Activities of Sylvia-Yvonne KAUFMANN related to 2015/2128(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the Annual Report 2014 on the Protection of the EU’s Financial Interests - Fight against fraud
Amendments (6)
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Encourages the Council to give a new impetus to the negotiations on the PIF Directive in order to strengthen the existing legal framework by establishing common minimum rules for the definition of offences affecting the Union’s financial interests and by laying down sanctions and time limits for such cases, particularly in view of the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Taricco case, in which it was established that there a direct connection between the levying of VAT in the Member States and the financial interests of the EU;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reiterates its call to the Council to keep the Parliament – which will ultimately have to approve the proposed legislative act – informed of and closely involved in the current negotiations for the establishment of the EPPO and recalls the recommendations made in its resolutions of March 2014 and April 2015;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Expresses its concern about the estimated losses on VAT collections in the EU, amounting to EUR 168 billion; reiterates therefore that VAT fraud should be governed by the PIF Directive in order to assign to a future European Public Prosecutor’s Office the power to investigate this offence and prosecute suspected offenders;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls, therefore, for Article 325 to be implemented right across the spectrum of Union policies, and for action not just in response to cases of fraud but also to prevent them; for compliance with Article 325, and particularly paragraph 5 on annual reports, on which there is currently a year’s delay; for simplification, especially, of the way that EU subsidies are used in cohesion policy; for adherence to agreed procedures and for the ratification of the agreements on combating fraud at regional and international level which have been concluded between the Union and third countries or third-party organisations; for follow-up on the action plan and recommendations in Parliament’s resolution of 23 October 2013 on organised crime, corruption and money laundering: recommendations on action and initiatives to be taken (2013/2107(INI)), especially recommendations 130 (on the visibility of measures by the Member States to combat organised fraud and crime) and 131 (on a general action plan for the period 2014- 2019 to eradicate organised crime, corruption and money laundering – points i-xxii); for every effort to be made to secure the speediest possible adoption of the plan for a European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the directive on common anti-fraud measures under criminal law; for the initial results of implementation of the Money Laundering Directive to be made available; and for more information to be provided about the anti-corruption instruments used by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and about the coordination of Member States’ procedures for recovering monies disbursed as a result of fraud.
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the Commission’s first Anti- Corruption Report and its recommendations to the administrations of the Member States, and calls on the Commission to publish its second Anti- Corruption Report no later than the beginning of 2016, in its next report, which is expected no later than the beginning of 2016, to include a chapter containing proposals for a strategy to improve external auditing of the EU Institutions among measures to fight corruption;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls for every effort to be made to secure the speediest possible adoption of the plan for a European Public Prosecutor’s Office and the directive on combating fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law (the so- called PIF Directive); calls on the Council to keep Parliament informed, on an ongoing basis, about the latest state of play in negotiations about the European Public Prosecutor’s Office; points out that the Court of Justice of the European Union, in its judgment in Case C-105/14 of 8 September 2015, found there was a direct link between the levying of VAT in the Member States and the EU’s financial interests; reiterates therefore that VAT fraud should be governed by the PIF Directive in order to assign to a future European Public Prosecutor’s Office the power to investigate this offence and prosecute suspected offenders.