Activities of Katalin CSEH related to 2020/2246(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the protection of the EU’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2019
Amendments (34)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas de jure the Member States and the Commission have shared responsibility, and must work closely together, to protect the Union’s financial interests and fight fraud and corruption; whereas de facto Member State authorities managed approximately 74 % of EU expenditure and collected the Union’s traditional own resources with regard to the Union’s budget for 2019;
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the Commission should fulfil its respective responsibilities under shared management for supervision, control and audit, however the Commission is capable of monitoring approximately 10% of all expenditures;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the diversity of legal and administrative systems in the Member States needs to be adequately addressed in order to overcomeis not an advantage and whereas it needs to be adequately addressed to be able to create more unified administrative and reporting systems in the EU to effectively prevent and fight irregularities and combat fraud and corruption;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas systematic and institutionalised and high level cases of corruption and deliberate weakening of the checks and balances and of the independence of the institutions responsible for monitoring and controlling finances in certain Member States seriously harm the Union’s financial interests while also representing a threat to the rule of law;
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. whereas corruption affects all Member States burdens not only the EU economy, but undermines democracy and rule of law all across Europe;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the 31st Annual report on the protection of the EU’s financial interests and the fight against fraud, which underlines the achievements of 2019 with regards to the consolidation of the institutional framework on the fight against fraud and irregularities at Union level achieved by the transposition into national law by 12 Member States of the measures provided for in the Directive on the fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law (‘the PIF Directive’) with the22 Member States doing so by June 2020; calls on all remaining 22 Member States doing so by June 2020to take all necessary measures and ensure the full and correct transposition of the Directive within the shortest time possible; calls on the Commission to closely monitor the transposition process in all Member States, as well as to make use of its prerogatives for launching infringement procedures, where Member States fail to comply with the transposition process;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Notes that the number of detected irregularities reported as fraudulent is an indication of the level of detection and of the capacity to intercept potential fraud by Member States and Union bodies, and recalls that it is not a direct indicator of the level of fraud affecting the Union budget or a specific Member State; recalls that in 2019, two special reports of the European Court of Auditors highlighted the shortcomings of the Commission with regards to its insight into the scale, nature and causes of fraud, identifying weaknesses in the Commission’s strategic approach towards managing risks of fraud, calling on the Commission to take more proactive measures in order to address these issues; notes that the detection and reporting of an irregularity implies that corrective measures have been taken in order to protect the Union’s financial interests and that, whenever relevant, criminal proceedings have been launched;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Highlights that, in particular for fraudulent irregularities, detections were concentrated in a few Member States, suggesting different approaches to the use of criminal law in protecting the EU budget; calls on the Commission to address these differences and consider new harmonizing measures;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5 b. Underlines the increased risks associated to the implementation of the Union budget, incurred by the COVID -19 crisis; highlights that in 2019, fifteen Member States reported irregularities in actions related to health infrastructures, with seven reporting fraudulent irregularities; notes with concern that more than half of the fraudulent irregularities were reported by two Member States; calls on the Commission to pay particular attention to these cases, monitoring and taking action for ensuring the full protection of the EU budget, especially under exceptional crisis circumstances;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Welcomes the adoption of the New Commission Anti-Fraud Strategy on 29 April 2019; welcomes the zero tolerance policy towards fraud; welcomes the reintroduction of the Commission’s corporate oversight of fraud issues by giving OLAF a stronger advisory and supervisory role reminds that the CAFS foresees actions only to the Commission, while the majority of responsibilities lie with the Member States; calls for a unified approach for the European Fraud Strategy, which includes the Member States as well;
Amendment 65 #
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; deplores that only ten Member States have adopted a national anti-fraud strategy (NAFS); calls on all Member States who have not yet adopted a NAFS to do so without delay; calls on the Commission to push the remaining Member States to advance their adoption of NAFS;
Amendment 67 #
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; calls on Member States who have not yet adopted a NAFS to do so without delay; calls on the Commission to assess the already existing NAFSs and assess the reasons why Member States have not done that so far;
Amendment 69 #
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; reminds that still 16 Member States have not prepared their own NAFSs; calls on Member States who have not yet adopted a NAFS to do so without delay;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25 a. Stresses that after the creation of the EPPO, OLAF will remain the sole office responsible for protecting EU financial interests in the Member States that decided not to join the EPPO; highlights that according to opinion 8/2018 of the European Court of Auditors, the Commission proposal amending the OLAF regulation does not resolve the issue of low effectiveness of OLAF’s administrative investigations; underlines the importance of ensuring that OLAF remains a strong and fully functioning partner to the EPPO;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25 a. Is strongly of the opinion that OLAF needs to be strengthened with budgetary means and positions in order to be fully capable to exercise its duties regarding prevention and investigation; especially regarding those Member States, which are not participating in the EPPO;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Paragraph 25 b (new)
25 b. Welcomes the agreement between OLAF and the co-legislators, in close cooperation with the Commission services, towards including standard provisions on the protection of the financial interests of the Union in all post-2020 spending programmes legislation harmonised by area;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Welcomes the appointment of Ms. Laura Codruța Kövesi as European Chief Prosecutor and the progress achieved by the setting upin 2019 and launch of operations of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (‘the EPPO’) on June 1st 2021;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Notes that the procedure for the appointment of the European prosecutors was launched in 2019, and the discussion on national preparations to integrate European delegated prosecutors into national systemhas been completed in 2020, but regrets the lack of nominations of European delegated prosecutors by Finland and Slovenia, as well as the considerable delays in many other Member States; notes that by the end of 2019, 18 Member States had notified the Commission that they had incorporated Directive (EU) 2017/1371 into national law;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Stresses that the future cooperation between OLAF and the EPPO should be based on close cooperation, efficient exchange of information and complementarity, while avoiding duplications or conflicted competences;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Calls on the Commission to do its utmost to incentivise all Member States to join the EPPO;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Welcomes to the adoption of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 (‘the Whistleblowing Directive’) noting the deadline for transposition on 17 December 2021; highlights the importance of independent media and investigative journalists and reiterates the need to protect them including through anti-slapp legislationcalls on the Commission to closely monitor and assist the Member States, ensuring the complete, correct and timely transposition of the Directive;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Welcomes to the adoption of Directive (EU) 2019/1937 (‘the Whistleblowing Directive’) noting the deadline for transposition on 17 December 2021; highlights the importance of independent media and investigative journalists and reiterates the need to protect them including through anti-slapp legislation; calls on the Commission to start assessing the implementation by the Member States as soon as the deadline has passed;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28 a. Highlights the importance of independent media and investigative journalists and reiterates the need to protect them; calls therefore on the Commission to develop comprehensive measures for the protection and financing of independent investigative journalism, including a rapid response mechanism for journalists in distress and effective anti- SLAPP legislation;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Stresses the importance of the progress made on the Commission’s legislative and policy initiatives to prevent and fight corruption, as well as the regular monitoring and evaluation of the Member States’ legal framework under the newly established Rule of Law Report; recalls however the highly descriptive nature of the newly established Rule of Law report;calls on the Commission to strengthen this instrument by issuing recommendations in situations where deficiencies are identified;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Calls on the Commission to ensure the full transparency and quality of data reported by Member States in the Irregularity Management System (IMS); urges Member States to report complete data in a timely manner; calls on the Commission and the Member States to link IMS with EDES and ARACHNE and provide access to all Member States and the Commission;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Stresses the importance ofEmphasizes that the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES); invites the Commission to analyse the impact of a possible extension of EDES to, as the EU’s Blacklist, has a huge potential flagging people and companies that misuse EU funds; invites the Commission to initiate the change of the Financial Regulation in order to allow EDES to be operational not only in direct management but also in indirect and shared management;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33 a. Deplores the fact that there are more than 290 monitoring and reporting systems for the CAP and the Cohesion Fund which makes it impossible to verify the final beneficiaries of those funds, to prevent and effectively investigate fraud and corruption; calls on the Commission and the Member States to establish a harmonised or unified reporting system with timely and accurate data in order to remedy the situation;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. REmphasises the particular importance of EU and national anti-fraud institutions and bodies in the context of increased EU resources through the Recovery and Resilience fund; recalls the importance of supporting and strengthening cooperation among the EU institutions, the EPPO, OLAF, the EU agencies, in particular Europol and Eurojust, and national authorities, in order to detect and tackle fraud and corruption more effectively; reiterates its call to ensure adequate resources for the EPPO, OLAF and relevant EU agencies in this regardnext years’ budgets, and that the EPPO be able to use the financial resources in the 2021 budget for additional staff recruitment, as requested by Parliament;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Recalls the importance of supporting and strengthening cooperation among the EU institutions, the EPPO, OLAF, the EU agencies, in particular Europol and Eurojust, and national authorities, in order to detect and tackle fraud and corruption more effectively; reiterates its call to ensure adequatefurther strengthened resources for the EPPO, OLAF and relevant EU agencies in this regard;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
35 a. Calls on the Commission to consider updating its anti-fraud strategy in order to fully reflect the operationalisation of the EPPO and its role in fighting fraud;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 b (new)
Paragraph 35 b (new)
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
37. Notes that only 13 Member States made use of ARACHNE during their risk analysis; reiterates the importance of this tool, as well as of interoperability of IT systems and databases for fraud risk analysis and fraud detection purposes; reiterates its call on the Commission to consider making thmake use of ARACHNE mandatory for Member States; calls on Member States to provide the system with timely and reliable data; is of the opinion that the Commission and OLAF need to have access to these data;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37 a (new)
Paragraph 37 a (new)
37 a. Notes that 16 Member States have strengthened risk analysis to detect fraud and irregularities via the use of IT tools; calls on the Commission to facilitate exchanges of good practices between these countries and Member States without experience;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)
Paragraph 39 a (new)