13 Amendments of Marco ZANNI related to 2015/2128(INI)
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Is concerned about the VAT gap, which amounted to EUR 168 billion in 2013; underlines the fact that in many Member States VAT fraud and avoidance remains at a continuously high level; points out that the fight against VAT fraud is a national competence, meaning that the Commission does not have access to the information exchanged between Member States to prevent and combat so-called ‘carousel’ fraud; calls on all Member States to participate in all EUROFISC’s fields of activity so as to facilitate the exchange of information to help combat fraud; reiterates that the Commission has the competence to control and supervise measures taken by the Member States1; calls on the Commission to make full use of its executive powers in order to both control and help the Member States in their fight against VAT fraud and tax avoidance; __________________ 1 Council Regulations (EU, Euratom) No 1553/89/EEC and (EU, Euratom) No 608/2014.
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Expresses concern with regard to customs inspections and the related collection of customs duties, which are one of the own resources under the EU budget; points out that it is the customs authorities of the Member States that conduct inspections to check that importers are complying with the rules on tariffs and imports, and stresses that the Court of Auditors has found the quality of those inspections to vary from one Member State to another; calls on the Commission to update the Customs Audit Guide, published in 2014, in order to eliminate the shortcomings detected by the Court of Auditors, such as the issues surrounding the handling of imports cleared through customs in another Member State;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Repeats its call on the Commission to develop a system for the exchange of information among the competent authorities so as to enable the cross-checking of accounting entries between two or more Member States in order to prevent transnational fraud in respect of the Structural and Investment Funds, hence ensuring a cross-cutting approach to the protection of the EU’s financial interests;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that in the area of cohesion policy the trend for the number of irregularities reported as fraudulent is stabilising, with 306 cases reported; is seriously concerned about the increase of over EUR 115 million, which is mainly due to a sharp increase (by 660%) in reported fraudulent irregularities in the 2007-2013 cohesion fund programming period from EUR 21 million to EUR 161 million; welcomes the use of the Arachne tool in support of the management and control of operational programmes and calls on all the Member States to apply that tool so as to reduce the error rate and strengthen the prevention and detection of fraud;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the overall drop in reported irregularities in Pre-Accession Assistance (PAA); regrets the steadily increasing trend concerning irregularities in the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) since 2010, both in amounts and in the number of cases, with Turkey being the main contributor to this negative development. expresses concern at the fact that in Serbia pre- accession funding is being used to offer tax advantages to European companies that set up production operations there; calls on the Commission to ensure that the use of pre-accession funding by recipient States goes hand-in-hand with complete transparency;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Reiterates its call on the Commission to swiftly promote legislation on the minimum level of protection for whistle- blowers in the European Union; calls on the European institutions to amend the Staff Regulations to ensure that these not only formally oblige officials to report irregularities, but also lay down adequate protection for whistle-blowers; calls on the European institutions that have not done so and other bodies to implement Article 22(c) of the Staff Regulations without delay; calls firmly for all EU institutions to adopt internal rules concerning whistle-blowing by employees and the latter’s obligations, focusing on protection for whistle-blowers;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Considers that greater involvement of EU citizens is necessary at the programming and control stage, through easily accessible information tools, especially where major infrastructure is being financed; calls on the Commission to consider the idea of participatory budgeting, in order to involve citizens in monitoring the spending of EU funds, and to establish an accessible electronic desk to report cases of fraud;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Notes that the level of irregularities due to non-compliance with public procurement rules remains high; calls on the Member States to transpose rapidly into national law Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement1, which makes e-procurement mandatory and introduces monitoring and reporting obligations to curb procurement fraud and other serious irregularities; calls on the Commission to make it compulsory to publish all documentation relating to beneficiaries, and in particular to subcontractors; __________________ 1 OJ L 94, 28.3.2014, p. 65.
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Points out that in emergency situations, such as the use of funds for refugees, there are often exemptions from normal procurement procedures, involving direct access to funds; regrets that, for this reason, there have often been cases of misconduct; calls on the Commission to supervise more effectively the use of such exemptions and the widespread practice of splitting procurement contracts so as not to exceed the thresholds, thereby avoiding regular procurement procedures;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 b (new)
Paragraph 28 b (new)
28b. Calls on the Commission to make public all the documentation relating to the Lyon-Turin project and to consider submitting a proposal to make it compulsory for all accounting and planning documents concerning major infrastructure work to be published, including documentation on subcontractors;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Notes the importance of further and continuous measures to avoid fraudulent irregularities, but also pushes for more focus on ensuring the ‘Value for Money’ principle in public spending; calls for the mandatory inclusion of ex ante assessments of environmental, economic and social added value in the process to select projects for funding, both within and outside the Union, and for the results of those assessments and the indicators used to be made public and to be fully accessible;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32a. Calls on the Commission to be fully transparent as regards its agreements with tobacco companies and urges Member States always to report on any money they spend from the funds received as a result of those agreements;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Welcomes the successful outcomes of numerous joint customs operations (JCOs) involving the cooperation of OLAF and Member States with various third-country services, which have resulted in the seizure of, inter alia, 1.2 million counterfeit goods, including perfumes, car spare parts, electronic devices and 130 million cigarettes; points out that trafficking in counterfeit goods inflicts damage on both the revenue of the Member States and on European companies;