Activities of Dan JØRGENSEN related to 2007/2037(DEC)

Paragraph 1

1. ~~......~~Postpones its decision on granting the Commission discharge in respect of the implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2006;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Paragraph 1

1. ~~......~~Grants the Commission discharge in respect of the implementation of the European Union general budget for the financial year 2006;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph -1 (new)

Request the Commission to fulfil the following conditions before 10 April 2008:

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1 (new)

-1. - The Commission should present to Parliament an evaluation of the quality of all the annual summaries; - The Commission should launch immediate infringement procedures and sanctions against those Member States which do not comply or partly comply with their obligations to present annual summaries; - The Commission should politically commit itself to national management declarations; - The Commission should present a scoreboard and implementation date of the recently adopted Action Plan to strengthen the Commission’s supervisory role for structural actions (COM(2008)0097); - The Commission should present objective, clear and full information on the Commission's capacity to recover unduly paid funds;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph -1a (new)

Requests to the Commission

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1a (new)

-1a. In the field of general budgetary management: • The Commission should present a proposal to the Council concerning national management declarations and should present a new point 5N for the Action Plan for an Integrated Internal Control Framework concerning national management declarations • The Commission should launch immediate infringement procedures and sanctions against those Member States which do not comply or partly comply with their obligations under the Structural Funds Regulation, the Financial Regulation and its implementing rules and the Interinstitutional Agreement such as to present the Commission with information on financial corrections and recoveries and to present annual summaries for the 2000-2006 and 2007- 2013 periods; • The Commission should present to Parliament an evaluation of the quality of all the annual summaries received for Agriculture, Structural Policy and Fisheries; the evaluation should entail a breakdown per Member State and per policy area and should give an opinion on the overall assurance and overall analysis that can be drawn from them;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1b (new)

-1b. In the field of structural funds: • The Commission is asked to explain how it can be sure that all money will be recovered and how/when it will be able to provide documentation on 2006 and on the 2000-2006 period. Furthermore Parliament would like to know how the Commission can be sure that no money is lost in cases where projects have not been put through a tendering procedure; • The Commission needs to present a scoreboard with a final implementation date on the implementation of the Action Plan to strengthen the Commission’s supervisory role for structural actions (COM(2008)0097), including a common scheme of quantitative indicators and intermediate deadlines for its implementation; • The Commission must commit itself to put in place more rapid and effective suspension procedures against Member States where supervisory and control systems are deemed to be inadequate and to ensure the presentation of a clear timetable for - and nature of - the sanctions which the Commission will employ upon identification of irregularities; The Commission must commit to quarterly reporting to Parliament on corrections and recoveries, which are to be audited by the ECA, including the establishment of a system and a reporting scheme which allows for recoveries made ex-post to be linked to the year in which the funding was allocated;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph -1c (new)

-1c. In the field of external actions: • The Commission should inform Parliament on how it will fulfil the requirements under Article 30(3) of the Financial Regulation to "make available, in the appropriate manner, the information on the beneficiaries of funds deriving from the budget held by it when the budget is implemented on a centralised basis and directly by its departments, and the information on the beneficiaries of funds as provided by the entities to which budget implementation tasks are delegated under other modes of management" and explain what the Commission defines as "appropriate manner"; • The Commission should finally present a complete list of information on EU-funded projects in Iraq for 2006 including information on "project", "budget", "implementing agency", "contractor", "beneficiary" and "geographical location" or to indicate which parts of the information has not been delivered by the Trust Funds; • The Commission needs to present a full list of organizations / entities (type IMG) which are not subject to tender procedures in order to implement EU funds in the field of External Actions (excluding United Nations and World Bank), this list should specify: a) name of the entity; b) since when this exemption is valid; c) contracts signed with the entity since exemption (with local specification); d) financial volume linked to the contracts; • The Commission needs to present the list and the respective conclusions of the controls which have been undertaken to date under the Financial and Administrative Framework Agreement between the European Community and the United Nations (FAFA); • The Commission needs to present concrete measurable proposals to improve political guidance, visibility and control over EU funds managed via international trust funds with specification of staff resources allocated to this task1 taking into account that the Commission is managing almost EUR 1 billion less in 2006 in comparison to the year 2000 but with 1000 staff members more; • The Commission should present its definition of a “Non-Governmental Organisation”, not only in the legal sense but also in the way the non-governmental financing of these organisations is ensured; 1 In the field of External Actions, the Commission managed EUR 7,978 billion in 2000 and EUR 8,23 billion in 2006. In 2000 the contribution to the UN budget was EUR 200 million whereas in 2006 it was EUR 1,4 billion; deducting the funds managed by the UN, the Commission had to manage EUR 7,778 billion in 2000 and EUR 6,83 billion in 2006, almost 1 billion less than 6 years earlier; in the same timeframe the number of staff in external actions (all Directorate Generals and EC Delegations included) increased from 5841 to 6886, thus 1000 staff members more.

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3a (new)

3a. Recalls that in 2006 Community funding of Structural Policies totalled EUR 32,4 billion; points out that for 2007 this amount has risen to EUR 46,4 billion not including co-financing by Member States;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3b (new)

3b. Notes with great concern that in its 2006 Annual report, the ECA indicates that the reimbursement of expenditure to Structural Policies projects is subject to material error; that the proportion of reimbursements in the sample affected by error was 44% and "at least 12% of the total amount reimbursed in structural policies should not have been reimbursed;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3c (new)

3c. Considers it unacceptable that, according to the ECA’s findings, first level control systems in Member States are generally ineffective or only moderately effective and that a number of national and regional authorities do not handle EU funds seriously enough; in the 2006 ECA's audit sample (19 first level control systems) none of the systems was effective, only 6 moderately effective and 13 ineffective, and thus no progress has been made in the field of Structural Funds compared to last year; is very concerned by the inability of the Council to clearly recognise its responsibility for this situation which arises largely from inadequate controls by Member States;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3d (new)

3d. Urges therefore Commission to make use of ex-ante checks to verify if supervisory and control systems for the 2007-2013 period are in place in all the Member States and to regularly follow-up on them;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3e (new)

3e. Regrets also that, according to the ECA, the Commission maintains only moderately effective supervision to mitigate the risks of control systems in the Member States, failing to prevent reimbursement of overstated or ineligible expenditure;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3f (new)

3f. Notes with regret that, as pointed out by the ECA, for expenditure under structural policies (such as under the CAP and internal policies) complicated or unclear eligibility criteria or complex legal requirements have a negative impact on the legality and regularity of the underlying transactions;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3g (new)

3g. Finds it unacceptable that according to Commission1 little evolution is to be expected concerning simplification for the existing regulations for the 2007-2013 period for Structural Funds and that further simplification will only be proposed for the next legislative round; __________ 1 Commission statement under Action 1 in the Progress report on the Action Plan towards an Integrated Internal Control Framework (COM (2008)0110)

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3h (new)

3h. Urges the Commission to follow up on the recommendation given by the ECA (paragraph 6.45) concerning the Cohesion Fund and to present further simplification proposals as soon as possible to the legislative authority, among others including clear and straightforward rules, guidelines and eligibility criteria;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3i (new)

3i. Considers and fully agrees with the ECA on this point, that Member State authorities have a very important role in the effective implementation of Structural Funds and Commission should reinforce their audits and make supplementary efforts with the supervision of the Managing Authorities in the Member States;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3j (new)

3j. Regrets the lack of incentives for Member States to effectively control the expenditure, since any ineligible expenditure identified by the Commission or the ECA, can be substituted for eligible expenditure by the Member State; asks the Commission to make sure that in the future only irregularities identified by Member States themselves could be substituted for other expenditure without any loss of funding for the Member State concerned;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3k (new)

3k. Welcomes the Commission's new Action Plan to strengthen the Commission’s supervisory role for structural actions (COM(2008)0097) with 37 measures aimed at reducing irregular payments made by Member States; welcomes also the Commission's commitment announced publicly in the committee hearing held on 25 February2008 to report quarterly to the Parliament on the progress of this Action Plan; expects the Commission to develop the reporting scheme in cooperation with the ECA;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3l (new)

3l. Requires the Commission, while assuming its Treaty responsibility for the implementation of the budget and respecting the principle of sound financial management, to take, in cooperation with the Member States, the following actions concerning shared management of structural funding: a) To make a formal commitment to fully implement the Action Plan and agree in particular to: • Quarterly reporting of progress, measured where possible in quantitative rather than qualitative terms, in a form accepted by the ECA, in particular providing progress reports by 31 October 2008, and by 31 January 2009; • Provide complete and accurate quarterly reporting on corrections and recoveries by the Commission , in particular giving a progress check by 31 October 2008 and by 31 January 2009; • Obtain information from Member States on the corrections they have made, by the withdrawal of projects or the recovery of errors, in particular by submitting progress reports by 31 October 2008 and 31 January 2009, on the verification by the Commission of the completeness and accuracy of these figures; b) Take further measures to prevent errors in the future, in particular by improving the first-level checks;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3m (new)

3m. Asks the Commission to present to Parliament a scoreboard with a final implementation date on the implementation of the Action Plan to strengthen the Commission's supervisory role under shared management of Structural Actions(COM(2008)0097), including a common scheme of quantitative indicators and intermediate deadlines for its implementation; Is of the opinion that Commission should focus on the reliability of national monitoring and reporting systems, guidance to Member States and coordination of audit standards and should always give a breakdown per Member State;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3n (new)

3n. Expects the Commission to initiate infringement procedures against those Member States which have not complied with their obligations under the Regulations on Structural Funds, the Financial Regulation and its implementing rules and the Interinstitutional Agreement, in particular those who are not presenting reports on recoveries and financial corrections and those who are not presenting the annual summaries in conformity with the guidelines or those where the quality of the annual summaries is inadequate;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3o (new)

3o. Stresses the importance of Commission guidelines to effectively live up to the Interinstitutional Agreement; is of the opinion that these guidelines as a first step, should at least entail what is requested under the sector regulation for Agriculture (i.e. Declaration of Assurance signed by the head of the Managing Authority accompanied by a certification report);

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3p (new)

3p. Insists that the Commission should start suspension procedures against Member States where first level control systems are inadequate, it has to speed up the sanctions system and present to Parliament a concrete plan of the timing and sanctions to be applied upon identification of irregularities;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3q (new)

3q. Insists on auditable reporting to Parliament on corrections and recoveries by the Commission for all unduly made payments for all funds, with precise definitions of all these different categories of financial corrections; expects the Commission to develop these reporting schemes in cooperation with the ECA and asks the ECA to give an opinion on the quality of the reports presented;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3r (new)

3r. Notes the Commission's statement that none of the unduly paid amounts in 2006 will be lost due to the effectiveness of the ex-post controls; expects the Commission to provide Parliament with objective, clear and full information concerning the Commission's capacity to recover unduly paid amounts, the underlying proof of which will be presented to Parliament;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3s (new)

3s. Recalls action 11N1 that should have been implemented by 31 December 2007; expects the Commission to act accordingly "To determine whether recovery and offsetting systems are working effectively, by identifying amounts recovered in 2005 and 2006 and their coherence with errors identified during controls the Commission will, in direct management, develop a typology of errors and the relationship with recoveries, financial corrections and adjustments to payments and for share management it will examine the reliability of national monitoring and reporting systems."; _________ 1 Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the European Court of Auditors on the progress of the Commission Action Plan towards an Integrated Internal Control Framework (COM(2007)0086).

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3t (new)

3t. Is worried by Commission's statement in its Progress Report (COM(2008)0110) that only recoveries launched in 2008 will be recorded in the central financial and accounting system; urges therefore the Commission to record information in the central financial and accounting system on the control authority and the type of error and to retroactively encode all recoveries for the 1994-1999 and 2000- 2006 periods;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3u (new)

3u. Asks the Commission in this light to give an assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of multi-annual recovery systems and report on this in the 2008 or 2009 accounts;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3v (new)

3v. Expects the Commission to present to Parliament an evaluation before 10 April 2008 of the quality of all the annual summaries received for Agriculture, Structural Policy and Fisheries; the evaluation should entail a breakdown per Member State and per policy area and should give an opinion on the overall assurance and overall analysis that can be drawn from them;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3w (new)

3w. Regrets the diversity of information given by the Commission itself on financial corrections and recoveries and expects that the information provided for the discharge concerns exactly the same definitions of financial corrections as asked for the three-monthly reports;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Dan JØRGENSEN, Paulo CASACA, Jan MULDER, Bart STAES

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3x (new)

3x. Asks the Commission to report during the mid-term review on the results of 'Contract of Confidence' arrangements, including the fundamental question of whether these contracts are considered as having added value, and to present the forecasted results and assurance;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4b (new)

4b. Recalls that funds spent on external actions in 2006 totalled EUR 5,867 billion and in payments EUR 5,186 billion;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4c (new)

4c. Deeply regrets the ECA’s findings, according to which once again a high incidence of error was detected in the sample tested at the level of project- implementing organisations (paragraphs 8.9 and 8.10 of the 2006 Annual Report) and only at EC Delegations level is there a lower level of error affecting transactions detected;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4d (new)

4d. Notes with concern that as regards implementing organisations, the ECA analysed the effectiveness of the Commission's internal control system and concluded that the Europe-Aid ex-post controls in 2006 did not cover transactions at the level of project- implementing organisations (paragraph 8.19 of the 2006 Annual Report);

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4e (new)

4e. Notes that the ECA identified again the highest risk areas to be contracting procedures, the eligibility of expenditure at project level and insufficient supporting documentation;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4f (new)

4f. Regrets that as concerns the annual activity reports for DG AIDCO the ECA stressed that "the material incidence of error and the weaknesses in the supervisory and control systems designed to ensure the legality and regularity of the transactions at the level of project implementing organisations in the area of external actions found by the ECA are not sufficiently reflected in the annual activity report and declaration of Europe Aid Co- operation Office" (paragraph 2.17 and Table 2.1 of the 2006 Annual Report);

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4g (new)

4g. Notes also with regret that once again in the analysis of some of the DG's Annual Management Plans there is no indication of project external auditors, nor of the particular risks associated with the different types of implementing organisations (NGO, international organisation, government institution, etc.) and funding methods (grant, budgetary support, trust fun, etc.) (paragraph 8.28 of the 2006 Annual Report);

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4h (new)

4h. Notes with concern that the ECA’s findings referred to above were the same in the ECA's 2005 Annual Report, i.e. inconsistency of external audit information submitted to the headquarters, lack of systematic centralisation of this information in order to reach conclusions and insufficient follow up, and therefore asks the Commission to react to these findings urgently;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4i (new)

4i. Regrets also that according to the ECA's 2006 Annual Report "the Internal Audit Capability (IAC) does not at present provide an annual overall assessment of the state of internal control in Europe-Aid and DG ECHO ... Despite the creation during 2006 of two additional posts in the IAC, it does not seem feasible with the present staff complement to carry out, within the three-year cycle proposed, the full audit coverage identified in the Europe-Aid Audit Needs Assessment" (paragraph 8.30 of the 2006 Annual Report);

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4j (new)

4j. Asks the Commission to carry out an annual overall assessment of the state of play of internal control in Europe-Aid and to evaluate if additional posts are necessary in the IAC service to implement this task;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4k (new)

4k. Notes the situation criticised by the ECA as regards the ex -post control activities of the Commission (paragraphs 8.23 and 8.33 of the 2006 Annual Report) and asks the Commission to regularly inform the Committee on Budgetary Control what steps will be taken by the Commission to remedy the situation;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4l (new)

4l. Invites the Commission to further develop Europe Aid's risk assessment by making reference to the findings of auditors at project level, and by making a separation between the different types of implementing organisations and the funding method;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4m (new)

4m. Invites EuropeAid to improve the terms of reference of its external audits to cover all known risk areas, including the verification of compliance with the Commission's requirements regarding contracting procedures and the eligibility of expenditure;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4n (new)

4n. Underlines that in the period 2000 to 2006 EU contributions to the UN have increased by 700% (from EUR 200 million in 2000 to EUR 1,4 billion in 2007); cannot understand the lack of follow up of funds transferred to international trust funds by the Commission;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4o (new)

4o. In this context, expresses its concern about the lack of basic information necessary for the discharge authority to proceed to a meaningful discharge in respect of the funds implemented under the external action heading;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4p (new)

4p. Insists that a harmonised information system should be urgently developed (preferably the Common Relex Information System (CRIS) database should be enabled to deliver this kind of information) in order to provide the discharge authority in particular, and the public in general, with a fully transparent database containing the full overview of projects financed with EU funds in the world and the final recipients of these funds;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4q (new)

4q. Recalls that under the Financial Regulation, the Commission should since May 2007 have been able to immediately identify in any case the final beneficiaries and the implementing actors of any of the projects financed or co-financed with EU funds;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4r (new)

4r. Considers that the visibility, political guidance and possibility of control by the Commission of international trust funds (where the EU is a major donor) should be strengthened without compromising the effectiveness of action in this field;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4s (new)

4s. Invites the Commission to present to Parliament, before granting discharge in respect of the financial year 2006, a plan to further increase in EU ownership of its external actions;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4t (new)

4t. Expresses its concern about a situation in which the two cases where Parliament asked for the list of projects financed by EU funds it took the Commission 2 ½ months to deliver the list of projects financed under CARDS and 13 months to provide basic information about the projects co-financed with EU funds in Iraq; insists on the immediate rectification of this situation for all funds managed under external actions;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4u (new)

4u. Urges the Commission to very seriously address the detected deficiencies regarding contracting procedures and the eligibility of expenditure, and deeply regrets the critical assessment of the ECA in this area, which is under the Commission's direct financial management;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4v (new)

4v. Agrees with the ECA that the Commission should include information on all audits of projects in the Common Relex Information System (CRIS) and should better link this information to project management information; also asks the Commission's EuropeAid headquarters to review the financial information provided by the delegations, supported through headquarters' audits, in order to ensure its completeness and consistency;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4w (new)

4w. Invites the Commission to improve the transparency and access to documentation relating to projects managed by UN agencies and to continue to develop clear guidelines and procedures within the Financial and Administrative Framework Agreement between the European Community and the United Nations (FAFA) setting out the framework for managing the financial contributions made by the Commission to the UN;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4x (new)

4x. Invites the Commission to report to Parliament on controls undertaken under the Financial and Administrative Framework Agreement between the European Community and the United Nations (FAFA);

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4y (new)

4y. Appreciates the results of the audit of implementation of the Phare and ISPA instruments in Bulgaria and Romania and the assistance programme for Turkey, which identified an insignificant level of error; takes note of the errors and weaknesses found in relation to the implementation of the SAPARD instrument in Bulgaria and Romania; calls on the Commission to continue working with the authorities of both countries to ensure that all requirements for public tendering and sound financial management are met and that adequate assurance of the correctness, regularity and eligibility of claims on Community assistance is provided;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4z (new)

4z. Notes the ECA's assessment that the national supervisory systems linked to the Decentralised Implementation Systems (DIS) of Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey remained weak;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4aa (new)

4aa. Reiterates its concern about the delays in the accreditation of the Extended Decentralised Implementation System (EDIS) in Bulgaria, and urges the Commission and the Bulgarian authorities to step up their cooperation and efforts in order to ensure that adequate management and control structures as well as administrative capacities are in place to allow efficient functioning of EDIS;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4bb (new)

4bb. Supports the recommendations of the ECA to the Commission that the Commission closely monitor the effective functioning of national supervisory and control systems, notably the preparation and management of tenders in Turkey, procurement under EDIS in Bulgaria and Romania and the timely delivery of national co-financing; underlines the need to strengthen the administrative capacity of those countries that have recently acceded and those which are in the course of accession;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4cc (new)

4cc. Is pleased with the ECA's assessment that several remedial measures were introduced by the Commission in the follow-up to the ECA's special report on twinning from 2003; invites the Commission to motivate beneficiary governments more strongly to make use of the outputs of projects realised in the context of their reform efforts; supports the ECA's recommendation to the Commission that the Commission reduce the level of detail of the twinning contracts in order to allow greater flexibility for project management;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4dd (new)

4dd. Notes the ECA's findings as to the legality and regularity of transactions in the field of external actions and of related supervisory and control systems; invites the Commission to undertake all necessary system improvements so as to ensure that irregularities identified at the level of project-implementing organisations in third countries are removed;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4ee (new)

4ee. Invites the Commission to present to Parliament a report on what exactly has been done to alleviate the situation of Iraqi refugees and displaced persons;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4ff (new)

4ff. Stresses its interest regarding the EU assistance provided to Afghanistan, and invites the Commission to present to Parliament a report on the state of play of the implementation of EU funds for Afghanistan and to comment on the expulsion from that country of the acting EU representative on a charge of having communicated with the Afghan Taliban;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4gg (new)

4gg. Expects annual reporting to Parliament on budget implementation contracts, an annual list of projects and their location and lists of final beneficiaries; considers that the rapporteur for the discharge should have access to information declared confidential for security reasons;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4hh (new)

4hh. Welcomes the Commission's commitment to re-negotiate relevant agreements on trust funds with the UN in order to achieve joint reporting guidelines and disclosure of final beneficiaries; welcomes also the Commission's commitment to organise annual meetings between the European Parliament and senior UN staff responsible for the management of multi-donor trust funds and considers that this would provide a framework for the UN to provide additional information on EU funds;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Heading (new)

Humanitarian aid and Development

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4ii (new)

4ii. Regrets that the ECA's assessment of internal audits in DG ECHO is only "partially satisfactory" (Annex 8.2 of the 2006 Annual Report);

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4jj (new)

4jj. Fully supports the ECA's conclusions concerning DG ECHO in the 2006 Annual Report: “DG ECHO should clarify the rules on eligibility of expenditure to prevent varying interpretations and the balance between DG ECHO's headquarters and field audits of implementing partners should be reviewed, in order to obtain a better view of the reality of project expenditure” (paragraphs 8.11 and 8.18 of the 2006 Annual Report);

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4kk (new)

4kk. Regrets the finding of the DG DEV 2006 Annual Activity Report to the effect that "Ensuring the coherence of Community policies with an impact on developing countries, is a major source of risk. This risk is most relevant to respect to trade, notably Economic Partnerships Agreement (EPA) negotiations. This represents a critical dimension of development policy but the capacity in this area is concentrated in DG Trade. This risk persists in spite of the reinforcement and concentration of the responsibilities related to trade following DEV's reorganisation in July 2006"( point 2.1 of the 2006 Annual Activity Report, p. 18.);

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4ll (new)

4ll. Asks the Commission to present to the Committee on Budgetary Control its ideas on how to confront this situation and the measures to be taken in 2007 to improve the functioning of the internal control system in DG DEV with regard to the level of implementation of internal control standards;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Heading (new)

Euro-Mediterranean Partnership

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4mm (new)

4mm. Notes with satisfaction that according to the ECA Special Report No 5/2006 concerning the MEDA programme, "the Commission’s management of the MEDA programme has clearly improved since the early years and can be considered as satisfactory";

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4nn (new)

4nn. Notes furthermore, as concluded by the ECA, that, as a result of devolution, EC Delegations played an important role in the implementation of the programme by helping partner countries to deal with the procedural aspects of procurement;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4oo (new)

4oo. Asks the Commission to regularly inform Parliament about the carrying out of on-the-spot checks and inspections, identifying noticeable cases of suspected fraud or other financial irregularities during the last year of implementation of the MEDA programme;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5

5. Considers that the Commission must react to fulfil important requests of the previous discharge 2005, which is not the case in the field of national declarations, where Parliament had asked the Commission to submit before the end of 2007 to the Council a proposal for a national management declaration covering all Community funds under shared management; regrets the Commission's tacit acceptance of Member States' collective irresponsibility, with the exception of Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK, concerning the financial management of the European Union;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6

6. Considers that the Commission must present complete and reliable figures for recoveries, specifying the exact budget line and year to which the individual recoveries relate; any other presentation makes a serious control impossible; is aware that the Commission to a large extent has to obtain this information via and from Member States; points out that, for this purpose, Parliament for the last three years has proposed national management declarations in order to put the Commission in a position where it is able to present this information and fill the transparency gap;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9

9. Regrets the lack of clarity about legality, and the inevitable impact on the media, of the ECA's reporting as to EU funds being received by certain new beneficiaries (i.e. railway companies, horse riding/breeding clubs, golf leisure clubs and city councils) according to the eligibility rules; points out that from a formal legal perspective this is ultimately a discussion on eligibility rules; emphasizes that Parliament has however supported the ECA in the past, and will continue to do so, when commenting on efficiency and effectiveness in its Special Reports;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9a (new)

9a. Reiterates that the ECA made the use of available audits and reports of national audit institutions an integral part of its new methodology; asks the ECA to inform the Committee on Budgetary Control of how it uses this information and asks further the ECA to give an opinion on the usefulness of the information obtained from the national audit institutions when drawing up its annual report;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12

12. Notes that for the Structural Funds 2006 was the last year of the 2000 to 2006 programming period in which, by the end of the year, all commitments for that period had to be made;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14a (new)

14a. Is concerned that the N+2 pressure spending might interfere with a proper undertaking of the winding-up procedures for structural programs and projects; points out that already for 2007, payments concerning Structural Funds have gone up by almost 50% in comparison to 2006; stresses that the Commission should ensure an effective winding-up procedure and emphasizes the important role that Member States have in this procedure;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15

15. Regrets also that the spending rate for the Cohesion Fund, ERDF and ESF was less than expected in the new Member States, and linked to their difficulties in absorbing expenditure; asks the Commission to give a more detailed explanation for lower than nationally forecast spending on structural operations;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17

17. Recalls that in the 2005 discharge resolution Parliament asked to the Commission to submit before the end of 2007 to the Council a proposal for a national management declaration covering all Community funds under shared management, based on sub-declarations by the various national bodies responsible for the management of expenditure; rejects the answer given by the Commission in the annex to its report on the follow-up to 2005 discharge procedure (SEC(2007)1185):"the Commission will not be taking the recommended action given the different governmental structure and management structures for EU funds under shared management of the 27 Member States, the development of a single standard declaration would not yield significant benefits. The Commission will however continue to support such initiatives taken by national administrations"; considers this response more than unsatisfactory, taking into consideration ~~the situation with respect to Structural Funds and~~ that more than 80% of the European Union's budget falls under what is called "shared management" and even more so, in light of the current situation with respect to Structural Funds, as established by the ECA in its 2006 Annual Report;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. ~~Welcome~~Strongly supports the initiative taken by some Member States (the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark) to approve the adoption of a national declaration on the management of Community funding and expresses concern at the fact that, despite these initiatives, most other Member States are resisting its introduction; urges the Commission to present possible viable advantages in terms of control relations between the Commission and those Member States that have introduced the above-mentioned initiatives; requests the Commission to report on a regular basis to the Committee on Budgetary Control on progress made concerning these provisions;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19

19. Notes that the first annual summaries awere due by 15 February 2008 ~~and~~; points out that Parliament considers these annual summaries as a first step towards the national management declarations; asks the Commission before the first reading of the 2009 budget to draw up a document analysing the strengths and weaknesses of each Member State's national system for the administration and control of Community funds and the results of the audits conducted, and to forward that document to Parliament and to the Council;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Reminds the Commission about Parliament's previous criticism of the solidity of the basis on which the Commission claims to assume its political responsibility by its synthesis report, whereas the Commission lacks full insight into 80% of funds under shared management and the quality of annual activity reports vary; points out that the source of this lack of insight is two-fold: on the one hand insufficient monitoring and supervision by the Commission, and on the other an absence of concrete solutions and accountability at Member State level;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21

21. Regrets the Commission'’s tacit acceptance of ~~Member States'~~the collective irresponsibility of the majority of the Member States concerning the financial management of the European Union; welcomes and supports the initiatives taken by some Member States in this respect and calls on the other Member States to follow suit;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30

30. Invites further the Commission to change the composition of the Audit Progress Committee so that the number of external members is the same as the number of Members of the Commission; invites also the Commission to nominate one of the external members of the Audit Progress Committee as its chairman;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32a (new)

32a. Disagrees with Commission’s statement in its latest progress report on the Action Plan for an Integrated Internal Control Framework (COM(2008)0110), that Actions 1, 3, 3N, 5, 8 and 13 are completed; points out that so far Parliament has been unaware of supporting documents or statements justifying such a statement; is forced therefore to seriously question whether these measures have been put in place, let alone whether they are implemented or have an impact on the progress of that Action Plan;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33

33. Welcomes the second half-yearly scoreboard on the implementation of the above action plan, submitted on March 2007 to the Parliament pursuant to Parliament's request in its 2004 discharge resolution; ~~expects the Commission to present its newest report before discharge can be given;~~

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33a (new)

33a. Highlights however that for the implementation of Actions 1, 3, 3N, 5, 10, 10N, 11, 11N, 13 and 15, the Commission is also dependant on cooperation with the Member States; stresses that Parliament fully supports these actions and urges therefore Commission to use every available tool at its disposal to implement them as soon as possible;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Heading before paragraph 35a (new)

Synthesis Report

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35a (new)

35a. Finds it unacceptable that the Commission reduces the Eva’s audit results, which are based on widely accepted International Audit Standards, to "differences of opinion on the typology and impact of error and on the evaluation of systems deficiencies, and partly the different perceptions regarding the operation of financial correction mechanisms" (page 2, last paragraph of the report);

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35b (new)

35b. Is of the opinion that all reservations concerning a lack of assurance on the legality and regularity of Community spending should be reflected in Annual Activity Reports as well as in the Synthesis Report; found it therefore highly surprising in this light that three Directors-General decided only in 2006 to insert a reservation concerning the management and control of INTERREG, which, as noted by them, had already existed for some years (page 4, last paragraph of the report);

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35c (new)

35c. Is worried about the statements of the Internal Auditor in his first Overview Report which indicate that, despite some progress, half of the critical and very important recommendations have not been implemented before the target dates set (page 8, before last paragraph of the report); asks the Commission to put more emphasis on the implementation of these recommendations;

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT

Motion for a resolution
Recital K

K. whereas ~~its Committee on Budgets should~~Parliament will take due account of the 2006 discharge results and recommendations during the next budgetary procedure,

2008/03/10
Committee: CONT