99. Notes that grid investments are cyclical and should be viewed in a historical perspective; points out that much of the infrastructure built in recent decades to interconnect centralised power plants is ageing; points out that society will expect the cost of keeping existing infrastructure operational and deploying new infrastructure to be optimised through public-private partnerships and the development of innovative financing instruments; emphasises the need accurately to ascertain infrastructure requirements and avoid lock-in to surplus capacity ...[+++]by taking full account of cost-effective energy efficiency potential;

97. Notes that grid investments are cyclical and should be viewed in a historical perspective; points out that much of the infrastructure built in recent decades to interconnect centralised power plants is ageing; points out that society will expect the cost of keeping existing infrastructure operational and deploying new infrastructure to be optimised through public-private partnerships and the development of innovative financing instruments; emphasises the need accurately to ascertain infrastructure requirements and avoid lock-in to surplus capacity ...[+++]by taking full account of cost-effective energy efficiency potential;

21. Calls for a strengthened European approach to financing innovation and to prevent the current fragmentation and short-termism; considers that the provision of adequate financial resources is vital to the development of innovation and that the EU budget for innovation should therefore be substantially increased; calls for this to be reflected in the upcoming revision of the current financial framework and in the planning process in connection with the 2014-2020 Financial Perspective; points out in that regard that the rules for eligibility for RD funding regarding preindustrial and/or exper ...[+++]imental RD should be reviewed at the same time; calls on the Member States to increase their RD funding in order to achieve the goal set in Barcelona in 2002 of spending 3% of GDP on RD by 2010; emphasises the importance of research and innovation funding in times of economic crisis, as this will enhance job creation in the long run; stresses the need to earmark an increased proportion of R D programmes for innovation;

21. Calls for a strengthened European approach to financing innovation and to prevent the current fragmentation and short-termism; considers that the provision of adequate financial resources is vital to the development of innovation and that the EU budget for innovation should therefore be substantially increased; calls for this to be reflected in the upcoming revision of the current financial framework and in the planning process in connection with the 2014-2020 Financial Perspective; points out in that regard that the rules for eligibility for RD funding regarding preindustrial and/or exper ...[+++]imental RD should be reviewed at the same time; calls on the Member States to increase their RD funding in order to achieve the goal set in Barcelona in 2002 of spending 3% of GDP on RD by 2010; emphasises the importance of research and innovation funding in times of economic crisis, as this will enhance job creation in the long run; stresses the need to earmark an increased proportion of R D programmes for innovation;

7. Wonders how the Commission intends to accommodate a series of proposals with a significant budgetary impact under the ceilings of the financial perspective; points in this respect inter alia to a new instrument for cross-border cooperation, increased pre‑accession aid for Turkey, immediate support for Northern Cyprus (should a political settlement be reached) and a re-assessment of relations with the new neighbours of an enlarged EU;

The following should be mentioned, among others, the Declaration on the agricultural guideline (which confirms the principles and mechanisms) and the Declaration on the Balkan situation (which points to a possible revision of the financial perspective in order to cover additional expenditure).