27 Amendments of Rina Ronja KARI related to 2013/2195(DEC)
Amendment 4 #
Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Grants the Commission discharge/Postpones its decision on granting the Commission discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2012;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 9
Citation 9
– having regard to the Court of Auditors’ Annual Report on the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2012, together with the institutions' replies80 (Annual Report), and to the Court of Auditors' special reports, __________________ 80in particular Special Report No 24/2012 of the Court of Auditors entitled "The European Union Solidarity Fund's response to the 2009 Abruzzi earthquake: The relevance and cost of operations" and its relevant working document; __________________ 80 OJ C 331, 14.11.2013, p. 1. OJ C 331, 14.11.2013, p. 1.
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading 5 – Subheading 1 a (new)
Heading 5 – Subheading 1 a (new)
The European Union Solidarity Fund
Amendment 339 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 160 a (new)
Paragraph 160 a (new)
160a. Notes that the EUSF is an important instrument in responding to major natural disasters in the Union and an expression of European solidarity to disaster-stricken regions within the Union; observes that Italy received EUR 493,8 million in response to the Abruzzi earthquake;
Amendment 341 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 160 b (new)
Paragraph 160 b (new)
160b. Notes that the Court of Auditors' Special Report 24/2012 identifies serious deficiencies and irregularities in the management of the Union funds in the Abruzzi region after the 2009 earthquake; deeply regrets the fact that the Court of Auditors found that around 70 % of the contribution from the Union was used in violation of the EUSF Regulation;
Amendment 342 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 160 c (new)
Paragraph 160 c (new)
160c. Believes that the EUSF Regulation must be safeguarded; is deeply concerned that the violation of the regulation and the serious deficiencies in the implementation of the funds have made the EUSF contribution to the earthquake victims less effective;
Amendment 343 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 160 d (new)
Paragraph 160 d (new)
160d. Notes the observation by the Court of Auditors that the cost of the construction work for re-housing the victims of the earthquake was 158% over the market price, and also regrets that the solidarity aid has benefited fewer victims than it should have done. Also regrets the many instances of substandard building work which have even led to at least one whole apartment block having to be evacuated as unsuitable for human habitation.
Amendment 344 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 160 e (new)
Paragraph 160 e (new)
160e. Deeply regrets that it is still waiting for answers from the Commission in connection with the implementation of the EUSF for Abruzzi; reserves for this reason its final judgement of the EUSF response to Abruzzi;
Amendment 359 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading 6 a (new)
Heading 6 a (new)
Troika and ESM
Amendment 360 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 177 a (new)
Paragraph 177 a (new)
177a. Notes with concern the participation of the Commission, together with the IMF and ECB, in the so-called Troika in designing and supervision of the adjustment programs for the European deficit countries;
Amendment 363 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 177 b (new)
Paragraph 177 b (new)
177b. Believes it to be deeply undemocratic that the Commission assumes ever greater powers to control national budgets, without any serious oversight by Parliament;
Amendment 364 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 177 c (new)
Paragraph 177 c (new)
177c. Points out that the targets of the adjustment programs are unrealistic since they underestimate the implications of the deepening recession especially in Greece where the estimated public deficit will not fall below 3 % of GDP until 2020, while the public debt will reach 178 % of GDP in 2013 and 152 % in 2020 and the reasons offered for these divergences are the 'longer and more severe recession' than expected because the GDP has declined by more than 10 % since the start of the programme and it will continue to decline; notes furthermore that the policy recommendations remain unchanged and in the meantime unemployment has risen from 8,3 % of the labour force in 2007 to nearly 17 % in 2011 and more than 26 % in 2012;
Amendment 365 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 177 d (new)
Paragraph 177 d (new)
177d. Is highly concerned that Commissions' austerity policies are also blighting the lives of millions of Europeans, most especially in the South and East European Member States of the periphery; notes that the official unemployment rate in 2011 was in Greece 17,7 % and in Spain 21,7 %; is highly concerned about the increase of the rates in 2012 in Spain to 26,1 % and in Greece to 26,8 % while the youth unemployment rate for the Union was 22,7 % in Spain and Greece it was over 50 %; therefore urgently invites the Commission to change its politics by giving up their austerity orientation in order to fight unemployment;
Amendment 366 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 177 e (new)
Paragraph 177 e (new)
177e. Strongly criticises that Commission's policy on austerity has focussed on expenditure cuts and privatisations resulting in the postponement or cancellation of infrastructure projects as well as reductions in recurrent expenditure in healthcare, education, social provision and welfare benefits; therefore public employment has been reduced significantly in many countries and, due to the recession and the impact of austerity policies, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of the population at risk of poverty; deplores that the poorest sectors have been hit hardest but, in the crisis stricken Member States, many middle-class citizens have also been affected;
Amendment 367 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 177 f (new)
Paragraph 177 f (new)
177f. Notes that historically, social policies in Europe have been provided by managing or removing the market in the provision of services, through food subsidies or the free provision of health services and certain levels of education; deplores that now the de-commodification of public services is being reversed through the introduction of vouchers and user fees for health and education services;
Amendment 368 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 177 g (new)
Paragraph 177 g (new)
177g. Criticises that the Commission advocates with its adjustments programs the flexibility of labour markets, pay freezes, cuts in pensions and increased retirement ages, together with an easing of restrictions on layoffs and limits on unemployment benefits; is of the opinion that all these represent a further weakening of the provisions of Europe's vaunted social model;
Amendment 369 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 177 h (new)
Paragraph 177 h (new)
177h. Notes with concern the pressure currently exerted by the Troika on Cyprus and Greece to privatise the water sector; recalls that recent water privatisation policies in the United Kingdom and Portugal show that privatisation generally leads to cost increases, rather than cost reductions; is concerned about the potential risks for public health of this development; therefore urges the Troika to reconsider their policies and not to demand the privatisation of the water sector;
Amendment 370 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 177 i (new)
Paragraph 177 i (new)
177i. Notes that the programs of memoranda of understanding in all cases were presented as one-way road: they were used on the one hand to save and to shield the financial sector, recapitalizing the banks and converting private debt into public debt and on the other to repay the speculative rates of the accumulated debt; the programs of understanding did not finance the real economy nor used for public and productive investment in order to lead the economy into a growth path, but on the opposite with the tough fiscal austerity measures imposed have led to a more profound and lasting recession and social misery; calls for a breakaway from these policies so that the problems of economic sustainable growth, unemployment, poverty, social exclusion, and income inequalities can be truly addressed and combated;
Amendment 371 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 184 a (new)
Paragraph 184 a (new)
184a. Notes that both the EFSF and the ESM benefit from the service of prominent Union institutions, such as the Commission and the ECB, while their respective relationship do not find a sufficient legal basis and control of the institutions according to the procedure laid down in the TFEU; underlines that the creation outside the institutions of the Union represents a setback from the evolution of the Union, essentially at the expense of Parliament, the Court of Auditors and the Court of Justice;
Amendment 372 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 184 b (new)
Paragraph 184 b (new)
184b. Criticises the fact that the ESM Treaty lacks sufficient provisions for ensuring effective external audit; regrets that in Article 24 (Board of Auditors) of the bylaws of the Treaty only one member can be nominated by the Court of Auditors while two members upon the proposal of the Chairperson;
Amendment 373 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 184 c (new)
Paragraph 184 c (new)
184c. Is concerned by the regulation of paragraph 6 of Article 24 of the by-laws of the Treaty with the agreed procedure only to inform Parliament by sending the annual report of the Board of Auditors to Parliament; underlines the right of Parliament to have a debate on the annual report with the Board of Auditors in presence of the Board of Governors of the ESM;
Amendment 388 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 201 a (new)
Paragraph 201 a (new)
201a. Is deeply concerned about the reporting of the OLAF Supervisory Committee on the Dalli case; finds it unacceptable that OLAF has undertaken investigative measures that go beyond those explicitly listed in Articles 3 and 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 which was in force at that time; notes that these investigative measures include: preparing the content of a telephone conversation for a third party to have with a person subject to the investigation; being present during such a conversation and having it recorded; and requesting national administrative authorities to provide OLAF with information not directly held by those authorities and which could be considered to relate to the right to respect for private life and communications or to the subsequent use, collection and storage of such information by OLAF;
Amendment 389 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 201 b (new)
Paragraph 201 b (new)
201b. Is shocked by such actions, given that, according to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, the use of such methods can be seen as 'interference by a public authority' with the exercise of the right to respect for 'private life', 'correspondence' and/or 'communications', which is required to be 'in accordance with the law' (Article 7 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which corresponds to Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights);
Amendment 395 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 204 a (new)
Paragraph 204 a (new)
204a. Is deeply concerned about the findings of the Supervisory Committee that OLAF has not established a prior legality check for investigative measures other than those specifically listed in OLAF's Instructions to Staff on Investigative Procedures (ISIP); notes that this endangers respect for the fundamental rights of, and procedural guarantees relating to, the persons concerned;
Amendment 396 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 204 b (new)
Paragraph 204 b (new)
204b. Notes that breaches of essential procedural requirements during preparatory investigations could affect the legality of the final decision taken on the basis of investigations by OLAF; assesses this as potentially high-risk, since breaches would thus incur the legal liability of the Commission;
Amendment 397 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 204 c (new)
Paragraph 204 c (new)
204c. Deems the direct participation of OLAF's Director-General in some investigative tasks, inter alia interviews of witnesses, unacceptable; points out that the Director-General could be faced with a conflict of interest, since, under Article 90(a) of the Staff Regulations and Article 23(1) of the ISIP he is the authority who receives complaints against OLAF's investigations and decides whether or not appropriate action is taken with regard to any failure to respect procedural guarantees;
Amendment 417 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 223 a (new)
Paragraph 223 a (new)
223a. Calls on the Court of Auditors to include in its next annual report a review of the follow-up by the Commission of Parliament's recommendations in this resolution;