Activities of Monika HOHLMEIER related to 2021/2106(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2020, Section III – Commission and executive agencies
Amendments (66)
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes that based on Article 22 of the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation the Member States are responsible to ensure the protection of the financial interests of the Union; notes that the Commission plays an important role in ensuring that national audit systems provide for credible, reliable and relevant information; stresses that the Member States and the Commission's administrative capacities need to be scaled up to ensure sound financial management; notes that the Commission is responsible to provide technical assistance and advisory services to improve the respective administrative capacities in the Member States; calls on the Commission to provide the discharge authority with an overview of the specific measures that have been taken to ensure an appropriate staffing in the Commission and the Member States;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is concerned that the amount of outstanding commitments (RAL) at the end of 2020 reached a new record high of EUR 303,2 billion; acknowledges that a certain level of outstanding commitments is a natural consequence of the Union budget system with commitment appropriations and payment appropriations but underlines that an amount of outstanding commitments, which equals two full years of payment appropriations may constitute a risk for the smooth operation of the budget in the future; calls on the Commission to closely monitor the progress of implementation in Member States, in particular in the cases of under- implementation and low absorption rates and to deliver country-analysis to the discharge authority, identifying the recurrent problems, as well as the measures taken to optimise the situation;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Regrets that the cumulative absorption rate from the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) at the end of 2020 continues to be approximately 7 % lower than under the previous 2007-2013 MFF; encourages the Commission to intensify its work with Members States including through technical assistance in order to increase the ability of Member States to make use of the funds allocated to them and to intensify the effort to increase the absorption rate of ESIF from both the 2013-2020 MFF and the new 2021-2027 MFF in order to avoid a further increase of total outstanding commitments, without compromising the quality of projects and the efforts made to avoid misuse and fraud of Union funds; calls on the Commission to assist where necessary countries to find eligible projects, especially those with clear European added-value; asks the Commission to relaunch the taskforce for better implementation (TFBI) to increase the absorption rate and to develop best practices among the Member States;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Underlines its strong and repeated requests to the Commission and executive agencies to ensure the protection of the Union budget by making global and systematic use of digital and automatised systems for reporting, monitoring and audit; remarks that this should include the establishment of a mandatory single interoperable database on beneficiaries of funds from all Union programmes; highlights that such a system should build on unique identifiers for all recipients including information about their ultimate beneficiaries and should also automatically ensure the use of systems such asincluding but not limited to the datea mining tool, ARACHNE, in order to provide for the best possible protection of the Union finances; underlines that this integrated and interoperable system must enable to aggregate all individual amounts received by the same beneficiary or beneficial owner into one total sum; notes that this digitalisation is overdue and indispensable given the cross-border nature of misuse of funds, fraud, misappropriations, conflicts of interest, double-funding and other systemic problems; underlines that this single datamining tool should be easily searchable and available for OLAF, EPPO and the Commission, in order to enhance the protection of the Union budget and Next Generation EU against irregularities, fraud and conflicts of interest;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the need to enlarge the areas where the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES) is used beyond direct management and encourages the Commission to use it for all Union funds including funds under shared management: notes that, the EDES has to be used systematically to ensure that companies and beneficial owners who have been convicted in relation to fraud, corruption or other serious economic criminal activities cannot benefit from Union funds; stresses the need to harmonise the indicators in ARACHNE with the exclusion grounds of EDES to ensure that excluded economic operators are also visible in ARACHNE; calls for maximum interoperability between ARACHNE, EDES and other software to reduce the need to insert information items into various IT-systems multiple times and keep the administrative burden as low as possible;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Requests the Commission to follow up on Parliament’s initiative reports concerning the revision of the Financial Regulation1 2 , and its legislative initiative report 2021/2054 (INL) on Digitalisation of the European reporting, monitoring and audit, which entails specific suggestions for revisions of the Financial Regulation; _________________ 1 European Parliament resolution of 24 November 2021 on the revision of the Financial Regulation in view of the entry into force of the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework, P9_TA(2021)0469; 2 European Parliament resolution of 23 November 2021 with recommendations to the Commission on digitalisation of the European reporting, monitoring and audit in its proposal for the upcoming revision of the Financial Regulation, P9_TA(2021)0464.
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that the COVID-19 pandemic justified considerable changes to the 2020 budget in the form of transfers and amending budgets in order for the Union to give a robust input in order to help alleviate the threats from the pandemic not least through the rapid development of vaccines. Furthermore, notes that the pandemic meant that audits mainly had to be done remotely which also implies that the estimated error rates should be considered as minimum estimates due to the increased detection risk; welcomes the increase in digitalisation in the audit procedures, efficiency gains and cost savings from remote audits, but underlines that remote audits cannot fully substitute on the spot controls;
Amendment 42 #
10. Asks the Commission to modify the spending rule N+3 years to the previous rule N+2 years in order to increase the budget execution and reduce the outstanding commitments; underlines that the current N+3 rules should not be used to slow down or delay the implementation, but to ensure sufficient time for projects to be realised;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to ensure the provision of sufficient funding for audits and controls of Union funds in light of the massive increase of funds to be disbursed during the coming years under the combined MFF and NextGenerationEU instrument; notes that the Commission will assess the control systems of the Member States and provide guidance to put in place sound monitoring and control systems; calls on the Commission to provide the discharge authority with detailed assessments of the audit and control systems for each Member State;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Reiterates its concern that the Commission only audits the achievement of milestones and targets before paying out RRF funds while leaving it to the Member States to ensure that public procurement or state aid rules have been complied with; notes that the Commission will carry out system audits to ensure that the Member States have put in place strong controls for the protection of the Union’s financial interests against conflicts of interest or serious irregularities; is, however, of the opinion that the Commission as Guardian of the Treaties should not only rely on Member States’ audits on compliance with applicable rules to ensure an equal playing field for investments under the RRF; calls therefore on the Commission to extend its audit activities beyond system audits to include checks on public procurement and state aid rules following its risk-based approach; recalls in this regard the severe loopholes in the national legislation in certain Member States regarding efficient controls and prevention of conflicts of interests, such as Romania, Bulgaria, Czechia, Slovakia, Malta and Cyprus;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses the increased importance of performance indicators, including the selection of indicators, definition of targets and milestones and monitoring and reporting in light of the new delivery models for the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the reformed Common Agricultural Policy; notes that milestones and targets as well as output indicators are different in nature; notes that the Recovery and Resilience Facility further differentiates between investments and reforms; stresses that performance auditing is a new tool for the respective audit authorities; calls on the Commission to provide an overview of the complete audit cycle within the Member States, the Commission as well as in regard of the cooperation with the respective audit authorities including the Court of Auditors, and OLAF, EPPO;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the Commission to continue promoting gender balance and a gender budgeting approach in the allocated funds in a non-bureaucratic and concise manner; calls on the Commission to urgently develop a gender mainstreaming methodology in order to integrate a gender equality perspective in all policy areas through targeted and effective incentives;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the relaxation of applicable rules to provide additional liquidity and exceptional flexibility for COVID-19 related expenditure; is concerned that this increases the risk of misuse and fraud by criminal structures attempting to abuse the crisis situation; notes information from OLAF on criminal activities concerning personal health and safety equipment and fake vaccine offers;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 b (new)
Paragraph 32 b (new)
32 b. Notes that Monitoring tools are essential for the audit of the implementation of milestones and targets; notes that Member States are required to use the FENIX system developed and made available by the Commission; notes that the Commission is obliged to set up a Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard to give an overview how the implementation of the RRF is progressing;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 c (new)
Paragraph 32 c (new)
32 c. Notes that according to Article 60 of the RRF regulation the Commission should transmit, subject to clearance of sensitive or confidential information, or to appropriate confidentiality arrangements if necessary, relevant documents and information simultaneously and on equal terms to the European Parliament and to the Council; stresses that the early and complete transmission of documents to the Parliament and the Council will be an important element in the discharge procedure;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33 a. Notes that according to Article 31 of the RRF Regulation by 31 July 2022, the Commission should present an annual report on the implementation of the Facility to the European Parliament and to the Council;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point -a (new)
Paragraph 34 – point -a (new)
-a. to carry out analysis for each individual Member State of the funds received and status of implementation, at the latest in May for the previous budgetary year, in the context of annual report foreseen under Article 31 of Regulation 2021/241; expects the Commission to publish the annual report for the first time early in the 2nd half of 2022 and to promptly inform the discharge authority about the findings;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point a
Paragraph 34 – point a
a. ensure the protection of the Union budget by making general and systematic use of digital and automatised interoperable systems for reporting, monitoring and audit; develop the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard to ensure that description of milestones and target and outcome of the audit are transparent; ensure that all Member States use the systems and central registers to report on beneficial owners and end beneficiaries;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point a
Paragraph 34 – point a
a. ensure the protection of the Union budget by making general and systematic use of digital and automatised systems for reporting, monitoring and audit and urgently establish an integrated and interoperable system building on but not limited to existing tools and databases;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 34 – point a a (new)
a a. to transmit, subject to clearance of sensitive or confidential information, or to appropriate confidentiality arrangements if necessary, relevant documents as the Summary of Audits (SoA) and information timely to the discharge authority
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point b
Paragraph 34 – point b
b. simplify rules and procedures, develop compulsory training sessions and practical information for applicants , in particular new applicants, and improve the assistance and guidelines for SMEs, spin- offs, start-ups, administration and payment agencies and all relevant stakeholders; provide the discharge authority with an overview of the trainings conducted;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point c a (new)
Paragraph 34 – point c a (new)
c a. share the outcomes on budgetary control contents in the light of the review report with the discharge authority by conducting a meeting with the respective committee;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point c b (new)
Paragraph 34 – point c b (new)
c b. strengthen the Financial Regulation in the context of the RRF during the upcoming revision in the sense of introducing the obligation for an interoperable internal audit system in the Member States;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point d
Paragraph 34 – point d
d. intensify its work to ensure that the funds under the Recovery and Resilience facility are used for high-quality projectsprojects that lead to structural reforms and investments which achieve EU-added value and that double funding of projects is avoided;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point d
Paragraph 34 – point d
d. intensify its work to ensure that the funds under the Recovery and Resilience facility are used for high-quality projects and that double funding of projects is avoided; urges the Commission to not only rely on compliance audits by the Member States concerning applicable rules such as public procurement and state aid rules, but to extend its audit activity beyond system audits in a risk- based approach;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point g
Paragraph 34 – point g
g. increase the administrative capacity of the Commission in relation toand strenghthen the administrative capacity of Member States in relation to the implementation of the NextGenerationEU instrument in order to protect Union finances;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point h
Paragraph 34 – point h
h. develop a non-bureaucratic and concise gender mainstreaming methodology for use across the budget through targeted and effective incentives at the latest by the end of 2022, and to follow the recommendations of the Court in its special report on gender mainstreaming in the EU Budget;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Paragraph 34 a (new)
34 a. Notes that the Court bases its annual management and performance report on the information retrieved from several reports by the Commission; notes that the Court supplements this information with recent findings from its own audit and review work; notes that the Court reviews the Commission’s performance information for plausibility and consistency with their findings, but not for its reliability;
Amendment 98 #
36 a. Notes that the better regulation approach helps the Commission in identifying lessons learnt from past implementation of policies and programmes; highlights that all spending programmes should be reviewed by the Commission, points out that cost- effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis are important tools in budget control to review the spending; calls on the Commission to include more qualitative information that shows the EU-added value of spending programmes; welcomes that the Regulatory Scrutiny Board contributes to improving the quality of evaluations and impact assessments; calls on the Commission to implement the recommendations given by the Regulatory Scrutiny Board and to sufficiently justify when comments have not been taken into account;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Underlines that it is important that the Commission continues to draw lessons from the performance of the programmes also after the end of the MFF period because some results and impacts may only be evident several years after the end of the MFF period especially for programmes with large amounts of outstanding commitments and include these observations and conclusions in its reports to be shared with the discharge authority;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 40
Paragraph 40
40. Underlines its strong and repeated requests to ensure the protection of the Union budget by making general and systematic use of digital and automatised systems for reporting, monitoring and audit; urges the Commission to establish an integrated and interoperable system building on but not limited to existing tools and databases;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 – point e
Paragraph 48 – point e
e. take action in the fight against fraud in e-commerce and VAT collection, particularly by making use of the additional benefits of digital means available for tracking invoices and VAT payments;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 – point f
Paragraph 48 – point f
f. ensure the protection of the Union budget by making general and systematic use of digital and automatised systems for reporting, monitoring and audit and urgently establish an integrated and interoperable system building on but not limited to existing tools and databases;
Amendment 112 #
52. Notes with concern that personnel costs continue to constitute the principal source of error, notably in research expenditure; regrets that the rules for declaring personnel costs under H2020 remain complex, despite simplification efforts; welcomes a number of simplifications specifically targeting SMEs under Horizon 2020, such as a single flat rate for indirect costs, including personnel costs;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 a (new)
Paragraph 52 a (new)
52 a. Notes that beneficiaries can only claim personnel costs for tasks carried out by a natural person working under a direct contract, while costs for subcontracted tasks are not eligible; notes the Court’s observation that SMEs, who do not have enough own staff, are particularly error-prone to claiming the costs of external consultant’s services or freelancers as personnel costs;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 b (new)
Paragraph 52 b (new)
52 b. Notes that the Commission has reinforced its information campaign targeting error-prone beneficiaries, such as SMEs and first-time applicants with limited experience and resources for the application process; notes that the Commission held six webinars in 2020 reaching around 7500 direct participants; is of the opinion that the Commission can further extend its information activities; underlines the importance of providing information to potential applicants in their native language, particularly on complex rules such as personnel costs and subcontracting costs;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 53 a (new)
Paragraph 53 a (new)
53 a. Regrets that the level of excellence in research continues to differ significantly across Member States; notes that studies have recommended to encourage researchers, experts and other national actors from institutions of lower levels of excellence to participate actively in joint research teams including researchers and institutions with the highest level of excellence; is aware that the main responsibility lies with the Member States and their investment in education, but underlines that the Commission can contribute to spreading excellence; welcomes the increased budget for widening activities for Horizon Europe;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59 – point g
Paragraph 59 – point g
g. ensure the protection of the Union budget by making general and systematic use of digital and automatised systems for reporting, monitoring and audit and urgently establish an integrated and interoperable system building on but not limited to existing tools and databases;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59 – point h a (new)
Paragraph 59 – point h a (new)
h a. Further increase its widening activities to improve access to excellence throughout the EU and report back to the discharge authority;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62 a (new)
Paragraph 62 a (new)
62 a. Notes with concern the data presented in the Single Market Scoreboard for 2020 on public procurement, which shows that the proportion of contracts awarded with just a single bidder is particularly alarming: 19 Member States reached or exceeded the threshold of 20% and six Member States (Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia) had a level of 39-51%; notes that the proportion of procurement contracts negotiated with a company without any call for bids reached or exceeded the threshold of 10% in 8Member States with four (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania, Slovenia) reaching levels of 22-29%; notes that the proportion of contracts awarded after a call for tender whose name and condition were no clear was above the threshold of 3% in ten Member States with levels between 8-9% in four Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Malta and Slovenia);
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62 b (new)
Paragraph 62 b (new)
62 b. Is deeply concerned by these observations as they indicate severe and systemic weaknesses in the public procurement procedures in several Member States, which likely also impact the management and spending of EU funds; notes in this regard the Court’s observation on an early preventive system audit on the management verifications of public procurement in Hungary, which resulted in a 10% flat-rate correction to all contracts affected covering a period of four years amounting to around 770 mio. EUR;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66 a (new)
Paragraph 66 a (new)
66 a. Reiterates its deep disapproval of the practice in some Member States to systematically overbook programmes and shift problematic or illegal projects over into the national budget after the Commission or OLAF have detected irregularities or misuse; condemns that the national tax payers are left with the burden of paying for project that suffer from conflicts of interest, fraud or other shortcomings;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72 a (new)
Paragraph 72 a (new)
72 a. Is deeply concerned by reports about severe and systematic corruption and misuse of EU cohesion funds in the ITI Danube Delta instrument in Romania worth 1.1 bn EUR coming from 8 Romanian programmes; notes that these funds are earmarked for poverty reduction, nature conservation and environmental protection projects in Romania along the Danube Delta, financed by 5 different European Structural and Investment Funds; notes that the allegations of irregularities are concentrated in one programme, the Regional operational programme, concerning 3 calls for projects under one priority axis supporting mostly SMEs and micro-enterprises amounting to 104 mio. EUR funding 347 projects; notes that in May 2021 OLAF opened an investigation related to allegations of fraud and other irregularities into a specific project financed by the ITI Danube Delta in Romania;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72 b (new)
Paragraph 72 b (new)
72 b. Is concerned by media revelations that one Romanian national authority was corrupted and contributed to the authorisation of projects with politicians in a conflict of interest who were not residing at the Danube delta;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72 c (new)
Paragraph 72 c (new)
72 c. Notes that following media reports on severe allegations of fraud, conflicts of interest and embezzlement, the Commission has issued in June 2021 an interruption of payments, blocking any EU reimbursement to the 347 risky projects pending the results of the verifications by the Romanian authorities; notes that the Romanian authorities selected 73 projects for verification leading to 35 of these projects being notified to the national anti-fraud body or prosecutor office for further investigation due to fraud suspicions; notes that the Romanian managing authorities carried out checks on additional 22 operations to verify their regularity and whether they contribute to the development of the Danube region, resulting in one additional potential irregularity being identified;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72 d (new)
Paragraph 72 d (new)
72 d. Notes that the Commission agreed with the Romanian authorities that the managing authority provides the results of its verifications to the Audit Authority for an independent review on the adequacy of the risk-assessment method to select operations to be reviewed and checks carried out, and for confirmation of the results; notes that these conclusions will feed into the preparation of the targeted audit that the Commission plans to also carry out at the beginning of 2022 to verify on the spot the effectiveness of the actions undertaken by the Romanian authorities; urges the Commission to keep the discharge authority informed about any new developments and particularly about any financial corrections;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 72 e (new)
Paragraph 72 e (new)
72 e. Is concerned that once more the information on such severe allegations was revealed by journalists and not a Commission audit; recalls that the journalists pointed out that severe weaknesses and loopholes exist in the Romanian laws against conflicts of interest; underlines that these laws urgently need to be brought in line with the requirements of the EU financial regulation; recalls that clear and unambiguous legislation against conflicts of interest at national level is an important precondition for the prevention,detection and fight against misuse, corruption and fraud;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 73
Paragraph 73
73. Regrets that, as indicated in the special report 10/2021 of the European Court of Auditors ’Gender mainstreaming in the EU Union budget: time to turn words into action’, the significant potential of European structural and investment funds to contribute to gender equality is unexploited and that gender mainstreaming is not adequately implemented at all stages of the budgetary process; is of the opinion that gender mainstreaming must be addressed in a non-bureaucratic and concise manner through targeted and effective incentives;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77 a (new)
Paragraph 77 a (new)
77 a. Notes that the construction of the Peljesac Bridge in Croatia with cohesions funds was completed by a Chinese state- owned company, which may have benefited from support from the Chinese government and lower and inadequate labour-standards which would imply a competitive advantage vis-a-vis European companies bidding for the same call; is of the opinion that the Commission as Guardian of the Treaties must ensure a level playing field between European and third-state companies in public calls and tenders; is therefore of the opinion that strong provisions on European-level standards of social and labour rights should feature in calls for public procurement and construction;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 77 b (new)
Paragraph 77 b (new)
77 b. Is concerned about reports that the Hungarian government intended to nationalize the "Ferenc Liszt" airport near Budapest and declared its intention to use EU cohesion funds to develop infrastructure to decrease the value of the airport with the aim of lowering the cost of its expropriation, harming its current owners; is deeply concerned by the insecurity such threats constitute for international investors; recalls that EU cohesion funds were used to co-finance the airport, which would benefit oligarchic structures in case of a forced or involuntary sale of the airport; notes that the government has imposed the airport operator with extremely bureaucratic obstacles and additional requirements; is astonished by inferior purchase offers concerning the airport by oligarchs from the direct and close environment of the Prime Minister;
Amendment 169 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78 – point c
Paragraph 78 – point c
c. make the use of IT tools such as EDES orand Arachne mandatory and systematic for all Union funds including shared management and ensure better use of new technology in order to increase controls and protect the Union budget against fraud and misuses of funds;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78 – point d
Paragraph 78 – point d
d. ensure the protection of the Union budget by making general and systematic use of digital and automatised systems for reporting, monitoring and audit and urgently establish an integrated and interoperable system building on but not limited to existing tools and databases;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 78 – point o a (new)
Paragraph 78 – point o a (new)
o a. provide guidance and controls that adequate minimum-standards of social and labour rights are requirements in calls for public procurement and particularly construction tenders to avoid a competitive disadvantage of European firms compared to third-state bidders; calls on the Commission to ensure that only companies from third countries that allow EU companies to participate in their public calls and tenders to participate in European public calls and tenders to ensure a level-playing field and equal access among EU and third-state companies;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 85 a (new)
Paragraph 85 a (new)
85 a. Notes with concern 29 OLAF cases concerning structural and agricultural funds in Bulgaria; is concerned by the findings of the study on the impact of organised crime on the EU’s financial interests that most violations in Bulgaria have been identified in the area of agricultural funding, especially in the area of subsidies for agricultural crops, as well as the construction of “fake” guest houses that are in fact used as private homes; is aware that the issue of EU co- financed “fake” guest houses is not limited to Bulgaria as similar issues were identified also in Slovakia and Czechia; notes that the Commission is monitoring the situation and expects the Commission to take swift and decisive action against this kind of subsidy fraud;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 91 – point c
Paragraph 91 – point c
c. make the use of the IT tools, Arachne, and EDES mandatory and systematic for paying agencies, as an important tool that can be used to identify projects, beneficiaries and contractors at risk of fraud;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 91 – point d
Paragraph 91 – point d
d. ensure the protection of the Union budget by making general and systematic use of digital and automatised systems for reporting, monitoring and audit and urgently establish an integrated and interoperable system building on but not limited to existing tools and databases;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 99 a (new)
Paragraph 99 a (new)
99 a. Underlines that particularly in the area of security and citizenship, NGOs are important and valuable implementing partners of the Commission; notes that funds may be paid out to umbrella organisations that distribute and pass on the funding to member organisations or partner NGOs on the ground; is concerned that the Commission only has a limited overview the final recipients of the funding; is deeply concerned that EU funds may unintentionally end up benefitting organisations that incite terrorism or extremism; is of the opinion that rules are needed for umbrella organisations that pass on EU-funding to their member organisations or partner NGOs that are similar to the provisions on the transparency of final beneficiaries, beneficial owners and sub-contractors as agreed in the Annex XVII of the new Common Provisions Regulation;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 100 – point f
Paragraph 100 – point f
f. ensure the protection of the Union budget by making general and systematic use of digital and automatised systems for reporting, monitoring and audit and urgently establish an integrated and interoperable system building on but not limited to existing tools and databases;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 100 – point f a (new)
Paragraph 100 – point f a (new)
f a. propose rules on the transparency of umbrella organisations or partner NGOs that pass on EU-funding to their member organisations that are similar to the provisions concerning final beneficiaries, beneficial owners and sub- contractors in Annex XVII of the Common Provisions Regulation;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 107 a (new)
Paragraph 107 a (new)
107 a. Deplores the ongoing distribution and use of problematic and hateful school material to Palestinian pupils; reiterates its concern that hate speech and violence taught in Palestinian school textbooks and explicitly in the newly created study cards is unacceptable; reiterates its position that all textbooks and materials used in schools supported by Union funds must be in line with UNESCO standards of peace, tolerance, coexistence, and non- violence; requests that all school material, which is not in compliance with these standards shall be removed immediately and requests the Commission to closely collaborate with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and relevant experts to modify the curriculum expeditiously; asks the Commission to redirect funding intended for the PA to finance actions to adapt and rewrite the textbooks;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 108 – point d
Paragraph 108 – point d
d. ensure the protection of the Union budget by making general and systematic use of digital and automatised systems for reporting, monitoring and audit and urgently establish an integrated and interoperable system building on but not limited to existing tools and databases;
Amendment 242 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 108 – point k a (new)
Paragraph 108 – point k a (new)
k a. remove any material from schools supported by UNRWA that is not inline with UNESCO standards of peace, particularly the new study cards which incite terrorism and violence;
Amendment 248 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 112 a (new)
Paragraph 112 a (new)
112 a. Notes that the EU institutions have different rules for the use of official vehicles; is of the opinion that these rules should be harmonised and the own contribution of the users should be adequately increased in relation to the costs and to properly reflect the monetary advantage of such use;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 112 b (new)
Paragraph 112 b (new)
112 b. Notes with concern the lack of understanding within the decision making and approval forums at the health insurance scheme JSIS when it comes to new treatments, medical trends and not yet approved drugs particularly linked to novel appearances of nervous diseases, autoimmune disorders as well cancer diseases; requests that the relevant bodies within JSIS duly and regularly take into account recent medical developments and knowledge gains when updating the list of eligible treatments and drugs; requests JSIS to show more flexibility when assessing clinical pictures as well as subsequent treatment and therapies that might help a patient; recommends the introduction of expert groups, which can assess and approve not-yet approved treatments, drugs, and medications to improve the treatment quality of applicants, decrease bureaucratic burden, and accommodate the most recent medical information when handling reimbursement claims; underlines that the EU is at the forefront of medical innovation and technology and is therefore of the opinion that this standard should also be applied for the medical treatment of persons under JSIS;
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 117 – point e a (new)
Paragraph 117 – point e a (new)
e a. propose a harmonised set of rules for the use of official vehicles for all EU institutions, bodies and organs including an adequate increase of the own contribution of the users in relation to the costs, which properly reflects the monetary advantage of such use;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 117 – point e b (new)
Paragraph 117 – point e b (new)
e b. ensure that JSIS shall provide a coherent and individual explanation for declining a reimbursement request; regrets the culture of declining a reimbursement request by PDF without the possibility to challenge the decision in person; calls on the PMO to introduce the possibility for doctors in charge of a treatment of an applicant to talk to the responsible JSIS unit or expert group to explain the treatment and medical benefits; further expresses its wish to improve the user-friendliness of the application enabling a quicker and more direct follow-up of individual requests;