Activities of Sabrina PIGNEDOLI related to 2022/2152(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Protection of the EU’s financial interests - combating fraud - annual report 2021 (debate)
Protection of the EU’s financial interests - combating fraud - annual report 2021 (debate)
Reports (1)
REPORT on the protection of the European Union’s financial interests – combating fraud – annual report 2021
Amendments (16)
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Calls on the Commission to produce an “Annual Report on Corruption” - as happen already for the fraud - in order to provide an in-depth analysis of the approaches, procedures and tools used by EU Member States in their fight against corruption and to help to assess which areas are most at risk, thereby helping to better target action at both EU and national level;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Highlights that the EPPO has the authority to investigate serious offences against the common VAT system where they are associated with the territory of two or more Member States and involve a total loss of at least EUR 10 million and that, acting as a single transnational prosecution office, it brings unprecedented efficiency in the fight against VAT fraud; notes that in in particular 2021, the EPPO investigated 91 such cases involving estimated losses of EUR 2.5 billion; welcomes the Commission’s initiative for a second transposition report on the PIF Directive, due in the third quarter of 2022, which will also focus on the appropriateness of the EUR 10 million VAT threshold;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28 a. Calls on the Commission to urgently check the applicability of Article 61 of Regulation no 2018/1046 on conflict of interests to check is any person or national authorities involved in budget implementation do not take any action which may bring their own interest into conflict with those of the Union; considers necessary an analysis carried out by the Commission to evaluate the tangible effect of such Article and to consider the possible way forward;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29 a. Observes that the analysis of irregularities highlights risks in relation to the green transition for investments in energy efficiency, the provision of drinking water, waste management, renewable energy (solar) and risk prevention; those linked to the digital transition relate to services and applications for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), in terms of the number of irregularities, and services and applications for e-government, in terms of the financial amounts involved;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 b (new)
Paragraph 29 b (new)
29 b. Welcomes the analysis in the PIF Report 2021 and calls on national authorities to take them into account in their control activities;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35 a (new)
Paragraph 35 a (new)
35 a. Underlines the necessity to make compulsory the single integrated IT system as soon as possible without waiting for the next MFF, as also be stated in the Opinion 06/2022 of the European Court of Auditor;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39 a (new)
Paragraph 39 a (new)
39 a. Urgently asks the Commission to review the EPPO Regulation to broaden its functions, thus also including environmental crimes - which have been increasing in recent times - and consequently to increase its staff to make EPPO capable of carrying out its tasks;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Remarks that OLAF actively cooperates with the European Court of Auditors (ECA), Eurojust, and Europol; welcomes the joint efforts of OLAF and Europol to assess the threats and vulnerabilities of the RRF instrument and their cooperation with other Commission services entrusted with supervising the RRF (DG Economic and Financial Affairs and the Commission Secretariat-General); appreciates the publication of the joint OLAF/Europol report entitled ‘Assessing the threats to the NextGenerationEU (NGEU) Fund’;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 48 a (new)
Paragraph 48 a (new)
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 a (new)
Paragraph 49 a (new)
49 a. Welcomes targeted revision of the action plan accompanying the Commission Anti Fraud strategy initiated by the Commission and calls on the Commission to take into account the proposals put forward in this and previous resolutions on PIF matters by the European Parliament;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 a (new)
Paragraph 50 a (new)
50 a. Calls on EPPO participating Member States to provide the necessary support to the office (support staff and appropriate working conditions for European delegated prosecutors, access to databases, police officers, prompt cooperation from taxation and customs authorities, etc), so that it can fully take advantage of its efficiency in protecting the EU and Member States’ budgets;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50 b (new)
Paragraph 50 b (new)
50 b. Calls on Ireland and Poland to immediately start cooperating with the EPPO on the basis of existing mutual legal assistance treaties and legislation and emphasizes that the lack of cooperation goes against the duties of sincere cooperation (Article 13 TFEU) and the specific objective, and related obligations on the Member States, of the effective protection of the Union’s financial interests (Article 325 TFEU);
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 51
Paragraph 51
51. Believes that uneven and fragmentary legislation across EU Member States represents an obstacle to the effectiveness of the protection of the Union’s financial interests, in particular, the diverse implementation of the PIF directive, combined with the rules in Article 25 of the EPPO Regulation, makes is impossible for the EPPO to exercise its competence in some Member States (for example with regard to smuggling and co- financing situations) creating loopholes in the protection of EU financial interests;
Amendment 108 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 56 a (new)
Paragraph 56 a (new)
56 a. Calls on the Commission to update the AFCOS guidelines to help national authorities in developing a structured coordination service; asks furthermore the Commission a detailed explanation to send to the discharge authority and publicly available on the work in progress;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Calls on the Commission to urgent change the current guidelines for National Anti Fraud Strategies (NAFS) to reflect developments in systems and to align them with the new challenges; regrets that the last guidelines on NAFS have been formulated in 2015 and considers that they are not any more adequate; calls on the Commission on the urgency to encourage the Member State to have the same discipline;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 66 a (new)
Paragraph 66 a (new)
66 a. Calls on the Commission to update the fraud report system of funds spent in non-EU countries; notes that the new system should take into account specific issues that EU faces when spends money outside EU territory;