Activities of Caterina CHINNICI related to 2021/2234(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Protection of the EU’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2020 (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2020
Amendments (13)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas according to Article 83 of the TFEU, corruption is one of the particularly serious crimes with a cross- border dimension whose consequences affect not only the EU economy, but also undermine democracy and rule of law standards across Europe and citizens’ trust in the institutions;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the 32nd annual report on the protection of the European Union’s financial interests and the fight against fraud 2020 (PIF report) and welcomes the new graphic version adopted, which is certainly more accessible to European citizens;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls for a greater degree of digitalisation, interoperability of comparable data systems and harmonisation of reporting, monitoring and auditing in the EU; calls on the Commission to explore the possibility of using AI in the service of the protection of the EU’s financial interests and to this end, reiterates its call on the Commission to harmonise definitions in order to obtain comparable data across the EU;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23 a. Calls on the Commission to continue providing the Member States with full information on Direct Expenditures, for example by means of the Financial Transparency System (FTS), in particular in the frame of RRF, also in order to avoid double founding;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Is concerned about the decrease of the indictment rate from 53 % in the 2007- 2014 period to 37 % in the 2016-2020 period in the cases put forward to the Member States by OLAF; calls on the Member States’ authorities to cooperate closely with OLAF and examine the transmitted investigation reports and the judicial recommendations carefully, and to open criminal cases wherever they are necessary to ensure that misused EU funds are recovered; invites OLAF to investigatereview its previous analysis on the reasons for the low indictment rate; calls on OLAF to regularly follow up on its judicial recommendations and add data about them into its annual report;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Is of the opinion that OLAF should also follow up on its financial recommendations in order to compare them with the amounts recovered at the end of the procedures by the Commission, and contribute to the overall monitoring on the recovery of funds;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Welcomes the joint efforts of OLAF and Europol to assess the threats and vulnerabilities of the RRF instrument; welcomes the working arrangement between OLAF and Europol, which entered into force on 9 October 2020;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Highlights the role of the EPPO in the new anti-fraud infrastructure; notes, moreover, the working arrangements agreed in 2020 and signed in July 2021 between the EPPO and OLAF, especially as regards the exchange of information, case management and operational cooperation; welcomes the working arrangement between EPPO and Europol, which entered into force on 19 January2021;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Calls on OLAF, the EPPO, AFCOS, and the responsible EU agencies, and - where empowered by national legislation - the AFCOS to keep strengthening the exchange of information, to reciprocate support and ensure complementarity in their operational activities as agreed in the established working arrangements and regulations;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Is of the opinion that it is high time for the Commission to fulfil its duties as ‘guardian of the Treaties’ and to tackle the ongoing violations of the principles of the rule of law in several Member States, which represent a serious danger to the Union’s financial interests since compliance with it is a prerequisite for sound financial management and the efficient and effective management of EU funds; calls on the Commission, therefore, to take urgent action and apply the Rule of Law Conditionality Mechanism immediately by sending a written notification under Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2092;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41 a (new)
Paragraph 41 a (new)
41 a. Highlights the detrimental effects of corruption on the rights of the citizens; reiterates therefore its recommendation that the EU should become a member of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), bearing in mind the specific nature of the EU, of its institutions and of UE law;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 42 a (new)
Paragraph 42 a (new)
42 a. Welcomes the NextGeneration EU – Law Enforcement Forum (NGEU- LEF), a joint initiative co-led by Europol and Italy, which brings together the EU Member States, Europol, EPPO, OLAF, Eurojust and CEPOL to establish a joint way forward in preventing and countering any threat against the NGEU funds and, more broadly, against the financial well- being of the Union;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Reiterates the unsatisfactory level of analysis provided in the annexes to the PIF report regarding cases of conflicts of interest stresses that in order to effectively fight corruption and protect the EU’s financial interests, the Commission should adopt a consistent approach to transparency, incompatibilities and conflicts of interest, strengthening internal control mechanisms, illegal lobbying and revolving door situations;