Activities of Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ related to 2022/0162(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (recast)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 6 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 27
Recital 27
(27) In order to enhance the protection of the Union budget against fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest, double funding and other irregularities, standardised financial and reimbursement requests and measures to collect, compare and aggregate information on the recipients of Union funding should be introduced. In particular, in order to effectively prevent, detect, investigate and correct frauds or remedy irregularities, it is necessary to be able to identify the natural persons that ultimately benefit, directly or indirectly, from Union funding and who ultimately profit from the misuse of EU funding. The electronic recording and storage of data on the recipients of Union funding, including their beneficial owners as defined in Article 3, point (6), of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council32 and their main contractors and the regular making of those data available in a single integrated IT system for data-mining and risk-scoring provided by the Commission, should facilitate risk assessment for the purposes of selection, award, financial management, monitoring, investigation, control and audit and contribute to effective prevention, detection, correction and follow-up of fraud, corruption, conflicts of interest, double funding and other irregularities. The Commission should be responsible for the development, management and supervision of the single integrated IT system for data-mining and risk-scoring. The Commission, the Member States, the persons or entities implementing the budget, the European Anti-Fraud Office (‘OLAF’) and other Union investigative and control bodies should have the necessary access to those data within the exercise of their respective competences. The rules related to the recording, storage, transfer and processing of data should comply with applicable data protection rules. _________________ 32 Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing (OJ L 141 5.6.2015, p. 73).
Amendment 7 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) Without prejudice to the rules on the protection of personal data, the utmost transparency regarding information on recipients should be sought. The information on recipients of Union funds should be published on a dedicated website of Union institutions, such as the Financial Transparency System. Publication requirements should cover all methods of budget implementation, including by other Union institutions and bodies. To that end, Member States, persons and entities implementing the budget and other Union institutions and bodies should transmit to the Commission, at least on a yearly basis, information on their recipients of Union funding. That information should include at least the name , a unique identifier and the locality of the recipient, the amount committed and, the purpose of the measure, the main contractor, the date of the signing of the contract and, where applicable the date of the last reimbursement request. That information should take into account relevant criteria such as the periodicity, the type and the importance of the measure.
Amendment 8 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 103
Recital 103
(103) In order to enhance the protection of the Union financial interests the early- detection and exclusion system should be reinforced. It is important to avoid that a person or entity in an exclusion situation is able to apply to, or to be selected for implementing funds, or to receive such funds under a programme in shared management, or to be contractor under a programme in shared management. Where there is a final judgment or a final administrative decision, the authorising officer responsible should be able to exclude a person or entity, provided that the latter is in an exclusion situation and deemed as not reliable by having engaged in certain serious misconducts referred to in Article 139(1). In the absence of a final judgment or a final administrative decision, the authorising officer responsible should be able to exclude, on the basis of a preliminary classification in law made by the panel referred to in Article 146, having regard to facts and findings established in the context of audits or investigations carried out by European Anti-fraud Office (OLAF), European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO), the European Court of Auditors (ECA) or any other check, audit or control performed under the responsibility of the authorising officer. Such exclusion should be registered in the early-detection and exclusion system database established under Article 138(1). Member States’ authorities should take it into account by rejecting such persons or entities from being selected to implement Union funds or from receiving such funds. Payment applications from Member States under shared management, including expenditure related to a person or entity that has been excluded, should not be reimbursed. Where funds are disbursed to Member States under performance-based frameworks, specific rules shall apply, as set out in sector-specific legislation.
Amendment 10 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 115
Recital 115
(115) In order to further enhance the protection of the Union’s financial interests, it should be possible for the authorising officer to exclude or impose a financial penalty on beneficial owners and affiliated entities, including the main contractors, of the excluded entity that were involved in the misconduct of the excluded entity. The possibility to exclude beneficial owners and affiliated entities is intended to prevent that a person or entity that has been excluded from being selected to implement Union’s funds could continue to participate in procurement and award procedures, through a new company or existing affiliated entities.
Amendment 11 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 134
Recital 134
(134) In order to improve governance and quality of interoperable digital public services, the Member States, the Union institutions, the executive agencies and the Union bodies, such as those referred to in Articles 70 and 71 should follow and apply to the greatest possible extent the European Interoperability Framework.
Amendment 12 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 140
Recital 140
(140) In order to ensure efficient implementation of the Union budget, it is appropriate to further clarify the application of the principle of proportionality to indirect management. While the principle of proportionality cannot affect the nature of the obligations imposed by the relevant applicable legal framework, it should be systematically used in the cooperation with Union implementing partners, in order to strike the right balance between protection of the Union’s financial interests and preserving the Union’s ability to implement its policies. Certain adjustments and restructuring of the relevant provisions, including a harmonisation of the control procedures between the Court of Auditors on the one hand and the national and regional levels on the other hand should be made. This should not be interpreted as limiting in practice the necessary rights and access required for the authorising officer responsible, for EPPO in respect of those Member States participating in enhanced cooperation pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/1939, for OLAF, for the Court of Auditors, and, where appropriate, for the relevant national authorities, to comprehensively exert their respective competences.
Amendment 15 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 161
Recital 161
(161) In order to ensure the absence of professional conflicting interests that may affect or risk affecting the capacity to perform the contract in an independent, impartial and objective manner, it is necessary to clarify the obligations of the contracting authority and of the candidates or tenderers. On the one hand, the candidates, tenderers, and, where appropriate, entities on whose capacity they rely as well as envisaged subcontractors should declare the absence of such conflicting interests, and to provide related information where requested. On the other hand, the contracting authority should assess the existence of such professional conflicting interests when declared or on the basis of additional information without interfering or delaying the evaluation of the project. Where such professional conflicting interests are established, this should lead to rejection from the award.
Amendment 16 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 165
Recital 165
(165) It is necessary to simplify the rules governing dynamic purchasing systems reducing the time consuming procedures, including the resolving of the appeals, to enable contracting authorities to take full advantage of the possibilities afforded by that purchasing method. In particular, the systems should be operated in the form of a restricted procedure, thus allowing for any economic operator that submits a request to participate and meets the exclusion and selection criteria to take part in procurement procedures carried out through the dynamic purchasing system over its period of validity, which should not be limited to four years. Tenders may also be presented in the form of an electronic catalogue particularly for off- the-shelf products or services generally available on the market. Moreover, in order to reduce the administrative burden given the dynamic nature of the systems, the requirement to appoint an opening and evaluation committee should be waived for specific procurements under a dynamic purchasing system. Considering the progress in digitalisation of procurement procedures, it should be clarified that public openings for open procedures may be organised remotely via video conferences.
Amendment 17 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 178
Recital 178
(178) Experience gained has shown that it is necessary to clarify in which cases a modification is considered altering the subject matter of the contract and the selection criteria.
Amendment 20 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1
(1) ‘applicant’ means a natural person or an entity with or without legal personality who has submitted an application in a grant award procedure , in an award procedure for a loan guaranteed by the Union, in a non- financial donation award procedure or in a contest for prizes;
Amendment 21 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5
(5) ‘beneficiary’ means a natural person or an entity with or without legal personality with whom a grant agreement has been signed; , a loan agreement, non-financial donation agreement has been signed, or a prize has been awarded;
Amendment 22 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 20
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 20
(20) ‘control’ means any measure taken to provide reasonable assurance regarding the effectiveness, efficiency and economy of operations, the reliability of reporting, the safeguarding of assets and information, the prevention and detection and correction of fraud and irregularities and their follow- up, and the adequate management of the risks relating to the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions, taking into account the multiannual character of programmes as well as the nature of the payments concerned. Controls may involve various checks, including the coherence and the maintaining of the eligibility criteria throughout the implementation period, as well as the implementation of any policies and procedures to achieve the objectives referred to in the first sentence;
Amendment 24 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 22 – point b
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 22 – point b
(b) a situation caused by natural disasters, man-made crisis such as wars and other conflicts or extraordinary circumstances having comparable effects related, inter alia, to climate change, public and animal, animal and plant health, food safety emergencies and global health threats such as pandemics, environmental degradation, privation of access to energy and natural resources or extreme poverty;
Amendment 27 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 33 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 33 – paragraph 2 – point d
(d) programmes and activities should be implemented to achieve their set objectives without doing significant harm to the environmental objectives of climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, the sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, the transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention and control and the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems, as set out in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council51 except for crisis situations as defined in Art. 2 point (22) of this Regulation when priority will be assigned to solving the crisis situation considering the impact on human life. _________________ 51 Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (Text with EEA relevance), OJ L 198, 22.6.2020, p. 13.
Amendment 28 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 36 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 36 – paragraph 2 – point d
(d) prevention, detection, correction and follow-up of fraud , corruption, conflicts of interest, double funding and other irregularities , including through the electronic recording and storage of data on the recipients of Union funds including their beneficial owners and main contractors , as defined in Article 3, point (6), of Directive (EU) 2015/849 , and through the use of a single integrated IT system for data-mining and risk-scoring provided by the Commission to access and analyse those data ;
Amendment 29 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 36 – paragraph 3 – point c
Article 36 – paragraph 3 – point c
(c) adequate and harmonized sectorial audit trails audit trails and data integrity in data systems including electronic ones ;
Amendment 30 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 36 – paragraph 6 – point a
Article 36 – paragraph 6 – point a
(a) the recipient’s and the main contractor`s full legal name in the case of legal persons, the first and last name in the case of natural persons, their VAT identification number or tax identification number where available or another unique identifier at country level and the amount of funding. If a natural person, also the date of birth;