11 Amendments of Lucas HARTONG related to 2011/2073(INI)
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Points out that the terms and the implementation of control and follow-up of EU funds under joint management have demonstrated serious weaknesses; urges the Commission to agree, notably with the UN agencies, on the measures to rely onmake the audit work carried out by UN bodies reliable and effective and to reinforce and greatly enhance the assurance gained from the existing checks, including verifications;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Insists that audit results be made available in a timely fashion to the discharge authority; this will not preclude the ECA’s or OLAF’s powers and competences; urges that, if these audit results are not supplied, or are not supplied in full, an inquiry should immediately be instituted by the Court of Auditors and/or OLAF;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission to ensure that UN reports contain sufficient information concerning the results, i.e. the output and outcome, of projects within the reporting time scale; stresses that measurable output and impact indicators must be an integral part of the reporting criteria; deplores the fact that over 70 % of ECHO’s replies to the ECA’s questionnaires for its Special Report 15/2009 reveal that UN reports were late; expresses its disapproval of this misconduct by the UN;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Deplores the difficulties the ECA has encountered in accessing information about the actions carried out by UN partners; recalls that according to the FAFA verification clause, the EU and therefore the ECA may undertake on-the-spot financial checks and that the UN is to provide all relevant financial information; stresses that the UN must provide the ECA with the necessary access to information and thus fulfil the verification clause of FAFA; stresses that, unless the UN improves its conduct in the near future, the EU may consider options for reducing or even entirely halting aid via the UN;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Welcomes the current efforts of the Working Group on ‘Accountability for and Audit of Disaster-Related Aid’ established in the framework of the International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI) and led by a Member of the European Court of Auditors; recalls that the two main objectives are: (i) establishing guidance and good practice with a view of to ultimately arriving at a single integrated reporting model and (ii) establishing guidance and good practice in the area of audit of disaster-related aid; notes at the same time that it is actually regrettable that such a working group had to be set up, as this indicates that the existing situation is far from ideal;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Points out that, since the revelation of abuses of UN funds for humanitarian and development activities by the Government of North Korea in late 2006, there has been broad criticism regarding the lacking transparency, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness of the management of funds by the UN; regrets that the UN reform in matters of transparency and accountability has not yet made any significant progress; stresses that EU Member Statesthe Commission and the European Parliament need to demonstrate more political will, determination and coherence to advance the reform and ensure higher accountability; calls on the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy to prioritise this issue and play a facilitating role; draws attention to the possibility of cutting off all or part of the financial assistance to the UN;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Recalls the ECA opinion expressed in its Special Report 15/2009 according to which the strategic and legal requirements to select partner in an objective and transparent way are insufficiently translated into practical criteria to support decision making in the case of UN partners; insists that the choice of a UN partner to implement humanitarian action must demonstrate that this approach is more efficient and effective than other ways of delivering aid; calls on the Commission to systematically carry out and document formal appraisals of, and comparisons with, alternative aid delivery mechanisms; advises the Commission no longer to automatically regard the UN as an ‘aid partner’ but also to make a point of seeking other possible partners;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Notes that the Commission provides OCHA with significant support; deplores the fact that the experience in Haiti and Pakistan highlighted the currently insufficient coordinating ability of OCHA; stresses that OCHA’s ability to fulfil its coordinating function was undermined by low capacity, inadequate needs assessment and partially functional electronic tools, necessary for processing the information; advises, therefore, no longer working with/via OCHA;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Notes that the Commission has provided the UN with significant support in its effort to develop and implement the cluster system; stresses that both disasters revealed that there is still much work to be done to improve its effectiveness, efficiency and coordination and to reinforce ownership and accountability; advises therefore against working primarily with the UN in future;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 47
Paragraph 47
47. Points ouDeplores the fact that the Commission did not provide Parliament’s rapporteur with the final narrative and financial reports of the ECHO partners on the implementation of humanitarian actions in the aftermath of the catastrophes in Haiti and Pakistan in 2010, with the justification that they included sensitive information on ECHO partners; stresses that Parliament must have access to such reports, or at least to the main facts about the efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation of actions, in order to be able to judge as to their sound financial management; regards this conduct on the part of the Commission as a manifest violation of its own rules on transparency;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 a (new)
Paragraph 48 a (new)
48a. Takes the view, at all events, that, in the light of the subsidiarity principle, aid – whether or not in the form of development aid – is a matter not for the Commission or the European Parliament but for the Member States;