5 Amendments of Niklas NIENASS related to 2020/2140(DEC)
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Is strongly committed to step-up efforts in the fight against fraud, as any kind of fraud in relation to EU funding should be eliminated to consolidate citizens' trust in EU spending and EU's institutions;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes the decrease in the estimated level of error in spending on ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’ from 5 % in 2018 to 4,4 % in 2019; welcomes this year- on-year improvement, but is disappointed that it has not proved possible to decrease the error rate to the 3 % level recorded in 2017 despite the simplification measures provided for in the Omnibus Regulation;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that the main reasons for this error rate are project ineligibility, infringement of internal market rules, and ineligible expenditure; recalls that these areas have high inherent risk of error and that checks by managing authorities are not always effective; considers that more information and transparency is required from Member States when using public procurement in the implementation of cohesion policy resources;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Believes that EU funds are to be used to support the people living in the regions, not to finance the financial or political benefits of national politicians in charge of regional management; condemns any kleptocratic misuse of EU resources by Member States; calls for centralized management of funds by the Commission, if elite-driven corruption and conflicts of interest occur; reaffirms the need for a strong rule of law mechanism and requires the Commission to use it to its full extent as soon as it is introduced; urges the Commission to investigate any cases, that are brought to the Commission's attention and to strictly follow-up according to applicable rules including by suspending and recovering resources;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Points out that cohesion policy has already proven its added value and will be even more indispensable in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis; underlines that eliminating the root causes of irregularities via streamlining and strengthening of administrative capacities would help beneficiaries and authorities concentrate on results and contribute to reducing the error rate; strongly believes that the rule-of-law conditionality will also contribute to increasing the regularity of EU funding;