Activities of Maria GRAPINI related to 2020/2140(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the budget of the European Union for the financial year 2019, Section III – Commission and executive agencies
Amendments (12)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Takes note of European Commission’s assessment that the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) presents a low risk of error; requests however that the Commission, together with the Court and OLAF, closely monitor the EU transport projects in order to prevent fraud, as public investment in infrastructure is particularly sensitivvulnerable to fraud;
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes that by the end of 2019 out of the total ESIF allocations for the current MFF (465 billion euros) only 40 % had been paid out to the Member States, compared with 46 % by the end of 2012, the corresponding year of the previous MFF. During 2019, 12 % of total allocations were paid, similar to the proportion of the allocations paid in 2012, the corresponding year of the previous MFF (13 %).
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that by the sixth year of the current programming period 2014-2020 only around 31% of the funds initially awarded had resulted in payments by January 2020, putting into question the full implementation of CEF; calls on the Commission to warn Member States to significantly speed up investments and also calls on the Commission to step up its monitoring in view of the urgent need for infrastructure investment for the speedy recovery from the Covid-19 related economic downturn and to ensure interconnectivity at the European level;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Reiterates the Parliament’s request for the creation of a new budgetary line for an important sector in the EU economy, such as Tourism, to support this sector severely hit by the Covid-19 crisis; welcomes that the Court has launched an audit to assess tourism projects co-funded with EUR 6.4 billion in 2007-2013 and EUR 4 billion so far in 2014-2020 ERDF and Cohesion Fund money, which will help improving EU Tourism policies;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Notes that the Court continued to find a high number of errors in relation to public procurement, state aid rules and grant award procedures, mainly in ‘Cohesion’ and ‘Natural resources’. These errors contributed 20 % to Court's estimated level of error for high-risk expenditure (2018: 16 %), for this reason, the Commission should identify ways to reduce errors;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7 b. Welcomes that the Commission has elaborated a Public Procurement Action Plan, updated several times since 2014;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7 c. The overall audit evidence the Court obtained and have presented, indicates that the level of error in spending on ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’ was material. For this MFF sub-heading, Court's testing of transactions produced an estimated overall level of error of 4,4 %;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7 d. Recommends the Commission to enhance its information campaign regarding H2020 funding rules, with particular focus on SMEs.
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. 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; notes, at the same time, that the increasing use of financial mechanisms for the implementation of Union policies in third countries, together with the Union budget, risks undermining accountability and transparency with regard to Union actions and expenditure; urges the Commission to ensure that external aid is made conditional on respect for the rule of law and human rights in recipient countries; stresses in particular the need to ensure that no Union funding is allocated or related to any terrorist cause or manifestation through the actions of third parties;
Amendment 654 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 157
Paragraph 157
157. Regrets that the Union is still practicing budget support to third Countries which is regulated by legal provisions of a broad scope creating a risk of loose interpretation by the Commission regarding the meeting of general conditions; that the Court ‘cannot cover what happens beyond the moment the Commission pays aid to the recipient country, since these funds then merge with that country’s own budget resources’22; notes that this risks undermining the level of accountability and transparency regarding Union actions and expenditure; urges the Commission to ensure that external aid is made conditional on respect for the rule of law and human rights in recipient countries; stresses in particular the need to ensure that no Union funding is allocated or related to any terrorist cause or manifestation through the actions of recipient countries or third parties; _________________ 22 P.211
Amendment 665 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 163 – indent 6 a (new)
Paragraph 163 – indent 6 a (new)
- verify in detail the use of Union funds by third parties, through their affiliated entities, to ensure that no funds are allocated or related to any terrorist causes or manifestations; ensure that these Union funds are proactively recovered and that the recipients thereof are excluded from future EU funding;
Amendment 695 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 170 – indent 5 a (new)
Paragraph 170 – indent 5 a (new)