Activities of Joachim KUHS related to 2022/2081(DEC)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2021, Section III – Commission and executive agencies
Amendments (13)
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Reiterates its deep concerns regarding the situation concerning the rule of law in a number of Member States, which is deeply worrying in its own right and leads to serious losses for the Union budget; underlines that Union funds must not be used for anti-democratic activities or for strengthening authoritarianism; welcomestakes note of the first application of the conditionality mechanism in the case of Hungary, procedure launched in November 2021 and concluded in December 2022 with the freezing of 55% of three cohesion policy programmes (around EUR 6,35 billion); is concerned about the unwillingness of the Commission to apply the conditionality mechanism to Greece, given the involvement of senior members of the ruling party in a scandal regarding espionage of cabinet members, leaders of the opposition, senior members of the Hellenic Armed forces, and journalists; regrets that this raises the suspicion that the conditionality is only targeting conservative and eurosceptic government; reiterates its strong conviction that Member States must respect democracy and the rule of law in order to receive Union funds and draws attention to the Commission that the rule of law situation has also been deteriorating in other Member States, calls therefore on the Commission to trigger without delay the application of the conditionality mechanism whenever breaches of the principles of the rule of law are identified to be affecting or are in serious risk of affecting the sound financial management of the Union budget or the protection of the financial interests of the Union in a sufficiently direct way; moreover stresses that Parliament, Council and the Commission need to closely co- operate together as allies; underlines its strong and repeated requests to the Commission and executive agencies to ensure the protection of the Union budget by making global and systematic use of digital and automated systems for reporting, monitoring and audit;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Underlines the increasing need to ensure the transparency of NGOs and of their funding, as they are important actors in the implementation of the Union budget, especially in the area of external action; demands the Commission to re-evaluate its identification of entities as NGOs, improving the reliability of information (making sure to have them registered as lobbyists, having clearly established whether they stand for the topics they claim they represent, and having insight into their financing); demands the disclosure of their financing be it private (e.g. NGOs financed by the industrial actors) or public; recalls that the European Court of Auditors has warned as early as 2018 that "the European Commission does not have sufficiently detailed information on how [EU] money is spent" 1a;recalls that as regards public funding, the Union basic acts regulate how transparency and visibility in this regard need to be handled, therefore reminds the Commission about the responsibility it has to check the compliance with rules and procedures, especially rules and procedures on sub- granting to NGOs; moreover, demands that the Commission provides the discharge authority with clear information about the total amount of Union funds implemented by NGOs; calls on the Commission and the co-legislators to finally end the exemption of NGOs from EU anti-money laundering rules as non- obliged entities and to extend the definition of politically exposed persons to former politicians who gain management positions in NGOs receiving EU funding; believes that these are important steps towards more financial scrutiny of such organisations; regrets that, even in the aftermath of Qatargate, the European Parliament has rejected such proposals; _________________ 1a European Court of Auditors Special Report No 35/2018.
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. WelcomesEagerly awaits proof that the RRF's contribution tois preventing a strong economic downturn following the COVID- 19 pandemic; notes that the RRF has been instrumental in making progress with the implementation of the Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) stemming from the European Semester in almost all Member States; notes however that several CSRs remain unaddressed, despite the financial incentives stemming from the RRF;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Expresses concern aboutTakes note of the limited number of cross-border projects under the RRF, which calls into question the Union added value of this instrument;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 a (new)
Paragraph 48 a (new)
48a. Highlights that the German Constitutional Court has ruled that the 37% earmarked for climate spending is unjustified, since the EU failed to demonstrate a clear link between the specific purpose of the NGEU programme, namely recovery from the COVID crisis, and climate change2a; _________________ 2a BVerfG, Urteil des Zweiten Senats vom 06. Dezember 2022 - 2 BvR 547/21 -, Rn. 1-43,
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 102 a (new)
Paragraph 102 a (new)
102a. Finds alarming that the EU aid to Afghanistan in years of 2021 and 2022 amounted to 524 million EUR regardless the Taliban's government took over the country; finds unacceptable that the general budget support-related aid in these years amounted to 77.5 million EUR, meaning that there is no traceability of these funds once they are merged with the others;
Amendment 271 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 138 a (new)
Paragraph 138 a (new)
Amendment 296 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 146 a (new)
Paragraph 146 a (new)
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 150 a (new)
Paragraph 150 a (new)
150 a. Notes with concern that the Commission would not clarify in what capacity the representatives of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young attend the Commission’s meeting with the Maltese authorities on the RRF on 15 June 20223a, given that these representatives were not on the panel and did not raise questions during the livestreamed event3b; calls on the Commission to publish detailed accounts of the exact involvement of accountancy firms in the implementation of the RRF and the national plans; _________________ 3a GestDem Nr. 2022/4566; Ref. Arest(2022)4866007 – 04/07/2022; Answer given by Ms Ferreira on behalf of the European Commission, E- 003229/2022(ASW), 6 December 2022. 3b https://youtu.be/DFk6BFiZwfQ
Amendment 315 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 153 – point b
Paragraph 153 – point b
b. make the list of all final beneficiaries and projects of RRF funding available to auditors and the discharge authority, Members of the European Parliament, and the general public via the Commission´s website, for all payments (in 2021 and throughout the implementation of the RRF);
Amendment 328 #
d. apply additionalmiticulous vigilance to signals of organised crime targeting the funds available under the RRF together with EUROPOL, the EPPO, OLAF and other relevant actors;
Amendment 336 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 153 – point i
Paragraph 153 – point i
i. publish bi-annually on the RRF scoreboard the amounts borrowed to fund the RRF, and to whom, and the interest incurred to pay for the borrowed amounts; also publish on the RRF the amounts of interest paid by the Member States to the Commission on the loans made available to them under the RRF; also publish the list of primary dealers (PDs) to whom the bonds were sold; calls therefore on the Commission to require the national competent authorities to submit all relevant information and, if needed, to immediately propose amending MIFID II, MIFIR and the Market Abuse Regulation, in order to enable the request of this information; calls on the Commission to publish the notified proceedings of PDs initiated by a competent autority of a Member State in relation to their activity and of any conviction of a criminal charge, according to Article 5 of Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2021/625, and the list of suspended PDs;
Amendment 371 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 153 – point t
Paragraph 153 – point t
t. include in its system audits in the Member States for each internal control system (in case of decentralised or implementation methods) a minimum number of 275 tests of individual procurement files under the RRF in order to not just provide assurance on the set-up of the internal control system in all Member States, but also on the effectiveness in practice of the systems;