Activities of Inés AYALA SENDER related to 2014/2249(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on improving the functioning of the European Union building on the potential of the Lisbon Treaty
Amendments (8)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Considers it fundamental to observe budgetary discipline andRecalls the principle of a balanced Union budget and the obligation to use available EU funds efficiently and effectively; notes that the existing Structural FundsEuropean budget should be used more effectively to foster competitiveness and social cohesion, as well as convergence among Union countries, with stringent supervision of theirits proper implementation;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises that, when providing Parliament and the Council with the evaluations of the Union’s performance provided for in Article 318 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Commission should report on the results achieved, with a strong focus on performance on the basis of precise analysis of the economy and of the efficiency and effectiveness of the outcomes achieved using EU funds, as well as an analysis of compliance with the objectives and policies laid down in the treaties;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Is concerned by the difficulties encountered annually in the discharge procedures for the Council to date; stresses that Parliament’s Treaty-based oversight of all institutions managing the EU budget is not taken seriously by the Council,, after several years of refusing to grant discharge to the Council, that institution has still not taken the necessary action to meet the requirements of transparency and accountability to Parliament – the only directly and democratically elected European institution and the only one with a mandate to grant discharge for the entire European budget – and that it is therefore impossible for Parliament to take an informed decision on granting discharge;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. CPoints out in this connection that Parliament is the only institution to be directly elected by citizens, and considers that effective supervision of the Union’s budget implementation requires cooperation between Parliament, the European Council and the Council in order to enhance the transparency of financial management and improve democratic accountability towards EU taxpayers;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Considers the sustained lack of cooperation by the Council to have a persistent negative effect on citizens’ perceptions on the credibility of the EU institutions and to have an adverse impact on the operation of the institutions, discrediting the procedure for political scrutiny of budget management laid down in the treaties;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Acknowledges the crucial role of the Court of Auditors, the only European public auditing authority, in ensuring better and smarter spending of European funds; recalls that the Court is in a pre- eminent position to provide the legislator and the budgetary authority with valuable opinParliament with the information necessary for it to carry out its task and mandate of democratic scrutiny of the European budget and to offer informations on the results achieved by the Union’s policies, with a view to improving the performance and effectiveness of Union-financed activities;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Regrets the fact that women currently make up less than 20% of members of the Court of Auditors; calls on Member States to coordinate appointments to the Court to ensure that there are equal numbers of men and women among its members;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)