Activities of Inés AYALA SENDER related to 2013/2132(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Annual Report 2012 on the protection of the EU's financial interests - Fight against fraud (debate)
Annual Report 2012 on the protection of the EU's financial interests - Fight against fraud (debate)
Reports (1)
REPORT on the Annual Report 2012 on the Protection of the EU’s Financial Interests – Fight against fraud PDF (213 KB) DOC (106 KB)
Amendments (20)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
- having regard to the communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the protection of the financial interests of the European Union by criminal law and by administrative investigations - an integrated policy to safeguard taxpayers' money (COM (2011) 293 final);
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8 a (new)
Citation 8 a (new)
- having regard to the communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on an Action Plan to strengthen the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion (COM (2012) 722 final);
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 15 a (new)
Citation 15 a (new)
- having regard to Directive 2014/.../EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on the award of concession contracts, 1a
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas protection of the financial interests of the EU is a key element of the EU policy agenda to strengthen and increase the confidence of citizens and ensure that their money is used properly;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the Treaty of Lisbon has substantially strengthened the instruments available to protect the financial interests of the EU, requiring both the EU and its Member States to combat all forms of illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the EU;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas the wide diversity of legal systems and traditions within the EU means that protection of its financial interests against fraud and any other illegal activity is a particularly demanding and unavoidable challenge;
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas, the European Union and the Member States share responsibility for protecting the Union’s financial interests and fighting fraud,o protect the financial interests of the Union and combat fraud it is necessary to adopt an integrated approach, including strategies for fighting fraud and corruption by means of legal, effective, consistent and equivalent measures throughout the Union; whereas this is a responsibility shared by the EU and Member States and close cooperation between the Commission and the Member States is more essential than ever at a time of budgetary constraint;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the wide diversity of legal systems and traditions within the EU means that protection of its financial interests against fraud and any other illegal activity is a particularly demanding and unavoidable challenge;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the scale of tax fraud and tax avoidance in any form and of corruption in the European Union undermines citizens’ trust and confidence in the fairness and lUnion; whereas greater guarantees of integritimacy of tax collection and the fiscal system as a wholey and transparency with regard to public spending are necessary;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on the Commission, at the time of initiating the procedure for submission of the annual PIF report, to submit to Parliament a report on the monitoring and implementation of the recommendations adopted by the EP following the PIF report of the previous year, and give a reasoned explanation regarding those it has not considered or has been unable to comply with; calls on OLAF to do the same in respect of measures being sought by Parliament in this report;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the main initiatives taken by the Commission, at the European Parliament’s request, to shape a new EU legislative landscape for anti-fraud policy, and in particular the Commission’s amended proposal for amending Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 concerning investigations conducted by OLAF and the strengthening of the procedural rights of persons concerned by OLAF investigations; the proposal for a directive on the fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law, which aims to clarify and harmonise Member States’ provisions in criminal law on offences related to the EU budget (COM(2012)363); the proposal for a Council regulation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (COM(2013)534); and the proposal for a regulation on the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) (COM(2013)535), all of which will strengthen the institutional tools for protecting the Union’s financial interestss well as the amendment to Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and stronger legal rights for persons concerned by OLAF investigations, all of which will strengthen the institutional tools for protecting the Union’s financial interests; also welcomes the action plan to step up the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion, as well VAT reform in the EU, both of which were initiated in 2011;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Points ouRegrets that, although own resources are no longer the main source of EU budget revenue, they still make up 20% of it, with the result that the proper collection of VAT and customs duties has direct repercussions not only on Member States’ economies and the Union budget but also on European taxpayers; recalls that, according to Commission estimates, tax evasion and tax fraud are costing the EU around EUR 1 billion annually, that is to say around of EUR 2000 for every citizen of the Union;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on the Commission periodically to carry out a comparative analysis of differences in the effectiveness of national systems for the collection of traditional own resources, including the identification and dissemination of best practices regarding efficient recovery process in all Member States, and to propose suitable measures where necessary;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Expresses concern that, although the number of non-fraudulent irregularities reported in 2012 to be affecting income from traditional own resources has remained stable, the total remains 20% above the average for 2008-2012;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Expresses satisfaction that the reform of the rules governing the functioning of OLAF has finally been adopted, and welcomes the communication aimed at ‘Improving OLAF’s governance and reinforcing procedural safeguards in investigations: a step-by-step approach to accompany the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office’ (COM(2013)0533); notes the first positive effects of the reorganisation and restructuring of OLAF’s investigative procedures, leading to clarification of the procedural rights of those subject to investigation, more efficient investigation procedures and a shortening of the average length of time for processing investigations, particularly at the stage of case selection, as well as improved cooperation and dialogue with its partners;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 – introductory part
Paragraph 24 – introductory part
24. Takes note of the OLAF 2012 annual report and: notes that, over this period, OLAF opened 431 investigations and 287 coordination cases, closed 465 cases, recommended legal proceedings to the national authorities in 54 cases and recommended recovery of almost EUR 284 million (165.8m in revenue and 118.2m in expenditure) and:
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Welcomes the firstpublication last February of the first Commission report on anti- corruption policy and all the suggestions for intensifyin the EU, which indicates that corruption affects all Member States in very different ways and costs the EU economy around EUR 120 billion annually; stresses that European citizens accordingly require guarantees of total integrity and transparency in public spending, exchanges of current good practspecially given the current challenges arising from the underlying economice and identifying relevant new measures to be taken at EU levelfinancial crisis; agrees with the Commission that the results of the initiatives are very uneven and that more should be done to prevent and punish corruption; calls for further efforts, commensurate with the large sums of moneymajor social and economic issues at stake, to prevent and penalise corruption, which corrodes Europe’s economy and social model and undermines Member States’ revenue from taxation;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Stresses that. in this connection, faced with the current challenges arising from the underlying economic and financial crisis, European citizens are calling for guarantees of total integrity and transparency in public spending;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 b (new)
Paragraph 27 b (new)
27b. Calls on the Court of Auditors to study the problem and make recommendations based on its own perspective and experience, in the form of one or more reports on the main issues identified by the Commission report on corruption, taking particular account of findings for individual countries;