9 Amendments of Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ related to 2016/2097(INI)
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reiterates its call on the Council to resume immediately the negotiations with Parliament on the Directive on the protection of the financial interests of the Union (PIF Directive); recalls that the PIF Directive is an essential instrument in fighting fraud, corruption, money laundering and other illegal activities affecting the EU’s financial interests; considers that, in the light of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in case C-105/14, Taricco and Others, the inclusion of VAT in the scope of the directive is inevitable as the VAT fraud within the EU is often linked with organized criminal structures; in this context stress the need for better cooperation with EU Agencies and other offices, especially OLAF;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Reiterates that the EPPO must be independent, endowed with sufficient resources to act effectively, efficiently and swiftly, and required to act at all times in full compliance with the procedural rights of suspects and accused persons; recalls the Council that in order to avoid any adverse effects from the so-called "national link" adequate safeguards ensuring the independence of the EPPO are needed; therefore asks for a provision allowing to derogate from the national link on grounds related to the proper functioning of the office; stresses the need to ensure that the division of competences between the EPPO and Member States is clear and consistent with the role of the EPPO as a Union body; points out that establishing the EPPO will require effective coordination with Eurojust, Europol and OLAF; stress that the new Eurojust regulation as the third part of the package is of crucial importance for functioning of this structure.
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Is alarmed that the number of all fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported (22 349 cases) increased significantly for a second consecutive year – first by 48 % in 2014 and then by another 36% in 2015, leading to doubling the amount of registered irregularities within just two years; notes that even though the number of irregularities doubled the sum involved in them (EUR 3.21 billion) remains on the same level as in 2014; calls on the Commission to analyse this development and investigate whether this might be linked to an improved reporting mechanism;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Notes with concern that tobacco smuggling to the EU has intensified in recent years and according to estimates represents a loss of 10 billion EUR annually in public revenue of the EU budgets and is at the same time a major source of organised crime, including terrorism; stresses that illicit tobacco trade causes severe damage to both the legal trade and national economies; further notes that a considerable proportion of smuggled tobacco originates in Belarus; calls on the EU and Member States to put a pressure on Belarus to combat the illicit tobacco trade and organised crime, and to introduce sanctions if necessary; calls on the Member States to intensify their cooperation in this matter;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Points out that the Commission does not have access to the information exchanged between Member States with a view to preventing and combating Missing Trader Intra-Community fraud, commonly called carousel fraud;; calls on all the Member States to participate in all of Eurofisc’s fields of activity so as to facilitate and accelerate the exchange of information with the aim of helping to combat fraud;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Notes with concernRegrets that, despite the numerous calls from Parliament for the establishment of uniform reporting principles in all Member States, the situation remains highly unsatisfactory and there are still significant differences in the number of fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported by each Member State; reiterates its call to the Commission to make serious efforts to resolve the problem ofunify the differing approaches by Member States to detectingpreventing, detecting and reporting of irregularities, and non- homogeneous interpretations when applying the EU legal framework;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Emphasizes the role of whistle- blowers in fraud detectionprevention, detection and reporting; welcomes the fact that in 2015 the European Commission has launched the "Experience Sharing Programme" to coordinate and exchange best practices to prevent corruption in cooperation with Member States;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33a. Stresses that corruption and fraud have fundamental negative impact on EU financial interests and even though the EU has a multiple-layer control mechanism in place, the role of an individual is absolutely irreplaceable on the lowest level of the control system; highlights that for that reason the whistleblowers need to have a clear position in the EU and Member States´ legislative frameworks that would clearly define their rights and obligations; calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure a minimum level of protection for European whistleblowers;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Deplores that the Commission did not keep its word to publish anthe EU Anti- Corruption reports biannually, as there has been no report published in 2016; calls on the Commission to deliver on its commitment to regularly report on the state of corruption in the EU;