Activities of Lucia ĎURIŠ NICHOLSONOVÁ related to 2023/2129(DEC)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022 – Commission
Amendments (11)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency’s (EACEA) efforts to adapt Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps and Creative Europe to a changing reality, for instance by reviewing upwards individual support rates for grants to safeguard their inclusive character, extending application deadlines and project duration, and a voluntary refocusing of activities on Ukraine, and expects more efforts to further reinforce inclusion measures and support to facilitate the participation of vulnerable groups;
Amendment 3 #
1. Is worried by the fact that by the end of 2022, total outstanding commitments reached a record level of over €450 billion; takes note, however, that, according to the Commission, after a further increase to some €460 billion in 2023, the outstanding commitments should decrease duringfrom 2024 tountil 2027 to €314 billion;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Notes with regret that the procedures to apply for EU funding under those programmes are often still too burdensome and create obstacles for potential beneficiaries, especially small and micro organisations in the cultural and creative sectors and industries, whose administrative capacities are limited;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is greatly worried that the overall level of error was material at 4.2 %, thus is higher compared to 3.0 % in 2021; and is particularly worried that the level of error is mainly driven by ‘Cohesion, resilience and values’, which was the biggest contributor to this rate (2.5 %); recognises that the majority of spending in this area is deemed high-risk expenditure as mainly reimbursement-based and often subject to complex rules; notes that the most common errors under the Cohesion heading were ineligible projects and infringements of internal market rules, in particular non- compliance with public procurement and state aid rules; calls for urgent action to decrease the error rate in the future, especially for the new funding period, and calls on the Commission to assist the agencies to improve their internal procedures in order to ensure compliance with applicable public procurement and state aid rules;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Stresses that the Commission should substantially reduce the level of outstanding commitments; Notes that in the light of high outstanding commitments which await payment from future EU budgets, the Commission should identify ways to help member states accelerate the use of EU funds, in particular of shared management funds under the Common Provisions Regulation, while respecting sound financial management;
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Reiterates its concern about the strongly backloaded budget profile of Erasmus+; welcomes the extra EUR 35 million awarded to Erasmus+ in 2022 due to the Parliament’s insistence; stresses the need to better use the potential of existing synergies between programmes and actions, better communicate on those synergies and calls on the Commission to further investigate future innovative funding solutions;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Requests the European Court of Auditors to carry out an audit on the possible misuse of EU funds through Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps by networks of associations that present false projects and expects a thorough investigation and follow-up;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes the continued frontloading of the Creative Europe budget in 2022 for mitigating the persisting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cultural and creative sectors; deplores, however, that the programme as a whole remains underfinanced in relation to the objectives to be achieved, notably given its high subscription rate;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Welcomes in particular the recent setting-up of ‘cascade funding’ as a means to better reach all beneficiaries of Creative Europe projects, especially individuals and small and medium-sized organisations; invites the Commission to further develop such schemes in all programmes of relevance to the sector;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Deplores that too many pilot projects and preparatory actions receive low grades by the Commission and that, as a consequence, there is a very limited use of their potential in advancing innovative policies;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9 b. Encourages DG Connect to continue implementing media literacy strategies, such as the 2022 European Media Literacy Week, and underlines the need to continue the fight against disinformation in all relevant Commission initiatives;