Activities of Siôn SIMON related to 2017/2136(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016, Section III – Commission and executive agencies
Amendments (5)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes with concern the high estimated level of error in the policy area of ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’ at 4,8 %, which iremains above the error level for the EU budget as a whole (3,1 %); notes, however, that this represents a small decrease from the previous year (5,2 %); notes that the estimated error level in the area of ‘Competitiveness for growth and jobs’ is 4,1 %;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Welcomes the achievements of the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) in 2016 and the fact that almost three times the number of people were supported by them in 2016 compared to the period 2014-2015 (7,8 million people in 2016 compared to 2,7 million people in 2014- 2015); notes that, as a result of ESF and YEI support, 787 000 participants were in employment, 820 000 participants gained a qualification, and 276 000 participants followed education or training;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Is concerned about the delay in the implementation of ESF and YEI and at their low budgetary execution; notes that the Commission has drawn attention that the ex-ante conditionalities as one of the reasons for their delayed implementation and that the absorption is affected by the introduced annual accounts and by the risk of net financial corrections; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to seriously reconsider the continuation of ex-ante conditionalities and to make efforts to mitigate the side effects of the other novelties introduced for the current period when elaborating its legislative proposals for the post-2020 period;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Draws attention to the Court ‘s observations in its Annual report on the implementation of the budget concerning the financial year 2016 that over the last five years it did not quantify any errors relating to the use of simplified cost options (SCOs) for transactions under the policy area of ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’; asks the Commission to continue providing guidance and support to Member States on the implementation of SCOs given their increasing applicability, as envisaged in the ongoing amendments of the rules of the European Structural and Investment Funds, in order to facilitate widest possible utilisation of SCOs;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. Welcomes the results achieved under the three axes of the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) in 2016; draws attention to the importance of EaSI support, and, in particular, of its Progress and European Employment Services network (EURES) axes, for the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights; notes with concern that the thematic section Social Entrepreneurship within EaSI Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship axis remains underperforming and calls on the Commission to insist that the European Investment Fund commits to full utilisation of the resources under Social Entrepreneurship thematic section;