Activities of Claude GRUFFAT related to 2020/2221(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the impact of organised crime on own resources of the EU and on the misuse of EU funds with a particular focus on shared management from an auditing and control perspective
Amendments (10)
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Takes the view that despite repeated overhauls it has still not been possible to reform the CAP properly so as to take account of the expectations of EU citizens when it comes to the climate, the environment, food, transparency, efficiency and fairness in the use of public funds allocated to the farming industry; takes the view, furthermore, that this inability is a discredit to the CAP as a public policy, jeopardising both its very existence and its budget, which is falling even though agriculture guarantees our food security and has much to offer in terms of helping tackle challenges in all areas relating to the climate, the environment and employment;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Emphasises the need to change the criterion for the allocation of aid per hectare – which is leading to a scramble to acquire land and to the expansion of farms – and replace it with more relevant criteria relating to employment and the sustainability of production methods, introducing redistribution schemes to prevent situations involving annuities (especially when market prices are high), encourage best practices and relevant investments, and make support more accessible to those who need it most in order to ensure their farms remain viable;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Emphasises that if the current CAP support schemes are not changed, farm-expansion and land-grabbing will continue inexorably, forcing many farms out of business, to the detriment of a vibrant countryside in which many small- scale farmers manage holdings on a human scale, which are easier to pass on and offer better access to the land for younger generations and everyone interested in working in farming, including people who do not have backgrounds in farming;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Notes that the concentration of land ownership is also the result of a lack of transparency and oversight, and a lack or total absence of national land-use policies, making it possible for legal arrangements to be made that are aimed at circumventing existing rules, even prompting patronage-based practices that generally favour the rich, the powerful and those occupying top decision-making positions, which can lead to conflicts of interest;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2d. Notes that land-grabbing may also involve illegal activity and corruption by oligarchies and kleptocracies, as we have seen in Member States in central and eastern Europe, or by mafia organisations or unscrupulous businesses that also exist in other Member States;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Highlights that the Member States are responsible for the EU agricultural funds under shared management with the Commission; considers that, because compliance checks on expenditure are transferred from the Commission to the Member States under the new delivery model for CAP reform and the new Nnational Sstrategic Pplans, to be a great opportunity to reinforce Member States’ and the Commission’s controls pertaining to the distribution and management of fundshere is a danger not only of disparities among the checks carried out in each country, but also of less rigorous checks on the use of European public funds, which could result in a number of irregularities that are extremely harmful to the CAP’s image and its budget;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Notes that OLAF is responsible for combating fraud in CAP payments, and that open cases are based on information from Member States or reports from members of the public who have been affected and who may then face retaliation; emphasises, furthermore, that OLAF cases are highly confidential and are not widely publicised when they are concluded; therefore calls, on the one hand, for whistleblowers to be protected, and, on the other, for the establishment of follow-up obligations for OLAF, for DG AGRI to report any suspected fraud, and for fraud investigation authorities in the Member States to share best practices in the area;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Underlines the importance of transparency for the early detection of fraud, conflicts of interest or other irregularities; stresses the importance ofat it is important to have unique identifiers within reporting systems and databases to make it clear who the final beneficiaries are – whether they are individuals or belong to one or more companies in receipt of funds, including via several companies registered in several Member States – and to have shared databases to ensure EU- wide database interoperability, common rules and; lastly, emphasises the importance of having common data -exchange, rules, stepping up cross- border cooperation and betterimproving the use of IT tools;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Takes the view that the Member States can play an important role in adding a ‘parent structure or company’ field to declaration forms, with a unique alphanumeric identifier, to prevent transcription errors and as an effective way of grouping subsidiaries together with their parent structures; points out that, in this way, the unique alphanumeric identifier of each applicant for CAP funding can be matched by fraud investigators with a unique EU company number, EUID (Regulation 2015/884) or the European business register;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Points out that Arachne, the common data-mining tool in the regulation on the financial management and monitoring of the CAP (horizontal regulation), has thus far only been used to audit projects involving cohesion funding; takes note of Parliament’s calls to extend the data-mining and transparency approach currently only in use for CAP investment funding to all audits on area payments in the first and second pillars;