Activities of Ilan DE BASSO 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, section III - Commission
Amendments (9)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
– having regard to the European Commission’s Annual management and performance report for the EU budget 2022;
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Is alarmed about the rising number of crises worldwide and the highest-ever humanitarian funding gap; is worried that Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) - Global Europe (GE) is stretched to its limits and is not sufficient to address existing needs; calls on the Member States to ensure that the cushion is mobilised only for purposes within its intended scope;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recalls that spending under the subheading “Economic, social and territorial cohesion” (Subheading 2a) focuses on reducing development disparities between the different Member States and regions of the EU; stresses the importance of EU cohesion policy in supporting the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and achieving its targets and assisting Member States and regions to harness new opportunities and address challenges, such as globalisation, unemployment, poverty and social exclusion, industrial change, digitalisation and supporting up and re- skilling and lifelong learning;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is greatly worried that the overall level of error was material at 4.2 %, compared to 3.0 % in 2021, largely above the 2 % materiality threshold; 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 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Recognises the work of the Commission in applying controls to make sure that transactions are made in a legitimate manner and that activities are implemented in accordance with the priorities set by the legislator; calls on the Commission to further improve controls in order to decrease the amount of transactional errors and to fully implement the recommendations of the Court of Auditors;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1 b. Highlights the fact that the legitimacy and effectiveness of EU development cooperation hinges on the correct implementation of activities and their proper funding; calls on the Commission to redouble efforts to find eligible projects and to ensure a sufficient amount of payments under the current expenditure ceiling;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that 2022 was the first full year of the implementation of the Global Gateway strategy; underlines that actions bringing together public and private investment must always be guided by development objectives; calls for more transparency and Parliament’s involvement in strategic choices involving Union funds; insists that Global Gateway should not only align with the EU interests but also with Agenda 2030, the Paris Agreement, the needs of partner countries and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Appreciates the role of local NGOs and partners in service delivery; underlines the importance of enhancing their capacity to manage and implement actions financed by the EU and invites the Commission to facilitate adequate training towards this aim; is concerned about the continued difficulties faced by small local NGOs to access Union funding; highlights the efficacy of local ownership in project implementation as concerns prioritisation, allocation of resources and building local know-how;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the finding of the ECA report on the EU budget for 2022 that DG ECHO implemented ECA recommendation and established a procedure ensuring that partner organisations base their allocation of shared costs on expenditure actually incurred; urges the Commission to act upon ECA recommendations that have not been implemented.