136 Amendments of Tomáš ZDECHOVSKÝ related to 2020/2140(DEC)
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights, with regard to the implementation of the Union budget, the importance of complying with the principle of sound financial management as enshrined in Article 317 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU); emphasises that respect for the rule of law is among the most essential preconditions for sound financial management including the efficient and effective allocation and management of European funds; strongly welcomes in that regard the adoption of Regulation 2020/2092 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2020 on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget; welcomes that the Commission has started its work on guidelines and emphatically reminds that this Regulation is applicable from 1 January 2020; expects the Commission, as the guardian of the Treaties, to ensure that the Regulation is fully applicable from the date agreed by the co-legislators and reminds that annulment of the Regulation or part of it is only possible by the CJEU;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Stresses that the EU funds should be used in accordance to the principles of transparency, effectiveness and efficiency; welcomes that the Commission adopted the General regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union's budget; recalls Article 265 TFEU; calls on the Commission to implement the regulation without undue; furthermore calls on the Commission to ensure the protection of the Union´s Financial Interests in all dimensions;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5 c. Is concerned about the financial loss caused by generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in a number of Member States which render existing complaint and protection mechanisms void or ineffective;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Deplores that deficiencies in the validity and comparability of data and reporting technologies with varying degrees of digitalisation in the Member States continue to severely hamper a comprehensive overview over the distribution of EU funds and their efficient control; regrets that the detection of misuse, fraud and embezzlement of EU funds is mostly limited to incidental discoveries by the Commission and the European Court of Auditors (ECA) during their sample-based audits or investigations by OLAF;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Recalls Parliament’s call on the Commission to propose regulation for the establishment of an interoperable IT system allowing for uniform and standardised reporting in a timely manner by Member State’s authorities in the area of shared management, particularly regarding CAP and cohesion funds, for an earlier detection of systemic errors and misuse as expressed in the discharge report for the Commission for the financial year 2018;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1 c. Emphasises that such an interoperable IT system would not only allow for an earlier and more efficient detection of misuse, fraud, misappropriations, conflicts of interest, double-funding and other systemic problems but would also allow for a comprehensive overview of the true distribution of EU funds and potentially unintended concentrations in the hands of few oligarchic or even criminal ultimate beneficiaries; underlines that the lack of information about the ownership structures and beneficial owners of companies and groups of companies significantly contributes to the opaqueness of the current distribution of funds; emphasises again the crucial importance of comprehensive, reliable and comparable data for the efficient, effective and timely control of European spending and the protection of European tax-payers’ money;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1 d. Underlines the benefits such an interoperable and digital system would entail for the Member States’ authorities with regard to the control and overview of national Parliaments and governments over the allocation, management and distribution of national tax-payer’s money in the form of European funds; emphasises that the digitalisation of the European reporting, monitoring and audit is overdue and indispensable given the cross-border nature of misuse, fraud, misappropriations, conflicts of interest, double-funding and other systemic problems;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1 e. Reiterates its urgent call on the Commission to prioritise a proposal for a regulation to establish such a reporting and monitoring IT system that would provide a comprehensive overview over the true distribution of EU funds; acknowledges proposals made by the Parliament and the Commission during the negotiations about the MFF 2021- 2027, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) and the CAP; deplores the Council’s resistance and refusal to constructively engage in the negotiations for viable compromises; regrets that different rules and reporting requirements were agreed in the different legislations; urges the Commission to propose a suitable provision to be included in the Financial Regulation without undue delay;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1 f. Notes that the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES), established by Art 135 Financial Regulation should ensure effective sanctions on unreliable persons or entities, and notably the exclusion from award and procurement procedures funded under the EU budget and the imposition of financial penalties; regrets that the database only lists very few economic operators (five as per February 2021); views this as a sign that EDES is not properly implemented;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 i (new)
Paragraph 1 i (new)
1 i. Calls on the Commission to report to the discharge authority the reasons for why EDES only contains very limited entries; take the necessary action to improve the working, implementation and operability of EDES to ensure that all economic operators that fulfil the criteria of Art 136(1) (c) to (h) of the Financial Regulation are listed; calls further on the Commission to review the criteria with a view to decreasing complexity and increase applicability in practice;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 g (new)
Paragraph 1 g (new)
1 g. Recalls that the discharge report 2018 called on the Commission to provide the discharge authority with a list of the 50 largest individual recipients (natural persons as beneficial owners of a company or of several companies) per Member State as well as a list of the 50 largest recipients (natural persons and legal persons as well as natural persons as owners of companies) of Union-subsidies aggregated across all Member States; acknowledges repeated attempts by the Commission to compile such a list by requesting information from the Member States; deplores that the Commission until the date of this resolution has not been able to provide the list as requested due to a lack of complete, reliable and comparable data provided by the Member States; underlines that this illustrates and emphasises the pressing need for a digital, interoperable reporting and monitoring system for the funds under shared management;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 h (new)
Paragraph 1 h (new)
1 h. Reiterates its call on the Commission: - to remove any technical and legal barriers to the collection of data on company structures and beneficial ownership and establish measures to ensure a digital and interoperable, standardized collection of information on the recipients of Union funding, including on those ultimately benefitting, directly or indirectly, from Union funding and their beneficial owners; - to put in place the necessary digital systems and instruments for the compulsory use of all Member States, including but not limited to a single data- mining and risk-scoring tool allowing the Commission, OLAF and where applicable the EPPO, to access and analyse such data on the recipients of Union funding (including their beneficial owners) for the purposes of control and audit, in order to enhance the protection of the Union budget and Next Generation EU against irregularities, fraud and conflicts of interest;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Is concerned about the possible narrow interpretation of the Article 61 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1046 by the Czech Paying Agency (the State Agricultural Intervention Fund) who considers it non- applicable for the members of the Government; urges the Commission to provide its opinion on the interpretation of the said article regarding national Paying Agencies;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that Article 61 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1046 is respected and implemented in the Czech Republic, and applied on all payments from the EU budget, including direct payments under the 1st pillar of CAP, and to monitor the independent functioning of Paying Agencies in this regard;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5 d. Underlines that the creation of the European Public Prosecutor´s Office (EPPO) marks a fundamental development in the protection of the Union´s financial interests; criticizes the underfinancing and understaffing of the EPPO during its build-up phase and reiterates Parliament´s opposition towards the reductions of staff in OLAF as a result of posts transferred to EPPO leading to a cumulative reduction of 45 posts by 2023 for OLAF; calls on the Commission to increase the capacities by reviewing staffing situation concerning EPPO and OLAF;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Is concerned by the Court’s repeated findings that the work of some national audit authorities or certifying bodies is considered too error-prone and therefore unreliable; regrets that the Court cannot include an analysis for the underlying reasons for these persisting weaknesses in its work; regrets that neither the Commission could contribute meaningful insights on the reasons and any country-specific differences between Member States’ authorities; regrets that this lack of information on the underlying reasons for these persisting, systemic weaknesses in certain national audit authorities hinders efficiently and effectively addressing and solving these problems; calls on the Commission to conduct a thorough analysis of the underlying reasons and structural problems causing the persisting systemic weaknesses identified by the Court; asks the Commission to also include observations on best practice and based on this analysis address clear, practical and readily implementable horizontal as well as country-specific recommendations to the national authorities as described in greater detail in the specific chapters of this resolution;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Stresses that, in view of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021- 2027 and the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the financial resources of the European Union should support the increasing priorities and responsibilities of the Union. The protection of the Union financial interest is of utmost importance and that the strongest effort are necessary at all levels in order to prevent, and to fight against, fraud, corruption and misuse of the Union funds; welcomes the new corporate Anti-Fraud Strategy, adopted by the Commission in April 2019, on OLAF’s initiative, with the objective of enhancing the Commission’s knowledge about fraud and its analytical capability to steer anti-fraud action, to ensure cooperation among departments and executive agencies in fighting fraud, and to strengthen the corporate oversight of the fight against fraud;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Underlines that the error rate calculated by the Court is a statistical summary providing a convenient single indicator of the legality and regularity of EU spending, yet, does not provide a differentiated view of the different nature and graveness of errors flowing into it; acknowledges that the Court’s methodology is based on international audit standards involving testing of a random sample of transaction and that a representative sample cannot be entirely risk-based; welcomes that the Court divides its samples into high-risk and low- risk transactions; appreciates that the Court already includes specific examples of the errors found; invites the Court to include even more detailed information with a view to providing in particular more geographical insight into country- specific problems;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 e (new)
Paragraph 5 e (new)
5 e. Is concerned that outstanding commitments have continued to grow, reaching EUR 298,0 billion at the end of 2019 (compared to EUR 281,2 billion in 2018); notes that the level of payment appropriations in the annual budgets has been noticeably lower than the MFF ceiling in recent years, which might lead to higher payment needs in the future; welcomes that the Commission included the estimated future payments in relation to the reinforcements proposed in 2020 as part of the EU coronavirus response in its proposal for the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework Regulation; calls on the Commission to closely monitor the implementation by Member States in the case of under-implementation and low absorption rates; welcoming the Commission´s effort to introduce the n+2 rule for all expenditure areas, stressing the need for other perspective instruments to replace the n+3 rule;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 f (new)
Paragraph 5 f (new)
5 f. Recalls the increasing gap between commitments and payments and the increase in the size of the Union budget (the Court’s rapid case review, ‘Outstanding commitments - a closer look’) which poses a serious challenge for the discharge authority too; notes that the long-term EU budget increased from 1.083 to 1.800 billion Euro for 2021-2027, including the EU Recovery plan Next GenerationEU; calls on the Commission to monitor the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plans at regular intervals to ensure that the state aid rules are fulfilled and report to the discharge authority; stresses that a failure of this request could lead to a refusal of the Discharge procedure in 2020;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 g (new)
Paragraph 5 g (new)
5 g. Is concerned that the current staffing situation is insufficient to cope with the increasing EU budget; stresses that an increase of the administrative capacities in the Court and the relevant secretariats in the European Parliament is indispensable; stresses if these requirements are not met it can lead to a refusal of the 2020 discharge;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 h (new)
Paragraph 5 h (new)
5 h. Points out that in recent years the level of payment appropriations in the annual budgets has been noticeably below the MFF ceiling, which might lead to higher payment needs in the future and risks putting the budget under pressure;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 i (new)
Paragraph 5 i (new)
5 i. Draws attention to the fact that the main financial risks to which the EU budget was exposed to in 2019 were associated with financial operations in form of loans covered directly by the EU budget (53,7 %), and financial operations covered by an EU guarantee fund (46,3 %); observes that, when including also the possible future payments relating to the EFSI (European Fund for Strategic Investments) guarantee, the amount of the total risk borne by the EU budget reached up to EUR 90,5 billion by the end of 2019; calls on the Commission to present a complete picture of the exposure of the EU budget in the annual “Report on guarantees covered by the general budget”, including the risk generated by the EFSI guarantee as well as all future financial operations concerned;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 j (new)
Paragraph 5 j (new)
5 j. Points out that the Union has increasingly made use of financial instruments and budgetary guarantees provided to the EIB Group; recalls that at present, EIB Group operations that are not financed by the Union budget, but which serve the same Union objectives do not fall under the Court’s audit mandate;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 k (new)
Paragraph 5 k (new)
5 k. Notes that the Court wants to move towards the attestation approach; calls on the Court to continue with own sampling checks in order to monitor individual transactions;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 l (new)
Paragraph 5 l (new)
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 o (new)
Paragraph 5 o (new)
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2 a (new)
Subheading 2 a (new)
Political reservations
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 p (new)
Paragraph 5 p (new)
5 p. Endorses the reservations issued by the directors general of DG BUDG, RTD, AGRI, REGIO,EMPL, MARE, CLIMA, HOME, JUST, NEAR and REFORM in their AAR; is of the opinion that those reservations demonstrate that the control procedures put in place in the Commission and the Member States can only give the necessary guarantees concerning the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions in the corresponding policy areas if all necessary correction procedures are implemented successfully;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Deeply rRegrets that the Commission’s particular role, as reflected in its methodology, and weaknesses in ex- post checks, which are a critical part of the control system, affects the Commission’s estimates of errors;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that the Court did not estimate levels of error for areas of expenditure under MFF headings 3 ‘Security and citizenship’ and 4 ‘Global Europe’; points out that the provision of error rates would allow comparability between financial years; calls on the Court to provide data on an error rate for payments for each expenditure area in its next annual report;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13 a. Acknowledges that the financial management of the EU budget has improved over time and that the error levels have decreased to ranges getting closer to the 2% materiality threshold in recent years, except in some specific policy areas, such as for example competitiveness, which is mostly under direct management by the Commission, where the estimated error rate has doubled from to 2% in 2018 to 4% in 2019;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. RegretNotes the adoption of three amending budgets in 2019, adding EUR 0,4 billion to commitment appropriations and EUR 0,3 billion to payment appropriations;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Regrets the fact that outstanding commitments have continued to grow, reaching EUR 298,0 billion at the end of 2019 (compared to EUR 281,2 billion in 2018); notes that the level of payment appropriations in the annual budgets has been noticeably lower than the MFF ceiling in recent years, which might lead to higher payment needs in the future; calls on the Commission to reduce current and prevent further outstanding commitments, to further improve its financial forecasts and, where necessary, to assist countries to find eligible projects, especially those with clear European added-value;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Points outNotes with concern that according to the Court, the overall absorption rate of ESIF (European Structural Investment Funds) was lower than in the corresponding year of the previous MFF, as by the end of 2019, out of the total ESIF allocations for the current MFF (EUR 465 billion), only 40 % had been paid out to Member States (compared with 46 % by the end of 2012); notes that only nine Member States had higher absorption rates under the current MFF than under the previous one, and that overall the speed of absorption in 2019 stayed almost exactly the same as in 2018;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Points out that the Union has increasingly made use of financial instruments and budgetary guarantees provided to the EIB Group; recalls that at present, EIB Group operations that are not financed by the Union budget, but which serve the same Union objectives, do not come under the Court’s audit mandate; points out that this means that the Court is unable to provide a complete overview of the links between EIB Group operations and the Union budget; in particular, supports the Court’s request to audit the EIB’s non-Union budget related operations; welcomes the Commission efforts to renew the tripartite agreement between the Commission, the EIB and the Court; requests to agree on a Memorandum of Understanding between the EIB and the Parliament to improve Parliament's access to EIB documents and data related to strategic orientation and financing policies in order to strengthen the Bank’s accountability;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Notes that the current agreement between the Commission, the EIB and the Court concerning audits of operations which are financed or backed by the Union budget expires in 2020; views this an opportunity to ensure that the Court is enabled to audit the regularity and also the performance of the EIB activities, which do not fall under a specific Union mandate; Recalls that Art. 287 (3) TFEU defines the Court’s audit powers in relation to the EIB; recalls that the Court is competent to audit the EIB's activity in managing Union expenditure and revenue; recalls that the Audit Committee is competent to audit the EIB’s share capital according to Art. 12 of Protocol 5 (Statute of the EIB); recalls that Art 308 (3) TFEU allows the Council to amend the Protocol on the Statute of the EIB by simple decision without a full Treaty revision; emphasises the increased importance under the new MFF of EU guarantees and other financial instruments managed by the EIB; calls therefore on the Council to amend Art. 12 of Protocol 5 to give the ECA a role in auditing the EIB’s share capital; notes that the current tripartite agreement between the Commission, the EIB and the Court concerning audits of operations which are financed or backed by the Union budget expires in 2020; calls on the Commission, the Court and the EIB to enhance the role of the Court and further strengthen its auditing powers regarding activities of the EIB in the renewal of the tripartite agreement governing the rules of engagement;
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Welcomes the Court’s first separate and full report on the performance of the Union budget – Status at the end of 2019 and encourages the Court to continue to produce and develop this report further in the coming years; reiterates its opinion that a stronger focus on performance is needed without reducing current levels of scrutiny on compliance and conformity; emphasises that performance findings should not lead to generalisations but rather country-specific recommendations;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Welcomes the Court’s first separate and full report on the performance of the Union budget – Status at the end of 2019 and encourages the Court to continue to produce and develop this report further in the coming years; stresses that the aim of performance information is to provide an indication as to whether Union policies and programmes, are achieving their objectives efficiently and effectively; suggests that, if improvements are needed, performance information should be used to inform the process of designing necessary corrective measures, and their implementation be continuously monitored; stresses the Commission to reflect on the impact and the achievements of the Union spending programmes and putting more emphasis on results and added value of Union funding by going beyond mere outputs;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Welcomes that the Court assessed the results of EU programmes; notes that appropriate risk analyzes and recommendations for action to EU policymakers are an important basis for political decision-making; however, is concerned that the large number of output indicators is increasingly expressing preference for certain partisan positions; calls on the Court to focus the performance assessments on achieving European added value and an efficient use of EU tax money;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 b (new)
Paragraph 27 b (new)
27 b. Is concerned that the Commission uses too many input and output indicators in its performance analysis that are expressing preference for certain partisan positions; asks the Commission to streamline performance reporting by reducing the number of relevant objectives and meaningful indicators it uses for its various performance reports, and focus on those fewer and more appropriate common set of outcome and impact indicators which best measure the results achieved in terms of efficiency, economy and effectiveness of the Union spending;
Amendment 160 #
27 a. Underlines that the performance of EU funds and policies is very difficult to measure and requires different definitions and targeted indicators for the various spending areas and funds; agrees with the findings of the Court that overall indicators need to be further improved and a better balance found between input and output, and result and impact indicators;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30 a. Welcomes that the Commission documents the indicator data as well as indicator baselines, milestones and targets that measure progress on programmes ‘general and specific objectives in the Annual Programme Statements; calls on the Commission to ensure that these indicator baselines, milestones and targets that could not have been accomplished without EU-funding and represent EU added value concentrate on achieving this;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 c (new)
Paragraph 32 c (new)
32 c. Cohesion: Regrets that although the Commission and Member States had already revised the initial 2014-2020 targets, just over a third of indicators for the European Regional Development Fund and Cohesion Fund show timely progress. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis, most employment and education targets were likely to be met by 2020,but progress on R&D, poverty and social inclusion lagged behind; regrets that in this policy area, the Commission’s own performance data indicates that the programmes fall short of initial expectations;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 e (new)
Paragraph 32 e (new)
32 e. Security and citizenship: Notes that the Commission’s reporting does not indicate whether the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund is progressing well towards its objective, but the information available points to its relevance and EU added value; notes that for integration and legal migration, indicators show its achievements in a positive light, also because long-term impacts (such as differences between migrants’ and EU nationals’ job prospects) cannot yet be assessed;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32 a. Notes that Commission reported in its 2019 Annual Management and Performance Report (AMPR) a risk at payment of 2,1%, which is within the range of the ECA’s estimated level of error; notes that for the three most significant spending areas (MFF Heading 1a:competiveness; MFF Heading 1b: economy, social and territorial cohesion and MFF Heading 2: natural resources), the Commission’s own estimates of the level of error are within the ECA’s ranges;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Notes, with concern that in its examination of internal control systems both within the Commission and in the Member states, the Court found shortcomings in individual categories of own resources; notes that, according to the Commission’s assessment, 24 of the 28 Member States had partially satisfactory or unsatisfactory control strategies for targeting the undervaluation risks;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 a (new)
Paragraph 52 a (new)
52 a. Notes that according the Annual Activity Report (AAR) 2019 by DG BUDG, UK has as of 12 October 2017 started implementing the measures recommended by the Commission, which led to a dramatic reduction of TOR losses in 2018 (error rate below 1%);
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 b (new)
Paragraph 52 b (new)
52 b. Deplores that UK still refuses to make available to the EU budget the TOR amounts lost during the period 2011 - 2017 amounting to EUR 2.679bn (gross); notes that the UK authorities provided the Commission with a formal reply received on 11February 2019; notes that after analysing the UK’s reply, the Commission referred the case to the CJEU on 7 March 2019; notes that the UK lodged its defence on 24 June 2019, followed by the Commission’s reply on 29 August 2019and a rejoinder by the UK of 20 December 2019; asks the Commission to timely inform the discharge authority of any new developments regarding this case;
Amendment 218 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 52 c (new)
Paragraph 52 c (new)
52 c. Is deeply concerned by the non- quantifiable reservation maintained for 2019 by DG BUDG, stating that the undervaluation fraud partly moved to other Member States, affecting the collection of TOR to an extent pending final quantification; notes that the Commission has carried out inspections on undervaluation in all Member States and checked how Member States are organised to address issues of undervaluation, particularly concerning textiles and shoes from China; notes that the Member Sates’ financial responsibility for losses of TOR has been explicitly addressed during these inspections and the corresponding reports; notes that the Commission will follow up and hold Member States financially responsible for TOR any potential losses incurred; is concerned that provisional calculations indicate that the TOR losses in 2019 would reach 1% of the 2019 TOR justifying a reservation in the AAR 2019; asks the Commission to promptly inform the discharge authority about the findings and consequences of its inspections and quantification calculations once finalised;
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57 a (new)
Paragraph 57 a (new)
57 a. Points out that the performance of research and innovation policy is difficult to assess as there is a considerable time- lag between funding of projects and results and impacts to materialise; notes furthermore that reporting in this field is mainly focused on positive achievements instead of critical assessment of results and impact, which may not provide for a realistic picture of the performance as a whole; notes that research as a discipline involves risks as regard the results and a successful outcome cannot always be guaranteed;
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57 a (new)
Paragraph 57 a (new)
57 a. Is concerned that a high percentage (in some Member States up to 25 %) of funds from the operational programs destined for the support of SMEs in entrepreneurship and innovations are being paid to large companies instead. Asks the Commission to develop stronger control mechanisms regarding the declarations of applicants for EU funding, as the Supreme Audit Office found that in the period 2014 – 2020, the authorities relied solely on statutory self-declarations about ownership, size and indebtedness of the companies;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59
Paragraph 59
59. Is deeply concerned that based on the 28 errors the Court has quantified, the estimated level of error is 4,0 %; recalls that this figure is close to the rates the Court found in 2015, 2016 and 2017; notes that it´s a considerable increase compared to 2018 where the estimated level of error was 2,0%.;
Amendment 230 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 61 a (new)
Paragraph 61 a (new)
61 a. Regrets that complex application rules and lengthy procedures are major hurdles in particular for SMEs, start-ups and first-time applicant that lack significant resources and experience with these application procedures;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65
Paragraph 65
65. Underlines that SMEs are more error-prone than other beneficiaries since more than half the quantifiable errors found (17 out of 28) involved funding for private beneficiaries, even though the transactions in question accounted for just 42 (32 %) of the 130 transactions in the sample (SMEs made up 12 % of the sample but accounted for 21 % of the quantifiable errors); underlines that this reflects their lack of resources and familiarity with the complex eligibility rules;
Amendment 238 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 65 a (new)
Paragraph 65 a (new)
65 a. Notes with concern that the Court found weaknesses in the Commission’s documentation of the audit work done, sampling consistency and reporting, as well as in the quality of the audit procedures in some of the files reviewed; points out that the Court found, inter alia, ineligible amounts that the auditors had not detected because of insufficient testing in their audit (mainly in respect of personnel costs), erroneous interpretation of the double-ceiling rule, and errors in the underlying calculation of personnel costs that had not been detected; in tat connection supports the recommendations from the Court to improve the situation;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68 – indent -1 (new)
Paragraph 68 – indent -1 (new)
-1 calls on the Commission to further simplify rules and procedures, provide practical and pragmatic guidance and improve its assistance for SMEs, start-ups and other first-time applicants to level the playing field among applicants with varying level of experience and resources;
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68 a (new)
Paragraph 68 a (new)
68 a. Urges the Commission to cooperate with Member States in order to adjust the conditions set by the national authorities for receiving subsidies for larger projects, as currently most of CAP funding benefits large companies; calls on the Commission to issue recommendations and align these conditions so that they are better harmonized across the EU, while respecting national specificities;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 15 a (new)
Subheading 15 a (new)
Monitoring and control systems: storing and recording of data and digitalisation of reporting
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 83 a (new)
Paragraph 83 a (new)
83 a. Recalls the interinstitutional agreement between the European Parliament and the Council; to enhance the protection of the Union budget and Next Generation EU against irregularities including fraud; calls for the introduction of standardised measures to collect, compare and aggregate information and figures on the final beneficiaries of Union funding, for the purposes of control and audit;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 83 b (new)
Paragraph 83 b (new)
83 b. Notes, that the collection of data on those ultimately benefitting, directly or indirectly, from Union funding under shared management and for projects and reforms supported by the Recovery and Resiliency Facility, including data on beneficial owners of the recipients of the funding, is necessary to ensure effective controls and audits. The rules related to the collection and processing of such data should comply with applicable data protection rules.
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 85 a (new)
Paragraph 85 a (new)
85 a. Notes that the risk at closure was estimated at 1,1 % (1,3 % in 2018), and the risk at payment increased from 1,7 % in 2018 to a range between 2,2 - 3,1 % in 2019 for this expenditure area according to the Commission;
Amendment 280 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 85 b (new)
Paragraph 85 b (new)
85 b. Notes that for ERDF the risk at payment increased from 2 % in 2018 to a range between 2,7 - 3,8 % in 2019, and for ESF, the risk at payment was estimated in the range of 1,7 - 2,4 %; points out that the Commission found that ineligible expenditure, public procurement irregularities and audit trail issues are the main sources of audit findings and irregularities identified in this policy field;
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 89
Paragraph 89
89. Is very concerned about the weaknesses found in the work of several audit authorities covered by the Court’s sample, which currently limit the reliance that can be placed on that work (the recalculated rate was above the 2 % materiality threshold in nine out of 20 assurance packages for the 2014-2020 period, the Commission adjusted the residual error rates for eight assurance packages to a figure above 2 %); regrets that the Court cannot include an analysis for the reasons for these persisting weaknesses in its work; regrets that neither the Commission could contribute meaningful insights on the reasons and any country-specific differences between Member States’ authorities; regrets that this lack of information on the underlying reasons for these persisting, systemic weaknesses in certain national audit authorities hinders efficiently and effectively addressing and solving these problems;
Amendment 292 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 90
Paragraph 90
90. Notes, while assessing the work of 18 out of 116 audit authorities in 2019, that for 120 of the sampled transactions (55 %), the Court was able to conclude on the basis of its review of audit authorities’ work; is deeply concerned that the Court identified shortcomings with the scope, quality and/or documentation of that work in 100 transactions (45 %), which required the Court to re-perform the corresponding audit procedures;
Amendment 297 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 16 a (new)
Subheading 16 a (new)
ECA Review 04/2020 EU action to tackle the issue of plastic waste
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 a (new)
Paragraph 93 a (new)
93 a. Notes that while not an audit report, this review examined the EU’s approach to the issue of land-based plastic waste as set out in the 2018 Plastics Strategy;
Amendment 299 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 b (new)
Paragraph 93 b (new)
93 b. Takes note of the Court’s observations, in particular: - that Member State waste management infrastructure development is supported funded through cohesion policy instruments;expenditure of EUR 1 bn for the current programming period 2014- 2020 is low compared to the EUR 4.4 bn that were budgeted but it is not known how much of this will be budgeted or used to improve plastics recycling capacity; - that Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes for packaging, which seek to make producers financially and organisationally responsible for the management of their products once they become waste, are widespread in all Member States with varying coverage but wide disparities in levels of efficiency exist;generally, EPR schemes promote lighter packaging but not recyclability, reflecting that most EPR schemes require producers to pay fees according to the weight of the plastic packaging they place on the market;this is compounded by the fact that Essential Requirements for packaging have been found to be unenforceable in practice by a study for the Commission; - that the implementation of legal requirements is considered satisfactory, but wide discrepancies and margin of error exist in Member State’s data reporting;inaccurate estimates may be due to insufficient incentives for correct reporting, exclusion of small producers from data reporting, existence of free- riders, incomplete coverage of online sales and cross-border purchases, exclusion from the calculation of reusable packaging put on the market for the first time;a 2018 study on waste statistics commissioned by the Commission shows that a significant margin of error is due to leeway in the interpretation of legally binding obligations, insufficient verification of data, wide variation in calculation methods and verification procedures and lack of incentives for accurate reporting; - that the illegal disposal of plastic waste is a serious and complex crime;illegal waste disposal is linked to organized crime and money laundering and is one of the most lucrative illegal markets in the world, on a par with human trafficking and illegal drugs and firearms trade, due to the low risk of prosecution and low fines; - that the update of the Basel convention, which came into effect on 1 January 2021,will reduce the export from the EU to non-OECD countries of plastic packaging waste for recycling, these exports represent almost 30% of reported plastic packaging recycling in the EU, the result will be increased demand for, and pressure on, domestic recycling capacity and a risk of increased illegal waste disposal, this at the same time the EU target for recycling plastic waste is increasing;
Amendment 300 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 c (new)
Paragraph 93 c (new)
93 c. Is concerned by the Court’s observations that the EU’s legal framework to tackle waste crime is marked by shortcomings consisting of lack of data on contaminated sites as well as on sanctions and prosecution rates, difficulties in determining which behaviour constitutes environmental crime due to legal uncertainties such as the definition of waste versus end-of- waste, failure of EU legal acts to address the growing involvement of organised criminal groups in environmental crime, which is then associated with other crimes such as money laundering, absence of harmonised EU rules on the mix of sanctions (administrative/criminal/ civil), lack of specialised police forces, prosecutors’ offices and judges to deal with environmental crime;
Amendment 301 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 d (new)
Paragraph 93 d (new)
93 d. Notes that chemical recycling can encompass many different technologies, which are not yet a technologically or economically feasible waste treatment option while landfilling is set to be dramatically reduced; is of the opinion that recycling capacities need to be drastically increased to improve the technological and economic feasibility of recycling; is convinced that increasing the capacity of legal disposal of plastics waste for producers of plastic packaging to meet their obligation under the EPR schemes will have a positive impact on the problem of illegal waste trafficking and other waste crimes;
Amendment 302 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 e (new)
Paragraph 93 e (new)
93 e. Welcomes the own resource based on non-recycled plastic packaging waste as a good instrument to incentivise Member States to improve recycling; highlights in this regard the need for proper reporting;
Amendment 303 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 16 a (new)
Subheading 16 a (new)
Serious irregularities and misuse of funds in member states
Amendment 306 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 c (new)
Paragraph 93 c (new)
93 c. Notes that in 2019, DG EMPL issued 16 warning letters, when significant deficiencies in the management and control system have been identified. 12 decisions to interrupt payment deadlines have been taken (4 for Italy, 3 for Hungary, 2 for the UK and France and 1 for Spain) and one decision has been taken to suspend payments (UK- Scotland);
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 d (new)
Paragraph 93 d (new)
93 d. Notes that significant reservations were issued for Italy (15 reservations, amounting to EUR 50.26 million) and France (9 reservations, amounting to EUR 47.95 million). In case of Italy this was mainly due to the to a systemic deficiency in public procurements resulting from the wrong transposition of the public procurement directive by the national legislation, while in France the regional control bodies did not have enough time to finalise their audits of operations within the deadline in the case of 5 programmes;
Amendment 308 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 e (new)
Paragraph 93 e (new)
93 e. Notes that the total amount of financial corrections performed for the accounting year2018- 2019 by the Member States was EUR 3.41 billion, of which 912 million fell on Hungary, 578 million on Spain, 368 million on Slovakia and 236 million on Poland. As regards financial corrections reported cumulatively since the beginning of the period 2014-2020 by the Member States the total amount was 6.10 billion, of which 2.15 billion fell on Hungary, 668 million on Spain, 647 million on Poland and 459 million on Slovakia;
Amendment 309 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 f (new)
Paragraph 93 f (new)
93 f. Is worried about the durability of ERDF co-financed investments in infrastructure; regrets that projects have been repurposed after a few years; considers the concept of durability as an important safeguard for the effective and efficient use of Union resources under cohesion policy; calls on the Commission to ensure that the sustainability of investments is guaranteed for a longer period;
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 g (new)
Paragraph 93 g (new)
93 g. Notes with concern that the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO), in its 2019 Annual Activity Report, had to issue two reservations concerning 67 programmes ERDF/CF in the 2014-2020 programming period, and 9 ERDF/CF and one IPA- CBC programmes in the 2007-2013 programming period; points out that serious deficiencies in the management and control systems leading to a risk to expenditure estimated above 10 % for the Multiannual Framework 2014-2020; welcomes that the updated Financial regulation has further clarified the concept of conflict of interests under shared management;
Amendment 311 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 93 h (new)
Paragraph 93 h (new)
93 h. Is concerned that the Directorate- General for Employment (DG EMPL), in its 2019 Annual Activity Report, had to issue a reservation concerning the ESF / Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) and Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived(FEAD) (30 programmes in ESF / YEI and FEAD) 2014-2020 period; notes since the two DGs stated in their Annual Activity Reports that no reservations are made where the confirmed residual error rate for the previous accounting year was above 2 % because additional financial corrections would be applied in the future, the Commission’s reservations are mostly based on provisional rates and might not necessarily cover all material risks;
Amendment 316 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 – indent -1 (new)
Paragraph 94 – indent -1 (new)
-1 conduct a thorough analysis of the underlying reasons and potential structural problems causing the persisting systemic weaknesses detected by the Court in its audits every year and pay special attention to any potential country-specific differences; asks the Commission to also include observations on best practice in national authorities with low levels of errors and whose work is deemed reliable by the Court; asks the Commission to conduct this analysis in close cooperation with the Court and actively involve national authorities both regarding the problem description and potential solutions;
Amendment 317 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 – indent -1 a (new)
Paragraph 94 – indent -1 a (new)
-1 a -share the results of this analysis with the Court, the discharge authority and Member States;
Amendment 318 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 – indent -1 b (new)
Paragraph 94 – indent -1 b (new)
-1 b based on this analysis, address clear, practical and readily implementable horizontal as well as country-specific recommendations to the national authorities; asks the Commission to establish a structured dialogue with the national authorities and the Court to continuously work on capacity building and exchange of best practice to improve the reliability of national audit authorities’ work; keep the discharge authority informed about the progress of this dialogue;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 a (new)
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 a (new)
- calls on the Commission and the Member States to put in use a single integrated, interoperable information and monitoring system including a single data-mining and risk-scoring tool to access and analyse the relevant data and increase control reliability, with a view to a generalised application, including with the help of the Technical Support Instrument.
Amendment 335 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 a (new)
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 a (new)
- draw on the Court’s observations on plastic waste for the review of Directive 2008/99/EC particularly with regards to minimum standards and clear definitions of different waste crimes;
Amendment 336 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 b (new)
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 b (new)
- address the problem of the lack of capacity for recycling and incineration as a means to reduce waste crimes, such as waste trafficking by increasing capacity for legal disposal of plastic waste and its economic attractiveness for producers of plastics waste;
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 c (new)
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 c (new)
- improve the definition of recycling and the requirements for reporting on recycling, particularly for the own resource based on non-recycled plastic packaging waste; asks the Commission to assess the possibility for digitalising the reporting and monitoring of waste flows between operators to increase the ability to detect irregularities and indications for waste trafficking;
Amendment 338 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 d (new)
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 d (new)
- analyse in close cooperation with the responsible national authorities the reasons behind the low absorption of funds available for waste management infrastructure and inform the discharge authority about the findings; inform the discharge authority about how the Commission is assisting Member States in increasing the absorption rate and explore further avenues of assistance;
Amendment 339 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 e (new)
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 e (new)
- inform the discharge authority of any reallocation of cohesion funding from funds intended to support recycling and waste management to other areas as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic;
Amendment 340 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 f (new)
Paragraph 94 – indent 2 f (new)
- prioritise as a matter of urgency the review of Essential Requirements for packaging in order to accelerate the adaptation of plastic packaging design and manufacturing in favour of recyclability and sustainability in time to support the achievement of the 2025 plastic packaging recycling target;
Amendment 348 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 95 a (new)
Paragraph 95 a (new)
95 a. Notes with concern that years after the launch of the2014-2020 programming period just above one third of the 72 programme indicators for ERDF and CF were on track, even though a number of the targets had been revised downwards; recalls the recommendation to further improve the Key Performance Indicators; notes, however, that limitations in data prevent the auditors from making a comprehensive assessment of performance in this policy field, as it is difficult to assess whether the funds have met, or are likely to meet, the general and specific objectives set, even though the progress of the individual indicators can be assessed against the milestones and targets set; calls on the Commission to develop a consistent assessment framework that is able to assess whether the milestones and targets of ERDF and CF have been met;
Amendment 357 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 99
Paragraph 99
99. Underlines that in cohesion policy, characterised by large-scale infrastructure projects, there can be a time lag between the start of the programme, its implementation and the realisation of outputs and results; finds it worrisome that progress is also likely to be affected by the relatively low levels of implementation in respect of cohesion policy, compared to the rest of Union budget; notes that these factors, together with the fact that the latest data available (in an implementation period lasting until the end of 2023) relates to the end of 2018, making it harder at this stage to conclude on the achievement of the objectives; calls on the Commission to reduce the time lag between the start of the programme, its implementation and the realisation of outputs and results; notes that the supervision of network completion needs to be strengthened; urges the Commission to implement a department for providing Member States with expert support in steering such large projects;
Amendment 359 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 99 a (new)
Paragraph 99 a (new)
99 a. Is very concerned by media reports about European co-financed construction, renovation or modification of buildings for the purpose of vocational training, where these buildings were repurposed after the minimum required period of three years; regrets allegations of fraud and personal enrichment from this repurposing; regrets that the Commission has not been able to provide additional information to dispel all remaining doubts; welcomes the intention of the Commission to properly follow-up on these allegations;
Amendment 360 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 99 b (new)
Paragraph 99 b (new)
99 b. Considers the legal minimum durability requirement of three to five years too short given the significant amount invested and the longevity of such projects; regrets that the co-legislators did not decide to introduce longer durability requirements during the revision of the [Common Provisions Regulation]; notes that significant differences exist across Member States in the national rules on durability of infrastructure investments and premature repurposing;
Amendment 361 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 99 a (new)
Paragraph 99 a (new)
99 a. Is concerned about the lack of control and follow-up of the funding for entrepreneurs; calls on the Commission to develop a detailed strategy for the control of funding; and invites the Commission to assess the results of the projects funded by this financial mechanism; encourages the Commission to publish the results of its evaluation;
Amendment 377 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 107
Paragraph 107
107. Finds itself in agreement with the Court’s opinion that there are strong indications that the Union will not meet the 2030 climate and energy targets; notes that according to the Commission, there was only limited progress in the reduction of the negative environmental impacts stemming from the use of natural resources; highlights its agreement with the Court that half of the Union Member States were at risk of not generating enough electricity from renewable energy to meet their 2020 targets; notes that in the Court’s landscape review of Union action on energy and climate change, the Court reported that the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions projected by Member States falls short of the 40 % target for 2030; calls on the Commission to reevaluate the results due to the impact of covid-19 pandemic and the Green Deal package;
Amendment 394 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 116 a (new)
Paragraph 116 a (new)
116 a. Takes note of the Commission’s conclusion that with regard to the performance of the EU budget, most programmes are progressing towards the targets set at the beginning of the programming period, and despite the delays in the starting up the 2014-2020 cohesion programmes, progress is now accelerating; notes however that the Commission is able to define definite conclusions on performance only on the basis of detailed evaluations after closure of the current programmes;
Amendment 405 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 18 a (new)
Subheading 18 a (new)
Recommendations
Amendment 406 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 116 a (new)
Paragraph 116 a (new)
116 a. Calls on the Commission to: - follow up on allegation of alleged fraud regarding the repurposing of vocational training centres;analyse whether similar problems exist in other Member States regarding the repurposing of EU-co- financed infrastructure projects; - promptly inform the discharge authority about its findings and potential further action following this analysis; - conduct a thorough analysis on the different national rules on durability of infrastructure investments and premature repurposing and share this analysis with the discharge authority; - encourage Member States to create national legislation on adequate durability periods beyond the minimum requirements as already existing in a lot of Member States;
Amendment 413 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 119
Paragraph 119
119. Finds it worryingNotes that of the 251 transactions examined7 , 44 (18 %) contained errors while 207 (82 %) were error-free; is concernednotes that based on the 36 errors ECA has quantified and other evidence produced by the control system ECA finds the level of error for ‘Natural resources’ to be close to the materiality threshold; _________________ 7The sample consisted of 136 payments under rural development programmes, 95 direct payments, 14 market measures and 6 payments for fisheries, the environment and climate action.
Amendment 419 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 123
Paragraph 123
123. Notes that of 68 rural development payments based on the area or animal numbers declared by farmers, and on requirements to comply with environmental and climate-related criteria, 8 transactions were affected by small errors below 5 % of the amount examined, 1 case of error between 5 % and 20 %, in 2 other cases the beneficiaries breached environmental and climate- related eligibility conditions, leading to errors exceeding 20 % of the amount examined in both cases;
Amendment 426 #
126. Is concerned by the limitations in the reliability of the results of the certification bodies’ work, due to weaknesses the Court identified in some certification bodies’ checks and sampling methodologies; regrets that the Court cannot include an analysis for the reasons for these persisting weaknesses in its work; regrets that neither the Commission could contribute meaningful insights on the reasons and any country-specific differences between Member States’ certification bodies; regrets that this lack of information on the underlying reasons for these persisting, systemic weaknesses in certain certification bodies hinders efficiently and effectively addressing and solving these problems;
Amendment 427 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 126
Paragraph 126
126. Is concerned by the limitations in the reliability of the results of the certification bodies’ work, due to weaknesses the Court identified in some certification bodies’ checks and sampling methodologies; welcomes that the Commission visited all certification bodies to review their work on legality and irregularity and to assist them to improve their work by the end of 2019; calls on the Commission to analyse the main sources of undetected errors and develop the necessary measures together with audit authorities to improve the reliability of reported residual rates;
Amendment 448 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 21 a (new)
Subheading 21 a (new)
Country-specific observations
Amendment 449 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 127 a (new)
Paragraph 127 a (new)
127 a. Notes, that as regards market measures, 6 Paying Agencies have been classified as providing "limited assurance with high risk": Bulgaria, Spain, UK, Greece, Italy (for 2 aid schemes) and Portugal. The highest adjusted error rate was found in Bulgaria (11.52%), followed by Poland (7.15%) and Italy (6.12%). DG AGRI has issued 7 reservations at measure level: Fruit and Vegetables: Operational programmes for producer organisations (the United Kingdom, Italy and Portugal), Olive oil (Greece), Wine sector (Bulgaria, Italy), EU School Scheme (Spain). Is especially concerned about the wine sector, where the adjusted error rates in Bulgaria (15.7%) and Italy (9.6%) are very high, with amounts at risk of more than EUR 30 million in Italy and EUR 2.3 million in Bulgaria.
Amendment 450 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 127 b (new)
Paragraph 127 b (new)
127 b. Notes, that as regards direct payments, 18 Paying Agencies had an error rate between 2% and 5%, and one above 5 % (5.2 in Austria). DG AGRI has issued 17 reservations at Paying Agency level for Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Spain (3 Paying Agencies), Greece, Italy (7 Paying Agencies), Portugal, Romania and Sweden;
Amendment 451 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 127 c (new)
Paragraph 127 c (new)
127 c. The reservations can be grouped in the following categories: due to weaknesses in relation to payment entitlements (AT, DK, IT, PT, SE), due to weakness in animal-based voluntary support measures (AT, GR, RO), due to high reported error-rate (CY), based on the Certification Body assessment (ES06) , due to weaknesses in the quality of on- the-spot checks (ES09, ES15, GR, PT, SE), weaknesses in the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) (IT) and due to weaknesses in the definition of land type (RO, SE);
Amendment 452 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 127 d (new)
Paragraph 127 d (new)
127 d. The reductions made in 2019 concerned 17 Member States and a total amount of EUR 67 764 269.48 of which 36 million fell on Italy, 15 million on the UK and 8 million on Spain;
Amendment 453 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 127 e (new)
Paragraph 127 e (new)
127 e. Notes, that as regards rural development, 30 out of 71 Paying Agencies have an adjusted error rate above 2% (of which 8 were above 5%: Cyprus, Germany (one Paying Agency), Estonia, Spain (one Paying Agency), France (one Paying Agency), United Kingdom (one Paying Agency), Portugal, Slovakia. DG AGRI has issued 21 reservations at Paying Agency level: Austria, Cyprus, Germany (one Paying Agency), Denmark, Estonia, Spain (two Paying Agencies), Finland, France (two Paying Agencies), United Kingdom (one Paying Agency), Croatia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy (two Paying Agencies), Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Slovakia. The highest adjusted error rates were found in Slovakia (10.31%), followed by 7.63% in Cyprus and 5.94% in Poland;
Amendment 454 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 127 f (new)
Paragraph 127 f (new)
127 f. The reservations can be grouped in the following categories: due to deficiencies in organic farming measure (AT,HU); under afforestation (ES02, PT); and for Leader and private investment non- Integrated Administrative and Control System (non-IACS) measure (DE19), due to deficiencies in checks for the on the spot controls (CY, DK, FR18, FR19,IT10, SK); cost reasonableness (ES09, FR19); in cross-checks (ES09, SK); ineligibility (ES09, CY, RO, SK) and active farmer (GB07), due to weaknesses in supervision procedures for some measures (IT10); and in recording of the maximum eligible area (MEA) in the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) for Integrated Administrative and Control System (IACS) measures (IT10, IT26), due to deficiencies in investment measure (HR); private investments (LT); forestry, agri-environmental commitments, setting up of producer groups and risk management measures (HU); due to deficiencies in public procurement procedures (HU, RO, SK), due to high reported error rates (CY, DK, EE, ES02, ES09, FR18, FR19 HR, IE, LT, PT) , based on the Certification Body assessment (FI, GB07, HR, IT26, SE);
Amendment 457 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 21 a (new)
Subheading 21 a (new)
Recommendations
Amendment 458 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 127 a (new)
Paragraph 127 a (new)
127 a. Calls on the Commission to-: - conduct a thorough analysis of the underlying reasons and potential structural problems causing the persisting systemic weaknesses in the reliability and quality of the work by the certifying bodies detected by the Court in its audits every year and pay special attention to any potential country-specific differences;asks the Commission to also include observations on best practice in national authorities with low levels of errors and whose work is deemed reliable by the Court;asks the Commission to conduct this analysis in close cooperation with the Court and actively involve national authorities both regarding the problem description and potential solutions; - - share the results oft his analysis with the Court, the discharge authority and Member States; - - based on this analysis, address clear, practical and readily implementable horizontal as well as country-specific recommendations to the national authorities; asks the Commission to establish a structured dialogue with the national authorities and the Court to continuously work on capacity building and exchange of best practice to improve the reliability of national audit authorities’ work; keep the discharge authority informed about the progress of this dialogue;
Amendment 530 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128 a (new)
Paragraph 128 a (new)
Amendment 531 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128 a (new)
Paragraph 128 a (new)
128 a. Is concerned about the multitude of media reports on labour rights abuses of cross-border and seasonal agricultural workers throughout the EU, in many Member States; supports the Commission in its efforts at refusing aid to farms that do not respect the labour rights of seasonal workers;
Amendment 532 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128 b (new)
Paragraph 128 b (new)
128 b. Reiterates its call for the introduction of maximum amounts of payments that one natural person can receive from the first and second pillar of the CAP; is of the opinion that maximum amounts that are defined for natural persons are much harder to circumvent than caps for legal persons; reminds that beneficiaries can artificially split up their companies or create additional companies that all can receive the maximum amount of funding, thereby circumventing a cap defined per legal person; welcomes the intentions of the proposal to count all companies belonging to the same group as one beneficiary, but is of the opinion that this is insufficient: opaque and highly complex company structures often involving entities in several Member States and/or third countries make it very difficult to ensure that all companies belonging to the same group are identified as such and in fact treated as one beneficiary;
Amendment 533 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128 c (new)
Paragraph 128 c (new)
128 c. Repeats its concern that CAP subsidies continue to incentivise land- grabbing by criminal and oligarchic structures; reiterates its urgent call on the Commission to establish a complaint mechanism for farmers and SMEs faced with land-grabbing, severe misconduct by national authorities, irregular or biased treatment in tenders or the distribution of subsidies, pressure or intimidation from criminal structures, organised crime or oligarchic structures, or another severe infringement oft heir fundamental rights to lodge a complaint directly with the Commission; welcomes that such a complaint mechanism has been proposed for the new CAP regulation;
Amendment 534 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128 d (new)
Paragraph 128 d (new)
128 d. Notes that DG AGRI audits in 2017 and 2019 detected weaknesses in the functioning of the Land Parcel Identification System, the Geospacial Aid Application, the quality of the on-the- spot-checks, as well as excessive delays in the processing of payments, in particular for overlapping claims; welcomes that the Commission has interrupted payments, put the paying agency under probation; notes that the deficiencies in the management and control systems of the paying agency are being addressed in an action plan requested by DG AGRI and reinforced in 2019; notes that the amount at risk is EUR 3.271 mio. for direct payments and EUR 21.596 mio. for rural development and that the conformity clearance procedure is ongoing;
Amendment 535 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128 e (new)
Paragraph 128 e (new)
128 e. Notes that OLAF closed three administrative investigations in 2020 on possible misuse of EU funds for agriculture in Slovakia concerning direct payment applications made between 2013 and 2019; regrets that a company was found to intentionally claim EU payments on ineligible land, which was mainly used for non-agricultural activity; finds it alarming that OLAF also identified that certain areas that had been claimed for years by some companies were in fact not covered by legally valid lease contracts;
Amendment 536 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128 f (new)
Paragraph 128 f (new)
128 f. Notes further that OLAF’s investigations uncovered several weaknesses in the control and management system for direct payments in Slovakia; regrets that there are only very limited controls on whether the disposal of land by applicants is lawful and that verification checks are limited to overlapping claims; notes OLAF’s finding that the internal verification procedures adopted by the Slovak national authority in charge of the management of agricultural land under State ownership or land without a known private owner should be improved as regards its transparency and legal certainty; notes that as a result of the shortcomings in the verification processes, OLAF considers that overpayments could amount to more than one million euros;
Amendment 537 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 22 a (new)
Subheading 22 a (new)
Recommendations
Amendment 538 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128 g (new)
Paragraph 128 g (new)
128 g. Calls on the Commission to: - do its utmost in the negotiations on the CAP to ensure that a complaint mechanism for farmers and SMEs will become part of the new CAP regulation; - do its utmost in the negotiations on the CAP to ensure that maximum amounts of payments receivable from the first and second pillar of the CAP are defined per natural person; - keep the discharge authority informed on any new developments regarding the Slovak Agricultural Paying Agency, including specific information on financial corrections; - calls on the Commission to increase efforts to prevent and detect fraud and frequently update its analysis of CAP fraud risks more often and perform an analysis of Member States' prevention measures as a matter of priority;
Amendment 566 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 138 a (new)
Paragraph 138 a (new)
138 a. Urges the Commission to follow up on the Court's recommendations concerning audit coverage, sampling and audit trails in relation to Member States' audit authorities in order to address the identified shortcomings;
Amendment 567 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 138 c (new)
Paragraph 138 c (new)
138 c. Welcomes that the Court assessed the results of EU programmes; notes that appropriate risk analyzes and recommendations for action to EU policymakers are an important basis for political decision-making; however, is concerned that the large number of output indicators is increasingly expressing preference for certain partisan positions; calls on the Court to focus the performance assessments on achieving European added value and an efficient use of EU tax money;
Amendment 568 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 138 c (new)
Paragraph 138 c (new)
138 c. Is concerned that the Commission uses too many input and output indicators in its performance analysis that are expressing preference for certain partisan positions; asks the Commission to streamline performance reporting by reducing the number of relevant objectives and meaningful indicators it uses for its various performance reports, and focus on those fewer and more appropriate common set of outcome and impact indicators which best measure the results achieved in terms of efficiency, economy and effectiveness of the Union spending;
Amendment 619 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 148 a (new)
Paragraph 148 a (new)
148 a. Notes with astonishment the Commission’s reaction to allegations of fundamental rights concerns at Frontex; is concerned that the communication and cooperation between the Commission and Frontex seems stagnant; calls on the Commission to provide Frontex with clear legal guidance to ensure appropriate and lawful procedures for critical situations at external (sea) borders given the complex geopolitical challenges of these operations;
Amendment 626 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 150 – indent 2
Paragraph 150 – indent 2
- strengthen the performance- monitoring framework by a) ensuring that AMIF EMAS projects contain outinput and outcome indicators with clear targets and baselines where appropriate, and justifying when this is not the case; b) monitoring and reporting the outcomes achieved by EMAS-funded projects; c) for the new MFF 2021-2027, designing the AMIF CMEF indicators, including their baselines and targets before the 2021-2027 projects start;
Amendment 631 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 151 – introductory part
Paragraph 151 – introductory part
151. Welcomes the recommendations issued by the Internal Audit Service of the Commission for DG HOME for 2019 such as:
Amendment 636 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 152
Paragraph 152
152. Welcomes the ongoing implementation by the DG JUST of recommendations issued by the Internal Audit Service of the Commission for DG JUST relating to the impact assessment process and implementation of better regulation guidelines and toolbox;
Amendment 638 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 156 a (new)
Paragraph 156 a (new)
156 a. Is concerned about the hate speech and violence taught in Palestinian school textbooks and used in schools by UNRWA; reiterates its position that all schoolbooks and school materials 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 will be removed immediately and requests UNRWA to put in place a coherent control system to review and modify curriculums; underlines that one way of ensuring transparency and conformity of school materials is to publish in an open- source platform all its educational materials for teachers, pupils and students as well as its reviews of host country textbooks to allow review by third parties;
Amendment 650 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 157
Paragraph 157
Amendment 658 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 161
Paragraph 161
161. Points out that after the judgement of the General Court of the Union in December 2015 on Western Sahara, Morocco suspended political dialogue covering all Union external policies such as development policy, trade, foreign and security policy from December 2015 until January 2019; notes the Commission’s comments to Special Report 09/2019 that as "policy dialogue was never suspended during the period of difficult political relations between the EU and Morocco, the Commission considers there were no grounds to develop an alternative strategy";
Amendment 659 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 161 a (new)
Paragraph 161 a (new)
161 a. Underlines that Morocco is a long- standing and strategic partner and neighbour of the EU with fruitful cooperation leading to positive results;
Amendment 660 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 162 – introductory part
Paragraph 162 – introductory part
162. StressNotes that the Court identified several problems hamperingchallenges to the effectiveness of Budget Support:
Amendment 662 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 163 – indent 2
Paragraph 163 – indent 2
- improve the design of target and performance indicators, specifically make a greater use of outcome-oriented indicators;results
Amendment 667 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 163 a (new)
Paragraph 163 a (new)
163 a. Takes note of the Commission’s replies to Special Report 09/2019, particularly that the Commission concludes that EU cooperation has contributed to the implementation of reforms in Morocco, which had a positive impact on the country’s socio-economic development;
Amendment 797 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 187
Paragraph 187
187. Is very critical in relation to the increase in contract staff as a result to special or urgent situations, such as the migration crisis;
Amendment 799 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 188
Paragraph 188
Amendment 808 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 190
Paragraph 190
190. Finds it highly problematicNotes that at the end of 2018, the institutions, bodies and executive agencies employed 11 962 contract staff, (representing an increase of 37 % since 2012); points out that most were employed by the European Commission, mainly in FG IV, the best paid function group, similarly, a majority of contract staff at the executive agencies were in FG III and FG IV (763 and 715 respectively);