Activities of Lucia ĎURIŠ NICHOLSONOVÁ related to 2021/2106(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2020 – Section III, Commission and executive agencies
Amendments (10)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls that in 2020 the total available budget for the Union programmes and actions under the portfolio of Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) amounted to EUR 6 043 million in commitment appropriations (some 7 % more than in 2019); notes that, despite the unavoidable cancellation or postponement of some activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic and thanks to the measures taken under the ‘force majeure’ clause, DG EAC achieved most targets in 2020 and executed commitments fully and payments virtually fully, as did Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) for relevant expenditure;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Acknowledges DG EAC’s flexibility and efforts to prevent under- implementation of programmes due to the COVID-19 pandemic; welcomes the measures taken to mitigate the effects of the crisis on applicants and beneficiaries, such as extending application deadlines, extending the duration of ongoing projects, supporting additional costs up to the maximum amounts granted to projects under the applicable legal frameworks, and applying further flexibility towards blended activities;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recalls the total planned expenditure under this sub-heading of the 2014-2020 MFF is €142 billion, of which €104.6 billion had been paid out by the end of 2020; Expresses satisfaction that EUR 3.1 billion (12.8%) of the spending under the MFF subheading 1a is dedicated to Education, training, youth and sport;
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Underlines the crucial role of the Creative Europe Programme in funding the cultural and creative sectors and industries (CCSI) in Europe, especially in times of crisis; regrets, however, that due to the lack of budget for the period 2014- 2020, several high quality projects could not be funded at a time where the CCSI needed support;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the 2020 update of DG EAC’s Anti-Fraud Strategy andimed at reinforcing the identification and handling of high-risk beneficiaries and of issues such as double funding and conflicts of interest, and commends the measures taken to prevent the risk of COVID-19-related fraud, including in the design of the next generation of programmes;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Takes note of the Court’s special report 26/2021 ‘Regularity of spending in EU Cohesion policy: Commission discloses annually a minimum estimated level of error that is not final’;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Urges DG EAC, DG CONNECT and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) to take without delay all appropriate measures to improve the protection of personal data wherever needed, to minimise the risks linked to third country data transfers, in order to enable the continuation of international operations in 2021 in full compliance with EU data protection law, and to strengthen staff awareness and knowledge of data protection rules, including through targeted training.
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Is worried about the fact that for 2020 financial year, the Court of Auditors (the “Court”) concluded that the weaknesses detected in some audit authorities’ sampling methods have limited the reliance that can be placed on that work; recalls the crucial role of audit authorities in the Member States in the assurance and control framework in Cohesion;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Recalls the vital importance of the ESF as the EU's main tool in fostering increased employment and labour mobility, education and vocational training for skills and lifelong learning and promoting social inclusion, combatting poverty and discrimination; notes the Court’s report on ‘the performance of the EU budget – Status at the end of 2020’ which found that while the ESF’S performance framework increased the availability of performance information, the focus remained on financial inputs and outputs, rather than on results and that ESF-funded activities continue to face difficulties in reaching people who are disconnected from the labour market, such as NEETs; Notes that the ESF expenses increased from EUR 11.2 billion in 2019 to EUR 13.7 billion in 2020 due to increased implementation;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Notes that for the first time the Court also issued an overall assessment of the conditions put in place by the EU to enable the agencies to deliver its policies for the public good and recommends to the Commission to ensure the relevance, coherence and flexibility of the set-up of agencies, allocate resources in a more flexible manner, improve governance, accountability and reporting on performance and strengthen the role of agencies as centres of expertise and networking;