Activities of Isabel GARCÍA MUÑOZ related to 2020/2222(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the evaluation of preventive measures for avoiding corruption, irregular spending and misuse of EU and national funds in case of emergency funds and crisis-related spending areas
Amendments (39)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 a (new)
Citation 11 a (new)
— having regard to the European Court of Auditors’ review No 06/2020 entitled ‘Risks, challenges and opportunities in the EU’s economic policy response to the COVID-19 crisis’,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 24 a (new)
Citation 24 a (new)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas financial and economic crime includesrefers to illegal acts committed by an individual or a group of individuals to obtain economic or professional gain and includes, inter alia, corruption, fraud, coercion, collusion, obstruction, money laundering and financing of terrorism;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the public health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the subsequent economic emergency and social turmoil, has pushed the EU and the Member States’ governments to provide forpublic authorities in Member States to provide for or to be involved in the management of extra funding and substantially and swiftly increase spending;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas because of the pressing nature of the crisis, procurement procedures and means of control have been relaxedmade more flexible in many places in order to expedite implementation;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas response plans do not give enough consideration to governance and problems of corruptionillegal acts, like corruption and fraud, and measures to avoid non- fraudulent irregularities;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas crisis creates opportunities for numerous violations of integrity and could intensify fraud and corruption, as well as non-fraudulent irregularities, particularly in public procurement, economic stimulus packages and public organisations;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital J
Recital J
J. whereas corruption is a major threat in the private and public spheres as it causes a reduction of the resources, which damages the social protection and an equitable access to public services, and has a disproportionate impact on the poor and most vulnerable, increasing costs and reducing access to servic groups, ultimately increasing social inequalities;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas a rising number of serious and organised crime groups are active in the EU, often with cross-border reach and almost in all cases taking advantage of new technologies which makes it possible to act from anywhere in the world and at any time;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas curbing corruption requires government ownership of reforms, public support, political commitment, international cooperation, and a joint effort with civil society and the private sector;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas in a situation of high expectation, severe pressure and unprecedented spending volumes, public officials could be unfit to keep up with the increased professional standards needed, or not at ease with doing sothe responsibility for meeting this challenge rests with public officials who need appropriate support to deal with both the increased professional standards and new difficulties to fulfil their mission; whereas, furthermore, officials may not necessarily become promptly aware of conflict-of- interest situations;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R
Recital R
R. whereas the Lisbon Treaty took the direction of reinforcing the role of the European Parliament, to bring about more coherence, parliamentary scrutiny and democratic accountability;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Is of the opinion that such crises provide an opportunity and a need to strengthen anti-corruption and integrity policies, as well as the bodies than enforce them, and therefore improve overall governance; believes, in this respect, that the COVID-19 crisis will sharpen our focus on governance in the years ahead as a result of the increased efforts to tackle the pandemic’s devastating effects and costs for people and economies;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Believes that the rule of law is an essential precondition for compliance with the principle of sound financial management of emergency funds as part of the EU budget; recalls that the rule of law applies at all times, including at times of crisis, and that emergency measures must ensure compliance with the rule of law and the principles of proportionality and necessity as well as being time-limited and regularly scrutinised for their impact;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Highlights that emergency situations, especially health and safety crisis, also impact the functioning of public authorities and create opportunities for integrity violations, which can cause misuse of funds and corruption at a time when public resources are already under pressure; encourages the Commission to address the resilience of the EU institutions in such situations in order to protect emergency funds;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Expresses its concern, however, that transparency, control and anti- corruption reforms have met a certain resistance in some Member States, which has been explained by the fact that they affect the personal interests of the; believes that any actual or potential conflict of interest affecting law- makers and government officials in charge of enforcing themmust be prevented;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Recalls that governments needpublic authorities need solid ex ante controls, efficient and transparent reporting, independent ex post audits and accountability procedures, and open channels of communication with civil society and the private sector to ensure that the funds and measures are helping the people who need it most;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Is of the opinion that more effort needs to be put into ex ante controls to know beforehand exactly how the emergency funds are going to be used and to guarantee their traceability; believes that ex post controls and evaluations should be strengthened whereverspecially when ex ante controls and evaluations are not feasiblehave been carried out under exceptional measures;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Believes that it is important to keep citizens both informed and engaged in the fight against corruption ands well as fully protected from negative personal or professional consequences in case of whistleblowing; calls on the Commission to provide the right platforms for engagementthat purpose;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that in the midst of an economic, security or health-related crisis, governments have a tendency to relaxmake contracting procedures more flexible in order to promptly respond to the crisis; stresses the fact that the EU Public Procurement Directive already allows for much quicker and less administratively burdensome procedures and that Member States’ governments should not manage these procedures outside of the legal requirements;
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Insists, however, that in order to curb the potential negative effects of these policies in terms of graft, top-down accountability tools such as specific guidance and audits should by default accompany any relaxation of contracting rules, as flexibility and reactivity should not come at the expense of public accountability and performanceflexibility measure on contracting rules in order not to harm public accountability and performance; welcomes in that regard the Commission’s timely ‘Guidance on using the public procurement framework in the emergency situation related to the COVID-19 crisis’ published on 1 April 2020;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Believes that emergency measures, in addition to flexibility, should deliver simplified procedures to the extent possible so as to prevent costly errors and non-fraudulent irregularities due to the complexity of the rules, interpretation inconsistencies or shortcomings in implementation caused by final beneficiaries;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Takes notes of the Court of Auditors’ analysis that identifies new risks that NextGenerationEU entails, especially in terms of monitoring and accountability; reiterates that Parliament has an essential role in scrutinising the stimulus package and must be kept informed regularly by the Commission on its implementation;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)20 , the key instrument at the heart of NextGenerationEU, makes it possible to offer Member States grants (of up to EUR 312 billion) and loans (of up to EUR 360 billion)21 for public investments and reforms aimed at addressing structural weaknesses and making Member States’ economies more resilient while focusing on sustainable transition, digital transformation, economic, social and territorial cohesion, institutional resilience and the Pillar of Social Rights ; _________________ 20https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal- content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32021 R0241 21 Both in 2018 prices.
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. Encourages EU and national authorities to take on local-regional authorities’ input while elaborating and implementing emergency and recovery measures;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Believes that sound financial management should be pursued and that absorption, while remaining an important objective, should not be prioritised over performance and value for money considerations;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Is of the opinion that more transparency, coupled with technology and data science, could also help to identifyare instrumental in order to prevent and reduce corruption; in this sense, calls strongly on the Commission and the Member States to make full use of the available tools, such as the Early Detection and Exclusion System (EDES), Arachne and the Irregularities Management System (IMS) to effectively and efficiently identify the problematic economic operators and the private individuals (or natural persons) linked to them in both direct and indirect management; encourages Member States to exchange information both among themselves and, with the Commission and with the EU relevant bodies (ECA, OLAF, EPPO and Europol) to cooperate more closely with a view to improving data collection and, enhancing the effectiveness of controls; and securing the recovery of the misused funds;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Calls, in this regard, for a single digital database that allows the aforementioned EU institutions and bodies to identify patterns and 'at risk' beneficiaries; stresses the importance of data quality and interoperability in order to facilitate the automated exchange of relevant information while contributing to the once-only principle; reiterates the necessity of collecting data on the final recipients of emergency funds;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Regrets the fact that OLAF does not have full access to the Arachne Risk Scoring Tool; is of the opinion that integrating Arachne in national management and control systems should be mandatory for all the managing authorities;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls on the Commission to evaluate the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular the preventive anti-corruption measures, to look at how corruption affected the outcome and whether integrity was upheld or undermined, and to report back to Parliament on the main findings;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Finds it lamentable that the Commission makes extensive use of the redaction tool to cover parts of the APA contracts; insists, notwithstanding the sensitivity of the information, that such details are important in improving accountability and the global response to the virus as increased transparency boosts public trust, empowers the public debate and promotes EU standards; notes that the Commission applies Article 38(3)(d) of the Financial Regulation, referring to the case where disclosure of data risks harming the commercial interests of the recipients, and calls for proportionality of effective scrutiny and full accountability of the use of the resources with the public interest; believes, in that regard, that the second generation contracts should be published in full transparency since all vaccines have received some form of public support;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Urges the Commission to put in place a solid and transparent EU public procurement framework, when funds from the EU budget are fully or partially involved, that would allow for full and unlimited scrutiny by Parliament, especially concerning major economic, security or health crisis-related spending areas; calls on the Commission to assess the successful Joint Procurement Agreement and the rescEU stockpile of medical equipment in order to establish good practises for future crisis;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to work together towards the adoption of robust National Anti-Fraud Strategies (NAS), that offer the benefit of coordinating the actions of several entities and guaranteeing optimisation of resources and coverage of all the areas of interest (expenditures under indirect and shared management, national funds, etc.); reiterates that the Commission shall use its annual rule of law report to assess not only the existence but also the effectiveness of the NAS (including relevant legislation and policies), outline best practices, identify areas particularly sensitive to corruption and come up with country-specific recommendations for improvement, and to use that knowledge as well to update and enhance the Union’s anti-corruption framework;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Insists on the need for collaborative work among the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and other EU bodies such as Eurojust, Europol and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to carry out criminal investigations and prosecutions within the respective mandate/remit; emphasises the crucial role of the aforementioned institutions and bodies during emergency situations and crisis to fight those who unscrupulously take advantage of EU funds while ensuring their own business continuity; reiterates that fighting corruption and fraud requires a strong mandate coupled with an adequate budget, resources and any kind of support necessary to implement it from both the EU and the Member States; calls on the Commission to thoroughly secure the necessary support in the frame of the budgetary process;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls for increased effective international cooperation on taking of evidence, mutual recognition, service of documents, and confiscation and freezing of assets, with a view to giving the competent authorities the means to trace, freeze, manage and confiscate the proceeds of crime; calls, therefore, on the Commission to support and to promote the Union-wide harmonisation of definitions of corruption offenses, as well as a better use of the existing data sets and the methodology to develop new ones in order to obtain comparative data across the EU on the treatment of corruption cases;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Welcomes the package of legislative proposals presented by the Commission to strengthen the EU’s anti- money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism rules; calls for an efficient and consistent implementation of the future framework that foresees emergency situations where the stability and security in Europe may be compromised;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 b (new)
Paragraph 27 b (new)
27 b. Observes with concern Europol’s conclusion that criminals are digital natives, which means that virtually all criminal activities now feature some online component and many crimes have fully migrated online; is concerned that new technologies also allows traditional crimes to continue to be committed in a non-traditional way, from anywhere in the world at any time; calls on the Commission and Member States to make a decisive investment and a strong political commitment to meet these new challenges;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Takes the view that a centralised procurement administration tosystem in which contractors and contracting authorities are obliged to systematically report highly detailedduly report fundamental project data and, progress milestones and the beneficial owners (in a standardised format) should be created, in order to facilitate interoperability, data collection and treatment on an EU level;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Believes in the benefits of professionalisation and adequate wages in public procurement, namely that having specialised, well trained and well paid public procurement staff who share their expertise, knowledge and (market) intelligence, also across Member States’ borders, is a positive practice to be implemented together among other corruption prevention techniques;