16 Amendments of Brando BENIFEI related to 2015/2345(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Emphasises that NGOs are an important EU partner playing a valuable role inpivotal role in in reaching out to citizens and bringing up their voices. They are crucial partners in developing and implementing EU policy and programme deliverys across policy areas, including – but not limited to – humanitarian aid inside and outside of the European Union,education, training, youth culture, human rights, health, consumer rights development cooperation, education and culture, neighbourhood policy, and the environment; and humanitarian aid inside and outside of the European Union.
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Is concerned that due to the procyclical nature of public spending the financial capacity and social mission of non- governmental organizations (NGOs) are severely challenged at times when they are most needed; notes that the financial crisis and the subsequent austerity policies had a very negative impact on NGOs in programme countries and beyond;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recognises that the absence of a legal definition of an NGO presents a challenge for the Commission in producing reliable data on the financing of NGOs; eEmphasises the importance of access to suchgathering information or data on the scale of the role played by NGOs in EU programmes, application rates and performance; calls on the Commission to address this issue as part of the Budget for Results agendaproduce regular reports and to ensure that data are as simple and transparent as possible;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses the importance of NGOs with regard to addressing severe social problems, such as poverty and social exclusion; recalls however, that this is first and foremost the task of national governments and society at large; points out that NGOs cannot compensate for social policy deficits in the Member States nor replace public actors in the field, rather their work should complement or reinforce public policies;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Advises strongly against co-funding requirements above 20% which would bring an increased risk of instrumentalisation and damage the important advocacy and advisory role that NGOs play in EU policy; moreover, longer term structural support to NGOs providing learning opportunities and participation spaces for citizens and residents should be ensured in the form of operating grants;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that EUEmphasizes that NGOs are an important partner for the Union and play a valuable role in European policy and programme delivery across policy areas; points out that the proper implementation of European programmes such as the ESF, EaSI, ESF and FEAD cannot be implemented withoutdepends on a strong NGO involvement;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses the need for a legal definition of NGOs at European level; Calls on the Commission and Member States to take all measures necessary to ensure the independence of social NGOs and to provide funding to contribute to the independent assessment of policies; stresses, however that NGOs should only benefit from European financial support if they have democratic structures, provide added value to society at large and adhere to Union law values;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls for a new transparency register at European level for NGO's benefitting from Union funding;
Amendment 37 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Recalls the special role the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union assigns to social partners which requires adequate financial support;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. NWelcomes the Commission's efforts in ensuring simpler and faster access to funds in recent years but notes that there is still work to be done to streamline and simplify application processes; notes that many NGOs have difficulties in accessing ESF funding and are disproportionately burdened by the complexity of programmes and reporting requirements; calls on the Commission and Member States to step up support in this area; and to reduce administrative burdens for NGOs;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to focus social NGO funding programmes on operational grants beyoensure continuity and sustainability in the definition and implementation of NGO funding programmes, particularly by increasing the multiannual partnership agreements and reducing the lead times between the notification of contracts and the first payments; (the sustainability and cone year, in order to ensure continuity and sustainability; tinuity of the programmes are crucial, as is efficient management of funding, in order to ensure that the measures financed are not put at risk. NGOs are continually faced with hiatuses in operational financing contracts and have to resort to loans or overdrafts to ensure that the measures provided for in the contracts with the Commission are actually implemented.)
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Commission, in its proposal for a revision of the financial regulations, to consider contributions in kind as eligible expenditure, and to increase the ceiling for indirect expenditure in grants for actions and operating grants; (Owing to the financial crisis and the increasingly limited availability of public and private funding, NGOs are finding it increasingly difficult to find co-financing in cash. Co-financing in kind as working time, volunteering and material contributions have long been accepted by national and international institutions. The ceiling for indirect costs is particularly low for NGO funding programmes (7%) and fails to enable NGOs to cover a large proportion of indirect costs.
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that many EU social NGOsNGOs in the Union work in areas covered by different Commission Directorates-General (DGs); calls on the Commission to make it possible to combine operational grants from more than one DG and to ensure that it is possible to claim overheads in action grants while receiving operating grants, especially in cases where NGOs receive only small operating grants in terms of percentage of their total expenditure;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Points out that in the social field full policy impact is often difficult to identify and measure within one year; callsthe given reporting period, especially in the case of short-term projects; calls therefore on the Commission to better balancimprove the measuring and reporting of output andrequirements of output and impact of NGO's activities, including projects, and to follow best practice examples to assess their impact;
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Notes that the European monitoring and evaluation systems for NGOs often rely on self-reporting; calls on the Commission to consider increasing the number of external evaluations in order to verify the effectiveness of NGO activities also over a longer period of time as well as within and across different policy areas;
Amendment 93 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Highlights the importance of high transparency standards with regard to ex- post audits procedures; calls on the Commission to develop and apply common guidelines for NGOs audits which are to be respected by both, internal and external auditors;