finds it crucial to focus more efforts on improving the resilience and reliability of transport systems; highlights the need for a proper analysis conducted on the consequences of crisis for all transport modes and possible new handicaps in the connectivity of different areas within the EU.
suggests that a systematic stocktaking exercise be carried out, evaluating how EU funds and instruments are perceived and used by the Arctic stakeholders in practice;
calls for Arctic decision-makers at all levels to more rigorously apply legal obligations and draw inspiration from best-practice standards and mechanisms for including, consulting and empowering all section of local civil society;
supports and encourages full consultation of and cooperation with indigenous peoples in the Arctic, bearing in mind the principle of free, prior and informed consent, before adopting and implementing measures that might affect them directly.
recommends including youth representatives in every youth-focused legal activity and involving young people in all stages of the policy-making process, from decision-making to the implementation and evaluation of policies;
estimates that civil society and social partner organisations should further support young people by providing capacity-building workshops, making it easier for them to connect with resources and opportunities for involvement;
calls on the European Commission to support a third phase of the South Mediterranean Social Dialogue (SOLiD) project, which should be used to develop a Youth Charter, while also exploring the establishment of youth-focused consultative mechanisms.
emphasizes that Mediterranean countries are often characterised by a lack of adequate frameworks for effective social dialogue and therefore stresses the need to strengthen social dialogue in particular at national, sectoral and company levels through the full implementation of the key ILO Conventions on social dialogue.
stresses that State aid can reliably support EU companies in their transition efforts, leveraging the massive investments needed to achieve this collective goal. It is essential to ensure that public support is used as efficiently as possible, promoting cross-border projects and reinforcing European value chains.
emphasises that merger assessment should evolve further, taking infrastructure investments, innovation and sustainability better into account. All stakeholders’ views should be taken into consideration in merger analysis.
recommends that the review of the rules on Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEIs) must ensure a truly European approach and the European Competitiveness Fund must be designed and deployed with a European perspective too.
stresses the importance of reconciling the need for strong public support for social economy entities – which often perform functions and roles formerly performed by the State – with the EU rules on State aid, and welcomes the proposal made in the Letta report on the single market regarding the need to adapt the current legal framework on State aid in order to facilitate better access to credit and funding for social economy entities;
believes that the rules for granting aid for the recruitment of disadvantaged workers or workers with disabilities set out in Section 6 of the General Block Exemption Regulation should be strengthened and simplified. As suggested in the Letta Report, and in the communication on criteria for the analysis of the compatibility of State aid for the employment of disadvantaged and disabled workers subject to individual notification, these rules should be updated to reflect the current economic situation;
notes that the legal framework for aid for services of general economic interest (SGEIs) is not being properly harnessed by public authorities, which often fail to give sufficient attention to the high degree of discretion that is conferred on them by the Treaties with regard to the power to classify certain activities as SGEIs.
welcomes the African Union’s (AU) commitment to democratic values and to promoting democracy as highlighted in the aspirations set out in the AU 2063 Agenda;
believes that the Global Gateway strategy is of great importance for EU-Africa relations, and reaffirms that it will strengthen economic and political ties, ensuring respect for democratic and social principles;
commits to pursue and improve its activities to promote and support African civil society organisations and social partners by facilitating their establishment, organisation and action and by helping boost their institutional capacity, as a contribution to achieving the EU’s goal of making democracy resilient in Africa.
endorses the proposed decision and points out that the ECT protects, inter alia, investments in fossil energy sources, which run counter to the climate objectives, such as those set out in the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement;
stresses furthermore that the ECT allows foreign investors to challenge any domestic legislation that might harm their profit expectations, as the arbitration system allows investors to challenge national environmental and climate laws;
encourages the Commission, the Member States and the European Parliament to conclude other inter se agreements with third countries which have withdrawn from the ECT, such as the UK, to eliminate the risk of arbitration proceedings due to the ECT's 20-year survival clause;
calls for a new multilateral framework for energy cooperation to be developed that prioritises sustainable and renewable energy sources, ensuring that any future agreement is fully aligned with the objectives of the EU Green Deal.
calls for a new EU maritime strategy that aims to create a European maritime space for more competitive and economically, environmentally and socially sustainable EU shipping with clear and transparent rules, including the employment dimension;
is convinced that the electricity market should be reformed in such a way that it meets the objective of climate neutrality by 2050, combined with the objectives of security of supply and stable and affordable prices, as well as ensuring the right to energy for the protection of vulnerable groups.
stresses that young people, women, and indigenous and local communities (including migrants and people with disabilities) are the most vulnerable to water stress and have a large untapped potential for contributing to sustainable water management, for turning water into an instrument of peace and stability, and, thus, for contributing to blue diplomacy;
calls on the EU to pay due attention to these groups in its external relations and international cooperation and suggests a lighthouse partnership programme related to water stress for addressing how to empower them in an integrated manner;
notes that access to clean water, education, employment and participation in policymaking are key elements of empowerment;
reaffirms that blue and digital technologies are instrumental for improving water management and access to clean water and sanitation.
