27 Amendments of Markus PIEPER related to 2021/2106(DEC)
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Notes that based on Article 22 of the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation the Member States are responsible to ensure the protection of the financial interests of the Union; notes that the Commission plays an important role in ensuring that national audit systems provide for credible, reliable and relevant information; stresses that the Member States and the Commission's administrative capacities need to be scaled up to ensure sound financial management; notes that the Commission is responsible to provide technical assistance and advisory services to improve the respective administrative capacities in the Member States; calls on the Commission to provide the discharge authority with an overview of the specific measures that have been taken to ensure an appropriate staffing in the Commission and the Member States;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Is concerned that the amount of outstanding commitments (RAL) at the end of 2020 reached a new record high of EUR 303,2 billion; acknowledges that a certain level of outstanding commitments is a natural consequence of the Union budget system with commitment appropriations and payment appropriations but underlines that an amount of outstanding commitments, which equals two full years of payment appropriations may constitute a risk for the smooth operation of the budget in the future; calls on the Commission to closely monitor the progress of implementation in Member States, in particular in the cases of under- implementation and low absorption rates and to deliver country-analysis to the discharge authority, identifying the recurrent problems, as well as the measures taken to optimise the situation;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Regrets that the cumulative absorption rate from the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) at the end of 2020 continues to be approximately 7 % lower than under the previous 2007-2013 MFF; encourages the Commission to intensify its work with Members States including through technical assistance in order to increase the ability of Member States to make use of the funds allocated to them and to intensify the effort to increase the absorption rate of ESIF from both the 2013-2020 MFF and the new 2021-2027 MFF in order to avoid a further increase of total outstanding commitments, without compromising the quality of projects and the efforts made to avoid misuse and fraud of Union funds; calls on the Commission to assist where necessary countries to find eligible projects, especially those with clear European added-value; asks the Commission to relaunch the taskforce for better implementation (TFBI) to increase the absorption rate and to develop best practices among the Member States;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Asks the Commission to modify the spending rule N+3 years to the previous rule N+2 yearscknowledges the gradual transition of the decommitment rules for the 2021 -2027 programming period from the N+3 (2021-2026) to the N+2 (2027) for the shared management funds. Asks the Commission to ensure together with the co-legislators that the N+2 rule is applied all along the future programming period, in order to increase the budget execution and reduce the outstanding commitments; regrets that the Council does not approve the modification of the spending rule;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to ensure the provision of sufficient funding for audits and controls of Union funds in light of the massive increase of funds to be disbursed during the coming years under the combined MFF and NextGenerationEU instrument; notes that the Commission will assess the control systems of the Member States and provide guidance to put in place sound monitoring and control systems; calls on the Commission to provide the discharge authority with detailed assessments of the audit and control systems for each Member State;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Stresses the increased importance of performance indicators, including the selection of indicators, definition of targets and milestones and monitoring and reporting in light of the new delivery models for the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the reformed Common Agricultural Policy; notes that milestones and targets as well as output indicators are different in nature; notes that the Recovery and Resilience Facility further differentiates between investments and reforms; stresses that performance auditing is a new tool for the respective audit authorities; calls on the Commission to provide an overview of the complete audit cycle within the Member States, the Commission as well as in regard of the cooperation with the respective audit authorities including the Court of Auditors, and OLAF, EPPO;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32 a. Notes that the use of data-mining and risk assessment instruments such as ARACHNE can help prevent and safeguard against conflict of interest, fraud, corruption and double funding. Notes that the information on the beneficiaries of the programme as well as data on the beneficial owner needs to be collected by the Member States. The Anti- Money Laundering directive requires a central EU platform, which has been set up, but not all Member States have connected to it yet; notes that Central registers of beneficiary data exist in Member States, but not all contain beneficial owner data;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 b (new)
Paragraph 32 b (new)
32 b. Notes that Monitoring tools are essential for the audit of the implementation of milestones and targets; notes that Member States are required to use the FENIX system developed and made available by the Commission; notes that the Commission is obliged to set up a Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard to give an overview how the implementation of the RRF is progressing;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 c (new)
Paragraph 32 c (new)
32 c. Notes that according to Article 60 of the RRF regulation the Commission should transmit, subject to clearance of sensitive or confidential information, or to appropriate confidentiality arrangements if necessary, relevant documents and information simultaneously and on equal terms to the European Parliament and to the Council; stresses that the early and complete transmission of documents to the Parliament and the Council will be an important element in the discharge procedure;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 d (new)
Paragraph 32 d (new)
32 d. Notes that the European Parliament set up a Recovery and Resilience Facility Working Group; notes that this establishes a dialogue between Members of the respective Committees and the Commission; notes that the involvement of the European Parliament and Council is crucial to ensure the democratic oversight and scrutiny; signals that the discharge will be postponed if the transparent access to the documents is denied or delayed by the Commission;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33 a. Notes that according to Article 31 of the RRF Regulation by 31 July 2022, the Commission should present an annual report on the implementation of the Facility to the European Parliament and to the Council;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point -a (new)
Paragraph 34 – point -a (new)
-a. to carry out analysis for each individual Member State of the funds received and status of implementation, at the latest in May for the previous budgetary year, in the context of annual report foreseen under Article 31 of Regulation 2021/241; expects the Commission to publish the annual report for the first time early in the 2nd half of 2022 and to promptly inform the discharge authority about the findings;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point a
Paragraph 34 – point a
a. ensure the protection of the Union budget by making general and systematic use of digital and automatised interoperable systems for reporting, monitoring and audit; develop the Recovery and Resilience Scoreboard to ensure that description of milestones and target and outcome of the audit are transparent; ensure that all Member States use the systems and central registers to report on beneficial owners and end beneficiaries;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 34 – point a a (new)
a a. to transmit, subject to clearance of sensitive or confidential information, or to appropriate confidentiality arrangements if necessary, relevant documents as the Summary of Audits (SoA) and information timely to the discharge authority
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point b
Paragraph 34 – point b
b. simplify rules and procedures, develop compulsory training sessions and practical information for applicants , in particular new applicants, and improve the assistance and guidelines for SMEs, spin- offs, start-ups, administration and payment agencies and all relevant stakeholders; provide the discharge authority with an overview of the trainings conducted;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point c a (new)
Paragraph 34 – point c a (new)
c a. share the outcomes on budgetary control contents in the light of the review report with the discharge authority by conducting a meeting with the respective committee;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point c b (new)
Paragraph 34 – point c b (new)
c b. strengthen the Financial Regulation in the context of the RRF during the upcoming revision in the sense of introducing the obligation for an interoperable internal audit system in the Member States;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point d
Paragraph 34 – point d
d. intensify its work to ensure that the funds under the Recovery and Resilience facility are used for high-quality projectsprojects that lead to structural reforms and investments which achieve EU-added value and that double funding of projects is avoided;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 – point g
Paragraph 34 – point g
g. increase the administrative capacity of the Commission in relation toand strenghthen the administrative capacity of Member States in relation to the implementation of the NextGenerationEU instrument in order to protect Union finances;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Paragraph 34 a (new)
34 a. Notes that the Court bases its annual management and performance report on the information retrieved from several reports by the Commission; notes that the Court supplements this information with recent findings from its own audit and review work; notes that the Court reviews the Commission’s performance information for plausibility and consistency with their findings, but not for its reliability;
Amendment 98 #
36 a. Notes that the better regulation approach helps the Commission in identifying lessons learnt from past implementation of policies and programmes; highlights that all spending programmes should be reviewed by the Commission, points out that cost- effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis are important tools in budget control to review the spending; calls on the Commission to include more qualitative information that shows the EU-added value of spending programmes; welcomes that the Regulatory Scrutiny Board contributes to improving the quality of evaluations and impact assessments; calls on the Commission to implement the recommendations given by the Regulatory Scrutiny Board and to sufficiently justify when comments have not been taken into account;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 49 a (new)
Paragraph 49 a (new)
49 a. Recognizes that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have to be at the heart of any considerations concerning the competitiveness for growth and jobs, as SMEs provide for 6 out of 10 jobs, 8 out of 10 apprenticeships in some Member States, and are responsible for close to 60% of the added value created in the European Union;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 59 – point a a (new)
a a. equip and assess Horizon Europe and its pillars, IPCEIs and other funding instruments and projects also in relation with job creation, ensuring synergies with the national recovery plans in order to reflect the reality of life and perspectives of SMEs and entrepreneurs; promote research and development, skills and competences for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a growth strategy for jobs in European high-tech technologies such as li-ion batteries, fuel cells, wind energy, electric traction motors, photovoltaic technology, robotics, drones, 3D printing and a broad range of digital technologies;
Amendment 127 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59 – point d a (new)
Paragraph 59 – point d a (new)
d a. develop a digital compendium for European SMEs and mid-cap companies for regulatory information on jobs and growth opportunities support within the MFF and RRF framework similar to the Access2Markets Trade Assistant;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 62 a (new)
Paragraph 62 a (new)
62 a. Is concerned that 72% of errors result from ineligible projects and costs and 27% from infringements of internal market rules (in particular non- compliance with state aid rules); notes that five projects infringed the EU's state aid rules; takes note that the Court is of the opinion that two projects should have obtained no public funding from the EU and/or the Member State; highlights that these projects accounted for 1.0 percentage points of the estimated level of error;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 99
Paragraph 99
99. Notes with concern that the Court found marked differences in the implementation of national programmes and that there are gaps in ISF-Borders and Visa’s performance information; welcomhighlights that the ISF-Borders and Visa contribution to effective border management is dependent on Member States entering reliable, relevant and up- to-date information in IT systems; is concerned that effective border management is hampered by insufficient quality of data and training of border guards; notes that performance indicators published in the AMPR give an optimistic picture of ISF-Borders and Visa performance; notes with concern that the Court foundconcludes that that the programme has contributed insufficiently to the consistent application of the acquis through training;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 100 – point a a (new)
Paragraph 100 – point a a (new)
a a. Issue a clear legal guidance to ensure transparent, accurate and complete information provided by the Member States on border management; recalls the need to set out binding rules and issue more guidance on the border management IT systems to ensure fast and effective border management; report in regular intervals to the discharge authority about improvements in terms of up-to-date data-quality and sufficient training in each of the respective Member States;