed by the Parliament, together with those proposed by the Council. To facilitate the upcoming negotiations, the Commission will present a detailed assessment of amendments proposed by the Council and Parliament in the so-called letter of executability. We will send this letter prior to the opening of the conciliation, shortly after the plenary vote on the Parliament’s position. I am confident that the negotiations will continue in the positive spirit we have had until now, and inevitably a clear prioritisation of tabled amendments from both institutions, as well as concessions on both sides, will be necessary.

As regards the next steps, we already presented the amending letter in last week’s trilogue to update agricultural expenditure and to introduce some new elements which have been proposed or updated since the adoption of the statement of estimates in June. This concerns, in particular, the 2022 instalment of the pre-financing of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve, as well as continued support to refugees in Turkey and beyond. I would like to ask the European Parliament and the Council to consider this amending letter as an additional element in the negotiating process. I trust that the agreement on the 2022 budget will respect the recent political agreement on the 2021—2027 Multiannual Financial Framework, and that it will fairly reflect both the position of the Parliament and the Council.

As you know, we are still in a crisis situation. The vaccination campaigns have provided – and also proved – a relief, but many people still don’t have access to vaccines. Climate change makes the natural world less predictable, both within the Union and abroad, so let me stress that a timely agreement on a solid EU budget is the best way to support our society and our economy, and respond to the expectations of our citizens. We will all need to work constructively if we want to find a compromise in time and have the budget adopted.

Thank you so much for all your collaboration. I am looking forward to a good result in the interests of everybody.

  Niclas Herbst, on behalf of the PPE Group. – Madam President, a lot of wise words have already been spoken during this debate so I would like to seize the opportunity and draw your attention to some examples which might bring us to more general points. These are, for us as budgetary politicians, especially clarity and control.

We can see that significant funds from financing programmes are transferred, for example, to decentralised agencies. I can give you two examples. The EU4Health programme, which we fought for quite strongly in this Parliament, goes to the Organisation for Economic Co—operation and Development (OECD) Agency and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). I support these fields of policy because they are very important. The pandemic has shown this very clearly.

Another example is border management and the visa instrument, money transferred to Europol. I strongly support this strengthening of Europol, but the way it is done contradicts the need for clarity that we, as parliamentarians, should fight for. The real questions that we should ask ourselves are: is it necessary not only to understand the movements, but the underlying reasons, and are agencies taking over tasks that would otherwise have been financed under the programme? It is important to have control as well. In the fields of other sections, we talk about supporting the European Court of Auditors, and let me say that, if we, as a parliament, have literally no control over NextGenerationEU and the vast amounts that go along with this programme, we should at least strengthen the European Court of Auditors.

Bearing this in mind, I think we should agree that we, as a parliament, should talk more about clarity and more about control. We will strengthen the whole Parliament.

  Victor Negrescu, on behalf of the S&D Group. – Madam President, European leaders must show responsibility and act in accordance with the agreement that was reached in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The cuts proposed by the Council prevent us from delivering on the objectives we have for Europe, implementing the policies agreed upon by the leaders, and planning for a strong social recovery for the future of Europe.

In the view of the European Parliament and of our political Group, we believe it is important to show more ambition when it comes to next year’s budget. We need to provide adequate resources to deal with the health crisis, but also with the social and economic challenges it raises. We call for an increase in the EU budget of EUR 2.7 billion, while preserving sufficient margins and resources for the special instruments. These funds will enable the EU to do more for each European, each Member State and each European policy. For that, we need the Commission to also make sure that 2022 will be a full implementation year for the budget. We cannot lose any more time. 2021 was a lost year for the current MFF, and that is not our fault. Member States and the Commission should have done more to speed up the implementation.

The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament have three key priorities. We support the social recovery with a special focus on youth, employment, education, cohesion, SMEs and start-ups, for which we request EUR 1.2 billion. We want to invest in a sustainable future, including climate, research, innovation, health, digitalisation, transport and agriculture, for which we believe an extra EUR 2 billion is needed. We believe that Europe should promote solidarity and democratic values within the EU and across the world and, for that, the Parliament calls for more than EUR 600 million in additional funds.

These priorities are reflected in the reinforcement increase of all the EU programmes. We also call for the rapid implementation in 2022 of the European Child Guarantee, making sure no child is left behind and suffers the negative effect of the pandemic. Our demand for an additional allocation of EUR 700 million for the Child Guarantee represents a key achievement of our political Group. We are also happy to see several of our requests being integrated in the proposal, like, for instance, the new tourism line of EUR 42 million, an additional EUR 24 million for SMEs and start-ups, EUR 5 million for social dialogue, EUR 7.5 million for employment, and EUR 90 million for the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods.

Our discussion today is key. If we want to do things better at local, national and European level and match our priorities, we need to allocate adequate resources for the EU budget. In this respect, our proposals are constructive and clear and can represent the starting point of a new European budget fitting citizens’ priorities.

  Nicolae Ştefănuță, în numele grupului Renew. – Doamna președintă, domnule comisar, „niciodată atât de mulți nu au datorat atât de mult, atâtor de puțini” a spus Winston Churchill în plin război. Trebuie să ne însuflețim cu acest spirit, din nou, astăzi, pentru că Europa este, de fapt, în război, iar europenii trebuie să vadă în ceea ce facem noi aici, un scut.

În vreme ce mulți se pregătesc să iasă din pandemie, țara mea, România, din păcate, intră într-un val patru, care nu este un val, este un tsunami. Azi au pierit 574 de oameni. Este o tragedie națională, iar medicii noștri nu mai pot, ATI-urile sunt ocupate.

De aceea, prioritatea numărul unu a acestui parlament nu poate fi decât sănătatea. Acest parlament a pus deja o cărămidă la acel sistem de sănătate prin care, într-o bună zi, un pacient român se va putea trata în spital, la fel ca în Austria, de exemplu. Mai mult, grupul meu, Renew Europe, a pus un miliard de euro deoparte pentru vaccinare, pentru COVAX, pentru că, degeaba ne însănătoșim noi, dacă nu întreaga lume se însănătoșește.

Acest buget trebuie să fie și cel mai curat din istorie. De aceea, am propus și am susținut ca Laura Codruța Kövesi să aibă banii pentru personalul de care are nevoie, să controleze ca acești bani să nu fie furați, să nu fie luați de oameni corupți. De ce? Pentru că acești bani sunt în parte și împrumutați, iar noi trebuie să-i păzim, să fim cu ochii pe ei, ca pe butelie.

Europa nu e nimic, dacă nu e tinerii din ea. Tinerii merită cât mai multe oportunități. De aceea, mărim bugetul astăzi cu 40 000 de burse Erasmus, exact pentru tinerii aceia care, în loc să călătorească, au trebuit să stea în fața ecranului, în loc să fie în fața Luvrului.

Să vorbesc despre 2022 astăzi, este, îmi imaginez, așa cum au vorbit alții în primul război despre 1942, deci, cu siguranță nu a fost ușor. Însă rolul nostru suprem aici, în casa aceasta europeană, este acesta: să putem noi, atunci când europenii nu mai pot.

  Henrike Hahn, im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Herzlichen Dank an die Berichterstatter für den EU-Haushaltsentwurf 2022 und besonderen Dank an meine wunderbaren Kollegen von S&D, Renew und Left. Wir haben zusammen diesen Haushalt nicht nur grüner, sondern auch zukunftsorientierter gemacht.

Der EU-Haushalt 2022 ist der zweite Haushalt des mehrjährigen Finanzrahmens, für den klar gilt: Bis spätestens 2030 wollen wir allermindestens die Pariser Klimaziele umsetzen. Da brauchen wir mehr Tempo, mehr Ehrgeiz und klare Entscheidungen, wie wir Steuergelder an den richtigen Stellen investieren, weil wir wissen: Da, wo Geld hinfließt, da wird wirklich Politik gemacht.

Wir Grüne haben für den EU-Haushalt 2022 drei Prioritäten, das sind Klima, Biodiversität und Forschung und Entwicklung. Denn klar ist: Wir brauchen starke Forschung und Innovation für grüne Technologie, für die Dekarbonisierung der Wirtschaft und für eine ökologisch-soziale Transformation für einen starken Wirtschaftsstandort Europa.

Wir haben jetzt einen EU-Haushalt 2022 auf den Weg gebracht mit großen Aufstockungen für wichtige Programme, mit insgesamt mehr als 1,64 Milliarden Euro zusätzlich zum Haushaltsentwurf. Das heißt konkret: Über 450 Millionen Euro entfallen auf Klima- und Biodiversitätsprogramme – mein persönliches Highlight ist dabei das Plus von 171 Millionen Euro für LIFE –, und es entfallen jetzt mehr als 430 Millionen Euro auf Forschung und Entwicklung. Wir haben außerdem 760 Millionen Euro für weitere Prioritäten wie humanitäre Hilfe, EU4Health, Rechte und Werte und Erasmus+, und das ist auch eine wunderbare Sache.

So können wir gut in den Trilog zu einem EU-Haushalt 2022 gehen mit einer starken Position des Parlaments, das verstanden hat, was Zukunft bedeutet.

  Joachim Kuhs, im Namen der ID-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin, Frau Ministerin, lieber Kommissar Hahn, werte Kollegen! Glückwunsch, Sie haben es mal wieder geschafft! Sie legen einen Haushalt vor, der formal die meisten Kriterien und Anforderungen des Vertrags und der Haushaltsordnung erfüllt.

Dabei wissen Sie ganz genau, dass wir einen Elefanten im Raum haben und dass dieser Haushalt nur ein Teil des Gesamtpakets NextGenerationEU ist und dass dessen Finanzierung zum großen Teil durch Kredite erfolgt. Das ist ein Tabu für den EU-Haushalt. Diesen Makel können Sie nicht wegwischen. Und diese verbotene Schuldenfinanzierung wird alle Haushalte auch weiter belasten.

Wie sollen Sie und wie wollen Sie das Ihren Kindern erklären? Meine Enkelkinder fragen mich oft: „Was machst du da eigentlich in Brüssel?“ Ich versichere Ihnen: „Ich kämpfe für eure Zukunft.“ Die 14-jährige Rahel, die zurzeit für den Unterricht einen Businessplan entwerfen muss, fragt mich dann regelrecht ungläubig: „Aber Opa, wieso macht ihr dann so viele Schulden?“

Was antworten Sie Ihren Enkelkindern? Wie erklären Sie ihnen die gigantischen Kosten für den Grünen Deal, der derzeit in den Flammen von Kohle und russischem Gas verbrennt? Wie erklären Sie ihnen, dass wir Jahr für Jahr mehr Geld ausgeben für unsinnige Projekte, die unsere Kinder zurückzahlen müssen, ohne Nutznießer sein zu können?

Bitte denken Sie an Ihre Kinder, und stoppen wir endlich diesen Drift in einen schuldenfinanzierten EU-Gesamthaushalt. Machen wir uns ehrlich und sichern wir die Zukunft unserer Kinder!

  Bogdan Rzońca, w imieniu grupy ECR. – Pani Przewodnicząca! Panie Komisarzu! Na początku chciałem bardzo podziękować kolegom sprawozdawcom, którzy pracowali nad tym budżetem, i w sumie myślę, że udało się nam uzyskać niezły efekt. Tak że też i gratulacje dla was, bo naprawdę wszyscy razem nad tym pracowaliśmy dosyć mocno.

Budżet na 2022 rok jest budżetem w ramach wieloletnich ram finansowych i jest to drugi taki budżet. Jest to też drugi rok unijnego instrumentu NextGenerationEU, a więc na lata 2021, 2022 i 2023. W tym wypadku możemy powiedzieć, że Komisja Europejska niezbyt sprawiedliwie podchodzi do spraw związanych z COVID-19, z kryzysem postkowidowym. Polska na przykład nie ma zatwierdzonego tego planu i wydaje się, że ten Fundusz Odbudowy jest pewnego rodzaju aparatem represji. To jest bardzo niesprawiedliwe, bo chorowali wszyscy i dramat przeżyli wszyscy.

W tym sprawozdaniu sprzeciwiamy się jakimkolwiek cięciom, jeśli chodzi o „Horyzont Europa”, o EU4Health czy RescEU. Jesteśmy mocno zaniepokojeni również tym, że jeśli chodzi o projekt HERA, to Komisja Europejska trochę odsuwa Parlament Europejski od spraw.

Natomiast ECR nie podoba się także tzw. gender budgeting, czyli powiązanie budżetu z zagadnieniami płci, poruszanie kwestii bioróżnorodności czy zdrowia seksualnego.

Odniosę się jeszcze na koniec do pana kolegi Boeselagera, który poświęcił trzy minuty w swoim wystąpieniu na sprawy przedpołudniowe. Otóż, chciałem powiedzieć, że dzisiaj – panie Damianie, do pana mówię – dzisiaj sąd polski uniewinnił (...), który jechał bez prawa jazdy, niesprawnym samochodem, prawa jazdy nie ma. Na przejściu dla pieszych potrącił 81-letnią kobietę. Dzisiaj polski sąd go uniewinnił.

PRZEWODNICTWO: EWA KOPACZ
Wiceprzewodnicząca

  Δημήτριος Παπαδημούλης, εξ ονόματος της ομάδας The Left. – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο, με μια ευρύτατη συνεργασία και συναίνεση από το Ευρωπαϊκό Λαϊκό Κόμμα μέχρι την Αριστερά, ζητάει συγκεκριμένες αυξήσεις στον προϋπολογισμό, απολύτως ρεαλιστικές και αναγκαίες. Ζητάει, κύριε Hahn, να τιμήσετε και να τηρήσετε αυτά που εσείς προτείνατε και τα οποία περικόπτει άγρια και αδικαιολόγητα το Συμβούλιο, ανατρέποντας σε πολλά σημεία και τη διοργανική συμφωνία για τον πολυετή προϋπολογισμό.

Ζητάμε μεγαλύτερη φροντίδα για τη στήριξη της έρευνας και της καινοτομίας· περισσότερα κονδύλια για την προστασία των παιδιών από τη φτώχεια, τον κοινωνικό αποκλεισμό και τον αναλφαβητισμό· ενίσχυση της προσπάθειας να αντιμετωπίσουμε την υγειονομική κρίση, προωθώντας την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση Υγείας· ενίσχυση του Erasmus+ με περισσότερες ευκαιρίες εκπαίδευσης, κατάρτισης και στήριξης της νέας γενιάς· περισσότερα κονδύλια για το EU-LIVE, για την προστασία του περιβάλλοντος και για τη στήριξη της πράσινης μετάβασης· περισσότερα κονδύλια για την πρωτοβουλία COVAX, για να ενισχυθεί η εμβολιαστική κάλυψη σε όλο τον πλανήτη· και περισσότερη στήριξη —και με χρήματα— της ισότητας των φύλων σε όλες τις διαστάσεις του προϋπολογισμού.

Για να γίνουν αυτά, πρέπει το Συμβούλιο να σταματήσει να περικόπτει και να λέει «όχι» σε πράγματα που και το ίδιο έχει συμφωνήσει, ενώ η Επιτροπή πρέπει να στηρίξει τις προτάσεις της, να μην υποχωρεί διαρκώς προς το Συμβούλιο και να ακούσει λίγο παραπάνω τη φωνή του ενωμένου Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου.

  Andor Deli (NI). – Tisztelt Elnök Asszony! Az éves költségvetés vitája és a szavazás több mint 170 milliárd euróról szól. Azt hiszem, mindenki számára fontos, hogy az uniós támogatások szintje megmaradjon, legyen szó az agrárkifizetésekről, a vidékfejlesztési vagy a kohéziós forrásokról. De fel szeretném hívni a figyelmet egy új költségvetési tételre, amely már a 21-es költségvetésben is jelentkezett, de 22-ben immár tízszeresére nőtt és valószínűsíthető, hogy mérete évről évre tovább fog növekedni. Ez pedig az Unió által felvett közös hitelek törlesztési kamata. Ennek az összegnek az összegereblyézéséhez minden tagállamnak hozzá kell járulnia, így Magyarországnak és Lengyelországnak is. Mindeközben, mint azt jól tudjuk, politikai nyomásgyakorlás miatt késik a magyar és a lengyel nemzeti helyreállítási tervek jóváhagyása és az előlegek kifizetése. Mégis úgy látszik, hogy a visszafizetésekhez, a kamatok törlesztéséhez már nekünk is hozzá kell járulnunk. Ott bezzeg megütjük a mércét.

Kérem a biztos urat és a Bizottságot, hogy adjanak magyarázatot erre az enyhén szólva furcsa helyzetre.

  Nils Ušakovs (S&D). – Madam President, addressing you about the Union Budget 2022, I will start with a story from my country. Latvia is entering full-scale lockdown tomorrow, including a curfew after 8 p.m. The Latvian Government failed to take control of the COVID pandemic. As a result, Latvian citizens are depending more and more on various forms of support, both from the Union budget and different ways of financing. At the same time, we see that the Council is cutting Budget 2022 and the Commission is planning to reallocate finances from its crucial programmes vital to citizens of the Union, both in Latvia and in other Member States. For instance, a new health authority, HERA, is getting established and the Commission plans to finance it by taking money from Horizon Europe, EU4Health and rescEU.

This is a controversial example about policy concerning the budget of the Union. As for good examples, voting for the budget, we support providing more information by this House about the Union and the European Parliament in the languages of national and linguistic minorities and regional languages. By the way, one of the reasons why the Latvian Government failed to fight the virus was its inability to communicate effectively with the country’s linguistic, primarily Russian-speaking, minority. This vote should serve as an important message for Member States. Thank you, rapporteurs, fellow shadows and colleagues.

  Olivier Chastel (Renew). – Madame la Présidente, Monsieur le Commissaire, Madame la Ministre, très chers collègues, le budget de l’Union sera renforcé grâce au plan de relance «Next Generation EU» et l’effort financier pour garantir cette relance en 2022 sera sans précédent. Afin de s’assurer de la confiance des citoyens, mais aussi des entrepreneurs, les deniers européens doivent être judicieusement dépensés. Nous serons de ce fait particulièrement attentifs au respect de l’état de droit, d’une part, et à la lutte contre la fraude au budget de l’Union, d’autre part.

Nous traversons une période de bouleversements climatiques, économiques, sociaux, géopolitiques. Établir un budget, c’est opérer des choix sur des investissements porteurs, pour assurer une relance durable ainsi qu’une transition verte et numérique ambitieuse. C’est aussi faire en sorte que ces investissements rencontrent les aspirations de nos concitoyens. C’est pourquoi je demande au Conseil, Madame la Ministre, de prendre la mesure des enjeux et de revoir les coupes opérées en totale contradiction avec les priorités partagées et énoncées à maintes reprises au sein de notre institution.

Chers collègues, la pérennité de l’Union ne sera assurée que si elle est forte de l’intérieur grâce à des institutions opérationnelles. La Cour européenne de justice, la Cour des comptes, le Contrôleur européen de la protection des données y travaillent au quotidien. La complexité et l’importance accrue des questions juridiques portées devant la Cour sont une réalité. Les moyens alloués à ces institutions doivent être à la hauteur de nos ambitions. Et au regard de ces considérations, nous sommes tous conscients que l’Europe, pour rester crédible, doit être solidaire, inclusive, tournée vers la jeunesse et responsable.

  Zbigniew Kuźmiuk (ECR). – Pani Przewodnicząca! Panie Komisarzu! Pani Minister! Zabierając głos w tej debacie, chcę podkreślić, że odrzucenie przez Parlament cięć zaproponowanych przez Radę jest koniecznością w sytuacji, kiedy gospodarki krajów członkowskich odrabiają zaległości związane z pandemią COVID. Co więcej, pojawiają się nowe wyzwania, takie jak chociażby gwałtowny wzrost cen energii, na które Komisja będzie musiała zareagować, a na to wszystko potrzebne są dodatkowe środki. Trzeba przy tym podkreślić, że budżet na 2022 rok jest drugim już budżetem nowej perspektywy finansowej, a jednocześnie środki na płatności w nim zawarte muszą pokryć rachunki przedstawiane przez beneficjentów realizujących przedsięwzięcia z perspektywy finansowej 2014–2020 zgodnie z zasadą n +3.

Musimy dołożyć wszelkich starań, aby tych środków na płatności nie zabrakło i żeby nie powtórzyła się sytuacja z lat 2014–15, kiedy w Komisji zalegały zaległe rachunki na miliardy euro, a brakowało środków na ich uregulowanie i, co więcej, Komisja musiała płacić odsetki. W związku z tym chciałbym wyrazić nadzieję, że wzorem lat ubiegłych Parlament dołączy do deklaracji Rady na temat płatności dołączonej do budżetu na 2022 rok, który pozwoli na szybką reakcję w sytuacji zapotrzebowania na dodatkowe środki na płatności.

  João Pimenta Lopes (The Left). – Senhora Presidente, como em anos anteriores, estamos perante uma provável redução orçamental, quando o que se exigia seria o reforço significativo do orçamento da União Europeia a par do reforço da sua função redistributiva de apoio à promoção de uma efetiva convergência no progresso económico e social entre os Estados-Membros, bem como de apoio à economia real dos Estados—Membros através de subvenções, e não de empréstimos, para responder à grave situação económica e social com que vários Estados-Membros se confrontam.

Situação que se agrava com o condicionamento da margem de manobra dos Estados na promoção do investimento público, no financiamento dos serviços públicos e das suas funções sociais, através da aplicação de condicionalidades macroeconómicas e/ou políticas fixadas pela União Europeia que urge eliminar.

Apresentámos várias propostas de apoio às pequenas e médias empresas, à pequena e média agricultura, às pescas, aos transportes, entre outros, que, a serem aprovadas, contribuirão para assegurar recursos acrescidos para a coesão económica, social e territorial, em benefício de países, dos trabalhadores e dos povos.

  Mario Furore (NI). – Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, la crisi del Coronavirus ci ha insegnato che solo con politiche ambiziose, come il Recovery, si possono raggiungere risultati importanti nell'interesse dei cittadini.

Per questo motivo non possiamo che essere delusi dai tagli proposti dal Consiglio ai programmi per l'innovazione, gli investimenti strategici, quelli sulla sicurezza interna e per la lotta al cambiamento climatico. Addirittura si riducono i fondi dei programmi per la salute e per la protezione civile.

Che messaggio diamo come istituzioni europee ai cittadini? Certo, occorre evitare sprechi e ridurre le spese amministrative analizzando il bilancio europeo voce per voce, ma dobbiamo garantire che le priorità dei cittadini siano finanziate adeguatamente.

Il Movimento 5 Stelle propone la creazione di una voce specifica in seno al bilancio dell'UE per finanziare il settore turistico. Serve un fondo ad hoc che rilanci il settore messo in ginocchio durante la crisi pandemica. Milioni di famiglie europee dipendono e vivono grazie al turismo; è arrivato il momento di dare loro delle risposte.

  Janusz Lewandowski (PPE). – Pani Przewodnicząca! Na początku wdrażania nowych ram finansowych mamy dwa budżety korygujące dotyczące roku 2021, zwyczajowy amending letter na rok 2022 z poważną kwotą ponad 1 200 000 000 euro. Potrzeba dostosowania nowych ram finansowych do nowej inicjatywy Social Climate Fund, a zapewne i poważnej rewizji tych świeżo uzgodnionych ram finansowych, a więc wdrażanie tych nowych ram finansowych upływa pod znakiem nowych wyzwań, nowych potrzeb wymagających poważnej reakcji finansowej i elastyczności.

Niektóre z tych nowych wyzwań są nieprzewidywalne, inne są jak najbardziej przewidywalne. Do takich należy potrzeba przedłużenia pomocy dla uchodźców z Syrii. Znana była w grudniu zeszłego roku, ale nie znalazło to wyrazu w nowych ramach finansowych. Mówię o tym, bo kończą żywot unijne fundusze powiernicze, którymi się zajmowałem, i liczę na lepszą współpracę z Komisją Europejską przy wdrażaniu nowej generacji instrumentów polityki zagranicznej Unii.

  Elisabetta Gualmini (S&D). – Madam President, the 2020 budget is the first after the humongous financial effort of Next Generation EU. We are talking about the EUR 170 billion for the next year. We have asked for more resources compared to the Commission, overall EUR 4 billion more.

The programmes for which we have asked for an increase range from Erasmus+ to the Child Guarantee, but here I would like to mention the COVAX programme, one which we speak too little about. Its goal is to deliver vaccines to low income countries all over the world.

We need the EUR 1 billion more in order to reach the 500 million doses announced by von der Leyen. There can be no talk of getting out of the pandemic if it is only us who manage to get out. We cannot think about returning to normal life if it is only us who save ourselves. We cannot think that the right to a healthy life is only for the few and not for the many.

We have learned that what solidarity means, and now we just have to spread the lesson.

  Dorien Rookmaker (NI). – Madam President, here we are together debating on the general budget of 2022. The average comment of my dear colleagues is that we need more money for closing gaps, green policies, digital agendas or tourism. Most of these could easily be funded if we didn’t waste so much money on rules and regulations.

Yes, dear colleagues, a lot of money is wasted on too many bad regulations created by the EU institutions, probably with the best intentions but lacking experience and knowledge of the horrible side effects of EU law.

Take, for instance, public procurement law, a labour-intensive piece of legislation that doesn’t solve any problem but leads to endless, complex, costly processes. Since its introduction, it has caused billions spent on implementation, enforcement, control and litigation. And this is only one example.

If the EU decides to spend money, we must be aware of the fact that costs of regulations multiply in real life. If we are to spend money, it should be spent wisely.

  Angelika Winzig (PPE). – Frau Präsidentin, Herr Kommissar, geschätzte Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Wie noch kein anderes EU-Budget steht dieses Budget 2022 im Zeichen des Klimawandels. Immerhin haben wir hier im Hohen Haus das 55%ige Treibhausgasreduktionsziel beschlossen.

Wir alle wissen: „The Green Deal cannot fly without innovation, research and digitalisation.“ Nur so kann der Transformationsprozess gelingen und können Beschäftigung und Wettbewerbsfähigkeit auch im Wandel gesichert werden.

Daher begrüße ich zusätzliche Mittel für Horizont Europa, für Digitales Europa, aber auch für KMU im Binnenmarktprogramm. Fördern wir gemeinsam den europäischen Unternehmergeist, denn nur mit einer erfolgreichen Wirtschaft können auch unsere Sozialsysteme garantiert und abgesichert werden. Vor diesem Hintergrund sehe ich aber auch Einsparungsmöglichkeiten – nämlich dann, wenn laut Kommission in gewissen Programmen gar nicht so viele Mittel absorbiert werden können. Der Grüne Deal muss Hand in Hand mit der Förderung unserer Unternehmerinnen und Unternehmer gehen, denn ansonsten ist er zum Scheitern verurteilt.

  Robert Biedroń (S&D). – Pani Przewodnicząca! Panie Komisarzu! Szanowni Państwo! Rozmawiamy o kolejnym budżecie unijnym na 2022 rok, ale dzisiaj także rozmawialiśmy o bardzo poważnej sprawie dotyczącej stanu praworządności w Unii Europejskiej. I nie może być tak, że przyjmujemy kolejne budżety, odwracając głowę od tego, co naprawdę dzieje się w niektórych krajach członkowskich. Ja reprezentuję taki kraj, Polskę, w którym dochodzi do poważnych naruszeń praworządności, a pieniądze podatników europejskich są nadal przekazywane. I my musimy być strażnikami tego budżetu. Nie może być tak, że z pieniędzy Belgów, Holendrów itd. są sponsorowane autokratyczne rządy Orbana albo Kaczyńskiego. I Komisja Europejska musi być strażniczką środków publicznych w tej sprawie i musi tego pilnować.

Druga rzecz niezwykle ważna w tym budżecie: powtarzamy jako Komisja Równouprawnienia i Kobiet, że brakuje kwestii związanych z równością płci, gender mainstreamingiem i gender budgetingiem. To musi być też rozwiązane i Komisja Europejska w końcu musi zacząć wysłuchiwać naszego głosu w tej sprawie, bo jak równość to równość.

  Andrey Novakov (PPE). – Madam President, only three Member States submitted their partnership agreements to the European Commission. It means one thing and one thing only. There is a very high probability that this year it will be a zero when it comes to the budget. A zero 2021 means additional stress on the budgets of 2022, 2023 and 2024. It means that we have a really high risk of losing EU money for our Member States, our regions and constituencies.

This is much more important than the arguments over a million here or over a million there, and I think a lot of work has been done to reach that agreement. I believe that we should support the compromise that has been reached and not create any additional delays on the budget procedure because we have already lost one year for the new programming period and this is a great paradox. This economy, the European economy, needs European funds to be invested immediately in order to recover, so we cannot play games with this important issue. Please vote in favour of the report that has already been proposed.

  Margarida Marques (S&D). – Senhora Presidente, Senhora Ministra, Senhor Comissário, no debate sobre o orçamento 2022 temos dois pontos fundamentais: o cumprimento dos compromissos assumidos no orçamento plurianual 21-27, do lado da despesa e do lado da receita, incluindo o respeito do calendário dos novos recursos próprios, e a contribuição do orçamento para a recuperação pós-COVID e a criação de um ambiente económico e social que sustente as ambições internas e externas da União Europeia.

A recuperação econômica assenta, em grande parte, no NextGenerationEU. Mas, Comissário, os programas europeus que privilegiam a dimensão europeia, geridos, à partida, pela Comissão, são também os instrumentos de excelência para a recuperação económica, recuperação económica que se quer inovadora, com vista a uma economia neutra em carbono, assente numa transição justa, verde e digital.

Sem secundarizar a responsabilidade dos Estados-Membros, este esforço compete, desde logo, à Comissão Europeia.

  Λευτέρης Χριστοφόρου (PPE). – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, κύριε Επίτροπε, καταβάλαμε το άπαν των δυνάμεών μας στην Επιτροπή Προϋπολογισμών, με πρώτο και καλύτερο τον αγαπητό συνάδελφο εισηγητή, Karlo Ressler, για να κατορθώσουμε να καταρτίσουμε τον προϋπολογισμό και να καταστήσουμε την Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση πιο ισχυρή, πιο πράσινη, πιο αναπτυξιακή, πιο καινοτόμο, πιο κοινωνική, ενισχύοντας ιδιαίτερα την κοινωνία και τους πολίτες, δίνοντας ιδιαίτερη έμφαση στους νέους, στις μικρομεσαίες επιχειρήσεις, στην ύπαιθρο, στους αγρότες μας, στην υγεία και σε κάθε ευαίσθητο κοινωνικό και οικονομικό τομέα.

Όμως, πιστεύω ακράδαντα ότι ισχυρή και κυρίαρχη Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση δεν νοείται όταν δεν υπάρχει ισχυρή άμυνα και ασφάλεια και ευρωστρατός. Για αυτό και ενισχύσαμε το Ευρωπαϊκό Ταμείο Άμυνας, γιατί θεωρούμε ότι η Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση, επιτέλους, πρέπει να είναι σε θέση να προστατεύει τα εξωτερικά της σύνορα, να προστατεύει την κυριαρχία των κρατών μελών και να εγγυάται την ασφάλεια των πολιτών.

Κυρία Πρόεδρε, κύριε Επίτροπε, τόσο οι αρχές και οι αξίες της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, όσο και οι δικές μου αρχές και αξίες και τα ευρωπαϊκά μου ιδεώδη δεν μου επιτρέπουν να εγκρίνω και να ψηφίσω ούτε ένα ευρώ για χώρες όπως η Τουρκία, που παραβιάζουν το ευρωπαϊκό και διεθνές δίκαιο, που παραβιάζουν το κράτος δικαίου, που δεν σέβονται τις αρχές και τις αξίες της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης. Καλώ τους συναδέλφους στο Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο, στην Ευρωπαϊκή Επιτροπή και στο Ευρωπαϊκό Συμβούλιο να ακολουθήσουν αυτόν τον κανόνα ... (Η Πρόεδρος αφαιρεί τον λόγο από τον ομιλητή)

  Evin Incir (S&D). – Madam President, colleagues, I’m going to focus on one thing today, Peace between Israel and Palestine. In the heart of peace lays the well-being of the people directly affected. UNRWA is a UN agency that I hope we will not need in the future, since I hope we will be able to provide also the Palestinian people with statehood through a two state solution with two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, side by side in peace and security.

But today, millions of Palestinians are living under catastrophic conditions, and many are refugees, internally displaced in Palestine, in Syria, in Lebanon and Jordan. UNRWA has been lifesaving for many of them. Every person in this Parliament should want to support UNRWA, but instead I’m shocked to hear that so many, especially from the right wing groups here, believe in lies spread about the Palestinian textbooks and the work of UNRWA. At least trust in the EU funded report by the Georg Eckert Institute, which clearly states that the Palestinian textbooks adhere to UNESCO standards.

I hope that all of us contribute to stability, solidarity and peace. I hope you all vote for the amendment tabled by the S&D Group that ensures continued support for UNWRA.

  José Manuel Fernandes (PPE). – Senhora Presidente, Senhor Comissário, Senhora Representante do Conselho, caras e caros colegas, o orçamento da União Europeia, sendo pequeno, tem uma enorme mais-valia e é essencial para a competitividade da União Europeia, para a investigação, para a produtividade, para o empreendedorismo e, em simultâneo, para a nossa coesão territorial, económica e social.

Para além disso, e nem sempre temos consciência, somos os maiores doadores mundiais, aqueles que mais ajudam em termos globais, que mais financiam a ajuda humanitária. Mas, este orçamento, é urgente que seja reexecutado rapidamente, e aqui há uma preocupação e viro-me para o Conselho: os Estados-Membros não estão a fazer a sua parte.

Em 2021, não haverá um euro que será executado da nova política de coesão, e a economia precisa, a juventude precisa, as pequenas e médias empresas, as autoridades locais e regionais. Façam a vossa parte, adotem rapidamente os acordos de parceria, porque cerca de um terço do orçamento, que é política de coesão, deve chegar rapidamente à economia.

  Alex Agius Saliba (S&D). – Sinjura President, is-sena 2022 ser tkun ikkaratterizzata minn kriżi ekonomika u kriżi ta' qgħad. Dan ser iwassal għal aktar inugwaljanzi, aktar faqar u aktar esklużjoni soċjali. Għalhekk, inħeġġeġ lill-Kummissjoni kif ukoll lill-Kunsill sabiex ikunu aktar ambizzjużi u jappoġġjaw baġit tal-Unjoni Ewropea b'dimensjoni aktar soċjali li jikkontribwixxi b'mod pożittiv għall-kwalità ta' ħajja aħjar liċ-ċittadini u l-ħaddiema tagħna, kif ukoll għall-funzjonament aħjar tas-swieq tax-xogħol.

Baġit li jagħti spinta 'l fuq lit-tkabbir sostenibbli, il-koeżjoni u l-konverġenza soċjali filwaqt li jiġġieled il-faqar, inkluż il-faqar fost it-tfal, l-esklużjoni soċjali u l-inugwaljanzi. Il-baġit li jmiss għandu jiggarantixxi investiment suffiċjenti fl-inizjattivi ewlenin tal-S&D, bħall-Garanziji għat-Tfal u ż-Żgħażagħ, il-Pilastru Ewropew tad-Drittijiet Soċjali, u d-djalogu soċjali u l-innovazzjoni soċjali.

Fir-rigward tal-Proġetti Pilota u l-Azzjonijiet Preparatorji, il-Kummissjoni u r-rapporteur tal-PPE kellhom ikunu aktar ambizzjużi billi jappoġġjaw proġetti li se jindirizzaw l-isfidi soċjali u dawk relatati mal-impjiegi attwali li jirriżultaw mill-pandemija.

  Johannes Hahn, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, dear Minister, honourable Members, thank you again for this lively, interesting, and may I say, constructive debate. Be assured that the Commission will do its best to support and to manage again a good compromise in order to have a good budget.

However, I would like to raise one aspect. I have heard a lot about what we should do, how ambitious we should be again. I think this is very understandable, if you look at the different – so to say – interests, etc., but at the end of the day, I think we are all challenged on an almost daily basis to look into our institutions, in all our institutions, to see which kind of activities, initiatives, structures may currently and in the predictable future not be so important. And maybe others, because things are changing, challenges are changing, priorities are changing, and what we have to do is prioritise again and again what is important in order really to deliver, and not to put money for each and everything, but really to focus our activities, our investments.

This concerns money but also human resources and in that respect I think we should really see, analyse and take decisions as to how we can reallocate each and everywhere our resources again and again in order to achieve our common goals. When it comes to the 2022 budget, again, be reassured that my team and I are at your disposal and ready to facilitate the work, with the rapporteurs and the presidency, during this conciliation procedure. I am again hopeful – may I say optimistic – that we can get an agreement within the time-frame, in a first hit, and not need the additional second kind of conciliation period. I think it is in the interest of all citizens to get the necessary agreements as fast as possible and therefore the guarantee, the knowledge of what the budget is for next year and on what the people can rely, can take their decisions, can make their investments and have, so to say, a strong indication of what is available next year for which purposes, for which activities. So thank you again for the debate today, and let’s see if we can make already next week the necessary progress.

  Irena Drmaž, President-in-Office of the Council. – Madam President, thank you very much again for this debate. I think it has been very valuable to hear from the first row the different opinions from different points of view of all different countries and groups and the different views.

What I have tried to hear and pick up from this debate is the arguments and the justifications of the colleagues to really understand what the reasons are for the proposed amendments and what the rationale behind them is.

We still have limited resources, we have the limited framework of financing. So within these restraints we have to have clear and focused priorities. Although in the first view of the top down approach, we have the same priorities, but the way in the approach, how to do this, to come to that is a little bit different.

So within this process, which is ahead of us in the next few weeks, we have to come closer in order to find a way to reach the same goals and priorities. So I am sure that I will inform our colleagues in the Council about this debate today, and we will together assess all the amendments, all the proposals, and we are looking forward to a successful conciliation process with the help of all of you and especially also the Commission on that side.

  Karlo Ressler, rapporteur. – Madam President, I would like to say to Minister Drmaž and Commissioner Hahn that, after carefully listening to their interventions, I am left with a positive hope and also an impression that we can find common ground in the end on the number of issues since we really share the goals.

However, there are obviously still elements on which we will have to work and on which Parliament and the Council are significantly apart. I see that we all agree on the fact that the needs are increasing, that they are much higher, that this moment was anticipated, and that, for some period of time, we really have had multiple crises going on. Many of them were mentioned: COVAX, the Afghan situation, having to deal with the Syrian refugees and having to find common solutions. But we definitely need to adjust and it would be really irresponsible for us to try to ignore, and not to see, all these new and old emerging challenges that, in the end, we all agree are there.

In this context, the Parliament will also propose to fully reuse the decommitments in the field of research, as the unexpectedly high amount of decommitments in the last year was not part of the MFF agreement. From our point of view, this is the amount that must not be lost, and we really do not see any good reason why we would waste this opportunity.

To sum up, you heard specific emphasis by different political groups and by different specialised committees, but you also heard our one unified voice that Europe really has to invest strongly in the recovery and resilience. We can work together within this House to agree on our stance, and to focus on the future, on recovery and on investments. With this strong position, I firmly believe that the Parliament is now ready for conciliation and we are ready for that kind of discussion.

  Damian Boeselager, rapporteur. – Madam President, I would like to thank colleagues, the Minister and the Commissioner for these exchanges. I think we can see this as a start of our formal negotiation to really try to come to the best outcome for our institutions.

I just wanted to quickly react to some of the comments that have been made, so I didn’t really fully get the translation of what you were saying, but I’m very thankful for the cooperation we have had so far, and also for you mentioning the potential differences or implications that the Polish situation might have on the budget, because I think that’s actually also relevant if you think about it. How can we transfer money to a country that does not accept the treaties? How can we actually believe that the judges will follow up with due diligence if they’re not bound by our common order? And I think that’s a question that we had discussed this morning, and that the Commission also is currently looking into.

Mr Kuhs asked what he should tell his grandchildren and I actually quite enjoyed this question because I think the first answer would be to tell them that, you know, a Europe of segregated nations with closed borders to each other is not a Europe that they want to live in.

The second thing, though, which has more to do with the budget, is the question of how we should invest in the future. My colleagues have mentioned many of the points that we believe are relevant for future investment: climate youth programmes, digitisation, ensuring the future competitiveness. I think to get out of this crisis well, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is a good tool, but the whole budget is very important to actually build back better.

In terms of institutional changes that we can also consider to have in the future better working mode, I think it’s important that when we talk about the budget, we also see the context of the overall architecture of our financial and fiscal framework. And here I’m very happy that we are starting this process of understanding that the RRF was a one time tool, but we have an ongoing understanding or issue with the fact that we have a currency union, but not yet a fiscal union, and that is something that we also need to get to.

To end, let me close with what I started with. I think it’s important that we come to a good conclusion for our institutions, for our European Union, to strengthen them, to strengthen the Ombudsman, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, all these institutions that make up our European Union, and I also very much look forward to then, at some point, coming to a conclusion on this budget.

  Przewodnicząca. – Zamykam debatę.

Głosowanie odbędzie się w środę 20 października 2021 r.

Oświadczenia pisemne (art. 171)

  Andrus Ansip (Renew), kirjalikult. – Kui me eile oma fraktsioonis eelarvet arutasime, oli meie eelarve eeskõneleja väga üllatunud. Mitte kunagi varem pole aastaeelarve arutelul kohal viibinud kõiki fraktsiooni liikmeid. Aastaeelarve arutelu pole kunagi olnud ülemäära kirgi küttev, sest eelarve raamides on suuresti kokku lepitud seitsmeaastase finantsperspektiivi ja taasterahastu läbirääkimistel. Ka läbirääkimiste muster kordub aastast aastasse – Euroopa Komisjon ja Euroopa Parlament tahavad tüüpiliselt pisut rohkem kulutada ja liikmesriigid tahavad nõukogus eelarvet pigem väiksemana hoida. Ja tuleb tunnistada, et ka eile ei tulnud inimesed enneolematu entusiasmiga eelarvet arutama, vaid hoopis fraktsioonile uut juhti valima. ELi 2022. aasta eelarve viib ellu aasta tagasi kokku lepitud finantsraamistiku 2021–2027 eesmärke. Juba teist aastat lisanduvad eelarvele ajutise taasterahastu vahendid, mistõttu ulatuvad plaanitud kulutused üle 300 miljardi euro ehk ligi kaks korda üle tavapärase. Eelarve põhirõhk on ootuspäraselt suunatud rohepöördele ja digitaalsele arengule, aga samuti Euroopa kriisitaluvuse tõstmisele ning julgeoleku ja piirihaldusega seotud probleemidele. Siseturu- ja tarbijakaitsekomisjoni arvamuses rõhutasime kaupade ja teenuste vaba liikumise parandamise, avaliku sektori ja ka EL tolliliidu edasise digitaliseerimise, halduskoormuse vähendamise ja digitaalse ühtse turu arendamise tähtsust. Sellest, kas mõni kulutus tehakse aasta varem või hiljem, on olulisem, et raha oleks aasta algusest kasutajatele kättesaadav. Selleks tuleb järgmise aasta eelarve kiiresti vastu võtta.

  Urmas Paet (Renew), kirjalikult. – Kui EL soovib olla maailmas geopoliitiline tegija, siis peame kindlustama, et oleme edukad oma lähinaabruses. Lääne-Balkani riikidele ning ida- ja lõunanaabruse riikidele tuleb eraldada rohkem toetusi, et finantseerida sealseid poliitilisi ja sotsiaal-majanduslikke reforme ning samuti taastumist COVID-19 kriisist. Samamoodi on vaja toetada piirkonnas selliseid valdkondi nagu meediavabadus, võitlus korruptsiooni ja organiseeritud kuritegevuse vastu ning inimõigused ja põhivabadused. Toetus Valgevene inimõiguste ja demokraatia aktivistidele peab püsima. Suuremas pildis ootame kaitsealastele algatustele tehtavate kulutuste suurendamist, mis aitaks samuti kaasa geostrateegilisema ELi arendamisele. Eelkõige on siin eesmärgiks, et suudaksime kaitsta oma huve ja väärtusi ning saaksime võtta meie naabruses rohkem kohustusi julgeoleku ja kaitse valdkonnas – seda koostöös USA ja NATOga. Kuna viimastel aastatel on vägagi aktuaalseks saanud vajadus kaitsta ELi hübriidrünnakute ja väärinfo eest, on vaja tagada asjakohane rahastamine, aga ka volitused Euroopa välisteenistuse üksustele ja nende küsimustega tegelevatele projektidele. Ei saa ka unustada kübervaldkonda.