ddrg/super_eurlex huggingface dataset:
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 as regards the resources for economic, social and territorial cohesion and correcting that Regulation as regards the resources for the investment for growth and jobs goal’

(COM(2018) 498 final — 2018/0265 (COD))

(2019/C 62/50)

Consultation European Parliament, 5.7.2018 Council of the European Union, 19.7.2018 Legal basis Articles 177 and 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion Adopted at plenary 17.10.2018 Plenary session No 538 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 214/0/2

Since the Committee endorses the content of the proposal and feels that it requires no comment on its part, it decided, at its 538th plenary session of 17 and 18 October 2018 (meeting of 17 October 2018), by 214 votes with two abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.
1.3.

The Committee believes that a systematic and proactive risk mapping procedure across the TEN-T network and on all motorways, as well as all primary roads, is a crucial step in planning new infrastructure measures. Nevertheless, due to the different states of implementation of the current RISM directive, it is important to establish realistic targets and deadlines for all Member States and to provide financial support for the most backward regions, included Six Western Balkans Countries. Furthermore, the Committee argues that the scope of the RISM should be extended to all main rural and urban streets, in order to achieve an effective drastic reduction in fatal and serious accidents by 2030.
4.4.

The director of the Authority is appointed via the procedure as stated in Article 6(3) of the Regulation. He/She is independent and not accountable to the EU institutions. He/She does have to submit an annual report to the European Commission and the European Parliament, and it might be prudent to give the EP the power to question this report and to vote on it. This would ensure that the Authority has some accountability and that the process is more transparent.
2.5.

It should be noted that there are still barriers and obstacles to the single market. It is therefore important to track developments in this area, take stock of the remaining obstacles and set up a road map for the single market to operate smoothly in the interests of all. The EESC agrees with the Commission that the new programme can help to improve the functioning of the single market through the design, implementation and enforcement of EU legislation. EU action must lead to a simple, clear, stable and predictable regulatory framework for businesses, workers and citizens. The EESC calls for the creation of a fair and complete internal market which should also take account of compliance with labour, consumer and environmental standards.
3.13.

The EESC also points out, in line with the Social Pillar, the need to guarantee fair remuneration and quality of work to all workers in the sector, whether online or offline. It draws attention, in particular, to the case of the labour contracts of thousands of those working for online businesses that are still not covered bycollective bargaining, as well as to the contracts in large retailers designed only to cater for greater customer footfall at weekends (resulting in an increase in casual contracts) or which do not count weekends or nights as overtime. Finally, in the EESC’s view, the creation of an effective social dialogue mechanism that also involves small and micro enterprises would give businesses better development opportunities and workers a better system of safeguards.
1.2.

The EESC finds the proposal necessary and fitting as part of a whole raft of new proposals related in particular to the next Multiannual Financial Framework, since it is an instrument crucial to the efficient operation of many of the measures envisaged in these new initiatives. It makes a decisive contribution to ensuring that the Commission plays a strong role in the selection of supported projects in accordance with a common EU interest, and that public support will complement private investment in a fully transparent manner.
3.7.

The EESC takes note of a fundamental part of the European Commission’s Communication, which deals with identifying existing obstacles. These are primarily obstacles to the Single Market and the need to further deepen it and remove obstacles (both by overcoming existing administrative and regulatory obstacles and by undertaking the technological modernisation of the Single Market through the realisation of the Digital Single Market and the related implementation strategy). We are also thinking of the development potential of capital markets and their incorporation into the Capital Markets Union. There are also obstacles to and potential for integrating transport and energy infrastructure, either through the development of trans-European networks (TENs) or on the basis of an energy union. It is also important to bear in mind the human dimension and the education and skills requirements of the workforce (in line with the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights) as well as the alignment of State-aid rules. From the point of view of optimising synergies under the MFF for the period 2021-2027, the EESC also notes that it is necessary to ensure maximum compliance with the ESI Funds.
4.3.

The EESC welcomes the Commission’s proposal for contingency measures to prevent the worst happening, by provisionally granting UK road haulage operators the right to carry out bilateral transport between points in the UK and EU on conditions set out in the proposal including equivalent access for EU operators in the UK and fair conditions of competition, while awaiting — before the transitional period ends on 31 December 2019 — the provisions required to ensure basic connectivity under the ECMT system and any future rules applying to relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union that may be negotiated and defined by common agreement.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 1309/2013 on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (2014-2020)’

(COM(2019) 397 final — 2019/0180 (COD))

(2020/C 14/19)

Consultation European Parliament, 16.9.2019 Council, 13.9.2019 Legal basis Article 175(3) and 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Consultative Commission on Industrial Change Adopted at plenary session 25 and 26 September 2019 Plenary session No 546 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 112/0/3

Since the Committee endorses the content of the proposal and feels that it requires no comment on its part, it decided, at its 546th plenary session of 25 and 26 September (meeting of 25 September), by 112 votes to 0 with 3 abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Council Directive on administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (codification)’

(COM(2020) 49 final — 2020/0022 (CNS))

(2020/C 311/13)

Council referral 25.2.2020 Legal basis Articles 113 and 115 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Section for Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion Adopted at plenary 10.6.2020 Plenary session No 552 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 221/1/3

Since the Committee unreservedly endorses the contents of the proposal and has already set out its views on the subject in its earlier opinions on the Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulationo(EU)oNoo904/2010 as regards measures to strengthen administrative cooperation in order to combat VAT fraud adopted on 15 May 2019 (1), the Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directiveo2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements adopted on 18 January 2018 (2), the Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directiveo2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation and the Proposal for a Council Directive laying down rules against tax avoidance practices that directly affect the functioning of the internal market adopted on 28 April 2016 (3), Completing EMU — The role of taxation policy adopted on 10 December 2014 (4) and the Proposal for a Council directive amending Directiveo2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation adopted on 16 October 2013 (5), it decided, at its 552nd plenary session of 10 and 11 June 2020 (meeting of 10 June 2020), by 221 votes to 1 with 3 abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text and to refer to the position it had taken in the abovementioned documents.

Brussels, 10 June 2020. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Luca JAHIER

(1) OJ C 240, 16.7.2019, p. 29.

(2) OJ C 197, 8.6.2018, p. 29.

(3) OJ C 264, 20.7.2016, p. 93.

(4) OJ C 230, 14.7.2015, p. 24.

(5) OJ C 67, 6.3.2014, p. 68.
2.1.

The Commission proposal is aimed, like other recent proposals, at offering economic relief measures to the European rail sector. In this case, measures concern the waiver, reduction or deferral of track access charges for the use of rail infrastructure, as well as the waiver of reservation charges. They cover a reference period from 1 March 2020 until 31 December 2020, in respect of which charges may be altered, by derogation from Article 27 of Directive 2012/34/EU. The network statement, displaying all applicable charges, must thereby be published no less than four months in advance for the deadline for requests for infrastructure capacity.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive (EU) 2016/798, as regards the application of railway safety and interoperability rules within the Channel Fixed Link

(COM(2020) 623 final – 2020/0161 (COD))

(2020/C 429/40)

Referral European Parliament, 14.9.2020 Council, 4.8.2020 Legal basis Article 91(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society Adopted at plenary 16.9.2020 Plenary session No 554 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) unanimous

Since the Committee unreservedly endorses the content of the proposal and feels that it requires no comment on its part, it decided unanimously, at its 554th plenary session of 16, 17 and 18 September 2020 (meeting of 16 September) to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council authorising the Commission to vote in favour of the capital increase of the European Investment Fund’

(COM(2020) 774 final — 2020/0343 (COD))

(2021/C 56/10)

Referrals European Parliament, 26.11.2020 Council of the European Union, 30.11.2020 Legal basis Articles 173(3) and 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion Adopted at plenary 2.12.2020 Plenary session No 556 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 207/1/8

Since the Committee endorses the contents of the proposal and has already set out its views on the Proposal for a regulation establishing the InvestEU programme (1), adopted on 17 October 2018 and on its revision (2), adopted on 15 July 2020, it decided, at its 556th plenary session of 2 and 3 December 2020 (meeting of 2 December 2020), by 207 votes to 1 with 8 abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text and to refer to the position it had taken in the above-mentioned document.

Brussels, 2 December 2020. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Christa SCHWENG

(1) OJ C 62, 15.2.2019, p. 131.

(2) OJ C 364, 28.10.2020, p. 139.
3.10.

The legal uncertainty and potentially adverse economic impact that may result from difficulties in the ability to enforce contractual obligations will pose a risk for financial stability in the Union: — for their part, consumers, small, medium-sized and large companies and investors will benefit from better protection, and this proposal introduces various tools to ensure that the wind-down of a widely-used interbank rate does not unduly affect the ability of the banking sector to provide financing to EU companies, something that would undermine a key objective of the Capital Markets Union; — in this respect, we feel it is worth analysing the following recitals in the text as well, in relation to the Commission’s proposal: (i) the recitals and explanatory memorandum seem to regard a wide range of contracts that use financial benchmarks, including credit agreements (or similar lending facilities) concluded with legal persons or similar (not only consumers); in this regard, we would point to the section on the ‘Scope of the statutory replacement rate’; (ii) the wording of the Commission proposal that establishes the replacement by operation of law — Article 23a(2) — uses the term ‘financial contracts’, which is defined in the Benchmark Regulation (Article 3(1)(18)) only in relation to credit agreements concluded with natural persons — consumers — given the references to Directive 2014/17/EU and Directive 2008/48/EC; (iii) in order to ensure consistency between the aim expressed in the explanatory memorandum and the text of the proposal, we feel it is worth analysing the reference to and definition of the term ‘financial contracts’, so that this is not limited only to credit agreements concluded with consumers, but rather ensures the effectiveness of the replacement mechanism by operation of law also with regard to credit agreements concluded with other market players; — the EESC considers that the replacement powers should extend to all contracts under the law of an EU Member State, as well as to contracts concluded between entities established in the EU that are governed by a non-EU law, where that third country law does not provide a statutory replacement for a discontinued benchmark; — the measures proposed are to be considered as contributing to ‘an economy that works for people’ (Commission work programme for 2020). This initiative benefits bank loans to retail customers that are indexed to IBOR rates, an important element of an economy that serves people’s needs.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on common rules ensuring basic road freight and road passenger connectivity following the end of the transition period mentioned in the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community’

(COM(2020) 826 final — 2020/0362 (COD))

(2021/C 123/14)

Referrals Council of the European Union, 11.12.2020 European Parliament, 14.12.2020 Legal basis Articles 91(1) and 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society Adopted at plenary 27.1.2021 Plenary session No 557 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) unanimous

Since the Committee unreservedly endorses the content of the proposal and feels that it requires no comment on its part, it decided unanimously, at its 557th plenary session of 27 and 28 January 2021 (meeting of 27 January), to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.
1.9.

The four dimensions serve as a basis for agenda building for future foresight activities. We therefore advise that the four dimensions of resilience be given specific subgoals that can be operationalised and thus subjected to regular assessment in the future. The next topics on the foresight agenda are already proposed, i.e. open strategic autonomy, the future of jobs and skills, and deepening the twinning of the digital and green transitions. These topics originate from three of the four resilience dimensions. It remains unclear, however, how the Commission arrived at these topics and in what order and form they will be addressed. Thus, it is not sufficiently comprehensible why these instead of other topics, e.g. an internal vision towards the EU’s development, the rise of nationalism, the future cooperation between the Member States, or security issues, were selected. Here, greater transparency can also be achieved with the help of strategic foresight.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 as regards fishing authorisations for Union fishing vessels in United Kingdom waters and fishing operations of United Kingdom fishing vessels in Union waters’

(COM(2020) 830 final — 2020/0366 COD)

(2021/C 123/18)

Referral European Parliament, 14.12.2020 Council, 11.12.2020 Legal basis Article 43(2) and Article 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment Adopted at plenary 27.1.2021 Plenary session No 557 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) unanimous in favour

Since the Committee endorses the content of the proposal and feels that it requires no comment on its part, it decided unanimously, at its 557th plenary session of 27 and 28 January 2021 (meeting of 27 January), to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.
3.7.

The EESC is worried about the limited number of organisations called for as private founders for several undertakings. It is extremely important that the availability of and access to the JUs is as wide as possible. The EESC calls for a thorough analysis focusing on widening the proposed founding members for all JUs and on openness and transparency in the selection of the associated members. Furthermore, in order to ensure coherence with national and regional policies, the joint undertakings should seek to attract the membership of as many Member States as possible. The benefit to become member is very limited considering the open calls principle for funding. Hence, the EESC considers that the number of private seats in the governing board should be increased, such as in the case of the Clean Aviation JU.
2.3.

The 2021-2024 European judicial training strategy aims to consolidate a common European judicial culture based on the rule of law, fundamental rights and mutual trust. It proposes a framework and a set of key actions to boost the correct and effective application of EU law. Member States, training providers, national and European justice professionals’ organisations and the EU are called on to address the following priorities, through shared responsibility: — judicial training to promote a common rule of law culture; — upholding fundamental rights and making the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights a reality in people’s everyday lives, with an emphasis on protecting victims and vulnerable individuals; — upscaling the digitalisation of justice; — keeping pace with developments in EU law, including cross-border judicial cooperation; — equipping practitioners to address new challenges, especially in the wake of the pandemic; — training beyond EU law, such as on ‘judgecraft’ and non-legal knowledge and skills; — creating and implementing a more hands-on, practical, tailored training agenda for justice professionals; — increased, broader and more targeted training for different categories of justice professionals; — promoting high-quality, effective training activities, including diverse forms of learning with an emphasis on hybrid and/or e-learning methods and using tried and tested curricula; — boosting judicial training for young practitioners; — enhancing the shared responsibility of national stakeholders, networks of EU law experts, the European Judicial Training Network, other EU-level actors and the Commission; — targeting justice professionals beyond the EU, in particular from the Western Balkans.
2.2.1.

The EESC welcomes the fact that the Plan states that working conditions in the EU are among the best in the world, whilst also acknowledging that new forms of work bring challenges as well as opportunities. The social partners — both at European and national level are welcome to joint efforts to work together for meeting the needs of the future of work, achieve upward convergence and ensure that workers are protected and safe regardless of the sector they work in and the country they live in. The social partners — both at European and national level, are central to the joint efforts in this direction. The Plan rightly notes that preserving and creating new quality jobs is a priority for the EU. The COVID-19 crisis has shown that the functioning of our societies depends on essential workers across a range of sectors such as transport, services, health and agriculture. We need to create the new jobs of the future by building on the essential jobs of today.
4.12.

While the proposal for a regulation does seek to eliminate anomalies experienced by customers accessing the roaming network (ease of connection, reduced access to 3G or 4G, etc.) who are not subscribers in the roaming country, the EESC points out that it does not however regulate practices that it would not deem to be normal, such as: — limiting the volume of megabytes included in a subscription that can be consumed while roaming, and — the practice of setting prices that are too high for the non-roaming customer when they contact someone with a mobile plan in another country.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain provisions for fishing in the GFCM (General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean) Agreement area (recast)

(COM(2021) 434 final — 2021/0248 (COD))

(2021/C 517/21)

Referral European Parliament, 13.9.2021 Council, 3.9.2021 Legal basis Articles 43(2) and article 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment Adopted at plenary 22.9.2021 Plenary session No 563 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 235/1/2

Since the Committee endorses the content of the proposal and feels that it requires no comment on its part, it decided, at its 563rd plenary session of 22 and 23 September 2021 (meeting of 22 September), by 235 votes to 1 with 2 abstentions, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.
Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down conservation and management measures for the Conservation of the Southern Bluefin Tuna

(COM(2021) 424 final — 2021/0242 (COD))

(2022/C 105/26)

Referral European Parliament, 13.9.2021 Council, 30/08/2021 Legal basis Articles 43(2) and article 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union Section responsible Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment Adopted at plenary 20.10.2021 Plenary session No 564 Outcome of vote (for/against/abstentions) 221/0/1

Since the Committee endorses the content of the proposal and feels that it requires no comment on its part, it decided, at its 564th plenary session of 20 and 21 October 2021 (meeting of 20 October), by 221 votes in favour with 1 abstention, to issue an opinion endorsing the proposed text.