Activities of Luke Ming FLANAGAN related to 2020/2246(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the protection of the EU’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2019
Amendments (18)
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas systematic and institutionalised cases of corruption in certain Member States seriously harm the Union’s financial interests while also representing a threat to the rule of lawdemocracy, fundamental rights and the rule of law; also reminds of the detrimental impact of corruption on the trust of citizens on the institutions;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that the total number of fraudulent and non-fraudulent irregularities reported in 2019 amounted to 11 726 cases overall 2% fewer than in 2018), and involved a value of approximately EUR 1.6 billion, representing a decrease of 34 % with respect to the previous year; notes in this respect that the data regarding the number of cases and the value involved for each year are continuously assessed and updated and should be considered into a 5-year averagelong term perspective at least;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Nevertheless notes that it is unclear how many fraudulent irregularities remain unreported every year, making it very difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the anti-fraud activities put in place; calls on the Commission therefore to develop a methodology to improve the reliability and provide for more accurate estimations of the scale of fraud in the EU;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that the number of fraudulent irregularities reported in 2019 (939 cases - 8% of all irregularities) ) and their related financial amounts (approximately EUR 461.4 million - 28% of all financial amounts affected by irregularities) decreased significantly compared to 2018; notes that in 2019, 514 irregularities reported as fraudulent relating to expenditure represented 0.3% of 2019 payments, and 425 reported as fraudulent on revenue corresponded to 0.3% of gross amount of Traditional Own Resources collected for 2019;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Deeply regrets and points to the fact that many Member States do not have specific laws against organised crime, while its involvement in cross-border activities and sectors affecting the EU’s financial interests is constantly growing;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. In this regard reiterates its call on the Commission to establish a uniform system for the collection of comparable data on irregularities and cases of fraud from the Member States in order to standardise the reporting process and ensure the quality and comparability of the data provided;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Finds it worrisome that some Member States regularly do not report a single case of fraud; invites the Commission to investigate the situation, as it considers the likelihood that no fraudulent activities exist in those Member States to be rather low; calls on the Commission to run random spot checks in these countries;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Notes that revenue fraud through undervaluation of goods imported in the EU is and will remain a threat to revenue, posing a significant challenge to be dealt with in the coming years;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Reiterates its assessment on the importance of OLAF’s investigations and its coordination role for the protection of the EU’s financial interests and combatting fraud;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes that regarding the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), detections of irregularities were concentrated in a few Member States in particular for fraudulent irregularities, suggesting that different approaches to the use of criminal law to protect the EU budget or reporting practices concerning suspected fraud could be significant factors leading to differences among Member States; notes, that in 2019, the overall financial amounts were relatively stable, but amounts with respect to direct support increased whereas rural development decreased; notes in particular that in the area of direct support, most detections indicated the use of falsified documents or requests for aid, and that in rural development, many detections were related to implementation; notesis worried that the creation of artificial conditions for receiving financial support is a common type of fraud in direct support indicating a modus operandi in the fraudulent irregularities touching upon ethics and integrity; notes that there was a strong decrease in fraudulent irregularities in rural development, due to the decline in detections related to PP 2007-2013, in line with the programming lifecycle, and a slow start of detections related to PP 2014-2020, and that more fraudulent and non- fraudulent irregularities were still detected in rural development than in direct support; however market measures recorded the highest Fraud Detection Rate (FDR), at 0.87%, more than four-times that of rural development with regard to fraudulent irregularities and, whereas for non- fraudulent irregularities represented nearly double Irregularities Detection Rate (IDR) of that of rural development; moreover, notes from the Courts of Auditors’ annual report 2017 that the manner in which expenditure is disbursed has an impact on the risk of error, and that in particular errors were confined mainly to cost reimbursements, whereas the error rate for entitlement payments was below the materiality threshold of 2 %;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Notes the complexity of the analysis on cohesion policy’s data and the different phases of PPs 2007-2013, notes that the financial amounts reported are significantly lower than the exceptional year of 2018 but on average are trending upwards for the Cohesion Fund; underlines the importance of cooperation with the judicial authorities and considers the need for closer attention to the unexpected downturn of fraudulent irregularities as well as non-fraudulent, excluding ‘exceptional’ cases, for PP 2014-2020 in 2019 of the financial amounts involved in fraudulent irregularities for all funds and in particular regarding the ERDF; notes with concern, moreover, the Member States’ different reporting patterns in terms of their tendency to detect fraudulent irregularities with high financial amounts involved;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21 a. Shares the view of the Commission, that countering fraud and irregularities is of the utmost importance in particular in period of crisis;17a _________________ 17aChapter 10.2 of the 31st Annual Report on the protection of the European Union’s financial interests - Fight against fraud - 2019
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 b (new)
Paragraph 21 b (new)
21 b. Invites the Commission to step up its fraud prevention and detection work to ensure that EU money continues to reach the intended beneficiaries and produce effective and measurable effects on citizen’s lives;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Stresses the importance of prioritising the development and establishment of National Anti-Fraud Strategies (NAFSs) by all Member States, also in the light of the new challenges of the COVID-19 crisis and the Recovery and Resilience Plans; is extremely worried that a total of 16 Member States do not have any NAFS in place with only four considering adopting or preparing a new NAFS; calls on Member States who have not yet adopted a NAFS to do so without delay;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29 a. Reiterating its regrets that the Commission no longer deems it necessary to publish a specific anti-corruption report, takes note that the prevention and fight against corruption will be subject to regular monitoring and assessment of members states legal framework under the newly established RoL mechanism, which entered into force on 1st January 2021; highlight s that via this new instrument the Commission will monitor the RoL situation in the Member States covering 4 pillars, including the anti-corruption framework;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 b (new)
Paragraph 29 b (new)
29 b. Highlights that the connection between corruption and fraud in the EU may have a negative impact on the EU budget; calls on the Commission to consider establishing a network of corruption prevention authorities within the European Union;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30 a. Reiterates that the ‘revolving door’ effect can be detrimental to relations between the institutions and interest representatives; calls for the EU institutions to develop a systematic approach to this challenge;
Amendment 102 #
30 b. Reiterates its call to the Commission to set up an internal evaluation mechanism of corruption for the EU institution;