Debate: Technical Support Instrument
Date: MONDAY, 18 JANUARY 2021
Speaker: Dragoș Pîslaru
Country: Spain
Language: EN

Member States unfortunately implemented only half of the recommendations that the Commission addressed to them in the European Semester. This means health systems only half prepared, social protection systems only half effective, economies half strong and sustainable. This means a future half bright for our next generation. The year 2021 comes with new challenges and we are to face them and we need to know how, and the technical support instrument will bring this help and knowledge to the Member States.  Together with my colleagues Othmar Karas from the PPE and Alexandra Geese from the Greens, with the other shadow rapporteurs, with the German Presidency and with the precious help from Commissioner Ferreira and her team, we have put forward a very thorough and comprehensive instrument which, through its capacity and size, can be seen as investment in the future with high European value added. The technical support instrument has a more challenging task than its predecessor, the structural reform support programme, and therefore has a larger budget: EUR 864 million worth of technical support is right now available for the Member States, and that’s for those Member States that wish to undergo long-term reforms and encourage public and private investment.  This instrument will prove essential if we aim to truly address the green and digital transitions, to achieve the Union’s 2030 climate and energy targets and climate neutrality by 2050. Member States can also receive assistance when designing digital infrastructure skills and the e—government solutions of building a secure digital communication system.  A stronger Europe, a stronger Union, is one that overcomes social divergence. For that the instrument helps Member States that wish to fight against poverty to promote entrepreneurship, labour market integration, lifelong learning and vocational education and ensure access to health care and child care. These measures are not possible without solid institutions and this is why Member States should use the Commission’s expertise to build capacity to better absorb EU funds, to build capacity of competition, and antitrust authorities then to strengthen financial supervision.  But before aiming to achieve convergence and resilience, we need to address our urgent demands. The most important role of the instrument lies in the recovery of EU Member States after the pandemic. Therefore, as part of the recovery package, this instrument will first and foremost be available to prepare, to amend, and to implement and revise the national plans the Member States will put forward to access recovery money under the recovery and resilience facility. It is highly recommended, and if we wish to have a sustainable and fair economic and social recovery, we need to use this instrument.  The pandemic showed how valuable our civil society is and there is no doubt that it has to be treated as a partner when implementing large scale reforms. Measures to empower civil society, as well as consultations with relevant stakeholders, are crucial and are particularly encouraged by this instrument. We also need to think more about gender equality since women have been hit especially hard by the consequences of this outbreak. The instrument will show expertise on gender budgeting, on collecting gender disaggregated data and providing gender-impact assessments.  This instrument will show a positive example of proper communication and transparency. Transparency promotes good governance and builds trust in the decision-making process. It is extremely important as a tool to prevent corruption and bad governance practices. I wish to assure you that all EU actors play their role in this instrument, including the European Parliament. This House will receive information on Member States’ requests and this information, as well as the outcomes of the support provided to the Member State, will also be published on the Commission website. We will look forward to receiving annual reports from the Commission and we will gladly welcome the Commission in this House to discuss about the implementation of this instrument.  We see governments leaving their citizens in crisis in a moment in which people truly rely on them. To them and to all Member States I wish to say, leave politics aside and please use this instrument. Use it to prepare your national recovery resilience plans in order to access the funds needed for reforms and investments. Use it to implement the measures listed in the plans and to recover. Use it afterwards until 2027 to create a sustainable and fair economic, social and gender-equal future beyond the pandemic. This way we will truly become more resilient for the upcoming challenges.