23 Amendments of Marco ZANNI related to 2014/2075(DEC)
Amendment 4 #
Proposal for a decision 1
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Grants the Commission discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2013 / 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 2013;
Amendment 7 #
Proposal for a decision 2
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Grants the Director of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013 / Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013;
Amendment 10 #
Proposal for a decision 3
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Grants the Director of the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (formerly the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation) discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013 / Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the Executive Agency for Small and Medium- sized Enterprises (formerly the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation) discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013;
Amendment 13 #
Proposal for a decision 4
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Grants the Director of the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (formerly the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers) discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013 / Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (formerly the Executive Agency for Health and Consumers) discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013;
Amendment 16 #
Proposal for a decision 5
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Grants the Director of the European Research Council Executive Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013 / Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the European Research Council Executive Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013;
Amendment 19 #
Proposal for a decision 6
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Grants the Director of the Research Executive Agency discharge in relation to the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013 / Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the Research Executive Agency discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013;
Amendment 22 #
Proposal for a decision 7
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Grants the Director of the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (formerly the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency) discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013 / Postpones its decision on granting the Director of the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency (formerly the Trans-European Transport Network Executive Agency) discharge in respect of the implementation of the Agency’s budget for the financial year 2013;
Amendment 25 #
Proposal for a decision 8
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Approves the closure of the accounts of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2013 / Postpones the closure of the accounts of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2013;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Demands that the Commission put in place sound procedures to confirm the timing, the origin and the amount of corrective measures and to provide information reconciling as far as possible the year in which payment is made, the year in which the related error is detected and the year in which recoveries or financial corrections are disclosed in the notes to the accounts; considers it essential, furthermore, for comprehensive information to be provided on recoveries and financial corrections and for there to be full transparency with regard to data on the decommitment of appropriations and infringement proceedings for the year in question;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Points out that at the end of 2013 outstanding commitments were estimated at EUR 322 bn and that amount was forecast to increase in 2014; considers this to be at odds with the principle of sound financial management, as established in Article 310 of the TFEU, thus placing a question mark over the legality of the budget;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30a. Is concerned at the fact that some projects funded using project bonds have been tainted by corruption and criminal infiltration; believes that, in cases where criminal liability can be proved, funding should be suspended and/or withdrawn;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 a (new)
Paragraph 31 a (new)
31a. Criticises the fact that the Financial Regulation does not require each Commissioner to sign the annual activity report for the area coming within his or her remit; believes that each director- general should sign the annual activity report for the area coming within his or her responsibility and should be held liable for the accuracy of the accounts of his or her DG;
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62 a (new)
Paragraph 62 a (new)
62a. Deplores the fact that, owing to errors, fraud and inadequate controls, France is obliged to pay back more than EUR 1 bn (2%) of the EUR 40 bn received in the period 2008-2012; is disturbed by statements by the French Minister of Agriculture to the effect that the money will be paid back not by the guilty parties but the French state, i.e. French taxpayers; calls on the Commission to set up a permanent monitoring system to detect any problems that arise and thus obviate the need for such large sums to be paid back;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 68
Paragraph 68
68. Is also concerned by the findings of the Court as regards the fact that Italian authorities did not record whether debts were due to irregularities or administrative errors which could potentially lead to charging the Union budget; calls on the Commission to make a detailed analysis of this situation and report back before the end of the year;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 113 a (new)
Paragraph 113 a (new)
113a. Calls on the Commission to carry out progressive performance assessments during the implementation of projects put forward by Member States for Structural Fund financing and following their completion, with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of projects and stepping up checks on the use of public funds and thus being able to detect any abuses and fraudulent behaviour occurring during the implementation of projects;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 113 b (new)
Paragraph 113 b (new)
113b. Calls on the Commission to set up a system for the exchange of information between national audit authorities so that accounting entries for transactions between two or more Member States may be cross-checked, with a view to combating cross-border fraud affecting the Structural Funds and, in view of the new arrangements applying under the 2014-2020 multiannual financial framework, the ESI funds (European Social Fund (ESF), Cohesion Fund (CF), European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)) as a whole, in order to take a cross-cutting approach to the protection of EU financial interests;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 115
Paragraph 115
115. Regrets that in 2013 EUR 397,8 million had to be de-committed, EUR 296,7 million alone from the Czech Republic; considers that de-commitments run counter to sound financial management; is concerned at the continuing inability of some regions to take up the funding available and calls on the Commission to identify the problems that lie at the root of this situation in those regions; calls on the Commission also to draw up and submit a detailed plan for enhancing the takeup capacity of regions with a very low takeup rate;
Amendment 309 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128
Paragraph 128
128. Underlines that the employment and social policy objectives were primarily implemented by means of the ESF; for the reporting year payments worth EUR 14,1 billion were made available, of which 98 % were made via the ESF; considers, nonetheless, that an assessment of the fund's performance needs to be carried out, to measure not so much the takeup rate for the fund but the fund's effectiveness in creating jobs and bringing unemployed persons back on to the labour market; calls for a detailed analysis of the fund’s performance, on which Parliament’s political assessment of the ESF will hinge, to be submitted by the end of the year;
Amendment 354 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 149
Paragraph 149
149. Deplores the fact that for nine transactions relating to the national programme for pre-accession, the Commission at its own initiative and in violation of Article 88 of the Financial Regulation and 100 of its Rules of Application validated expenditure of EUR 150 million in the absence of supporting documentation which would have enabled it to confirm that the expenses had actually been incurred, that they were accurately reflected in the amounts accepted and that they were eligible1; considers it essential for it to be possible for such funding to be suspended not only where misuse of funds has been proven but also in cases where pre-accession countries infringe in any way the rights laid down in the Universal Charter of Human Rights; __________________ 1 See Court of Auditors' Annual Report for 2013, point 7.16.
Amendment 369 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 159 – indent 5 a (new)
Paragraph 159 – indent 5 a (new)
– make external assistance contingent on efforts being made to combat corruption;
Amendment 443 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 199 a (new)
Paragraph 199 a (new)
199a. Is concerned about the protection afforded to whistle-blowers, and calls on the Commission to ensure that their rights are fully upheld;
Amendment 454 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 204 a (new)
Paragraph 204 a (new)
204a. Believes that the President of the Commission should give a formal undertaking to obtain a positive Statement of Assurance from the Court of Auditors within a predefined time period;
Amendment 460 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 206
Paragraph 206
206. Recalls that Parliament asked in the resolution accompanying the 2012 Commission discharge for an assessment of the existing agreements with the four tobacco groups (Philip Morris International Corporation Inc. (PMI), Japan Tobacco International Corporation, British American Tobacco Corporation and Imperial Tobacco Corporation); deplores that the Commission did not give the requested follow-up and reiterates this demand; calls, furthermore, on the Commission to say exactly how much revenue was generated by those agreements and how the monies were used by the Member States.