Activities of Georgi PIRINSKI related to 2014/2075(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2013, Section III – Commission and executive agencies
Amendments (89)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes the Court’s observations about the main risks to regularity of spending in this policy area, such as the risks related to the intangible nature of investments in human capital, the diversity of the activities and the involvement of multiple, often small- scale partners in the implementation of projects; welcomes in this regard the specific mitigating actions taken by the Commission, including both preventative and corrective measures and the risk based audits carried out by DG EMPL; welcomes the use of simplified cost options which are less error prone by Member States and the risk based audits carried out by DG EMPLreduce the administrative burden on the beneficiaries and are less error prone by Member States and asks the Commission to encourage Member States not to apply more demanding rules to ESF projects than to nationally funded projects;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that the intention of Member States to absorb EU funds, should not compromise the consistent application of effective controls and it should pursue achieving results and the objectives supported by ESF which are relevant and affect the life of every European citizen;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the new guidance developed by the Commission in order to further strengthen the reliability of management verifications in the 2014-2020 programming period. This guidance has been presented to Member States and will be issued in the second half of 2014Notes the recommendation of the Court that the Commission should follow up with Member States on the weaknesses identified in the DG EMPL risk based thematic audit of management verifications and welcomes the new guidance developed by the Commission in order to further strengthen the reliability of management verifications in the 2014-2020 programming period; underlines that it is very important that the authorities in the Member States should use the information available for them to detect and correct errors prior to claiming reimbursement from the Commission which will significantly reduce the error rate in the area of employment and social affairs;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Proposes that in relation to the sectors for which the Committee on Transport and Tourism is responsible, Parliament grants to the Commission discharge in respect of the implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2013, as soon as the whole budget receives a Positive Statement of Assurance from the Court of Auditors.
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Encourages DG EMPL to pursue its aim with regard to ESF to move further from the need to correct to a situation where errors are avoided and supports DG EMPL's efforts to help the Member States with highest error rates for ESF to improve their systems by using best practice available; notes in this regard that the administrative capacity and organization of DG EMPL should correspond to its work and responsibilities towards the Member States.
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas, in a situation of scarce resources, greaterenhanced importance should be attached to the need to observe budgetary discipline and to use funds economicalfficiently and effectively;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the Commission is the ultimately responsible ofor the implementation of the Union budget while the Member States have to sincerely cooperate with the Commission todelegating under shared management implementation tasks to Member States, both the Commission and the Member States must ensure that the appropriations are used in accordance with the principles of sound financial management;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas it is crucial that, under shared management of funds, the data communicated by the Member States regarding both revenue and expenditure under shared management of funds are fair and accurate;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the interinstitutional dialog foreseen in Article 318 TFUE should be the opportunity to stimulate a new culture of performance inside the Commissionfurther improvement in Commission's implementation of the general budget of the EU;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Heading and subheading after recital E
Heading and subheading after recital E
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 1
Paragraph 1 – indent 1
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1– indent 2
Paragraph 1– indent 2
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – indent 3
Paragraph 1 – indent 3
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1– indent 4
Paragraph 1– indent 4
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 1
Subheading after paragraph 1
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 3
Subheading after paragraph 3
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
New subheading after paragraph 9
New subheading after paragraph 9
Reservations as regards disbursements
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recalls that the most likely error rate for payments in the 2012 financial year was estimated at 4,8 %, in the 2011 financial year 2011 at 3,9 %, in the 2010 financial year at 3,7 % and in the 2009 financial year at 3,3 %; notes that the Court of Auditors' annual reports therefore show a steady upward trend since 2009Notes with satisfaction that the upward trend of the most likely error rate, registered by the Court of Auditors since 2009 was discontinued in 2013 when a slight decrease compared to the previous year 2012 was registered;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Takes note with satisfaction that the number of reservations in the annual activity reports decreased from 29 in 2012 to 21 in 2013; however, notes that the lower number of quantified reservations - 17 in 2013 compared to 21 in 2012 did not have the effect of reducing the scope of the amount at risk; nevertheless, the maximum total amount at risk announced by the Commission in its synthesis report is below EUR 4 179 million which corresponds to 2,8% of all expenditure disbursed;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Notes with concern that the Director General of DG AGRI has issued in the Annual Activity Report of 31 March 2014 three reservations in respect of 2013 expenditure in shared management with the Member States and one reservation in respect of decentralised management for EUR 1 451,9 million, which are at risk of errors;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9c. Notes that the Director General of DG REGIO in its annual activity report of 31 March 2014 has put under reservations, as a consequence of partially reliable management and control system, 73 of 322 programmes for 2013, which represent a smaller share compared to 2012 (85 of 317 OPs); that the estimated amount at risk is EUR 1 135,3 million and that these reservations and the corresponding amount concern the two programming periods 2007-2013 and 2000-2006;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 d (new)
Paragraph 9 d (new)
9d. Notes with concern that there is an increase in the number of Operational Programs under reservation financed through the European Social Funds (ESF) in 2013 (36 out of 118 OPs) compared to 2012 (27 out of 117 OPs); further notes that the amount at risk put under reservations issued by the Director General of DG EMPL in its annual activity report on 31 March 2014 is EUR 123,2 million in 2013;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 e (new)
Paragraph 9 e (new)
9e. Takes note that the Director General of DG RTD has issued one reservation concerning the Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7) in its annual activity report of 31 March 2014 and that the estimated impact in 2013 is between EUR 105.5 million and EUR 109.5 million;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 f (new)
Paragraph 9 f (new)
9f. Notes that the Director General of DG MARE has issued one reservation concerning the European Fisheries Fund in its annual activity report of 31 March 2014 and that the amount at risk in 2013 is EUR 10,77 million;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 g (new)
Paragraph 9 g (new)
9g. Draws attention to the need for continuous improvement of the management and control systems in Member States for guaranteeing better financial management of the EU funds and a decrease in the error rate in the respective policy sectors in the course of the programming period 2014-2020;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that the financial corrections reported as implemented in 2013 dropped from EUR 3,7 billion in 2012 to EUR 2,5 billion in 2013 and recallin 2013 the Commission implemented financial corrections and recoveries amounting to EUR 3 362 million, which represented 2.3 % of payments from the EU budget; further notes that the high financial correction in 2012 was mainly due to a singles reported as implemented in 2013 dropped from EUR 1,83,7 billion correction in Spain rectifying structural funds expenditures during the period 2000- 2006in 2012 to EUR 2,5 billion;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that the financial corrections reported as implemented in 2013 dropped from EUR 3,7 billion in 2012 to EUR 2,5 billion in 2013 and recallin 2013 the Commission implemented financial corrections and recoveries amounting to EUR 3 362 million, which represented 2.3 % of payments from the EU budget; further notes that the high financial correction in 2012 was mainly due to a singles reported as implemented in 2013 dropped from EUR 1,83,7 billion correction in Spain rectifying structural funds expenditures during the period 2000- 2006in 2012 to EUR 2,5 billion;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes with concern that the abovementioned Commission communication of 29 September 2014 does not necessarily provide reliable information on withdrawals, recoveries and pending recoveries of structural funds made by the Member States since the Commission states that it had to adopt a prudent approach due to certain weaknesses in the Member States figures, so as to ensure that the above amounts are not overstated85 ; __________________ 85 See Commission communication COM(2014)0618, table 7.2.Considers as appropriate the Commission's prudent approach of systematically subtracting from the figures for financial corrections reported by Member States the amount that equals the Commission's corrections in order to exclude possible double counting of corrections;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 16
Subheading after paragraph 16
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Observes that, by the end of 2013, 941 financial engineering instruments (FEI) had been set upwere operating in 25 Member States and receiving financial support from 176 Operational Programmes (OP) under 176the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) and European Social Funds (ESF) O; the total value of operational Pprogrammes (OP) in 25 Member States; is particularly concerned that only 47% of the EUR 14,3 billion that had been paid to the FEIs had actually beencontributions paid to the FEIs amounted to EUR 14,278.20 million, including EUR 9,597.62 million of ERDF and ESF; notes that there is an increase of 16 % of the cohesion policy support to FEIs for enterprises in 2013 compared to 2012; takes note of the reasons behind the average percentage of 47% paid out to final beneficiaries at the end of 2013 and expects that the absorption level will significantly increase by the end of the disbursement period 31 December 2015;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Observes that 14 FEIs have been set upin 2013 financial instruments were utilised in the6 Members States under the rural development fund; observes that EUR 443,77 million have been paid out to banks in Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Lithuania from the Union budget until the end of 2013; expresses concern that of this amount, not a single euro and that the amounts transferred from rural development programmes to financial instruments at the end of 2013 represents EUR 443,77 million; takes note that EUR 429 million were ached the final beneficiariestually disbursed to 1 981 beneficiaries in the respective 6 Member States until 31 December 2013; observes that for six financial FEIs set up under the European Fisheries Fund EUR 72,37 million were paid out to banks in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and the Netherlands; notes that only in Greece and the Netherlands the available amounts were fully disbursed to the final beneficiaries whileand that in Romania only 72% of the funds were disbursed to the final beneficiaryies, 23% in Bulgaria , 9% in Estonia and none in Latvia91 ; __________________ 91 Information provided by Commission Vice-President Kristalina Georgieva during the discharge procedure.
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Takes note of the Commission communication of 28 October 2014 entitled 'On the adoption of the inter- institutional working group recommendations for the establishment and use of national declarations' (COM(2014)0688); regrets the lack of substantial progress towelcomes the measures taken in the new regulations for the programming period 2014-2020 for improve thement of financial management which could lead to a continuous loss of Union money due to wrong decisions at political and managerial level; calls for a sanction system if Member States transmit incand control under shared management and urges the Commission and the Member States to apply them and to continue their efforts for rect programme information and declarationducing errors in absorption of EU funds;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Notes that the lack ofe efforts made by the Commission and the Member States for strengthening the reliability of the first level checks performed by the Member States inunder shared management uandermines the credibility of the annual activity reports drafted by the Commission services and the Synthesis report adopted by the Commission as they are partially based on the results of the checks performed by the national authorities urges them to continue working to this end; reiterates its previous demand that the Commission evaluate and, if needed, correct the Member States data in order to establish reliable andpresent objective annual activity reports;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 35
Subheading after paragraph 35
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Welcomes the overview of Union spending inthe Court of Auditors audit results of funds managed under shared management in agriculture and cohesion over the 20079-2013 Multiannual Financial Framework published by the Court of Auditorspublished together with ithe Court's 2013 annual report which partially address Parliament's request expressed in the 2012 discharge resolution for country specific information in shared management;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Points out that according to the figures provided byin the Court of Auditors as regards the amounts and percentage of funds at risk as to the European Regional Development Funds, the European Social Funds and the Cohesion Funds (source data included in the 2013 annual activity reports of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and DG Regional and Urban policy), Slovakia, the United Kingdom and Spain have the highest error rates2013 annual activity report of DG Regional and Urban policy the risk of error as a weighted average of the estimation for each operational programme supported by the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund is below 1% in Luxembourg (0,03%), Finland (0,29%), Estonia (0,43%), Malta (0,89%) and Portugal (0,88%), and this percentage is 5% or more in Slovenia (5%), Spain (6,18%) and Slovakia (11,48%);
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37 a (new)
Paragraph 37 a (new)
37a. Points out that according to the figures provided in the 2013 annual activity report of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion the risk of error as a weighted average of the estimation for each operational programme supported by the European Social Fund is below 1% in Austria and Denmark (0,8%), Bulgaria and Poland (0,6%, Estonia (0,4%, Finland (0,1%, Hungary and Malta (0,9%); and this percentage is 5% or more in Romania (6,6%), UK (8,8%) and Belgium (9,3%);
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Points out that according to the figures provided byin the Court of AudiAnnexes to the 2013 annual activity report of DG AGRI the adjusted residual risk of error for each sector is as regards the amounts and percentage of funds afollows: - Market measures: below 1% in Belgium (0,92%), Bulgaria (0,91%) Hungary (0,41%); Ireland (0,90%); Luxembourg (0,85%); Latvia (0,65%); Romania (0,95%) and Slovakia (0,08%); it risk as to the European Agricultural Guarantee Funds and the European Agricultural Funds for Regionbove 5% in Austria (8,57%); the Czech Republic (14,48%); Spain (10,89%); France(6,37%); Netherlands (19,40%); Poland (19,05%) and UK (20,21%); - Direct payments: below 1% in Belgium (014%); the Czech Republic (0,39%); Germany (0,63%); Estonia (0,94%); Malta (0,03%); Poland (0,97%)Sweden (0,41%) and Slovenia (0,85%); it is above 5% in Greece (5,17%); - Rural Ddevelopment (source data included in the 2013 annual activity report of DG Agricultural and Rural Development) Romania, Bulgaria an Portugal have the highest error rates; : in no one Member States the adjusted residual error rate in below 1 % and only in Germany, Estonia and Malta it is under 2%; it is above 5 % in Bulgaria (14,36%); Denmark (6,60%); France (7,26%); Greece (12,37%); Italy (5,10%); Luxembourg (6,31%); Netherlands (5,77%); Portugal (7,87%); Romania (11,43%); Sweden (5,04%);
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 43
Paragraph 43
Amendment 241 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 96
Paragraph 96
96. Stresses that from the total amount of payments in 2013 under this policy group (EUR 45 311 million) 96% (EUR 43 494 million) are for regional policy, mostly implemented through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF), accounts for 96 % (EUR 43 494 million) of spending (payments EUR 45 311 million) in the policy areasEUR 1 059 million are for mobility and transport and EUR 758 million are for energy;
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 97
Paragraph 97
97. Recognises that as the largest source of Union funds to regions, localities and enterprises, representing 29% of the total Union budget in 2013 - regional policy has assisted Member States to conciliate their fiscal consolidation constraints with the support to long-term investments strategies which are necessary to recover from the crisis and return to a job- creating growth (EU2020 objective 1)e determining role of EU regional policy in reducing regional disparities, promoting economic, social and territorial cohesion among the regions of Member States and between Member States; recognises that this policy is the main EU-wide long-term investment policy in the real economy representing 29% of the total Union budgetary spending in 2013 and is an established tool for creating growth and jobs in the EU, which supports the achievement of the Europe 2020 strategy's goals;
Amendment 245 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 97 a (new)
Paragraph 97 a (new)
97a. Recognises the important role of transport and energy policies for establishing secure, sustainable and competitive transport and energy systems and services for European citizens and business and underlines the contribution of these policies for implementing the Europe 2020 strategy's goals;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after subheading 98
Subheading after subheading 98
Amendment 252 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 101
Paragraph 101
101. Points out that for ERDF and CF, as well as for mobility, transport and energy expenditure the main compliance risksrisks of errors are related to: errors in non-compliance with public procurement (39 %)rules and, ineligible projects/activities or beneficiaries (22 %), ineligible costs included in expenditure declarations (21 %) and the non-compliance with state aid rul and ineligible costs; and for ERDF and CF - to non-compliance with state aid rules; welcomes the Commission's actions undertaken to mitigate these risks and encourages it to continue to give guidance and training to managing authorities on the risks identified; expects that the new regulations and rules for the 2014-2020 programming period will contribute for decreasing the risk of errors and for better performance through more simplification and clarification of the procedures;
Amendment 253 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 101 a (new)
Paragraph 101 a (new)
101a. Takes note that the Commission considered, based on its own review, the work of 40 national audit authorities in charge of auditing 90% of ERDF/CF allocations for the 2007-2013 programming period to be in general reliable;
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 102
Paragraph 102
102. Notes that the Members States' authorities communicated 322 national audit opinions on their operational programmes and that the audit opinions stated in 209 cases (65 %) an error rate below 2 %; notes that when the Commission checked the data it could only coPoints out that globally the Directorate-General has assessed 89% of reported error rates as a reliable source of infiorm the notification of the Member States' error rates for 78 national audit opinions; noation for the purpose of calculating the risk to 2013 payments, by validating the error rates reported in the ACRs in 68% of reported rates or by being able to recalculates that 244 audit opinions needed to be corrected by the Commission112 ; asks the Commission to report in future all details in changes of error rates made by DG REGIO; __________________ 112 See 2013 annual activity report of DG REGIO, Annex, p. 41.e error rate based on all information made available by the audit authority and validated by the Directorate-General's auditors for 21% of cases; Observes that, following its analysis of the ACRs, DG REGIO considers that it can confirm the audit opinions of the audit authorities for 304 programmes (94%);
Amendment 258 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 103
Paragraph 103
103. Observes that the Commission consideredDG REGIO considered113: - as reliable all nationally audited error rates infor the OPs reports of Slovakia to be unreliable, 10 out of 15 error rates in the reports of Hungary, two out of seven ined by 6 Member States (Austria, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Portugal and the Netherlands); - as "unreliable/flat rate" all nationally audited error rates for the OPs reports of Bulgaria and one out of four in the reports of Belgium; asks the Commission to demonstrate if and how their flat rate corrections imposed to protect the Union budget (25 % for one programme and 10 % for nine programmes in Slovakia, two for Bulgaria and Italy and one for Belgium113 ) remedied the situation; ed by 2 Member States (Slovakia and Slovenia); - both as reliable and reliable but needing recalculation the nationally audited error rates for the OPs reported by most of the Member States; - that nationally audited error rates reported by 6 Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Italy and UK), were reliable and/or "reliable/recalculated" for some of their OPs and "unreliable/flat rate" for their other OPs; __________________ 113 See 2013 annual activity report of DG REGIO, Annex, p. 42.
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 104
Paragraph 104
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 106
Paragraph 106
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 107
Paragraph 107
107. UrgesCalls on the Commission to provide further guidance and technical assistance with a view to addressing the causes of weak administration in the Member Stato the Member States; Requests that the Commission and Member States pay particular attention to simplifying procedures, including those for beneficiaries, which can have benefits for both auditing and decreasing error rates, while in parallel increasing the effectiveness of the management and control systems;
Amendment 267 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 109
Paragraph 109
109. FulStrongly supports the Commission's policy on the interruption and suspensions of payments used strictly by the Commission as a preventive tool for irregularities;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 110
Paragraph 110
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 113
Paragraph 113
113. Notes that according to the DG REGIO AAR in 2013 the Commission decided on financial corrections amounting to EUR 912 371 222 on Member States' operational programmes, of which EUR 239,50 million fell on the Czech Republic, EUR 147,21 million fell on Hungary and EUR 95,47 million fell on Greecer confirmed EUR 557.2 million of financial corrections for ERDF/CF concerning all programming periods and that a total of EUR 898.7 million were implemented in 2013 in relation to corrections decided/confirmed in 2013 and previous years; points to the strengthened supervisory role of DG REGIO since the adoption and implementation of the 2008 Commission Action Plan and encourages the Commission to continue its work in this regard;
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 114
Paragraph 114
Amendment 283 #
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 manage; calls on the Commission and on the Member States to work for timely absorption of the EU funds and for avoiding de- commitment;
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 116
Paragraph 116
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 117
Paragraph 117
117. Is worried aboutObserves the Commission's findings in its 2013 consolidated annual report on the implementation of the FEIs - in accordance with point (j) of Article 67(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006117 - thatand asks managing authorities in the Member States did noto provide the full picture of the FEI implementation and that certain data showed ‘inaccuracies’ in relcomplete and accurate information tofor the data for FEIs in Hungary and Italymplementation; __________________ 117 Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 of 11 July 2006 laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 (OJ L 210, 31.7.2006, p. 25).
Amendment 288 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 117
Subheading after paragraph 117
Amendment 289 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 118
Paragraph 118
Amendment 294 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 119
Paragraph 119
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 119 a (new)
Paragraph 119 a (new)
119a. Calls on the Commission to report in detail in the 2013 Commission's Discharge Follow-up Report on progress made with MCSs considered partially in the DG REGIO AAR 2013;
Amendment 296 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 120
Paragraph 120
120. Calls on the Commission, in line with the Court of Auditors' recommendation, to carry out anontinue with the assessments of the ‘'first level checks’' performed during the 2007- 2013 programming period in accordance with Article 32(5) of the Financial Regulation; calls on the Commission to add an assessment of the reliability of the information transmitted by the certifying bodies in the Member States to the annual activity report of DG REGIO; welcomes the assessments carried since 2010 through targeted audits on high risk programmes in the frame of its audit enquiry 'Bridging the assurance gap';
Amendment 298 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 121
Paragraph 121
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 128
Paragraph 128
128. UnderlinNotes 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;
Amendment 312 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 129
Paragraph 129
129. Welcomes the policy area's contribution to achieving the EU2020 objectives not only through ESF projects but also by drafting the annual Joint Employment Report and contributing to the country specific recommendand the other instruments under it; underlines the importance of the ESF for investments in measures in jobs creation and fight against unemployment, in human capital, educations as part of the Annual Growth Surveynd training, social inclusion and social services' access;
Amendment 319 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 131
Subheading after paragraph 131
Amendment 323 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 133 a (new)
Paragraph 133 a (new)
133a. Notes that the Court of Auditors' report shows a slight decrease in the estimated error rate for the area of Employment and Social Affairs, which stood at 3,1 % in 2013 compared to 3,2 % in the previous year; notes that this error rate was still the second lowest amongst all policy areas and that Parliament expects a further decrease in the error rate over the next few years;
Amendment 327 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 134
Paragraph 134
134. Regrets that faulty first-level-checks by national management and control systems remained a prime source of error; has therefore the impression that Member States seem to be less scrupulous when spending Union funds compared to the way they spend their national budget; notes that the following programmes showed particular systemic weaknesses: Poland, Spain (Castilla y Leon), Romania, Portugal, Italy (Sicily), Germany (Bund), Germany (Thüringen), Czech Republic and Hungary; notes that in addition, thematic Commission audits revealed weaknesses in the management and control sysNotes the Court's observations about the main risks to regularity of spending in this policy area, such as the risks related to the intangible nature of investments in human capital, the diversity of the activities and the involvement of multiple, often small-scale partners, in the implementation of projects; welcomes the use of simplified cost options which reduce the administrative burden on the beneficiaries and are less prone to errors being made by Member States; asks the Commission to encourage Member Statems of the operational programmes for Ireland (Human Investment Capital), Slovakia (education) and Spain (Comunidad Valenciana)not to apply more demanding rules to ESF projects than to nationally funded projects;
Amendment 329 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 135 – 1st table
Paragraph 135 – 1st table
Amendment 330 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 135 a (new)
Paragraph 135 a (new)
135a. Welcomes in this regard the specific mitigating actions taken by the Commission, including both preventative and corrective measures and the risk- based audits carried out by DG EMPL;
Amendment 331 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 135 – 2nd table
Paragraph 135 – 2nd table
Amendment 333 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 136
Paragraph 136
Amendment 334 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 136 a (new)
Paragraph 136 a (new)
136a. Notes that the Commission implemented financial corrections in 2013 amounting to EUR 841,7 million;
Amendment 336 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 137
Paragraph 137
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 138
Paragraph 138
Amendment 340 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 139
Paragraph 139
Amendment 344 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 141
Paragraph 141
Amendment 346 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 142
Paragraph 142
Amendment 350 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 143
Paragraph 143
143. Observes that the Union has contributed EUR 100 million to Progress Microfinance; recalls that the European Investment Fund that implements Progress Microfinance on behalf of the Commission and the European Investment Bank reported that 52 microcredit providers in 20 Member States had signed agreements under Progress Microfinance and 31 895 microloans worth EUR 260,78 million had already been disbursed to micro- entrepreneurs; is concerned in this context that not enough attention is paid to the question of democratic accountability when setting up financial instruments;
Amendment 407 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading after paragraph 169
Subheading after paragraph 169