Activities of Sándor RÓNAI related to 2020/2126(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
MFF 2021-2027: fight against oligarch structures, protection of EU funds from fraud and conflict of interest (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on MFF 2021-2027: fight against oligarch structures, protection of EU funds from fraud and conflict of interest
Amendments (21)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
– having regard to the Advocate General’s Opinion of 12 December 2021 in Case C-156/219a and Case C-157/219b, _________________ 9a Hungary v Parliament and Council 9b Poland v Parliament and Council
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 14
Citation 14
– having regard to its resolutions of 8 October 2020 on the rule of law and fundamental rights in Bulgaria13 and of 29 April 2021 on the Assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the rule of law in Malta14 , of 8 July 2021 on the Breaches of EU law and of the rights of LGBTIQ citizens in Hungary as a result of the adopted legal changes in the Hungarian Parliament14a and of 21 October 2021 on the Rule of law crisis in Poland and the primacy of EU law14b, _________________ 13 OJ C 395, 29.9.2021, p. 63. 14 Texts adopted, P9_TA(2021)0148. 14a Texts adopted, P9_TA(2021)0362. 14b Texts adopted, P9_TA(2021)0439.
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 19
Citation 19
– having regard to itsthe study of 20 May 2021 requested by its Committee on Budgetary Control entitled ‘The Largest 50 Beneficiaries in each EU Member State of CAP and Cohesion Funds’,
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the budgetary authorities adopted the MFF 2021-2027 package, which together with the NextGenerationEU recovery instrument amounts to EUR 1.8 trillion in total of funding over the coming years to support recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the EU’s long- term priorities across different policy areas;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the protection of the EU’s financial interests is a key element of the EU policy agenda to strengthen and increase the confidence of thetransparency, democratic accountability and the ability to respond to citizens’ needs, increase the trust of the general public and ensure that taxpayers’ money is usedspent properly; whereas the implementation of the MFF 2021-2027 budgetary package must be in line with the general principles enshrined in the Treaties, in particular the values set out in Article 2 TEU, in the Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation and in the Financial Regulation;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas there is a clear relationship between the respect for the rule of law and the efficient implementation of the Union budget in accordance with the principles of sound financial management;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas on a regular basis, different media outlets all over Europe provide their readers with scandals coveringcases of fraud, conflict of interest, corruption and other illegal activities which are damaging to the EUʼs financial interests and involvinge high-level political representatives in EU Member States undermine the trust of European citizens in the EU and its institutions;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Adds that in the current EU political context, the term ‘oligarchy’ is being used as a way of pointing out the influence of the wealthy and powerful in politics and government, an influence that is typically used to benefit the few at the expense of the many; highlights that members of national governments and other holders of political positions are part of the oligarchy in some Member States, and have actively sought to use EU funds to benefit themselves financially;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes, with particular concern, that the occurrence of such oligarchic groups, which sometimes do not refrain from using criminal practices, has reached an unprecedented magnitude in the past several years;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Considers that effective management and control systems, promoting competition, enhancing transparency and assuring functional implementation of public procurement rules and free access to markets isare fundamental to preventing oligarchs from seizing control of the economy and the financial market, which would result in them self-reinforcingfurther reinforce oligarchic tendencies;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes the publication of the Commissionʼs guideline on the conflicts of interest which brings about a necessary degree of explanation for its users as to its correct interpretationaims to raise awareness and to promote a uniform interpretation and application of the rules on avoiding conflicts of interest rules among Member States, in particular by giving examples of terms not specified in Article 61 of the Financial Regulation, such as the adoption of appropriate measures to prevent conflict of interest from arising and to address situations ‘which may objectively be perceived as a conflict of interest’; deplores, however, that conflict-of-interest cases affecting high-profile politicians continue to persist in some Member States; calls on the Commission to evaluate whether all the relevant provisions of the Financial Regulation are sufficiently effective in preventing and addressing conflicts of interest;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. ENotes that EU cohesion policy contributes to strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion in the European Union and aims to correct imbalances between Member States and regions; emphasises that as far as cohesion policy is concerned, the most frequently detected types of fraudulent irregularities for projects financed under the programming period 2014-2020 for European structural and investment funds concern incorrect, missing and false or falsified supporting documents, infringement of contract provisions, eligibility and infringement of public procurement rules, and breaches in relation to ethics and integrity including conflict of interest and corruption;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Underlines that the misuse of EU funds often starts with the wilful violation of the principle of partnership and consultation with relevant stakeholders, including social partners and non- governmental organisations, regarding the content of programming documents for EU support programmes; continues with the issuing of calls for projects disproportionately favouring certain groups of potential beneficiaries, including oligarchic players and culminates in non-transparent project selection practices, diverting large amounts of taxpayers’ money towards wasteful projects, substantially reducing the impact of EU support, and major public scandals negatively affecting the EU’s image, weakening much-needed solidarity among Member States;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. PNotes that one of the main objectives of EU agricultural policy is to ensure a fair income to farmers; underlines that, given the problems of conflict of interests in the distribution of agricultural funds, it is undesirable that members of the European Council, agricultural ministers, functionaries, or their family members should be taking decisions on income support; points out that the study on the implementation of the CAP funds revealed that the disbursement of EU agriculture funds is a highly problematic issue in at least five Member States19a and that there is a clear inequality between fund allocations for big and small farmers, with systemic advantages for the big farms, whose managers sometimes have close ties to the ruling political parties in their countries; or are themselves members of these in their countries; urges the Commission and Member States to immediately step up measures against land-grabbing, irregular tenders or other allocation procedures and misuse of EU-money, especially when national governments and authorities are involved; _________________ 19aBulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. ARecognises the work of OLAF and calls for increased efforts and vigilance in relation to the cases of conflict of interest and against oligarch structures, especially in certain Member States where these cases are prevalent; appreciates OLAFʼs long-term intensive investigative activity covering many politically controversial and complex cases; regrets that the indictment rate following recommendations by OLAF to Member States decreased from 53 % in the 2007-2014 period to 37 % in the 2016- 2020 period; further notes that the extent to which financial amounts recommended for recovery are actually recovered has not been assessed in recent years, and that the most recent assessment covering the years 2009 to 2016 indicates a recovery rate of 21 %; calls on OLAF and the Commission to investigate the underlying reasons and calls on the Member States to cooperate closely with EU institutions and bodies to ensure that funds misused by organised crime and oligarchs are recovered;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises the importanckey role and added value of the newly established EPPO in the protection of the EU’s financial interests; deeply regrets that there are still five Member States not participating in EPPO; encourages these Member States to join EPPO; appreciates the EPPOʼs endeavours to become operational under very challenging circumstances; calls on the Commission to assist the EPPO in solving the problem of diverging implementation of the PIF Directive by different Member States; underlines that the outcome of the cooperation between the EPPO and the Member States is also crucial in order to assess the proper functioning of the management and control systems for the purpose of audit arrangements;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Commends the invaluable work carried out by OLAF, the EPPO and Europol in combating fraud, money laundering and tax evasion, and stresses that these institutions are chronically understaffed and lacking financial resources due to the unwillingness of the Council as one of the budgetary authorities to authorise sufficient human and financial resources during the annual budgetary procedure; calls therefore on the Council to review its position andwelcomes the increase of EPPO’s budget by EUR 3.8 million in the annual budgetary procedure for the year 2022; calls on the Council to allow for increased financing of financial and human resources for these agencies and offices in the future, enabling them to carry outfulfil their important mission in an appropriate and effective way;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Deplores that since 1 January 2021, the Commission has been unable to take any appropriate action to apply the Conditionality Regulation, which entered into force on that day; strongly regrets that after months of debatingthe Commission's inaction, Parliament has been forced to take legal action against the Commission under Article 265 TFEU for failure to apply the Conditionality Regulation;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls on the Commission to insist on a strict and rigorous implementation of the applicable rules, to use all available sources and to employ efficient management and control systems to address risks of fraud and conflict of interest, and to better monitor the situation of agriculture paying agencies and their formal and informal independence; is of the view that substantive auditing and controls both on the national and European level are key conditions for the protection of the EU funds; deplores the insufficient progress in the fight against oligarch structures in the new CAP, such as the limited information and transparency on final and ultimate beneficiaries and keeping up the voluntary nature of capping which hinders the fairer distribution of agricultural funds; finds it worrying that the new CAP proposal does not strengthen the role of controlling systems at European level;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Points out that under the RRF Regulation, which forms part of the MFF 2021-2027 package, the Member States have to ensure the effective prevention, detection and correction of conflicts of interest, corruption and fraud, and avoidance of double funding; stresses that they are also required to explain the relevant arrangements in their recovery and resilience plans and include a summary of the consultation process at national level as well as a presentation of the controls and audit system put in place to ensure that the financial interests of the EU are protected; calls on the Council not to adopt any financial support to Member States where all legal, social and policy conditionalities for support are not fulfilled, with special regard to the existence of effective systems for the detection, prevention and correction of irregularities and fraud, as well as the functioning of the rule of law;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Regrets that data for identifying businesses and their beneficial owners is not easily or sometimes even at all accessible, since neither the CAP nor cohesion policy reporting systems contain information on the final and ultimate beneficiaries;