Activities of Michal WIEZIK related to 2022/2020(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on possibilities to increase the reliability of audits and controls by national authorities in shared management
Amendments (9)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas according to the Article 59 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy, the Member States shall take measures necessary to ensure effective protection of the financial interests of the Union and take actions necessary to ensure the proper functioning of their management and control systems and the legality and regularity of expenditure declared to the Commission;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Insists that the audit bodies in Member States have to comply with internationally accepted standards on audits; states that failing to comply with them might undermine the reliability and quality of the audit work and thus pose a threat to the Single Audit approach; notes, in this regard, that the ECA hasrepeatedly identified shortcomings in the scope, quality, documentation and reporting of certain national audit authorities’ work10 ; considers that the weaknesses found in the work of several audit authorities covered by the ECA’s sample currently limit the reliance that can be placed on that work; stresses the importance for Member States to have a basic framework with clear and detailed responsibilities for ensuring the quality of audits, in order to avoid misinterpretation of EU rules; insists that if the audit authorities are working in an effective wayperform effectively by complying with key regulatory requirements and deploying international standards, doubleuplication of audits work should be avoided to reduce the bureaucratic burden and to make efficient use of audit capacities; _________________ 10 Annual report on the implementation of the EU budget for the 2021 financial year, pp. 163-168.
Amendment 17 #
6. Stresses that in order to carry out verifications and auditchecks of programmes financed with EU funds, it is essential to have competent human resources with adequate experience and institutional memory at different levels; regrets that the lack of sufficient resources, including capacity training dedicated to control functions, is a factor affecting the capacity of the managing authorities (in cohesion policy) and the paying agencies (in the common agricultural policy) to carry out effective and thorough checks and verifications of expenditure11 ; similarly, staff shortages in the national audit authorities, time constraints for carrying out audits and outsourcing to private sector entities could result in loss of institutional experience, fragmentation of the audit functions among different bodies and, consequently, these challenges could negatively impact the efficiency of the assurance process and the capacity of the audit bodies to deliver conclusive results on time 1a; recalls, in this context, the necessity to improve the methods and implementation of technical assistance that the Commission can provide to Member States’ authorities; _________________ 1a Single Audit Approach – Root Causes of the Weaknesses in the Work of the Member States’ Managing and Audit Authorities’, p. 58. 11 ‘Single Audit Approach – Root Causes of the Weaknesses in the Work of the Member States’ Managing and Audit Authorities’, p. 57.
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Reiterates its concern regarding the difference between the ECA’s and the Commission’s method for calculating errors, which creates confusion and reduces the sense of urgency needed to tackle the root causes of errors; highlights that these divergences do not occur in all areas of expenditure; emphasises, nevertheless, their occurence is present in the cohesion spending, one of the largest parts of the EU budget, for the fourth year in a row1a; underlines that cohesion is also a policy area, with considerably higher risk of irregular expenditure, therefore, a relevant and reliable estimated level of error in Cohesion spending is a key element for the Commission’s disclosure and monitoring whether expenditure in this policy area complied with the legal provisions; emphasises furthermore that adequate audit coverage is needed for a statistical representative sample that reflects the high degree of confidence needed for audit work to lead to reliable conclusions; calls on the Commission to improve its methodology and cooperate with the ECA with a view to increasing harmonisation in order to provide more comparable figures and to continue with a risk-based approach if severe deficiencies appear in certain Member States or sectors; _________________ 1a Annual report on the implementation of the EU budget for the 2021 financial year, pp. 166
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission to continue to identify ways to assist Member States in transposing directives, issuing guidelines and implementing EU funds, taking into account the interaction between EU rules and national legislation; recalls, in this context, the importance of conducting rigorous impact assessments, evaluations and fitness checks to assess whether EU legislation and spending programmes are fit for purpose; emphasises the need for the Commission to address the regulatory overlaps, inconsistencies and shortcomings identified during the fitness checks promptly, taking the experiences at national and/or regional level into account and to take appropriate measures to ensure the effectiveness, relevance and coherence of EU programmes; and ensuring continuity between programming periods;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission to reduce gold-plating on one side, and the delayed, fragmented or incomplete implementation or transposition of European legislation on the other, as this disrupts harmonisation and leads to distortions in the EU, with contradictory standards applied in the spending of European funds; stresses that the simplification should be a guiding principle not only in the Cohesion policy and CAP, but also in other applicable rules such as public procurement, state aid, taxation and sector-specific provisions;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission and the Member States, when implementing EU programmes, always to take account of the needs and experience of the regional and local authorities that are involved in the implementation of the funds, both as regards their administrative capacity and the suitability of the operational and audit procedures that they have to implement; underlines that further capacity building such as training, peer-to-peer reviews and exchange of knowledge and audit practices between audit bodies from different Member States would further enhance technical capacity of the national authorities’ staff;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Is of the opinion that digitalisation and the adoption of more sophisticated IT tools would improve the management, control and audit of EU funds, and could contribute to substantially reducing bureaucracy and increasing quality of checks and audits; considers that digitalisation allows easier and quicker access to important data during verifications and, therefore, to a reduction in the number of controls; highlights that, nevertheless, no IT system could ever completely replace the human factor; insists that well-trained staff continue to play an important role in the management and control system of the EU funds; calls on the Member States to ameliorate the digitalisation of administrative work with a view to a harmonised approach, and to ensure the proper training of staff involved in the implementation of EU funds, as well as in control and audits, allowing them to fully understand the capabilities of the IT tools, know what to expect in terms of the results produced and understand their role in the decision-making process;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Insists that good collaboration and feedback between the managing and audit authorities and the Commission is another important factor in the effectiveness of the assurance and control framework; calls on the Commission to proactively promote good communication between the audit authorities and the programme managing authorities; continue to facilitate the sharing of good auditing practices between Member States’ auditors at the EU, national and regional levels;