18 Amendments of Miriam LEXMANN related to 2020/2140(DEC)
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Takes note that by the end of 2019, outstanding commitments continued to rise, reaching EUR 298.0 billion; highlights that this increase was due to the fact that commitment appropriations systematically exceeded payment appropriations and that payment needs were being postponed to the next MFF, basically owing to delays in the implementation of the European Structural and Investment (ESI) funds; points out that there was a significant increase in payment claims of the ESI funds while the use or ‘absorption’ of these funds by Member States has remained slower than planned, which contributed to a worrying increase in the outstanding commitments for the ESI funds;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes with concern that the estimated overall level of error in the policy area ‘Economic, social and territorial cohesion’ in 2019 stood at 4.4 % (2018: 5.0 %); underlines that despite the slight decrease in comparison with the previous year, this figure is still largely above the 2 % materiality threshold and the estimated level of error in expenditure for the Union budget as a whole (2.7 %); points out, furthermore, that the number and the impact of detected errors indicate that there is a high inherent risk of error in this area and that managing authorities’ checks are still often ineffective for preventing or detecting irregularities in the expenditure declared by beneficiaries;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Regrets the fact that also for 2019 financial year, the Court of Auditors (the ‘Court’) concludes that the weaknesses detected in some audit authorities’ sampling methods have affected representativeness, and that shortcomings remain in the way audit authorities perform and document their work; notes with concern that despite many irregularities which national audit authorities have already reported for the projects the Court examines, many errors still go undetected or uncorrected by all internal control instances at an earlier stage; welcomes, in this context the joint initiative of the Commission and audit authorities to improve the documentation of audit authorities’ work; recommends, on the basis of the Court’s findings and conclusions for 2019, that the Commission analyses the main sources of undetected errors and develops the necessary measures together with the audit authorities to improve the reliability of reported residual rates;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Acknowledges that EU spending in this policy area is characterised by cost reimbursements, which involve more complex rules than in some other policy areas, and that this results in that relatively high estimated level of error in this policy area; in this respect, notes that in 2019, errors are mainly due to ineligible projects (55 %) and infringement of internal market rules (24 %, of which 15 % serious non-compliance with public procurement rules), followed by ineligible expenditure (12 %) and absence of essential supporting documents (4 %);
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Takes note that in its Annual activity report for 2019, DG EMPL reported a KPI (1.7 % residual total error rate) below the 2 % materiality threshold and that it also reported ‘a maximum rate’ (up to 2.4 %) which would allow to take into account possible further errors in expenditure on operations that were not included in the Commission’s audits; furthermore takes note that the Court considers the ‘maximum rate’ to be more suitable, because it takes account of the potential impact of ongoing audit work;
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Notes that in 2019, the risk at payment for ESF is in the range of 1.7 %- 2.4 %; furthermore, takes note of the fact that due to the processing of first payments for a number of operational programmes in Member States in 2018 and 2019, the auditors had the possibility to examine the full process for a higher number of programmes and a higher number of payments, which subsequently resulted in an increased number of errors found, as well as a higher error rate;
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Notes with concern that the most common error affecting ESF expenditure is the absence of essential supporting documentation; notes, furthermore, that in 2019 the Court identified one ESF project that infringed the EU's state aid rules;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Welcomes the fact that in the framework of the preventive measures applied by the Commission, DG EMPL continues to apply a strict policy of interruption and suspension of payments to preserve the EU’s financial interests; in this context, notes that for the ESF / Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) and the FEAD, 12 interruption decisions and one suspension decision were adopted in 2019, and that, in addition, 16 warning letters and five pre-suspension letters were sent to the Member States concerned;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes with satisfaction that, following the adoption of the new Commission Anti-Fraud Strategy on 29 April 2019, DG EMPL has performed a fraud-risk-analysis and reviewed and updated jointly with DG REGIO and DG MARE the ‘Joint Anti-Fraud Strategy’ as well as its direct management anti-fraud strategy; takes note that DG EMPL has continued to contribute to the development of the risk scoring tool ARACHNE helping the national authorities, among others, to identify the risk of fraud;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Notes that the total number of on- going OLAF investigations concerning EMPL’s fields of activity and all programming periods put together amounts to 20 cases related to the ESF, 1 case regarding FEAD and 2 cases related to direct expenditure at the end of 2019, the main areas of (potential) fraud in these cases being non-compliance with the principles of sound financial management, overpricing and non-respect of procurement rules and procedures;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Welcomes the fact that in 2019, the follow-up to 10 OLAF reports was completed whereby through various means and forms the EU budget was protected with the recovery of almost EUR 55.3 million;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Recalls that most spending on the programmes under the MFF subheading 1a is directly managed by the Commission and takes the form of grants to public or private beneficiaries participating in projects (the Commission providing advances to beneficiaries upon signature of a grant agreement or financing decision);
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Expresses its concern that the estimated level of error in spending on ‘Competitiveness for growth and jobs’ (MFF subheading 1a) for 2019 as a whole is material and stands at 4.0 %; - which represents a substantial increase compared to 2.0 in 2018 (2017: 4.2 % and 2016: 4.1 %) and notes that the level of error is persistently high for research and innovation expenditure, being the main source of error, while it is much lower for the rest of this subheading;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that EaSI financed 44 projects through five calls for proposals for EUR 29.3 million under its 2019 work programme; takes note of the fact that in October 2019, DG EMPL signed the first share subscription in the EaSI Funded Instrument, representing a EUR 200 million loan fund to support lending to micro-enterprises and social enterprises;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Recognises that the five decentralised agencies under the remit of DG EMPL provide significant contribution and have important added value to the achievement of the specific objectives of DG EMPL’s policy areas; notes that the revised Founding Regulations of the three tripartite agencies (Cedefop, EU-OSHA and Eurofound) were adopted on 16 January 2019 and entered into force on 20 February 2019; welcomes the establishment of the European Labour Authority on 31 July 2019, and reiterates its call that the Authority is provided with sufficient financial resources;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Notes from DG EMPL’s Annual activity report for 2019 that DG EMPL had reasonable assurance and concluded that the management and control systems of the operational programmes worked as intended in 2019 with the exception of 29 ESF/YEI and 1 FEAD programmes which presented material deficiencies of some key elements of the systems;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Notes with satisfaction, from DG EMPL’s Annual activity report 2019, that DG EMPL has undertaken the necessary follow-up actions in relation to all Statement of Assurance 2015-2018 recommendations reported by the Court, and that by the end of March 2020, there were no open Court’s recommendations;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the Commission to follow up all errors found by the Court and to request additional financial corrections, where deemed necessary; furthermore calls the Commission to make an analysis of the underlying reasons together with the audit authorities and to undertake adequate measures in this regard;