 Ladies and gentlemen, let's move to point 21. It's urgent draft Resolution on a renewed cohesion policy post 2027 that leaves no one behind This is a first response of the COR on the report of the high-level group on the future of cohesion policy and on the ninth Covision report So I would like first to Give the floor To our member Emil Bok for four minutes Dear president dear colleagues ladies and gentlemen The European people's party strongly Supported the draft resolution. Why? EPP strongly support the cohesion policy not only because Cohesion policy it's about jobs prosperity and solidarity But also cohesion policy is the long-term investment of our European Union The EPP strongly support cohesion policy Because a strong and integrated single market Cannot be done without a strong Cohesion policy for the future Cohesion policy and the single market are two faces of the same coin. We cannot one without it without the other So in order to have an integrated and a strong cohesion policy You need a strong single market and the other way around. It's exactly the case We cannot afford to leave half of the potential of the European Union to be untapped in our union Excuse me. May I ask you to remain silent, please? Or if you want to talk, please? Go outside you have the opportunity to talk. I think it's a Question of respect for the ones who are intervening Thank you. Mr. Bok, please. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate your intervention because it's a this topic It's so important for all of us and we are now at crossroads Our cohesion policy is in danger. We have to be Clear and our message must must be heard everywhere in Europe in Brussels because the future of the European Union in a way or in another depends on the future of cohesion policy Because in the end the cohesion policies the glue which is keeping us together and for that perspective Your result our resolution. It's so important to be heard Our EPP message is very clear concerning the future of cohesion policy Cohesion policy is working Cohesion policy has been working and must be maintained as a strong Cohesion policy for all regions of the European Union in the future We cannot allow any attempt To centralize cohesion policy and take over the recovery and resilience facility governance model for cohesion policy That would be the end of Cohesion policy as it is Yes, cohesion policies in the in the treaty cannot disappear But what kind of cohesion policy are we going to have for the future and what kind of Europe are you going to have it after? 2027 it's important to say that we need a strong cohesion policy for all regions and Five golden rules must be maintained first cohesion policy for regions of the European Union share management place-based approach Partishing principles and multi-level governance and I would emphasize also how important its place-based approach and not be replaced With one size fits all principle that will destroy the competitive advantage of our of our Europe because as is well known Cohesion policy is the best convergent machine in the world as the World Bank said Also in a recall letter the former prime minister of Italy said Freedom of movement. It's important in the European Union But in the same time freedom to stay it's the same Importance in the European Union and in order to have the freedom to stay Nobody should be forced to leave his own region cities or or country due to the economical reasons or different barriers Here is the cohesion policy and here is the signal market together We can assure a more united Europe or all of us in the end. I just want to remember us The words of Helen Keller. She said once alone we can do So little together we can do so much and this is the case for cohesion policy This is the essence of our policy as this is the echo of our European project of being united and together with signal market and strong Cohesion policy. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Bocke now Member Isabel Bodino you have the floor for four minutes Merci monsieur le président je ne retire pas une virgule ou un mot de ce que vient de dire le président de la côteur monsieur Bocque effectivement avec le rapport du groupe de haut niveau sur le futur de la politique de cohésion avec le sommet de monstres avec le neufième rapport sur la cohésion et Aujourd'hui avec le rapport l'état nous enchaînons les temps forts et les contributions qui toutes vont dans le même sens et amène à la même conclusion la politique de cohésion ça marche en réalité cela va bien au-delà cette politique est centrale pour le projet européen et elle est vitale pour combattre les déséquilibres générés par le marché intérieur c'est exactement ce qu'enrico l'état vient de dire je pense devant les chefs d'état ce matin si on s'en réfère aux excellents paragraphe qui l'a consacré à la politique de cohésion dans son rapport alors elle est bien sûr un outil de convergence entre nos pays absolument remarquable et nos amis polonais roumain et tant d'autres nous en apporte la démonstration régulièrement en côtaire ou ici en plein air elle est un outil d'investissement public massif et très efficace qui maintient un tissu industrie et elle qui crée de l'emploi qui maintient aussi des services publics nécessaires à la population que ce soit dans le rural ou dans l'urban des infrastructures de santé de mobilité d'insertion l'accès au numérique et j'en passe elle est un outil indispensable qui permet de prendre en compte les vulnérabilités territoriales elle s'adapte aux disparités géographiques les îles les zones transfrontalières les zones de montagne à l'inverse elle permet de s'appuyer sur les atouts particuliers d'une région et cela avec une véritable méthode c'est celle du partenariat celle de la mobilisation des acteurs locaux autour d'un projet de développement local et ce ne sont pas des mots c'est une stratégie construite planifiée c'est l'inverse du saupoudrage c'est une façon d'embarquer tout le monde dans une vision de long terme dans la construction d'un avenir partagé bref c'est un véritable outil de compétitivité mais intelligent et adapté il ne s'agit pas d'arroser toutes les entreprises avec des effets d'aubaine pour les grands groupes même chose pour les mesures climatiques il est inutile et ridicule de passer par des outils trop nationalisés quand c'est le context géographique qui dicte la politique en montagne on fera de l'hydroélectricité près du littoral on fera de l'éolien là où il y a du soleil on fera du solaire hier on a parlé de géothermie dans les lieux où ça s'y prête donc par pitié pas de retour en arrière vers une politique de cohésion en quelque sorte recentralisé nationalisé car je termine par ce qui nous angoisse tous le bruit de fonds sur le souhait de certains d'utiliser plutôt le modèle de la facilité pour la relance et la résilience alors là non vraiment c'est pas acceptable c'est la négation des fondamentaux de la politique de cohésion que nous venons de voir c'est d'ailleurs un outil étrillé par la cour des comptes européennes la frr a eu son utilité en temps de crise par sa réactivité mais c'est un outil aveugle aux réalités locales et comparons un peu les contraintes la frr ça a été encadré par un règlement de 50 pages écrit rapidement les fonds structurels la politique de cohésion ce sont 5 règlements de 700 pages alors oui débarrassons nous de débarrassons la politique de cohésion de son cadre administratif il faut baisse de sa surréglementation de ses contrôles démultipliées et souvent absurdes avançons avec des objectifs et mesurons la réalisation finale mesurons si la réalisation finale correspond bien à ces objectifs et arrêtons avec la courte de contrôle et de demandes de pièces en tout genre juste pour voir si l'intégralité de la dépense financière au centime près a été conforme à la programmation ce qui souvent 3 ans après n'a plus de sens on verra alors à quel point la politique de cohésion sera encore plus performante agile et efficace et elle sera le visage d'une Europe protectrice solidaire et porteuse d'avenir sur nos territoires merci monsieur le Président thank you now the floor goes to member Yanis bikes for three minutes parallel steeper note associo's negative yet a commeto sector's padro to specie gauks cohesis politicaire boutiscus aglabaat pet csp's lilaq elasteeb aeropsa viennib sietvera la dali balsat sveret nyem tvera tertioilas svaidzibs uns pätu rea djejtus jauniem izauksims izaitsinaimiem uniespeja viennlaik šisitka negativas parmaňs niedzari jaunsiespejs pat precizak jauns investitsiespejs piesaistot aeropa jauns uzňamums un darboviac radot labklajeiv un mazinot mouss aarei ojovajnoj mib steeper valsts, steeper sredion, steeper vietaj a pašvaldib ir boutiscus paks kas var nesatricinam sniekt prievšocibs prt negativ yetekmi un velmi izjaukt labi darbojošos mechanismu steeper note cohesii un turpinot veksmij giesaak tas liets varam sniekt tiks specie gsignal kamoral novajná tam preteniekam atňam ta sákot nejo brau ribu ta pecais vieniš svarígla eropsa viennib spet atiistić specíg noturígu un uznákotn véšt rupnecíps struktór, kas ľautaj aš sar gát suverentát un paljelnát automnomij situacijás, kad statotská nestabiltát yetekmét irgus pozícís ta šulej sasniekt redjonálás nevjenlidzíps nosprávstvo smerč se rupnecíps atiistips sektor i jāsa prot kat redjon spēja un vajadzīves stiprinát atiistić un vējdot jaun susňávums arī tēr tā vajadzīvi būt elastīgiem piei par kuru eskā pašaldīves vadītāj sticu mēs varam kopīk viennoties, jaujot mums izrauties izaukt un kljūt kopīk specīgākiem Vilspaldies Thank you so much Member Pavel Branda, you have the floor for two and a half minutes Thank you very much I can under-sign everything that has been said by my Kotar colleagues so far but let me also take this opportunity to thank the Kotar chair, Mr Bok and you Mr President for being strong defenders and voice of regents at this crucial time I think we are doing great job and also that all political groups are united in this crucial topic I think it's very, very, very good I was pleased to see that both the report of high-level group of specialists and the nice cohesion report included some of the key recommendations of the ECR group including the cohesion policy that should be more simplified, place-based and the better EUs of the principle of partnership and shared management However, we cannot ignore the seriousness of the demographic change impacting the EU The EU must admit that the demographic transition is a third major transition equally important to the green and digital transition According to your study, the EU population will decline by almost 30 million people by the end of the century while the old age-dependence ratio will continue to worsen putting significant pressure on our pension systems and public services and demographic decline will affect regions more than big cities more and more are worried about dangerous consequences of slow emptying the regions There is no European Union or European regions without European citizens We urgently need a renewed strategy to ensure that regions are filled with life for the times to come, leveraging cohesion policy, recognising the results of best practices on regional and member states level Furthermore, the transition of European industries must be done in a way that ensures competitive conditions for our companies and prosperity for our citizens Many regions are depending on energy-intensive industries like the automotive sector and need guarantees for a just transition that does not compromise jobs or economic and territorial development Lastly, I want to point out that both reports also put heavy emphasis on Europe's competitiveness and cohesion policy must foster a strong economy while citizens can flourish, SMEs can grow and companies can invest The strategic technologies for Europe's platform was a step in the right direction but more must be done to ensure durable growth and competitiveness Thank you Thank you Now the floor goes to Marie-Antoinette Mupertui for two minutes Thank you, Mr President Dear colleagues, first of all, I would like to congratulate everyone for the very good resolution based on the very solid life of our President Cordero and Boc The world, as you know, is changing very quickly The things are accelerating, the challenges we face are many and if cohesion policy has shown its effectiveness and adapted to the new and emerging crisis it cannot do everything by itself Other policies must contribute to a greater cohesion as it is planned by the treaty implement the ecological transition in the territories by being socially inclusive especially reduce the very large number of fractures between our territories and cohesion policy, of course, is addressed in the region, in the city, in the village but it must be said very clearly Cohesion policy is not quite visible despite all our efforts in the rural and peripheral areas which are also the most difficult territories and the cohesion report highlights precisely the need for a more targeted approach to respond to their needs The discontentment is also believed because of the administrative charge and the regulation So let's simplify a single set of rules The life of our fellow citizens and our companies is already quite complicated but be careful, simplification is not the centralization Yes, cohesion policy must evolve but in the respect of the subsidiarity principles of proportionality and partnership, of course and above all of multi-level governance it has been said by President Bocque These principles are not negotiable and we must make it known by all means that regional and local elected officials are at their disposal because dear colleagues if the cohesion policy which has allowed so many beautiful things in the territory, in complementarity of the unique market, of mobility of circulation it has also allowed to bring our people closer and it must therefore remain for the coming years at the heart of the Union project Thank you very much Member Unapower you have the floor for two minutes Thank you Mr President and thank you everybody for their work on this including yourself and Mr Bocque We know that when it comes to reducing social, territorial and economic disparities that cohesion policy is an important investment tool but it is also an incredible tool to combat climate change and any discussion on cohesion funding must prioritize climate realities As highlighted in point six cohesion funding is a key aspect of developing localised green transition solutions For the post-27 cohesion policy we must aim for half of the budget to contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation across our regions helping to halt biodiversity loss improve water management and affect circular economy implementation through a holistic approach New climate adaptation earmarking within the cohesion policy would be particularly important allowing regions to take action to tackle challenges related to climate change and to build up their resilience and preparedness regarding environmental issues such as fires, floods, droughts and other natural disasters which will become more frequent in the future Furthermore, no cohesion funding should be used in a way that is counter to our climate and environmental goals To do so would be to destabilise economies in the future through climate disaster and environmental degradation Finally, and I'll say this again GDP alone is not an appropriate metric by which to measure the state of health in European regions A European policy centre study for Reggie committee highlighted that there is a widening economic, social and territorial divide within our union It is clear that better performing economies and positive growth rates do not necessarily translate into better services or better quality of life for our citizens So we must push for a more rounded approach that is inclusive of broader indicators to provide a comprehensive understanding of regional wellbeing and guide more effective policy interventions Thank you Thank you so much Now we're going to proceed to vote Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues Amendment number one is on vote who votes against amendment number one Abstention Adopted Amendment number two is on vote who votes against amendment number two Abstention Adopted Amendment number three is on vote who votes against amendment number three Thank you Abstention Adopted Amendment number four is on vote who votes against amendment number four Thank you, abstention adopted. Amendment number five is on vote who votes against amendment number five. Abstention adopted. Amendment number six is on vote who votes against amendment number six. Abstention adopted. Amendment number seven is on vote who votes against amendment number seven. Abstention adopted. Amendment 8 is on vote who votes against amendment 8. Abstention. Adopted. Amendment 9. Is it possible to have a block vote of amendments 9? 10? No. Okay. Amendment 9 is on vote who votes against amendment 9. Abstention. Adopted. Amendment 10 is on vote who votes against amendment 10. Thank you. Abstention. Who votes for amendment number 10? Electronic vote. The vote is closed. Amendment number 10 is adopted. Amendment 11 is on vote. Who votes against amendment 11? Abstention adopted. Amendment, because of the impact of the amendments, we will vote first amendment 13, then amendment 14, and after amendment 12. Because of the impact of the amendments, we're going to vote first amendment 13, amendment 14, and then amendment 12. Amendment 13 is on vote. Who votes against amendment 13? Thank you. Abstention. Amendment was rejected. Amendment 14 is on vote. Who votes against amendment 14? Abstention adopted. Amendment 12 is on vote. Who votes against amendment 12? Thank you. Abstention. Who votes for amendment 12? Electronic vote. The vote is closed. Amendment 12 is rejected. Amendment 15 falls because amendment 13 was adopted. So we have to vote amendment 15. Amendment 15 is on vote. Who votes against amendment 15? Abstention adopted. Amendment 16 is on vote. Who votes against amendment 16? Thank you. Abstention. Amendment 16 is rejected. Amendment 17 is on vote. Who votes against? Thank you. Abstention rejected. Amendment 18 is on vote. Who votes against? Abstention adopted. Amendment 19 is on vote. Who votes against? Thank you. Abstention. adopted. Amendment 20 is on vote to vote against amendment 20. Thank you. Abstention. It is rejected. Amendment 21 is on vote to vote against. Abstention adopted. Amendment 22 is on vote to vote against. Abstention adopted. Amendment 23 is on vote to vote against. Thank you. Abstention. Rejected. Amendment 24 is on vote if adopted. Amendment 25 and 26 will fall. Who votes against amendment 24? Thank you. Abstention. Rejected. Amendment 25 is on vote to vote against amendment 25. Thank you. Abstention adopted. Amendment 26 is on vote to vote against. Amendment 26. Abstention adopted. There is a compromise amendment. It's amendment 27. A compromise. We're going to vote the compromise who votes against. Thank you. Abstention. It's adopted. Amendment 28 is on vote who votes against. Amendment 28. Thank you. Abstention. Rejected. Amendment 30 will be voted before amendment 29. I repeat. Amendment 30 will be voted before amendment 29. Who votes against. Amendment 30. Thank you. Abstention. Amendment 30 is adopted. Amendment 29 is on vote to vote against. Amendment 29. Thank you. Abstention. Who votes for. Amendment 29. Electronic vote. The 30 was adopted. The vote is closed. Amendment 29 was adopted. Because amendment 30 was adopted. Amendment 31 falls. Amendment 32 was withdrawn. Amendment 33 is on vote. Who votes against. Thank you. Abstention. Who votes for. Amendment 33 is rejected. Amendment 34 is on vote. Who votes. Is there any question. Can you make an electronic vote please. 33. Amendment 33. Electronic vote. Amendment. The vote is closed. Amendment 33 is adopted. Amendment 34 is on vote to vote against. Amendment 34. Abstention adopted. Amendment 35 is on vote to vote against. Amendment 35. Abstention adopted. Final vote on the urgent resolution. Who votes against the urgent resolution. Abstention. The resolution was adopted by unanimous vote. We're going to move to point 22. It's the presentation and adoption of one opinion about the enlargement package 2023. Western Balkans and Turkey is an own initiative opinion. Our colleague Nikola Dobroslavic is the rapporteur. I would like to invite him to take his seat. The floor is yours. Mr. Dobroslavic for five minutes to present the opinion. Thank you president. Dear colleagues. Enlargement is a matter of great significance both for the EU and for the enlargement countries. It is not good for the EU to have a gap in the middle of its territory with disordered political and social systems. It's not good for the EU to have an unstable situation and war on its borders. This opinion covers the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey. In the opinion we emphasized the enlargement that enlargement is good both for the enlargement countries and for the EU. However, accession to the EU is possible only if the candidate countries meet all the criteria for membership in a merit-based process. All the candidate countries must align with the policies of the EU. Enlargement countries are and should continue to be encouraged and supported by incentives to implement reforms. But they must demonstrate their commitment and political will and ultimately meet all the criteria. We emphasized in the opinion that the countries of the Western Balkans have undivided support for the accession to the EU under mentioned conditions. Turkey must first of all show that it accepts EU values and of course fulfill the criteria like all the others. Turkey has also to make more progress towards normalizing the relations with the Republic of Cyprus. Democracy in the Western Balkans remains a critical challenge on which the entire future of the region and its European path will depend. Stagnation and deterioration of democracy in some Western Balkans countries is evident. For example, Bosnia and Herzegovina has not yet implemented the rulings of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights and ensured the equality of all citizens in the electoral process and not ensured the legitimate representation of the constituent nations in government bodies. Bosnia Herzegovina entity, Republika Srpska, must stop threatening secession from Bosnia Herzegovina and stop disrespecting the office of the high representative. Serbia must align with EU policies, particularly regarding sanctions against the Russian Federation and must normalize relations with Kosovo. The opinion welcomes the Council's decision to open accession negotiations with Bosnia Herzegovina and approval of the EU growth plan for the Western Balkans. Six billion euros will release the country's potential in economic and social terms. We emphasized in the opinion the importance of including local and regional authorities in all processes in the candidate countries and recommended cooperation with committees and working groups of the Committee of the Regents and the use of the TAIACS instrument for better preparation of local and regional units for future work in the EU. Thank you. Thank you so much. Now the floor goes to member Anna Magyar for one minute. Thank you, dear colleagues. As a strong supporter of the EU's enlargement, I am very happy to see it back in the top of priority issues ahead of the European Parliament elections. Today it is very clear that enlargement must happen. It is also in our own vital interest within the European Union to make enlargement happen as soon as we can. Our Western Balkan partners are moving ahead with reforms. Great to see that Montenegro is ready to start closing the accession chapters. So I do hope that in June we will see an intergovernmental conference that will bring us to this last phase of the accession negotiations with Montenegro. The growth plan for the Western Balkans should be a booster for the region to increase its economic growth and to speed up the reform agenda in these countries. This means the gradual integration. This means bringing the benefits of EU membership to the region even before accession. Thank you. This is the kind of tangible incentives I called for in my opinions on enlargement before. Thank you. I am glad to see this approach is adopted by the European Commission. Thank you. Thank you so much. Now the floor goes to member Klaas for one minute. Member Urmas Klaas. Member Karajanis. You have the floor for one minute. And now as a member of the European Union, I would like to acknowledge how you think that you are doing the right job regarding the implementation of the reform problem. Regarding the city of Varosion of Samochostu, which is also related to public opinion, I must remind you that because I am a member of a city that is exactly next to the city of Samochostu, it is still possible for the development of economic growth in the city of Samochostu and in the area of the city of Samochostu. And this economic growth is happening in the areas of Greek Cypriots and European citizens. Thank you very much. Thank you. I don't have any other requests for the floor at this moment. Mr. Dobroslavvich, you have the floor for three minutes for final remarks if you wish so. No, I will be short. I will repeat that the enlargement process is good for all according to known criteria. All candidates need to ensure ownership of the accession process. The EU needs to remain credible about the timeline and concrete steps for accession. And there needs to be predictability of the enlargement process. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to the quality of this opinion. My expert, Mr. Professor Vidachak, my colleagues in the region, CEOA administration, all participants in the debates. I thank members for their amendments. There are 22 of them. We could accept most of them. Some of them were considered redundant, although not unfounded. We had to keep proportionate contribution on each enlargement country. I would like to congratulate also our colleague Antje Grotter on her opinion on Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. And finally, I will take the opportunity to invite members to the ninth enlargement day on 29 and 30th of April, 2024 in Brussels, organized in cooperation with the Belgium presidency of the Council of the EU. Thank you, President. Thank you. I have, we have now to vote. So start the voting. Amendment one is on vote, who votes against. Abstention adopted. Amendment two, who votes against. Thank you. Abstention rejected. Amendment three are, if adopted, amendment three falls, who votes against. Thank you. Abstention adopted. There is a proposal for a joint vote of amendments four and six. I'm being told that the idea is to avoid inconsistencies in the text, in the final text, and it is why we vote both amendments together. That's it. Amendments four and six are on vote, who votes against. Thank you. Abstention. Who votes for. Electronic vote. The vote is closed. Amendments four and six are adopted. Amendment five is on vote, who votes against. Thank you. Abstention. Who votes for. Amendment five. Electronic vote. The vote is closed. Amendment five was adopted. Amendment, there is a proposal for a joint vote of amendments seven and eight. Who votes against. Amendment seven and eight. Abstention adopted. Amendment nine is on vote, who votes against. Abstention adopted. Amendment 10 is on vote, who votes against. Amendment 10. Abstention adopted. Amendment 11 is on vote, who votes against. Abstention adopted. Amendment 12 are is on vote. If adopted, amendments 12 and 22 will fall. Who votes against. Amendment 12 are. Abstention adopted. Amendment 13 is on vote, who votes against. Thank you. Abstention. Amendment 22. Amendment 13 was rejected. Electronic vote. Amendment 13. It's very clear. The vote is closed. Amendment 13 was rejected. Amendment 14 is on vote, who votes against. Abstention. Amendment 14 was rejected. Amendment 15 is on vote, who votes against. Thank you. Abstention. It was rejected. Amendment 16 is on vote, who votes against. Abstention is adopted. Amendment 17 is on vote, who votes against. Thank you. Abstention. Rejected. There is a proposal for a joint vote of amendments 18 and 19. No opposition. Amendments 18 and 19 are on vote, who votes against. Thank you. Abstention. Both amendments are rejected. Amendment 20 is on vote, who votes against. Abstention. Adopted. Amendment 21 is on vote, who votes against. Thank you. Abstention. Amendment 21 was adopted. Amendment 22 fell because 12 are was adopted. That would be the last one. So final vote? Final vote on the opinion. Who votes against the opinion? Abstention. The opinion was adopted by unanimous vote. Congrats. I'm sorry. We will repeat the vote of the opinion. Who votes against the opinion? Abstention. Thank you. Abstention. The opinion was adopted by a majority. I apologize. Let's move congratulations to the rapporteur and to everyone involved.