Activities of Daniel FREUND related to 2020/2126(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
MFF 2021-2027: fight against oligarch structures, protection of EU funds from fraud and conflict of interest (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on MFF 2021-2027: fight against oligarch structures, protection of EU funds from fraud and conflict of interest
Amendments (12)
Amendment 10 #
B. whereas the implementation of all of those funds must respect rigorously the principles of sound financial management and is subject to full and unlimited scrutiny by Parliament;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas on a regular basis, different media outlets all over Europe provide their readers with reports on scandals covering fraud, conflict of interest, corruption and other illegal activities damaging the EUʼs financial interests and involving high-level political representatives in EU Member States, as well fraud and crime of customs, cross- border or digital nature;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that, in today’s society, ‘oligarchy’ refers to any small, cohesive class or group that is in a position to make decisions or command others in either political or non-political contexts or rule a political community in its own interest, without regard for democracy; and rule of law;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Encourages the Commission to further strengthen the conflict of interests provisions under article 61 of the Financial Regulation as part of its upcoming revision, in particular with regards to the preparation of the budget, e.g. by adding a non-exhaustive list of the institutions and categories of staff and political representatives participating in the preparation of the budget, in order to determine more precisely which public officers can effectively influence financial flows from the EU budget; calls on the Commission to provide for procedural solutions capable of dealing with situations where the public officer does not have a hierarchical superior, in particular by obliging the institution in which the public officer has the possibility of influencing financial flows from EU the budget, to exclude such public person from the activities of the institution relating to the EU budget;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Points out that conflicts of interest do not only occur in relation to fraud and criminal conduct, as they may touch upon lobbying activities and revolving-doors phenomena; stresses nevertheless that the consequent detection and disclosure of conflicts of interest is paramount to identifying possible risks of misuse, bias, fraud and corruption in fund management, as well as preventing reputational harm;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Further notes with concern the reports on the structural misuse of the EAFRD budget line to build private villas for political decision-makers disguised as guesthouses which has occurred in several Member States; calls on the Commission to take decisive action to prevent the structural misuse of this budget line in the future including, if necessary, to amend the conditions for the payment of EAFRD funds;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Regrets that the Commission systematically fails to collect, process and disclose data relative to the final beneficiaries, owners and beneficial in shared management and agricultural funds which would help detect patterns of fraud and corruption involving EU funds;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. UReiterates that the Commission has a plethora of instruments at its disposal to protect the financial interests of the Union, including the Common Provisions Regulation, the Financial Regulation and the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation; underlines that the Commission should make full and immediate use all these instruments available under EU financial legislation and the applicable sector-specific and financial rules to effectively protect the EU budget, including interruption of payment deadlines, suspension of payments, financial corrections or exclusion of expenditure from EU financing, infringement proceedings under Article 258 TFEU, checks and audits or, in duly justified cases, the application of Article 7 TEU addressing risks to the foundational values of the EU in the Member States, as has recently been done in the cases of Poland and Hungary;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Regrets that currently available IT tools that greatly contribute to efficient datamining and the detection of fraud and corruption - Arachne and EDES - are used only by a small percentage of Member States; calls for the mandatory use of the Arachne data mining and data enrichment tool by Member States in order to achieve more transparency on the beneficiaries of CAP funds;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21b. Reiterates its calls made on the Commission to urgently create and implement a coherent, interoperable, standardised reporting and auditing platform on the final beneficiaries of EU funds, as well as to improve training for monitoring and paying agents on the ground;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 c (new)
Paragraph 21 c (new)
21c. Notes that the obligation to identify the beneficial owner should as a minimum apply whenever any natural or legal person owns more than 15% of the company in question; emphasises that company shares belonging to relatives should be aggregated and counted as one;